My Splendid Weekend I

Time surely does fly when you’re enjoying yourself! Hee :) I’ve had such a smashing time over the last week or so that I barely noticed the days going by. I go to bed when I feel like it (mostly 4AM these days) and get up when I’ve slept enough (usually between 11:30AM to 1PM). No pressure for me to get up at a fixed time to do anything at all! :)) I wonder how soon it will be when I tire of luxuriating in obscene swathes of free time, but I’m definitely in no hurry to throw myself back into the pressure cooker world out there. For now, I feel like I’ve withdrawn into my safe little oyster shell, living life one day at a time for now rather than perpetually worried about the big picture of Life.

I’m sitting here in the darkness of my living room in the late afternoon overcast shade trying to post something coherent and sort out all my pictures from the weekend! Clem’s snoozing as I type and I’m supposed to wake him for American Idol in a bit. Was intending to go for a spot of shopping today, but seems like he isn’t feeling too good so have to put that on hold for now :(

Anyhoots!

Last weekend was particularly splendid :) My weekend got off to a wonderful start with drinks at Walas with the Pynchon gang (at Teh’s behest actually, but it was rather good in the end, happily.) I wanted to bring the DSLR but was a tad lazy to lug it around, so packed my compact into my bag instead. Wish I’d brought the DSLR though cos the picture quality would have been so much better! That being said, I was too lazy to bring the DLSR out the entire weekend, so the entire batch of pics I have for you today are all from the compact, which does not take good pictures in low lighting – as I remembered to my horror :/

Gosh I’m blathering on and on! I shall stop and show you pictures of Friday night, all the way from dinner with the boyf to drinks thereafter with the Pynchon people.

Dee & meeeee! :)

We both look so happeeee heehee

Like this pic!!

This pic does not do Teh justice I think haha. Or any of us, for that matter ;)

Dinner before Walas with the boyf at the Dome at Lido.

 

He was completely ignoring me while flipping through some furniture mag! >:(

Ohgosh this is the start of all his awful faces...

 

My steak! Pretty good imo, but not enough sauce only.

Clem dug into his fish almost immediately so couldn't get a pic of it before he cut it up badly!

Fruits-of-the-Forest cheesecake for dessert :) I <3 anything with berries!

Haha I managed to convince Clem to stop digging into his fish for long enough to snap a few peeks for me :D

***

Chicago at the Esplanade the next day with the boyf! It was oh-so-gooooood :):) Maybe not like mind-blowingly fantastic but it was entertaining as hell! Love dressing up for Esplanade shows, culture is certainly worth gussying up for hee :P I was telling Clem that boys would probably LOVE Chicago, if not for the sexy numbers, then most definitely for the lingerie costumes haha. Fishnets and lacey little things and satin slips and all. I was afraid we would fall asleep like we did at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats last year (omg I can’t believe I’m admitting it, but yes it’s a sad fact and I’m ashamed of myself), and I kept prodding Clem to make sure he was awake throughout the show! Hee. And the thing that I was mighty chuffed about was the fact that we got upgraded to Cat A seats free of charge! :)) Not enough people bought the expensive tix I reckon, so they were trying to pack people into the centre so that it wouldn't look too distressingly empty.. Now why can't every show we watch at the Esplanade be like that! Haha.

I was doing my usual thang in the car as Clem drove :P

I was half contemplating trying to pose like Roxie Hart in the poster, but knew I would be epic fail even before I tried so didn't even bother to! Haha!

Lunch at Ichiban-Boshi before the show started. :)

Love the sushi selection there more than anywhere else!

Here I am trying not too look as though I'm gonna drop the knife/spill wasabi on myself.

I think you can never go far wrong with inari or soft shell crab handroll. :)

And this delectable combination of salmon and cheese is one of the reasons why I keep wanting to go back to Ichiban-Boshi!

So we came out of the show to this slightly strange sight of eerie-looking white plastic bags floating in their exhibition. This is just one of those things about modern art that I'm not too sure about.. Heh.

