July-September

What are days for?
Days are where we live.
They come, they wake us
Time and time over.
They are to be happy in:
Where can we live but days?

Ah, solving that question
Brings the priest and the doctor
In their long coats
Running over the fields.

               --Philip Larkin, Days

Time REALLY flies.

Not just when you're having fun, like me now, after prelims, but when you're trying to waddle through the not-so-fun and suddenly it's two months since the last common test and you've just had your first and last major full length exam and the next time it's the Real Deal?? Whha? God.

I'll keep away from that depressing fact for now (not much longer before I have to face it), since it's post-prelims. A mere two and a half days since the last paper and I have experienced catharsis, reparation, what you will. Like, I've never felt better these few days! My productivity and happiness levels have sky-rocketted since the lit paper (even though I was ill through the paper and after): Started a new book, tumblred with no guilt, and most importantly, dived rigth back into html/css, as is pretty obvious with this new skin (I just really wanted to use my blockquote, I didn't study that poem).

It took me a while to piece this together, so a-while that I was getting so tired of the image and wanted to change the project even before I was half-way through, but the time I spent on this was damn rewarding, as if I were right back in my element (heh) (except this isn't my element at all because I'm just an amateur). All the skills I learnt came flowing back, and I learnt so many more tricks???? I solved so many html problems??? It was like education!!

Which made me feel a lot less guilty that I was dabbling in this instead of studying, but hEY critical thinking, problem solving skills, keeps the mind nimble etc etc.

I also realised it's not very fun to reserve posts for regular scheduling, because it NEVER happens, and I incur a huge debt, and I don't have the freedom of spontaneous blogging here SO I'm going to rectify that!!!

See, productivity for ALL THE WRONG THINGS.

In this post: Out with the EL Girls, Hari Raya, Avocados, Alive Museum



Out with the EL girls!

gnarly art installation at the Esplanade

Waiting for the Elevator, a multimedia exhibit at the basement of the Esplanade

 "In pursuit of meaning and satisfaction, we are led to grant the aura of life to things and to drain in from people: we personify objects and objectify persons.
We experience alientation from ourselves as well as from others.
We best comprehend ourselves as social entities by looking at photos of ourselves, assuming the voyeur's role with respect to our own images;
We best know ourselves from within in looking through the viewfinder at other people and things."

                -- Martha Rosler

"Focusing on the relationship between space and time, Choo's work often depicts identifiable moments and characters within contemporary society. Intentionally constructed, the artist reflects upon social and cultural norms.

In this work, Choo seeks to reflect upon issues of social alientation and isolation through potential narratives in Everyday scenes. Waiting for the Elevator is a multimedia installation that depicts a composite of documented events. Through working closely with filmaker, Mathia Choo Rui Zhi, and sound artist, Teo wei Yong, Choo brings uneventful and overlooked aspects of lived experience into visibility.

The artist reinterprets observations of individuals at void decks across Singapore then re-presents them to her viewers. Drawing on otherwise unnoticed, trivial and repetitive actions she reflects upon the social purposes of these sheltered environments. The composite paranoma ultimately exists as a non-space, an accumulation of fragments over time."

And over here, we can see the real masterpieces 

Hey look!! Friends!

We wanted to go catch Stephen Wiltshire draw the Singapore skyline because it was free art (el aunties srsly), but because Mel's kids were having a performance in the Esplanade Library, and debs had to leave early, we decided to just hang around and chill after watching Mel.

Check out mel's big brother presence in the first photo and Meaghan's face in the second omg 

 Missing our 2 pals Anu and Yas, so we made up for their absence

Mandatory over-exposed llao llao enjoyment. We would later be known as ellaoddsg and then ellaoddsj for our heated discussions about patriotism and feminism respectively

THAT'S niSA'S eYe omg

Gotta have another outing with full strength once Meaghan returns!! Also super grateful to this group for the platform for the aforementioned discussions on feminism. Some of them id as feminists but a few are still sitting on the fence about the seemingly toxic nature of it. I'm glad that they've also affirmed us on it and share certain sentiments though. Here's to more great times hehe

Dinner with the Drama Teachers!

Post SNL celebration dinner with the teachers as a sort of stepping down dinner for Ms Sharon, Dhiraj and I. Too bad we didn't have any avocados, but we sure had good food at Cedele's.

Hari Raya 

I really wanted to go the Hari Raya Bazaar after passing by the area countless times on the way back from school and seeing the colours and lights and smelling the food the bus commuters boarded with ;---;. So I pestered my famiy about it until my sister said she'd take me along with her friends!

I LOVE CARPETS omG

A couple of days later at the Hari Raya dinner at a close family friend's place, a yearly affair that gets us all really excited! 

I can't believe how time flies, Parv is gonna have a baby soon (and my sister is already trying to get a flat??? she wants to get married???) ??? Parv's house looks smaller every year, and I used to think her house was huge! Well, then again, her mom was my nanny from when I was a wee lil kid, so the house didn't get smaller, I just got bigger.

