seoul, south korea, day 0-4

i am currently suffering from post-korea syndrome, somebody please save me.
think i left my heart and seoul (hohoho i tried) back there TT_TT

it took me almost 45mins to fall asleep last night. yes that is a very long time for someone like me who knocks out straightaway the minute my head touches the pillow.
ended up sleeping at 4 and waking up at noon the next day.

anyway i'm beginning to document my trip here!!!!
for those of you who don't know, i travelled to seoul, south korea, for 17 days (actually 16 to be more exact) with vanessa!
yes we spent our whole 2 weeks in seoul and seoul alone.

many people have commented "wow that's too long" and "oh you'll be quite bored" and no they are wrong.
there is so much to do and see in seoul alone and honestly i didn't even think 17 days was enough.
ok maybe because van and i are both not morning people hence our mornings are usually wasted away.
but seriously we didn't even finish our itinerary that we set out :-(

anyway

here's days 1-5 in korea :-)
i'll dissect the trip into 3 parts and follow up with tips/tricks/points to take note of when you are travelling to seoul!!!

10 May. Day 0 - From Changi to Incheon

we took a direct overnight flight by asiana airlines to incheon on sunday.
the plane ride was quite pleasant and didn't feel too nauseous - and that means yay i'm finally growing up and out of being airborne-sick woohoo!
had bibimbap for supper on the plane hehe what a sneak preview to korea lol.

barely caught any sleep on the plane 'cos it was pretty uncomfortable but thank god for the facilities!!!
relived some childhood days of playing pacman and watched begin again (halfway) (be proud of the anti-movie girl please, i tried)

11 May. Day 1 - Gyeongbokgung, National Folk Museum, Samcheong-dong

touched down in incheon at about 6.30am (seoul time) and we had paris baguette for breakfast!

van had a coffee bun while i had a sweet potato pie.
tbh i didn't really like it because it was too sweet for my liking. probably because i was sick and my throat was dry enough from the 6h long plane ride.
but paris baguette in korea is a staple - it's everywhere and it's cheaper than it is in singapore.
i paid about S$2 for my breakfast.

after filling our tummies and running some errands we took the airport express train direct from incheon airport to seoul station.
took us 45 minutes and costs less than S$10 - there's a discount when you flash your boarding pass so remember to show it!

we rented our apartment from airbnb and it was nestled in a quaint little neighbourhood called yongsan-gu near seoul station, about a 3-minute walk away.

it's quite a peaceful place with a couple of convenience stores around.
after dragging our luggage up the stairs (we stayed on the 3rd floor) and dumping them in our apartment, we headed out to complete our adventures for the day!

visited gyeongbokgung that afternoon despite our lethargic selves that survived mainly on adrenaline.
the admission ticket covers both the palace itself as well as the museum!

the palace grounds were crowded with flocks of tourists armed with cameras who were busy snapping away.

it was probably a monday and my lack of sleep that got me quite peeved at the large crowd.

it's a beautiful place with much to see, but we didn't want to follow an english-guided tour and roamed around by ourselves.

the palace grounds are huge and i'm not kidding.
i think you kinda just walk where you want to and get lost into the woods.

maybe if we'd follow a tour it would've been more educational and valuable for us but nah, jostling with all the tourists who make big fuss about taking selfies by the front of the palace for countless times.... 

no way.

after gyeongbokgung we went to the national folk museum of korea (not to be confused with national museum of korea) that was adjacent to the palace grounds.

there was much to see and learn inside and i like how the place was really informative and the displays were all worthy of their place.
from the teaching of hangeul to the traditional way of life, everything's displayed neatly with the necessary english translations.

we walked over to samcheong-dong to grab dinner as we started to get hungry.
initially we mistook the place for bukchon hanok village but no we were wrong lol.

samcheong-dong is really a street littered with lines of pretty cafes and cute boutiques you can't help but spam photos there.

we settled for miss lee's cafe that served mainly dosiraks (traditional lunchboxes), tteokbokki and bingsoo!
damn good omg i love the tteokbokki here.
i think it's probably the nicest one i had on this trip.
the bingsoo was really satisfying too bc there was a generous supply of fruits, nuts and cornflakes!
mmmm so so good.

post-dinner we found ourselves buying cheap socks and exploring the clothes that they had to offer.
not a place to do hardcore shopping but samcheong-dong is the perfect respite from reality.
had to suffer the distraught of heavy rain that night and carrying an umbrella around wasn't the most convenient thing to do on a monday night hmmph.