We were all snazzed up for the day weren't we! :)

<3

***

Okay shall pause here and post about part two of my happs weekend later in the week! American Idol’s starting, must somehow wake the boyf up – he’s snoring like a log. And randomly, I’ve been shopping like there’s no tomorrow. My new bag just came in the mail today yay! :D:D

I need to tell myself to STOP cos there’s the whole of Zara, Mango, Topshop, River Island, New Look, and most importantly, H&M(!!!!!!) to buy in Europe!!!!!!!

I love the after-feeling of Spring Cleaning :)

Cleaned out one of my cupboards last night, and filled up 4 bags with my unwanted clothes so far (!!!), going back upstairs soon to clear out my other cupboard! Midnight cupboard clearing made for runny sinuses and puffy eyes, and I foresee worse to come with my afternoon session. Heh. Cleared out two NTUC bags of shoes, one bag of spoilt, cannot-make-it-anymore shoes which I threw away already, another bag of still-okay-but-I-don't-want-them-anymore shoes which I might bring down to my flea clearance. Haha I'm talking abt the flea as though I already booked a stall, but I actually haven't! I'm so delusional right. Ha.

After I tackle the cupboard, I'm gonna move on to be ruthless about throwing away accessories which I don't use anymore. (Note to self: procure rubbing alcohol somehow to sterilize some old earrings that I want to wear again) Belts, jewelery, hair accessories - I'm gonna sort them out tonight. Hopefully my life will be in a bit more order by tomorrow! I dare not think about my bookshelves yet (which are exploding btw), and I'll move on to that next week I think.

The key thing is to be really cold-hearted and ruthless in throwing unwanted things away: I need to remember that memorabilia is just any word for "junk". Perhaps, it's also time to throw away all notes. I'm such a hoarder, I've kept my notes from all the way back when I was in my first sem in NUS, until now! - Carefully boxing them up, labelling the boxes... What use are those notes now? I think it's time to throw them away :( 

Afternoon session of cupboard cleaning, here I comeeeeeeeee!

OH YES. I found my ipod in one of my other bags last night. Wheeeee!

Meloves peekture posts!

First day of life after exams and I enjoyed every minute of today :) 

Massive picture spammage in this post cos I haven't had time to update properly since I was trying hard to sort of be a student. Heh.

We had a proper post-exam outing yesterday but no pictures cos was lazy to lug my camera around + my compact wasn't charged. Dinner at Sushi-Tei at Holland V (I LOVE SASHIMI SALAD NOWWWW) then headed to town to do some shoe shopping :D Bought two pairs of shoes and am very happy! No pics of that for now but will take nice nice photos of my buys later tonight after I do a bit of room cleaning and wardrobe cleaning!

Peektures of last Friday's pre-end-of-exam Iron Man 2 movie outing!

I know I'm damn narcissistic, but my blog = my space = can be absolutely shameless. Hee :D

He likes to scrunch his face up everytime I try to take a pic of him!

The black pepper pie I brought for Clem for his lunch! Quite delish actually :)

Happy us after the movie! Not the best, but good fun anw. 

My supposedly "famous Scotts Road" beef noodles dinner from the Ion foodcourt. 

It really sucked btw. Beef was tough, soup was NOT tasty.. 

Give me Hock Lam beef noodles at Kovan, any day!

More narcissism hee!

After my hair cut at FEP :)

Was drawn to the roses at Ion, just outside the train gantries! So Chanel-esque don't you think?

***

Met Cheryl for lunch at Ion and had delish ramen :) Didn't bring my camera though so I dug up some pics of our previous lunch date! Wish I brought my camera today though but forgot to charge the battery of my Sony compact cam and didn't feel like bringing my Canon DSLR baby out, so went camera-less today! I will remember to charge the batt of my compact before I next meet Cheryl though.. Pictures with her are precious cos I don't get to see her very often! She dropped me off at tuition after lunch in a cab, and came back after tuition to do some laundry. Had to wash my dress that I intend to wear to Chicago this Sat! :D:D I know my priorities are all screwed up right haha. Now I'm just sitting in front of the TV not really watching anything in particular and trying to get photobucket to cooperate with me. 

Omg must have been the CNY eating :/

Can see my tummy peeking out :(

See you again soon, dearest!

