She's desperate for more dreaming, more feeling, more giving and more loving.

(Ripped from favim.com)

Sorcery

"Everyday, I magic myself alive again from the near death experience of trauma. I swallow my heart back from the lump it has become in my throat. I taste my own memories without the flavor of blood but as poetry. I learn how to whisper my name without it sounding like a curse. I murmur spells to the parts of me others have found too dangerous to love.

And after this morning ritual, I finally smile at the woman in my mirror. Tell me again, how healing is not a magical thing. Tell me again, how I am not made of sorcery."

-Nikita Gill

I think I could count all the stars of fall.

Y4S1 Reflections

"Last semester, best semester," they said.

And indeed, it is really my best semester. I think I have surpassed all the expectations that I have put on myself, and I am quite satisfied with everything thus far. There is still a tinge of regret of me not being able to get my first-class honours, but ohwell everything happens for a reason and I am glad that I went with what I truly want, instead of choosing the thesis route like what majority of the students did. :D

NM4883F Financial Journalism

(NM4883F Financial Journalism)

I remembered myself scrolling very hard through the entire module list because I have no modules to take. There are very little PR modules available, and I have no interest in game design and media studies, so I took quite a long time to finally decide that I will plunge into the world of writing and pray hard that I will stay afloat.

I took financial journalism in the end. I remembered myself being very worried about it, because yours truly has never been good in her writing. I also consulted Belle multiple times to ask about the module, because she was the only person I know who took it before. LOL, I sound like some kanchiong spider. T.T

I don't regret taking the class. Weiyi has been a great mentor and lecturer, who is quite dedicated in his work. Even though he might be harsh at times (considering he once sent me an entire email in CAPS because my writing is so horrible), he is quite patient in his teaching (I also once received another email from him full of compliments hehehes, but he also sent me a whole list of feedback on how to further improve my piece luh).

Overall I did pretty decent in the module, all thanks to his training. I really think I learnt a lot from him, and I really encourage anyone who is interested in writing to take the module under him! :D

(Last lesson: we relieved our Korea days by having army stew!)

(Featuring Regine, my Korea exchange housemate)

I don't feel sorry for 'psycho-ing' Regine to join me in this module LOL! I made her join me for the first lesson, and I really think my persuasion skills are so brilliant that I managed to convince her to take the module with me in the end. :D HAHAHA. Thank goodness for her, if not I think I will have die a horrible death from the project work.

NM4102 Research Methods

It was chaotic right from the start, because some idiots in the class made a fuss about wanting to form groups with their friends. Come'on, we are already university students, do we really need to create so much trouble by arguing with the professor throughout the entire lesson just so we can be with our friends?

Long story short, I ended up changing my groups twice. But ohwell, I am quite okay with my final group. Thank goodness for Clara, she is really the pillar for holding the entire group down :D It wasn't the smoothest group project that I have worked on, but at least my group mates did not go missing-in-action nearing the deadlines. For that, I still feel thankful.

GEH1070 Traditional Chinese Medicine

The two of us did a five-man project work. Perhaps we were both Year 4s, and we know how the entire thing works. We worked really well together - I think we only met up twice to discuss and work on the project before submission. The professor was so shocked that we actually finished the project two weeks before the deadline LOLOL. Thanks Chu Ning. I love our efficiency and group dynamics. :D

Conclusion

This is really the end of my journey as a student. I am glad that my last semester ended with a bang, but I hope that everything will go on smoothly with me embarking on the new path as a working adult. :D Cheers everyone, I wish you all the best if you are still studying!

A part of maturity is learning to
love some people from a distance.
To keep their well-being in your
prayers but take a path,
away from them.

Lost inside your kiss.

JJ 林俊杰 2018 Concert

(Ripped from Yahoo Style)

Throw back to August when we finally get to see JJ! Amanda and I were super excited when the singer JJ Lin announced that he will be opening concerts at various parts of Asia. He has been one of my favourite singers since my primary school days, and I remain his fan until now!

(Squeezing in time for a photo before the crowds stream in)

(Here's a photo with my mum and sister)

It was super tedious trying to queue for the ticket. Even though we have priority with our StarHub account and AMEX card, the ticketing website hanged on us many times, and we missed the opportunity to purchase the tickets. In the end, we decided to jostle with the other people at the post office on the last few days of ticket sales.

I was super thankful to Amanda because she managed to get tickets for the both of us, as well as my mother and sister! Here’s why I always tell her that staying in Sembawang is good. The place is ulu, which makes it easier to get tickets too! LOL, nobody managed to buy tickets from the CCK post office branch. T.T Not even the guy who was first in line.

