2014: #yolo

Last post of 2014 before this was in July. So many things happened since then. But (I know I write this every year in my summing up posts) 2014, was my most epic year ever. Did some things that I wished I didn't do and some that I wished I tried earlier. A whole lot of firsts and a whole lot of travelling as well. Lost some friends and made some new ones. Probably did not start and end with the same group of friends but I'm thankful that some friends remained. This year did not went by with it's ups and downs. And there was probably more downs than ups but I think I've matured more over this year. But the whole concept of 2014 seems to be living up to the hash tag #yolo.

So 2014.. (getting all these from my Instagram posts and my occasional blog posts by the way)

HAIR
Started off 2014 with my newly dyed purple hair but then it faded off to red then to an unidentifiable shade which was a mix of brown, red and orange. Kinda got scolded for it by the Regional Manager and was given 2 weeks to redye it but nope I didn't. Finally used a blue dye to redye my hair but it turned out some turquoise shade and then it became green and then now some areas are ashy green and some brown. What a bummer. Thinking of just bleaching the insides soon. Like really just blonde. We'll see.

FAMILY
It was not a good start to the year with some issues that bothered me and sad to say that several things happened in November 2014 which was almost similar to the occurrence in November 2013. Hoping that it will all just be in the past.

SCHOOL
School was fun and I miss it so much. Enjoyed myself with my classmates as usual. Was forced to take a politics class which sucks but thank god I passed that module. Really love some of the modules. Like TV Journalism. Dabbled with using cameras and of course being a newscaster for a day. And nailing it in one take. Probably have the best attendance in TV Journalism as compared to my other modules as it was pretty fun. On usual lesson day it was always my group and the boys group attending the afternoon session while the rest went for the morning session. When the class is with lesser people (although generally my class is pretty small) it was always way more fun as we get to try out everything and Molly gave us all her attention. Had to do some filming, going round with the camera and tripod is no joke and had to interview S as well but all's good.

Had a mock press conference for a module and it was pretty fun. Was in the events team and it made me realised how fun events was. Obviously has its challenges but I think the whole 'press conference' went pretty well even though we had quite a short time to prepare for it.

Did not exactly end my university time with the Distinctions I hoped for. But well, I've graduated. And that's the most important thing.

WORK
Still working at Forever New. It's gonna be my 2 years anniversary in February. PLEASE DON'T LET ME STAY FOR THAT LONG. Got closer to my Forever New girls. However, we all drifted apart after the Raffles City outlet closed down for relocation and most of us were transferred out while others left the company. It is kind of sad thinking about it but well people change, life changes and we all have to move on. Nothing stays the same for long, really. Although old Raffles was really way more fun. I actually enjoyed work at that point of time. Random dancing and being silly and I can totally be myself.

Helped out with the moving out of Raffles. Half a day of packing and we were pretty much done. I was having mixed feelings about seeing the store all stripped down. I guess a part of me was excited as I thought the new Raffles will be better and I will continue to work with the girls but nope, didn't happen. And obviously I was sad cuz somehow I've got a feeling that it will never be the same anymore.

Was transferred to Tampines. There are really nice people working there and they made me feel welcomed but I have no attachments with them whatsoever so when it was time to be transferred back to the new Raffles, I wasn't feeling that sad. Oh and I helped out at Wisma outlet for 2 weeks as well. It was the start of hectic work schedules. Working everyday, back to back full shifts and working as though I'm a full timer.

Helped out with the moving in of new Raffles. Let's just say Raffles is not how it used to be. No more hitting targets, no more good sales and IPS everyday without even trying and of course no more being silly and being random. Only maybe when I'm working with I. And I honestly cannot wait to leave the company and I'm anxiously waiting for interview calls. Applied for a whole bunch but I'm going to apply for more after this. I mean one is bound to call me up right?