***

Some reviews of clothes I received in the mail today, from runwaydiva! Was on backorder since CNY, and am v happy to finally receive my dresses :) 

The material of this dress is really good, I can't describe how happy I am with it! Mixture of silk and chiffon, really smooth and nice :) I realise my wardrobe is full of darker colours, probably cos it makes for better contrast with my fair skin! I have a love-hate relationship with Spring/Summer fashion, cos the pastel colours are really yummy and girly, but more often than not doesn't really look good on my skin :( Shall show some of my current season clothes in my subsequent posts!

Very pretty, rich purple colour. As I said above, brings out the fairness of my skintone beautifully. Too short for work though, but still, I like this! Love the girly ruffles at the neckline :)

An older review of my bonitochico angel-sleeve burn out top in blue! Very nice, soft material, very good for disgusting sg weather these day (humid, sticky, and icky) Not very fitting, but it's fine, can tuck in! Was contemplating getting it in other colours on backorder as well, but stopped myself cos I need to get more work wear! 

***

Okay that's it for my picture overloaded post.
Apologies for such a disjointed post! My attention is split many many ways at the moment!

Chief on my mind is the need to grieve for my lost ipod :(

That, or search for it. Sigh. Such a bummer :(

A lousy last paper shall not thwart my long term plan!

My last paper today was bad, and that's putting it rather mildly. Who the hell has the time or brain capacity to remember specifics in an Arts course?! Needless to say, I did NOT memorize specific details, which has led to this uncomfortable position of knowing it would have been an easy exam if I had.

Whatevs I'm not gonna moan over it now, I will deal with the consequences of everything (frequent absences from Patke's class being one of the main issues I need to take responsibility for, that, and hardly doing my Pynchon readings and being a lousy sorry excuse of a student overall) come June. That being all said and done, I spent a happy hour this morning on the bus texting the friends I want to see now that I don't have to pretend to be a student anymore. My social life is in tatters (for this pathetic semester, why did I do that?!) and I'm hoping my friends remember who I am. Ha.

Am such a loser! Sitting in the lib now waiting for Bonitochico's 5pm launch and reading Fahrenheit 451 for tuition tomorrow (note to self: have to be a better tuition teacher now that I no longer have exams to steal my attention away!) I'm actually looking forward to the MOE stint when I come back Europe! :):) And, for the whole of this week and next week, I'll be devoting my time to reading tonnes of Children's Lit material in the hopes of narrowing my HT topic a bit - am gonna start working on the thesis before I leave for Europe! Hopefully, if I play my cards right, I'll have a lighter sem next sem, and can concentrate on getting the bunch of As I need for the 2 level 3K lit classes I'll be doing alongside my 15MC HT. I know the HT is my cup of tea, so I cannot take it too lightly. If, if, I do everything as planned, the following permutations for next semester's grades will take me up to the second upper I need:

1) An A for my thesis and two B+s for the level 3K mods
2) A B+ for my thesis and two As for the level 3Ks
3) A-s for all three.

That is assuming I get an A and A- for the lit mods this sem, and an A, A- and B+ for the new media mods this sem. OKAY enough speculation!! 3 minutes to 5pm, and then I'm off to meet Clem at Holland V for dinner! :) Will update this space for peeks of last Friday's Iron Man 2 outing when I get home tonight! :)

Today is one of those days where I totally despise me.

GROUCHY, but I do not live in a garbage can.

Am kinda disappointed with my A- for the Utopias essay - was REALLYFRICKINGHUGELY needing an A for it, cos I think the presentation really SUCKED SHIT and my attendance is like "is she even enrolled in this class". My first test was so-so, prolly a B or B+ if I'm lucky. Final test was not too bad, either A- or A.. So the essay would have been the clincher here. I AM FRUSTRATED WITH MYSELF. If only my argument had that little bit tighter, my ideas that little bit more organized and developed properly. If only I hadn't assumed I'd write a killer essay just because I usually do.

Curiosity killed the cat, so they say.
Complacency kills the Kelly, now I know :(

Am scared shitless for the Pynchon essay now. 50% and I think it's WORSE than the Utopias one. FML ohmagawddd.

In other news, I got a 20/20 for my Governance research paper and 9/10 for the presentation. How is that even possible right! Unless everyone got 30/30 and I'm right at the bottom or something. :( OKAY I'm freaking myself out I shall stop.

Some of my outfits of the day this week, simply because I'm too tired to blog abt anything else or try to study.