12 May. Day 2 - Namdaemun Market, Namsan Tower

namdaemun is a very noticeable touristy place because of the countless rows of flags they put up.
so fret not about not being able to find the place.

ate the black rice hotteok and mmmm it was freaking good.

it was soft and chewy with a warm, sweet black liquid oozing out of the centre of the pancake.

reasonably priced at 1,000W!

stopped by a store which was english-friendly and ordered a bowl of kalguksu (knife-cut noodles, kinda like our ban mian) and my favourite haemul pajeon (seafood pancake).
i swear pancake is the best though they're really expensive most of the time...
I LOVE PAJEON. C'MON JOIN ME IN THIS FANCLUB.

namdaemun is a place for you to buy a lot of household items like pots and pans and containers.
it's a pretty ahjumma-like place but there are always good steals around!
we bought cute panda sweaters that served us really well when we went up to namsan straight after.
van and i were pretty impressed by the place (mostly bc of the food) that we decided we had to come back again - only to find more cheap treasure!!
well, that's a story to be told another day.

after namdaemun we hesitated going to namsan because of the bad weather.
it was drizzling and the rain started pouring down in no time.
but nevertheless we decided to stick to our itinerary and head up to namsan!
because we went there on foot and the wind was howling crazily, i had to put up some really fierce battles with my brolly that kept flipping inside out -_-
sadly i don't have a photo for this though.
it was painful, but hilarious at the same time.

we decided to save on the cable car costs and hike up to the top of the tower by ourselves.
it wasn't entirely a bad decision though!
the good thing: that was the only day that rained throughout our entire stay there. so i think it was good that we made the hike up with such cooling weather so we couldn't really feel ourselves sweating. can't imagine myself walking up under the scorching sun burning my face up into a ball of weather-beaten fatigue aka cui-ness.
the bad thing: this also meant that we were freezing cold. thank god for the lame sweaters we bought at namdaemun. i was wearing 3 layers on top but i was still freezing... i actually wore shorts that day too lol what in the world right. but luckily my legs weren't the least cold.

hiking up did promise us good scenery though.
we stopped by certain photo points and whipped out the selfie rod hoho.
i was kinda exhausted after the 1.5hr hike.
it would definitely be shorter if you didn't stop by too long to take photos though!

when we finally reached the top my nose gave way.

i wasn't fully recovered so my nose felt like it was going to die..... but i revived it with a nice hot cup of citron tea that i bought as a reward for completing the hike woohoo!

the best part of namsan was probably getting to eat the potato stick that exo tried when they came to namsan too.

lol i tried.
but he's too cute still.

okay and securing our locks in the freezing cold was really fun too hehe.

van left a yellow lock that said "freedom trip with Jamie!!!!" (aww yay) while i left an old almost-rusty lock that wrote "be happy, stay healthy, find love" hahahaha.

did i mention we had some really expensive chicken and beer for dinner?

i think we paid about S$20 for this T_T

but ah well it was good still. 

look at our qt matching sweaters we bought at namdaemun ahahahahaha,
can't even believe how retarded we looked wearing a mismatched cap underneath the hood too.
we must have looked like poor blokes.

it was getting late so we figured it was kinda dangerous to walk back down.
so we invested in a single-way ticket via the cable car which was obviously not value-for-money compared to the 2-way trip.
but oh well, safety first.

that night my fangirl feels got the better of me and i seized the opportunity of a near-empty subway station to take a picture with kyungsoo.............. on a poster.

#goodjobwelldone

13 May. Day 3 - Children's Grand Park, Hongdae

set out to the faraway children's grand park near konkuk university the next day and it was probably one of the most fun days!

because admission is free and the park has a zoo and botanical gardens.

unlike singapore wth where you have to pay for every single landmark you want to visit lol.

so much for not spending money that though.

immediately bought a dippin dots ice cream (!!!!!) which was my childhood favourite that costs almost $4 T_T

i got the cotton candy flavour while van got the rainbow one. (try the former instead pls hahaha)

i couldn't stop taking photos of all the flowers around because sg's weather really doesn't favour the growth of these pretty lil things.

stopped by the arisu water museum (it's like singapore's newater) for kids which had a lot of little kiddy displays to fiddle around with and learn about purification process and all.

but i swear the space is so underutilised it's quite sad because the museum wasn't really bustling with activity like how you'd expect it to do.

quite a small but fun place for the little tots.

the toilet's really tiny too hahaha if any of you saw my snapchat about being a peeping tom LOL

there was also this outdoor stage that had a series of percussion instruments like the xylophone and random drums but yeah i spent a good 15mins there playing peter pan and be your everything heh.

while van chilled on the swing.

chanced upon the mock-up tunnel and took some photos too~

^ lol at my fat protruding belly plz

ew fats i need skinnymint but i'm broke :-(

there was even an amusement park in this hugeass place omg!!!!!!

van wanted to ride these but we couldn't find the ticketing booth and as usual i was being a scaredy cat despite this being a kids' attraction LOL.

i can't take this kind of thrill in my life i'm sorry hahaha it just scares the wits out of me.

settled for popeye's 'cos we were darn hungry and after that we headed off to the zoo.

there were so many animals in the enclosures omg i swear there were at least 50+ different types?!

