A week back, my friends subconsciously conspired against me. Late night doing last minute readings and research for my essay, followed by filling in some application form leading me to go to bed at about 5+am. 2 hours later, Kam called to tell me she’s back in Singapore and went on about a couple of other things but sleepy me registered nothing else except that she’s back and I’m glad. One hour later, (ohmy, this SOUNDS like a joke), dearest Amanda called ALL THE WAY FROM DOWN UNDER to tell me that Nicholas Tse was filming outside her house and how she couldn’t believe it, and of course accompanied by some other things which I am very sure I was excited but then I hit the sack soon after my body used up that last bit of conserve energy. ZAP. One hour after that call, my ex colleague called me regarding some office issues. In retrospect, I’m absolutely baffled why didn’t the thought of switching off my phone occur to me. Silly billy.

My face cracks into a smile after I typed this paragraph.

As ridiculous and crazy my friends sound, I’m thankful that I have been given that opportunity to share their joy, their excitement, their worries, their frustration even though I wasn’t physically and mentally prepared. Thank God for friends like these who brighten me up from my oh-not-so-sweet slumber. Today there was a leaders’ meeting to plan for the next 6 months and suddenly I felt extremely happy that I’m not alone in this journey and even in the face of some uncertainties and fear, there is still hope. God is good.

2 night back, I blamed myself because a close friend of mine didn’t get in to a local Uni. Not that she didn’t work hard, not that she was lazy, or not diligent. Instead, she was very faithful in serving even in the midst of exams, constantly reminding herself what is of more value to her and through her mentality in going about everyday, she became a great encouragement to me. Truly a single-minded soldier, a disciplined athlete, and a hardworking farmer. I raged at God screaming unjust in my head. Who am I to judge? I am merely a flower quickly fading, here today and gone tomorrow, a wave tossed in the ocean, a vapour in the wind. As I retraced my steps, felt pangs of regret that I didn’t help my friend to help out in writing her essay, appealing, going through the trouble to help her get the necessary stuff done. This thought constantly weighed on my mind till today when doraemon, rene, dazz, david and myself were giving the post secondary hot seating and one of the question posed was along the line of ‘what if you don’t get into the course or school that you want? How do you deal with it?’ Like a bolt of lightning that struck me, I recall how I detest the thought of being thrown into a JC, railed at MOE for allowing me to get in, smacked myself for doing well enough to qualify(I was that ridiculous), and absolutely mad with my parents that if it wasn’t flooding in my house, there would be a cold war going on. Bitter, 99.9% cocoa. Dreaded school since second day of orientation, purposeless and thought to myself the many ‘what if’ if I had just taken up mass comm at poly. Of course, as weeks and months passed, the light started shining, and I guess I went back to the very fundamentals of trusting and obeying my creator. One and a half years went by and it reminded me that we are placed where we are for a purpose. So I really just thank God for his blessings towards me and I anxiously anticipate WITH my friend what is to be installed in her life.

June has been a fabulous month. I immersed myself by starting off with Singapore Arts Fest Opening, then the play, ‘For All The Wrong Reasons’, my exciting trip to Japan whereby I visited Hakone Open Air Museum, Ghibli museum, Shinjuku art museum, and the amazing thing was that the pathway along my hotel had a photography display, and beside my hotel was a design firm, watched European and Korean art films on the plane, and at night in the hotel I’d watch shows that actually educate me about how animation come about and so forth. Oh and going to the bakeries and shops in Japan was another form of art, the pastries looked too pretty to be eaten, cosplay along this entire stretch of lane. Went for Temple with Sara and was awed by my favourite artist, Brian Gothong Tan, and blown away by my ex drama trainer marvelous versatile acting skills which she possessed and displayed.

To end off the month, I went for Rojak. What is Rojak? When CLD messaged me, I thought to myself why in the world must we have this food-rojak late at night only?!? At that moment I was convinced that my friends were really going mad. Until I met monster and she told me that Rojak is basically an underground art movement whereby local artists gather to show off their works and have open discussions. So I went. Somehow this time it was not what I have read about, thus it fell below my expectations. Firstly, an artist whom I was looking forward to his work talked about the process and didn’t showcase his work. I was disappointed. On top of that I THOUGHT it would be more interactive, so well, it was not as interactive as past rojaks. Surprisingly, even though it fell below my expectations, I gained many fresh insights, made me think about art on a deeper level because we were looking at works fresh from school, amateurs’ works, and not forgetting famous local artists. In a sense, it was refreshing to actually go for such events, thinking that this would only happen in America and UK. Await the next Rojak dear readers because I have plans to be there talking to the URA person infront of 100+ people and showcasing my own work. Of course, Mon and CLD will be next after me, followed by the taxi driver. HA. I am serious by the way.

Did I mention? My new toy is the lomo. Capture beautiful outdoor pictures. Then I saw CLD vintage camera and thought it cooler but of course, amateurs like me should stick to the digital camera and toys like the lomo. Safer. I’ve been wondering what is inside those new video cameras that makes it HD? Hmm..