Oh my goodness I am in my last hour out of 22 past hours spent in the Chronicle Room.
It is really one hectic production night, ok, not so much for us newbies, cos our
editors are still doing most of the stuff and the we are merely thinking of
bylines and headlines and trimming of words here and there............
I am so zonked out already and I am amazed at the energy level of the
people here! We started work at 730pm on Thursday Night and it is 345pm on Friday afternoon.
More than 12 hours have flown past......
Well, with the exams at such close proximity, I don't know if I should be spending
all these time studying that doing the lay-outs, checking for spelling errors, shifting
bars around and printing and re-printing articles and spotting errors......I hope all goes well
and there is still the Teenage article to rush over the weekends
My time is split writing articles and doing projects and trying to mark my tuition boy's homework....
argggghhhhhhhh
Well, I just hope all goes well
Cannot wait for chronicle when it comes out on monday
New Windows 7: Simplify what you do everyday.
Find the right PC for you.
Its a saturday night and I am alone in hall.Despite the extreme isolation from civilization, I am digging this personal sanctuary Thankfully, he was not there. I needed to be alone and well, get studying. Frustratingly so. I have thins hanging feeling that how matter how hard I study, things will stay in the stagnant region. Maybe its in my limited capability which had seen its best days in secondary school. I don't know how all these studying will lead me to. It is so tiring to have to consistently maintain a optimistic front to forge on and try to "make sense" of the readings and oh econs notes. So much struggles mercilessly compacted in a few weeks. It seems that no amount of warming up the chair and studying will make up for my lack of intellect.
Sleep , I will. I hope I can dream of breezing through my studies, something, I have never been capable of.
And In a few hours, I will find myself poring through the same stack of notes, filled with treacherous emotional bombs. I do not know which page will trigger the emotional outburst.
Well, at least I will look forward to breakfast tomorrow: triple chocolate crunch from Marks and Spencer.
And well, as for whatever that has been occupying and distracting me, all I can say is history is repeating itself. I am see-sawing back and forth now. It is a gap, which will have to be answered if we want things to continue on. and a very awkward gap. I have seen the spiraled version happened in front of me. At least that could be decently explainable. You know, I am so scared of you but at the same time I feel like shaking you and asking what's wrong. The answer, i know, is not so straight-forward. I want and do not want leave things at it is. Why this is happening? What is happening?
Ok I really need to sleep now
I hope for a dream that will show me to my answers to my economics tutorial and my social tutorial.
Just when YOUTUBE canceled my youtube account, because..erm i uploaded videos on the oscars, grammys...somehow, i managed to find a site which "magically" saved all my youtube videos!!!!!!!! goodness.....especially this one:- about a girl who loves her doughnuts....this just goes to show that whatever you do the web can never be totally erased
Back from chronicle meeting and will hit the books in minutes
It was such a well, frightening experience, for a first-timer to seat in the news room. And I was told to pitch a story idea ( thankfully, It was accepted). I just know that I definitely need to be much much more opinionated and be more brave to speak up. Cos, I will be doing this from now on.
Yep, they finally asked me, face-to-face, if I was interested to become the lifestyle editor.
And I feel relieved that it was lifestyle and not abs hard news that I am going to write. But, there are so many doubts and confusions, maybe doubts floating in my head. I need to start thinking to story ideas, direction, editing and oh revise my InDesign skills....
So, this is it. This will be my "CCA" then. Ok, need to stop all those negative voices in my head. I got the post. I can do it. ( repeats mantra fervently) Now, i got to think how to tackle it......hello deadlines, all over againe
Weeeeeeee..I have just updated my Online Portfolio at
http://kenportfolio.wordpress.com/ . Do support me by clicking on it haha
Well, someone told me to send my portfolio to someone for considersation of a position, so I decided, why not just update my more current articles which I did during my internship this year, yup, there are some of them! Enjoy:)
Marie Digby was such a joy to interview. She sounded really like the girl next door. And whenever she disagreed or wanted to elaborate more on what I said, she would give this cute, girlish sound.... "eeeeeeeeeeeeee". V. Sweeetttt
Woke up at 7am to be on the line with DAUGHTRY, who were phoning in from Los Angeles.
At first, i was so damn worried that I could not "connect" with him, cos he is so much older, wiser, more mature and has a family...but he is so down-to-earth.. Told him that I love the song " No Surprise".
Interviewing Lady Gaga was the highlight of my year. I waited for close to an hour at the Mandarin Oriental Ballroom to interview the star. We were only allowed one question per press, but I managed to sneak in 3 questions into one ( ,discount the " Lady Gaga, what makes you gaga?" question). I will never forget those smoky eyes!!!!
Memorable around-the-island foodie trip on the most popular and legendary Hawker stores in Singapore..it was so hectic but oh so fun. We took taxi to Kallang, Chong Pang, Bukit Merah, Adam Road to those outlets. so it was like eat and rush off to the next venue......
My first full-length article in the magazine!!!!
The movie, music section
Those days of doing snippet after snippet
Labels: intern, magazine
I decided, I will not let my stagnantly sickening hostel life overwhelm me. It is just pointless to rattle and stumble over it. I am adopting a Que Sara Sara attitude to it. Thanks fifi for the advice.
I will stay until the end of this semester, as all my stuff, my cumbersome printer, my books, my erm, cardigans are really nicely nestled in my hostel room and I am way too tired to shift my life back to home again. Even my Cross-country trips every friday make me every tired. Imagine, a bag full of books, my macbook pro ( it weighs 2 freaking kilos) and my pile of smelly clothes for the week.
Anyway, i am used to the routine, so I will just stick by it.
Last sentence, this means that I will be sticking around school regularly to mug, which sounds like a plan. Ok, that will be it.
6 more weeks to the exams and and and everything's still a blur.
As usual, i helplessly watch myself fall down the slippery slope of getting less-than-mediocre grades, despite more-than-average efforts put in. Same JC syndrome. My grades are inversely proportional to the efforts I put in. Nonetheless, I still got to study. Everyones studying, including the closet muggers who love to use the words " Tai Ko". I am just amazed that people can study still 4am almost every morning. Like, where do they even squeeze out that ounce of energy from? Maybe that's the secret of doing well, study till 4am.
Well, as for now:-
French : My favourite subject! until it comes to the masculine and feminine verbs, adjectives. I am still holding out for the possibility of going to Paris and speaking french there
Bizzzz Law: I took it because I was so desperate for a subject, any subject. Surprise Surprise, Law turns out to be quite interesting, avec Mr Ram's ridiculous law examples.
Economics: One word: AAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Media Writing: still trying to live up to Miss Shenton Way's strict standards and not failing. Now, I seem to be more interested in Broadcast writing, but just keep an open mind
Communications 201: Oh! This is like a self-help lecture for me, understanding how and why people communicate and the signs they make.
Media Professions: Help me! I hate to find out ( for the 100th time) why we must maintain an objective press system, blaa blaa blaa...
enough of school work, now i feel so guilty of blogging that I may feel compel to start on my econs tutorial. But er those unemployment graphs makes me my brain go out of job
Ahhhh the holidays are coming soon and I am making plans. I will not slack my time away.
Going on an holiday is out cos I GOT TO be in Singapore to help shift to my new home which will be ready and there are the renovations to fret about. Yup, my days in Yishun are numbered.
I sent out a few applications
1) STOMP Intern ( still deciding if take it up)
2) Radio 913 Intern........
3) or should I just go back to TEENAGE and intern for a month, well, not second thought, maybe not......
I turning to you, to this, to this non-living thing, with a living person in within the same
area of space. I wonder which one of us of us will be the first to back out. I wonder if
he can stomach this any longer. I wonder who, WHO can even stomach this.
