If any of you asked me to explain the thoughts and emotions that were going through my head, three years ago, as i stepped into my first ever lecture theatre, for my first ever lecture, in year 1, i would recite everything to you as if it were tattoo-ed on the back of my hand.. yeah that's how fast three years have flown by, quite literally.

Here's me in year 1:

back then, wearing 'outside' clothes to schools was such a new, strange, exciting feeling. The thought of waking up in the morning and not putting on a uniform, and white shoes, that feeling lasted a good whole 12 months! But lessons were so fun, hands on.. and i met so many people from different walks of life, that were nothing like my secondary school friends from my neighbourhood school. These were people from the north south east and west, some for better and some for worse, in terms of character. But it was a real eye-opener indeed!

There were events, and performances that i challenged myself to take on, and i scaled heights i would never dream of in my humblest of thoughts.. Through it all, i made friendships that i know will last for many years to come. People who have, and will, carry me through my darkest hours.

I remember my internship team mates, whose faces i saw every morning for 5 months without fail and worked in close proximity with. Quarrels, squabbles, everything got thrown in! But when it came down to crunch, we stuck up for each other as best we could..

And of course, for the entire internship team, we were the pioneer batch that formed the new and exciting m:idea conglomerate!

Again, friendships made, with people i'd never imagined that i would have spoken to previously, and lots of 'first-impressions' proven wrong.. In the end, what remains are memories that will never go away (=

Yes trust me, we had our fair share of craziness and fun, along with the work that came with it, every single day of the school year..

Priceless, valuable lessons learnt, from the best of the best:

and new projects that we undertook together, new chapters in our lives, our school lives, anyway, that we were willing to embark on..

And when the assignments, the projects, the group-work, and the deadlines got too much to handle, the sweet release and escape that i found in school:

In all seriousness, looking back on these three years and all the lessons learnt, it goes way beyong the academic standpoint.. What with all the comparisons on which path you decide to take after secondary school, about how important a degree is, which is the fastest way to get it, etc.. i think none comes close to experiencing the path your self. And coming from a skeptic, one who wanted to go on alternate paths and was so undecided up to the eleventh hour, i can tell you now after three years, that i cannot imagine how life would have been stuck in a classroom, studying from 8-5pm every day, and going home. the routine...the regimental lifestyle, i've had it for 10 years, in primary and secondary school.. and whilst those were good years, full of discipline and learning, nothing comes close to how much i have grown as a human being, as a friend, as an individual, and as a person, in these past three years in Ngee Ann.

I have learnt to be independent, i have been pushed onto stage, onto the limelight, under scrutiny from Industry experts. I have been held accountable for decisions that affected dozens of people, and i have felt the joy and satisfaction of getting through six gruelling semesters of work and play, in every sense of both words (=

So kudos to all of you who are going through it now, who also await your day of graduation. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, walk onto that stage to collect your diploma knowing that you have earned it, that you're a winner and a much more complete person, compared to the day you stepped in three years ago (:

And for those of you thinking of coming in as well, all I can say is that in the bottom of my heart, I am truly, sincerely, and genuinely, excited. For you. (=

Yesterday morning, I woke up bright (ok not very bright) and early.. No no, scratch that - Yesterday morning, my mum dragged me out of bed at 6am. Yes, she dragged.. My neighbours were obviously not too pleased hearing a shrill female voice go "NOOO, MUMMY 5 MORE MINUTES PLEAAAAASE?!"

So I eventually got out of bed, I had to.. I've waited for this day patiently for the past 3 years of my life and I wasn't gonna miss it for the world. If you haven't guessed by now.

Yeah, I'm finally done with my diploma and am graduating from this school! In the days leading up to yesterday, I had mixed feelings about graduation - nervous, reluctant, sad, happy, nostalgic. It was so weird, because I honestly didn't know how to feel.. I didn't know if I should be glad I'm finally done with my diploma or should I be sad that I'll be leaving Ngee Ann, which has been my second home for the past 3 years. Yes, I have spent Sundays in school even.. so pretty much a second home already. Plus my obsession with the school food and the Loft@94! Hahaha. I was a bit reluctant because a week back I went to collect my graduation gown and I thought that I looked really strange in it (like I was in Hogwarts!) but then again.. that look grew on me! :D

Yes being Miss Kiasu, I invited my mom, my aunts and my cousin. I HAD to spread the joy alright! Ok shall let the photos do the talking for now!

