Diaries and Blogs

2nd October 2013; Diaries and Blogs

 Above is one of a very very old diary entry, dating all the way back to 9th March 2002. I started writing diaries from a very young age. At first, I was forced to by my parents to do it. But as time past, it became a habit and i wrote diary after diary. Eventually it came to a stop due to the inability to cope with school work and other obligations I had

At this time and age, diaries have largely been replaced by blogs. Blogs actually work the same way as diaries. Whenever you want, you can just submit a blog post like you would on your diary. The major difference being that one, is stored online and the other is an actual physical copy, that you can have with you all the time.

Earned this today: Personally, I still prefer the idea of having a diary instead of a blog. If not for a physical diary, I wouldn't have been able to showcase this old treasure that it is. Times where i had really bad sentence construction and my story wasn't a whole lot interesting to have. Memories are what these are. What would happen to blogs after several years? Would you still be able to recover them and have a laugh at it ten years down the road?

My Journey to NAFA Everyday

2nd October 2013; My Journey to NAFA Everyday

I live in the west; closest MRT station from my place would be Yew Tee (NS5). NAFA my current education spot is situated right in the heart of the town at Bugis. I’ve stayed in Yew Tee, for about 15 years now and I’ve always dreaded to head down to town. Especially when it takes about 2 hours on average just to travel to school.

Above is a picture I’ve taken when I was rushing to school on a cab due to the sleepless nights spent burning midnight oil to complete our works and my inability to wake up on time.

Earned this today: It’s been around ten weeks since the start, I’m starting to get used to travelling to and fro the school and actually reaching classes on time. How would it be like to stay just next to your school? Would you become complacent and take it for granted?

Drawing Faces

 

1st October 2013; Drawing Faces

Faces. I usually dread when the need arises to draw one of them. Especially when drawing the eyes, I could never get it right. Often resulting in an aggravating experience.

But through the techniques learnt in lessons and with much practice. This is one of the better ones that I’ve come up with. Although I still lack the likeness of the reference picture itself. I’m relieved that at least, it still looks like a face and not some distorted looking human face that is often the case in the past.

Earned this today: In the past, I would shy away from doing things that I’m not usually good with. I feel that I should be more courageous in exploring new things and not be afraid to fail. Confidence Rig, Confidence…

Origami!

 1st October 2013; Origami!

Origami, a traditional art of paper folding that started in the 17th Century AD in japan. The objective of this form of art is to alter a flat piece of paper through folding, making a sculpture.

Over the years, I’ve learnt and mastered multiple kinds of origami sculptures. Some examples include the widely known paper crane and roses. The reason to why I’m so intrigued in origami is because I’d like to make small little gifts (as shown in the picture above) for friends and family members instead of buying them expensive gifts. However I feel that the people of this age do not really appreciate small things like this and often take it for granted.

Earned this today: In the vast world of Origami, there are still lots to be learnt. Especially the more intricate designs which I’ve yet to touch on. A hobby that allows for endless learning, do you have one such hobby too?

Confidence...

30th September 2013; Confidence...

Where does ones confidence come from? From their good looks, their ability to do something really good or the courage to just stand out from the rest? I have been in search for this answer for a while now. But it seems, the answer is still far from grasp. Still unable to understand where confidence can be found.

Take example for today’s movie presentation for “Introduction to Visual Arts”. I was supposed to start out and talk about the introduction part of the movie analysis. From start to finish, although I managed to project my voice out in a way that everyone could hear. My problem was, I doubt anyone in the audience could understand what I was trying to say. Because, even me myself, wasn’t too sure what I was trying to say. I was way too nervous and my mind went blank.

Earned this today: Disappointed in myself once again, I continue on my quest to find confidence…

3D Fundamentals Overview

30th September 2013; 3D Fundamentals Overview

Today was the day, where all our four projects are being reviewed! It was like our judgment day, knowing how strict out teacher in charge was. This 10 weeks journey was tough and mind cracking. Due to the new things that we have come across and encountered along the way, but we definitely have learnt a lot too!