FRIENDS
Pretty much stayed close to the C1 girls. F, M, R and N. Although I'm just close to F, M and R mostly. Was invited to M's house for a Bbq session and it was pretty awesome. The food was just... sooo good. Hung out with F, M and R on separate occasions. But we all had a sleepover along with N. Cooked pasta, seaweed chicken, watched movies, ate B&J's and baked salted caramel cupcakes. Not really as nice as expected but well, A for effort. The Woodlands gang consisting of me, F and R probably met up the most. Just random, 'Eh I feel like eating Kway teow. Meet at Causeway Point?' Went to M's house again for sort of belated Deepavali dinner. And as usual, awesome food. We ended up just chit chatting and laughing for the longest time ever. Annual Christmas steamboat dinner at M's. And we ended up wearing her Limecrime lipstick.

But I am still very glad that I'm in C2 as they are the best company that I can ask for in school and out of school. Stayed out quite a bit with them and it was all fun. Plus all the impromptu karaoke and PV hangouts. Mainly hanging out till late with J and E was the most fun I guess. I have no idea what we did or talked about but I'm pretty sure we spent a lot of time together. Miss those days of just impromptu hanging out after school when I'm not working. But again, life has to go on and I cannot expect everything to remain the same anymore.

Glad to have still stayed friends with D. Longest friendship ever. Since we were 10! Which makes it... 14 years this year. She's probably my best travel buddy. Will hopefully do more travelling this 2015 with her.

Still thankful that I keep in touch with my GE friends. Met up with JL occasionally for Starbucks and sometimes with the rest of the gang. Every meetup is always full of laughter I don't know how we do it.

Stayed pretty close to the dance girls. Mainly the four girls S, Y, A and W. Randomly meeting up with Y for dinner and such. Slept over at S's house and we cooked some small food with her microwave and the air fryer thingy and ate instant noodles.

As mentioned earlier, gotten closer then drifted apart from the FN girls. First there was the Ghetto 2am group which first consisted of S, S and I and me. And then we roped in F. We got a lot closer with all the silly group conversations and of course bonded at work with random dancing and such. I got closer to S as well. Hanging out with her a couple of times. Watching movies and eating good food and htht. But well it did not last. Then there was the 'Omg its so lavly' group which was the whole bunch of girls. Not much conversations anymore but really treasure the memories that I have with them.

CELEBRATIONS
Remembered celebrating Chinese New Year the previous year and did it again this year. Went to Isabel's house this time round. They played blackjack while I watched and I think we ended up going to karaoke after the visiting; just like the previous year.

Planned a pretty good birthday celebration for S but it failed terribly. It was a night picnic with all the good food and it was a surprise but it rained and Botanic Gardens had awful mosquitoes all over the sheltered areas so no go. We ended up having a picnic beside the Esplanade open stage. I swear some people though we were pinoys or something.

Hari Raya was hectic this year. As usual it falls on the last week of the trimester so juggling work, assignments and raya preparations was hell. And I only went for visiting for 2 days. But I did managed to bake 2 kinds of kuihs! Invited the classmates over for raya. Played monopoly, ate laksa, went to the park and got checked by police officers. It was kinda funny cuz while we were playing monopoly we keep going 'Go to jail, go to jail' and suddenly we were checked by the police cuz apparently we were making too much noise too late at night. Like what are the odds?

I'm happy to say that this 23rd birthday have got to be the most memorable one ever. Firstly, a staycation with all the FN girls. As it was very hard to get everyone free at the same day, it was really a huge achievement that we were able to do this. We booked the Carlton Hotel since it was near Raffles City and some of them had work. I was in the room the whole time cuz well I'm lazy that way and hello it was my birthday. So when most them went down to 'help' S rack at the store I didn't think much about it. But it turns out that they were preparing a cake and planning to come in the hotel at 12am exactly. Wasn't expecting it so I cried. Yes, I'm lame and emotional. And we had like a major slumber party of eating and chit chatting the whole time. We wanted to swim at first but just our (bad) luck the pool was under renovations so we were sad and all but S managed to get us in Marina Bay Sand infinity pool through her friend! It was mad awesome. Swimming and just lounging around. Went back to the store to put my stuffs and changed as it was clubbing to end the night. I will not disclose it here, but it was the most epic clubbing trip ever. Came home after 3 whole days of celebration. Met up with R and she baked cupcakes for me. And then celebrated with my dance girls. Hugeass balloon, good food and cakes and karaoke. Also met up with the GE gang to have dinner and desserts. Wasn't the complete gang but I had fun as usual. My birthday celebrations pretty much lasted almost a month. The FN girls bought for me a ukulele and the dance girls a C&K wallet. Both gifts I requested.

