HS > C

People say college will be easier than high school. People say college will be more fun than high school.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME

How can college be easier than high school?! Yeah we probably complained all the time when we were given math problem solving questions or biology homeworks, but trust me, college's assignments are not better than what you've accepted when you're sitting in high school.

Trying to see and judge from two point of views, here's what I think the + and - from high school and college :

HS
<3 Teachers are very caring. You are treated as a "kid", so they still help you on every process of learning

<3 More friends

<3 Still got PE

</3 Too much drama

</3 Students are forced to learn something that actually aren't their interests and not too important for their future life.

C
<3 Become more open-minded and mature. You are all alone now. You should decide by your own which one is good and which one is bad for you.

<3 You can choose your own course. You won't be forced all over again to learn something you dislike.

<3 No more childish drama

</3 No more PE

</3 LACK OF SLEEP

COLLEGE STUDENTS ARE GUARANTEED TO HAVE LACK OF SLEEP. For sure. Based on true stories. I'm super serious on this one. Every hour is very precious, that's for sure. Do you guys know how tired I am while typing this blog post? You have no idea.

Because life assignment is HARD

College life isn't as easy as it seems, guys

<3

Monday Blues

Ever experienced a bright-not-so-lousy Monday? Me neither. I don't know what Monday has done wrong to all of us but (almost) no one likes it. Some said that Monday brought people back to reality after having fun on the weekends, some sort of wake up call they said and well, I kind of agree on that one. 

Another school kind of day.

Doing presentation on Monday morning did really wake my brain up. School'a been great this Monday, everything went quite well compared to my other Mondays, UNTIL my friend reminded me of works waiting at home. Sadly, they must be done by tomorrow.

Now I dislike Tuesday as well. 

Finally calling it a day after finishing all my assignments for tomorrow and decided to just snuggle on my bed with this uber cute bunny. It felt really nice to just do nothing for a while and listening to my favorite Monday playlist. Escaping from reality for just a moment, finally.

Then I realized that my bed and stuffs on it are super patterny.

.

.

.

Okay I know this is super random but I've never realized it up until this moment.

“If you ask me what happiness is, your smile under the sun, but I'm always on the run”

“I used to believe in you alone and I was happy

But like a joke, I am left alone

You used to promise me with your pinky finger

But in the end

Nothing ever lasts forever”

From Paris with L O V E

Trying not to seem pathetic on a Saturday night, I grabbed my friends to go to Paris Baguette with me. Located in Wisma Atria, Paris Baguette has been one of the most famous cafe in Singapore, well known for its super cute and delicious Royal Pudding. I went to te ATM for a while before ordering but then when I went back to order some foods, the waiter said that the cafe was closed for order already. My friends did managed to ordered theirs but yes, I didn't.

NATASHA IS SUPER PATHETIC (yes, I know)

Thinking that I can't just go back home with my stomach growling all night, I finally made a decision to order a few breads and pastries from Paris Baguette. I don't know whether this was the effect of being too hungry or not, but they tasted like h e a v e n (okay maybe I'm exagerating a liiiiiiiittle bit).
Here's some sneak peeks from my saturdate with this young ladies <3

Softness White Bread

SUPER tempting but pretty sure I can't finish it by myself and no one wanna share it with me :(

 Waiting

 Club Sandwich

(not mine)

Also not mine

Mine :')

After feeding our stomaches, we went to The Editor's Market to do "windowshopping" for a while aaaaaaaand a saturdate won't be completed without selfies, right? ;)

Polaroid shots!

Pretty much stressed out with assinments 

and ended up taking #ootd shot while sitting in a fitting room (;

Satur-stache hohoho

<3

Nightmares.

Just got a news this morning that my friend's boyfriend was involved in an accident and passed away. It is such a horrible news to start a day with. Can't imagine how would it feels to be his loved one.

Nightmares.

Have you ever lost your loved one? Doesn't have to be a human being, just something that you really love and care about. I had, several times already to be honest.
It feels shocking and horrible at the first time, but as time flies you'll realise that there's nothing - not even a single thing - you can do. People come and go. One will be replaced by someone eventually.