From creating something from just feelings (Project 1), creating volume from simple planes (Project 2), creating from tearing down parts and reassembling parts making something entirely different (Project 3) and finally, joining two things of different qualities while making it look natural together (Project 4). We’ve come a long way, opening our minds to way and methods to help us in problem solving, which would definitely prove to be useful.

Earned this today: 3D Fundamentals Complete! It’s over, finally! Now to focus on the other modules~

The 'Cup' Fish

29th September 2013; The 'Cup' Fish

Finally, coming to the last project, Project 4; Juxtaposition. Little was known upon looking at the word, juxtaposition. So the very first step for me, was to do some research.

This was the outcome.  The definition of the word is, the act or placement of two things  (usually abstract concepts) near each other.

From the research, I felt that juxtaposition was about combining two objects that is not intended to go well together, often with opposing qualities. But due to juxtaposition, it should be made to look, unusual, humorous, thought provoking, ironic and uses symbolism.

To fulfill the numerous objectives, I decided to work on the theme Irony. Which helps to fulfill unusual, humorous, thought provoking and irony conditions. To generate ideas, I started rattling out random words and looked for words that sound the same and can be used to contradict each other. (Example: Thief/Teeth, Ship/Sheep, Sand/Send).

After much thought and concept development, I decided to work on the Carp/Cup fish idea! The outcome is shown as above! This is the meaning; the fish being a carp fish (a species) is actually made out of small little cups to represent its scales which creates an irony contrasting with the word ‘carp’. The green parts are to create the rough texture that is often not the case when we talk about fish scales, as it is often smooth.

Earned this today: I feel that juxtaposition is an interesting way to put two or more things of different characteristics together and still be able make it go well together. Like the previous projects, it’s another method to generate ideas out of the ordinary.

Tegd the Mecha

 

29th September 2013; Tegd the Mecha

3D Fundamentals, project 3: Deconstruction and Reconstruction. Walking into this project. I had words like mechs (robots) and steampunk lingering in my mind. It is because we had to deal with very mechanical things like home appliances, electronics and objects with lots of mechanisms.

After much development from the previous post namely ‘My Monster’. This was the end product, from trying to construct a robot to this. Mr Tegd, the baby gorilla as I call it. The tricky part was to try and overlook each of the individual parts I got from the camera. The placing of the many parts in different configurations would help in generating entirely different ideas based how we visualize it.

Earned this today: I feel that in this project, I’ve learnt that the usefulness of borrowing forms from things that were taken apart. Viewing it in a different way, which helps generate brand new ideas, which can prove to be helpful in my future endeavors!

Rippling Ball

29th September 2013; Rippling Ball

Presenting the second project for 3D Fundamentals! The ‘Rippling Ball’. In this project (Template & Volume), I started by exploring different types of patterns to generate ideas. To finish off, I was reminded that the volume was depicted by contours of a map. Stacking planes on top of each other to represent mountains, which also means volume can also be created in such a manner.

With the realization of the topic at hand, I worked with prototypes and learnt many methods and way to represent VOLUME. By using supports to allow planes to be placed at an angle and the usage of negative space to create the illusion of VOLUME.

Earned this today: In conclusion, I’ve learnt that by using supports forms are created and hence creating a sense of volume to the object. In this case, I’m trying to depict a falling ball right before it sinks into the water. Was it successful?

Grace

 

29th September 2013; Grace

 This is my 3D Fundamentals sculpture for project 1: Dots and Lines. I still remembered, it was the first day of school. Day one, we had 3D fundamentals to start off our learning journey. We were presented with some dance videos and were tasked to draw anything and everything based on how we felt. There wasn’t a sense of direction given to us. We were free to explore.

With that done. We needed to construct small wire sculptures from some of our own favorite sketches. From there, using the design elements to identify pros and cons of our prototypes. The final sculpture was in the works and after much tweaking and modification. This was what I came up with.

Earned this today: In conclusion, I feel that I have further understood how the usage of design elements can help aid in making your design feel more robust and impactful. In the case, where I’m trying to depict a dancer’s gracefulness through the curves and spirals used to create rhythm and movement. Therefore naming it “Grace”

Sleep

 

29th September 2013; "Zombi-fying" Ourselves...Sleep?