Seri got engaged and we were invited to come to her engagement ceremony. The food was so good and I sort of ended up being her bridesmaid for her wedding in 2016!

Another staycation to celebrate S's cousin's birthday. Not a night worth mentioning as it was absolute nonsense.

Graduation! Overpriced and all but hey once in a lifetime right? And it was a chance to meet my classmates. Although not all attended. Went to eat, karaoke, eat some more and watched football while waiting for P. P had to fly back the day after and it was sad. That day was like the official goodbye or something.

Was invited to R's wedding. Went with K and A and it was a blast. The food was really awesome. I think that I'm so deprived from malay weddings that when I do go I do enjoy myself. But I don't really like to go relative's one for some reason.

Celebrated New Year's Eve at M's place with the rest of the dance girls. We karaoke-d first as M have mics and smart TV so we can totally search for songs on YouTube on her TV and sing from there. I MEAN HOW AWESOME IS THAT? You can sing all the latest songs and it's free! Bought food back to her house and was it good or what? I'm so obsessed with salted egg squid and fried chicken it's not funny. Unhealthy much? Played monopoly deal while drinking and then watched the countdown and wanted to watch a movie but didn't get to find the full link and I didn't really watch it. Reached home at around 5am and as usual I was working at 12.30 the following day.

TRAVEL
Went to Jakarta and Bandung with R, S and P. It was kinda impromptu if I remembered correctly. Like we didn't plan for months but just decided to randomly go on the one week break (or was it 2 weeks) that we had from school. Stayed at P's house, took the bus to Bandung on our 2nd night, spent one day in Bandung, ate a whole lot of good and cheap food (nasi padang ftw), cheap massage and did some shopping as well. Oh and it was my first time taking a flight.

Went to Korea with K and JL. Another super impromptu moment. How it happened HERE. We booked the flights 2 weeks before. 2 WEEKS. And I'm glad to say that I had fun. Although I wished that I didn't have to rely on the other two financially. But yeah, shopping, food and company was awesome. The boys keep bickering with each other though. Although till now I'm very surprised that my mum let me go, I'm glad she did. The best place have got to be Hongdae. And a few must tries: Jajangmyeon, fish cake (the along the street kind not at Gwangjang), cold noodles and ramen. Even their ramen is so good. It doesn't make sense. Our hotel was really good as well and sharing the room with 2 boys was no problem at all. And I touched down in Singapore at 9am, didn't get to sleep the whole flight plus 7h of transit and went to work at 12.30pm. See, yolo.

Bintan with the classmates. Or majority of. R, P, S, E, J, A and Z. Had a really good 3D2N with them. Although the mosquitoes are vicious. I had bites all over my face! This was supposed to be our graduation trip. Because well, we are all busy people and it was really hard to find a common free time so might as well go somewhere near and cheap. Nevertheless, it was the company that matters. The few days that we were there, it was like spending time with family as we all cooked together and obviously did everything together. But I think it was the cooking meals part that was really heartwarming. Didn't do all the jetski and atv shit cuz it was fucking expensive so we karaoke-d, played at the beach and swimming pool, golf, archery, foosball and table tennis. Oh and driving the buggy was so much fun although the boys were condemning my driving. But hey, everyone's still alive. And at the end of the trip, I knew that it will probably be the last time that we will ever spend time together. I mean we can always plan outings but what are the odds of it happening? Or more like we will never know whether we will ever have the same kind of gathering ever again. Granted that we'll meet during graduation but it really felt like the last time.

