RIVER SAFARI

I did say I had enough of aquariums, but I guess the River Safari has a pretty good balance of land and sea animals, so I'll let it slide. This week was my first visit to the relatively new park, and so while everything seemed new and interesting, I must admit I was expecting more (animals, shows, areas, etc). The Amazon River Quest boat ride was too fast, short (and silent), and once you missed the animal that was it. You only get to take it once, and it seems like it is only temporarily complimentary. Now that I've sat on it, if I had to pay for the ride next time, I probably wouldn't... Haha! 

However, I did enjoy observing the pandas, red pandas, crazy big manatees, and the giant river otters. Many of the animals we came across were sleeping, but thats probably a time issue. We also learned some cool facts about animals (some hard to forget), and had a lot of fun making tons of jokes along the way. If you ask me if the River Safari is fun, I will probably tell you I can't say for certain, but its the company you have with you as you make your way around that makes it fun. :)

Eunice

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HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

Not only is today the last day of January, its also the first day of the Chinese New Year! I'm really thankful to have such a fun bunch as family. Always have been, and always will be. <3

Eunice

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SLOW MONDAY

Its a slow monday here on the 27th. School started last Friday, and I'm currently trying to stay awake through my Monday 5hr break (result of a terrible class timetable). So here's a little peek at what I've been up to!

I got my hands on The Happiness Project at the library last week, and I'm determined to read from cover to cover this time. I've been getting too used to articles and blog posts, I need train up on reading long chapters again. Haha
So far, its been a good and interesting read (I also looked through Gretchen Rubin's website as I started on the book). There have already been a few lines that have left their mark on me and have got me thinking a lot. I am struggling with thoughts about whether it is selfish for me to want to be happier, despite being so blessed and loved in many ways, as compared to many others. But the arguing thoughts in my head have agreed that wanting to be happier doesn't mean wanting more, but instead learning to be happier with what I have and what I'm given. But is it selfish to focus on such things when clearly I am generally a happy/blessed person? I'm still thinking about it.

On the side, I've been working on hand-lettered and hand-drawn elements for a project that makes me nervous, but haven't really gotten to the heart of it yet. I do think it'll be really good digitising practice, and well, good practice in general though, so I'm glad to be given the chance to work on it!

On another note, I attended my first advertising class today, and my lecturer gave us much personal insight to the advertising industry. It seems like an interesting yet scary world to be in, but while I'm still in the safe, controlled environment of school, I'm pretty excited to be taking advertising this semester, especially since it seems like its going to be less theory and more hands on. Sounds like a lot or work, but I think it'll be a rewarding experience.

With school gradually picking up its momentum, I'm hoping I'll still be able to find the time to work on projects for the blog. Priority is school work first, of course, but I think I'll manage somehow. 

Alright, going to go read a chapter before I have to head back to school for my afternoon lesson, which is a writing course I'm sort of dreading. Snooze. X)

Eunice

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PLATFORM CLIFF JUMP

drawn using Paper53 on the iPad

So I went to Adventure Cove with my cousins last week (I won't talk about it much but it was fun fun fun), and there was this one attraction that really made me think. It was the platform cliff jump. Basically the whole attraction is simply two platforms, one at around 2m and the other 1m above the water surface. There are no mechanisms or anything, you just walk up to the platforms and jump right into the 3.5m deep pool beneath you. Thats simply it.

When we walked up there my cousins were like which one should we take and I thought, if we were going to do it, we might as well do the higher one. So we did. I told myself my strategy was to just jump. No thinking. Just walk to the edge and jump. So after my cousins both jumped off, I walked up to take my spot at the edge. You have to wait for the lifeguard to give you the okay to jump so while I was waiting, I looked down. 

Its really only when you're at that spot that you feel, okay this is kind of high. I have a fear of heights, not severe, but its there. And honestly speaking I haven't really been in a pool that deep because my swimming skills aren't fantastic and I have a fear of deep waters, because I always wonder what if I can't get back up to the surface. So at that moment I was thinking: what the hell am I doing. But I reminded myself my plan going into this: don't think, just jump. 