That's me on stage getting my diploma! I swore I had sweaty palms when I was walking on that stage, mega stage fright but it all turned out fine and relatively fast!

Okay almost every photo I took that day would include my really bright and pink iPhone! I'm currently giggling at my photos now because my friends are all complaining about the constant appearance of my iPhone in the photos. Its so nostalgic, looking at the photos and thinking about how I met each of these friends for the first time and how we went through 3 years of our poly lives together rushing assignments and projects!

Alright one last photo of me, Ronald (manager of m:idea) and my pink iphone.

I'm going to miss Ngee Ann like crazy after this ):

For the past few weeks, this Shrek Forever After poster has been up at the bus stop near my house:

I liked it! I thought it was pretty cute, so I thought, hey maybe this last installment of Shrek will be better than the last, which I didn't really like and also can hardly remember, except for a couple of details... Like Prince Charming! Loved him and his narcissistic self, but mainly because I love Rupert Everett. Though the hair flip when he went into the tower was pretty fabulous. But yeah, forgettable and overall kind of lame. 

I didn't have high hopes for this movie, but, you know, 3D! Last installment! You kind of expect something super amazing and epic. But then again, series that go on for way too long usually don't go over well. I still think they should have stopped at the 2nd one! IT WOULD HAVE BEEN OKAY. Curse Hollywood and it's lack of originality, they keep reusing plots and characters and all that. I still remember Sam Raimi wanting to have 10 Spider-man installments. MADNESS.

Anyway, the plot of Shrek is pretty simple: Shrek is bored of being a second-rate ogre and wants to be 'real' again, so he signs a contract with Rumpelstiltskin (hope I spelt that right, I can never get it correct!!) to be a real ogre for a day in exchange for one day in his childhood. But, OH NO!!!!! THE DAY TAKEN AWAY WAS THE DAY HE WAS BORN. So the land of Far, Far Away has become all screwed up and everything has changed. Rumpel is king, Fiona is still as cursed as ever and there's now an underground ogre resistance. Lots of things happen, lame jokes recycled, another ~~true love's kiss~~ that didn't really work and, well I won't spoil it for you but I think it's safe to say that everyone knows how it'd end.

If anything, fast forward to the last part. PUSS!!

Puss in Boots makes everything better! I'm not a huge fan of 3D (it's so inconvenient when you wear spectacles like I do), but yeah I think it's pretty worth it to watch in cinemas. Though I mean if 3D's no big deal for you, don't bother. It's just Shrek. Save your money for something more epic like Ip Man 2 or Iron Man 2!

Hey guys, how’s it been going?

It’s roughly one month since the start of school and I hope you’ve been settling in just fine. Anyway, last week, NP held our very first ever Community Day on May 12 and 13. It was pretty cool, ‘cause there were quite a couple of exhibitions (five, if I’m not wrong!) showcasing different activities.

Although normally I wouldn’t have an interest in these kinds of exhibitions or activities, I somehow found the time (during my lunch break) to check it out while buying Aglio Olio from The Zesty Tomato at the Atrium. I walked around a little and checked out the different exhibits, and yep.

There was the Kampong Spirit, Kampong Fun exhibition which had those fun kampong games like hopscotch, five stones, congkak and a couple others like gasing (top-spinning), goli (marbles) and kuti kuti that are more old school.

Some people playing goli, also known as marbles

Hehe... One of my favourite games back when I was in primary school - the Five Stones!

The captek game hehe - I'm not very balanced so I can't do this for long!

I’ve got pretty good memories of playing hopscotch with my friends back when I was in primary school. I used to rush to the courtyard to play hopscotch with the boys during recess and the only reason why I played with them was because they were less whiny.

They were also much more gracious when it came to losing as compared to the girls. I used to win every single game in hopscotch I played in – all that jumping apparently didn’t do much for my height though! Heh. I was really quite a tomboy back then.

There was also another cool exhibition on weddings called “Romance, Hopes & Dreams”, and it showed the different types of wedding ceremonies for Chinese, Malays, Indians and Eurasians.

One of the wedding ceremony exhibitions

It was a pretty good trip down memory lane, remembering all those Moral Education and Social Studies lessons, plus all the Racial Harmony days we had back in school.

