Formally bid farewell

Well like the title says, as of today, I have formally bid farewell to my student life here. How in a sense "formally"? Well because I just cancelled my student pass. So I'm no longer a student pass holder, nor a FIN owner. I'm officially... A tourist? Well ICA gave me a visit pass, so I'm considered a visitor? Haha but well ultimately, I'm not longer a student here.

And... It feels so bizarre and weird.

I was making my way back from ICA today when suddenly my eleven years here were playing in my mind like a movie reel. The first time I came to Singapore to study, feeling hesitant to leave my mum at the airport, entering NYU language centre, then Pei Tong Primary, moving on to Tanglin Secondary and last but not least ending my journey at Singapore Polytechnic.

All the days seem to move like a reel inside my head. And I felt really bizarre and shocked by how much quickly time has passed by. It feels like they have flow so quickly, eleven years passed by so so fast. It feels rather funny how back then, I wondered to myself how much time would fly in the next coming years. Here I am sitting at the end looking back on this journey.

I have to say that the past 11 years here have been a wonderful and life-changing moment for me. I am pretty sure that I wouldn't be who I am now. The past eleven years have definitely shaped me to become who I am today. And I am definitely proud of who I am now, the accomplishment I made for myself in the past 11 years, both academic and out of school wise. All these wouldn't happen if I wasn't here all these years. So yup.

And well I have learned a lot of things the past eleven years. Not only from school but more, way way more. In fact to be honest I am really proud of how far I have come. As much as life is filled with its unexpectedness, I'm glad that the 11 years are filled with "happy" unexpectedness. How?

I never expected myself to run races, to climb a mountain, to travel to quite a lot of places, to live alone, cook for myself, go to doctor alone, get an x-ray/MRI alone and so on and so forth. Being a student here not only taught me about the academic lessons I learned in school but also to be an independent individual. Which I'm sure I can bring forward to the future.

So I must say thank you to everyone and everything here. The things that happened, which I am definitely sure happened for a reason. I have become a better and stronger person after my life here. And I will definitely make this into good use in the future.

Today was such a tough day on the heart.

Thailand Graduation Trip - Part 1 Bangkok (Day 3 and 4)

Right, continuing on!

For the third day, which was a Sunday (7/4) we decided to go for the boat tour down the Chao Praya river. We bought a one day pass which entitled us to stop anywhere we want, but we just decided to stop at a few stops and not everything since we didn't have the whole day. So the places we went were: Wang Lang Pier, Chinatown (Yaowarat), Wat Arun, and then we took the boat back to take the BTS back to Siam (pronounce Sa-yam, not Siam!),

Alright so our first stop was Wang Lang Pier,where there was the Wang Lang market, a temple where we feed the birds and fishes, and a school haha. It's just like alleys and it was quite interesting to walk around there. I can tell it's not a touristy place cause in the market, almost everything is in Thai haha. Bought some street food there too!

There are lots of food stalls, clothes stalls and so on. But we were full from breakfast so we didn't get to try the full meal. Though I would really love to sit in one of their eateries there to eat! But yes I was full from breakfast and the street snacks we had haha.

I truly enjoyed walking around Wang Lang though, it's pretty cool and an eye-opener. But once again, Wang Lang reminds me of my hometown heh. Just that everyone speaks Thai.



In Wang Lang we also found a spot where we could buy some breads and feed the birds and fishes. I think it's just for the fishes but the birds (thanks to evolution) join the party and went for the feeding frenzy too haha. It was my first time like feeding SO many birds, it's really a lot haha. Rather frenzy but a fun experience I must say. Doing good deeds.

After that we walked back to the pier again to catch the next boat to our next destination which was Chinatown or also known as Yaowarat. We headed there to hunt for stuff to bring back, and also to hunt for yummy food! Cause they're famous for the food hehe.







