The March Holidays

Monday, March 31, 2014

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Hello friends :-)

This post shall be littered with photos of my Orientation Group when we went out on Tuesday (18 March) because the photographs taken by the wonderful Gaby are insanely gorgeous and I'd like to feature them on my blog, even though I probably won't be narrating much about them, except for a few captions here and there because for now, this space shall be filled about some concluding thoughts on how my March hols went so there's some closure to it even though the first week of the new school term has already started, and even ended.


Undeniably, the one week break practically flew by but I don't suppose that's a bad thing - needless to say, it wasn't really a drag because I managed to spend a good amount of time with some of the people who mean a lot to me. Definitely, I would've wished to catch up with a lot of other people whom I didn't manage to, such as the Boings but time has its constraints too. 

Beautiful people who made my day and honestly every moment I spend with them :') 

In terms of academic goals though, I didn't manage to do a lot of things I had set out to do at the beginning of these holidays but honestly, I don't think that that's too big of a loss because there really isn't that much to start with and I'm confident that I'd be able to catch up with all the work I've done eventually. What matters most is that I made use of the March Hols to do things that I'd probably wouldn't do during the school term and that I wouldn't regret not doing. 


I'm not entirely sure if I've mentioned this before but I absolutely hate it when my life revolves solely around school or academic work. Somehow, since last year I've realized that I became a much happier person when I started taking up hobbies that genuinely interest me apart from school-related programmes and it honestly made my life a lot more fulfilling because even though we are all students, we are ultimately still human too, humans capable of feeling, humans capable of making the most out of time and not simply humans programmed to study. Even in future, when I join the workforce, I wouldn't want to be labelled together with my occupation solely because that'll be just... sad. 


A few people have asked me how I am somehow able to have so many things happening in my life (possibly based on the fact that my Instagram is constantly updated with something new everyday) and it's automatically assumed that I don't do my homework/ work but in actual fact, I do and it's actually possible to hang out with friends often or do really crazy things by yourself, as long as you set your mind to it and actually make an effort to do so. I personally feel like using "no time" as an excuse from sustaining friendships is pathetic - even a few minutes catching up with someone say, in the canteen or a quick little "outing" to a nearby mall is possible. Make time, and one will definitely lead a more fulfilling life :-) 

Shang Rong's perfect jump!


Truth be told, I'm extremely contended with how my life is right now because I've never been happier about the subjects I'm taking in school and honestly I feel like whether or not one enjoys their academic work plays a huge part in how we perceive school. Without sciences, I have been feeling amazing and I can't imagine doing all that memorizing work again with my left brain that never ever seems to work - only my right brain does but that's totally fine now. 


The main reason I account my happiness for is my craziness. I am crazy, I do crazy things and I love it. I suppose it can be deemed as having a #yolo attitude, as much as I hate that phrase but it's kind of true. In my head, I can think of some insane thing to do on my own and I'll seriously set my mind to do it and it'll make me feel so excited throughout the day (especially if I plan to do it after school) and it gets me through everything terrible just looking forward to an adventure by myself. I'm not sure but I feel like there are people who refrain from doing things because they need company to do it with them and I used to share same sentiments and would be extremely uncomfortable if I were roaming out and about alone. However, since last year, I've actually realized that solitude makes me quite happy and it's when I truly get to make my own decisions and fully control how my day would go. 

We got caught in the rain at Marina Barrage - one great example of an unplanned, crazy activity that made me laugh the most throughout the entire time I was out with them :') 

Then we went for ice cream at The Daily Scoop :') Salted Mister Brown hueheuehe 


In conclusion, my March holidays went really well, and so did term one of JC and I couldn't have been more thankful. I have been lucky, definitely and from now on, I just hope that I'll be able to sustain this and not get dragged down by the mundane, school life that is so easy to fall prey to. I need to keep my level of excitement up and look forward because there is so, so, so much more to life and fulfilment than what we see at surface level. And I really hope that everyone around me will remain happy :-)

xoxo it was a great day

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House Comm Camp 2014

Thursday, March 20, 2014

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Channel Barney strikes again hehehehe (also I apologize for attempting to wink)

Hello there friends :-) 

If there's one thing that changed my life forever and impacted me the most during my time in RG, it's undoubtedly being the Waddle House Captain. It's definitely something that made me grow and mature exponentially, and also allowed me to do so with people who have grown to become some of the most amazing and precious people in my life. So, as Term 1 ended for all of us on Friday (14 March) and as the March holidays beckon, instead of going somewhere to celebrate the end of term, C5 headed back to RG to conduct House Comm Camp for our juniors and it was officially the last event we'll ever plan and execute as House Captains 2013. 

Before heading to RG though, we went to J8 to get some last minute logistics plus a much needed ice cream break :') 

Matcha McFlurry is gooooooooood! 

Pink cone - very nice marketing gimmick to get people excited to eat simple ice cream again hur hur 

To be entirely honest, planning for this camp has been quite a pain - our busy JC schedules didn't give us much time to meet up properly to plan and it was a lot more difficult to gain access to manpower to help us for the camp. Communicating with the teachers was a challenge as well - we couldn't simply walk to the staffrooms in school and expect to find the House teachers waiting for us. It was terrible and even on Friday, none of us felt like we were prepared to run a 2D1N camp - we didn't have everything in check and our manpower kept pulling out one by one.