It is currently 4am. I’m still awake, still up at this hour. Turning into a mindless zombie. Utilizing the quietness of the night, I’m still working on the assignments and projects that we have to complete by 11th October 2013, a day where it marks the end of term one for most of our core foundation modules.

I once read an article online. It speaks of how sleep loss takes a toll on us. Affecting our mood, energy and ability to handle stress. By having a healthy sleep schedule, it heightens our mental sharpness, productivity, emotional balance creativity, physical vitality and even our weight.

Creativity, the one condition from the list that catches my attention immediately. Being a student in NAFA, creativity is especially important. Most of our tasks require us to think, think and still be thinking. Be it ideas for projects, techniques to use for a certain artwork and our many thought processes. I’m worried…

Earned this today: Sleep deprivation. If this goes on, I might just turn in to a zombie! But, this is only the beginning…BRAINNNNNNNNSSSSSS!

My Journey So Far...

 

28th September 2013; My Journey So Far...

It’s been roughly two months since the start of school. July 21st 2013, when we started our journeys in pursuit of a diploma. Ever since then, we’ve learned lots of new things, meeting lots of new friends along the way and definitely not forgetting the piles of work waiting to be done amidst writing this entry.

It’s almost at the end now. Term one, lasting ten weeks, excluding the break week after the seventh week. We’re approaching the ninth week of our term. The last stretch where everyone is trying to finish up their work and doing the finishing touches. Burning lots of midnight oil just to make sure all our work is in the desired condition of our own personal expectations. Hoping that all of our efforts that we have devoted to our projects and assignments are up to par with the school standards so that we can get good grades and move on.

As assessment week approaches, then tension builds up and the stress level rises. Here’s to the class of VA1M, lets do this and don’t let procrastinating set in!

Earned this today: The journey might not be as easy as it might looks, but don’t look back and keep moving towards your dream. After all, this is why we are here at NAFA for right?

 

Domo!

26th September 2013; Domo!

Domo! It first appeared on NHK’s satellite broadcasting on 22nd December 1998 as short stop-motion sketches. Domo is a strange creature that is hatched from an egg. He has this large wide opened mouth that remains wide open, a big part in showing how cute he looks. He can’t speak as well. Only being able to communicate by producing low-pitched noise.

This is one of my final projects for one of my modules when I was pursuing my Higher Nitec Certificate in Information Technology. We were tasked to animate something that we liked. So I choose Domo! Through the process of learning and the making of this short clip, I learnt that animating involves lots of repetitions and breaking movements down to each frame was what it takes to create a smooth looking animation. This was also what sparked my interest in animation. Bringing me to where I am now, in pursuit of a diploma in animation.

Earned this today: Moving forward in the direction I want to continue on. Still chasing the dream of one day, having my small little name on one of the big feature animation film credits. Being part of a major production. Working hard!

Tetris!

23rd September 2013; Tetris!

 Tetris, an old classic that was released back on June 6, 1984. It is a video game where you stack up each of the seven pre-set tiles that are presented to you in the confined rectangular space. The main purpose of the game is to avoid stacking your tiles till the top, and to do that you have to stack the tiles up so that it forms a straight line from the left corner all the way the right corner. That way, that line would be regarded as ‘cleared’ and disappears from the box.

Introducing the tetrominoes. These are the stars of the show! The pre-set tiles you will often see when playing a game of Tetris. Although just being small little squares. It can cause pure joy and sadness depending on when it decides to appear as your next tile you need to add to your tower.

My favorite one would be the one in light blue, fourth one from the left on the picture. It brings much joy when it appears, but bring sadness when you need it the most and it doesn’t appear. Often, when I’m playing, I tend to play in a way, where I leave a gap just nice for it to fit in. Always anxious to get that one long piece so that I could clear up four lines at once. But when I don’t get it, it would just stack higher and higher. Bringing me closer to the ‘game over’ screen.

I’ve grown up playing Tetris. Even up till now, it’s still one of the most engaging and exciting games that allow us to relax our minds from the stressful daily life we all lead.