The most terrifying one is the lost of my grandpa. He used to live with me in under the same roof. He passed away right when I reached Singapore to study at NAFA. July 4 2013.

Shocked, but heart said "I am already numb."

The worst part was that I wasn't standing next to him when he passed away. My mom texted me saying that "it" happened already. In a blink of an eye. Feels so weird to be back home but to know that there's one person missing - and he won't come back.

And this idea suddenly comes through my head.
What if I'm the one who's gone?
Will anyone cry for me?
Will anyone miss me?
Will anyone plead me to come back?
Or will some just be happy?
Doing their routines as nothing happen?
What if one day my heart is tired, beating for years and years and decided to just......stop?

Never thought of it until this morning. Am I good enough to be accepted by the gate of heaven?

Wild Honey

After a long wait and piling up a stack of eagerness, I finally got a chance to eat at Wild Honey, one of a kind that served breakfast menus as an all-day meal. It is quite famous for its excellent egg benedict and fresh mocktails with quite a reasonable price.

Located in Mandarin Gallery, Wild Honey has such a warm and cozy atmosphere. The waiter and waitresses are all very friendly but still professional. I was with my friend at that time and these are pretty much things that we ordered:
- 2 servings of European breakfast
- 1 Queen Bee
- 1 Mandarin Wilderness

Warm and cozy feels throughout the entire room

 Cute blue napkin <3

This is how Mandarin Wilderness turns out to be

The Queen Bee

 Denim and boots. Best of the best.

 

European breakfast is basically a plate with egg benedicts (two perfectly pouched eggs) with sauteed mushrooms and imported Italian prosciutto, added with homemade Hollandaise sauce on signature brioche.

Overall, a highly recommended spot in Singapore to spend the of the week with your friends and family, chit-chatting and stuffs.

<3

Leon Tai

One go-go guy who’s born on 1993. Went to NAFA, a part of class VA1D. He said that he doesn’t drink frequently but he did drink for sure. He is obssesed with Maki-san, althought he almost cried as a result of dipping his sushi for too long on mixture of wasabi and soy sauce.

For a 20 years old Aquarius, he’s quite tall. He is like a funny guy, wise man, and witty boy combined to one. He used to wear braces and was a black-haired guy. He has tried blonde before, but now his hair is ash-coloured. He prefer a cup of chamomille tea than a cup of coffee for sure since he dislike coffee. Leon also got a green belt at Taekwondo (which is quite suprising?).

Taking graphic design as his major, he sometimes wonder what would it feels like to be a professional art teacher, teaching people how to be creative and think outside the box, how to be a real artist. One of the most lively person I have ever met in my life, pretty much a box full of suprises. 

Yep. There he is.

The Art of Patterns - BATIK

Batik is a cloth that is orginated from Indoensia, traditionally made using a wax-resist dyeing technique. It is made out of patterns that are fully drawn and covered all of them cloth’s surface. Javanese traditional Batik has some important meanings behind every patterns rooted to the conceptualization of the universe. 

Generally traditional Batik colours include indigo, brown, and white which symbolized the three major Hindu Gods. Other regions in Indonesia have their own special patterns that generally take themes from dail life. The famous one includes a pattern consist of flowers, nature, animals, and/ folklore.

"Canting"

An old lady using "canting" to make patterns of Batik manually

On October 2, 2009, UNESCO nominated Batik as a “Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” and as a part of the acknowledgement, UNESCO insisted that Indonesia preserve their heritage. 

<3

A/W 2013 TREND ALERT!

Last season's monochrome prints has turned to softer, colour-drenched checks for this year's Autumn/Winter collection thoughout the world of fashion. Spotted on the runways are bright-coloured blanket-like weaves that gives out the feeling of comfiness and warmth, while fur and silk bring plaid to the next level party. For this season, never be afraid for pairing plaid with plaid! Lanvin and Dolce & Gabanna are just a couple names that present top-to-te looks full of plaids. It is said that the plaid looks are fully inspired by the punk and grunge rock and roll feels from the 90s, from the era of Nirvana and Pearl Jam. 

