Sometimes

My one-week break is finally here.. and I am one day away from my birthday. The week leading up to my birthday has been a long, arduous one, with some assignments that seem never to be completed, and mid-terms which I didn't have proper time to prepare for. Not forgetting the community service project, whose section this week I had to plan and purchase items for. I thought that my week 2 (which was 5 weeks ago) was difficult enough. I was wrong! This one was much worse. Anyway I hope I do not have to experience another torturous week, though I know if another of such week appears, I will be ready to pull my sleeves up and face it.

Sometimes I think I want to do too many things in too little time. I have to learn to be more realistic. Sometimes I think I pushes myself too hard, fearing that such precious opportunities will never re-appear once they are lost. I am still not sure if such zeal is a good or bad thing. But I know when the limit comes I will have to stop. This point touches on my involvement in two things for the upcoming break, which will leave me only with a 1 1/2 full day of break? I hope I can steal times here and there. Anyway, so the first one was on Drama production by my school's broadcasting CCA I have to admit, I will never do wardrobe again. Maybe not during school time. With this week being absolutely packed, I am left with little time to meet the cast I am responsible for and talked to them about their clothes. I do not really have control over the clothes they have, and I am not really a resourceful person. So I do not know how I am going to properly handle it. I have learnt that for productions I would rather stick to doing camera work or photography stills. Full stop. No more art departments.

The second thing was the Indonesian Community's playi n DBS Auditorium next week. I am supposed to be promoting this play, but over the past 3-4 weeks, my faith on it have gone down steeply. I was at first in the documentation team, before being moved to marketing. I feel nowhere here and there. Yes my loss of faith put me into thinking. Half of me would not want be involved in the production myself, but the other half of me wants to prove others wrong. That Indonesians can do good production! But I guess I will not be able to do that alone. I will see how.. and use my intituition to guide me along.

20... I don't know I am okay with my birthday this year. Not really really excited.. but still happy. I guess being 20 does not make me feel old. I still feel young :D It still amuses me when I tell people I am 19, and people will go you're so younggg! (okay this group of people are usually.. 25-30 year olds hahaha). So I guess that is one factor. Secondly, I know for sure mentally I have lost my teenhood last year. It is at the point when my friend said, "welcome to adulthood". The timing makes perfect sense.. annd also the circumstances lol. I know I can be treated as an adult without trying hard :) It's all in the minds. Meanwhile I can still amuse people with my real age :)

Anyway, can't wait for Oscars on Monday!

New Year

Hello everyone. I have not written for ages.. so it is time to update you on my life!

The past week has been the most torturous, tiring week I have experienced ever in my life. I survived the whole week sleeping 4-5 hours for about 5 consecutive days. Thankfully there wasn't any particular moment when I turned into a zombie (aka brain jam)... and that there is royal jelly lol. I think if not for taking royal jelly pills for that whole week, I would be having flu now. Everyone is having flu now. Though the weather is better, last week the winds were full blast. Singapore had never been as chilly before.

I had my first gym class last week, taking it with one of my friends. It is "Cardiodance" lol. I guess you can sort of tell what it is from the name. It is basically dance lessons that aim to mainly exercise your core muscles haha. I have not really exercised for ages, and joining this course is my excuse to exercising. Or else I do not think I would never ever bothered with setting time aside to exercise (but this may change. My mom has just relocated my exercise shoes, which means I can go jogging again! haha). The cardiodance class was one-hour long... and the first lesson was torturing in a good way. We danced to Britney Spears' Womanizer lol. The next day, my abs were aching madly. Waking up from the bed was painful.. and most annoyingly sneezing was rather painful as well. But it was all for the good cause of having fitter body!

I had also been going to theatre classes. It started two weeks ago, and takes place every Thursday evening. So far, I am enjoying the classes! It always helps to forget all the stress from schoolwork. Prior to joining, I was in dilemma of whether to sign up for it. I signed up eventually, and went to what I thought is an interview, which freaked me out! It turned out that I think it was more of a get-to-know session, not an interview haha. I hope this workshop will help me decide to ever pursue acting. But if I don't pursue acting, I guess it will be helpful in teaching me skills to be able to communicate with actors when directing films in the future.

This semester's classes are less fun than the previous semester. Analytical Skills and Creative Thinking was tremendous fun, and I understood Financial Accounting and Business Government Society classes. This semester, I still need to fully grasp Business Law. Technology and World Change can be seem meaningless. I feel that I haven't contributed enough for Leadership and Team Building. And Academic Writing can be a pain in the ass. Management Science is the only one that has been okay (thanks to the lecturer who used to like to say "you know", but now he likes to say "okay"). I hope to be able to catch up eventually, so that I won't have to panic when near exams.

I need to start reviewing movies I saw this year! So that at the end of the year, I will be easier for me to tell which movies I like :)

Vicky Christina Barcelona (7.5 out of 10 stars)
Everytime I think of this movie, I will think of the distinctive opening song. It is so catchy! Anyway, the movie was a great one for relaxing and having fun. Scarlett Johansson's character becomes more annoying as the movie progresses, and I feel that the friendship between her and Rebecca Hall's characters could be strengthened (there is not really a chemistry between them?). Javier Bardem looks sleep for half of the movie. However, Penelope Cruz really steals the show, as the cursing, cynical ex-wife of Javier Bardem's character. The storyline may be cliche, but the film manages to give a fresh perspective towards the subject. And of course, Spain serves as a wonderful, beautiful backdrop to the story. So, if you are looking for a movie to enjoy with your gal pals, consider this movie!

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (8.5 out of 10 stars)
You may be wondering what type of weird movie has such title. Well, it is a Japanese cartoon :) This is Ponyo... She is suppoed to be a goldfish-cum-mermaid.


Anyway, when watching Ponyo, I realised I do really miss 2D cartoons (well, long after watching "Perspolis" lol). The drawings are beautiful, and the music really lifts up the atmosphere of each scene. Ponyo managed to make me forget all of my life's stress (I watched it while bogged down by assignments) and made me laugh like crazy. Of course, being a movie targeted by kids, some parts do not make sense. While watching this movie, do not think too far, release your inner innocent, child inhibition and just accept the facts presented by the movie! Sometimes you should not take life so seriously, and watching this movie is one of those times. And.. remember to sing along to the theme song at the end lol.

The Visitor (7.0 out of 10 stars)
I went to see this film for the reason of it to be called one of the most underrated movie for 2008 in many reviews. Richard Jenkins gave a delicate, restrained performance as the title character which experiences a life-changing event which forces him to re-examine his attitude towards life and others. The movie started well, but sadly towards the end it got too melodramatic. Thankfully, the movie manages to give a poetic last scene. This movie is not a must watch, but if you do watch it, just enjoy it :)

Happy-Go-Lucky (7.5 out of 10 stars)
I had this movie's wallpaper as my laptop's background for some time, and when the lead actress won Golden Globes, I was really motivated to see the movie! I can somewhat relate to the protagonist in this show. Sometimes, it can be challenging when you are the only optimistic person in a group. Life poses problems that challenges your optimistic view towards life. A line said by the protagonist to her best friends sums everything up in the movie: "You keep on rowing, and I'll keep on smiling." The protagonist can be a difficult character to play, since giving her too much zest in life will make her character two dimensional. Sally Hawkins presented a splendid performance, and her character is real (and could exist in the real life). This movie is filled with some funny moments that challenge her optimism. Though I feel the ending is a bit rushed (like late introduction of her 'boyfriend'?), I think the last scene speaks a lot.

That's all for now. I will update again soon :)