Another Milestone

I can finally say this -- I did it! I got out of school!

Well technically, I finished school last July, as I spent my last semester in the internship programme.
The convocation was supposed to be just a ceremony -- I left school half a year ago, I already bid my goodbye before I left for my hometown, it was just a ceremony, I shouldn't be able to feel a thing... But it is not just a ceremony.

It is a turning point, it is an official farewell, it is everything.

The fact that I won't be seeing all those familiar faces everyday anymore still saddens me, especially people that know me better than I know myself, as well as friends that I've grown close to.

We've been though so much together, sometimes we see each other more than 12 hours a day. They've become my second family, and a staple of my life.

Of course we're still friends, and I know they will always be there for me as I will for them. But deep down we know something yet we refuse to say it out loud: Everything's changed, and it will never be the same anymore.

That devastated me.

None of us wanted to acknowledge that. But in the end, on the night we gathered after the ceremony, we hugged and we cried before saying goodbye to each other. 

Someday in the future, when I thought of this day, I'd remember me standing on the stage, marching toward the chancellor; my classmate/partner/friend, presenting her valedictorian speech and how proud I was of her; flowers, cameras...... And most importantly, all those familiar faces that I grew very fond of, and how much our friendships meant to me.

Broga Hill

On Deepavali last year, my mates decided that it was a great idea to conquer the Broga Hill. Me, being the least outdoor person, tagged along, thinking 'ah what the hell it's just a hill'. Warning, do not attempt to climb a hill when you're having flu especially when you can't even breathe through your nose.

The fun part was however, trying to make your way down. Challenging indeed.

But the outcomes were fruitful. Look at the marvellous view.
Ah, them fluffy clouds.

Thank You

Yesterday was All Saints' Day. It was also my birthday.
I am not the most faithful person - I skip church most of the times, with the excuse that I'm too far away from home and the Catholic churches here are unfamiliar to me; I forget to say prayers before sleep, and strictly speaking, before and after meal.

But it was All Saints' Day, and my birthday, and also because I was overwhelmed by all these emotions inside me that needed to be released.
My heart urged me to be near to Him, and so I followed.

I am thankful to be able to celebrate my 23rd birthday, and that I only have a little obstacles in my life growing up.
I am also thankful to have friends that celebrate my big day with me; old friends that remember my birthday, as well as those that have wished me using the traditional method by picking up the phone to call me, even though social media is obviously the easiest and effortless way.
And most importantly, I'm grateful that I have a family that loves and supports me unconditionally.

I am not the best person - I am full of flaws, and sometimes I can be extremely difficult to deal with. (OK, probably most of the times).
But I am glad to have a bunch of people that choose to stick with me, even after learning my imperfection and have decided to sail with it.

Thank you for accepting the way I am, thanks for not giving up on me, and thanks for celebrating my 23rd birthday with me.
All the thoughts and efforts are deeply appreciated, and I will keep them close to my heart.


P/s: My dear friend made the chocolate cake on the right. Isn't she talented? x

Au revoir! Till we meet again.

It has been a rough week for me. Mentally and physically.

First off, I caught a cold on Sunday night which eventually progressed into a flu. Me. She who never gets sick. Now let's hope the fever won't kick in.

Secondly, someone very dear to me at work resigned. And her departure breaks me.
How should I categorise her? She is my superior at work, a friend after 5, and most importantly a mentor to me. Funny how we only know each other for 3 months but I feel like I've known her forever. She's that kind of person that makes one feel really comfortable around her. I feel safe around her. Like even if the sky is falling she'd figure something out and we'll survive anyway. Sounds like I'm exaggerating but it is exactly how I feel around her. I guess she's sort of like a big sister to me too.
We're standing on different continent right now - Literally. Perhaps this is what breaks me. That we might not see each other again. Monday was her last day at work. The day that came too soon and the moment I dreaded so much since I learnt her departure. Can you imagine how hard to hold back tears? Needless to say, I failed. I had to refrain myself from sobbing like a maniac the whole time, not until I caged myself in my car. I had a good cry on the way home from work, as if I have just broken up with a lover. I know, I sound crazy. All motorists that passed by me must have thought I'm crazy too. But I can't help it.
I hate goodbyes. I'm horrible at goodbyes - I simply do not know how to deal with them.
Work just feels so different now. I feel so lost without her. She was our anchor, our beacon and guidance; even co-workers from other department depended on her. But I guess I'll just have to suck it up and deal with it.

