Internship!

So. I've started interning at a production house just for kicks, y'know, cuz I have the time. I might as well get the experience.

The place is seriously cool, with doof bags and a TV and a sofa in the large open room... A space I thought we would be able to chill out and relax, but LOL NOPE THIS IS WORK.

It's exhausting how even though technically the whole month has more or less been just sitting in the office by 11am with the laptop open I am actually tired! I've run out of time to do my own things, reaching home at around 8pm... on a good day. Obviously although I've been meaning to blog, I wasn't quite able to just sit down and do it.

Counting Stars! ♥︎

Production work is so demanding... Though I guess that's only because it's my first time doing such a thing that I'm a little lost... From referencing to scripting to shooting... It's a lot about focus and otherwise (for me) "I hope this is okay", haha! And this is only the first half of production! @A@;;;

Essentially being the saikang! HAHAHA!

Other than the workload though, it's pretty awesome! Because all this is actual stuff... We're making things... Legit things, not silly assignments that would be irrelevant a couple of months later.

I'd blog more but it's late and I just wanted to blog before CNY, so here it is! Hopefully after the CNY rush I'd be able to at least update some pictures... Though looking at my schedule... That's rather unlikely... DERP.

Popin' Cookin' Sushi Candy Set~!

I love doing craft things, and I love food. I also love my sister, so obviously it works together.

A few weeks back she brought back Japan's popular Popin' Cookin' self-make candy series, where you are given sachets of powder and everything needed to make miniature food that looks exactly like the real thing. It's amazing. Also I don't dare to eat it.

It has Japanese words! Hence, imported! *wild applause*

Apparently the Japanese are nuts about packaging everything.

These are your materials!

So the point is to transform everything you see in those small packets of powder and make it into candy in the shape of sushi. MAGIC.

The good thing about the Japanese is that they're really detailed, and literally you need nothing else. Just water, and even then they have this small space in the middle to hold JUST enough water for everything, it's amazing. Everything fits exactly right, right down to the amount of power to even how many drops of water you need.

This is 'rice'. Considering how it is just water + powder, after mixing it 

for a minute or so, it becomes fluffy and airy. IT'S MAGIC.

Powder for the "tamago".

After following instructions and mixing everything, this is what you get.

That's also how you make the fish roe to top off the sushi... just drop 

a certain solution into another solution and it will instantly become 

the texture of fish roe. It really is magic.

The rice placed on "plates" that's on the packaging itself...

Making sushi! (Look at that roe!)

Final product~

All in all it was a really fun experience! We didn't dare eat it because it even smelled super sweet and it literally is just sugar powder + water, so we didn't quite bother.

It did subtly show us the amount of detail the Japanese put into their work, as well as how innovative they are. Instructions guiding you through the whole thing were done on the packaging itself, eliminating need for an extra piece of instruction leaflet. And even though we didn't understand Japanese, the diagrams were clear enough to guide us through the whole thing, and it was pretty straightforward as well!

Trigonometry, My Nightmare Since 5ever.

It is my firm belief that trigonometry has ventured into the theoretical part of math, unlike traditional views of math- and I hate it. It's horrid. It baffles me. If you give me algebra, or stuff an equation with unknowns- yes that makes sense. It's understandable; x, y, π. Formulas. Cold, hard, logical mathematics. Give me graphs. Even differentiation and integration is easier to understand.

I'll be the first to say I'm intimidated by versatile mathematics.

Even though I manage to do the questions, I do not get any sort of happiness from them. I do, however, get some sort of morbid satisfaction from successfully solving a remarkably tedious question. The same sort of satisfaction comparable to getting a prick out of your hand, popping a particularly painful pimple, or throwing away food you don't like that has turned sour.

And when I don't solve the question, I feel frustrated, dumb, and incompetent. As though my self worth stems from how well I can solve math problems.

This is probably the one problem that comes from Asian parents and society's mindset. That if you don't know how solve complicated math you are considered subpar. That somehow you're just not as smart. If you don't get an A+ in math you're not a 'proper' Asian.

Don't even get me started on failing Calculus 1. Not 2, not 3. Just Calculus 1. I can foresee the shitstorm that's going to rise up anytime soon.

Granted, yes, Calculus 1 isn't hard. But I don't do math like I used to.

Sorry for being stupid.

Sneaker Heels and How They Irk Me So.

First off, if you don't know what sneaker heels are, allow me to contaminate your mind:

These are sneaker heels: like its name suggests, it's a pair of sneakers... but with heels.

Apparently this is some sort of new fashion which mashes sneakers and the conventional high heels. What you get is a a pair of sneakers that don't allow you to run, and high heels that aren't sleek and sensual.

Somehow it's like a tablet phone - a phone too big for you to put in your pocket, and a tablet too small to be tablet-comfy.

I don't understand how people like it, but they do. This includes, le petit ami, who has told me numerous times that it's amazingly sexy.

My mind screams about impracticality, because it's a pair of sneakers you can't run in.

What is the point of this if you can't run in them???

I understand that it's a new type of fashion and yes, for some people it is a huge turn on, but....

BUT IT'S SO IMPRACTICALLLLLLLLL //cries







...and now the worst thing ever?
I think I've grown kinda fond of them, and gotten over the initial repulsion, cuz I figured they'd go really well with shorts/denims etc but they're so expensive!