but i had more fun taking photos with the fake animals instead HAHAHA

(damn times like this i wish i owned a dayre so i could insert the super duper cute emoticons they had  instead of repetitively using lols and hahahahs -_-)

i couldn't even open my eyes when imitating the tiger because the sun was TOO HOT.

then you have me acting all retarded with the korean folklore corner because the characters are really damn cute heh.

i think i wasn't even supposed to sit on the platform with the grandma but who cares, rebel.

by the time we finished roaming the botanical garden, the safety experience centre that we had initially planned for was already closed.

so we decided to move on to hongdae since they were kinda on the same line.

i was so tired from all the walking i slept on the train like a log.

the streets of hongdae turned out to be what i pictured, a lot of hustle and bustle brimming with youth and a vibrant nightlife.

hongdae is full of korean bbq and A LOT of food stalls.

it's also kinda like a shopping paradise for clothes and other little souvenirs like socks, caps, phone covers, kpop stuff.

basically hongdae is your one-stop place for almost everything you need.

settled on a quick kebab for dinner because the rest of the shops didn't look too tourist-friendly lol.

or maybe we were just too shy to ask.

tried churro 101 and it was damn good but it was so expensive :-(

almost $4 for a single stick of churros??? nah. but still worth the try.

14 May. Day 4 - Bukchon Hanok Village, Tosokchon, Ewha Women's University

started my day with a little carton of cereal milk that i decided to try.

AND WOW IT TURNED OUT TO BE THE BEST THING I EVER DRANK.

there's no hard bits of cereal inside, but you could taste the cereals that were incorporated into the milk mmmm so so good.

today was bukchon hanok village day after mistaking samcheong-dong for it hahaha.

now this is then the real deal.

we settled for a nice-looking store that specialised in naeng ramyeon (cold ramen noodles) and omfg it was damn good!!!!!!!!!!
maybe because we were really hungry but i think the naeng ramyeon here is really worth the try.
tbh i got kinda scared eating korean cold noodles because it always kinda feels like rubber and me having weak teeth, it becomes really hard to chew off and i end up swallowing the noodles feeling like i'm going to choke and die.
ok that was a really long sentence.
but that aside, this naengmyeon was probably the best one i had on this trip - maybe because their noodles were kinda springier and felt easier to chew???
idk.
and i also liked the separate lunchbox with little ingredients that came along with it haha.

bukchon hanok village is a really gorgeous place, so i'll just let the pictures do the talking.

the houses are really one-of-a-kind and i'm glad they preserved this place and even permitted tourists to come and visit.

there are quite a number of museums that allow you to try on the hanboks (traditional korean costume), do some hands-on craftwork and even taste tea.

but they all have an admission fee so yeah we didn't really try 'em. (sorry we're 2 broke girls on a tight budget lul)

it must be a nuisance to live IN a tourist attraction because we sometimes really make a lot of noise haha.

so thanks to all the kind ahjusshis and ahjummas and whoever stays there for bearing with the tourists 365/24/7 HAHAH.

we actually sat by these flight of steps to take photos for at least 10 minutes and i think an ahjumma saw us - she kept giggling at us HAHAHA

we had a lot of difficulty taking because firstly, we weren't satisfied with the angles we took for each other like "nono i look fat take again" (ok that's just me la), and secondly the cars were driving past like nobody's business.

the ahjumma even parked herself opposite us to laugh at our very pathetic photo-taking session LOL.

glad we made her day though ;-)

after roaming the village for almost 2 hours, we made a detour to coffeesmith where they filmed it's okay that's love!!!! kwangsoo worked there in the drama so yayyyy!!!

but omg coffeesmith in korea is like singapore's coffee bean but a little more expensive sigh.

almost $6 for a really huge cup (yes that was sarcasm) of iced coffee hmm.

but yeah you pay for the quality you get.

their coffee is really rich and thick, and i could taste the quality chocolate they used for their mocha.

off we went for tosokchon straight after!!!!!!!!!!
we even cabbed there because we were so desperate and it was getting later and later for us to have lunch.
thank god for a nice cabby and a pleasant first cab experience :-)
he kept trying to communicate with us in the best of his english ability and we just smiled and nodded politely.
and he didn't cheat us of our money thankfully.
read so many stories about being cheated by cab drivers but so thankful we met a decent one :)

this is tosokchon on the inside, and it has a seating capacity of more than 400 people!
probably because they do it the traditional way of having meals seated on the floor.

we were afraid we couldn't finish a bowl each but we still ordered 2 bowls anyway.
when our samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) finally arrived, I WAS LIKE OMG THIS IS HUGE.

a whole chicken stuffed with rice and boiled in authentic ginseng goodness is really to-die-for.
the chickens used are young 40-day-old ones and hence the meat is really chewy and tender!!!
every bite of chicken only leaves you wanting more.
and as much as i hate ginseng, i brought myself to finish the 2 big strips of ginseng they served in the soup.
and to my surprise it was actually really good.
i didn't feel too bloated at the end of meal though i was really stuffed.
did i mention that tosokchon's kimchi was probably the best one i had this trip???
i can't help but drool as i speak of the amazing food here.....
you may think tosokchon is overrated due to highly raved reviews amongst tourists, but trust me, you must try this before you die.
it's that good.