So yup! I hope you managed to check out the exhibits during the short time it was there at the Atrium!

For some really strange and morbid reason, I've had this tau huay / soya beancurd craving for the longest time ever. It's been on and off for a couple of weeks and I was too busy (ok fine, too lazy) to walk over for my favourite beancurd at...........

I can still remember the first time a friend of mine brought me here for tau huay, I was blown away!!!!!!! It wasn't too sweet, neither did it have a very paste-like taste to it. It's exactly how tau huay has always been described to be, smooth and silky. I almost said melts in your mouth but not in your hands but then I remembered thats for M 'n' Ms! Hahaha. Well this week alone, I satisfied my tau huay craving finally and not just once but TWICEEEEEEE! :D

Hahah my two tau huay-crazed friends who very lovingly dragged me for tau huay after hearing me whine about it for the 100th time! Oh and one special thing about Rochor beancurd is the entire concept of the place! You have a choice between an airconditioned room on the second floor OR the back alley where they put out tables for us to sit!

I personally love sitting at the back alley, there's just something about sitting in the back alley (even though there isn't any aircon), it's really cosy and really perfect when you're with a group of friends and all you guys wanna do is sit down and catch up over tau huay!

Check out our grub for the night! I always have the cold tauhuay (you can have it either cold or warm) with soya bean milk added on top for that extra oomph and milkiness! Smooth! And then we had more! You tiao or fried dough fritters are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. You dip it in coffee, in milo and in our case, in tauhay! It becomes mushy and soft, soaking up the tauhay and you quickly bite/chew on it and it tastes sweet and heavenly! Fwah!!! Are you hungry already??

And Rochor Beancurd sells not only youtiao but this other pastry called.. butterfly bun, not sure if you guys know what's that but it's really good and certainly not a butterfly! The bun is shaped like a butterfly, that's how it gets its name. And you think only the tauhay and youtiao are good here? Well, they sell really yummy egg tarts! It's comparable to the KFC egg tarts which I'm absolutely addicted to but that's another story for another daaaaaay!

Now I'm off to pinch on the extra box of tau huay in my fridge! No, I'm not sharing. <3

It took me forever to listen to this band, but I am SO glad I downloaded the free song they had available on their website like a couple months ago, because now I'm hooked. When I heard that The National's 2007 album The Boxer was one of the best albums of the decade, I thought they were just another "alternative/indie rock" band and I didn't bother to listen to them, and oh man I really should have. The lead singer Matt Berninger's voice and baritone is AMAZING.

OMG THAT VOICE. The video is so, so, so bad but I love the song.

Anyway, the reason why I'm blogging about them (because it's not like they're a new band, haha) is that their new album just came out!! And by just I mean a week or so ago, but hey I haven't been able to keep up with anything these days. High Violet was released on May 10, and it's really awesome. Needless to say, my favourite song from the album is "Bloodbuzz Ohio" (the song above!), so I hope all of you like it. Though it's like, the first time I heard it and heard the word "bloodbuzz" (is that even really a word?), WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!?!? Honestly, I still don't know, and the google results prove useless, lol, they're all results about the song.

And! And! And! I know some people are going to complain about them 'selling out' or whatever, like how everyone complains when a band gets too popular (cue eyeroll), but they staged a live youtube concert last night, which was amazing! Okay technically it happened kind of in the middle of the night for us here in Singapore, but it was great anyway! I hope they post up the real thing sometime soon, but for now I'll just leave you with the STRONG SUGGESTION to start listening to them and this trailer for the live youtube concert:

Ahhhhh I hope the Esplanade or somebody brings them to Singapore sometime!

With all the buzz about YOG, sports is in heavy focus these days. From olympian gold medalists, soccer legends to swimming superstars on talk shows and magazine covers, sports men and women are become sports stars in the media.

The relationship between sport and media has been an age-old question discussed in forums, essays and various academic studies....and finally, right here in Ngee Ann we have a forum to tackle the issue!

Hear opinions and discuss views with exciting names like ESPN STAR Sports presenter Jamie Yeo, our first A1 racer Hafiz Koh, and even Team Singapore fencer, Nicholas Fang. The forum will be open to questions across the floor. And not to mention the 7 interactive seminars ranging from sports marketing, PR, advertising and newswriting, all conducted by industry experts!

