Holidays - Week 6

It's almost end of the year and what a year it has been. I will forever be grateful for everything that happened in this past year. 

I have been celebrating Christmas for the past 5 years and this Christmas, the tradition died. And I have no interest in celebrating future Christmases at all. Truth be told, I'm so happy that we did not celebrate Christmas at all. Anyway, I spent Christmas rotting at home and having a Gossip Girl, Season 1 marathon. Episode 17 of it, that's who we are. That's who, Nazron, Netty, Khairul and me are, how we work, how we function and I'm eternally grateful for that.

Received the letter from CDC to state that I received $1,800 bursary. I am so thankful for that I got it so now, I don't really need to worry about my graduation trips with my friends and my classmates. 5 days and 4 nights to Bali with the classmates and another 5 days 4 nights to wherever it is that we are supposed to go. From the looks of it, the number of people that I have been inviting is growing. Originally it was supposed to be Nazron, Netty, Khairul and Fairul but now, I have invited Lala, Muchsin, Fidah, Durrah, Abang Is, Yan, Nani, Yana, Nawar, Kak Idah and a whole bunch of random people that I know are crazy and fun people.

Had a meeting for New Year's Day concert, it was pretty much us going through the whole sequence for the evening. Thankfully, it was straightforward and to the point and my job would be rather relaxing. I'm looking forward to working for the first time in my life at the Esplanade Concert Hall. Hopefully, it will be a fine start to a good 2014.

Coming up with my own list of New Year resolutions. InsyaAllah, everything will go smoothly.

Birthday...

27 Birthday Wishes.

1. I wish that my family and relatives will be blessed with good health, longevity and wealth.
2. I wish that my close friends will be blessed with good health, longevity and wealth.
3. I wish that I will get a 3.5GPA and above for my final semester in NAFA.
4. I wish that I will get into the Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Creative Industry Management in NAFA.
5. I wish that I will do really well in my future studies.
6. I wish that I will be more disciplined in every aspect of my life.
7. I wish that I will learn how to manage my finances properly.
8. I wish that my friendship with Khairul, Netty and Nazron will last till the end of time.
9. I wish that I will get closer back to Emma and Allisyah.
10. I wish that my sister, Yana will get pregnant with a baby girl before my next birthday.
11. I wish that I will get to go for my graduation trip with Khairul, Netty and Nazron as planned.
12. I wish that I will get to go either Phuket or Bali as part of my graduation trip with my classmates.
13. I wish that I will get to buy all 7 Harry Potter books before my next birthday.
14. I wish that I will get to buy all 9 books written by Dorothy Koomson.
15. I wish that I will get to go to London, England before I turn 40 or...
16. I wish that I will get to go to Paris, France before I turn 40 or...
17. I wish that I will get to go to New York, USA before I turn 40.
18. I wish that I will get to attend New York Fashion Week at least once before I die or...
19. I wish that I will get to attend London Fashion Week at least once before I die or...
20. I wish that I will get to attend Paris Fashion Week at least once before I die or...
21. I wish that I will get to attend Milan Fashion Week at least once before I die.
22. I wish that I will get to attend the MET Gala, sometime in my life.
23. I wish that I will get to assist in F1 Singapore Grand Prix at least a few more times.
24. I wish that I will get to assist in Singapore Fashion Week next year.
25. I wish that I will get to assist in Singapore Men's Fashion Week next year.
26. I wish that I will get to assist in ZoukOut 2014.
27. I wish that I will be in a long-term relationship with a tall, nice-looking and intelligent French or British man.

I got an Elie Saab perfume from Pimm.

I got a pair of Doctor Martens shoes from Netty.

I got Beyonce's Visual Album from Khairul.

Pretty much no birthday celebration, which is just how I like it.

On a random note, if there's such a thing as modules or classes on the history of A Song of Ice and Fire, Malazan Book of The Fallen, Lord of The Rings, Harry Potter, Star Wars or Marvel, I would so totally sign up for it and ace it.

Holidays - Week 1

My week has been pretty much sucky. I keep falling sick this past week. From having a flu to migraine to fever and now, I'm having a cough. This seriously sucks.

