Well, it's my birthday (belated post)

So on the 21st of Sep last year, I turned 21. The birthday day itself was pretty boring, with my day starting at work and listening to a friend's problems at night.

Meanwhile, for a month, Brielle, Wendy and I had been planning my birthday bash at Furama Riverfront hotel. I invited my closest friends (some of you didn't turn up, I'm still sad about that). So finally it was 2nd October, the day of the party. The theme (Greek mythology) had been decided, the customised cake was ready, and we were good to go. Wendy and her boyfriend Jovan were there at the hotel before me as I was coming straight after work.

I made plans to meet Brielle at Commonwealth and then go to the hotel with him. We alighted at Tiong Bahru MRT and as we were waiting for the bus, a few of my friends were telling me that they were gonna be late. We had a bit of trouble finding the right bus stop and had to go to NTUC to get some mixers and chips.Wendy told me that no one was there at the hotel yet. I began to panic and started wondering if I would be celebrating my birthday with just Wendy, Brielle and Jovan. 

On the bright side, me being early meant that I could help set things up. When I actually made it to the hotel with Brielle, and we were at the lift, Brielle started taking his phone out to Snapchat something. I thought he just wanted to record the part where we were going into the room. When we opened the room it was pitch black and I was wtf? because Wendy and Jovan were supposed to be already there so the lights should be turned on.

When I walked in, suddenly, BAM the lights were turned on and ALL of them were already there. Even the people who said they were going to be late. This came as a really big shock to me because all along I had known about the party. It wasn't meant to be a surprise! LOL

Then Judy came rushing towards me with a pink sash that said "Princess" and Wan Ling was putting the crown on. I really did feel like a princess then. I didn't know that they were all there so I was wearing my work clothes, which I was embarrassed about so I quickly went to the washroom to change into something. And Mazi helped me with my eye makeup. (Thanks babe)
After the Pizza, it was already 9 and most of them had to start heading home. So we decided to take group pics and solo shots as well. Here's the group pic!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who rushed down to be there on time, despite whatever commitment they had, just to surprise me. I felt so much love for them that day - and still do.

We had pizza, and then cake, and most people who couldn't stay overnight left.  Then we were left with the people who would stay overnight and go clubbing with me. The club we had decided on was Alta Ego (because of Pavi, hehe). And Jovan had managed to get us on the guest list. Here's the shitty part though: while we were playing drinking games, Brielle jokingly dared Wendy to drink a shot that wasn't mixed yet. So she drank the whole thing and got drunk. I'd never seen one of my friends drunk before and it was...interesting.

She was all red, and saying cutesy stuff, calling Jovan cute and all. XD And she couldn't stand straight!! I literally had to hold her from the back to make sure she doesn't fall to the ground. This girl ah. *shakes head* So in the end, Jovan decided that it was too unsafe to bring Wendy to the club and EVEN THOUGH WE HAD LOOKED FORWARD TO THIS DAY FOREVER, she couldn't make it.

So while she tried to sleep it off, Judy, Saqib, Brille, Fuxuan and her bf, Wan Ling, and I got cabs to Alta Ego. We met up with Ezra and Pavi over there. Alta has three different levels. The basement is a very chill place. There are less people there, more space to move, and people seem to just groove or sit around there.

The 2nd floor is where the party really gets started. Over there, you literally have no space to move. And the rooftop is the bar and food area, where there is no dancing at all. So after experiencing the chill of the basement, we went up to the 2nd floor for some hardcore dancing (actually I just grooved, can't do hardcore dancing). Brielle and Pavi were the best dancers of the night man.

Not gonna go into anymore details but it was definitely one of the most fun and memorable nights of my life so far. The best part was having all my friends in one room together. <3 nbsp="" p="">
LOVE ALL OF YOU and hopefully I celebrate my 25th too, and get all of you together again. :)

*****

Also, from the fact that this was such a late post, you can probably tell that I got really lazy to blog. So here's just a quick summary of what I've been up to since the birthday bash:

- Worked at Star Publishing as an Editorial Assistant till late November.
- Started uni in Dec (studying mass comm)
- Got a boyfriend (Derrick, hehe)
- Started working with the boyfriend (in advertising)
- Also writer for Scribe Project, and now Editor
- MAY go into freelance writing. Maybe. We'll see

So that's about it for my life right now. Been very happy, and it all seems kinda unreal. :) But I'm definitely not complaining.

Reflecting on 2012 + journey down memory lane

I have already done my New Year resolutions in the previous post. Time to really reflect on the past year.