after tosokchon we went to walk around tongin market, which was where i wanted to eat my dosirak (lunchbox).
but we didn't get a chance to return to this place to try it and we were too full from samgyetang anyway.
tongin market is famous for it's traditional korean lunchboxes, where you buy like ancient korean coins in strings of 10 for 5,000won (~ S$6+) and every coin entitles you to a certain side dish of your choice in the market.

the best part is there is a whole load of variety in the market for you to choose from, but only designated stores marked with the dosirak logo participate!

if i ever go back to seoul i must try the dosirak at tongin market.....
oh regrets :(

our next and last destination for the night was ewha's women university.
this place is famous for the cheapest clothes shopping you will ever find in seoul.
and no doubt that's true.
though korea is flooding with 5,000 and 10,000won racks all over the place, i think ewha is the place to be if you really are on a budget because there's really more of such racks here compared to places like hongdae and myeongdong.
ewha has a lot of facial products to buy to so fret not (actually the beauty shops are EVERYWHERE i'm not even kidding, wait till i get to blog about myeongdong and you'll get what i mean)

splurged at artbox bc it was the first store i saw and yup i really went crazy lol bought S$25 worth of stuff i think.

but seriously pls buy all you can at the artbox outlets there bc it is CRAZY EXPENSIVE in sg.

the notebooks here are really only S$1+ and there you have sg selling it for almost 4 to 5 times the price ugh.

  

this is ewha's university campus!!!!
look so gorgeous omg looks quite like a high-class.... hospital.
LOL

no but seriously the architecture here is so beautiful i wish i studied here...

after a night of breaking into the school campus legally and more shopping, we bought ourselves supper which was a nice little box of fried chicken, fried potato balls and tteokbokkis (rice cakes).
it was so damn good omg thumbs up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i love korean street food.

days 5-9 will be up next!!!!!! anticipate my post but please give me some time :-)

cya all again soon!

settling down

it's been about 2 days since i've last returned from the land of kimchi.
i'm still busy sorting out my photos and unpacking my loots...

don't worry i'm drafting posts about seoul already.
moving on to day 3 pretty soon so wait for my posts!!!!
i'll do it in batches so hopefully i don't hold up my posts for too long.

pardon me for i have 30kg of luggage and 2866 photos to deal with.
and i'm not exactly feeling very :-) to be back yet....
post-holiday blues are the worst ugh.

anyway i finished exo next door last night and i was crying buckets.

check out my rants on twitter - ugh it was so heartbreaking to watch.

ok time to go pack more stuff.

gotta cease blogging for the night bc gotta wake up early (by early i mean 9am LOL) tmr partly due to air-con servicing oh sighpie.

AND SCREW MY CORK BOARD FELL FLAT ONTO MY TABLE BECAUSE THE STRING GAVE WAY.

brb crying more buckets

zzzz

love and marriage and other unimportant crap

i questioned myself a little bit deeper today about the idea of love and being in a relationship.

well it all started because i encountered a couple (maybe they aren't romantically together but nonetheless) today at the bistro while working.
they were a normal couple who popped by the place for a drinking session, and were in high spirits in the early evening.

even all the way as the day came to a close, the amount of beer they ordered was proportional to their level of happiness.

they seemed really engaged with each other's conversations and treated me really politely too. (hehe thank you i appreciate customers like that)

however when midnight fell, they suddenly got into a heated argument and raised voices at each other every so often.

i don't know what they were bickering over but i only knew that what i witnessed was something so drastic - a happy day that ended off on an ugly note.

but the catch is that the guy at the table was pretty calm and collected and he kept quiet most of the time.

while i was wiping the cutlery dry, i thought to myself - love is burdensome.

i definitely do agree that women are unpredictable creatures, like we have sporadic temperaments that explode unexpectedly.

even we can't predict when our inner bomb would explode. (at least for me)

so what does love encompass? finding the other half who will appease you is definitely not easy.

i'm quite curious as to how sparks fly between two individuals honestly.

is there an unexplained scientific theory that i'm unaware of?

even i find my own temper unbearable, what more a guy out there who will tolerate all my tantrums?!

as my friends all know i've always wanted to marry but not have kids.

putting the point of having children aside, staying single was primarily my greatest fear that i ever so feared would happen to me when i grow older.

i didn't want to be left on the shelf (as they always say), and find someone whom i could entrust my life to.

but then now i feel like getting married is something i would fear completely now.

maybe not completely, but you get the idea that the tables have turned for me.

a girl who was once engulfed by the fear or singlehood is now secretly wishing that she wouldn't get married in the future.