Went to Town on Tuesday after submitting the Mendaki's Tertiary Tuition Fee Subsidies for Malay students. Submitting that application is such a hassle. The amount of things that they requested for the application is seriously ridiculous. At least I have submitted it, now all I can do is just sit and wait until end of December for the outcome. InsyaAllah, I will get it.

Well, I had fun accompanying the girls shopping in Town. Truth be told, in all the years that I have been in NAFA, never once have I ever stepped in town with the girls, Nadia, Nicole and Nique at all. It was weird but quite nice to walk around town after so long. 

Bought Pimm a freaking unicorn at Build-A-Bear Workshop since she has been pestering me for it since forever. It was my first time going there and I got super excited about the whole thing. There was a whole process of doing the stuffed unicorn, a promise to be made and a whole bunch of things to be done. I got way too excited with the whole process that I happily picked a whole load of things and ended up paying almost $200 for that unicorn. At least, I'm sharing the price with the clique, if not, I'll be broke by now. 

Pimm's birthday party celebration was nice. It was kind of cozy, laid-back but still very crazy. We were loud as usual. I was pretty much freaking talkative and was talking about any random topics that I could think of. I was seriously shooting my mouth off. It was nice to finally meet Pritpal also known as Creampuff because that's what I thought his name sounds like. James, Jason and Boris also joined us later. I have loads of fun chilling with them and I have a crush on Boris. I always have crushes on the geeky cute ones. 

I got to chill with Khairul and Netty after so long with Han joining us. It was weirdly comforting to be able to chill with them at Telepark with nothing to worry about after so long. As much as I have a lot of free time to spend, I still have to make sure that my finances are on track. I need to save up for 2 graduation trips, one with the clique and Cuzzie Wuzzies while the other is with the school clique. All I know is that I need to renew my passport by end of this year of most probably by January since that is when I'm buying both tickets with everyone. 

So Yana is getting married in a weeks' time and everything has been going along smoothly. That's what happens when you have a mother who's a control freak with OCD. Pretty much, everything is almost day and we only have to worry about the day before the wedding and the wedding day itself. My mom is too organized for her own good at times, but at least, it gives time for my sister to get well rested before her big day.

This coming week is quite relax for me since I don't really think that I have much things to do other than getting ordered around by my parents.

Looking forward to December but not really looking forward for it. If you know what I mean.

Exam Week

At last, the week that I had been dreading for was finally here. 16 weeks of trying to figure things out, studying my ass off, working out proposals, assignments, projects and submissions and almost 2 months of not meeting my close friends, it all came down to the exam week before holidays start.

Events and Facilities Management, Human Resource Management and Practices and Macroeconomics. 3 exam papers and for the first time in my life, I am fully confident of all 3 papers. Everything that I studied for, came out. It was straightforward, no complications. Now all that is left is for me to patiently wait for my results. I really hope that my GPA would improve, I really need it. Then I need to be even more hardworking for my final semester so that I would be able to graduate with at least a minimum GPA of 3.5 in order to get a Diploma with Merit. I desperately need it.

Finally, exams are done and over with. 

It was fucking awesome to go clubbing with the school clique after so long. It was just the seven of us, Nadia, Nicole, Dominique, Pimm, Lim Hui, Yun Hou and me. We met up with Auntie Lisa, Ruby and Chloe at China One. The club was really nice and quite cozy. Very old school, rather than modern. Instead of trying to get a table, all of us end up at the smoking room and just sat there, drinking and smoking all the way. For $38, it was free flow of drinks from 10pm till 12am. It was pretty much crazy for us. I knew that I drank about 8 Vodka Monsters and 3 tequila shots within that 2 hours and we even got a free jug from one of the bartenders. I stayed with them till 1am before I went off to meet the rest at Attica.

After almost 2 months of not meeting, Nazron, Netty and Khairul, it was fucking nice to go clubbing with the usual group of people. Nana and her friend, Raga was there to join us as well. Then there was also Fidah, her cousin, Hazim and her friends, Ian and Han joining us as well. As usual, there was more drinks there. They bought a bottle of Martel and our usual, a bottle of Roberto Cavalli Vodka. I got freaking tipsy and energetic by the time, I met up with them. I was pretty much hyper all the way till 5am when we left to go River Valley's Spize for breakfast. I had loads of fucking fun with them after so long. It was nice to let loose after so long.