Celine's woven laundry-bag squares are one of the season's most decisive prints - featured on the August 2013 cover of Vogue, modelled by Freja Beha.

Celine A/W 13

Celine's plaid bag feautured on VOGUE 

Plaids everywhere as seen on the runways from various brands and designers

Punk Grunge Band and plaid top since 1990s

 Nirvana

The Pearl Jam

<3

Ancient Greece

The way ancient Greek dressed up were very simple, with chiton, peplos, himation, and chlamys as the main "ingredients". The clothes on that era were mostly handmade which can also be used as bedding and more. Despite popular imagination and media depictions of all-white clothing, elaborate design and bright colors were favored.

Anyway, what are Chiton, Peplos, Himation, and Chlamys? They are the main clothes fabrics that were used for ancient Greece dresses and clothings. Clothes were usually clamped with ornamental pins and belt tied around the waist to secure the fabrics.

For the inner part of the clothing, Greek used Chiton or Peplos. Peplos were mostly used by women for their dresses because they were mostly heavier compared to Chiton that was used mostly for the men's clothing. Men's chitons hung to the knees, whereas women's chitons fell to their ankles.

Example of Chiton

Chlamys is a seamless woolen fabric worn by men as cloak. It was as big as a blanket, somtimes worn by the soldiers at that era as the shield during the war.

Chlamys 

Himation is a basic outer garment used for winter clothings on the ancient Greece era. It was worn over the peplos or the cloak.

Himation

The Art of Ambiguity

Ambiguous - the art of explaining two things at the same time, causing some sort of optical illusion and ambiguity to whoever see the artworks. In visual art, certain images are visually ambiguous. Take this picture below as an example...

What do you see from the picture:

Face of a rabbit? Or a duck?

What do you see:

A human face or tree and landscape?

Pictures or photographs may also be ambiguous. The visual image might not be ambiguous, but the meaning and narrative may be ambiguous: is a certain facial expression one of excitement or fear, for example.

Take a look at the photo above;

Does he feel excited or afraid?

"I do not believe that art should be explicit. It should be suggestive and ambiguous so that the viewer has to enter in." - Balcomb Greene

<3

MADE IN SINGAPORE - Moon and Sun

Made In Singapore - an exhibition heldon August 29 until September 7 2013, took place in NAFA Galleries 1 & 2 and also at Lim Hak Tai Gallery in order to celebrate 75 years of arts education in Singapore. There are a lot of scluptures, paintings, and designs shown during the exhibition but the one that really caught my eyes is a pair of lollipop-shaped objects hung on a side of the wall. 

Gekko & Nikko - that's how it is called. Meaning that one of them actually potrays the Moon (Gekko) and the one beside him is Nikko, the Sun. As written on the explanation of the design, Gekko & Nikko are a pair of art objects thta as neo-artefacts inspire the sense of ethereal in the tradition of historical art objects.

Gekko & Nikko

The designer herself, Ang Soo Koon, admits that she loves to try experimenting with all type of different medias, including print, photography, drawing, installation, and film. She created Gekko & Nikko on 2006, consisted of mixed media in size of 60 x 60 x 180cm.

<3

R O C O C O

In the beginning of 18th century, the new fashion was introduced to France and the world caused by the sphere of influence for art and culture from Versailles to Paris. It was first introduced by Louis XV and his mistress Madame Pompadour. The rococo fashion itself were focusing on pastel colours which potrays happiness and joyous feelin, sometimes mixed with floral patterns and light stripes. During the rococo era, a new silhouette for woman was developed. They focused on wide hoops which was worn under the skirt that extended sideways, also tightly constricted with corsets. Sometimes the dresses were also decorated with laces and ribbons depend on the events or balls.

Madame Pompadour and her Rococo dresses

During the rococo era, men generally wore different variations of coats and waistcoats. They were usually embroidered and patterned. Jabots lace were still worn around the neck as an accesories, completed with white stockings worn underneath and heeled shoes which usually supported with large square buckles. The coats on that era is not very skirt-like as we saw during the Baroque era. 

Men's outfits during Rococo era

Lace jabots

<3