Haven't gone swimming in a long time, what's better than having an impromptu pool party with friends?

It was great fun splashing about in the water under the hot sun (desperately trying to tan at the same time) and doing stupid stuff you won't do in public pools for fear of embarrassment or appearing on STOMP the next day. Hahaha.

That day, I realized how photogenic my condominium's pool is and the wonders of the jacuzzi pool I always walk past on the way home from school. 

Photo credits to Song's wonderfully HD camera and Lim's awesome photo taking fingers and brain.

You gotta admit, it looked like our private resort in Bali. Hahahaha.

Always wanted to try out the hair flip - couldn't resist breaking out in "I whip ma hair back and forth". SUCCESS.

Us sporting our new punk rock hairstyles and the infamous fringe.   

More fooling around in the water.

"Paint me like one of your french girls"

*artist shuq looks on, drawing inspiration.*

These people didn't bring swim wear so I guess they had to miss out on hanging out with the cool kids. *shrugs* 

Sleeping beauty and gorilla wannabe.

Looking like enthusiastic seals in the blue waters.

Finally, lo and behold, your underwater Queen in her private chambers accompanied by her marine servants/companions!

It was a really fun and exciting day, after which we had to rush to catch the DramaFest encore night. Need to have more of such water-related activities! Guess who's gonna be visiting the pool more often now!! (•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑

Nanyang String Ensemble's first concert in 4 years ended with a blast on 20 June. This time, we did something special and more interesting. We collaborated with a youth orchestra from Thailand, Sunrise String Orchestra, holding a camp together for both orchestras to bond and rehearse for the big day. 

Initially I was rather apprehensive about the whole arrangement, but never would I have anticipated the numerous unforgettable memories and precious bonds forged in the course of these 6 days. I'm so glad I decided to cast away all my doubts and just go for it to see what would I gain from this exchange despite the very busy schedule I had concurrently. :-)

My last strings camp in Nanyang proved to be a truly unforgettable and enjoyable experience. I can't express how grateful I am to have participated in the camp and getting to know so many wonderful people. SSO is such a bubbly, excited, cool, fun, crazy and awesome bunch of musicians! It was great having an extension of the cello section, which meant more fun, more craziness and more enthusiasm. YAY.

Though I did not spend as much quality time with them after rehearsals, I still felt so bonded to them like another family, making pleasing music together and sharing the joy of music that transcends all boundaries, regardless of culture, language or country.

I am definitely contented with being able to send them off at the airport and see them one last time (for the month, definitely not going to be our last meeting hehe) before they head for home, just 2hours away. (It was the least I could do for not spending as much time together....)

I am already experiencing major concert/exchange withdrawals (started after the concert ended and reality hits me) and really really miss this great group of people. So glad I cast away my doubts and attended the camp. Never regretted my decision ever after the first encounter with them. :-)

Now I have another wonderful reason to look forward to visiting Bangkok again! (other than the fantastic shopping there <3 )


Now its PHOTO TIME because everyone loves photos!

Me and livie. From aunties to not so aunties. Are we glam enough yet? ~(＾◇^)/

A very tall Fifa here! (yep, fifa as in fifa world cup. cool huh)

Me and Toy! A very cheerful and happy-go-lucky fellow cellist hehe.

At the airport...... Where we bade goodbye. (It was a surprise visit though, a nice surprise.)

Part of cello section with SSO @ the airport. :-)

With a very pretty Opal! (I ship fipal hehe)

Mr Poonchok! Had a really fun and enjoyable experience being in an ensemble conducted by him. Never fails to make us smile or laugh. 

Photo with all the cello principals yay!! (With andreia :") )

Aww and with the adorable fifee <3

Happy cello family (◍•ᴗ•◍)❤

It's so good to be back in phuket. It's been so long since I last came here, when I was 7 I think. Patong Beach (the most popular beach in phuket) is so breezy and sunny. The clear sky makes it the perfect weather for paragliding, not too hot, not too chilly, just nice. The beach is also rather serene and vast, there's not many people here because it's the low season (it's the rainy season) so everywhere is quite peaceful and quiet.

The view at Patong beach! 

On the ride to Patong Town in our jeep!

Aaand, our five-star hotel is just gorgeous. The food is delicious and the place is just so cosy and service is excellent. The breakfast buffet has sch a wide variety of food, there's Chinese cuisine, Thai cuisine, Western cuisine and even sushi! As usual, they have an "egg station" where I can order my favourite ham and cheese omelette every morning hehe. Everything is very new and squeaky clean because it just opened business 2 months ago. Major love!

