Sorry for the long hiatus!! I realise at the end of my last post, i promised photos from the

So the ISA ball was pretty small but it was good cos we had good company. Great time where all the Glenn and Chisholm ppl got to meet up and party it up too!

Let's start with our table..

Canadians- Logan, Alex, Shirley. HK: Kenneth. SG: Me, Min, Amanda. China: Kerry!



Photo of us girls from ex-glenn yay! 

There was more reason for us to go to ISA ball this year cos Ana's one of the organising members!

For the purpose of showing you my outfit, here's a photo (which I also love) of me and fellow Tan, Rachel :P It was my FB profile pic for quite some time hee.

And these are my accessories.. lilac/pink all the way!! :D Made those earrings myself.. but ring is bought from Diva.

Speaking of rings, kenneth managed to make this rose ring out of our napkins! SO PRETTY!

Ever pretty ring maker should get some credit. this is kenneth! haha

My 2 favourite girls here.. i like this photo of them! :D Manda and Kerry~

And one photo each with them below!

And hello alex, u made it to special ppl with special photo feature aha :P

(i doubt he reads this tho..)

Alrighty, enough about the ball, I was gonna write about ... Michelle Branch!! I can't believe how this all randomly played out, but Alex above has friends who are apparently all Michelle fans too. and well, I myself loovee her! So i started googling her recent work cos she has disappeared quite a while! I know from some time back that she was in a 2-pc band called "The wreckers" but they were SO low-profile that I had no idea what was going on there..

Soo.. as i was wiki-ing her. It seems, she is gonna release an album (possibly) next year, 2011! I'm excited for it and I hope it'll come through.. I've her "spirit room" and "hotel paper" album. both which i think are brilliant. Anyone knows where I can grab hold of her indie album "broken bracelet"?

But anyways, this is all really exciting, cos she's gone back to being a solo artiste, and I'd say that is when she's in her best element! We still have to wait for her work to be slowly released but in the meanwhile, i discovered this:



If you can't watch it, it's a collaboration between Michelle Branch and Timbaland. (view: http://youtu.be/MOqxFBKakD0) I guess many people might feel that Timbaland's beats just distract from her talent, but I kinda like the mix! AFter all, her music has always been a bit quirky.. and her melodies are always special (I don't know if i make sense if i say her songs are very "minor" and not "major" so it's all unpredictable!) So I don't think she could really go wrong.. besides, i'm pretty sure she wrote the lyrics for this song.. it was just produced by timbaland.. she was always a strong lyricist in my opinion!

I reckon this can totally tide me through till the next song I hear of Michelle's! :D

Btw, even though I consider my kinda music hip hop and r&b, i didn't really know much about timbaland. I do notice however, from his video "if we ever meet again" with Katy Perry, that he has a lot of quirky expression and is a screen-hogger. I suppose I see why some people would find that extremely annoying.. I would've! Except, i think he's kinda cute.. omg. WHY?!! am i crazy or do u agree... (oh no i can't handle the truth! lol)

Hello all, so i know i said i'd upload more pics from pod ball. so here goes!

look at the details on the strap! love!

my dearest amanda n i posing aha

So coming up are photos at actual ball...

we attended the ball together again, 3 of us! Me, amanda and qimin.

Look at how skinny Min is now! and tall! (always has been lol)

We booked out tickets with Steph and Kat, and we knew we'd be put with randoms.. but guess who we ended up sitting with!

James 1! and...

James 2!

We sat at the same table last year so this was a delightful surprise (: And to top it off... Michael appeared midway into the night.. turns out he belonged to our table too.. but late!

Mike!

Met Simon..

and Peter.. one of the first dudes i knew in pod in 1st year. along with the James'es

Jess came to visit... and thats steph to the right (:

And there's Kat..

that's almost all of us at the table. pity we didn't have a full table shot!

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I'm just about to cut abruptly into another topic now.. :P I was thinking hard what to blog about... something that was hopefully informative as well as fun. Then I remembered, i haven't officially introduced my camera yet! My new baby!  