Bangkok with D and S. This was kinda planned I guess? We booked the tickets and accommodation like 2 months before. But it was mad expensive as it was peak period. Although S and D didn't know each other, they got along pretty well I guess. The hotel was not a popular one but for $30/night it wasn't bad at all. I managed to get undisturbed sleep as I brought ear plugs and we each have a single bed so I wasn't effected by any of their movements. After months of not shopping, I finally did some shopping and god did I spend a lot. Changed $450 in total and I finished it. For shopping, food, transport and massage. Must try in BKK: fried chicken, pad thai, mango sticky rice, tom yum soup and their milk tea.

FIRSTS AND YOLO MOMENTS
Had my first 'friendship bracelet' with my dance girls. Cannot remember whether I had one before so I shall take this as my first. But I think I'm the only one wearing it now (insert scowling emoji).

Tried different types of footwear instead of usual sandals, sneakers or slippers. And now I'm really loving platforms and boots. Although my platforms have fallen apart, I need to get a new one asap.

First time karaoke-ing at Teo Heng @ Rendezvous Hotel with the big sis. Pretty good place. But teo heng is always always always packed, it's annoying.

Played darts for the first time at Beer Market. And I totally love it. Food is not bad either and I think we played pool once there and I've never liked pool but maybe it's cuz I pretty much suck in it.

First time taking flight. 3 times at that.

Watching a football match at a pub with F, E, J. And obviously it was a Liverpool match. Not too bad I guess but I'm still not a football fan, thanks.

Played futsal with the classmates for the first time. It was after our sucky Politics exam (the only proper exam we had for the 2 years). I kinda enjoyed myself. Although my stamina sucks and me being clumsy, fell a couple of times.

Had my first beer in Korea. I know I said I won't start drinking. The one reason for not doing it before was probably the thought of 'How if I liked it and cannot stop'. And it's partly true. Really like whiskey. I don't know whether it is a blessing or a curse but my tolerance is high, extremely high. The latest attempt to test my limit was New Year's Eve and I drank half a bottle of vodka. Granted I drank with coke but it was like 9/10 vodka and 1/10 coke. Wasn't even high probably just a little sick and lightheaded so I didn't want to experiment further. Went to work with a hangover on New Year.

Went clubbing. Zouk/Velvet with S and V, Attica with J, E and F, Zouk/Velvet with S and V, Zouk/Velvet with S and H. I really do like clubbing for the dancing and just having fun but hate how much it costs. Cover costs, cab costs, drinks costs. Not a lifestyle that I can upkeep. And yes, I went only 4 times I have no idea why everyone thinks I'm a clubbing freak. But yeah, every of my clubbing trip has its epic story so maybe that's why.

TAKING THE GMAX. Super duper fun. Every time when me and classmates hang out, we will always say that we're going to take the GMax at Clarke Quay once and we told ourselves to do it on the last day of school and we really did. Okay just me, R, P, E and J. S and Z didn't dare to take it. Kinda short but it was exhilarating and so so fun. Planned to take the other one after our graduation but well, didn't happen.

Tried MMA for the first time. Thanks to J's overflowing interest in it. It was pretty fun but mad tiring. My stamina and strength is just absolute shit really.

Started smoking and I must say that I find it therapeutic. It was especially so during the November period. But again, not a lifestyle that I can upkeep cuz Marlboros are not cheap, bro. And those are the only ones I like. So right now I think I've been clean for almost 2 months.

Started dabbling with lipsticks. And kinda liking it. I have 4 lipsticks now.

FOOD
Tried eating chili crabs at a few places: Woodlands Waterfront (so so, but expensive, halal though), Chai Chee Seafood Restaurant (better and slightly cheaper and still halal), somewhere along Boat Quay (not bad, not halal but the cheapest)

Plain Vanilla (Tiong Bahru). BEST CUPCAKES EVER. Like no kidding. The salted caramel is so good and the other flavours are pretty good too. Cannot believe that this place was only discovered during my second year of University.

PS. Cafe (Paragon). Ate the desserts with S. Pretty good but nothing special. Remembered the chocolate cake to be super chocolatey,

Spize (Bedok). Pretty good place for supper. Should have tried the Kway Teow. I cannot remember what I ate cuz I only have a picture of satay.

Baskin Robbins (JEM). No idea why I've never eaten it before this. Love the one with cookie dough.