Our very purple welcome treat while we chill at the cosy deck! It's a great place to just wind down and read a good book by the pool. 

Our hotel's located just nearby a spacious shopping centre (and a very gigantic supermarket with lots of goodies yay). On the way out, we pass by many mini stores. There's not much shopping to be done in phuket since the stuff sold are mostly the same, beach and swimming wear, but it's still an enjoyable time to stroll down the lane, a very different ambience from the bustling busy streets of a city back home. When it's raining, we head back to the hotel to enjoy the comfortable bed. Room service is good too, the food is affordable and delicious! 

So here's the end of part 1 in phuket (i hope there'll be a part 2). Till then! x

{Paris Disneyland}

I just love scrolling through my camera roll going through all the photos that have happened in my life and reliving memories. Yet again, I'm suffering from this recurring and incurable symptom caused by the wanderlust streak in me – post-vacation blues. I guess the only way to satisfy my traveling desires is to fly out of Singapore and an escapade from this bustling hectic city life. I can't wait to visit Cali again, it's my lifelong dream to live in L.A. and then retire to the Grand Canyon where I'll spend the rest of my days admiring the wondrous plateau and wildlife (including adorable squirrels) in the day and the breathtaking stars that seem so close yet so far away at night. These are wonderful things we don't get to experience in urban cities regretfully.

Still my all-time favourite roller coaster ride – California Screaming at California Adventure Park in California, a very sunny and great place to be in!

That was 2011 when we travelled to the US, a place full of fun. It's such a joy to be there! Then last year, we packed our luggages and set off for amazing Europe again. :-)

Venice was exquisite. It's everything I imagined it to be. Not to forget, the intricate venetian masks too, there are so many different patterns and swirls and all look so beautiful. So I brought back two miniature ones for keepsake hehe.

Can I just mention how the canals in Venice are so crazy photogenic. The ones we have in Singapore are just gigantic brown holes occasionally along the road.

Gondolas!

But the thing I miss most overseas is.... SNOW. The endless white blankets of snow that we'll never get to see here in Singapore. (the closest we ever got to were just ice cubes sadly). Imagine waking up to a wintry cool morning. And I can safely say its the happiest feeling you'll ever get. A touch of snow just makes everything so charming. Oh, happening to catch the first snowflake fall is such a wonderful thing, makes life worth living for.

Here you can see it snowing in Germany. Wow. Was so lucky to be able to experience the first few drops of snow quite a few times last year! It's such an marvelous feeling...

More snow (and snowing) in the alps!

Abundance of snow in Switzerland, how I wish I can bring some back without them melting under the scorching heat of Singapore...

And then there's lovely, romantic, dreamy, fancy Paris, the city of love. <3

Paris in the afternoon.

Eiffel Tower at night. 

I just love love love Paris, can't wait to be back there walking along the streets and admiring the sparkling Eiffel Tower every hour. Then go back to our comfortable queen-sized bed in our cosy, totally tumblr-worthy loft at the highest level located in the heart of Paris. What a fantasy. (which I managed to revel in for 5 days hehe) 

I just love traveling to exotic places for the breathtaking scenery, if not for the shopping. There's just so much of the world to be seen for ourselves that even a lifetime will not be enough to explore its vastness! 

{Here's me in Paris Disneyland on Christmas Day in 2013!} 

Here I am, lying on my bed, dreading 3pm to come. There's cross country later on and I don't even want to go for it. Not even the slightest bit. I just wanna laze on my bed instead of running/walking in the scorching heat. The weather forecast says it's going to rain yet the sky is still so clear. Everyone's probably not praying hard enough. I guess even luck runs out. Cross country got cancelled for 2 consecutive years which means we got to escape it twice. Seems like not this time. And why can't we run at hwa chong instead? It's more convenient / not so far away / it's smaller (i think). I'm so bored here too, really wanted to go out but there's no one to accompany me for lunch or anything so just took the bus straight home. My eyes are in slits now and they're going to shut anytime soon. What's worse is that I still have Chinese lessons after cross country. How bad can this day get?!

On the bright side, I just simply adore this picture. I love the meaning behind it and the in between turquoise and jade, crystal-like color. The splashing of the waves on the shore, how peaceful. Still remember the shores at Phuket when I last went around 2008 (i think), before the disastrous tsunami that struck. I loved braiding my hair and choosing the pink color beads. Wish I could go back to those carefree times of just innocent childhood play...

I really really wish I can fly away again to some faraway place from the boundaries of Singapore, of school (even though I just came back). I'm missing the airport already! If only I could travel around the world frequently, almost every one or two weeks.