(This is how close we were to him)

Initially we thought that we would end up with bad seats because our view was supposedly to be “blocked”. However, surprisingly we were quite close to him :D Feeling so blessed.

(Ripped from 8days)

(Ripped from 8days)

I'm not someone who will splurge on concert tickets. Come'on, they are so pricey?! However, since he was my childhood idol, that inner self in me was screaming to get my hands on those tickets. Expensive price to pay but the experience was worth it! His live singing was really fantastic, no wonder he was often dubbed "行走的 CD".

(Lightsticks)

Also, they gave out light sticks at the entrance of the Singapore Indoor Stadium! We were able to bring them home. I just tried it awhile back, and the light stick can still be lighted up. :D Thanks JJ for that great experience - I was very high throughout!

Sometimes it's so hard to believe
When the nights can be so long
And faith gave me the strength
And kept me holding on.

One day these 5am's will make you a legend.

Happy Convocation, Vivian!

(So proud of this woman here!)

My bestie finally grew up hahaha! Thanks for inviting me to your graduation ceremony, hehehes so happy to share in the excitement of your graduation day! 8 years of friendship and still counting, thanks for always being around for me. From signing up for Econs tuition together to collecting our A's results, to university and internships and finally to you graduating. Omg, we really came a long way!

(Someone so popular, so many flowers!)

Hope you enjoy your first job, no more overtime work and bless you with high pay and fast promotions so you can treat me for meals hahaha! Speaking of this, where's my sushi treat?

(Sunflowers)

Gave her a super big bouquet that I wrapped myself! Beautiful isn't it? I used sunflowers and peonies for the bouquet! Okay, actually my sister did most of the job, and I am just acting as her assistant. LOL, spent like 2-3 hours doing this up because we have #noskills #noexperience but I thought that wrapping myself will make it a more sincere and thoughtful gift. The bouquet is filled with all best wishes for her! :D What a nice girl am I. Hahahas!

Her heart wears wisdom skin

and wit warmed splendor,

the echoes of a war cry holding

its four chambers together.

She rises like Athena

on a night of victory dancing.

She rises like the blood moon

in a sky of a thousand stars bursting.

I've never heard silence quite this loud.

Internship Week 14

(Last Day of Internship)

It is my turn now to leave this wonderful organisation. Thanks National Library Board (NLB) for everything - my bosses and colleagues, my fellow interns, the guidance they provided me and the opportunities for me to grow.

From left to right:

Chim, Gwyneth, Elyssa, Anna, Cheryl, Ain, Jasna and Sabritri. Missing Taufiq and my designer! 🖤

(Last Lunch)

Last day of lunch with my lovely intern friends! Thanks Shaoyuan, Colin and Haziqah. Colin finally made the right order this time. Background story: he can't take spicy but he ordered spicy sauce the previous time. LOL, he was craving so badly for Eighteen Chefs but he couldn't eat a single bite! HAHAHAHA.

(Farewell Gifts from Colleagues)

Love the gifts that they gave me! (: Thank you all, I will use them wisely! My team also treated me to expensive three-course lunch by the way. Words alone can't express my gratitude to them.

(Farewell Gifts)

Tada! Revealing the farewell gifts that I have prepared for my team - hand drawn with love. P.S. I am quite proud of my artwork.

I ain't good with words, but I would like to express my heartfelt thanks for all your kind gestures. Than you for your guidance all these while, I really learned and grew a lot. The entire internship journey was tough yet an enjoyable experience. I would really miss y'all!

The battle is in your hands now.
But I would lay my armor down.
If you'd say you'd rather love than fight,
So many things that you wish I knew
But the story of us might be ending soon.

She is the type of girl that the moon chased and the stars wished for.

Internship Week 13

(NLB Camaraderie)

Work these days really make me appreciate colleagues better, LOL. Fatiha had some business to clear in the headquarters today hahaha, so I introduced her to my other intern friends (we were stationed in the headquarters except Fatiha). Had a great lunch today, and I'm happy that everyone can click so well together! (: You guys really make my day! Appreciate it.

(Ah Chew desserts)

Back to our daily grind - Ah Chew desserts - with Colin and Shaoyuan. I swear all our hard-earned money all went to eating desserts, specifically at Ah Chew. T.T All Shaoyuan's fault for the jio, because he knows that I can't resist desserts!