At the beginning of the year, I was working at Sheng Siong as a cashier with my friend Judy. It was tough, really tough. I know people think being a cashier is only about counting money, but boy are they wrong. I got scolded by the older cashiers for being too slow and holding up the queue despite the fact that I was new, I had to promote the products on offer while zapping the barcodes of the customer's purchases, and if I accidentally zapped the same product twice, I needed the supervisor's card to undo it. Sometimes I had to stand there and wait for the supervisor to come and the customer would give me dirty looks. Once, my fellow young colleague, Darren, even got into a tiff with a customer when the customer accused him of giving off the "ah-lian" or gangster vibe when Darren was actually a very nice guy. Worse still, I was a cashier during the Christmas, New Year AND Chinese New Year period and as you all know, Singaporeans were buying off the whole shop. One counter made up to $30000 in sale in ONE day and we have 3 counters. So you can imagine the amount of work we cashiers had to do. Moreover, it was a standing job. Standing up for 10h a day is no joke. At then end of the day, we had to go up to the office and count the money and make sure everything tallied. I once lost $30 due to my carelessness and my supervisor paid it for me. I was touched and very scared too. I realised this job is not for me. However, I learnt a lot from this job and the pay was totally worth it too. My respect for cashiers in such big supermarkets has increased because now I know that it's not such an easy job after all. Also, I wouldn't have lasted a day without Judy. Thank goodness she was there to support me when I just wanted to quit the job!

After I quit the job, the O Level examinations results were released and I remember crying my eyes out in the hall when I received my certificate because it was below my usual standards. I had never been so disappointed in myself. But I dried my tears and promised myself that I won't let history repeat itself.

Then it was time to choose my next destination: either a junior college or a polytechnic. My first choice was actually Ngee Ann Poly's Mass Communications but unfortunately I didn't get in because I was one point away from the requirement. So I ended up in Jurong Junior College. Although I didn't go to my dream school, I no longer regret coming here. I think the pressure here is manageable, as compared to the pressure I am sure my friends from ACJC and TJC feel since they are better schools. I also think my class got really good teachers.

I joined the guitar club, and although I quit in June, I had already learned a lot! I am glad I got the chance to learn the guitar. :) I quit because I was having trouble managing my time and decided to prioritize my studies over extra-curricular activities.

I also joined Drama this year. Although I was not part of the cast, but rather I was the lighting crew, I learnt a lot from this experience about the importance of hard work, determination, and team work. JJC had never got a silver or gold for drama SYF but this year we got Gold with honours and that's something to be really proud of!

I also joined this Emceeing course with a few of my friends and it was a really cool experience. I got closer to many of the other emcee wannabes. And our coach, Mr Rishi Budharani is awesome!!
Thanks to this course, I will be emceeing for the upcoming Open House. I really appreciate this opportunity. :) Also, I came out of my shell more during this course.

Other fun things I did include going for Pink Dot 2012 with some of the drama peeps and Chin. Glad I brought Chin there, think he need to feel that gays aren't as discriminated in Singapore as he initially thought they were.

One thing I am not proud of is screwing up my common tests. I did really badly and my mom had to attend the Parent Teacher's meeting. Sigh. I did so badly that if I didn't pull up my grades by the End-Of-Year exams, I would have to retain. But I pulled up my socks and pulled my grades up in time! Still no As though :/

Also, I watched a lot of plays this year. Twelfth Night, Othello, Gods of Carnage, and 4sterhome. I absolutely love to watch plays! I don't think I'll be watching any in 2013 'casue I am supposed to be studying 24/7 but after the A Levels I definitely will!

Before Justin left for the UK, I went ice-skating with him and other friends. I am glad he invited me because I had never ice-skated in my before and it's always good to try new things! :) Albeit, I fell down and injured myself. -.- My leg was swollen for weeks (because I refused to see the doctor). No regrets though!

When the holidays started, the literature students and I had a literature retreat. I picked up lots of skills regarding acting and thoroughly enjoyed getting closer to the other lit students. A few days after that I went to watch PSY's first concert in Singapore with Chin! Oppa Gangnam Style! :D Had fun!

I also went on "Jalan Raya" at my class girls' houses and that was really fun! ^^ Ate a lot of festive delicacies >< That pretty much sums up my year. Overall it was pretty fun and eventful and I met great people like An in Drama! :)

But if there is something I learnt this year, it's the fact that not everybody is going to like you. Someone will have a problem with the way you are. If a lot of people share the same opinion about you, yes, maybe you should change. But if it's just this one person, who shouldn't change yourself for him or her. Once in a while, you gotta stand up for yourself. This is the way I home, you either accept it, or eff off from my life. Simple as that :)

Also, there is this ex school mate of mine that I haven't talked to in ages, Rabi. He recently talked to me on FB and showed me this video. Oh my gosh, it is so inspirational. You guys should really see it. Here it is:

I should probably watch this video every morning. To all my poly and JC friends, all the best with your studies in 2013. I am sure you will do well!

Ps. I am also glad that Yong Lay and I seemed to have gotten over our misunderstandings in sec 3/4 because he's the only one who watches the same shows I do and knows so much celebrity gossip. I'm glad I can talk to him abt that now. ^^ He's a nice guy :)