Running

I slipped into stoicism for a few weeks, and it was pretty bad because I was so low and out of sorts I was like a walking zombie, so on edge I felt like crying for no reason every minute. And because I had to shake myself out of it, I recklessly decided I would run 10k. I wasn't pumped about it, or scared or hesitant about the distance though I hadn't done it before. I actually twisted my ankle 1k in but I walked it off and continued. Bad Move because when the pain hit that night I had to limp along the walls even to the toilet. I guess it turned out to be a good thing: though I didn't "wake up" during my run, I did realise I had to step away from the mindless stupidity thanks to the pain.

Explored a new route, but not a good one since I was marginally harassed like three times

Ran through the old neighbourhood

Marché @ 313 

The oldest one was kind enough to splurge on us *sneaky grin*

Teachers' Day 

Last GP class with Ms Sharon

Timed essays and compres aside, it's the most exciting subject because of this really vocal class. I'm really going to miss GP lessons, all the heated debates on controversial issues and current affairs, all my tumblr-read examples that annoy Ms Sharon, all the verbal sparring and (softly) chanting FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT when the more vocal ones pit themselves against one another. It was infuriating yet somewhat heartwarming to see the class (or some anyway) talking their mouths off trying to convince and question the others. Gulfs between opinions also made for some extremely adrenaline-filled, emotional conversations beyond the classroom, which I guess speaks volumes about the impact of GP lessons. If anything, I hope this makes Ms Sharon proud of us :") (even if she may not be proud of my tumblr-ing disguised as #gp stuff)

Actual turn-out for Teachers' Day 2014. 8/19 + 2 of Mr Keith's kids ahaha. New frontiers right here, staunch anti-selfie culture Mark's virgin selfie with us.

Following Mr Sng's facebook photo of Cedar with the caption "Went back home yesterday", I realised I miss Cedar like crazy, so I went around asking for people to go back haha. Nisa and I went but we were too late :-( The entire school was cleared out because the staff was going to USS, so we went to the next Cedar, nex!

Met Yasmin and we all had lunch with Lidiya at Nando's

Alive Museum with Zhen Hui

Mom had free tickets to the Alive Museum so I asked zh along!! Uh the trip turned out to have several unexpected elements but I'm glad she was cool with it and we had fun hahaha.

To be quite honest the museum wasn't as fun as I thought it would be because the lighting was really poor for photos, and when we went, the place was so crowded that we had to queue for a really long time for entry and there wasn't space to execute the perspective shots nicely :-(

Oh well, like I said, we had fun, I got some fem stickers and we took some funny photos too!!

Look!!! Zh is digging her nose!!! For her nose ring that is. Cool gurl turning up the kool-o-meter WAY too fast ok!! She's probably gonna get her entire torso tatted before I see her next 

Yes all hail Queen zh, even MJ, Obama, Steve Jobs and whoever that is on the top left.

Lmao ok I know your legs very long

Ah yes, I'm finally in my element: at the bottom and drowning

Super love this photo on the left!! Totally in line with the whole fantastical world we live in // Zh in front of something called Stairway to Heaven I think. Was discussing the fallacies in Christianity and religion with her so it was only apt to say: "Hey zh, you better go get a photo there, it's the only way we're getting to heaven."

Saw Marilyn and then thought to look around her... and like a good ol' slueth, my hunch was proven right! Hello Gollum.

#THIS IS MY FAV PHOTO crazy demon doll

AHHH yes, completely mirrored room with disco lights, smelling of humans, buzzing with mirror selfies. It's probably the only way I'm gonna be in a club like situation. Probably speaking too soon. Might turn out to be an alcoholic. Nice photo on the right though.

Me falling into the depths of despair and zh no better off. xoxo 

And over here we are standing over some creepy pasta elevator abyss // Zh your face is priceless

ALRIGHTY KIDS

SEE HERE

THIS IS THE ONLY WAY I'M GOING TO LOOK LIKE AN ANGEL

REGAINING MY LOST WINGS 

DRAMATIC PHOTO

i fricked up man
i fricked up.
i look like a fallen angel. sa ta n

Of course we couldn't resist this cat

HELLO ELEPHANT (see what I mean by poor lighting, there were shadows everywhere)

"Shu, you look mildly concerned about falling into the jaws of a croc."

I look only too happy to be chased by zombies. Classic creppy patsa scenerio for creppy zh and I

Over heRE I am saving a little penguin. Meanwhile, zh is levitating limply in Superman's arms. She looks dead. He must have failed. 

I look positively gentle with the bird, lovingly stroking its plaster head, and then zh looks like she's at a rodeo HAHAH

We spent the most time and most of our remaining time here!! This is the powder room, a small cubicle mirrored on three sides with a LCD screen behind a glass pane on one, and a sensor would detect movement and play a series of creepy jump scares! Perfect for creepy enthusiasts like us haha!

Alright, I'm just gonna end this suPER long post with my favourite solo photo from the museum. Until next time friends!!