CNY Festivities

Here are some choice snaps from CNY, we took an awful lot because it can get a little boring at times. But it was still a good excuse to dress up and pig out. I'll let the photographs do the talking:

Eve of CNY

Bored and starving girls waiting for reunion dinner to be ready. 

It was pretty great!

The annual lou hei for longevity and good fortune. 

Almost full family pic! Minus myself of course. 

 First Day of CNY

"Bai Nian - ing" to the parents. 

Specially got myself a red dress for the occasion, hehe. 

Matchy match with the jiejie!

Family picture with granny!

We were bored and there was great natural sunlight at the balcony. 

So we just had to..

Yknow? :P

Granny with ALLLLLLLL her grandchildren and great grand children (okay, missing a couple, but we're pretty close to the full number). 

Adjourned at my paternal granny's place for some mahjong, but we only stayed for a little while.  

And then to Joni's place! It was her actual birthday so we had a cake-cutting thing - I don't have the cake photographs on my lappie now though sadly ):

Ended the night with Cards Against Humanity & red wine. 

Happy puppies :3

Second Day of CNY

Didn't take many photographs on this day because I was sporting a swollen face (no idea why) and eyes (probably irritation). Had a yum cha lunch with the family and then just hung out together. Headed to a special party after that with the boy, was so glad to finally see him :3

Party deco (I posted the photographs from the party during my last photo update, it was a mistake but just as well). 

Third Day of CNY

We went to Slappy Cakes to celebrate Joni's 23rd birthday! 

We ate so much it was difficult to even move... 

I was so exhausted from all the eating, I went into a semi food-coma. 

Full puppies :3

The boy had to leave soon after because he had more visiting to do :')

QTs

The rest of us headed to Tim's place for some hardcore mahjong, hahahaha. 

He has 3 white kitties and they are beeeeeautiful. 

Didn't take many photographs after this became we all changed out into comfy home clothes and played the day away. Also had drive thru macs and movie watching and card games and the back to mahjong, twas a good day. 

Fourth Day of CNY

It was a terribly hot day and I wasn't feeling too good in the earlier hours so I minimised photo taking again. Spent the morning with the family catching a movie at the nearby ball and then having lunch. After that I rushed down to my tutee's place to give her a make up lesson. The boy then came over to have dinner with my family. Here are the bunbuns that we visited downstairs as we were walking to my place. 

Bumped into Coral again that night, I miss her :') 

Most of the time I'm a happy little bunny, but sometimes I feel a whole lot of resentment bubbling up inside of me - it's kind of a problem really.

In any case, things have been going well as a whole, save for a couple of hiccups here and there. I'll update more with CNY photographs soon :3

Slice of Life

Well this is rather long overdue, but here are some snippets from work/play from the past 3 weeks!

My French niece was in town for the CNY month, so we took her out to dinner and got matching hairbands! Of course, she only entertained me until my sister arrived - as they were best friends during the time my family visited France (I wasn't there because I couldn't get a cheap flight out from Sweden), she was too excited to play with her and promptly forgot all about me. 

Tokyo Soup for lunch with Nainai one workday afternoon, followed by Llaollao :D

One night after work, we went to the Esplanade to check out some performances. 

Baby Coral <3

From V Day, we didn't take a whole lot of photographs but we spent the entire day together, it was quite lovely. 

And Sam finally got the chance to meet Coral! He has missed her for the longest time and was starting to accuse me of having imagined her, haha. 

Oh my cute lazy kitty. 

One afternoon Kanika came to have lunch with me! Because we're budget babies, I brought wrap from home (prepared by Joni & Tim), and she brought hummus! It was quite lovely eating alfresco outside a premium Fairprice (where we got the drinks) lol, and I'm not even being ironic about it. 

She also gave me the loveliest Galentine's day card and an amazing kitty chocolate stick :D

I saw her so much for two weeks, but now she's gone exploring again. 

Flowers from my sweetie pie. 

Amazing food at an amazing party, too bad the pasta was about 10 levels too spicy for me, hahaha.

My beautiful butterfly. 

It was a good night with good people :3 

Natural sunlight is so so good. 

Lunchbox everyday everyday, I save a good amount just by doing this!

We took a day off and went to gorge ourselves on Thai food! I'm usually stuffed after green curry rice, but the boy was starving and ordered a seafood tommy soup as well as pad thai. Dear lord, I was so so so full. The soup was also crazy spicy and I needed two cups of ILT to survive it. 

Because I'm always complaining that my face looks so much bigger compared to his, haha. 

BKT dinner with Yeegin whom I haven't met up with in years! It was such a nice night catching up and exchanging news (: 

Old is gold. 

Farewell lunch with dear Emily. She's the only person in the office whom I work closely with and she's such a wonderful girl, I miss her already! 

:')

Cos like.. I thought I was having a good face day.. 