i don't know, i think i've built so many barriers around myself that it's hard to get to really know me and who i am.

through my constant introspection on an almost daily basis, i notice how i don't click with guys that easily.

i notice how i can barely sustain a conversation for more than 2 minutes with a guy.

i notice how i always keep to myself whenever i'm thrown into a place full of guys.

is the girls' school upbringing getting into me too much?

i don't know.

somehow i recently just don't like the idea of being tied down by someone, and the thought of marriage somehow scares me because i am forced (or should i say because of chemistry) to leave my life in the hands of another human being whom i have... not exactly known all my life.

how do sparks fly so instantly when two people of mutual affection meet????

this is something i would not understand.

call me young and raw, but honestly love is something that i will never get to understand unless i experience it myself (which i have semi-given up on my hopeless love life and decide to be a fatty couch potato who is single for life)

somebody please enlighten me, how do you know you love someone?

is it when you are exceptionally nice to him? but i treat all my guy friends around me the same as how i treat my girl friends. (gender equality advocate here yo)

some people have told me that because i am this nice to the people in my social circle that guys may often misinterpret my actions as a subtle romantic interest.

but well... that's just how i am.

i just feel a subconscious need to treat everyone around me wholeheartedly.

if i give a 100% to a friend i will do the same to the others too.

so when i say i mail out letters to my guy friends for my pre-enlistment i do it for ALL my (closer) guy friends.

hahahaha love is so complicated it's funny.

definitely something i won't understand lol.

but for now - the only form of love i know is:

YES YOU R MY QTPIE FOREVER HOHOHO 3 MORE DAYS BEFORE I GET TO STEP INTO YOUR HOMELAND OH YEAH BB



^ my jam for the day hehe enjoy

don't let (life) dull your sparkle

so i realised i haven't really been giving my 101% to blogging something that's meaningful and read-worthy.
no i will not let my linguistic sentiments hit rock bottom right now, i need to revive the spirit of writing fervently!!!!!!!!!!! *throws celebratory confetti*
and that's mainly because there is zero hype in life right now.

so for the past month, i haven't actually really been up to anything interesting.
well, except for the intermittent job-hopping and occasional shopping sprees.
i think as everyone knows, i quit my internship at my fomer web design company for clear-cut reasons.
well, i actually really enjoyed my job because i did a lot of writing and it honestly offered me a decently competent challenge to stretch my creativity to the fullest potential to think about what to write each new day.
i really enjoyed doing corporate profile write-ups for various companies and generating smooth-tongued catchphrases for advertising purposes.
i actually picked up pretty basic yet useful photoshop skills during my attachment too!

when my company actually finally launches their new website - i'll do some free advertisement for them here and claim credit for all the writing that i've done inside heehee. (but it's true - that was my fruit of hard work after 2 months)

so after i fulfilled my 2-month internship, i had the thought of staying on to work at a part-time hourly rate, just like those admin workers at the offices.
as i mentioned in an earlier post, it was unfortunate that the pay didn't live up to my expectations and hence i quit the job!!
it was kind of a pity because i really liked what i was doing.
but i knew i had to be fair to myself - i had to balance passion and pragmatism on a fine line.
so i did myself an unsolicited favour and left.
may consider freelance back there again even after i start uni who knows?



that marked the start of my unemployment for 2 weeks.
and it truly did feel weird because i was so used to a stable income (not substantial though i was still earning more than i spent) and having something to do every single day.
sounds robotic but i did miss having a systematic lifestyle to lead because honestly, with that 2 weeks i did nothing productive, and everything else the opposite.
up till now, all the things that i promised to do after a's - making my 2016 planner, getting up to exercise (hey no wait i semi-fulfilled this) daily (ok wait no) and whatnot are still left unchecked off the list.
basically in summary i spent that 2 weeks of unemployment watching too much running man, fangirling excessively about exo, sleeping like snorlax and well, trying to find a new job.
wow ewww, i actually feel slightly revolted at myself thinking about my indolence then.
what subliminal aversion towards myself lol.

actually i was quite hesitant about working because i was going to fly in a month's time then so i felt
then there was no pressing need to search for work to kill time.
and that brings me to my next point about the only hype/sparkle/excitement/wow factor in my life: my korea trip!!!!!!



god knows how excited i am to be flying in about 2 weeks time. :-)
i have been researching all day every day about seoul since december, and finally, my trip is happening in real life!!!!!!!!!
going to temporarily migrate - as i ineptly call it - to seoul for 17 days in may and i'm actually quite excited.
(i think even vanessa is put off by my overly enthused vibes that i'm radiating everytime i see her, oops)
when i come back rejuvenated from wanderlust, i promise i'll deliver detailed posts coupled with good photos ok?
17 days doesn't sound very long for a super effective therapeutic getaway but then again, spending more than 2 weeks in foreign land... homesickness is inevitable :-(
#seoulfarseoulgood is happening right here right now!!!!!!! (don't laugh at my cheesy hashtag, friends)
D-14 leggo!