  Wore this to my exam this afternoon. 

Was too lazy to want to dress up too much so just hid myself under a flowy, billowy top. 

I love my high-waisted shorts!! :)) And my Bimba + Lola leather bag, it's super pretty and goes with practically everything :) 

I need to funk up my colour palette a bit I think.

And I'm all sorts of tired, and therefore on edge now :(

Don't feel like studying for Governance paper AT ALL.

So You Think You Can Dance - and I really wish I could :)

I just watched the rerun of the finale of So You Think You Can Dance, and am totally in love with the final dance by Kathryn & Jakob. It made me all choked and touched, can you imagine! So beautiful, and I love Kathryn's movement.

Here's the vid of it, I'm not sure if you can view it from here but do watch it if you can!



It's amazing, I'm really not kidding. This, coming from a non-dancer! And the final tender moment when she runs over to hold his face after he thrashes on the ground, omg. Beautiful.






This was another of my favourite dances from the show, the Mr and Mrs Smith-like contemp piece by Ellenore & Legacy. I didn't like it so much the 1st time I saw it a couple of weeks back, but after seeing it again today, I have to agree with the judges that it's one of the most memorable performances of the season. It's so dangerous and sensual at the same time, it's really exciting to watch!


If I had more time and no Advertising paper to study for, I'd surely search through Youtube for more of my favourite dances from the show. Loved every week of it! Sometimes, I enjoy it more than American Idol, cos it seems like this season of AI isn't that fantastic anyway. The dances evoke a different kind of emotion from me, from somewhere deeper inside, and I like losing myself in the dance pieces week after week. :) Okay so maybe it's the novelty of it, cos I haven't really been following the series.. But I'll enjoy the novelty while it lasts then. :)

1-nil

Today marked the beginning of my three exams - and I'm sad to say that the scoreline of the Kelly vs NUS game currently stands at 1-nil, with the point going to NUS. I'm dead tired after the paper this morning (yes even though it was only an MCQ paper), and remained dead tired and extremely unmotivated until after dinner today.

Advertising exam on Wednesday does not bode well, and I fear the goal difference will increase by another by the middle of tomorrow. :(

Wish me luck.

The sun did come up, today.

Tonight, I feel a lot more inspired and positive than I have felt in a long time.
Could have to do with the fact that I've actually been fairly productive today, study-wise!
Could also have to do with the fact that I'm starting to not care so much. I mean, I don't have to repeat my class-topping feat again, I just have to do well enough to get an A. It's just there beyond my reach, I know I can do it. If I really do want to teach, I'll need to get a second upper - a couple of hundred bucks in pay every month adds up in a year!

The brokeness isn't bothering me as much anymore. Money is not the be all and end all anyway. I can always earn it back - which is what I'm doing when I come back to Singapore, anyway.

Yessiree, I'm starting to feel good about myself! So much to be optimistic about, I shouldn't be caught up in my myopic struggles in studying. If anything, I actually prefer studying to writing reports and essays, so that's one thing to be thankful for. :)

Okay shall continue studying for Advertising (have shucked PR aside for today already, cannot neglect Advertising!!) before catching Rurouni Kenshin on Animax at 2.30am :D One of my all time fave animes, loved it to the max when I was growing up. Feels good to relive those days, if only for half an hour each day only :)

Let it be.

The days are really slipping through my fingers, like fine silt-like sand, and I have no idea where the week has gone. The week that seemed to yawn ahead of me on Monday has compressed and fast-forwarded itself to Thursday and I am awfully, dreadfully behind on my studying - especially where Advertising is concerned.

I must not let my high score during the mid-term let me get complacent and assume that I'll do just as well for the exam, cos that will not happen by itself. I fear I'm on my way to falling into that trap, and I'm trying hard to fight my way out of the insidious trap of placid complacency. I know I'm not the best, far from it, and I need to keep reminding myself of how lousy I really am in most aspects, if only to push myself all the harder. I do admit, I tend to be slightly harsh on myself, but that's probably the way I function. But this method has bred a deep sense of insecurity and (perhaps even) a certain kind of self-loathing, which I suspect are not very healthy side-effects.. So many things I wish I could be, you have no idea. I pick on what I lack, hardly ever being grateful for the little (or what I perceive as little, anyway) I have, bewildered at why you would even waste your time with a nobody like me.. And I know this isn't healthy, this belittling of myself. And I try to recognise my strengths, try to see myself from your eyes - but I can't.