Yaowarat speaks Chinatown to me haha. Almost all the signs have Chinese writings on it. And even the shopholders can speak both Thai and Chinese. We just walked around to get some food. Their street food is quite good! We found food like Chwee Kueh (though I mist say I prefer Singapore one haha) and also a bottle of freshly squeeze promergrenate juice is all I need after walking on such a hot day! And also, we had a bowl of Bird's nest dessert which is nice as well.

And not to forget we brought back the famous pork floss spring-roll :)




After walking back we headed for our next destination which is Wat Arun - Temple of the Dawn. It's a pretty nice temple, grand and majestic, tall and beautifully sculptured! Can't believe it's constructed in the 1800s. Without much technology yet the temple looks awesome. Artisan in its best form. And the climb up was really challenging, but the climbing down was EVEN more challenging haha. Well cause it's super steep!

But it's fun :)










And here are more pictures during the boat tour. Don't worry I took more than this heh. After Wat Arun we took the boat back to the Central Pier to go back to Saphan Taksin station to go back to Siam as we were heading for Platinum mall!

Us at the boat, thanks to a nice boat-lady who helped us take this!

 Wat Arun in the distance

I didn't take a lot of photos at Platinum. Actually I did just that it was taken with my Lomo and the films are still being processed now so sorry no photos! Besides it's only shopping haha. But it's a great way to end my last night in Bangkok by having an awesome foot reflexology, shoulder, back and head massage with Weilun! It's so relaxing and aaahhhhh hahaha.

The last day was spent on last minute shopping too. Same, I didn't take much pictures but I have to share with your this "nice food"! Too bad you can't eat it.

THIS PORK DISH IS SO GOOD OMG hahahaha. It's like slices of roasted pork, dumplings and vegetables. The pork was so crispy and salty and just perfect! The soup was okay, but the pork elevated the dish to seventh heaven! Really good. Oh gawd I think I can eat this everyday, just that I wish it won't bring me cardiovascular problems.

Alright, just gonna end off this post with some photos of Bangkok Traffic, the infamous one haha. And one last photo of Suvarnhabumi before we boarded the plane to Phuket. Thanks for reading! :D

 The infamous Bangkok Traffic

I realised why the motorcycles are in such formation

Hint: Look at the shadow

 Waiting

 5 of us on our way to the airport!

 While waiting for our flight to Phuket

Thailand Graduation Trip - Part 1 Bangkok Done!

Thailand Graduation Trip - Part 1 Bangkok (Day 1 and 2)

Right! Here's the post about my trip. I'm gonna blog about Bangkok first hehe.

Anyway so like all journeys, we begin in Changi (duh!). We met at 6.30 AM as our flight was at 8.30 AM, checked in early and we just decided to walk around T2 before waiting at the gate. Co-incidentally we even met Raudha who's also heading for Bangkok! :) The Tiger Airways flight was pleasant, not for me though, thanks to my headache and nausea urgghhh. And we arrived in Bangkok on time and so on! And we decided to get the Thai numbers with unlimited 3G for 7days! :)

We took the City Line train which took us from Suvarnabhumi Airport to Phaya Thai station, which we then change over to the BTS line to Chit Lom, which is our station near the hotel. It's quite cool cause we got to use interesting coin (as shown beside) for our "card"! Well some stations do have their "card" as well, perhaps the one from the airport uses the coin hehe.

The journey to Chit Lom station was... Tiring but fun! Haha lugging our luggages up and down, and some stations don't have escalators (like Chit Lom) so we had no choice but to carry our luggages down the stairs. Well it's good exercise before we start our 7 day gastronomical journey in Thailand I suppose! Nevertheless we conquered it all, checked-in our hotels, unpack a bit and began our Bangkok adventure with Centralworld for food!

So we were walking around Centralworld, which is a mall near our hotel and we were so famished, we found a nice restaurant for our lunch! One thing I love about traveling is trusting your instinct. Cause I remembered this restaurant only has its menu in Thai and Chinese. And... I don't know what food but I just look at the picture and it looks good so I eat it! Here is a photo :P

After lunch we went back to our hotel before making our way to our first shopping hunt: Union Mall! It is located at Phahon Yothin station so we bought our train ticket and made our way there. And we take photos once we reached the station with the train! Haha. Union mall has both clothing and apparels. And their top floor has some cool art works!