okay anyway back to the mundane realities of life - so i am employed now and i just finished my first week of work at a salad bar!!
i didn't really expect much out of this job, the only reason why i initially agreed to work was because they were really in need of people (and partially also because i've always wanted to try working in a salad bar/cupcake shop)
but ultimately i conceded because the pull factor of a warm and fun-loving environment struck me.

my first week at work went pretty well and i must say, the people there are really amazing.
it's a pretty relaxing job i would say, and i felt that this was the place for quintessential domestication ;)
i actually really learn a lot about the kitchen and ingredient preparation, and how to use a lot of the tools.
being an undomestic goddess (like sophie kinsella, oh what deadly influence she has left upon me by indulging in too many of her books oh no), i learnt how to differentiate between a blender and juicer, how to cut pumpkins (holy my arms ache bc it's so tough), how to operate that darned can opener that i have struggled with for years and etc.
so i actually enjoy the exposure i get here in the salad bar.
i'm still in the midst of mastering the art of wrap-making because i am an extreme loser when it comes to stuffing vegetables and its many friends snugly into its outerwear (but an ultimate winner when it comes to eating).
week 1 at work is down and wow, surprisingly i am starting to feel repulsive at the thought of romaine lettuces......
never mind that, i'm just thankful i haven't really caused much of a debacle in the kitchen.
well, exclude the times when i dropped the blender full with carrots and when i absentmindedly added onions into a customer's order when he specifically refused that tear-inducing vegetable...
week 2 of daily work is awaiting me but i know i'll pull through thanks to great companionship! (yay for the familiar faces yx and janice and the new friends i've made)

about to start my tutoring job next week too and guess what, my nightmare is coming true.
the subject i feared most at a levels that left me with abysmal scars is charging right back at me again - chemistry T_T
hopefully i can still cope well enough with the secondary school syllabus...
gotta keep reading up again tomorrow and it's time to revisit the ten-year-series as a good old pal once more.

i am an unlucky girl.

yes, to cut the long story short (because this irritating blogger mobile app really sucks and did not save my post), i am a rare online shopper who just so happened to pop by the zalora store, spent $40, then minutes later i received a flashy email with bizarre gory colors saying:

i think i nearly died........ i seriously just...

yup so i went for browsing round 2 and forked out another $50 to buy more clothes ugh.

so yes that day i earned about $40 but i spent almost $100.

so much for practising prudence -_-

but anyway i can't wait for the clothes to come!!!!!! 

will blog about them when they arrive :-)

oh oh oh!

recently decided (more like i was forced to) to pick up reading.

yes friends you heard that right, I'M READING!!!!!

because i made a little promise to xh that i would pick up reading if i successfully made it into linguistics.

with great power(ful) (statements) comes great responsibility.

so here's to my first book in god-knows-how-long, wordwatching!

yes that was me in a coffee shop a few days back - reading.

picked this out from the library specially a few weeks back because it seems really relevant to my future course of study.

wordwatching is about a man who loves words so much he's inventing his own and trying all ways and means to have them officialized in the dictionary! and so his adventure begins.

(let's see how my adventurous promise of reading will turn out, it's still too early to say)

yup, after i've dramatized my once-unimaginative life, i think that's pretty much i have for the post today.
my schedule for the week ahead is packed to the brim and i don't even want to think about anything else right now :(
the only thing that'll keep me going is probably the pocket money i'll earn for the month that might just be enough to fund a little of my shopping tendencies in korea.
this year i actually finally understand the true meaning of labour day hohoho.

time to go now, i'll update this space again soon!
probably before i fly.

one last piece of advice - if you feel like you've lost your sparkle in life, find one.
just like how i did.



see you kids real soon. ;)

linguistics, here i come!

so i just wanted to give a little heads-up about what it's been like for my academic journey since i received my a level results...
who knows a freshie as a potential linguistics student in need of advice next year will stumble upon this and benefit greatly like how i did from jamiemermaid! :)

going straight to the point, i received my a's results on 3 march and well i didn't do exceptionally fantastic.
but then again i wasn't very disappointed because i know how much effort i've put in considering the fact that i really developed a strong dislike for science subjects that i studied in jc.
given my deep hatred for the sciences, i think my results were considerably reasonable for me to enter a local university.
i definitely don't have the wide variety of choices that the 80 rank-pointers are entitled to, but i was content because i think i did fairly okay for me to get into linguistics :-)

now on to university applications....
i didn't really put much thought into it because i kinda knew what i wanted both before and after i received my results.
to cut the long story short, i only applied for nus and ntu - smu had zero courses that i was interested in.
to be more specific, smu's fass courses didn't appeal to me one bit.
so i applied strictly for nus and ntu's fass.