Introducing... the Olympus Pen E-PL1 :D

It's a semi-pro with interchangeable lenses... promises quality of DSLRs (well.. u gotta cut it some slack of course) and the functionality and convenience of a compact auto-digital camera. If you're looking to take extremely high quality shots and know all your photography lingo and how to use all the settings to take a good photo, by all means.. get an actual DSLR.. but knowing myself.. i want a camera i can carry around.. and really, i'd admit it's for more frivolous use.. like, camwhoring for instance :P

It gives u good enough quality to take artsy and sharp photos of places u go and sights u see. (it has manual function, and u can also change the P, A, S settings) but it also has an iAuto mode that makes for good lazy, idiot-proof shooting.

Additionally, as some of the olympus cameras do, the e-pl1 also has art filters!! Namely, 1. Pop Art, 2. Soft Focus, 3. Grainy Film, 4.Pin Hole, 5. diorama, 6.gentle sepia 

I'm gonna demonstrate to you how each of these filters look like with photos i took when i was first playing with this baby of mine..

1. Pop art accentuates every colour in the photo... I don't know the algorithms behind this, but it picks up every colour in the photo and seems to make it brighter and way more obvious.. TIP: this doesn't work well indoors and with people.. (i.e. Asians like me will have very yellow skin!! no matter how fair skinned u r. trust me!) i'd suggest on food or scenery (imagine the amazing green-ness of grass and trees!)

snacks in normal iAuto mode

Snacks in pop art filter. Very vivid colours, no?

The same flash is used in both photos.. so the difference is not attributed to flash OR lighting.

Another instance of instantaneously yummified food:

Assorted sushi and the "pheonix roll" at sushi tei in Singapore

It does seem a whole lot more appetising here doesn't it? Like those you see on menus.. except those required photoshop to work it to look like this. aha

2. Soft Focus gives you a white aura around your objects and everything looks misty and ethereal in your photos (: best used in natural lighting.. but there'll still be a misty look even when used with flash.. (: this one's one of my favourites.. 

with flash. (yes that's my old hair for those of you who've not seen it. :P)

it's a dreamy look, but has more defined features and shadows.

without flash, indoors. very dreamy and misty look. tends to lighten eyes..

3. Grainy Film is like its name suggests, grainy! it's really more than just black and white.. comes out with way higher contrast. and it's grainy (not plain monochrome with smooth texture). like from an old film!

yes i know i'm having fun with it :P

4. Pin Hole is also exactly what its name means. it changes the photo to a slight vintage-ish yellow tint(w/o flash), and comes with a little shadow outside of a ring of the image.. hard to describe. so let the photos do the talking.. i personally love it for almost anything! i think they make stuffed animals mighty cute for instance:

with flash. how cute!

This is Ted, everyone! :D (without flash)

see what i mean by a vintage feel.. i think it enhances the vintage look. i also love how it's focused on the center, so it has a very mild fisheye effect. or at least an illusion of it.

5. Diorama focuses on an object(most likely in the center) and blurs out everything else around.. if taken well, it can give a "zoomed in" effect.. unfortunately i haven't had much chance of playing with this filter.. so i don't have a good photo to show u guys!

6. Sepia is well, sepia. it gives a bronzish tinge to the entire photo... but it's really pretty. and just for the sake of it, i posed for a photo :P

Other than art filter, iAuto and the manual modes, there is also a video mode and "scn" (scene) mode.

Under "SCN" u'll most likely be able to find the usual point and shoot modes like "beach", "outdoors", "macro", "night mode"...etc. let me just highlight 2 modes that come under the SCN for the olympus epl1

The e-pl1 has an "e-portrait" mode. with one click of the shutter, it takes one shot and produces two photos for your perusal. the original, and the edited(smoothed) one. this is super useful for people who do not know/ are too lazy to photoshop their blemishes in photos. No matter how smooth your complexion already is, it still doesn't look perfect when taken on photos don't u agree? this camera does this nifty trick for you in a matter of seconds! of course, u can choose to look more natural and still pick the original, it gives u the option of both!

original. (i've coloured contacts on. that's not edited or any effect of camera :P)

Edited. the difference might not look too big on your screen, depending on your screen pixel quality. But also, these photos are a tad too small to see the fine details.. on the blown up pic, u can definitely tell they've smoothed my skin quite a bit!