And I've saved the best part for last. It's open to ALL secondary school students, JC students, Polytechnic students, and University students! So if you're interested, get your friends and even PE teacher to join in this forum and get acquainted with sports!

Cost is $30 ($25 if you book in a group of 10) and $25 for Ngee Ann Poly students.  22 June 8am-6pm at Ngee Ann's convention centre.

Guess who's hosting it? (;

Hello everyone! How was your weekend? It was Mother’s Day last Sunday and well, for me, I enjoyed it very much! It’s been a long time since I had the opportunity to really relax on a weekend and enjoy a day off!

For me, it was the first time I had slept in till 11 am in a long while, and while I still thought of work the first thing I woke up (I think I’m becoming a workaholic~), I made myself quickly forget about it and just relax. Hehe…

When everyone was all prepared, my dad brought the entire family to Raffles City to eat… Japanese Food!

Yup, we went to this awesome Japanese place called Shokudo Japanese Food Bazaar. And I tell you, when I saw all the food, I started salivating because the food all looked really, really good!

There was robatayaki, which are various skewered items on a stick (sort of like satay, but cooler); teppanyaki, mushimono, Jap western, and traditional foods like sushi and jap-style food.

As for me, I had a pretty awesome mushroom and cheese omelette. The cheese stretched deliciously when I cut the omelette apart, and biting into that mouthful of egg plus mushroom (not forgetting the cheese!) was just heavenly.

The only problem I had with it was that it was too sweet, and while I know that Jap omelettes are supposed to be sweet… This one made me feel slightly nauseous after I had eaten about half of the plate.

My mum really enjoyed herself though! She’s a pretty huge fan of Jap food, so with such a wide array of dishes, she could pick and choose the different things that they wanted.

After a good meal, my family and I went window-shopping, which was pretty fun because we hadn’t gotten out together in a long while. My mum was all smiles that day, so I think she enjoyed herself very much that day!

So how did you celebrate Mother’s Day with your mum? Leave a comment below and let me know!

I've always been the typical Chick Flick sorta girl, but I met my guy friends just the other day and they wanted to catch a movie so I was forced to watch....

Ip Man 2

Before I say anything, I must let you guys in on something really embarassing. Before I watched the show, I thought the show was called I-P MAN 2. Turns out, it is actually called "EEP-MUN 2". For those of you who understand Chinese - 叶问2:宗师传奇.

No wonder my guy friends all stared at me funnily when I kept saying I didn't want to watch I-P MAN 2...

After watching the show, all I can say is - WOW.

I can't believe I actually didn't catch the prequel of this movie because the fight scenes were FANTASTIC.

Ip Man 2, the sequel to the 2008 film - Ip Man is actually a semi-biographical martial arts film about the life of Ip Man, a grandmaster of Wing Chun martial arts. The show picks up action from the 1950s where Ip Man (played by Donnie Yen) arrives in the then Hong Kong that was still under the British Colonial Rule, with his young son and his heavily pregnant wife. In an attempt to make a living for his impoverished family, Ip Man struggles to establish a martial arts school hoping to propagate the art of Wing Chun martial arts. Due to his lack of fame, Ip Man struggled to bring in students UNTIL he meets the young and arrogant Wong Leung who loses to Ip in a series of sparring. Impressed by Ip Man's skills, Wong and his friends becomes his students and even bring in additional students. However other maritial arts school in the area aren't happy with the growing popularity of Wing Chun, in particular Hung Ga martial arts school who refused to allow Ip Man to set up shop on their turf. When Leung gets into a fight with one of the students from Hung, Ip Man is forced to face Hung to fight for his release.

The film did a fantastic job in focusing on what the audience headed to the cinemas for - the fight scenes!

The most exciting fight scene for me would definitely be the scene between Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung, two kung fu experts that were forced to come to blows unleashing their Wing Chun and Hung Kuen martial arts on each other respectively while struggling for balance on a teetering table.

Most people, like me would admit the parts of the show that they paid most attention to would be the fight scenes because that's where all the action is.

The first hour was definitely exciting with the fight scenes and the gradual build up to the pivotal moment of the show BUT, yet this leaves the movie struggling for action in the second hour and having to resort to turning its attention to the building tension between the local chinese and the government by the fight scene played by a Boxer named Twister who offends the chinese (mainly Hung) during one of the ceremonial martial arts display.