THIS IS WHY IT'S SO HARD TO BE A GIRL!!!!! YOU CAN HATE IT BUT YOU STILL WANT IT!

She Doesn't Deserve Those Names.

Regarding this recent article about a Singaporean college girl being dissatisfied with her boyfriend's birthday celebration for her, I see a lot- A LOT- of comments calling her a 'bitch' and a 'gold digger', coming from both males and females.

I never saw her full written statement until today. And after reading it, I realized... she's not.

Why is it that so many people seem absolutely outraged that she was looking forward to a big birthday celebration? Why is it that people are calling her a gold digger and a bitch?

Can I just say, quite simply, that... her love language is different?

I am not one of those gold-digger girls who is looking for a rich husband. Case in point, if I were, my boyfriend would have been struck off the list long ago.

To make things clear, I myself am very generous to my boyfriend in gifting him with presents. I am not trying in any way to cheat his money. 

They've been together for slightly less than a year- true, if she was she wouldn't have even bothered that much. She also explains that she splurges on her boyfriend. All this simply point to the fact that yes, she values money and class- but that doesn't necessarily make her a gold digger.

According to the 5 love languages; of which there is affirmation, service, gifts, intimacy and quality time; she strongly displays her love with gifts, that much is obvious. That would mean that to her, she feels loved when people shower her with gifts. That would explain why she feels disappointed at a simple dinner and card: there's no gift. It's not expensive. She feels valueless. She feels that her boyfriend doesn't even care enough for her to spend on her birthday, instead bringing her to a casual place and giving her a seemingly valueless (in terms of monetary value) card. That also explains why she spends on him- because that's her way of expressing love.

Her boyfriend, on the other hand, obviously doesn't express his love the same way. He would most likely express it in terms of quality time and probably intimacy- but he obviously does not show his love with gifts. That's why, to him, he would feel that a handmade card is worth more than a store-bought gift.

It's really a simple case of misunderstanding each other's love languages- what they need to do is be aware of this, and work towards a mutual love language. (Love languages are also not exclusive; many people have a mix of all five, but there is one sort that we would feel most comfortable with.)

I can safely say that she doesn't deserve many of the negative comments she's receiving- people, that is bordering on cyber bullying- so do stop and think about it. While you're at it, check out your own love language.

Image stolen from the internet.

It's not hard to determine your own love language, and that of your partner's. Notice what they get super upset about (missing a date or not giving birthday gifts) and notice what is it they do for you that you feel super happy about. Also try to pick clues from usual conversation- notice what they mention during birthdays etc. "I love it when my boyfriend always buys me lots of gifts for Christmas! ♥︎" as opposed to "I love it when my boyfriend always asks me out for Christmas lunch! ♥︎"

Again, as I mentioned, one person can always have more than one type of love language. So do learn this and understand yourself and your partner more, for a better relationship!

*note: love language also can refer to parents, friends or others; basically anyone you have relation to.

OneRepublic Concert @ Sunway Lagoon, 2013.

So... finally. After discovering OneRepublic four years ago and falling deeply in love ever since, I finally get to see them live.

My heart, it quivers.

I love le petit ami for getting VIP tickets for us~! Really dear, it was so much better to see them up close and personal!!!

Too much feels, I started crying the moment Ryan Tedder started to sing Light It Up... The music sent shivers down my spine and prickled my skin. The feeling was amazing... The absolute delight at finally getting to see them perform live.

Many times I was just absolutely lost in the music and the atmosphere... These were the songs that I've made to be a part of myself, that I've lived and breathed and sang to and cried to and fell asleep to. These were the songs that bring themselves forward whenever there is an appropriate situation, the songs that comforted me and the songs that gave me hope and let me live again.

The band was wonderful... It was all my favorite songs, all our songs, the songs that saved my life... No band is quite as integrated into my life and such a deep, critical part of me as OneRepublic is.

Something in their songs speak to me, being just the right amount of tender and wonderful. (Of course, Brent Kutzle's cello-playing skills are simply irresistable.) It's honest and longing and love and wishing and things we've missed and things we've gone through all in one. To experience it live, with Ryan Tedder's amazing energy, just reinforces it all.

Even better than that?

I had a lovely, perfect man holding me through it all. :) I love you, hatsukoi~ ^^

Because, Food.

You know what you're missing in life? Home-cooked food. I know I am.

Finally had my mom's special home-cooked 红枣面线汤 (vermicelli in jujube soup), which is brilliant, because she's brilliant like that. (I'm awaiting her black pepper mushroom noodles.)

Here, be jealous.

I really do miss home-cooked food. I'm sick of all the nonsense on campus, where food is plainly just edible. I live to eat, not eat to live. #firstworldproblems

Due to my super long schedule, I can't cook for myself as much as I'd like to. Which is a huge shame, because I think my cooking is quite fantastic and inventive, and also because I'd like to practice cooking awesome food more, but no. C'est la vie. I have to live with whatever expensive edibles they pass off as food in campus. :(

It's also quite alarming how much people love salt nowadays. Le petit ami has a salt-tooth, in addition to his sweet-tooth, and because I'm not ignorant about high-blood pressure, it kills me a little when we eat out because I know whatever we're eating is most likely loaded with it.

Not like we can do much about it... I simply just don't have the time to cook. Maybe next year, I'll start on all those recipes I've saved up.