Its 730pm. We are in the room, within 2m of each other. My comfort zone had already been trespassed. We are in our own worlds, despite being just a shoulder's length away. The whole night is pure silence. and it is not golden. Maybe it is interrupted by ring tones and the occasional "sorries", which is disgustingly polite.
I wonder how long can I stomach this.
I am a human being after all. I cannot just zip the whole night through, without uttering a word, or having to control my emotions. My inability to connect and speak really shames me. I wonder what he thinks about me.
Sometimes, when I am not occupied with work, I wonder what's wrong with us. Why we cannot communicate at all. WHY THINGS turn out like this, exactly what I have worst feared the first time I saw him.
I feel very frustrated and weary, every night when I step into the same room with him. We say our customary hellos, on a good day, we speak for 2 sentences and that's it. Zipped up all the way. I so badly want to say "how's your day?", or " did you go for.......", but nothing seems to be coming out from my mouth. I have lost all home and momentum anymore. I do not know what to do any longer.
I am stuck in my own world. This unbearable world between 730pm to 1am, every week night, when the only comfort is to occupy myself with homework, to forget about the awkwardness, to forget about the pain...
I so badly want to leave here, but I know that home, my real home, is not a bed of roses at home. There is the perennial trouble-maker and his booming voice and his wind of troubles to grapple with and swallow it down.
I was very optimistic to have a chance to leave home. to escape from his clutches, but my hostel life is not any better.
There is nothing worth staying on in here. I do not know why.
I wish I could speak a word, I wish I could talk abit
Just a bit, I am not a mute, emotionless robot which you can leave at one corner and let
it be.
I am going to check my webmail, to see when is the date that they will deduct the rest of the hostel fee.
I want out.
I cannot live every night like this.
I am not mute
I cannot live every night this way.
I just cannot,
with everybody outcasting me
I want to go to a home,
not a second prison.
Busy busy clash of two mega events. First up, even the kind people up in Nepal know that the glamourous F1 is in town. All I know is Beyonce from Team Columbia records was in town and shake her bootylicious butt and let mosquitoes from Fort Canning Park feast on her chocolate-coloured trunk-y thighs. And ..oh..Queen (no.2) of Caldecott Hill got hitched by Christopher “grew up in JB, married in Shangri-La” Lee, with the blessings of Mother Superior, David Gan.
F1 was cool, not because I so do not bother about which car hit the finishing line first and neither do the “hot and sexy” sounds made by the skidding of those cars turn me on. A friend recently described those screechy booming motor sounds as “ sexy”. Honestly, I pity the sounds his wife has to make. The whole point of me bothering to tune in to watch the F1 race is….to see if the camera would cut-away to va-va-vrooom shots of PusscycatDoll Nicole Scherzinger watching her lover-boy, Lewis Hamilton speed on the roads of Singapore, without getting Sah-Man. And Lindsay Lohan, Sam Ronson, the Black eyed peas…did the Backstreet Boys and Chaka Khan descend on my balmy little island? Goodness, it is like the APEC Summit, but replace those balding, menopausal ministers with these hot shimmering stars.
And so that is it for F1.
Next is the event which I have been clamouring for: the long-awaited wedding bells of Christo-Fann went falalalalalalala. It was such a glam event that Armani was wearing Prada. I hopped over to a friend’s place to watch the whole circus unfold in its whole PR glory. I felt for happy for my “Luv Luv Luv” actress, well, “ what can I say?”. Everything was so glamorous, but the entire dinner banquet looks suspiciously like a make-shift Mediacorp corporate function. Almost every actor, old or young, thin or fat, botox-ed or not botox-ed , was present. Even that uncle who always play the mad-cap toilet cleaner or your tai-qi swooshing uncle was seated at table number 91.
2 complaints for the night:
1) Irene Ang looked like she was auditioning for the sequel for “Happy Feet”. Sure, it was a black-tie event, but her monochromatic dress just scream “ Look at my fat belly”. Surely, she should have wore something loose yet classy and black.
2) Fann..*slaps forehead*
We know the cream-coloured Bally’s strapless gown was inspired by Bollywood, but it was more Jai-NO, than Jai-Ho. What were you thinking, pinning so many diamonds and rocks on that dress? You think you are collecting Girl Guides’ badges? And it came complete with a head-dress. If a tourist were to be watching this on TV, I would forgive her for thinking that this was a documentary on pilgrimage in Meeca.
That said, We love your Vera Wang puffy dress!
Last but not least, I hope the whole saga on Miss Bvoomsz low is all bridge under the water. She is only 19 – time is jolly well on her side. Just sign up for lessons at the British Council, pay her credit card bills and change that name, please. Nobody can take a girl named Ris seriously. I mean, seRISously!!!!!!!!!!!! Labels: entertainment
Finally it is recess week and yes, it is high time to rewind back to do (some of) the things
which I have temporily sacrificed, in the name of readings, readings and highlighting readings.
I miss
1) Blogging
2) Blogging about random stuff like what I thought while seating on the toilet bowl
3) Blogging about what I wished I had for breakfast, instead of *horrors* french toast
4) Blogging..about ( I could go on)
I miss blogging and it is quite sad that for the month of August, I have *hands on hips*
only one friggin' post. And that wasn't quite a happy post ( don't scroll down). So I will try to make it up
during recess week. Keyword: Try.
Well, it is an open secret that recess week honestly isn't a time to let my hair down and holler to "Dancing Queen".
No wonder its called recess week, not holiday week, not getaway week, not even "vacation" is used. Rats, this doesn't
feel like having a holiday anymore. The train ride on Friday made me left escatatic, as an exciting new thought zipped
past my mind, when the train stopped at every station.
Considering that there are 13 train stops in my butt-numbing journey, I had 13 things neatly written on my list. I got so excited that I got lost in fantasizing. I thought of cooking, baking............and the word Baking reminded
me of cook books, which visually prompted the idea of text books then somehow, "Communication Mosaics" and " Basic Media Writing" floating into my mind, as gracefully as Chang Er. So many assignments to do! The 13 things I wanted to do just evaporated in a flash, dare I say, faster that I could say, well, " Chang Er". So, it is not going to be a holiday. It is
going to be a recess. Something, like gulping down a bowl of Mee Rebus, and off I am to work, again.
Life for the first half a semester has been confusing for me. Maybe its the hormones, maybe it due to lack of exercise ( walking up flights of stairs do not count, neither does ambling from South Spine to North Spine, and having forgotten that I have left something at South Spine - I call it my bi-polar trel). It has been confusing, really. On days, I feel like I belong here, but there are days, gloomy, dark days, where I feel so relusive. That's why I call Wednedays my anti-social days. ( I really hate Wednesdays, nowadays).
Well, onto the situation with me and my dear roomie. I am proud to announce that there it is a W-shaped curve in terms of relations. We have progressed from giving mono-syllabic replies to summarising our respective timetables in 2 sentences. But, recently, diplomacy levels have taken quite a dip. Yes, it is impossible to imagine what is worse than muttering two sentences a day. Silence. Maybe it is the only-child syndrome working against me, I am so not used to speaking once I reach home, and it is the same for hostel. Well, I just need to endure this till the end of semester and I have leaving. ( since I have already paid the fees till December).
Anyway, screw hostel life.
Ok, back to happier stuff ( I had a Happy Meal yesterday, for dinner)
There are 13 things I WISH I could do during recess week'
1) Watch TV ( seriously, I miss seating in front of the telly and stare mindlessly at ChannelNewsAsia Logo)
2) Catch up on Singapore Idol ( at least know who the front-runners are, so I can pretend to be so enthu about it haha)
3) Watch Fann Wong's TV-wedding
4) Blog
5) Bake a butter cake ( without casuing a black-out)
6) Maybe, Bake a pizza too
7) THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE
Screw the 13, I will just stop at 7. The remaining 6 will be about studying and more highlighting to go...
ok, toodles..yes
check out the rest of the Windows Live™. More than mail–Windows Live™ goes way beyond your inbox.
