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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

This year, I pondered on and worried for my life and future a lot more. I feared over the competition around me, I feared that I may never find my true direction in life nor be the best that I can be, I feared that somewhere along the way I'd get tired of dreaming and wanting. I've not found the answers to my fears, but life goes on anyway, and we've just gotta keep walking and believe that things will eventually work themselves out.

This year, I learnt that you can have so much unfairness dealt to you, and even then, sometimes there's nothing you can do but just to suck it up, move on, and be more careful.

This year, I've become far more judgemental. My friends once said I see the good side of people too easily, this has probably changed. I don't know if this is good or tragic.

This year, I've come to realize how superficial people can be, and let go of people who have never made an effort to be a friend, it wasn't hard to do so when this dawned on me. At the same time, I'm once again thankful for friends who were by my side when I was down, and who loved me despite my flaws.

This year, I saw many of my friends go through breakups, and while I had some emotional downs of my own, I'm glad that I was spared from the far more heart wrenching ones.

This year, I had one of my best academic semesters in the most recent one. I had a renewed interest for Econs after taking IE(B), thanks to Ruanjai. I guess it's true, you do well when you enjoy what you're studying. I hope it gets better from here.

Finally, like every other year, I've taken away awesome memories like RAW, MSF and other random moments with friends and the dancers.

Next year, I'll be very busy at the start of the year, with Bailamos and Intersection to juggle. I thought of taking the semester off to do an internship, so that my after-work hours would be really for me to focus on dancing. But I would be very tired everyday at work, and now I wonder if it's better to have a regular semester and take 4 modules instead. Although I'll need to juggle meetings and consistent revision with a crazy frequency of trainings, at least I'll have more flexibility with my time. We'll see how it goes - that what I always say, fickle-minded me.

I hope the dance clubs will get to go overseas. I hope I'll get to go on exchange, but it's okay if I don't. I was sad over not being able to go to Mexico, I did a whole lot of thinking and came to this, exchange is after all, still just... exchange. I know you get to travel, meet new people, have a hell lot of fun and freedom, and you really really want to go on overseas exchange too when all your friends around you get to do so and they post pretty pictures on Facebook and come back with exciting stories to tell... but it's not something that I'd die without ya know? Money's going to be an issue for me - I don't want to use my parents' money, but neither am I keen to take a loan and start my working life in debt either.

Next year I'll try to blog more as well. Till then, goodnight.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Went to Bangkok again, 6 months after my last trip there. This time it was kind of like a 21st birthday holiday, because holding a party would be too much of a hassle (because it would be just after the exams, and I wouldn't really have had the time to plan for it, and I would have had to invite close to 100 people, and I wouldn't be able to properly divide my attention among the many groups of friends who would be present, hence I chose to dine with each group of friends at a later date instead). So I saved the money for this trip instead, also because the girls had made a pact to go to Bangkok together!



















At Changi Airport!


































Just alighted from the plane!




















First dinner in Bangkok was seafood at Yaowarat!




















Followed by grocery shopping at Big C! We bought a lot of stuff, but didn't finish them at the end of the trip. I bought a few toiletries for myself just because they were cheaper than in SG. Lol.


































The best Thai street snack I've tried: Prata with banana and egg, fried in a lot of oil, then generously topped with condensed milk and sugar. Damn sex. But it’s so unhealthy, eating it is like asking for a ticket to death.



















The girls just had to sleep together in one room, so we squeeze all 4 beds together. Not bad huh.




















First morning in Bangkok. The view from our room.



















Pratunum market! Layout was somewhat like Bugis Village, except that the clothes weren’t as fashionable as those in Bugis V. For clothes like that, we had to head to Platinum Mall. However, there were items that were cheaper than the same ones in Platinum, such as the basic tops and bikinis (which I bought 4 sets of! Don’t know when I’m gonna wear them, but they were really pretty and I couldn’t resist buying a few at a go!). I actually spent more time and bought more stuff from this market than from Platinum mall this time round.

Having the bargaining power of 4 girls is an advantage. :)


































At Krung Thong Plaza. Bought mainly cosmetics there. They are imitations, cheap, but are surprisingly safe and good to use. Again, there were lots of pretty makeup, but I limited my purchases this time round, because how many sets of smoky eye shadow or blushers do I wanna keep, seriously? (I’ve been using a blusher I bought from Bangkok in April for about 6 months or more, but it’s nowhere near finished.)

The last time I was at Platinum Fashion Mall with Yun Fei and Krystle, we took 3 days to walk the entire mall. By walk I mean strolling through all corners and lanes of the mall and making sure we took a good look at every shop there. We only spent less than a day there this time. I realized that although the stuff are nicer, they are more expensive too, I believe most, if not all of the shops charge tourist rates. I managed to find some shirts for my brother, bought a pair of heels with Ching too. It cost $20, expensive (by my standards, anything >$10 in Bangkok is expensive), but it was of good quality and was already selling for half the price than the same shoes in Singapore. I liked the accessories there too, wanted to buy a number of bangles, but had to control my purchases again because I hardly wear bangles or other accessories out. Tried the best phad thai there (wish I had it a few more times), loved the green tea latte at Grand Canyon too! I think I didn’t have enough of the good food in Bangkok.

The flea market outside Pratunum Centre was quite a good place as well, though I think many people often miss this out. Besides buying a few tops there, I spotted a stall with dainty hair accessories, like shiny ones with crystals, but they were more expensive too. Wish I could buy the whole stall!


































Our shopping "trolley".




















This is how we dumped our stuff in our room when only half a day has passed and our shopping bag was already full.


































A&W!




















Going through our loots and trying to pack them into our luggage every night.




















The girls celebrated my belated birthday with doughnuts!


































Flea market outside Siam Square. It was packed so I didn’t bother to check out many of the stalls there. But I’m pleased with the pretty 25THB earrings we found after spending time rummaging through the huge pile of earrings at one stall.




















Chatuchak, the weekend market. Didn’t find a lot of clothes there, but there were other treasures like jewelry boxes, mugs, and furniture. We came across this shop selling mugs, Bel said the shop might be the manufacturer of Disney souvenir mugs. I got myself 3 colourful ones, and they only cost a few bucks each! Heh. Wish I could have bought more, but my luggage wouldn’t have enough space for them. I got to try the coconut ice cream (didn’t get the chance to the last time I was there) which many people have raved about. Loved the Thai iced milk tea too! Then there was the pet section which I would never give it a miss whenever I’m at Chatuchak. The animals there are so damn adorable I could spend the whole day there! Sadly, because there isn’t enough people to buy so many pets there, I think many are eventually put to sleep when they grow too big.

By now you would have realized I’m a huge sucker for pretty-looking things. Yup I have a bad habit of buying things just because they are pretty/colourful/shimmery/glittery/shiny although I have no use for them most of the time. But really, sometimes just walking in and looking at nice things in stationery or accessory shops does lighten my mood. :)

I tailored more clothes this time round, spent a total of $200 on tailored clothes. Tailored clothes are a necessity for me, because the blouses sold in SG are too short (what’s up with these manufacturers in SG man) for me as I have a long torso. And I like the fit and the workmanship of this tailor.

That's all. I want to make Taiwan, followed by Korea, my next holiday destinations in Asia!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Dancers from NRA @ the World Supremacy Battlegrounds 2009 in Australia. Polytechnic students, but they're amazing, and here's why.

Seven Crew, 2nd place.


If You're Happy And You Know It Clap Your Hands, 3rd place. Watch their musicality and control during the classical music part.