Tired and jaded :-( 

Nevertheless, this was our last responsibility as House Captains and the least we could do was to give our juniors an experience that they can take with them and remember forever. Our camp didn't want to focus on the fun aspect too much and honestly as students, we're sick and tired of attending camps that are one-off and don't serve much purpose or cause any impact on our lives at all. We truly wanted to create a camp experience that would stay in the House Commers for a long, long while; a camp that we'd wish we'd be given the opportunity to attend if we were still serving the school in House. So yes - we were determined to give our all for this final task. 

Blob being our guinea pig as we prepared for night surprise! :-) 

And while I was there, I paid a visit to another family of mine that accompanied me through my four years in RG - the Guides! They were having March Camp as well and I crashed Outdoor Cooking for a while with some of my batch who were helping out, though most of them were Young Adults (YAs).

I've missed doing this sigh :') 

We started House Comm Camp with some ice breakers and a short introduction before going straight into the first activity of the camp - the Blindfold Dinner! We had wanted the House Commers to trust one another and practice true empathy.

Maria! :-)

Van & her successor Chow hahaha :-)

Oh, and at this point of time, Mel had to leave for Rock Camp back in RJ so it was left with Channel 4, which was really quite sad because we didn't get to carry out the entire camp as a complete group. Unfortunately, we didn't order enough food and we had to go without dinner and that was just one of the things that went wrong that night. Somehow, the locations we booked for our night walk were taken up by the Chinese department for meet-the-parents sessions and we had to shift everything back and bring an activity meant for Day 2 forward. Honestly, it's as if everything that could go wrong just went wrong that night and to be honest, throughout the whole camp. 

Oh dear what to do :-( Well, we were legitimately extremely worried and scared that the entire camp will just crumble into pieces. 

Candy to fill our tummies temporarily! 

Preparing for night surprise in a hurry - trust me, those smiles are pretty fake and forced heh 

Yet, at the same time I think the three of us - Van, Huiying and myself - were genuinely quite happy because we were laughing to ourselves how this would be the last time we'd be slogging for an event like that since amongst C5, we are the ones who didn't try for Council in JC. 

Whoops jam :-(

It was honestly crazy because Huiying's laptop went missing all of a sudden and we couldn't play the original video we intended to show but night surprise finally started after all the mishaps and although it didn't go that well, it happened and I just hope everyone was able to take away something from the experience. The night surprise was followed by a heart to heart talk under the stars on the track, which went pretty well for Waddle, in my opinion. 

That summed up the day and when we thought that everything could go wrong has already gone wrong, the sleeping location (KS Chee) was occupied with chairs and House Commers had to squeeze for the night. It was insane, but at least we survived Day 1 - not without major problems, but most were overcome and covered up pretty decently. 

Donuts for supper from Ms Cheong for the J1 facilitators :') 

When everything was finally done and settled, C5 order McDonalds for our (extremely late) dinner and we were so excited for it because we could finally sit down to eat and talk and rest. 

A very happy Van & I collecting our food in the middle of the night!

S A L V A T I O N! 

Van & Minglu! :-) whoa blue matchy-matchy

Huiying & I! :-) So happens that we were both (kinda) wearing green HAHA I just noticed that.

The four of us had a heart to heart talk, one we haven't been able to have in a long, long while and it's amazing how far we've come - I am truly blessed to have been able to work with this bunch for slightly more than a year and to have them as my friends. It's crazy how genuine we are about each other and how vulnerable we are able to be in each others' company. Somehow, when we are together, there's no need for airs, there's no need to wear masks, there's no need to conceal who we really are and that's something I really appreciate about them. I think it's slightly ironic because a lot of the things we do as House Capts involve carrying an image of some sort but I love them so much honestly. 

SO MUCH LOVE FOR THIS - it was around 3am when this photo was taken - pity Mel couldn't join us sigh. 

Then we bathed and it was sleepy time! We barely had any time to sleep though, since we headed back so late. I think we had around four hours tops. 

Fortunately for us, Day 2's programme was a lot less taxing on us because there weren't physical things we had to do such as setting up but it was more focused on insightful things, which we didn't have to do much about so that was a lot better on our part. It resulted in less complications too :-) 

Good morning from Cai Minglu - Nutella is her favourite!! 

It's been a while standing in front and speaking to people :') To be honest, I kind of miss it. 

Fangmin & Beijun - two of the very kind J1s who agreed to come back to help facilitate several of the camp activities - we truly appreciate you guys; honestly this camp will not be able to work without the help and manpower you guys are able to provide!

WUCKLE :-) Such a lovely photo. 

Shermaine & Minglu! :-) 

The highlight of Day 2 was service and this was mainly led by Positive Intentions, an organization which Minglu volunteers a lot of her time to. The speaker, Ethen, is the co-founder of the company and he is one extremely powerful speaker. I honestly learnt a lot from him and although he does come off as being a bit too direct, the technique actually works. It's amazing.