More than messages
i know i that I ought to be studying and poring through my readings, but I need to let this out.
Things, which I think would turn out decent and okay, has remain stagnant and rotten. Who cares about obtaining the "ideal" life?, I
just want out now. Why? not with the "me". But, just why? Why I cannot seem to communicate with the people around me? It seems like a
slap in the face when I am majoring in communication studies and I am difficulty speaking to the people around me.
I do not like the way my life is shaping out now. This is so off from what I have had in mind. I started off correctly,
put in the necessary "precautions" in place and look where it has gotten me? Nowhere. I do not like having to face
someone in close proximity of me, after a heavy day of work, loaded in my mind. It comes as almost impossible to
be myself, in the presence of the other person in the room. Not only, I need to wear a mask, a very lifeless and stotic one, devoid of
any expressions and emotions. When I need to break out into spontaneous song and dance or need a scream away from reality, all
I can do is play the scene in my head. I need boundaries. I need space. On such days, which are almost happening everyday, I need a lonely
respite from everything. I want to be alone and I need to.
And apparently, the mandarin-dominated people there aren't taking too well to me. Expectedly, I have been
outcasted and purportedly outcasted from their "happening" stuff and conversations, which I am sorely missing out on. Things are not working out fine and chances are
they will remain the same. I think I tried enough. I did. I think it is time to throw in the towel. Goodness
Labels: personal insecurities
It is never easy to say the words Goodbye
Especially to something which has pop out from my book of fantasies, almost.
The past three months went so swift
There was barely time to reflect and look back
And now that the chapter is closed,
All I do not is sit, reminisce and perhaps shed a few tears
All in the name of contentment
Accepting this internship is one of the best decisions I have ever made.
The all familiar, soft punches on the keyboard
The glaringly blank Microsoft word document
Signing emails off using the ‘full signature’, use a sense of self-importance
Saying editions with an ‘S’ and hyphen
Knowing the telephone number by a quick glance on the orange table
Rushing for the sense of achievement, when nearing the end of an article,
Racing against self and time to ensure that appropriate folders are sufficiently filled
Chasing people half-way round the globe for information, saying that we are a ‘lifestyle magazine based in Singapore’ for the umpteenth time..
Getting struck by the terrifying jam of mental block
Soaking up the thrill when new mail alert-later-symbol gets turned on and pops from the bottom toolbar
The scary toilet that got accustomed to, yet the flush button is placed too closely to seat, that it it impossible not to touch it.
Started using the word ‘pardon’ . a lot.
Flagging nonchalantly for a taxi at the mouth of the gate,
Hoping to get the more expensive one.
The bouvillgeau-lined ECP, tanjung Rhu’s bayshore, east coast park
Nasi Goreng, oily Fried Rice at the canteen
Era 1: Tables with a view
26 April 2009. Night time. It was last then 12 hours before I would step into KE and I totally had no idea what lies ahead for me. It was kind like walking blindfolded, desperately lagging onto something which could give your comfort and assurance. I did not have much of myself to be assured of. All I could think of is to give a decent and pleasant impression of myself to the people there. I reminded myself (for the umpteenth time) to open up, make my presence felt, just responding, instead of just being around. I read about how office politics can be rifled among the staffers. For the past weeks prior to my entry there, I am have ( this may sound) stalker-ish, reading, or rather flipping through every possible issue of the magazine in the library, to get a feel of the people and working atmosphere there. Not too bad, quite fun-loving – and it was true, till the end.
The first day. Walking past the front admin area and entering into the office areas proper is something I will always remember. Suddenly, there were new areas to note of and the office was not that big as imagined. Huishan was already there. Earlier. I think this would be one of the rare instances she would be early. 3 months later, she was perpetually the later one, thanks to those 4am prawning session. Both of us were raring to go. For the first 2 weeks, we kept asking for work to do. “ Hi, if there is anything for us to do?” and the editors would nod off, saying that we did not know what we are getting into. They were sure right as we never had to ask this question again – work just flowed in subsequently, or flood us for the rest of the time. The only slack part was when Mahfuz told us “read the magazines and infuse the different styles” and that only happened like 3 hours. I thought magazine-reading would last a week, at least. I would call this period “the pre-war” carefree period. Ironically, this was the time when Huishan and I were the closest, when we first knew each other. We chatted about our interests, gossip girl, foodie stuff ( she uses the words “damn shiok” a lot). Work load was very little, as the editors did not know our writing styles and tendencies, so we were just given basic sections – like compiling details of events and products. ( that was for Singapore’s Child- our first “client”). Then, the music reviews came and my first full-length article was a short movie write-up.
We had our exciting, heart-stopping first-times within the first month: I remembered the both of us practically bouncing, when we kept re-reading our articles in the first issue that had our names in it ( Teenage June issue). We started going out for lunch together, it was quiet and a little awkward, but I thought it was only natural to start off like this. By the second week, we did our first joint-interview and street surveys. It was nerve-wrecking and revenge against me to approach people and ask them questions, but going in pairs, with her oozing better social-hooking skills, made things much smoother.
The first few weeks seen many firsts, the possibilities seem promising and exciting. It was the period we went out for lunch, everyday. Most vividly, I am very grateful that the staff there was keen to be nice and took the extra step of making us feel included, so it was much easier to pay the favour and be friendly.
Era 2: The Ice Age, some disa-pointments
Things were beginning to shape up soon after May started. We were at helm of our own sections ( mine were mainly News and Products, Hotel Promotions, Festivals, SMS dedication, English music). I got used and totally loved my self-created email signature, which I would purposely add into emails. I overcame the initial stuttering of introduction myself over the phone, when I got to make numerous phone calls to people to publicize their services and “ chase them for hi-res visuals” or double-check their details.
My first low point was when my Technology section was almost re-written by the editor to an unrecognizable end-product. My other sections were also substantially edited, which made my doubt my writing skills.
Era 3: Out of Office, always.
By the first month, we have exhausted almost every popular eating spot in the east. My favourite seemed to be T2’s western food, not forgetting T3’s Popeye and Ikea. I never understand why the staff have a penchant for this particular liking for this coffee shop in Avenue 6. As we gradually grew busier, lunching out was considered a luxury – we would either be in lunch tastings ( very rare) or forced to eat in the canteen, with has super oily food, which is so unappetizing. Our peak period was late May to early June. By then, huishan and I already shifted to our much colder premises, away from the self-proclaimed “Interns Area”. Despite the on-going “unfairness”, I wasn’t all the free either – I was mainly doing snippets. But I decided to make the best out of it and focus on what I am given ( though, small ones). Thankfully, work just streaming in and somehow, this resentment was kept away.
By then, I started doing my first-ever face-to-face interview with Derrick Hoh and Jocie Kok for the Coke ad. This happened so unexpectedly, as I wasn’t in office the previous day. I totally freaked out when I realized that the recording stopped during the last 5 minutes, but I had more than enough info for a 1-paged article. On top of our respective regular sections, we were given 3 full-length articles each ( I begin to see that the workload, believe it or not, was distributed fairly actually). For the food magazine, it was doing almost every section which had information readily available, be it press releases or new BFF, the internet– I remembered checking for pictures frantically and typing our e-mails. Add that to my first sourcing session, stoning at photo shoots ( ironing clothes actually). June represented the peak of article season – with a handful of concerts, events – almost every week, product sourcing and returning ( cum window shopping session), studio photo shoots ( almost on products: which involved a lot of unwrapping and stuffing); there wasn’t a week, when we were completely in office. All these, on top of writing our articles and section. It was being blissfully busy.