(Wok Hey Takeaway)

One of the rare times where we takeaway food back to office to eat, because we just wanted to avoid the crowd. Thought that the packaging for the Wok Hey was cool, but I didn't quite like the food because I find it too oily (and expensive). But apparently, Colin buys it often. LOL.

(Ah Chew Desserts)

Another day, another bowl of dessert. I guess we really need to stop eating, I need to watch my weight already?! This is the second time we were back at this place this week omg. T.T

(Jason's last day)

Time flies! It was Jason's last day for his internship already. Ded, we only knew of each other's existence last week during the intern presentation LOL. Better late than never, at least we made friends for a week now. Hahaha! (: And it's also soon going to be Caeryn's last day. Gonna miss the both of you, and all the best for your future endeavours!

You're the one that never lets me sleep
Through my mind, down to my soul,
you touch my lips.
You're the one that I can't wait to see
With you here by my side, I'm in ecstasy.

You know it's deep when someone's absence has an effect on your entire being.

Internship Week 12

Time flies, and I am really looking forward to go back to school! LOL, they always say grass is greener on the other side uh. When you are schooling, you feel like going to work. But when you are working, you feel like going back to school. These are my thoughts and feelings currently. Hmm x.x

We had this intern luncheon last Friday, and I am so glad that I decided to do the presentation in the end. I had an internal struggle initially because on one hand, I didn't want to do it because the thought of presenting to the senior management sounds scary and it is definitely not nice if I screw it up. On the other hand, I wanted to do it because it will force me to step out of my comfort zone, and yeahs I also wanted to impress them luh :P

(My favourite friend, Fatiha)

The presentation went quite well, and I am quite proud of myself. :D It was so sad that Fatiha had to miss my presentation because she had to run some work-related errands, and she only came after the presentation sighs x.x But ohwell, glad that she is embarking on this journey with me! The mingling session also allowed me to know other fellow interns, which is quite nice because everyone is so friendly and welcoming! P.S. I only knew of the existence of this other intern who is working at the headquarters during the mingling session T.T Goodness, I thought I was the only intern working at the corporate office, why nobody ever introduce us to each other?!

(Eighteen Chefs)

Finally eating some 'atas' food with the interns. LOL, Colin was not feeling very well so we decided to accommodate him and head to Eighteen Chefs for lunch. Guess which idiot place the wrong order? He ordered some spicy sauce to go with his baked pasta. However, he cannot take spicy and it came with chili padi somemore LOL!! We wanted to make him feel better by eating nicer food, but ended up he only ate one-third of his lunch. LOL, this is a joke seriously.

To celebrate the end of internship presentation, my family decided to head to Swensens for dinner. (LOL I made it sound like some super big project, but it really was eh - I had to went through four rounds of meetings and six revisions before my slides were finally approved T.T).

(Cream of Mushroom)

(Chicken Baked Rice)

(Carbonara)

(Rosemary Chicken)

(Lasagne)

This reminds me of the reason why I had not been to Swensens in such a long time. LOL, the food really not nice ehs! In my honest opinion, the bread with the soup was too hard. Soup spoon is so much nicer! I think you can also get better lasagne at Pizzahut. >.<

I suppose I love my scars
because they have stayed with me
longer than most people have.

Leaves have fallen to the ground, and now there's no one else around to hear the cry.

SMU Local Exchange

I am super blessed this semester. I finally fulfilled my dream by getting the opportunity to embark on a local exchange. :D

(Mandatory shot)

Thanks Michael for the photo.

I still remember my first day at SMU clearly. I walked into the wrong class and sat there for quite long, until the Professor started his lesson and I sensed that something was wrong. LOL, it doesn't sound like the course that I registered for?! After checking with my table mates, I hurried out to find the correct classroom. Super embarrassing!

In a blink of an eye, I have graduated from SMU. Received my results last month and geez, I must say that the school is very competitive. Hmm, but no regrets because beyond grades (thankgawd my grades are on a pass/fail basis), I really enjoyed myself there. The teachers, the friends, and the environment are all very different from NUS. And I understand now why my NUS professor decided to go back SMU to teach!

SMU only have seminars, unlike the lecture-tutorial style over at NUS. The seminars lasted as long as 3h 15mins, and sometimes the professors even overshot. However, I haven't dozed off once during lessons. LOL, unfortunately yes, I slept a lot during classes at NUS. It was more participative in SMU (which also explains the competitiveness and my grades), but I'm glad that it trained me to speak up more.