I also found another mode called "DIS mode", it is meant to be anti-shake and sharpens motion. i've found this mode to be ultra useful with jump shots! Mostly cos it snaps the photo right at the moment u want it to. i haven't tried it on other moving objects. but i will soon. n maybe one of u could? (i know u can tweak these manually too.. but if ur not trained/ professional, this is a good mode to work with)

Now you can capture such moments without hassle! :D

Another recommendation would be to use the "high key" mode in dimly lit indoor places, u'll find that photos come out with great lighting and great colour even without the use of a flash. again, this can be tweaked manually, but i'm just saying! I also like that night modes come in two: night mode and night mode with portrait. many times, u try to take a photo outdoor at night and u either capture just the person with a completely black background or just the background with a really dark person whose features can't be seen. but the night mode + portrait just works beautifully! i tried tweaking it manually with aperture, but the effects don't turn out as good as this mode.. so u guys should try it out if u own one of these!  Do note that these last 2 modes may require a firm grip and steady, level hands. u can use a tripod or just keep your arms close to ur body. alternatively, find something to lean your arm weight against!

If any of you own the same camera, please let me know! and share your experiences with me! I've been looking for a lens filter for my 14-42mm m.zuiko lens too...tell me more if u can! or if ur tempted, i'm pretty sure this can be found at Ted's (aus) for 700+ right now with their birthday celebration!!

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In another abrupt change of topic, i've another ball to attend this saturday!! so excited, cos i'll see more of my other international friends then.. and relive memories from last year (: as usual, i'll post photos then!! so excited cos i think i've decided which dress to wear!!

back. n oh what a surprise!

wow folks. i know my last post has been really emo.. and i'm glad to say that's all finally over. :D i feel like i've just straightened out some thoughts and am really enjoying my life now. (: For those of you who already know me and have my facebook contact, you should be able to see my albums titled "singapore trip 2010" parts 1,2 and 3. it's mostly a photolog of almost everything i did in SG. it has been a really fruitful trip back this time.. felt like i achieved so much during my 5 weeks. :D Met my friends several times, who make me realise home is awesome! and their friendship is more precious than i had imagined. been to the new Marina Bay Sands, taken my basic theory test for driving and pulled out 2 wisdom teeth. phew~ busy busy.

I remember the sad state I left my blog in, hence i've not really revisited for a while. Today though, i found that i had 5 comments on my last post encouraging me.. and they were all strangers (: and some who empathise with me too. part of the reason i blog has been to get to know more people out there who may be like-minded or just enjoy what i read/post. So that was truly awesome.. thanks everyone! Because of this, i've decided to persevere with my blogging. And hopefully i can keep it alive amidst all this work i've been getting at uni this semester.

Anyway, so i've been thinking how to liven up this blog since the last i blogged. First of all, a tiny review of my extraction process.

I extracted my wisdom teeth at National Dental Centre (singapore) under the clever hands of Dr. Rahul, if anyone is at all interested. So initially, I was meant to take out all 4 of my teeth under general anaesthesia.  Truth be told, I was not as afraid of the pain or the extraction of my teeth/drilling/cutting into my gums or bones... I am, for some reason, mortally afraid of being put to sleep! I've NO past experience of sedation or GA, and i was scared as hell! Anyone with me on this??

Anyway, it turns out since i've been having quite a chronic cough.. they wouldn't allow me to undergo GA. My surgeon then came to talk to me about possibly doing it under local anaesthesia. Hey, if i knew that was an option, i'd have wanted that right away! I know many believe that they'd rather not be awake for such a scary experience. But trust me, i much prefer to be aware of what's going on! So yea, decided to take out 2 instead, under LA.

The most painful part would have to be the injections... 2 is required for each tooth extracted. one for cheek, and one for tongue. But both needles will be injected into gums and palate, not actual cheek n tongue! The palate one is really quite stinging, just to warn you.. but bear with it for a few moments.. cos the lack of sensation after will simply amaze you! (at least it amazed me, i guess im not really your average Jane). Funny story: I started shaking quite a bit after the LA, and the assistants got quite concerned. I had no idea I was feeling cold until the shaking stopped when they offered me a hot water bottle to hold. AWWW~ so lucky for me, it went on as per normal. Also lucky for me, my teeth were pretty much fuss- free extractions. Although they were both classified as surgery as cutting and some drilling were required.