Events
1) Paulenders – first re-acquainting with Sixth Sense after 6 months.
2) PAP childcare launch at Kang Ching Rd – it was at Boon lay! And my butt ached from prolonged seating on the cab
3) Interview with the Cool Mints – this Japanese hip hop group. The girls only spoke Japanese, so I had to speak to them through a translator – felt strange and quite panicky
4) Crab Buffet at Merchant Court – re-meeting up with PR there, realized that it is okay to be silent and have nothing to talk about to others. Need not feel bad about that.
5) Teenage Fabtastic and SMASH – helped out in both events as some self-important assistant, holding lots of paper and acting as the middleman. Enjoyed playing the part of ‘assistant’, but all these meant that I burnt 3 Saturdays.
6) Claypotfun at East Coast – fluffy rice galore! Too bad there was too little meat
7) 3-Monkeys – so-so food, unfriendly PR, but chatted with Channel 8 news anchor ( mini-highlight)
8) Royce Chocolate tasting at Four Seasons Hotel – loves the melts-in-mouth Nama chocolate and gracious Japanese hosts
9) Sheng Shiong – they gave us this goodie bag filled with commodities, more like rations
10) Bread Society at ION Orchard – my last media event for my internship
11) Doing a popular food haunt around Singapore, zipped around the island in sooooo many cab rides – to Bukit Merah, Yishun, Kallang, Maxwell rd and adam ad, to eat legendary hawker fare!
People:-
1) Simon from Nickelodeon’s Fantastic – my first US phoner and I need to learn how to wait, pace myself, anticipate when to ask questions or elaborate. Super-friendly PR, Shane!
2) Jocie and Derrick – they were friendly. Felt more like a conversation
3) Mcfly – lets’ just say, things did not went so smoothly with these british lads
4) LADY GAGA – that was the highlight of my internship – going for the morning press conference (acquainting my newly-formed media group), the exclusive showcase with my jaded editor and interviewing her at the hotel the next day.
5) Daughtry – woke up at 7am especially for this phone interview from LA and I am surprised, that despite the age gap, we could communicate real well!
6) Marie Digby – my last phoner and she was just so bubbly and willing to share. My best phone interview. Went for the showcase with big marie fan, ismail and she is just so down-to-earth in her cozy but a little boring performance at the Arena. Cannot believe I chatted with Carol from Class95FM.
Speaking of out-of-office assignments, the best part was traveling in sheer luxury – taxis. And thankfully, the office is located next to the Comfort Servicing centre, which has taxis zipping in and out. Just need to stand at the side of the gate and a taxi arrives to your doorstep within minutes. The best part of cruising down the bougainvillea-lined ECP, down the entire stretch of east coast ( & the chalets, how ironic) and having a glimpse of the hazy city skyline and ogling at the prestigious row of condominiums ( hello, bayshore park). For optimum “self-induced” glam, I put on my perennial fave, David Morales’ ‘Here I Am’ and pretend to be chauffeured to a posh host social gala. I am always in a reflective mood so I always appreciate some peace and quiet. Not when some taxi-uncles kept talking to me, some complained about their family and relatives ( HELLO!!) , some would break in some Hokkien song while driving and some would talk NON-STOP for the whole hour.
Era 4: ‘AJ SPIRIT’
A new sub-chapter unexpectedly unfolded when a certain newcomer came to the office one day. We thought she was a permanent sales stuff, as she looked quite mature. Who knew, she came up to me and asked “ Hi, are you from AJ?” and viola! We hit on well – it started from sharing our school stuff ( “reminiscing” those days in grey and blue), the gossip in the Arts faculty and our common friends, or the “more popular people in school”. I honest did not know that we were from the same school, until Jade ( that’s her name) said she noticed the “tall people” in school, so she knew I existed. I always tell her I am of average height haha. Jade’s arrival added so much colour to life in the new cubicle, given her interestingly whimsical sense of fashion ( measuring-tap belts and san-zhar tees) and that petshopboys’ ring tone. Lunch and break-times were given a jolt of freshness, given that things between us have really gone stale. Good luck with Sweden.
Era 5: Post-Camp
After a 5-day hiatus from work ( I went to Orientation Camp), I was faced with piles, literally piles of work, waiting to be done. And the worst part, I could not be in office to complete them as I had to go for sourcing and photo shoots. The only option was staying late. Somehow the last month of July felt a little too rushed. There was an entire week I did not get to see huishan as the timings of our events and photo shoots just clashed. It was the same time, I was also barely at my desk, where I could be typing my articles well-away. On top of articles for the coming issues, we were also doing articles, meant for months way ahead. Seriously, they can milk me for all they want as I don’t mind all the extra work as long as it gets published with due credit.
So the last weeks were a race to finish articles. The work load for Teenage was especially high. While I was gone at the ‘wrong’ week as huishan had a bonanza of 4 interviews, all by herself. So to make it up, I did the whole of Buzz and Our Choice section. As for F&T, it was close to 4 articles to be due by the time we leave. I had so much work overflowing that I had no choice but to bring CDs and DVDs home to review ( & watch at the same time).
Up till the last second, we were all so so so busy, trying to finish up our articles. I had to cancel tuition as the work load was so heavy. Cleaning up my cosily messy desk made me felt my sad, reluctant and remorseful. I wish I could stay, and my heart is saying, “ enough is enough”. It is true , I can never get enough of what I have been doing for the past 3 months, but the lines need to be drawn. I have to go back to school, first.
So, the time has finally come to bid farewell to this company. Working in a magazine and being directly involved in the media industry have been a dream come through, which I will always cherish. I still have a long way to go. This period has shown me what I hope to achieve in my career and set forth my direction.
Thank Yous-
Gayle – for always being so friendly and chat-able, with your infectious heartiness, you really us ( interns) feel so easily at ease.
Disa – for being truly relatable and introducing me to Da Paulo Gastronomia – now I am hooked to their scones and IKEA’s caramel-like ice cream and thanks for the treats, too
Deborah – for all those really super duper funny and very LOUD jokes
Redz – teaching me the no.1 rule “ Never Act Groupie”
WT- for all those little post-its you left on my table
Meiling – for the lavish praises haha
Jon – for your crazy and so wacky antics, like saying you want to shit all the time
Bryan – for the impromptu shoulder massages
Mahfuz – for always driving us out to lunch ( Changi Village, Bedok, airport T1, T2, T3) and that kick-ass garlic mayo recipe. Yes, I make a lot of sounds when I eat!
Lydia & Doreen – for being so chat-able during Fabtastic, always remembered that
Kevin – for the bubbles!!! I love bubbles!
AND
Huishan – for the invaluable car rides to Pasir Ris, okay, car rides should come first. You do have the whole package, suited for the media industry and I wished we were not too clogged with work, so there was more time for the laugh-out zany zonk-out moments we had. Good Luck in Paris!
Jade – for being so easy to talk to and opening my eyes to the world of online shopping. Those AJ gossip and scandals ( I did not know so many things happened in school then) and facebook sessions and just goodness, the things we talk aren’t all about aj..haha. All the best in Sweden.
Well, my journey as an editorial intern has ended.
Goodbye.Labels: intern
I was searching through YOUTUBE for dim sum dollies footage ( ya, somehow, i was thinking about dim sum and the 3 girls just floated into my mind). Somehow, one of the related videos was BEAUTY WORLD - THE MUSICAL. and even better the 1998 version for the President's Star Charity. 1998. 11 years ago, that was the first, or closest semblance of a musical that I watched. Me and my child care friends would get go excited about re-enacting the selected scenes from BEAUTY WORLD CHA CHA CHA, that we could convert the backyard into a make-shift cabaret bar...