I do hope the House Commers were able to take away something meaningful from what he shared with us.

Waddle House Comm heading out to embark on service! :-) 


Due to media sensitivity issues, I'm unable to post a lot of photos from the service trip but it was a service unlike any other. In my opinion, it truly affected many of the House Commers who were there, especially those from my service group and the impact was insane and personally for me, the experience is something I'll remember forever as a reminder to myself. The service location that emotionally affected the majority of us was the Institute of Mental Health's Women's Ward. Many a times, in casual conversations, we like to joke about things like sending our "crazy" friends to IMH and stuff along those lines and laughing about it. However, sometimes we fail to realize that there are really people in need of medical attention for mental issues and it's thoroughly insensitive of us, even when we don't really mean it. 

The service trip was overwhelming, to say the least. It was so heartbreaking but I think it served as a wake up call for many of us. Ethen managed to round everything up very well at the end of it and he allowed us to truly consolidate our thoughts, to showcase our vulnerable side to our fellow House Commers. Majority of us cried, including myself - I do think we've managed to provide House Commers with food for thought to last them for a while. 


The camp ended on a high note and I'm so glad we managed to pull everything off. It's amazing how House Commers told us that this camp was the most meaningful one they've ever been to all their lives and it truly means so much to us. Great job Channel 5 - we've done it! (for the last time ever) 

I really like this photo of Karyn and myself :') Jiayou for the rest of the year!

Scored a selfie with one of my favourite teachers in the school - Ms Cheong! :-) 

I'm seriously going to miss working with this bunch so so so very much but at the same time it's such a relief to get all responsibilities off me. It's bittersweet, really. 

After House Comm Camp 2014 ended, I headed back to Guides Camp and joined in for the campfire! Unfortunately, they had to hold this year's campfire in the hall but the atmosphere was still there and it feels so amazing to be back, to sing the songs I know too well from my Brownie and Girl Guide days :') While I love my JC life at the moment, it's so difficult to deny that I miss everything that I've been through in secondary school.

With some of my favourite juniors in Guides - 02 Ixora! 

(Kinda) full 02 Ixora 2013 photo - missing Wei Xuan though :-( 


It was an amazing two days spent back in RG, reliving every moment and taking in so much. Thank you so much for the final memories and it's been such a pleasure serving this school, honestly, solely because of the people.

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Wimbly Lu Chocolates

Monday, March 17, 2014

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It's been so long since I posted anything on this space but I'm definitely going to make use of this one week of March holidays to consolidate my thoughts and all that has happened this past term. To be entirely honest, everything has been pretty good and I can't even express how blessed I am and have been ever since JC life started. I have said this time and time again, but I feel so liberated to drop all my sciences because now I'm doing humanities subjects which genuinely interest me and I have never felt this happy doing academic work ever since primary school. 

Also, I have finally sorted out all my commitments and what I hope to achieve at the end of these 1.5 years and I'm fully and completely satisfied with my decisions and am looking forward to what's to come, and hopefully I'll be able to do this together with maintaining close relationships with the many circles of friends that have emerged such as my OG and my class as well as the people who have remained by my side such as Belly Boing and of course, Emily! 


Emily's been my best friend since Primary four and it's insane how much we've grown and how close we still are :') She's one of the best things that have entered my life and actually stayed. Honestly, I don't think it's difficult for people to stay in your life and not drift apart as long as both parties actually put in a considerable amount of effort and make it work despite distance. So on one of the last few days of term 1 (Thursday, 13 March), we decided to meet up since the last time we met was New Year's. We met after school and headed to Wimbly Lu Chocolates', which is accessible from Serangoon MRT, which is a mere few stops away from both of our schools. 

 

I've been wanting to head to Wimbly Lu's for a very long time since I read so much about this place and especially, about their waffles! Apparently their waffles are one of the best in Singapore and waffles are honestly one of my favourite desserts ever - so I was really looking forward to trying them!

I got mine with a scoop of Chocolate Truffle ice cream and Toffee syrup while Emily got Salted Caramel ice cream and maple syrup ($8.50 each) 


The people on the internet were right - these were the best waffles I have ever eaten to this date. They were crispy on the outside and insanely fluffy on the inside - everyone needs to try them, honest to goodness! :-) Really really good - will definitely be back just for the waffles. Emily and I also tried the root beer cake which was actually really small and the presentation wasn't amazing (hence no photos) - the taste was mainly chocolate with a slight root beer flavour only if you pay enough attention so that was disappointing :-( 


After Wimbly Lu, we headed back to Serangoon and walked around before heading to the food court at nex - I got myself a coconut to drink/ eat from. Truth be told, I never particularly liked the taste of actual coconuts (I like coconut flavoured things though) but it's always fun drinking and eating from an actual coconut. The entertainment factor makes the taste something I can overlook. 

Oh, and Emily gave me my belated birthday gift - again, like last year, this year was also all duck-related! Thank you so much Emily :') 

Pouch, socks, plush toy & a hankie HAHA I love them! 

I just realized that now our schools are a lot nearer to each other and we can have impromptu meetups at Serangoon which is great - here's to many years more of close friendship, I love you my fellow Juju :') 
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