Do or do not

O, what men dare do! 
What men may do! 
What men daily do,
not knowing what they do!

Shakespeare quote right there.
Seemed a bit fitting for me at this point in time.

These days I'm not entirely sure I know what I'm doing, thanks or no thanks to certain people, and I realize that sometimes the best way to fix that is to not do anything. Some things come to you naturally after all.

So here I am, going with the flow...taking a light summer term in school, playing a bit more FFXI than usual, having my weekly brunch outings with friends and practicing my SH'BAM dance moves.

It's a nice way to sort my thoughts and I'm hoping that I'll be able to gear ahead for the rest of the year soon. When was I ever so focused on objectives? I don't really know.

Feeling like you're working at a goal seems nice, but then again the past two months have been Much Ado About Nothing.

I think I'll just continue to chill.

January Jamboree

We're past 1/3 of 2013 already. Time flies so quickly... and January was the fastest to fly by.
It was a quick month, mostly busy with the new school term and getting back to actually having stuff to do.
It wasn't exactly a very eventful month, but here are some of the highlights for me.

Swedish House Mafia

This DJ supergroup was coming to Singapore to play as part of their final tour before disbanding. I had initially put off the idea of going since I had spent a fair bit on parties/gigs in Dec (J Lo and Zoukout) but then one day I was on youtube and found myself singing along to Don't You Worry Child and figured out I'd really enjoy this. And then used the fact that it's their last tour as an excuse to go.

I bought tickets 4 days before the show and dragged Glenn along with me (well, I was treating him so it wasn't that hard to convince him to go), and then Su and Cheryl joined when they found out I was going haha.

there is no antidote.

Their concert was mindblowingly awesome. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and even though the tickets seemed pricey it was totally worth the cost. Swedish House Mafia was that good - one of those DJs that I think are better live than on CD (of which there really aren't that many, and CD is a bit of a figure of speech, I mean studio recording). I'm so sad that they're going to disband.

Good thing it was indoors too.. because the air-conditioning and seats really helped when I needed a break from dancing the night away.

I brought lightsticks... and the stadium after the show ended. 

Batam

Later that week I went on a day trip to Batam with Yvonne and Su.

 the departure area in the ferry terminal

Believe it or not, our main purpose for going on this trip was to have A&W.

So A&W we had!
Sometimes I'm not sure if I like them for nostalgia sake or because I really like them, but when I had their curly fries the answer was clear to me. It's a lot better than anything you can get in Singapore. The root beer float is awesome too.

With that out of the way, we proceeded to spend time at the mall there. It's my first time in Batam so I thought it was pretty interesting. Got a really good cheap foot massage there and bought some local goodies at the supermarket.

Very relaxing day heh. I could get used to this.. although I think my face is douchebag sensitive or something, because I got a breakout after coming back from the trip. My theory is that the air isn't very clean. I'm not too sure..

Anyway, we had a fun time! Camwhored a bit on the ferry ride back, like so.

And that's all the highlights from January. Not much, but looking back I wish the other months were as carefree.

Paris, Instagrammed

Given that I've not actively posted stuff for the past 5 months, I've got some catching up to do.. and I'm starting with this one.

Paris. 

I'd won a pair of tickets to Europe in a contest organized by Nestle, so I picked Paris and went with my bestie Von. The last time I was in Paris was about 10 years ago with my mom and I was certain it'd be a very different experience. It was, but only in some ways.

We started our trip on the outskirts of Paris, visiting Euro Disneyland and the outlet mall in the area. 

It was my first time in this Disneyland, but I realize they generally feel exactly the same. The only difference here was that they had some Christmas season events going on.

Yvonne seemed to have fun. I got to do typical silly Asian things. 

We headed into Paris thereafter, and it was there that I think the fun truly started to begin.
Paris is a beautiful city with lots to do, but also has a seedier side to it, having what I prefer to call "old world airs". With such a rich history, it's actually difficult to cover Paris in the short time that we had, so we had to skip over some things.

Of course, there are always the obligatory touristy things to do in a city, especially if you've never been there before.. and so I took Von to do all those things.

This included visiting the Arc Du Triomphe, the Louvre and Mona Lisa, as well trips to Montmarte and down the Champs Elysees.