(Matchy matchy with Fatiha)

The first friend that I made in SMU! Also the friend who crazily loves pink like me. LOL! Coincidentally, we took 2 modules together (out of my 3 modules in SMU). So I see her practically on all the days I head to SMU. Thanks for being so friendly and being my aunt agony, and for bringing me around to explore SMU - we headed to the IT center, the SMU Labs, the Li Ka Shing library and the law library. (:

(Pizza Party Part 1)

On the last day of lessons, Professor Roh from my COMM302 Psychology of Strategic Communications class, decided to host a pizza party! I like Pizzahut, but I only grabbed a slice of pizza and a drumlet because I paiseh to take more LOL! I like Professor Roh, he is like some fatherly figure who always take care of students' needs. I had a consultation with him once for my individual assignment, and he chatted with me for quite a bit. A simple consultation ended up to be 30 minutes long hahaha. The best part? He actually remembers my name and my identity as a NUS student! He was telling me that it was 'fate' that we met, because he was meant to teach at NUS, but eventually chose SMU instead. Just nice my consultation slot was an hour before the last lesson, so he was saying how he really enjoy teaching our classes, and he also asked me about my career aspirations and all. He ended with wishing me the best of luck. I was teary-eyed by the time I left his office omg.

(Fatiha, Professor Roh and me)

Nobody tell me that my hair is super messy LOL. But I wanted to say that this module was super hard to score? I aced all the other components, but class participation was worth 20% and I flunked that and ended up with a super bad grade T.T

(Pizza Party Part 2)

On the same day, during my night class, Professor Clarence from my COMM360 Investor Relations class, also decided to treat us to pizza, and it is from Pizzahut too. LOL omg, I had an overdose of pizza within a day luh T.T But no complains because free food hehe, and this time round I grabbed two slices of pizza instead. It tasted so delicious! Why SMU professors so nice!! I don't recall any of my NUS professors treating us to food, so I got culture shock once again hmmm....

(Moroccan groupmate, Zaineb)

My groupmate from Morocco! How cool is that hahaha, she is actually a Masters student and I found her a little initimidating initially. But nope, she doesn't bite and is quite friendly!

(Presenting in style with my Investor Relations groupmates)

Spot my professor in the photo! We are so cute! This is the first time that I was ever asked to theme for a presentation, and it feels superb because the dress code makes me feel a sense of identity to my group! (: Things we learn in psychology hehes. Our theme is black and white, but hahaha omg in the photo there seemed to be a visible line separating the white and black forces LOL.

Initially regretted this module 'Investor Relations' after the first lesson, but it ended up to be fine. LOL, I'm just thankful that I didn't fail anything because I went into the class with zero finance/investment knowledge, so I was legit just a blur sotong. Most of my classmates already have basics, so it really doubles my stress x.x

But I'm thankful to have these nice groupmates with me. Thanks for adopting me even though I'm a local exchange student, you guys are really the best! I miss all our late nights together sighs. Oh yeahs guys, in case you think 6-9pm classes at NUS are super late, try SMU's 7pm to 10pm classes. I was brain dead by the end of the lesson. LOL. But given the chance, I will retake this module again.

(This is how we roll)

(Before I burst out into laughter)

(And everyone was being stupidly funny and the photo was ruined)

Cheers to my Investor Relations teammates Max, Jaspreet, Jingwen, Adam and Zaineb for the wonferful times. Special mentions to the first three for tanking most of the project, and for talking nonsense with me everything during lessons so at least I would not fall asleep. (:

(Crisis Communications)

COMM246 Crisis communications is never a module I thought that I would enjoy. I actually wanted to take it because I think it will be useful, yet I want to avoid taking in NUS under a particular professor. As a last resort, I applied for the course in SMU and thankfully I got it! (:

(This is pretty candid)

And yes, we coordinated our clothes for the presentation as well! Why on Earth do we choose green? Hahaha that's the color of our client company. #dedicated LOL. I really, really enjoyed myself with this bunch of kids. We suffered so much together, but also grew so much together. Thanks for being my motivation to attend lessons even though I'm on exchange LOL. P. S. I didn't skip any lessons because my professor Augustine Pang, together with my groupmates, definitely made the lessons so much more interesting!! 

How I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl.
Year after year, running over the same ground.
What have we found? The same old fears.

Look forward with hope, not backwards with regret.