So I took a step back and did a one step run before leaping forward, and falling with my legs and hands strapped tight. I don't know why I did this but I looked down at the water the whole way down, and there was this moment right before my feet hit the water, when I thought: oh shit. This fear came over me as I saw how deep the water was and I panicked. 

Then I hit the water, and my panicked self couldn't keep straight and apparently my body dived forward and I struggled to quickly get to the surface and swim to the edge of the pool. It was only three seconds after I got out and calmed down that I thought: I did it. And I am not ashamed to say I was really proud of myself. And it felt really good!

As the moment before I hit the water kept replaying in my head over the next few days, some thoughts came to me:

1. Like picking which platform to challenge, why should you aim for achievements that you know you can do easily although you know you can push yourself and challenge yourself to achieve even greater things if there is the opportunity?
2. "Don't think, just jump." It is sometimes best not to over-think things. So what if you feel that you aren't ready for something, or that you don't have the skills to do it? Maybe you just need to take a leap of faith and just go for it, because sometimes the more you think the more your thoughts hold you back from what you are capable of.
3. Just like the moment of panic, there are going to be times when a situation overwhelms you and you will lose all the confidence that you had at the start. But thats okay. Even if you don't come out unscathed, you will find the surface and pull yourself together again.
4. The feeling of achievement is something you will only feel if you let yourself go for it. So don't wade in a puddle of regret for not pushing yourself or letting yourself try.

A lot of my thinking leans towards making the most of opportunities, achieving goals and fulfilling dreams, so you can expect these to be the kind of lessons I pull out from any situation. I guess its because I'm more talk (or thought) than action, unfortunately, so I'm always trying to give myself pep talks to get my engine restarted.

Months back, I wrote down what I wish to be doing/to have achieved in five years. After writing this post, I dug that out and read it again, and I certainly feel more encouraged and inspired to do what I have to do to make those dreams a reality. 

I do hope this encouraged you too, my friend. Happy week ahead, go forth and strive towards making those dreams a reality! :)

Eunice

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DAYDREAMING OF SOUFFLE PANCAKES

If you know me, I am a pancake person. I LOVE PANCAKES. 

My favourite homemade type is thin, buttery and crispy along the edges. But Mcdonald's would do too honestly. Haha There was once I tried a popular Japanese pancake mix that made thick pancakes, and I didn't like it at all. 

So imagine my surprise when I FELL IN LOVE with these pancakes! These are the Double Pancake Soufflé Style from Hoshino Coffee that I tried last night and all I have to say is: wow. Its so good, I'm still thinking of them right now. I kid not when I say you HAVE to try these!! I'll be back, I'll definitely be back there for these another day. Soon. VERY soon. ;)

Eunice

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THE BIG TWO OH

I turned 20 this week! Or rather, twenteen. *denial* Haha 

It wasn't a particularly eventful week, but still felt special nonetheless!

I had a quiet birthday cooped up at home (away from the haze) watching episode after episode of City Hunter (whoo Lee Min Ho! ...don't ask.). It was lonely but lovely, so somewhat bittersweet. Yeaaah, it might not make sense but I've been drama obsessed recently so try to understand that it makes me pretty happy. Hahaha But my family took me out of the house for a yummy dinner at Casa Tartufo (2nd time this month!).

My lovely church friends took me out for dinner the day before my birthday, which happened to be Moses's birthday. He gave a big I-wish-I-was-there sigh over the phone when I told him we went out. Hahaha Poor army boy. It felt weird that we weren't getting to spend our birthdays together after doing so for so many years, and it made me miss him that much more. 

My UB mates surprised me with a cake in school, and if it weren't for them I might not have got to make any birthday wishes or blow out any candles. Hehe 

Turning 20 doesn't feel any different honestly. My mother keeps saying things like 'no longer a teenager' 'be more mature' etc, but people don't change overnight. Maybe one day I will feel more mature, more grown up, or maybe have to mature or grow up. But for now I'm just going to enjoy the fact that I can still be a child and get away with it. 

Happy Birthday to all my other June Babies! :)

Eunice

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HAPPY APRIL!