I must say tho, the Eiffel Tower definitely has its charm. I was never this taken in by its beauty the last time I visited France, but there was something about it that had me mesmerized this time round.

Obligatory Eiffel Tower shots.

One pretty interesting thing we did there was attend Catholic mass at the Cathedral of Notre Dame on New Years Day. Von is Catholic but I'm not, but I somehow felt comfortable in there.. must have something to do with 8 years studying in Catholic schools.

such beautiful architecture.

One of my favorite things about Paris is that it really is a city to wine and dine in. Good food can be found pretty much everywhere and both dining and drinking is very easy on the wallet. We probably spent a good deal of our time at cafes, bakeries and restaurants.

I let Von decide on the places to eat because she's the kind of person who will plan almost every meal in the trip and do homework on what places to go to and what to have.

We managed to hit places like the famous Cafe de Flore, as well as L'Entrecote (although the one we went to didn't have Steak Frites :\ ).. and I managed to strike off all the items on my to-eat list in Paris.
Boeuf Bourguignon... Duck Confit... Foie Gras... Marron Glaces... French Macarons...

The rest of our time in Paris was spent doing what any right-minded person in Paris would do. Shop.
Honestly I don't think we allocated enough time to this - pretty surprising considering our past records of shopping together.

We did most of our shopping at the luxury stores along Rue de Faubourg Saint-Honore and Avenue Montaigne. I got to pick up a Chanel bag for my mom and got a few goodies for myself at Hermes and quite a few other places. Luxury products here are sooo much cheaper than if I bought them in Singapore, and that's not even considering the tax rebates we can get.

It was pretty regrettable that we barely spent like 4 hours in Galeries Lafayette and Printemps, because there was so much we could have gotten there as well, given more time. The irony of it was that we were staying in a service apartment hotel right opposite Galeries too.

 Oh well. I think I scored a pretty decent haul from this trip. And the timing was just right since I could "save" some of these items to wear for Chinese New Year.

It was definitely an enjoyable trip, to be sure.. my only long-haul vacation of 2012 too. I'm pretty glad I picked Yvonne as my travel partner for this holiday as I knew we would get along just fine and encountered no problems in our trip at all... save for 1 which was out of our control.

Our flight back to Singapore was delayed in Helsinki for over 8 hours, so we had to stay in an "airport hotel", for free of course... except that it was more like a chalet.

Apart from the condition of our accomodation, neither of us was really complaining about the delay tho. Flight delays are a common and expected occurrence after all. We got to stay in Helsinki for a while, experience the snow there and we can now say we've been to Finland lol.

All in all, I have to say, choosing good company definitely makes a huge difference in the travels you make. I also need to thank Nestle and Finnair once again for the free air tickets for this trip. Good times indeed.

Au revoir.

A month or two away from you.

Today marks the first day on which I have decided to stay away from you.

You broke my heart and wanted us to still be friends, and I guess we are. I just need the space away from you to pick myself up from this mess. One month of no contact should do the trick. Or two to be safe.

Sometimes things in life don't turn out the way you want it. And if I had followed through with just being friends I think I would have been hurting myself more in the long run. So a little bit more hurt today, for a better friendship, if it's still there, tomorrow. This is for the better.

Know that I still love you, but I need to love me more. 

Farewell Bambi

Farewell, my friend.

You came into my life and opened my eyes to knowing what fear was.

Before I met you, I never would have imagined how a dog could feel after living a tortured life in a puppy mill, and how it affected your ability to trust and love.

But in the days of your recovery, you showed me how precious that trust was... and I am glad that I was able to earn it and know you better. In those times, I saw you open up and overcome all adversity. You were a survivor. You blossomed from a timid girl into a curious, playful and fun-loving dog. I could see the happiness in your eyes, and my heart opened to you.

It was hard to say goodbye when you left for your new family, but I was happy knowing that you would have a family to love and care for you.. and when I saw you again later on, I knew that could not be more true. 

Perhaps it's a pity that your days of happiness are short-lived, but it seems like God has greater plans for you. Now you may run free.  

May we meet again on the other side of the rainbow bridge.

With love.

Rest in Peace

Bambi

25 April 2013