I have already forgotten who played who, but , well, I was Wan Choo, the maid, played by Jack Neo!! ( I always kena-ed that role, which I remembered I played rather well, I even held a broomstick or a mop!!!!). Lulu was this girl from, ChongFu Primary and Ah Hock....??? This youtube video is the exact scene that we would always act out during play time, when Ivy first steps into the bar to find a job.....and yes, my favourite song, off the soundtrack is "SAY BYE BYE", which I can amazingly still recall the actions!!, 11 years later...Man, I feel old now, when I saw those words" TCS The Television Corporation of Singapore" on the screen...
Labels: musical
Ok, this is super un-updated, but nonetheless 1) HAPPY 21ST Birthday GRACIE. We gave Gracie an Annie Sui mini-me, in addition to her huge bottle. It was a cozy house party, with food and catered prepared by the always gracious host, auntie nancy...and we chatted, feasted on KFC, while watching a harry potter re-run....Love the chocolate balls stucked on the sides of the birthday cake!!!! Happy 21st..
2) HAPPY 21ST Birthdays to TWINS Aka MY BOYSSSSSSS....saddiq and iki....
Looks like some indigenous Karen Tribe ( those with neck chains) from Chang Mai
Tired..after feasting on 21 plates of sushi......21!!!!!
iki in a fred-perry look-alike
Feeling the aura from SADDIQ's catus
And to think that they said they are “ not the type of people who celebrate their birthdays”, Ma (forever) Bois, Saddiq and Saddiqi ( more fondly referred to as diq and iki) celebrated the opening of their 21st chapter of life, with an informal sushi buffet lunch-tea at Hei Sushi…..it is the 21st birthday and you cannot escape ( from celebrating it). Izwani, Ismail and Moi bought saddiq a cactus arrangement to do justice to his green fingers and saddiqi , his first-ever TOPMAN shirt, something vaguely up-to-date ( no reference to his fashion sense). And what a fun time we had exploring with the exhaustive menu of sushi. In sheer coincidence, we gorge and gnaw on 21 (!!!) plates of sushi – the fave was the deceptive salmon skin and corn salad. Happy 21st Birthday!!!
Island Life - LOVE IT...Jade, me, gayle, huishan n wendy
Soundtrack for the past 3 sweet, lovely time of my life, which I will always SMILE about and I will be miss. “Who knew saying goodbye could be so tough?” I will miss my office, when I leave next week. Oh gosh, I feel like crying now. It like being forced to leave paradise and descend back to earth.
Totally in need of Pizzas from Modesto's..after a SMASHING day at Sentosa
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Kevin's bubble gun ( & the coconut trees behind_
HOT HOT HOT..under da sun ( tt's why i am forced to stick my tongue out!)
Hello!!! Must Register first hor....Jade and I "guarding" the entrance as interns do it best!!!
A: Sickening guy, totally hate him
B: Watever woman..hahaha
( P.S totally made-up)
This is the soundtrack for the past beautiful 3 months…….whenever I play these songs…..it will be filed under my 3 months as an editorial intern…..
1) Love Etc. – Pet Shop Boys
2) Wanted – Jesse James
3) Butterfly – Jason Mraz
4) Hush Hush ( I will Survive) – Pussycatdolls ( Dave Aude Remix)
5) Who’s Gonna Love You – Pussycatdolls
6) Love Game – Lady Gaga
7) Naïve – Lily Allen and The Kooks
8) Waking Up In Vegas – Katy Perry
9) New In Town – Little Boots
10) Change – Daniel Meriweather
11) In Your Eyes – Kylie Minogue
12) Teardrops – Sugababes
13) Breathe, I’m Feelin’ You – Michelle Branch
14) No Boundaries – Kris Allen
15) Here I Am - David Morales
16) Sugar - Flo Rida, feat. Wynter
Labels: intern
Okay, I am blogging to stop myself from working.
I think I am such a pathetic workaholic nowadays – I stay in office later than the other interns ( not to bootlick, it is already at the tail end of my internship, so there isn’t a point) and I BRING HOME WORK TO DO!! Yes, sitting beside my computer are a pile of CDs to be reviewed and a few press releases. I have to stop this. I got to relax..ok, continue blogging. It counts as cathartic therapeutic release. I need to escape from work.
Well, next week will be the last week of my internship. And, I am already suffering from potential withdrawal symptoms. I think I will feel VERY empty and sad, when it is the end of emails, calls, typing, sieving through press releases. The other sad thing is that my social life is totally hanging on a thread. The last time I went out to enjoy myself ( totally work-related) was………on Friday. Okay, we played Guitar Hero at a friend’s house and I rap like a cheena-version of Vanilla Ice.
I used to very excited to start school. I thought I will be all revved up to open this chapter of my life, which will be physics-free, maths-free and chemistry-free. I used to have fantasies about this period of my life, but now it seems I am ..gasp! no interested in school ( I believe this will be a phase or some hormonal issues). I feel like a mother who has recently gave birth and now I want to straggle my dear baby.
Why? The dangerous thing that I have been so buried with work at the magazine, but I really cannot be bothered by school stuff or building up my social repertoire around the new people around me – my dear schoolmates. Hello! I will be spending the next four years with them or at least, I will be seeing them. I really need to sort my priorities. I should be going on forums on check on campus gossip, I should be discussing “subject combinations”, I should be on Facebook, super-poking my OG, I should be really hyped up over OG meetings. But I am too tired drained from WORK and a part of me feels very detached from my potential social situation. I feel like in a different world from them. Sometimes, I feel that I hardly exist. I shudder to think of the situation, but I don really want to speculate. It is really big big world out there, where even complementary friendly glances are not compulsory. I feel so alone sometimes.
Ok, less work from now on. I just need to finish SEVEN articles before I leave. Yes, they are milking the cow for all its worth. And I am more than happy to be their well-squeezed cow. But after this internship, its all about school, school, school. I really hope to feel more like a student and less than a working-adult. It takes time.
A friend called me (during office hours..opps) in the same “tradition” we have maintained since we left NS and that conversation really left me speechless. I was blabbering all about my work, work and more work..and my office stuff.
Then he asked me, “ so what else to update me, besides your office stuff?” That left me speechless for quite a few seconds, well, because ( Gulp) because there was nothing much happening outside work. I am
1) Giving tuition to rhino and head straight to bed after that
2) staying in office, long after my official working articles ( workaholic alert)
3) Going for toastmasters
And that’s it. My schedule sounds like someone with a mid-life crisis. Ironically, I had a more “happening” line-up when I was in NS. I felt quite upset that there was nothing much going on socially. Nothing. And I feel quite bad that I have to miss gatherings because of work. My social life is really a wreck. And this transports me back to my April break-down season. Tsk, Tsk, I cannot go on.
I feel very afraid and shaky. I have been hiding behind my comfort zone of work and typing out articles and transcription of interviews. And this part of me will be taken away by the end of next week and what will I be left with? I don’t even know what will make be feel happy without work? Its like meeting with a dementor, you go all cold with every ounce of happiness sucked away.