Earned this today: Tetris, still plays an important part of my life. Do you happen to have one such habit?

Illustrations

21st September 2013; Illustrations

Illustrations, probably my weakest field in art. Being able to transfer the image you have from your brains to the physical copy doesn’t come without practice. Every since the start of my journey at NAFA, I’ve been working hard at that. I would say I have made progress, but definitely not on par with most of my classmates sadly. I won’t give up just yet. At times, I may feel a little down when I see what our classmates can do. I’m working on it, and hope to improve, hopefully at a faster rate.

Above is one of my attempts to use a reference image to replicate and do an illustration of my own. Although it isn’t as detailed. I feel that it captures the essence of the reference picture. There are many improvements to be made pertaining to my skills, but I believe that it comes with practice and being open to critic.

Earned this today: On my journey of learning, I strive to become a better artist and pave my way to a successful future!

Marathons!

21st September 2013; Marathons!

Today, I would like to spend some time talking about my little addiction that I have in the past. It was to participate in marathons to aid me in expanding my collection of medals and finisher t-shirts.

My first ever marathon that I participated in, was in 2009. The 19 year old simply signed up for the 42-kilometer marathon annually organized by standard charted without much thought. At the end of the marathon, I immediately regretted that decision. It was simply because I didn’t exactly trained up enough for it and was in pain, all over!

 

But I didn’t stop there, instead it pushed me further and I kept going for more and more marathons. After all these years, the reason for me to still be participating in these marathons is because of the experience I get from the participation and the goal I have set for myself back then has yet to be achieved.

The experience of running with thousands of other like-minded people early in the morning on the streets of town just feels great. The amount of people that you can never finish overtaking no matter your just pushes me forward time and time again. That feeling is almost indescribable. As for the unrealistic goal that I have set, back in the past. It is to achieve the timing of completing a 42-kilometer marathon in no more than four and a half hours.

 

But as of now, ever since I’ve enrolled in NAFA, year 1. I’ve stopped my goal chasing and thus have been working on chasing my dreams instead. That is to become an outstanding animator. At the moment, I still have tons of work yet to be done. But come the semester after the foundation course. I really hope, that I could work out a balance of between my workload and my passion for joining marathons.

Earned this today: Having a balance between work and play doesn’t come easy.  It all depends on how we manage our time. But being an apprentice of the arts and going through the initial learning phases, I find it hard to cope. But I hope that when I improve and become better in the arts. I will make sure to manage my time well and hopefully be able to find my balance between the two.

Another Form Of Stress Relief

20th September 2013; Another Form Of Stress Relief

The monster hunter series, developed by the video game company Capcom and the first rendition was released Mach 11th 2003.  Since then, it has gained a cult following and has been a part of the Japanese culture. (Myself included) The latest in the series is Monster Hunter 4, which was released a few days back on the 14th of September this year exclusively in Japan.

It is a game about questing and slaying huge monsters. Getting their parts as trophies, which you then use to craft amour pieces that eventually share visual traits of the slain monsters. Part of the fun, is to play with a bunch of friend when you hunt together to share the excitement of slaying these huge creatures.

Similar to Starcraft, this is another one of the activities that I engage in myself with a couple of friends as a form of stress relief. All this activities, allows us to role play as someone that we can never be in real life and putting ourselves in the shoes of the characters and actually feel like we’ve achieved something through our accomplishments. Its kind of lets us forget about the things around us, the stress, the troubles and worries that we have, and become a great warrior in a world where humans and huge monsters coexist and to survive, we have take them down.

Although it might be a time wasting and pointless activity for some to engage themselves in, I feel that as long you have self discipline and can manage your time well, I think playing these kinds of games can also be a form of stress relieve along the lines of engaging in sports activities and other hobbies alike.

Earned this today: Due to its exclusivity, fans of the series outside of Japan wouldn’t be able to get their hands on the game. So I watched some footage on Youtube and I definitely cant wait for its release here!