But I wish her well - She'll shine and excel anyway. Because she's awesome like that.

Till we meet again.

Stepping into the first day of August, I can't help but feel sad.

So our internship will be starting soon and after that we'll be a bunch of official graduates. That means hello boring and tiring 9 to 5 working life. Can't believe my tertiary studies are coming to an end. No more chit-chatting and fooling around in a classroom with 14 girls and a guy. No more lecture, or assignment, or lab work. No more seeing familiar faces every day.
Our biggest concern for the past decade used to be merely examinations, grades, boys etc. But saying goodbye to study life is like welcoming adulthood - a stage that is all about independence and taking responsibility of your own life, which I'm sure I'm not entirely ready yet.

Goodbye the first half of 2014, goodbye university life. Goodbye my fellow classmates.
Au revoir, at least for now. 

Week #13: And so it begins

1. Chamomile tea & mango yoghurt smoothie @ Cosans Coffee, SS15. Felt so good to be able to hang out with my friends for the entire week, given the fact that by 3 months we won't be able to see each other so frequently, as in on a daily basis.
2, 3. Brilliant decoration using umbrellas @ Empire City, Perdana Damansara.
4. Graffiti art @ Bangsar. I miss you, banana leaf.
5. The last semester of my degree studies have officially begun. Final year project is definitely not a piece of cake, especially when we only have approximately 2 months to finish our labwork. But again, this too shall pass. This phrase is in my mind every time I wake up from sleep with mind full of works or when I'm about to make a not-so-easy and critical decision. Perhaps I should tattoo it on my arm... Just kidding.
6. Parents came to KL over the weekend for the Qingming festival. Felt good to be pampered again, even if it was only for 3 days.

10 years and counting

Always love catching up with the loved ones. Since TWG has opened a salon on the Island, so why not? A perfect opportunity for us to act classy like a tai tai. (We failed miserably.) The finger sandwich and chocolate cake were alright; macarons on the other hand were refreshing-- It's been awhile since I enjoy macarons without spiking my blood glucose level. Sadly this little party of 4 was perhaps the last session we had before I head down South for my new semester. I'll definitely miss my girls.

Live long and prosper!

Brown Pocket ; Daorae Tanjung Tokong ; The Alley.

Sephora Collection Color Lip Last N15 (Coral Calling) ; Soap & Glory Hand Food Hand Cream.

I've been hiding in my little house ever since I came back to my home town but things have slightly changed this week - All my friends are back from overseas as Chinese New Year is just around the corner. You know which of them are keepers when they don't contact often, let alone social media or phone apps, but just a few calls and they'll show out and next thing you know, you chat about everything from North to South.

Born in Penang since 1991 but this magnificent island is yet to be fully explored. We went to Brown Pocket @ Gurney Paragon and the waffles are as good as what people said. Also, even after trying out the same dish in different Korean restaurant, Daorae's Kimchi Jjigae still amazed me. Not to mention the manager & staffs are so kind, unlike several Daorae restaurants in KL that seem to have snobbish waiters that appeared to have better things to do than serving customers. Hey, I didn't pay you to be bullied. The manager even gave us a pancake for free! The last time we came (around 2 years ago) he gave us free pancake and steamed egg. Thank you again, kind sir. Highlight of the day is when he gave us Hello Kitty lollipops after we paid our bills... I blushed and I have no idea why. Get a hold of yourself girl!

Now the cronuts... I didn't know the existence of this croissant-doughnut hybrid until I watched an episode of 2 Broke Girls where they queued at 6 in the morning but still got nothing because they were sold out. Well this is not Manhatthan, but I'm glad I still have the chance to try it. Drizzled with salted caramel & nutella, yum yum. Also I bought a coral lipstick (RM45) because my good old Maybelline coral lipstick is used up by my mom. Besides, it's Chinese New Year! Must get festive! :P Some lame excuse I told myself so I can spend money. Glad that I picked up a hand cream (RM19) along as my fingers are all dried up thanks to nail polish and remover. The skin around my fingers even started peeling ohmygod calm down fingers. By the way if you look at my bedsheet, my mom bought it for me because she knows pink and polka dots are my dead spot. Oh mom I love you. It even matches my blankey!