PoTeaTo (Tiong Bahru). Another cafe that was discovered late in Tiong Bahru. Only tried the fried and popcorn chicken so nothing special. But nice atmosphere.

Bricks 'N' Cubes Cafe (The Cathay). Only ate the ice cream there. And doesn't ice cream all tastes the same? So yeah nothing new.

Amirah's Grill Restaurant & Cafe (Arab Street). Had a random meetup with K and S and we went to eat Seoul Garden and this was dinner. Not bad cuz anything with fish is good.

Cafe Ergo Sum (Duxton Hill). Wanted to try something else initially but it was close so we went here instead. Not bad food from what I remembered!

I Am Cafe (Haji Lane). Went with S and I. Before that was karaoke and I remembered that I was supposed to be staying home to do an assignment that was due the previous day but #yolo. I ate fish & chips and some cakes. Not too bad I guess. But overrated. Just cuz it's halal.

Minds Cafe (Funan Digitalife Mall). Not my first time here but my first time trying the food and the tom yum chicken was exceptionally good.

Beer Market (Clarke Quay). Pretty good side dishes. Didn't try the drinks (was still saint at this point of time). Mainly to play darts and pool.

Lola's Cafe (Kovan). Went here to celebrate A's birthday. Main food was meh but the starters was good. The wings and the cheese fries that is.

Mu Parlour (Holland V). Tried eggs benedict for the first time. I don't like it very much. Must be the cream. I never liked creamy stuffs ever. S liked it though. She said it was the best eggs benedict she have ever eaten. So it's just me.

Indobox (Ion). Not worth it to eat here. Just go eat at normal coffee shop selling rice and dishes please.

Max Brenner Chocolate Bar (Esplanade). SO GOOD OMG. I need to go there again soon.

Tolido's Espresso Nook (Bugis). It was P's working place and we went there to find her while she was working and waited for her to end work so we ate there as well. The french toasts was pretty good. And I remembered the boys eating other stuffs and it was pretty good too.

Hatched (Holland V). Also with S. Ate a burger I think. But again not worth it cuz 1) I didn't eat the main ingredient of the burger which was mushrooms I think and 2) since when are cafes worth eating?

Nene Chicken (Scape). Bought this for S's birthday and even though we ate it cold, it was pretty good.

Symmetry (Bugis). Truffle fries was good. Considering that I've never liked truffle fries and all. This was to celebrate Weilin's birthday.

D' Good Cafe (Holland V). Can't remember what I ate cuz there was no pictures of food but the cakes was not bad. And the ambiance is pretty good for taking photos.

Tiong Bahru Bakery (Raffles City). Met up with the teevee weevy team cuz A was flying off back to Indonesia that week. Most expensive breakfast I ever had but well, it was fine.

Gelateria Italia (Causeway Point). Wanted to eat waffles and ice cream and randomly went here to eat. Not bad. There was a flavour with alcohol that we tried but I have no idea what was it.

Newton Food Centre (Newton). Ate the usual stingray, squid and prawns and some satay with the FN girls. It was a mixture of awkward and fun but the food wasn't too bad.

Wing Zone (Tampines). Not bad really. But order the wings. The boneless meat is kinda dry. But if you like breast meat then order the boneless ones.

Olive Vine (Esplanade Link). Ordered prawn aglio olio. Not really a big fan of the herbs they use in it but well it's definitely something different and it definitely was not bland.

DANCE
Did not do much dancing this year and did not partake in any performances but I had fun watching some of the performances/competitions.
Some dance events that I went: SDZ Jam Vol. 3, SHHKDT, TPDE GEM 9 (?), TRDO Chapt4, Natasha Studio Recital, R! Recital, SUAD, Waves 19, O School Recital

Overall, 2014 has been a good year. A whole lot of new experiences I must say. I don't do resolutions but I always hope that with every new year, I'll be happier than I was in the previous year and for it to be a fulfilling year. Am currently still searching for a full time job so wish me lots of luck and hopefully 2015 will be the year that I head start my career and enter the working world officially.

PS. Pardon me for all the initials. Too lazy to type out their names.

xx