Racing The Dead 2013

19th September 2013; Racing The Dead 2013

The other day when I was at “The Cathy.” I saw this promotional site. Where they had this van parked there. It is a campaign to raise awareness of this up and coming race event. Unlike the usual marathons, participants are tasked to try and dodge and outrun zombies on their way to the finish line. (The Fort)

 

 

This would be the race route, which I had grabbed from the official site. At the beginning of the race, runners will be issued two red flags simulating their lives. The course would be infested with hordes of zombies, which the runners are to avoid contact with them at all cost. There will be obstacles along the way to hinder your progress at the race and who knows? It might also be a place where a huge amount of zombies are gathered together to try and make you their next meal. Along the route, there are also first aid zones, namely the “Mio TV Life Zone” where runners will be ale to replenish a lost health flag. Upon reaching the finish line, runners are put to the “Quarantine Area” to determine if they are infection free.

This all sounds like a very interesting idea for a race. The ones that I have participated in aren’t all that interesting. You only have to make your way to the finish line and that’s about it.

For me, marathons are what I personally enjoy very much myself as I’m an avid runner who enjoys the experience of running long distances with thousands of other participants. For this particular race the dead event, it has definitely raised my interests, for its interesting setting and race objectives. Putting it in simple terms, it all sounds like a catching game. A game where I believe all of us would have played when we were young. But this time around, it is executed in a large-scale event.

As interested as I may seem, I won’t be joining it. That is because as of late, schoolwork has really been piling up. I haven’t been able to sleep much and have been burning midnight oil every single day. Two more weeks to the final assessment, where all our hard work would be graded. All the best to all of my classmates! In any case, I hope that ‘Race the dead’ becomes popular and they return on 2014. Who knows? I might be able to participate next year!

Earned this today: I want to get back in running for marathons and events like this like I use to!

Our Society

18th September 2013; Our Society

Came across this little comic strip on the Internet today. It speaks a lot for itself. The fact that everyone likes to ‘follow’ trends and how they would like things to have things that everyone else has.

In the above example, we have someone that looks normal, but the people around him no matter where he goes, they are all bruised up and injured. He stopped to ponder. He then decides to be like everyone else. So he voluntarily punched himself in the face so that he wouldn’t be different.

I feel like that is the case with the society that we are living in now. People find it weird to stand out, and be different. I occasionally succumb to being this way too. But I try not to, as much as possible.

A said example would be the recent craze of the sale for the limited edition hello kitties at McDonalds.  Where people started queuing days before the sale has even started. When questioned, some of the people queuing said, they’re just queuing because they feel that they need to have it, because it “THE” trend to have one.

Earned this today: We should be doing things that we want to be doing and not being afraid to stand out and be different. After all, success comes to those that innovate and experiment with new things without the fear of failing and more importantly not giving up when you don’t succeed.

Starcraft

17th September 2013; Starcraft

In one of the earlier posts, I mentioned that I do play a little game called Starcraft. So here I am today, talking about it in a nutshell, and why I enjoy play this little game.

Blizzard, a video game company founded on February 8th 1991, is the producers of the many beloved franchises in the video game industry. One of which happens to be Starcraft. The first edition of Starcraft was released on March 31st 1998 and became a huge hit worldwide due to it competitive multiplayer structure and its is still as popular even now fifteen years later. But throughout the fifteen years, it has gone through much improvement on how it looks and plays and most importantly balancing gameplay so as to make the competitive component of the game a fair experience during the competitions.

The main gist of the game were split up into three major different aspects, the resource management, base construction and the exchange of battles with the army you’ve built up with your enemies. There were three different takes on the gameplay because of the different races that forms the world of Starcraft. The three main races are the humans, the bug aliens and lastly the futuristic robot like aliens. Namely the “Terran”, “Zerg” and the “Protoss” respectively.

Whenever I have any extra time to spare. I would head online, and have a game or two, just relax myself and escape from reality for that period of time. It acts as a form of rest from all the stress that we go through everyday, be it the stress from school, family or friends. Starcraft is also a game, where there is a vast growing community focused on the competitive side of things. Where they have teams like in football and they battle it out for supremacy. At times when I don’t get the luxury of time to play, I would watch a few games online just like people would watch tv dramas.