Now the disaster that happened during our little trip on Monday... Girlfriends that I know since my foundation decided to meet up before they leave Malaysia so I picked them up and hit the road. But before we crossed the Penang bridge, one of my girlfriends asked me to turn the air-conditioner a volume bigger. Once I did that the air turned really hot and stuffy. We thought my car ran out of gas but I assumed the air will turn cooler eventually.
But after we reached the town area of the island, I realised I was wrong 'cuz not only did the air was still hot, the temperature indicator moved slowly from C to H. I thought well perhaps it was just an illusion. IT WAS NOT. The needle pointed at H. Panic attack. The needle exceeded H. IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE. Then they asked me stop at the side of the road so I did... And the engine couldn't be turn on. I swear I was about to pee my pants at that moment.
But fortunately my friend has a family friend that has a workshop nearby and the uncle came to the rescue. Apparently there was a hole in one of the pipe so the water tank started leaking and led to overheating. The car was fixed in less than 1 hour. Thank you God.

So today is the last day of Chinese lunar year 2013 and tonight at 12 (technically it's supposed to be 11) we'll welcome the year of wooden Horse. The last day of the year is very important in Chinese culture or at least, my family as it is the day to have reunion dinner with your entire family, more or less like a Thanksgiving dinner. So as you can see, the descendants of Dragon all around the globe return home today to reunite with their families, just like my brother... Although my brother is just 300+km away from home. But it's still an important day for us. After having dinner we are supposed to spend some time with our family to welcome the brand new year and before we hit the sack we'll greet and wish our parents lots of luck (and money, because money is everything to us Chinese). Also the red envelope that is given by our parents is to be placed under the pillow as a good luck.

On a very random note, I'm thinking of picking up water colouring again... I'm a big fan of art and I enjoy painting but honestly I'm suck at it even though my painting won me a 2nd runner up prize in Standard 1 (I have no idea why and how I don't remember a thing). Speaking of which, I'm sadden by the fact that the so-called "painting teachers" that teach children locally teach them how to paint in a standard form that the paintings that are created by (for example) 10 students look exactly the same. They correct them when the children jump out of the box and in my opinion the true meaning of art is lost as the creativity is limited. Just like how adults influence the children on the perception of beauty and when the children grow up and see themselves in the mirror, they tend to have low self-esteem because they found out that they don't look like "one of them".

Anyway it's 7pm now and my brother's flight will arrive at 8:30pm... I should probably get ready now. Till the next time lovelies, happy Chinese new year and enjoy your (short) holiday! x

Growing up is no fun at all

Just Something △ Gather Street △ Miam Miam △ Häagen-Dazs △ Pik Nik △ Mei Tip Thai Food

Meeting friends is my favourite part of the holiday besides spending quality time with my parents. However it is often very hard to have a good meet up since everyone is so busy with their lives and also due to the weird semester break arrangement since we are all from different university. Thankfully we had a Raya holiday on the beginning of August so everyone is back including a friend who is studying in the State (summer break, hee).

Meet up sessions had always been great; we talked about our pasts & our future (which nearly made us jizz our pants - really not looking forward to the uncertainties). I'm happy and sad at the same time - I'm glad that we are still friends and still have each others in mind, but sad because in spite of feeling everything is still the same, deep down you can't help but feel that everything has changed.

Soon we'll be talking about internship (already talking about that though), convocation (pfft, some of our old high school friends are already graduated), jobs, wedding, babies, diapers and whatnot.

Sigh, I wish I can rewind the time to 2007 sometimes.

x Jess

I forgot, it's Sunday.

Roaster lamb rack by yours truly △ plan b big breakfast △

We cooked lamb and risotto for our 2nd assessment in kitchen operation class. Will be doing salmon this week. Lunch @ Plan b again, 2 days in a roll. Breakfast platter is huge. Appreciate the Earl Grey though. Met up with my long lost bestfriend David today. His Yamashita is wonderful.