You can be sure. I am going for social reconstruction. I cannot go on this way. I have to learn how to draw the line between work and personal life. There isn’t a line cos I just spent my Saturday doing up my Marie Digby and Daughtry interview articles, reviewing DVDs and CDs. Ok, tomorrow is Sunday…STAY AWAY FROM WORK! Kenneth..PLEASELabels: personal, personal insecurities
I am back. 5 days away from office ( refers to previous post) and there are PILES, or rather megabytes of working waiting for me to clear and the deadline is like 2 days away. BUSY.. and the weird thing is that I have not been in office for the entire day for the past 4 days, so there was absolutely NO TIME LEFT IN THE OFFICE , which is absurbly ridiculous - How can i finish my articles, when I am not even in the office? ..well, I had to attend media events ( which i had rsvp the week before i left for camp) and went for sourcing, also better known as SHOPPING..haha..we choose what we want to loan from stores in town, to feature in the magazine..sometimes i cant imagine that a person like me will dictate what teenagers will buy/ think its cool..haha..I really LOVE SOURCING!!! we went throughout orchard, exhausted all the malls - far east, hereen, cine...to feature "cool stuff for guys'...finally, we are doing something for guys..something i can be interested in..instead of picking up dresses,clips,accessories for gals..at e end of our "shopping' trip, we wer eleft with 15 BAGS OF CLOTHES,SHOES,CAPS...omgness..i feel like a shopaholic...it feels so liberating, to go into any store and pick what you fancy.....well...i got a little overwhelmed..yes, i do get overwhelmed by such things.. I got a pleasant surprise when i realised that my article was chosen to be featured on the cover page of the magazine...I COULD NOT BELIEVE MY EYES...the article doesn't normally take centrespread..but yes, its on the cover...hopefully, the title does catch the eyes of people and they read what i have to say ( finally...people do read my work).....And, it was that same feeling of dejavu happened when i was standing in a bus and well, happened to overheard a conversation between 2 schoolgirls, poring through the latest issue of the magazine..GIRL1: Wow..did you read the article on lady gaga?GIRL2: ya lor, she came to s'pore recently rites??GIRL1: yup, so coolGRIL2: I wish i could be Kenneth Goh and interview her loromgness..random strangers mentioning my name..well, no biggie, but i am just glad that people do read and discuss about my work, maybe it was more for lady gaga, but i am just glad to be a part of it. It's a long way since my SYNAPSE days in JC. I remembered hearing a bunch of ajcians dissing the magazine, my magazine in front of me. Innocently, of course..haha i was quite low-profile in school. then again, a very selective minority people actually bother to keep SYNAPSE, let alone read it. haha very disappointing to see people throw issues of SYNAPSE into the bin. and I would secretly pick them up and put it somewhere "safe"...well, those were the hectic days in publications. Don't get me wrong, i am not about THE FAME. hah, not courting fame, but i am just glad that my written work is much more appreciated and valued ( literally) now......ok. birthday pics for JULY BABIES, gracie, iki, diq coming soonand our very touching INSTALLING ceremony...finally went to TIMBRE for OG gathering..yups...love the pizza and the people there...And I am going back to SENTOSA again..getting sick of sentosa nowadays..I will definitely miss my current jobsometimes, I wonder what if i just quit school and take on that job offer as a feature writer in that magazine ( haha , the editor thought i had graduated from school and offered me a job there)................well, this is singapore, paper qualification counts..ciao....3 weeks to starting schoolsomehow, i do not want school to startLabels: intern
Back from my faculty’s freshmen orientation, perhaps the longest acronym-ed tertiary institution camp – WKWSCIFOC ( Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information FOC).
And I am all exhausted and tired and burnt out (especially my dear nose).
My groupie is PAVAROTTI ( not exactly a cheer-friendly name). The five groups were named after Opera singers ( by sheer coincidence, I have an opera-singing friend, who is in Wales now). There were 5 OGs, with 20 odd people in each of it. That’s it – it is that small a faculty.
For the longest time, this has been the camp that I am been anticipating and dreading, all together. This is it, finally. After a disastrous “social history” for the past 2 chapters in my life, this was something to make a positive mark on my track record. Naturally, I was and still am very nervous. Besides, these are the very people/community which I will be mixing around with for the next four years (I have barely even started!) in school. I really don’t know what to expect and do not really want do.
For the past 5 days in camp, it was so surreal to be inducted back into the school environment – seeing how cliques evolve, trying to make friendly chatter with the people around me (who knows what they will turn out to be – mere hi-and-bye acquaintances or friends?).
I have always thought there was something wrong with me – I do not usually have the typical “aww so sweet” camp experience, and pledge to “work on it” and “move on”, but sooner or later, I would sink back into my old comfortable, socially disastrous ways. I really did put in a decent amount of effort to open up the petals of myself. And the truth is that I am just not a spontaneous, camp person by nature and things always turn out like this. No amount of fake-pushing or putting on a façade would do the trick. This is just me. Some people are never meant to snag the spotlight, some people will just appear not so enthu, some people will remain in the B-list ( B for boring or boisterous?) and this is not a wrong thing, just need to work around it to ensure it doesn’t harm ourselves.
I felt I could have jab in a bit more effort to lap it up in the spirit of Orientation, but looks like my mind and body had other plans. It was an enjoyable camp – I love the activity aspect of it. But, it would be totally AWESOME if my social scene was set. I was caught so off guard, still, yes, still so unprepared. I think it is one camp that gets more bang for my buck. Really admire the seniors and their dedication and effort thrown in, to try to mingle and be friendly. PR-style.
I wished I knew how to go out and had more fun and get all ecstatic.
But it is over
Will blog about the 5 days getting roasted in Sentosa and East Coast Park and all around Singapore soon.
Happy Belated 21st Birthday Gracie!!! ( the Anna Sui Birthday Party soon!)
Went for Stefanie Sun’s concert on Saturday, the camp barely ended. But, it was a mind-blowing visual spectacle, to the set and larger than life costumes! She even gave a 3-song encore for us.
And Happy 21st Birthday , iki and diq!
My idea of "piles" of work
The months May and June have been zooming past fast, too fast, so fast that I barely notice that, in a few days time, it is time to flip to another crisp sheet of the calendar - July. The common belief is that “ Time flies when you are having fun….”…while am I having fun? For the past 2 months, I have finally relieved my 9-year old dream of working in a magazine ( anything, I seriously don’t mind to serve coffee, even). And that dream intensified when these four words came out “ The Devil Wears Prada” and the rest ( of my imagination) is history. Up to today, I put on The Devil Wears Prada soundtrack ( Here I am, Tres Tres Chic), whenever I feel like a swinging, confident reporting tour-de-force, sent out to absorb what the world has to offer ( in more humble terms: out-of-office assignments) and fantasize the sight of myself clad in a Prada trenchcoat, right hand grabbing loads of Hermes, Bottega Veneta paper bags, left hand: my editor’s stirring hot café latte. Yes, so much for my ( hopelessly endless) imagination.
Things in reality turned out to have its own spin: I do not need to fetch coffee or have the photocopying machine as my BFF and no, I do not get to fly to Paris for Fashion Week ( here, we go again). However, there are the on-the job idiosyncrasies, which are exclusively “fun” for me, but to others, they will go “ whatever” in a heartbeat. I actually find going out of the office ( during office hours) particularly thrilling – the idea of leaving the cubicle for some fresh air ( albeit, a whiff), while everybody is stuck in the office, buried in piles of work ( and facebook) and fantasizing about how I travel in luxury ( read: Taxi) to a far-flung, exotic location ( read: Leng Kee Road). And the routine of emailing companies for their information and getting to sign it off with my name, position ( editorial intern) , coupled with the magazine title – yes, it is the ultimate cathartic release! And when somebody calls me ( via the office telephone) – the very thought that somebody needs me to publicize their wares – gets me all revved up. I better stop. Before I sound my a crazed magazine fanatic, but it is these small, subtle, outwardly miniscule trivial things that makes me satisfied. All these, on top of writing, which is my main job.