I find all these small little distraction in life to perhaps take a break from the stressful lives that we lead and get back up feeling slightly more refreshed and ready for a new challenge after. If you’re feeling stressed, why not give it a try? Maybe we could play a few games together?

Earned this today: Its one of my many ways of stress relieve, what’s yours?

Japanese Multiplication

16th September 2013; Japanese Multiplication

I happen to come across this very interesting picture the other day on the Internet. The title of the picture was; How Japanese children learn multiplication.

I did a little research on how this method is used and was really fascinated by this method.  This is how its works.

Step 1:

Taking the first number, draw a group of lines corresponding to each number parallel to each other leaving a gap in the middle. (In the example above, the first number being thirteen, the red line representing the one in the number thirteen, and the three dark blue lines parallel to the red line acting as the three in the number thirteen)

Step 2:

Taking the second number, repeat the same process but do it so that the lines crosses the other group of lines. (In that same example, the green line represents the one in the number twelve and the two black lines representing the two in the number twelve. But take note that the placement of the second set of lines must be intersecting with the first group of lines)

Step 3:

Lastly, count up the intersections in each group in a vertical manner to get the answer.

These simply blew my mind in terms of how the method can be so simple and yet still manages to produce the correct answer. Comparing it with the methods that we were taught during our primary school days. I think this method might prove to be an easier way for kids to understand multiplication quicker and be done more efficiently.

Earned this today: Such a cool way to be doing multiplication! Definitely going to try and use this method more often whenever I need to be multiplying.

Happy Birthday Me!

15th September 2013; Happy Birthday Me!
 

 It is once again, that time of the year. My birthday! Today, I officially turned twenty-two. As an adult, I still have a lot to catch up on. Most of my secondary school mates have already moved on to higher education whilst I’m still hard at work to earn my diploma.

Let’s talk about how I spent my day instead of ranting on about my regrets in life for the past 22 years. I spent most of the time trying to catch up with all the schoolwork that I have lacking. But at night, at dinner, my parents threw a little surprise for me at dinner.

While waiting for everyone to settle down at the table, my mum and younger sister suddenly emerged from the kitchen with a cake! My family started singing the birthday song while I sat there blushing in disbelief.

Although it was just a simple dinner this time around, the thought was what counts. I would like to thank my family for throwing this little surprise for me. Amidst all the schoolwork I have to complete. Thank You!

Earned this today: I LOVE SURPRISES! And I'm glad that I got one today!

Work Work...

12th September 2013; Work Work...

It’s the vacation/non-contact week. For me, it was a week of work and more work. Monday and Tuesday I had the luxury to stay at home to do my own work. Like beefing up the sketchbooks and finishing up with the piling assignments that we have. Wednesday and today, we were working on the A0 sized group project.

This was how the two days were spent. We met up around the afternoon in school on the first day. Headed for lunch, and quickly went to Art Friend to get our materials needed. Shortly after which, we headed back to school to start work. The first day was a lot more focused on the planning phase and working out a small A4 size draft that we could refer from for the final piece. We stopped work right around nine at night and went for dinner together.

The second day was more of an execution day, where we followed our plans and everything went pretty smooth overall. Just like the day before, we ended slightly earlier and went home for dinner this time around.

Seeing the progress that we’ve made. It goes to show, that if we’ve made proper plans. The execution would be a much smoother process. It would definitely help in achieving more in a shorter period of time.

That should be something that I could incorporate into my own individual works. With the amount of work that we all have piling on us, I definitely feel that it just might be the correct direction to head to.

Earned this today: Time Management, is definitely key in one’s success. Especially when we enter our specific jobs in the future. When there are datelines to be met and the demand to produce quality work within a stimulated time grows ever important to satisfy our clients. In actual fact the teachers, are actually in the shoes of the clients if you think about it. I need to buck up!

My Monster?

9th September 2013; My Monster?!

 3D Fundamentals. One of the many modules I am currently undertaking in my first year at NAFA pursuing my diploma for Illustration design with animation. Part of a foundation course for all students that has been enrolled this year. This, is one of the many projects that we were tasked to do.