We found out that our Thai secondary school friend, Aphicha, is in town! Well he's studying in the UK and it's good to hear that he's back in Bangkok for his holiday. It's been so long since I met him (like 4 years ago?) and so we decided to have dinner with him. We waited for him at Union Mall before we decide where to go for dinner. Well what can I say, he never change! Haha. It's good to see him again nevertheless, feels like we're back in Tanglin :)

We decided to go have some Thai food, and Aphicha knows where so we went to this restaurant called Sorndaeng, which apparently is quite famous since 1957 I think, looking at their signboard. We ordered a few dishes and yes the food there is really yummy! Like seriously good. Okay shall explain the food below hehe.

This is not all of course, we had more but these are the ones where I took photo of :P

So we have some stir fried cabbage. I like the sauce/gravy they used, it's something I've never tasted before! Well being someone who likes stir-fried stuff, and who eats stir-fried stuff that is. Then we have my favourite Som Tum which is Papaya Salad, and then followed by the famous pineapple fried rice. And one interesting dish: Hor Mok! Which, if I say correctly, it's steamed fish paste. I saw it in TV before haha. And it tasted really good! :)







Before we leave we all take a group shot in the restaurant. 

And then Aphicha brought us to a night fair which was set up by the different government sectors of Thailand! Like I saw the different ministries, defence sectors and so on. And I found out that it's for charity. It is really definitely something you won't find in tours or guidebooks (maybe) of Thailand. So I'm really glad that Aphicha has brought us there, to experience what the locals do on weekends. Definitely a night I won't forget! So Thanks for that Aphicha :)

And it was rather an exciting night where we couldn't find a taxi! But we eventually did haha.

And that's all for day 1, what an interesting day isn't it! It was just one day and I couldn't wait to see more of Bangkok, to see what this city has to offer! To be continued....



For the second day, it was just a whole day of shopping! We went to Chatuchak market, which is only opened during the weekend. That's the reason why we left on Friday haha. So it was just a whole day of shopping, and also we had a massage! Umm didn't take photo of the loots I got but anyway here are some photos I took in Chatuchak! :)

 A day ending in Chatuchak

Ice cream seller, everywhere!

This is an interesting sight actually. It was 6 PM when (I think) the national anthem was playing or something like that. And suddenly everyone just stood still for a moment. Even a car before us stopped! I was wondering why did the car stop? And then I went oh.. Okay.

Bye Chatuchak!

 5 of us and our happy loots!

For dinner we decided to head to Bangkok famous Khao San road! Yup I've been wanting to go there too, since almost all the sites recommended to go there. And I'm interested to go there after reading the book "The Beach" by Alex Garland! :P We cabbed there and when I arrived there, oh yeah things were pretty interesting! I guess the book really described what I saw there. The endless throngs of backpackers, street food, drunk people and so on. 

What can I say - Khao San, where the world travelers meet in Bangkok! I'm glad I went there teehee.

And here are the street food that we ate! From frilled mushroom, to Padthais, to banana crepe and also... Yes, CRICKETS haha. Well Weilun and I ate them that is. I find they taste like prawn. Best insect I've ever eaten haha (from wasp to scorpions, ants and my latest edition, crickets). We also actually dined at this restaurant. It looked so posh and so on but their service was bleah. Not gonna dine there anymore, if I go back to Khao San that is. But well, I really like Khao San night life! I think it's pretty interesting, and I hope to stay there longer when I come back :)

Alrighty that is all for day one and day two! And to end this post I shall end it with my beautiful face eating my favourite crickets! Yum!

Day 3 and 4 to be continued

Different

 Sometimes, I don't wish to leave paradise

Right, I'm back here once again! Okay not gonna blog about my trip cause I'm not yet done sorting out the photos :P And also I've been editing the videos I took there. Making a video of our trip! So that I can enjoy it anytime I want in the future :) Anyway I'm still having withdrawal syndrome urghh, though it's been 3 days since I got back here. Hate being a sentimental person!