Sitting in office for 7 hours can be a joy as much as it can be torturous. I think, both of us ( me + the other intern) are starting to get what is most definitely dreadful – writers’ block. Imagine that we have to write the “same type” of write-ups day-in-day-out and each of them has to be presented with different styles and vocabulary and approaches. It gets very daunting when our writing styles start to stagnant – we use the same words over and over again ( inject, exclaims, says, giggles) , our paragraph structures are been-there-done-that. It gets very frustrating to be trapped in this mediocre-boxed up writing pit-fall. That’s why I can spent up to half-an-hour, just to write a 80 word snippet and I am not satisfied with my product. Those are days when I wake up on the wrong side of the bed. A low day could also mean not “squeezing all that I can – the pulp, the juice, the sacs” from my interview session and I end up with even more puzzling questions. It could also mean failing to call the client, which could end up in drop in reputation. And the ultimate low point is when you realized that the final version of your article is completely different than the one you submitted. It means it is so heavily edited that the time spent cracking those brain cells open were wasted.
Hello my buddies: Pen, Notebook, Recorder
With bulk of my time typing away ( serious work and “occasional” MSN sessions), it is little wonder time flies. In the mornings, the hour between 11am to Noon passes like a speeding bullet. Just a few snippets and a toilet trip is enough to whittle the hour away. Afternoons are even better. We get so engrossed in sending emails ( to clients, not ourselves), making calls and working on the articles that 5pm just pops up from nowhere. And it gets like this. Day in day out, day out day in, until it is time to go home. Amidst all these, it is the small finishing touches or random zany chatter that keeps me going on and on.
I write during office hours and some for free publications, I maintain a blog, which has long lengthy post so no one bothers to read ( that’s the whole strategy), I wrote for much under-appreciated college newsletter ( that no one even gives a hoot). People have asked me” Don’t you ever get sick of writing?”. The superficial answer is a resounding Yes and I rattle on on my finger cramps and big butt from hours of seating and typing. However, I will say No ( not because I am rehearsing for yet-again failed attempt to snag the SPH scholarship), but it is something that I am addicted to it, so addicted that it is impossible to feel tired, because I am already addicted to it ( it can go on in a vicious cycle). I know I do not write or express myself tres bien, or the words I choose are not that succinct or stop-in-your-tracks impactful. That said, the more it makes me addicted to the cycle of writing, exploring and writing. And at 21 (call me disillusioned and short-sighted), I have found what I would want to do for the rest of my life.
Merci Beaucoup
Labels: intern
The camera loves her
Lady Gaga was in town last week for an exclusive showcase and my dear gaga-crazed friend resorted to buying a new phone, just to score tickets to see the Beautiful Dirty Rich blondie in the flesh. Thankfully, I was there to “do my job”. I received a call on Saturday afternoon: “If I wanted to cover the event?”. Wait, it was such a rhetorical question – my Sunday plans immediately evaporated, for the sake of Lady Gaga ....
Loves this ultra-cool shot of her, when she walked past me
930am: arrives at the Mandarin Oriental’s Oriental ballroom to get my media kit and media pass and wow, the entire lobby was flooded with regional press, all in town to cover LADY GAGA’s showcase….on a Sunday morning. I was not fully awaked, when I heard someone call my name…..well, that was a fellow reporter, whom I met at the pussycatdolls’ concert and we started chatting about, what else, Lady Gaga. I barely remembered waking up so early on a Sunday morning – in a long time. The last time I was up and about at 930am was mugging for the A Levels…….
10am: The doors were open and the journalists streamed into the ballroom, which was blasted with club hits. Hello, isn’t it too early to be in the clubbing mood? I rubbed my eyes and get my recorder ready. Here we go, again
I love your DISCO stick..GAGA
1030am: Young, from 987FM hosts the pre-press conference segment and played games with us, all in the name of good-natured fun. He asked for “ who is the coolest dude in the room?” ,and suddenly walks up and passed the microphone to me to write my playlist on the board. Er..coolest dude in the room, I am flabbergasted. Since, everybody wrote down Lady Gaga as their Number 1 artiste ( so biased), I ventured to be a maverick and wrote “ Mariah Carey” as my number one. Then, Young nudged me to write Lady Gaga’s name…Okay lah, Lady Gaga also can…
11am: The head honchos saunter up on stage to brief us about their new service. Blaa Blaa Blaaa. At the back of my head, I wondered how Lady Gaga would appear. Mayb, she will burst out from the bottom of the stage? Hmm..Maybe, she will just pop out from a very gigantic cake?
1120am: It became very obvious that everybody’s mind was more interested in LADY GAGA, than the actual new service introduced..
I love her rough hair...
1130am: Young announces the arrival Lady Gaga. All the cameras turned to face the door, everybody was up on their feet, facing the door, cameras all on standby mode. I was half-expecting dry-ice to come on…..
1135am: she looked like the 5th member of ABBA, with her euro-chic inspired vintage outfit, a little Brooke Shield-is meets Princess Leia from Star Wars, with jewelry on her head of blonde wig. She looks so edgy, yet oh so cool.
1145: Questions time and a few writers started raining questions on her: Craziest fan experience? Fashion style? Her “close relationship” with Pussycatdolls?
1150: I decided to take a chance and raised my hand up
Young: Guy in the checkered shirt ( me), please ask your question
Me: ( a tad shaky): Lady Gaga, what makes you Gaga?
--------- pause, my heart beats furiously----for a while, I thought she will not answer my question-----------------
Lady Gaga: Real Hot guys
That was my mini conversation. I should have thought of a more substantial question
1155: Lady gaga asked in mock exasperation, “ Is anybody going to ask about my music”. Ironically, no questions on her music, yet….
One sweaty and rowdy affair in the crowd..but I Like It Rough...
1200: The press conference ends, I treated myself to the ubiquitous buffet spread. Bumped into a young-looking writer and started chatting and even promised to meet up to go the Lady Gaga’s showcase together, later in the night.
I feel as if I was attending a wedding. The morning press conference was like the Traditional Tea Ceremony segment, while the Showcase at night was like the Wedding banquet. 2 places in a day – very exhausting…..
6pm – Met up with my ahem – army friend, Renick and walked towards THE DOME with his other friends. I left to join the Media Queue at the VIP entrance..haha shorter queues!
We queued up for almost one and a half hours(!!!), before allowed entry. The showcase only started proper at 9pm and the entire dubai-imported dome was converted into a uber cool-looking pub, with disco-balls and Chandeliers. It feels like going clubbing all over again – long, dance music, people thronging the area – shaking and grooving….it’s gonna be a long night ahead. Thank goodness we were at the VIP area, so they served some finger food and wine. I pity the waiters, they have to maneuver trays of platters of food and classes through the busloads of humanity , all crammed up like sardines…..
GAGA-LICIOUS!!!!
9pm: Lady Gaga appears…finally and opened the show with LOVE GAME. I loved her DISCO STICK..she looked so cute, tottering and toying around with the adorable stick and lights up…..then she acted all weirdly, like a mannequin…..
SEX-SAY GAGA915pm: Gaga fever continues with BEAUTIFUL DIRTY RICH and POKERFACE – she changed into an Atonement-style swimsuit. I was so high during Pokerface!!! First, she serenaded the crowd, by playing the piano- version of the song – while standing on the piano’s chair. Then, the crowd went ecstatic when she sang the original version of Pokerface …
930pm: We wriggled and giggled our butts to PAPARAZZI
Lady Gaga says goodbye
940PM: the finale was the all-time high version of JUST DANCE. It was really like in a club, everybody was bouncing up and down hahaha
After the showcase, we drove to post-zouk hang-out for supper. What a gaga-licious day I had!Labels: intern
I saw an innocuous-looking brown looking envelope on my table, with the words" confidential" on my table and it turned out to be well, something surprising, finally, something that officially heralds the re-beginning of my school life : My Orientation Package - which came in a form of a Media Kit - filled with faux press releases and *omg* a "media pass". No prizes for guessing which school I will be studying in, but a hint to tease you if you are still going huh?: I used the word " Media" 2 times.