Take 3, Fight HPV Campaign

Really so much love for these babes! :D We have come so far together, having plenty of sleepless nights working our ass off for this 'Take 3, Fight HPV' campaign. Everything wouldn't be so successful without these dear ladies! :D

A few months back, I am still contemplating between writing a thesis and executing a campaign. I decided to go ahead with the campaign despite the various objections. Is it worth it? I would answer yes without hesitation or regret. I really feel a sense of pride and satisfaction seeing our campaign takes flight, especially so when people around me, be it friends, acquaintances or even strangers, walking up to us and telling us that it was a job well done. They really like our collaterals and campaign, and it was their words that kept us going.

(The Three Musketeers)

We initially started out as a team of five, which comprises Evelyn, Belle, Bernice, Cassandra and myself. We planned for a campaign under the the supervision of Prof Aaron for a module. Last December, we made the decision to also execute the campaign. Sadly, Evelyn and Belle were unable to join us for they had graduated, so we continued the implementation as a trio.

After we settled most of the administrative procedures with the school, we approached our partner organisation again for a discussion. Much to our surprise, they decided not to fund us. It came as a shock because we already planned the campaign using the budget they provided us. T.T This meant that we had to rework the campaign, this time with zero funding.

It was awesome that we managed to find our external source of funding eventually. We had to make a pitch and convince the organisers that our campaign is very meaningful such that they will be willing to fund us. It was a period of mental hell as we were stressing over the money matters. Thankfully everything went well in the end.

(Open Mic Session whereby we had to make a pitch)

Due to limited funds, we tried our best to get sponsorships as well. I was the person-in-charge for sponsorships, and to be honest, I felt quite lost when I didn't get any response from any company after the first round of sending sponsorship requests. I thought that I was so useless that no company bother replying me. However, this experience trained me to be tougher and also creatively search for different ways of approaching them to interest the different companies into funding my campaign.

(Off to collecting our sponsored goods)

Also because of the lack of funds, we did not want to hire any trucks to collect our sponsored products. We eventually decided to grab, and thankfully the grab driver was quite understanding and he even helped us with the moving of the goods! I am touched by the society's kindness really. Now that I think back, it was quite hilarious because we were so noob that we wanted to transport the goods down seven storeys ourselves (when we can actually ask for help - they have this crane-looking machinery that can help to transport LOL). I bet the entire company was laughing at our stupidity. LOLOL. You can read more of our story here.

(Bubbletea collateral)

We also launched our bubbletea collaterals in the midst of the campaign. We partnered with NUS Gongcha, as well as the various drink stall vendors across the campus. It was my favourite out of all the collaterals from our campaign. Hehes! :D I'm glad that it really reached out to so many students! Check out the above collage that I made - many of our friends posted on Instastory/sent the photos to us telling us that 'hey this is quite cool!' I sincerely hope that the campaign really achieved its objectives of raising awareness of what HPV is. :D

(Campaign)

We also did roadshows in NUS Utown and at various faculties. It was tiring having to stand there, distribute coffee/tea and talk to people for ~9 hours straight, but yet again it was rewarding to see many people being interested in our cause. Does this mean that our campaign is damn successful?? :D I also want to once again thank Amanda and Christel especially for helping out, even though it does not benefit y'all. LOL. 谢谢你们够朋友! ♥

(Random Blends Exhibition)

As part of our assignment, we had an exhibition as well to further showcase our campaign efforts and reach out to even more people. To entice people to come to our exhibition space, we decided to distribute free coffee and tea as well.

(Bernice interacting with some NUS students)

It was quite exhausting yet rewarding because we managed to attract huge crowds. We gave the remaining beverages to the cleaning uncles and aunties, and they kept thanking us profusely. It really touched our hearts.

(Filling the coffee in a recyclable mug)

After the campaign, we managed to get some collaboration requests. Unfortunately, Bernice and Cassandra will be graduating soon, so we were unable to accede to some of the opportunities (I don't think I can handle it myself LOL). I am very sorry. However, I still want to give thanks to all of them because the recognition that they had given us showed that our campaign was really quite successful. It was really an achievement unlocked. I walked out of my comfort zone, and even tried my hands at being an event organiser. It felt rewarding.

I am grateful to be given such an opportunity, and would like to thank everyone for being a part of this - my family and friends, my supervisor and the school staff, the sponsorship companies and the participants. :D I want to especially thank my campaign team mates, Bernice and Cassandra, for travelling down this path with me. We took the road less traveled by (there were not many people who organized such big-scale campaigns in school), but that has made all the difference.

When your heart stays out all night

but rises early in the morning.

Laughing, crying and good stories to

tell about how love tastes at

different hours.