So, if your teeth pretty much grow out straight.. and you have a skilled surgeon like mine, expect mild drilling (no feeling at all!!) and then a huge pressure (it feels more like he's pushing down really hard on your teeth, or the tooth ur extracting actually..) and before you know it, it'll be out. So don't worry about feeling it being yanked out. It really feels like pushing for some reason. And you literally won't KNOW it's out till you're told.
My advice is for everyone not to panic... if u do this calmly, it'll be much less scary and wayyy faster too. Plus a fast procedure = better recovery. It'll be good if u keep remembering to keep your mouth open wide. Makes things way easier!

Had a debrief by assistant after about care and allergies. Given gauze to bite on.. another tip... change your gauze every half hour for the next ... 2 hours? then stop.  no point biting for the entire day.. even if there's still blood. There WILL BE BLOOD. might be less painful and better if u stop biting on the gauze.. also, swallow all your saliva even when u have the gauze in, this will stop the bleeding faster. a wet gauze will attract more bleeding to occur.. basically, try as best to ignore the gauze altogether.

I had my painkillers on the way home, I was afraid the pain will kick in soon. Recommended time was about 1 -2 h from ur operation? that's when LA might start wearing off.. after dinner, i realised i was allergic to the painkillers! T_T (given a mouthwash and antibiotics too.. but GP said it's the painkillers) so i depended on panadol alone. However, i did realise I wasn't really experiencing any pain either... so i stopped all pain medication on 2nd day.. and i was fine! yay! the swelling doesn't start until 2nd/3rd day though... and it'll continue to be rather swollen for a week n be better. You might experience some bruising, very normal.

Start brushing your teeth as per normal by day 3 (i know it feels scary, but trust me it's fine :D) normal food also can be taken then :D

let me show you some photos... some really unglam ones ahead!!

my teeth! some people tell me they're quite big..

First night.. swollen left eye=> allergic reaction.

Right cheek (where i extracted) appears surprisingly SMALLER than the other.

Day 3/4 possibly 4.. day 3 it felt a bit stiff.

oh yes, please feel free to chew on both sides, cos lack of use will lead to joint stiffness!

Now you can see bruising (yellow-green) on right cheek and it's significantly bigger.

Day 5. took off some stitches. mild mild bruising. still a tad bit swollen.

Can't really remember exactly when the swelling completely subsided. Bruising will persist for maybe another week though. If you're a bit tanned like me or even darker skinned than me, then the bruising will be less obvious. I hear for fair-skinned people, it is pretty obvious. Most people didn't notice mine till i pointed it out (:

Oookay. this is about all i have for tonight. let's give you a sneak of how i looked at the Pod Ball I attended last friday. (almost exactly a week ago now!) Credits to lovely photographer Alex :P Also, I got my dress from http://www.almostfamous.com.sg got soooo much compliments for it. i love how it's so unique too! AND they've amazing customer service, go check them out! (sadly this dress is now sold out!)

I'll have a few more photos up the next entry to show you the other side of the dress (pretty strap). it's a bandage dress, but it has batwing on one side, and amazing detail strap on the other, yet looks like a toga! mm yummy! and it's my first time kinda having a "photoshoot" and so impromptu too! i could totally get used to it though! :P would pick a better background next time for sure :D

why do i do what i do?

i seem to be having these bouts of depression.. or whatever mental health problem this is. these few days, i rather stay in.. stay in my room all day. don't wanna talk to ppl. once i do, i snap at them. i go from super down to super high suddenly. WTF?!

i'm quite scared of myself. n annoyed. it got better yesterday.. but then now it's back again. the boys (gen n jia) r worried about me.. n they're making me (or gen was) go to gen's place tmr after all for the house hop thing. both wanna talk to me.. and ask me why i'm so emo. I DON'T KNOW. i really don't know... i just know i'm emo.. but i dunno y... n at first it was all bottled up. but crap. once i started blogging, all that pent up frustration is being released now in the form of tears.

i think i'm really scared of monday... i'm trying to be ok. and thinking of all the possible ways things might go wrong. or even if things don't go wrong, about the pain n frustration and unhappiness it may bring. i know i'm a terrible patient. i like to be left alone. but i'm in a house full of women who cannot leave ppl alone.. i'm gonna be a terrible patient for them.. i just know it.

