Admire Here: New School / Birthdays / Work

"Growing up" is forcing me to embark on a new trajectory in my life. Can't believe in less than a month's time, i will be stepping into a new school, a new environment, and a new phase of life.

About 5 posts back, i penned down if i should further my studies overseas or enter into a global university in Singapore. I've made my choice, and i chose the latter.

But i'm not exactly happy with my choice, neither am i dissatisfied. I'm just not quite sure if I've made the "right" choice and if i'll be happy with my choice in months to come.

I kept questioning myself what if i am 3 months into my university course in Singapore and i regretted not applying to study overseas back then? But knowing my conflicting character, it'll be vice versa - if i were to further my studies overseas, i might question why didn't i just stay in Singapore.

So since choices are already made, then no time for regrets i guess.

I remember when i first knew i was admitted into NYP, i dreaded the thought of school and perceived that i'll never enjoy school for the next 3 years. But entering into NYP was genuinely a blessing in disguise. The entire school environment was made so much more enjoyable, anticipated for, and fun because of the friends I've made there.

So this time i hope entering into University of Birmingham in SIM would also be another blessing in disguise. I hope reality in there for 2 years will be different from my impression now.

UNI, come at me ;)

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The month of May and June has passed - the months of birthdays and graduations.

1st - Crystal's 19th

Held an advanced simple birthday celebration for her. Treated her dinner at Supply and Demand!

^ Love how our friendship needs minimal maintenance and each time we meet nothing seems to change, love u long time bbg, never knew the snobbish junior i had during my CCA in secondary school will turn into a friend i can confide and hold dearly to :')

2nd - Yeong's graduation

3rd - 3D2N chalet at NSRCC chalet @ Changi!

Decided to have a (sports) chalet together before all of us gets back onto our busy life working/schooling.

The second day was hardcore!!! We woke up at 7am > cycled for more than 5km > returned our bikes > played futsal for 2 hours > had lunch > kayak and sail for 3 hours > showered > barbecue at night!

Despite waking up the next day with SERIOUS muscle aches (all of us ached in our thighs and butt), we still had loads of fun :)

^ Haven't perspired this much in ages haha.....

4th - My graduation

^ From 5 to 4 and now to only 3 of us HAHAHA, but i wouldn't want it to be anyone else other than you two. Thank you my sampats for making me feel that it isn't true that you wouldn't find real friends in poly, and thank you for all the laughter we share walking along corridors, while eating, in the classrooms, the library, and so many more. Apart from school, thank you for our crazy moments in zouk, zoukout, birthdays. It's always nice when you know there are people who you can be absolutely crazy with, and yet when you're down, they are down with you. If i could choose all over again, i'll still pick NYP becos i'll always want you girls in my life, thank you so damn much :')

^ From graduating together in Mayflower, to now being there for one another's graduation in different polytechnics. Like what Han says, if being in different schools made us so much closer, i don't know what will pull us apart. Let's quickly save up for our next trip together babies :')

^ My class (not everyone is present thou)

^ Thank you WanJing for the flowers :)

^ Girls who ain't my classmates but grew closer because we met each other in Bangkok :)

5th - Starquah's graduation

6th - Chean, Yan and TL's graduation

7th - Han's Birthday + Yeong's belated bday celeb

Had dinner over at Boufe cafe! We were seated outdoors solely to ourselves, thumbs up for the ambiance and decorations!

8th - KT's advanced bday dinner at Two Chefs Eating Place @ Sin Ming!

9th - Dinner at Tanuki with some friends i made in Zenitant!

10th - Chean's birthday!

Cash studio in the afternoon > dinner at I'm Kim Korean BBQ > Nana's grandpa funeral

^ Don't want to sound long-winded because i already sent you long paragraphs of thankful texts, but to be honest, there'll never be enough "thank you" i can verbally say to legitimately express the amount of gratitude and love i have for you in my heart.

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I'm not quite sure if my readers know, but i have been working part time at a cafe for more than a year since Dec 2014. Back then i was just merely helping them because it was a newly-opened cafe and the only service crew they have was me, WanTing, and a pathetic number that you can count with one hand. So during their startup, there were numerous times when i ended work at 10 plus pm, reach home, got a call at 4 plus am, and rushed down for a last minute shift. Those were the tough times when Froth just opened.

And then business started to pick up when we start seeing more customers during lunch and dinner service, more and more people start to apply for jobs in Froth as well. But then you notice all the crew come and go, no one ever stayed for long. But being in the pioneer batch, and being someone who doesn't like to establish myself in new environments if given a choice, i stuck with Froth, and watch it grow.

It was a joy growing with Froth. And i love the people there. They dote on me like i'm their little princess, treat me as one, makes me laugh and happy everyday, makes me anticipate work. It was truly my best (unexpected) part time job thus far.

But then Froth had to shift to a new place because our old place was sold to a new owner. So from Big Hotel, we shifted to Ascott Raffles Place.

Now it seems like a tough period for Froth all over again, with business having to be rebuild, service standard demands have to be higher (Ascott is a high class hotel compared to Big Hotel), bigger place, but the difference is now Froth have a big team of crew helping them tide over this crisis. It's no longer just a handful few like it was more than a year ago.

I really want to continue growing with Froth even though i know working there will reflect nothing much on my resume. But i can't anymore, due to some personal reasons. On my last day (the day before yesterday), i bid goodbye to everyone. They crowded around me and told me different things. "Just stay laaaa", "Must come back to visit us ok", "Why are you abandoning us", "1 and a half years of 感情 leh", "All the best."

Tears welled up in my eyes as i looked around and even though it weren't exactly the same group of people i worked with in Big Hotel, they still feel like a small family to me.

And the biggest reason i can't bear to leave is becos of Lady Boss, the one who i can relate to, confide in, crazy with, and dotes on me. A special relationship between us with no barriers, unlike a usual Boss and Employee kind of r/s. As i hug her goodbye, i genuinely hope the best for her and Froth.

Separations are inevitable. This is simply life. So i aren't taking it so hard that i'm leaving Froth because life goes on. I'll be back to visit!

^ For always teasing us, making us laugh, making us feel at ease and comfortable, you are one of the biggest reason why i'm thankful i stepped into Froth, thank you Chef Derrick :')

^ I'll miss being sampat with you all day long when we get to work together, i'll miss working with you so much.......

^ This is Lady Boss, the one i'm talking about :')

^ Snippets of Froth at Big Hotel

^ And Froth at Ascott now!

^ Working with a walkie talkie is kinda cool!!!!

I've found myself two other jobs, one at Zenitant and one at Unique Speed!

Working at Zenitant actually makes me a better person haha!

I'm positioned as a freelance facilitator there, where i bring kids (Pri 1 to Sec 3) on trails to different popular places in Singapore, example Changi Airport, Zoo, Singapore Flyer, Sungei Buloh, etc. Hearing this sounds easy, but the difficult part is you have to use living surroundings to teach them mathematics and at the end of the trail, they are expected to complete their worksheet!

Taking on primary kids, they are adorable, asks you silly questions that can make you laugh (or even get on your nerves), more hardworking, BUT their attention span is really short. So they really test your patience. And mind you, sometimes shouting at them wouldn't even get their attention.

Taking on secondary kids, they are less adorable, wanna act cool and befriend you, more notorious. But when they are supposed to get their work done, they get it done. And they get what i need to convey easily and need not much explanations/talking.

For the month of May when i was working at Zenitant, i am always waking up at 5+am, dragging my sleepy body to the schools and facing tons of energetic and lively students. But i finally understood why kids are called little innocent angels. They make all your fatigue disappear in seconds.