a few weeks later ntu dropped me an email and phoned me up saying that i got shortlisted for the linguistics interview!!!!!!!!!!!!
it was quite sudden bc it was only a short 2-day notice before the interview.
i was so excited and when the day came, i was pretty nervous because i turned up late at the venue...
i reached ntu on time but i legit got lost in the huge campus of ntu and was late by about 15mins.
please learn from me: REPORT STRAIGHT TO THE COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES AND NOT WANDER OFF TO SOME MAGICAL BUILDING CALLED INNOVATION CENTRE
wth was i thinking to have even thought the interview there - i must have been really hit by the nerves.
good job man.
when i arrived they quarantined a group of 8 of us in a meeting room to do a written test.
as what i've read from previous interviewees, the written test is basically just a simple assessment of your basic english ability.
they weren't really looking out for your arguments like they did in gp, it was just more of like a check to see if you could write in complete sentences structured appropriately.
so previous years i read had questions related to singlish and bilingualism pop up, so i read a huge load of it beforehand...
but guess what, a question about animals and language surfaced on my interview day -_-
sighpie the topic i shunned just had to appear for the test :(
so i just wrote whatever that came to my mind and filled up the one page that i was given in 30mins.
a word of advice - there's not much time for planning a draft so just forget about trying to write out an essay plan bc you'll really be busy trying to bomb all the points down on the paper.

next, on to the actual interview itself.
because i came late i was pushed to the back as the last interviewee.
i was quite nervous bc i was scared that they'd mark me down for latecoming which would make my chances of entering very slim.
the candidates who took their turn before me were quite nice and there was much mutual encouragement :)

so i entered the professor's office and wow, it was a nice little square room that housed all his work.
it was cozy and it was so not like what i expected (a solemn job interview setting).
instead i sat beside his desk like we were good friends having a really casual chat.
he asked me a few questions about singapore and even myself, about the languages that i spoke at home.
i even introduced the professor to play quizup and try the english category :P
he seemed quite excited by it and said that he would check it out (hopefully he did!)
we had quite a good chat and he even told me more about himself and how he ended up in the field of linguistics too despite being a science student.
the professor was really nice and attentive towards all the responses that i was giving, he listened really patiently and even added on to keep the conversation going.
he really made me feel like linguistics was such a pride of place!!!!
at the end of the interview, he told me "hope to see you in august!" with a bright smile :-)

so the day ended off like that and for the next few days i awaited for my interview results anxiously.
i usually don't pick up calls from unknown numbers but this time round i was eager with anticipation to receive such a call...
i constantly refreshed my inbox to check if i received any email too but to no avail...

but guess what, the best surprise came on monday! (my interview was held on a friday)
ntu dropped me an email to check the updated results of my admission and so i did.
i logged in and guess what i found?

THANK YOU NTU ASDFGHJKL

WORDS CAN'T EXPRESS HOW GRATEFUL I FEEL

I GOT INTO LINGUISTICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i think personally that's what actually really mattered for me in the whole process of taking a's.

i never had high expectations of myself and this was probably the only reason and aim i had in mind to get through the hellhole in jc.

and i finally did it :-)

so happy!!!!

after 12 years i actually like something that i'm studying.

on a side note i didn't get into nus fass, so..... idk whether it's a good or bad thing.

i don't really like the environment in nus and the way the system works as well so i guess i have one less problem and dilemma to worry about.

nus offered me science though, but no way in the world am i going to lose myself in the whirl of detailed molecular deciphering and alien formula again.

SO NTU LINGUISTICS, HERE I COME.

see you on 3rd august!

hello

just dropping by for a quick update!!!
hello hello to my little blog whom i haven't seen in a month plus again.
don't worry i didn't forget about you.

don't really have much to tell you guys about actually.
been really preoccupied with work most of the time so life is pretty mundane.
did i mention before that i really like my job rn because i get to do something i enjoy?
so yes i'm currently intern-ing at a small web design/e-commerce company and hopefully i'll move on to part-timing at an (increased) hourly rate...
really like my job but if the pay persists i guess i'm just gonna call it quits.

so yeah there's honestly nothing really nice to talk about my life rn except for the fact that i'm working...
oh yes and may is the month to look forward to because korea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so damn excited omg.

and guess what i've become hooked onto exo.
do kyungsoo is bae.
yes ok bye.

this was a completely rubbish post.

kyungsoo gif appreciation post

^ last one because the bib was cute

praying so damn hard that the 237 photos of kyungsoo/kai photos i've just saved can all fit into my (low memory) phone

but they deserve the space y'know

2015 thus far

heyyyyyyyyyyy.

2015's been a pretty fulfilling year so far but i kinda like the feeling.

it's a different kind of busyness that you feel and hence the adrenaline rush you get from being packed feels pretty rewarding.

i guess i've been trying a lot of new things this past month.

be it work-wise or leisure time, i guess life does have its perks now :)

i've been trying out many jobs and i think i kinda ruled out many of my future career options already.

and here they are.