It's the 1st of April! Did you fall for any April Fools pranks today? I hope that if you did they were at least fun and not at your expense. I spent the day at home working on school work all day so there aren't any pranks to share on my end! Although in the past there was one where my cousin tricked everyone into believing that their family had suddenly returned to Singapore for a holiday (they live in Perth), and I was so excited that they were back, only to find out they weren't. ...My friends say I'm too gullible sometimes.

I might say 'Happy April!' but honestly, April doesn't look like it is going to be good month for me; I have only about a few weeks of classes before my exam period, but tons of school work to rush out. A group project, extra credit work, research paper, etc. I feel like I'm trapped in a pile of work that won't go away. But! I'm going to keep my head up and look forward to May, when I will finally get a two week break before I start my next semester and start lamenting about how I don't have a 3 month long summer break like everyone else. Sigh, school can be suffocating sometimes. Haha

It's been a long time since I did a DIY post, and I really want to do one too! But just give me some time here to work on school. So this month, I will unofficially call it Scrapbooking Month! Every week I hope to share with you about scrapbooking, my experience with different mediums along with tips and tricks if you're thinking of starting scrapbooking! Although I'm not a pro so if you're one, you might want to skip past those. 

I hope your April looks more promising than mine! :) Eunice

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SETTING GOALS FOR 2013!

So before I start I must tell you I hate goal setting. Yup, thats right, I do. But I came to realize that I hate goal setting because I never achieved them, whether it was academic goals that they forced encouraged us to set in school or whether it was weekly goals that I put up on my own initiative. (I think there are some goals on my weekly goals chart that have been there for at least 3 months now.) Setting new year goals are something I have never done because having to think for 365 days of the year seems extremely daunting, and I am someone who is very afraid of failure. 

Well, this year I decided to do it because now I have the people who read this blog to hold me accountable to them. Secret goals never work. 
Have I told you about someone very amazing who sets out to inspire her blog readers with her videos every tuesday? I'm talking about Alex Beadon, who focuses to inspire others using her professional photography business background as an example. She is also the one who mentioned the quote I have on my about page. Yesterday she published a new Chatty Tuesday video talking about choosing goals and I used that as the backbone to set mine because I felt that her way of setting goals according to feelings was a way I could really picture what I wanted out of the year. (See the post and video here.)


To start, I followed her steps and listed out all my 2012 accomplishments (which I will be honest, wasn't many) and the 5 feelings I would like to feel in 2013. The third step was to identify 5 goals to match each feeling. So here they are:

1. Inspired
I always read about how people come up with the best and most original ideas when they get inspired but I don't really feel like I'm inspired very often. Maybe because I spend time unnecessarily on things that are brainless and drain my motivation to do things. So my action plan for this is to spend less time on things that provide nothing (try and stop playing sims social) and focus on things that feed my soul be it educational, spiritual or creative things.

2. Accomplished
I ended 2012 with the feeling that I did not get much done in the one year that I had the most free time (8 months), and realizing this only in youth camp in December really made me feel really crappy. I don't want that to happen this year again. On the 31/12/13 I want to look back on my year and say yes, I feel like the year didn't go to waste. To work on this, my goal is to work hard and start early with regards to my school work such that I feel like I deserve good grades and maintain my GPA or do even better that what I have now. I also want to see that I have kept to my priorities, which includes growing stronger in my walk with God, and spending quality time with my loved ones.

3. Refreshed 
I think this might be one of the most wonderful feelings in the world. The feeling of being refreshed after a period of mundanity is so relieving and hopeful. Learning new things/skills and doing what I love are just two things that make me feel refreshed. My action plan to work towards this is to look for opportunities to pick up new skills and rekindle the fire for the things I used to be passionate about.

4. Love
Alex Beadon mentioned this and I thought it was important. I want to love my life, love what I am doing, love all that I have, and have love for everyone around me. My goal is to be contented and grateful for all the things God has provided me, putting aside jealousy, anger and revenge. That also means striving to forgive and forget. I also want to look for ways to give back and show love to others. 