From this point on, the entire movie turns into a typical fight tournament with one fight scene after another, which may or may not be a good thing because it completely leaves out a proper storyline for the show!

But I think what the movie managed to pull off well was definitely the authenticity of the period of the show. The director of the movie managed the period setting and the high production value to create a movie more than just another action film! Also, the dialogue betweent the characters also carried some wit and was ensured that it was nothing less than enjoyable!

And I read that Bruce Lee was supposed to be the intended focus in this movie but were unable to finalise film rights with Bruce Lee's descendents therefore they had to settle with just portraying Bruce Lee as a young child near the end of the movie. Overall, I thought the show was enjoyable even though I was never the sort to know much about martial arts films but I'm actually itching to go check out the first Ip Man now! :D

It's the start of the week and hopefully school isnt weighing you down just yet. Hang in there and work hard, the June holidays are fast approaching! Heh. Always loved the feeling of the countdown to June!

Speaking of countdowns, was anyone at *scape last Friday for the 99 day countdown celebrations to the Youth Olympic Games here in August? It's gonna be the first in the world and I hear *scape was really really packed! Pretty suitable venue to pick as well given that *scape is uber popular with the youth of Singapore. Our PM Lee was there as well as the official uniforms for the 20,000 youth volunteers were unveiled. Pretty neat!

These were the event's hosts, with Jean Danker looking as pretty as ever! Hee, props to the former NP student!

So of course, exciting song and dance celebrations followed.

The security checks at the entrance point was a little bit of a bummer, as it was just a tad bit too tedious and slow, but nonetheless, this didn't stop the eager crowds from coming.. And we all know, when there's promised fireworks, Singaporeans will be there rain or shine!

And of course, the star of the night, our very own first Singapore Idol, fitting that they'd pick him, to perform at the countdown to the first YOG in the world!

You know, I was just watching the announcement of the host nation on YouTube, and it really did make my hair stand. It was the first time I saw the whole nation together as one, and really, there isn't a better depiction of patriotism at its best. And this is coming from a boy who wasn't even involved in the bid and the planning. What more the people whose blood sweat and tears were put in, only to see their efforts being rewarded internationally to millions. Just have a look at this video:

I remember our sports minister saying this was the best example of national pride he had ever seen in all his life.. watching this, it's hard to disagree with him.

Having said that, i really do feel that our local media has a long way to go in terms of prioritising. Much, much more attention has got to be given to the youth olympic games taking place in august. It's 95 more days to go. If The New Paper can countdown to the world cup since jan this year, every day, on the last page, then i think they can also afford to place a little more emphasis on this historic event taking place in August. Years from now when our kids are learning a sport, we would be encouraging them to aim for the youth olympics, and we will say that we've been there, when the first ever one took place, and it was right here in Singapore. Now it doesn't get any better than that.

Anyway, i've digressed, hey i got a look at the mascots for this year's event as well, and boy are they adorable! Haha lyo and merly...a play on the names 'lion and merlion' of course...

Our very own students from Ngee Ann is also getting their hands busy, with the YOG coming up, and playing their part to make Ngee Ann proud! Earlier this year, a bunch of our enthusiastic students held an art competition in honour of the games. the competition invited Secondary 1 and 2 students to submit an art piece about the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games. A Prize Giving Ceremony was held on 25th March 2010 at the Ngee Ann Polytechnic Convention Centre. 

Check out the winning piece :

It's called 'Together As One'. Pretty neat eh..

Well if you're more interested in the games and want to find out more, and see how you can help or volunteer, check out the official website at

http://www.singapore2010.sg/public/sg2010/en.html

or if you aren't into the wordy stuff, and want a more chill cool site, then give this a go:

http://whyohgee.com/public/sg2010/en.html

More celebrations are to come ahead of the August 14 games. One to look out for is the torch relay. After travelling around the world in July, the Olympic flame will arrive in Singapore in early August for a 6-day round the island torch relay involving some 2,400 torch bearers.

So wherever you are, whatever time you are reading this. If you're Singaporean, then you have enough reason to feel proud, and excited all at the same time. Even if the media does or does not do this upcoming first ever YOG justice, you still can! Get out there, be heard, buy your tickets, and support our athletes =D

I can't wait. What about you? Tell me!