Times like these, when the odds threaten to overwhelm me (many things depress me at the moment: top two of which include my veryvery broke state after having paid for my accommodation and air/rail tickets for Europe, and my pathetic state of studying for my exams), I have to tell myself to let it be.

credits: flickr.com

& when the broken-hearted people living in the world agree,

There will be an answer,

Let it be.

For though they may be parted, 

There's still a chance that they will see.

There will be an answer,

Let it be.

credits: flickr.com

If only I had more time to blog, this title would be way more useful!

I tried to study hard today, I really truly did. :(
It's so hard, my body doesn't want to co-operate with my brain. I still feel like I'm on a well-deserved break, which is so not the case!! Exams begin next week, I need to keep reminding myself of that fact.
And, I am so broke now, after changing money for my Euro-trip this May/June. Not funny.

Thank goodness to the max that I got the MOE teaching internship stint in June/July to look forward to! Will see a bit of stable cash flowing in, plus, I get to go back to IJ to teach - the best part of the whole thing, in my opinion! I'm seriously quite excited to go back to IJ, I spent the best 7 years of my life there, and if I ever do decide to go into teaching, I'd want to go back there eventually to the place that most made me who I am today. Will blog more abt all of that again soon, cos I really have to be getting back to my PR text.

In other news, the new BTO flats in Punggol were launched today... And Clem & I have applied for this round! Quite excited about this too, and will have to blog about this in yet another post.. But we were talking about our future plans over a warm cup of soymilk each just now, and I can't wait for our life together to begin for real. So much to look forward to - overseas postgrad education (hopefully in some big city like New York!), our (hopefully!!!!) new prospective home, career plans.. My silly three exams left pale in comparison!

credits: http://www.hdb.gov.sg

Okay I know wrong time to have this kind of attitude. So will stop my musing now, and continue another time when I have the time and am at liberty, without the prospect of a quickly-going-awry study timetable breathing down my poor neck.

Say hello to OFTD Installment 1!

EDIT: added more outfits! :)

So I promised I'd start blogging abt my outfits, so I figured why not today since I'm so uninspired to do anything else. Haha. Partly cos I'm determined to reclaim control over my renegade wardrobe again (it's seriously like a blackhole in there - I just have too damn many clothes), and partly cos I'm bored!

I received these two items over the weekend in my mailbox, so will start with these - easy peasy!

This one here is a dress I bought from hollyhoque, from their latest collection. It looked so good on the website that I HAD to get it! Love this shade of pink TTM now, have so many pieces of clothing in this shade of dusty pink in my wardrobe now. :D

Second outfit's something that I really like to do these days - tucking my top into a something high-waisted below! So old school right haha. But it suits me better than the low-waisted bottoms of a couple of years back, since I'm such a pear shape and my hips are the bane of my existence. I'm also liking this colour combination a lot: black, white, and mustard - it's fast becoming one of my all-time fave colour combis for outfits.

I'm not sure if you can see the lace portion of this black dress, but it's there, & I'm liking that a lot! (Am very into lace these days). Also, the dusty peach pink hobo bag is one of my fave colours this spring, and my bag collection ranges from structured to slouchy.

This hobo belongs to the latter and it's one of my everyday bags :)

I heart this skirt TTM!! Can't wait to dress it up for work, or down with a ribbed tank top :) Planning to bring it with me for my Euro-trip! :)

Some of the dresses I wore for my presentations last week. Check out the lovely back of the first dress, from agneselle! Threw a black blazer over during the presentations, took the blazer off while walking around in school. Blazers are starting to become a staple in my wardrobe. More about my beloved blazers another post!

Another work piece I wore for the Advertising Charles & Keith photoshoot thingy (thankgoodness for big sunnies that hide half my face so I actually look half-decent).
I actually like this dress a lot, even though it's a bit formal for everyday wear in school. But I reckon once I start working, dresses like that would start to develop a close relationship with me. :P



HAHA okay I have only these for today. :D
Back to work reading my CSR stuff for PR!