Not everything has to mean something: July 2016

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Convocation & other things

There's been a flurry of activities over the last couple of weeks, the biggest one mainly our convocation at NTU. To be honest, I didn't think too much of/about it in the weeks leading up to it but now that it's all over, I'm feeling rather pensive. I'm eternally grateful to have been able to study at NTU under the supervision of passionate teaching staff and alongside some of the best people I've ever met. I don't think I've ever enjoyed studying as much as I did in NTU. Those 4 years really gave me a lot of firsts, some bad but mostly good in hindsight. I believe that I'll always treasure the memories.

Moving forward, we've been preparing for Kanika's departure to America. By preparing, I mean mostly emotionally and mentally; which basically consists of ignoring the fact that she will be gone. Denial is always the first step and I'm not quite over that stage yet.

Sunday, July 10, 2016

0147 thoughts

The elation of getting both a place in my university of choice as well as the scholarship has yet to fade and I doubt that it will for a long time. After all, both have been things that I've chased for close to 3 years and to be honest, I'm not sure if it has quite hit me yet, not properly anyway. Moreover, the course only commences in 7 months which is arguably still some time away.

Up until now, I haven't had too many concerns about relocating to another country all by myself. Perth is after all not terribly far away from Singapore, a mere 5 hours flight, and having lived in Australia before, I don't think there'll be too much of a culture shock. Tonight though, having fell into an internet hole for over 5 hours and then suddenly realising that I've been alone in my room for a long time, I suddenly felt kind of lonely and this prompted me to wonder how often those feelings would occur in my time there. If I could be lonely in my bedroom in Singapore, where my loved ones are somewhere nearby or at least within a 1 hour bus ride away, how much more intense would it feel if I were to be an ocean apart from them? It is also important to note that even though I have left home for foreign countries for months on end before, I have always had at least the company of one friend whom also served as a flatmate/room-mate; I've never made the trip completely alone before. Additionally, I would be embarking on a new field entirely. Personally, I feel that the academic rigour that I've been accustomed to has prepared me well for attacking new challenges, but the fact remains that I will be diving into fresh waters and I guess this worries me at least a little.

I think that in the recent 3-4 years, I have really come to understand myself better - how I function, work, and react in most situations. And for the most part, I think that I'll be well and happy. But I do know that I sometimes have a tendency to fall into dark places, though I'm not sure labelling these mood shifts as "dark places" is too dramatic. I guess the only thing that's left is to wait and see. For now I'm still in limbo.

So yes, this is my word vomit for the night.

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Photo Update: 20th - 26th June 2016

New doggy case hehe.

Dinner and catch up with Yee Gin! We forgot to take a picture together ):

Soft friendly doge who lives in my tutee's estate.

Left the house excitedly for my pet-owner's grooming course at AAA and my top broke less than 20mins out of the house lol.

The sight of all these fluffballs cheered me up immensely though!

Siblings! Xiaoxiao the poodle was allocated to me for my lesson hehe.

A baby frenchie just chilling.

My secondary school senior, Valentina, who introduced me to this 2.5 hour course! She's actually learning to be a full time groomer, super cool.

I first learned how to remove her ear hair which is more difficult than it sounds. The trick is to hold the pup firmly so that it can't struggle or jerk (lest you hurt it), I found that quite difficult to do because I felt like I was asserting a fair amount of pressure but she was still able to wriggle her way free. I was also afraid of hurting her because she was so small! The teacher assured me that it would not hurt her at all but I was still scared because of my inexperienced, this took me a good 20mins I think. After removing the ear hair, she showed me how to clean the ears with a cleaning solution, this was a bit easier but the issue with holding the pup still remained, probably because it feels like such an invasive procedure to it. Still, I got through it! That was the toughest part in my opinion.

The next was cutting and buffing of her nails which was mostly easy except for when she refused to sit/stand nicely or tried withdrawing her paw, still, no where as difficult as taking care of the ears. Later, the teacher also showed me how to shave her pawpaws as well as her belly area to ensure that they're clean. It was slightly scary using a blade to cut these areas but mostly not much of a fuss.

All the nitty gritty stuff done and ready for her shower!

Showering isn't really that difficult as I've some experience, and well.. Xiaoxiao is a really tiny dog haha.

Hahahahaha poor bebby. After this I spent a good 30-45 mins blow drying, brushing, and the combing out her fur. I learnt that it's very important to make sure that they're at least 85% dry because otherwise the fur my matt and cause tangles. They had a professional blower which is propped up on its own so you can handle the dog with one hand and brush it with another. It'd be way more difficult if you were doing this at home and had to use up one hand with the hair dryer.

I tried this while babysitting Kino a couple of months ago. My dad/Sam would have to hold on to her while I held the hair dryer and brush, I don't know how I would do it on my own unless there is a safe way to prop up the hair dryer on its own.

All blowed out and brushed prettily!

Thank you for letting me learn how to take care of you qt <3

Leaving the school reluctantly and saying goodbye to the puppers.

Headed over to Kanika's house where she fed me well hehe.

Hahahah we are ridiculous.

After this I headed off to meet Sam for a movie! We didn't take any pictures because we were rushing too much hehe.

Brunch again at my favourite tea place, this time with the FYP girls.

Decided to try their risotto which is my favourite food.

Was kind of disappointed though, they didn't use regular risotto rice and instead substituted it with barely grain. It was alright for a few mouthfuls but started to taste strange after a bit, especially since there weren't any strong flavours in there.

At least the tea didn't disappoint as usual.

Taitais out on the town haha.

Met this little baby named Nicky for the first time under my block! I hope I see him again soon hehe, apparently he has lived here for a couple of years, I wonder why this is only our first meeting!

Came home to an immense dinner prep by my dad lol.

Didn't have any lesson on Friday for a change so I decided to use the time to settle the rest of my syllabus for Term 3.

Happy mahjong time! hehe.

Makisan date with my boy on the weekend, I must say it's starting to become a bit of an obsession lol. Also, my thumb isn't really that stumpy and fat, it's a weird angle lol.

We visited the National Museum! It's been some time since we had gone there so we thought it would be a good opportunity to check out the new exhibits.

Just thought these two ladies looked pretty against the backdrop.

Display made up of old school memoribilla.

Hehehe hi meowmeow.

Spot the dude who said that it would be cool to have the statue welcoming guests into the home.

Ancient scripts.

Painting of a beautiful Japanese woman.

Weirdo.

These are made of paper I believe, they're supposed to be half body masks with the eyes and a bit of the face looking out from the hole.

Syonan times exhibit

Propaganda movies during the Japanese Occupation.

Japanese - English - Mandarin dictionary/guides for the locals.

Sam reading newspapers from after Sg's liberation.

From a section called "The Women's Corner", which was ironically written by men. Not surprising to see that all of the articles were misogynistic drivel.