But what to do? :/

Anyway I enjoyed making the videos. I've always wanted to make such videos, I even planned this way before we decide which country we'll go for our graduation trip. Well it's quite difficult editing, since I've never done this kind of thing before (I always do timelapse or photo montage) but nevertheless the process is really fun! I'll show you once it's done.

Today is Sunday. But somehow, today feels really different. Sundays no longer feel like the Sundays I've been having for the past one year. Although I did the same routine, just like any other. Perhaps it's the fact that I... Am no longer a student in this sunny island. As I once believed that coming back will feel different, and yes it is indeed different.

It is different in many ways. Taking the bus, walking on streets I always walked on, eating the same food, grocery shopping, all these were things I always do, right? But now everything just feels different. Different in so many ways.

Tomorrow the new academic year for poly students (except for TP and RP I think) is starting. Feels like my three years in poly just happened in a flash. I entered poly back in 2010, it's been 3 years since my first day in SP! And back a year ago I was starting my internship for year 3, which I'm so so glad that I don't have to go through that again (oops).

Anyway, all the best to all the freshies, and everyone else who are coming back to school!

This week I'm gonna be occupied by quite a few things, so I must make the better of everything! I hope my withdrawal syndrome from my trip will go away soon, though I really think it's gonna be difficult haha. Oh well, I'll talk to you soon again, with stories about my trip! :)

Thailand Trip 2013

Hi everyone! It's been a week since I blogged but anyway, yes I'm back from my Thailand Graduation trip! It was such an awesome trip with 4 of my friends, and I really enjoyed it! So anyway I returned yesterday and oh gosh I really don't feel like leaving Phuket (our last city of departure) cause it's been such an amazing place. But oh well, time has to go on right!

It's been a bad day today cause I've been having withdrawal syndrome whereby I don't feel like doing anything at all. In fact I actually skipped all my meals (since I woke up at 12 Hah) and only had dinner as my proper meal with Neal, which was ramen. Yum. Oh well I hope this feeling will go away really quickly. I hate withdrawal syndrome!

Anyway, I'll be blogging about the trip soon! In the meantime here are some pictures!

 

Chit Lom BTS station near our hotel

 Chatuchak weekend market

 

 Padthai seller at Khao San road

 Feeding the birds, somewhere at Wang Lang Pier

 And we're at Phuket!

 Missing all these blue waters T_T

 Five of us with our awesome boat guide - Mr Sunny!

Patong Beach on last day

Arrgghhh I'm gonna miss Thailand a lot! See ya soon with more stories

Graduation trip number two!

Hello everyone! Yes yes yes as the title says I'm leaving for my graduation trip to Thailand with Jolene, Melissa, Sharon and Weilun! OMG can't wait and I'm very excited now. Months of planning and searching for hotels (thanks Weilun for all the confirmation etc! :D) and tomorrow is finally the day! And uhh time check 10:53 PM and I haven't packed oh gosh.

Anyway yup I've been waiting for tomorrow! Arrgh so excited ^^

Anyho, as I'm rushing, another picture post tonight! It's referring to the previous post:

So long fellas! See you in another 8 days' time hehe.

Here's to a fun, awesome and safe trip to Thailand! :)

Meaningless

I know it's rare of me to post at 3:56 AM. But, I just had to. Epiphany moment.

I came upon a realisation, that at the end of the day, at the end of your life, nothings else is going to matter. To your grave, you're not going to carry your wealth nor health. You're not going to carry your achievements, your pride and glory. You won't be having your unhappiness, and your happiness with you either. At the end of the day, all of life's sadness, stress, frustration and happiness, will be left behind, and they will all not going to matter anymore, at the end of the day.

So when you're happy, be happy. And be sad when you're sad

Be stressed when you're stressed, and be crazy when you need it to be.

Live life to the fullest, not because you will die one day.

But because nothing is going to matter at the end of the day.