leave nothing behind;
not even fingerprint impressions.

I have been so busy lately, I haven't had much time for myself. My work has extremely long hours (10-12 hours a day) and I am wondering whether it is really worth it to sweat it out in the sun for 50$ a day. The wonderful thing is that I don't have to work everyday, and the timing is very flexible, which means I still get to wake up late. Also, I am involved in a commemorative book that will definitely add to my design portfolio. It is the thing that has been keeping me on my toes all month. I have another month to work on it before it gets printed and published.

I managed to get a friday off, and spent the whole day at the bird park.

( fly fly away )

My aunt called me one day, asking if we wanted to go to Bintan because they had an extra room in the villa. And since I needed to relax and wanted a nice tan, I packed my stuff and headed to Bintan with my sister and brother. Although it is only an hour away via ferry, this is my first time stepping foot on the island.

I was totally blown away by the manicured gardens and how each bush is carefully shaped. I went around snapping pictures, and after two hours, I only completed less than a tenth of the area. The sun was too blazing hot to continue, so we took a break driving around in the buggy. Then it was off to the beach, to lie down on the soft pearl-colored sand. I have never felt nor seen sand that fine and soft before. And looking up at the sky above with all the dreamy clouds. Oh gosh, it was so lovely!

Thirty-four hours later, I am back home and missing the idyllic simple life..


( beach gardens )

I had calls from three companies last week, two of which I declined. I went for the interview at Sentosa as it was the only position I really wanted, but by the end of the group interview, I thought my chances of getting the position were very slim as the others had more experience than I did. However, Sentosa called me back yesterday to ask if I was still keen on working. I was in shock but so glad! I had training today and we only covered one fifth of the things we are supposed to know. There are so many things but we get to try everything. After we are trained in one area, we will carry out that job for a few days, then move on to another area for the next few days. I think it will be great with all the exposure I will be getting. I will be working there for the next two months or so until university starts again.

I went thrift shopping the other day and I found this cute little bottle that had the word 'tea' on it, and it was only $2. Finally a proper container to put all my loose tea packets in. I gave up storing them in the paper boxes them come in as they often get crumpled, wet, or squashed. Instead, I have been using them as covers for little notebooks. I also have some new citrus tea and I especially love how they smell. Sometimes I just open the container to get a whiff of the wonderful aroma from the tea leaves. And it just smells better with freshly-baked cookies!


( cookies & tea )

I am almost giving up finding an internship anywhere. I no longer have the minimum three months till school starts again. Guess I have to settle for just another summer job and try again for internship next year. Hopefully by then the job market would not be so bad.

These two weeks since school ended have been spent catching up with friends. There was a farewell gathering for Helene, who was on exchange from France. We went to some unknown place that did not have any good food, only because the French restaurant that we were supposed to go to did not serve lunch.

Last Monday I had high tea with Agnes before we met up up with the rest. I had some lovely tiramisu and she had some delicious cheesecake with some lemon tea. Hmmm, bliss! We sat and talked and talked about a lot of things. Then it was off to New York New York for dinner and Tina's surprise 21st birthday. We spent the rest of the night at the top of the Esplanade. I love the view from the top minus the construction works. I do hope the Intergrated Resort will finish soon.

Wednesday afternoon was spent baking peanut butter cookies with Hersheys' chocolate. Yum! It was Pam's concoction and the baking queen did most of the job with a little help from all of us. I loved the cookies but the chocolate was a little too sweet for my liking. Maybe we should try using dark chocolate next time.


( tea parties )

School has finally ended. It took so long for this day to come and I am so glad the entire semester is over. My last paper was the worst and it was not a good note to end on. But the events I had after that more than made up for it. The next day, I went to watch Wolverine with a bunch of my girls. Since it was my favourite character, I thought why not splurge a bit to see? It was a good show, better than the X-Men sequels, me thinks. The day after, we went for lunch as a cell group and they wanted to watch Wolverine too. I picked shopping instead, with Liz. We had an awesome time even though I did not get anything for myself.

First, we went down to Starbucks, had some Green Tea Frappe, read some magazines (I saw a fabulous way of making bags from old t-shirts), before taking a stroll down to City Hall under the setting sun. I saw a lovely pair of boots at Charles & Keith that was 50% off. I did not get it in the end as there was no size. We hit L'Occitane and Crabtree & Evelyn for some nice smelling lotions. I do love the new India Hicks Island Nights range. Gosh, imagine lying on the beach and getting a whiff of the breeze that sweeps past. That is exactly what it smells like! Then it was the Body Shop. At last I got to smell the Cherry Blossom scents. It is so light, it's perfect for spring. We did pop by some other shops, but even though they caught my eye, the clothes didn't fit me right. Hours and hours of window shopping..

Summer is almost here. I have lots of books lined up for lazy afternoons. But I do hope I get my internship too.

( fans and roses )
It has been such a busy week, with assignment after assignment, presentation after presentation, exam after exam. I am so glad the assignments and presentations are all over and done with. I had one essay due last Sunday, one today, and another this coming Monday. But I am already done with that, so woohoo for me! Presentations are over too! But the busy-ness does not end here. I have to start studying for my upcoming finals, which will over be over in about two weeks. Gah! Why, oh why, is it so far away?

I can't wait for summer to come and the endless days by the beach. There will be picnics and tea parties lined up all summer. And all I feel like doing right now is to bake some cupcakes and macaroons, and make some cool lemonade and iced tea. The weather here is far too hot to do anything but lie on the sand and feel the cool waters lapping at my feet. Oh summer, would you hurry up?