5. Bulletproof
This was the first one in Alex's list and it never occurred to be important to me. It includes feeling confidence, feeling unstoppable and being assertive. Somewhere along the way I had dropped off the confidence track. I became worried about what people thought of me, cautious about what I said, and actually believing and convincing myself that I was unable to do well at anything. I sort of believe that the long period of staying at home last year caused a dampen on my social skills. People became scary and unfriendly. I felt like I was bothering others or wasting their time when I talked to them, and that mentality slowly gave me characteristics I am not proud of. Until today I'm still working on fixing that. What I want to do this year is gain my confidence back through a positive outlook. I want to be unafraid of challenges, tell myself I can do it, and jump headfirst into acing my studies, seizing opportunities and meeting all the goals I set today. Besides, Matthew 19:26 says: 'With God, all things are possible.' Thus, I will place my confidence in God and trust that he will lead me to the outcome he has planned for me. 

Phew, I'm sorry if I bore you with my lengthy wordy post. I think I did this more for me. And I'm really glad I did it. It gives me sort of a direction as I go into 2013, and that gives me some comfort rather than going in blindly and unsure. Do you set goals for the new year? I encourage you to try it out, whether you use this method or others, because I'm sure it will enlighten you in some way. One year from now let's look back together on the goals we set yesterday/today/tomorrow and say yes, we accomplished all of it. :)

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MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A BLESSED NEW YEAR!

So its the last day of 2012 and I thought I'd drop by and say Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year! I hope Christmas was well spent with your family and friends.

December turned out to be quite a busy month. I was involved in my church's youth camp and there was quite a lot of game planning to be done for that. In addition, I'm doing a bit of game planning for tonight's church youth countdown as well! Though I didn't have time to work on the crafts and posts I planned to (sorry), I did take away one skill from this whole experience. I learnt a whole lot about video editing using final cut pro. (We used videos in our games.) It doesn't seem so daunting anymore! It's actually getting pretty fun, and I had the urge to make videos when I wasn't required to, maybe I'll share the one I did for tonight another day.

As we countdown to the new year, let's make new goals and resolutions for 2013 from the lessons we drew from 2012. And thank God for the blessings past and those to come ahead. :) Eunice

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OH, THE HECTIC LIFE.

Life has been pretty much like so this month. If there wasn't project work, there were important tests and exams or difficult essays to complete. But only for three more weeks! On my final day of exams I'm already scheduled to be at the filming of a (secret) short clip, and the week after I've signed myself up for a stamp carving workshop! Even though I already carve my own stamps, I've been looking forward to attend one of Handmade Movement SG's craft parties so I'm going just for the fun of it, and I'm sure I'll pick up great tips! 

Alongside all the exciting upcoming plans, I must share that I also gave up some great opportunities for experience. While I wish I didn't have to, I wanted to be able to make time for meeting up with friends and accomplishing my projects to-do list in the longest break I would get in my school year (1 month!). Its kind of depressing to think I won't be having a 3 month break like my friends in other Universities, but I'll pull through... I hope!

Alright, I've got to go hit the books now, but when my December break comes, there will definitely be more activity around here so you can be sure to look forward to that!! Eunice

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HAPPY MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL!

As much as I wish to be at the downstairs playground playing with lanterns, candles, and sparklers, I'm a bit too old for that. I can imagine the looks the little kids and their parents would give me if I walked down there with my lantern. Haha Well, I thank God for my friends who wouldn't be embarrassed if we all played together. One day we shall do that. Next year, or the next, or the next. :) Eunice

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A NEW CHAPTER

So tomorrow is the start of my University life. I'm still pretty uncertain about what is install for me, and how I'm going to cope, but sometimes I think its best to stop thinking and go forward. I just pray that the Lord will guide me, lead me to friends who are good influences, and equip me with the self-discipline I've been lecturing myself about during my long break and which I so clearly need. I do want to do well. For the Lord, for my future. And I just need to keep reminding me. Everything I do I do for the Lord, and may the Lord be my strength and comfort in the next three years. Pray for me! :)

Love, Eunice

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