1) any outdoor job

any of such that requires a decent amount of walking and fitness - please don't you ever come and find me. i hate any sort of things that have got to do with physical fitness. i nearly died on the job of "forest-trekking" and i am quite thankful i ceased my outdoor work. it definitely isn't my cup of tea as you all know.

2) marketing

i'm not the kind with the best verbal persuasion skills around and i'm not too fluent in conversational chinese. i just don't really have that extra "aha!" when it comes to promoting a good. furthermore it would be hard for an introvert like me to survive this kind of environment. though i am inclined towards written english but speaking it is a different story especially when it comes to convincing others. guess i'd be trampled over and out in this field so no thanks.

3) f&b/service

i wouldn't wanna venture into this industry in the future unless i'm running the place itself. i don't think i would enjoy work if i had to endure a mediocre pay that didn't put my brain to good use. i'm not too good with common-sensical things and i tend to forget how to physically operate things too. i don't have a knack for hands-on things so getting me to fix this and that with my hands just somehow doesn't connect with my brain. f&b and the service line requires a hell lot of physical fitness too - which is something i kinda lack. it's not that i don't enjoy holding a meaningful yet casual conversation with customers, but to do something like this everyday would mean that my brain will probably degenerate quicker than usual. i like interacting with people but not too much. introverts meh.

so yup. after all the jobs that i've undertaken the past month, i've certainly ruled out/will avoid venturing into these areas in the future.

it's not a form of complaint about my previous jobs but rather just an introspective self-evaluation that everyone needs to have occasionally.

i think post-tertiary education is a great time to explore all the career options available out there.

post-tertiary education is really the time of transition between academics and work, between spending and saving, between time and money.

i think this period has endowed me with many amazing opportunities to learn something out there that the classroom could never teach me.

such learning though, can be much riskier than the conventional pen-and-paper tests back in schools, but it's so much more experiential and enriching.

you learn so much more out of each new thing you embark on and i think sometimes it teaches you not just about your surroundings (and the true world), but you also begin a self-discovery journey along with yourself.

sometimes i guess sticking to your primitive comfort zone isn't entirely good.

let 2015 be the year to try new things and learn great lessons!

trying new things.

i cannot forget about - trying new music.

ever since sec 3 my love for dbsk has died down and i've never once returned to the world of k-pop.

i've always been an intermittent being of the k-pop realm who is constantly phasing in and out of it.

nothing beats classic english songs but sometimes your inner self wants to search for an alternative and there it is - k-pop.

honestly i think people who diss k-pop are quite stupid.

okay it's not that i am a holy saint who has never once insulted k-pop but seriously give it a chance.

you know how people always say that the world is so huge that you'll definitely find a place for yourself?

same goes to the k-pop world, you'll definitely find something that suits your taste.

i mean what's so bad about it.

okay maybe some really can't sing or that the music is so auto-tuned and computerized it doesn't even sound authentic anymore.

but i think you gotta give credit to k-idols (and maybe even any artiste out there) for their superb, synchronized and almost robotic dancing skills.

music will always be music, it is a universal language transcending all language barriers.

i think 2015 really made me open my eyes to see why i have "fallen back into the bottomless pit of k-pop again".

to put it in a positive perspective, it's not just about the same-old mindless fangirling and obsession, but rather, embracing a whole new world of music and opening my eyes to experience a tantalizing, flavourful culture. :-)

(ON A SIDE NOTE, EXO IS AMAZEBALLS. I SWEAR. IT'S LIKE THESE 12 DANCING AND SINGING GODS DESCENDED FROM HEAVEN OUT OF NOWHERE)

(growl is my favourite choreography omg what even this madness ^)

okay i shall not get carried away and start spitting out excessive fangirl lingo.......... so bye for now!!!

internship tomorrow yay i'm really happy :-))))))))))))

looking forward to work is probably one of the best things in life that can happen to you.

KYUNGSOO'S HEART-SHAPED LIPS DATS RIGHT :-)))))))))

goodbye 2014, hello 2015

this is a freaking freaking belated post (that i never posted till now) about my brief thoughts on the old and incoming years.
going to keep it short and sweet and hopefully not too naggy.

2014
one word to sum up my year of happenings would probably be 'introspective'.
the previous year had been one naught with challenges and glut with difficulty, but i think what made me survive throughout was a lot of careful thought and planning on the inside.
over the course of this year i think i became a lot more introverted and somehow i've closed up my shell towards the entire world out there.
i spoke a lot less but what went on in my mind was really crazy.
surviving the year was not easy but i guess my half-sane thoughts tided me through along with my dearest friends.

2015
not feeling very resolute this year so i'll give the "New Year Resolutions" a miss.
this shall be the year where i learn the true meaning of freedom.
i'm going to make this year the time of my life, to enjoy to the fullest and have no regrets.
put it in online slang and you get "yolo", but what i really want to draw from the end of the year is to be happy and thankful under any circumstances of life.

let this year be a spectacular one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)