Sugei Road; Flea Market

 This project, we were required to go ‘hunting’ for materials. Preferably to get some old unused items from a flea market. We were first brought to Sungei road, which was near our school. Being a Singaporean for about 21 years now. That trip was the first time I’ve ever been there. It was truly a sight. There were things all over. Sort of like a wet market, but instead of food. It was all old appliances like radio watches and all sort of stuff that screams nostalgia.

I got hold of 2 old film cameras and a keyboard to work with for this project. The task was to deconstruct (take apart) the objects that we got and put it together, to from something. Be it a sculpture or a display object. As long as it changes the meaning of the initial object that was used.

After much thought and development, from trying to construct a robot, to eventually becoming a gorilla. The process was head cracking and tons of problem solving involved. Like, how we can get the join up the different parts and make sure it doesn’t fall apart. It isn’t exactly complete at this stage, but at least I’m glad I have the main structure down.

This is actually the 3rd project, out of the 4 we are expected to complete by the end of the module. We will also be graded from this 4 projects we have done up.

Overall, I enjoy doing all these craft works and am really proud of my masterpieces. I definitely look forward to the last project. But then again, as week 11 closes in, we have piles and piles of work that we have to complete and make it in time for our assessment by then! Boy oh boy!

Earned this today: *SCREAMS!!!* I need more time!

Flower?!

8th September 2013; Flower?!

Today, my sister came back from home and showed me something that, she had bought from Daiso. (The Japanese store that sells everything for $2) At first sight, I couldn’t tell, what was it. It is made of really thin paper, the ones that are used for calligraphy. The paper was folded and twist tied right in the middle. Seeing the fold, I guessed that it was a fan. Never would I have thought it was a flower, until my sister showed me the ‘trick’.

This was how she did it. Firstly, she opened up the folded ends. Following that, she started pulling up the sheets on alternative sides. And ‘Viola’ the flower, just pops right out. Finishing up, she crumpled the pieces here and there to make it feel more natural. Amazing isn’t it? To think that a few pieces of paper can be joined up to make something so pretty and in such a short span of time.

This are just one of the many things you can actually find at Daiso. There are tons and tons of quirky goods at Daiso. Some examples would be, a fold-able cup and a banana portable carrier. With all these interesting inventions, I wonder what it would be like in Japan? Would there be more of these kinds of things there? Given the chance, I would really like to find out some time!

Earned this today: There’s still lots to see and experience in this world. Work hard now, so that you can travel and see the world someday.

Getting My Life Back On Track!

8th September 2013; Getting My life Back on Track!

It’s a lovely Sunday morning. I woke up so much later than usual. I’m a week away from becoming a year older. I also happen to have broken up with my girlfriend today. (Lets not get into details here) It has been a long arduous journey that started this year on the 23rd of January. We parted on good terms. Just like the Chinese proverb “好聚好散.”

Lots of promises have yet to be fulfilled. But what is a couple, without happiness? I asked myself. I hope that this was the right decision as much as it hurts. I believe it’s for the better in the long term. Still, life has to move on. We can’t live in the past with regrets. We move on and make sure not to repeat the mistakes that we have made from before.

Feeling really down. I’ve decided for the rest of the day, I’m just going to be doing what perks me up, whenever I feel down. Whenever I’m feeling stressed or really restless. I go for small jogs and work out a little. To ‘sweat’ out my feelings. That is my go-to stress reliever.

Moving on from today, things have to be done. I’ll work even harder, to make my dream come true. To become an outstanding animator! Of the many ups and downs in life, this is just one of it. I just need to overcome it and move on. But I’m sure. It’ll take awhile… I can do it Rig! (加油!)

Earned this today: No matter what happens. We still have to move on and not stop just because you’ve come up with an obstacle.

Foooooddd Fair!

6th September 2013; Foooooddd Fair!

Shortly after browsing through the COMEX exhibition. I continued on to the other exhibition halls. In my hunt to see if there was anything interesting in particular. There were a few other exhibitions that I found.

One of it was the BHG (Be Here for Good Things) sale, where, they sell all sorts of home products, from apparel to perfumes and many more. I would say its like a departmental store, just like OG. (Oriental Garments)

The other one was The Body Shop Sale. Where they have an assortment of products either for make-up, skincare, fragrances and many more other products to pamper yourselves.