Well, well, well, orientation beckons and it seems like a nice mystery to unravel and unwrap from that brown package, though, yes, i must admit, i am so freakin' nervous about orientation and the whole process of going rah-rah and wet ( they said "wear white t-shirts at your own risk) and singing those hyper-ifed cheers and meeting my prospective classmates..but i think i am raring to go and well, discover what's there and of course, to study... it is back to school, after two years.
They christened the orientation " A Song For Viola", which has quite the amusing storyline...Somebody got murdered or something, well, what apt tribute to the recent suicide case which unfolded in ntu..heheheheheh, it's pretty dramatic, the seniors even made a respectable thriller to get us freshies all thrilled up..
it's here:)
*likes how it ends..BITCH.....haha
well, this will be in two weeks' time
so consider this my two-weeks' noticeLabels: orientation, school
I met up with (eternally) Ma bois, Diq-nified and Sha-Dee-Chee for a late-night desserts session at maccafe ( again), Man, I really love desserts and we ordered the DARN GOOD BROWNIE, thanks to my recommendation.... It was a normal catch-up cum dessert session, until, we discovered saddiq's quite mini whiteboard......and...bring on the cameras, I'd say!
My best impersonation of being a drama king......
Diq: ( with the ' Ohh" mouth) Didn't mama told you: Chocolate's bad for health?Me: ( pouts) but i really breally want to eat IT....
and we discovered we that a marker came along with the white board.....
I solemnly swear that i was yawning..chocolate makes you tired , you know
Me: diq, are you atoning for your sins???...( throws a WTF stare)
Opps I realised that the arrow was pointed towards him, nope it is supposed to be the cake, not him ahhhh...( although both look so lusciously brown haha)
Labels: friends
HUSH HUSH HUSH HUSH Pris, Zinny, Moi and pte phua
I am engimatically elated to report that Pte Phua, Pris and Zinny read blog.....opps, that was accidentally blurted out..i was meaning to say, we are meeting up quite regularly now, e.g once every 2 months, if you consider this: regular. Well, they are so busy, courting their GPA dreams to become a pharmacist ( for Pris) and Lawyer ( for zinny) and scientist ( for pte phua) soon, i will all caught up in this storm for figures and grades. Case in example: We met up on Wednesday...despite bleak hopes. WC was frolicking with the sun in Sentosa, hence, explained his conspicuous absence....
My lurvely friends accompanied moi to collect my unable-to-access-wifi-phone, from the phone hospital, while I let them in on the hidden secrets behind my "work", well you guys should know it is all superficial and fake, it is all about making information market-able and sell them to unsuspecting masses..hohoho
We settled for fuss-free dinner at PASTAMANIA, all the better for me, cos i am so siccckkk of having rice and we could all see why zinny has gained a clothe size from his extra serving of Pasta, but then again, who can resist pasta? As usual, i went for something creeammyyy. In a case of sheer coincidence, we sat at the very same seats, during one of our first gatherings in 2007, fresh out of school and all clueless about which university to choose..and look at where we are now?? ( where arr??)
The best pte phua could master a smile, i don't know why but i seem to look "bigger" beside him...hmmmm
Put these two together and cam-whoring is a shoo-in..and i have no idea why this photo turned out this way - I was using my freshly-minted Samsung Camera, which i bought at the IT fair last saturday and this pics turned out all bluish and better colour effects. On second thought, it looks quite icy-chic, so shall resist touching up with photoshop...
Here you go, i finally figured out the colour settings..and this is how they look in true colour... after dinner, the 4 of us wandered like deserted souls, craving for desserts ( it ain't over until its time to bring on the desserts!). that search led us to think out of this innovative " DESSERT TREATY" - each one of us would take turns treating the group desserts ( budget's up to the person and one's conscience to decide) and we can use as what the precedent treater's standard as a guide, so lets' say if Pte Phua brought us to Canele for desserts, I have to "pay him back" by treating the group to...erm...Marmalade Pantry... We wanted Bakerzin but the stubborn waitress refused to let us in, although it was just 9pm and she claimed that the restaurant has stopped taking orders..hello at 9pm??? We ventured out of Paragon, only to find the ice-cream uncle ringing his bell..No, No, No, we shall not start with WALL's ice-cream in a cup....
We ended up MACCAFE, which has a surprisingly decent and dare I say, good assortment of cakes: To get the ball rolling, the oldest in the group ( zinny) treated us in this first instalment of the " DESSERT TREATY" - which means that i will be next on the list to treat them......
We ordered 4 slices - Fruity Cheesecake ( tangy twist to the classic, I love it!!), oreo cheesecake ( normal, nothing to scream about), DARN GOOD BROWNIE ( can i jus say 2 words: Chocolate Orgasm?), Opera ( love the thick alternating layers of chocolate and coffee cream!)
the aftermath of our dessert rampage.........
A tale of two cameras- why my pictures turn out...BLUE??!!
Here's to our Dessert Treaty!
Labels: friends
KC, Mel and I recently lunched at Thai-Express ( yawn to boring chains of shops that shamelessly repeat themselves in various shopping centres) and i got a kick in a tongue with the very potent TOM YAM SOUP..OMGness, well that was not so bad as compared to the deadly, i repeat, very deadly, YELLOW GINGER CHICKEN in Thai Express too. That caused a fully-grown man with a well-endowed ego of an ex-commando to tear and groan and churn his stomach all zanied up. We ordered a whole storm of thai feast, from Phat Thai ( it just rolls out of your tongue so nicely) and i tried the Thai Green Curry, which tastes like a slightly spicy bur-bur-cha-cha ( love the creaminess) and did i mention it is Green? ooh Green Curry.....
Pics over eating.... ...... .........
with mel looking as if he has rewind time back, he looked exactly like those secondary school days, just bring back the blue and orange Ocean Pacific Bag..
guess who's having the long hair nowadays....haha i get hairy revenge back..but well, that's the LONGEST hair i ever got in my entire 21 years of living, sorry no rocker days to shout and shake about, unlike Mr Mel, who has his share of a plethora of hair-style changes, from orange ah beng to brown and now, it's black to the basic... and
Speaking of hair, i went for my " highly-anticipated" haircut at TONI&GUY and after 2 whole hours of sitting in front of the mirror, I look like Zoe Tay from The Ultimatum....with her chic ( subjective point of view) blob of hair...I don't know if i should be happy with my new "zoe tay" hair or cry....omg, "Zoe Tay" hair
Labels: friends
Just came back from my first "Sunday Assignment?"
It is all Lady GaGa's fault
went to the hotel in the morning for her press conference... met up with a few familiar faces (yay!! i am starting to recognize faces there)After a few words from the sponsors,all eyes, cameras, bodies turned towards the doorand LADY GAGA ENTERS!!!!!!
she really looks so androgynous, a little over made-up
with her vintage dance get-up
and yay..i asked her one question:
" Lady Gaga, what makes you go GAGA?"
and she looked at moi and smiled.. and answered ( haha)
oh my gawk, my heart's going gagagagagagagagaga
well, so tired
going for the LADY GAGA showcase tonight
gonna be a blast!!!
po-po-po-po-po-po-ker face!!!!!!!going back to her hotel on mondayto interview the LADY in personwonders how will she be like....Lets' have some funthis beat is sickI wanna take a ride on your...disco stick ( woot!)Labels: intern
If KENNETH was a magazine, it will be all about