We love going to Saizeriya because their menu is so budget friendly and pretty good considering the price. I tried the paella for the first time but didn't really like it - it was too spicy and tasted too much of chilli in my opinion, I prefer the marinara kind more. It was nice seeing this boy at the end of a long week though :3 

Singaporean Student Woes

I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth, but I've always been grateful for the upper-middle class lifestyle that I grew up with. Sure, we don't live in luxury, but we are comfortable and are able to enjoy annual holidays and the occasional splurges on retail. Being born in Singapore is indeed a blessing for many of us; we receive a world class education (though it has its pros and cons), live in a clean city, and for the most part, live at least comfortably.

What makes me lamentful is not only the existing divide between the upper class and middle class people, but also the divide between students from SEA developing countries and students from Singapore. In Singapore, you would most likely be able to go through the motions of primary school, secondary school, pre-university/polytechnic, and then university, with more or less ease as long as you're an average or above average student. As long as you come from a household with more or less average income, you'll be okay. Sure, you'll garner debts along the way, but that's not too bad. The tide turns however, if you're interested in pursuing an education (higher or otherwise) overseas. The reality is that generally, most kids from middle-income families would be unable to shell out the expenses for overseas education - not without huge sacrifices at personal expense.

That's where the divide comes. The rich of course, has no problems (and I'm not whining about that, it's great that you have the funds - use it as you will). The middle-income Singaporeans may find it a little bit more difficult. This is where scholarhips come into place; very often, they are the "only hope" for an education overseas. It is widely known that in Singapore, to get a scholarship, you have to be the cream of the crop.

I am from a middle-income family, and am of average academic competence (by Singaporean standards). At the age of 22 and a half, I have already incurred an academic debt of almost $31 000 SGD, upon graduation, I would've chalked up an even larger amount.

There are a couple of choices available for one like me after graduation:
- Get a job as a fresh grad
- Further studies
- Gap year (travelling or working overseas)

This list is not exhaustive and the separate points themselves do lead to a myriad of options, but from a general point of view, option 2 and option 3 are almost impossible simply due to the debt I owe. Tuition fees for further education cost between $40 000 - $100 000, ditto for travelling without funds. If one is insistent on taking on further studies (as am I), it is an uphill battle to apply for scholarships, awards, and any possible grants that could aid one in "surviving" the course financially.

Even if one recieves a local scholarship, it usually comes with a bond of 4-5 years. This is something rather unique to Singapore, wherein scholarships come with comparatively long bond durations. If one hopes to benefit from bond-free scholarships, one must look to other countries for such opportunities. It is then when you realise that many developed countries offer attractive sponsorships and scholarships for students of developing countries, but much less for students of developed countries.

This is where we lose out. If you are like me, an average students from a typical middle-class background, your options are limited. I'm not saying that we are entitled to anything more, I do not expect to be handed money and education for free. I am grateful for the opportunities that I have and the excellent education that I've received thus far, I just wish I had the resources to do so much more.

I think we live in a culture where there is only yourself to blame if you do not "make it". I guess I could say I have myself to blame for not being a top student who would be immediately eligible for a number of prestigious scholarships. Despite my gripes about the income/opportunity divide, I believe that we have to make do the best we can, with what we have. Next year, I will begin my rounds of postgraduate and scholarship applications, I can only hope for the best. I pray that my application shines despite the hundreds and thousands of other glowing write ups and resumes. I don't hope to "make it", I just hope to be able get an opportunity to the education that I've been working so hard to achieve.

I can only hope that my education debt will not burden me far into my "adult" life, I hope for the best.

I Was Told to Write an About Me and This is What Happened

"Each time I'm asked to tell about myself, I find myself starting the same way: 'My name is Kelsey and I'm ninteen..."
but what I'd really like to say is:
'My name means island of the ships but once
I found a translation that said I'm a burning shipwreck-
not a burning ship but a ship that has caught fire
after the wreckage and well, I'd say that's more fitting.'

I've learned that people don't have time for 'about me's'.
They need two things: a name and an indication you're someone special.

The doctors, they want facts not details.
'I broke my leg when I was three, it's a funny story actually-'
The right or the left?
Conversation over.

The teachers, they want interests, hobbies.
You're sad, yes, but what do you like to do?

The adults are a spew of questions.
What school do you go to? What classes are you taking?
What do you plan on becoming? Got a boyfriend?
No, stop.

People my own age are the worst.
'I'm planning on an English degree with a concentration in creative writing.'
Yeah, aren't we all. So how many times have you, you know, done it?

I'm pulled apart, my interests traveling highway 2
my goals at a stop light at traffic hour,
my medical history on a billboard for the world to see.
But what about me?

Where's the chance to say,

'I hang on to fistfuls of poetry like loose change in my pockets,
and I keep waiting for the day that the world turns upside down
so I can swim with the stars.
I'm not afraid of darkness, it's a loneliness I can empathise with.
It's the black-holes like cigarette burns inside of me that get troublesome.
I wak through graveyards and read the dashes between years,
each a story I'll never know. Sometimes I create my own.'

No wonder none of us know who we are anymore. "

— Kelsey Danielle

I've been feeling particularly weary these days. Though I'm generally a positive person, it is sometimes difficult for me to get out of a funk. I don't quite know how to articulate my feelings because it seems unfair to say that I'm unhappy or discontent - but I'm not particularly happy or content either at the moment.