n that also means i won't be able to see ppl for the last week or 2 that i'm here... i'll be an immobile thing on the bed. annoying as ever!! like i already am. i suspect due to stupid hormones too. wtf. yes. why is my body fucking up?! other parts of my body seem to be failing too.. n i just feel unwell. and it's making my mood SOO wonky it's not funny.

i don't know.. i've already met a lot of ppl i care for n miss in sg.. but some i haven't. and due to circumstance or whatever, we still haven't. n with monday rolling on along soon. i just feel like maybe i won't get to meet them after all. n sometimes things get so hard to organise (yes we're all so busy!) that i feel tired. i mean. why am i the one trying all the time huh?! WTF. if u dun wanna see me, then it's ok. i don't need ur fake efforts. n u dun even bother to have fake effort that's the problem.

so yar lor. i feel so GRR. unloved. and don't see the point of staying here. soo much drama and things i've to consider when i'm here. but in melb, i'm all responsible for just myself alone. it feeels somewhat better that way. so i missed melb for quite a bit. but when i look on fb and also think about it. it's not like anyone in melb misses me or that there's any pulling factor there too.. basically the world goes on without me. i don't belong to either place.

i could've chosen the path tonight. to escape to a place. to receive someone's warmth. to hide for a while, just because i can. but i chose not to. i don't even know WHY. FOR WHAT. SHIT, i feel like a damn fool.

Reebonz 99% Sale! and Reebonz FAQ

Remember what I told you about Reebonz before? www.reebonz.com

They're based mainly in Singapore, but their site can be customised for: Singapore , Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and International.

Basically, ANYONE can join and gain from their amazing concept..

Reebonz holds events/ sales on various branded merchandise at discounted prices. All their items at point of sale are authentic and brand new! Think Prada, Gucci, Coach...etc. They make an effort to stock items for the gentleman too!

Now I haven't personally bought anything yet, but it's survived thus far, and I can see it going well. I am a member of their site, and also follow them on both twitter and facebook.

I saw this page: Reebonz 99% luxury sale

They'll give u more details as to how to get informed about when it's happening and all that. As of now, they've given 2 preview photos of what to expect at this sale..



and



One for the boys, and one for the girls!! I know, so unbelievable right?! So... i think u better just click my links to check it out... and i'm assuming u've got to play the game of fastest fingers first with SUCH an OUTRAGEOUS sale..

But this is just one of their many great events, so I strongly suggest you join as their member to reap all the benefits! They'll update you constantly via email with their upcoming events... also join their facebook fan page... there was a 12 day xmas bag giveaway just last year. that was pretty amazing!

Click on the advert right below this post to join, and u might even win yourself a Kate Spade pouch! It's all that simple! i share good stuff (:

baccckkk short update!

Been weeks or work after work, assignments and all that.. but finally last week we had a "rest" week.. well, at least no major tests or work due, so I joined our floor crawl... if anyone remembers, last year's floor crawl was AMAZING. fun hilarious whatnots. Soooo... i was gonna blog about that, but don't have so much time now.. but!! i've got previews..

That's most of my floormates this year in the TV room.

This is Ern, she's a junior from Sg also from my floor (: This year's floor theme is "around the world" so we were all assigned countries. She's obviously, from Italy! And I...

am from Mexico!! That's my team: Katrina, Hannah, Me and Jenna!

I'll be posting photos of great costumes and fun soon. so stay tuned! 

Oh, and see that hot pink skirt i got on? It's from Forever21!! Been shopping online recently and pooled orders with the Glennies to ship in stuff from F21! Got lotsa loot to share with everyone. Speaking of online shopping, I also learnt more about an awesome new web hangout called Jipaban! Looks fun and will totally try it out when I finally get my urgent work done! Another awesome portal to go to for amazing online shopping would be Reebonz ! Their advert is gonna be placed on my blog starting today.. and right now if u join, u might stand to win stuff from Kate Spade! They endeavour to bring u great deals on famous brands... it's great if you're a big fan of MiuMiu like me.. cos they'll have miumiu events almost every month if i'm not wrong! No harm joining cos u never know when u can get a good deal! Cy'all soon!