Lastly, there was the World Food Fair 2013. For the other two exhibitions, I wasn’t all that interested. So, I moved on, without hesitation. But I had to go in and have a look at least. After all, it’s a food fair, who doesn’t like food? So, I decided to go in for a spin.
 

Upon entering the food exhibition hall, I was greeted by the mixture of fragrances coming from all over the hall. It takes awhile to get used to the smell. Due to the mixtures of different kinds of food, that was on the show floor. It was confusing. But when you start moving around and move on to specific areas with food of the same type. Its starts picking back up. I had to hold my stomach as I walked in hunger. (I already had lunch) There were lots of dishes available, in dried packet forms, frozen packets, and ready-made food available. The hall was spilt into 3 main sections. In the middle of each section were tables for customers to enjoy their meals and surrounding that would be the stalls, where they had all the food. It is something that my mum would definitely want to make a trip down for, but definitely not me as I’m was getting really hungry browsing through all the food there was. Just way too tempting! Due to the fact that I just had lunch. I figured that, I needed to leave, in consideration to my poor wallet.

It was definitely a nice place to have either lunch or dinner because all of the foods were all there. You could literally try all of the cuisines under one roof! That is if, you come with an empty stomach.

Earned this today: Definitely a good place to be for the coming weekend. Only if you go there with an empty stomach!

A day at COMEX!

6th September 2013; A day at COMEX!

Right after my lessons (2D fundamentals) for today, I headed over to expo where the exhibition was held. In search of a deal for a 13” MACBOOK AIR deal, that would further aid me in my education at NAFA!

Tanah Merah. One of the stations where we had to alight and board the train that was heading towards Changi Airport. Expo was just a stop away from Tanah Merah. I live in the West and would rarely make my way down to this station most of the time. But this station was a definite weekend spot where I have to pass through for around two years of my life.

Can you guess the reason why I to travel so far down from the west for two years of my life? It was because, from the year 2010, I had to serve National Service for two years. It’s a mandatory process of the Singaporean guys to serve once they’ve reached eighteen. Seeing this station again, definitely brings back memories, both good and bad. But I shall not bore you with the details and start to talk about the actual ‘hunting.’

I thought to myself, COMEX being such a well promoted yearly sale event, I set out to avoid the weekends at all costs. But truth be told, it definitely came as a shock to me. The crowd when I arrived at the venue was insane. It was so crowded! I had to weave through a sea of people just to go from booth to booth, checking the deals that they had to offer on the show floor.

 Browsing around, I saw this booth, but maybe I shouldn’t label it as a booth due to its sheer size. The area was huge, planted right at the corner of the event hall. Its none other than one of our telecommunication service providers! And…the award for the biggest ‘booth’ of the show goes to them! Well, they had a really spacious area for viewing. You could even sign up for their plans on site! The other telecommunication companies were there too. But I find this, the more attractive and spacious ones amongst them. The only one I was able to just go through real quick. Not having to stop consistently due to the crowd like how it was for the rest of the exhibition hall.

At the event hall, this caught my eye. It’s the game; Starcraft II, Heart Of The Swarm. The game where I enjoy watching competitions which professionals take part in. These professionals make a living out of it. It definitely is one of my many hobbies, just to see how they battle it out. I occasionally do play a few games here and there to just relieve a bit of stress from reality. Maybe I’ll talk about it in another posts?

The star of the show! What I was here for. There are two major MAC booths. Nubox and Epic Centre Respectively. But to my disappointment, both showings didn’t have great deals. Comparing it to the retail shops that were of the same name. The pricing was about the same. I didn’t see the point in getting one just then.

For now, I’ll just put the money on something that I need more, rather then getting a mac which I don’t really have a use for as of now. Undertaking the foundational course in NAFA as a year 1 student, I feel that a laptop wasn’t exactly necessary for now. Maybe when we moved on to our specialization, then I might consider one!

Earned this today: The world for digital goods definitely has its market. Especially when there’s a sale! Singaporeans… myself included.