Went over to Abang Sham's house to meet the latest addition to the family, the baby boy, Uzayr Hadi. He is so precious. I'm so looking forward to seeing both of them, Umar and Uzayr, growing up. It was really nice to just hold him and just watched him sleep. Anyway, after that, I went over to Zirah's house with Nazron to meet up with the rest of S-crew. All of them were there having their movie night. We just went over to have late supper together before calling it a night.

Now that my holidays have officially started, I just need to keep myself constantly busy to keep my momentum going. This past semester I have been really busy with school work, working for OSC and outside productions and I don't want to lose that rush. It feels really good to be constantly doing stuffs.

Year 3, Semester 1, Week 11

I'm so swamped with loads of stuffs that I haven't had the time to update my blog for the past 3 weeks. It really sucks that I'm overloading myself but at the same time, I'm so thankful for everything so far. Syukur Alhamdulillah.

Let's start with F1 week first.

Where do I even begin with the whole event? It is officially by far the best event that I have ever done in my entire life so far. I was part of the Secretariat Entertainment Team which only consisted 3 people, Jaime, Sheri and me but we seriously work super well with each other as if we have known each other for quite a long time. It was a really crazy hectic time, 7 days of working non-stop, working from 9am until 2 or 3 in the morning everyday but it felt great to know that I am actually loving it. It was really nice to be able to work with people who are dedicated and know how to have fun at the same time. The perks of working for F1 was that I get to stay at Swissotel the Stamford for 1 whole week and free breakfast at Cafe Swiss throughout the whole time. It was perfect. The bed was so comfortable and the breakfast was really delicious. And because of F1, most of the entertainers and artist are also staying there, the amount of hot guys that I get to ogle at was freaking great. Every morning, I get to start work with a smile on my face. As much as the job was great, at the same time, the amount of dislike towards one person is really hilarious. There was almost 50 of us disliking just one guy because of his idiocy and how he goes around pretending that he knows what he is doing when in actual fact, none of us know what is his job scope at all and why is he even there. It was a blast when we get to have a so-called mini after party at one of the rooms with free booze and free food. Even though it was only for a short while but I had a really great time at the after party. I am honestly looking forward to doing it again if I got the time next year since I have already been offered to do it for next year.

Next up, Azieera and Dzaki's wedding.

One of the most happiest moment in my life this year. Even though we are no longer as close as we used to be but I am seriously so happy for her. She looks so beautiful and really gorgeous with her dresses and her white wedding dress is literally my favourite among the three. I so desperately wanted to wear that dress. It was a really nice ceremony and it was nice to meet up with the rest of them after so long. As much as we are no longer close but at least we are able to hang out like the good old days. I had loads of fun catching up with all of them. Truth be told, I do wish that I had gotten to spend more time with them but considering that all of us are so busy, I'm just thankful for whatever time that we get to spend together. I really pray that both of them would last till the end of time and have loads of healthy babies together.

NAFA Fun Day 2013 was really fun.

I looked really sexy on NAFA Fun Day. It's the last NAFA Fun Day that I will go to unless I decide to crash the event, next year or something. As usual, I'm part of the event crew and I had fun during the event. It was nice to cheer for my department and we did get overall third place which personally to me is quite impressive considering how our department is not even that united at all. As usual, we had our annual drinking session after the event. Originally, it was supposed to be the whole class but in the end, it turned out to be the usual clique which is cool. We had about 5 bottles of liquor sharing among 15 of us and by 6pm, one of us was totally drunk while I was completely tipsy. I spent half the time sleeping because I kept downing like more than 5 glasses within minutes. I really got to stop making this a habit everything I go drinking with my friends. It wasn't as epic as last year's but it felt good just to let go of everything. It felt nice.

And off course, school, my never-ending school work.

Because of my F1 job, I'm severely behind time in my school work. Considering that I'm always the one that is always chasing my group members with their research and essays. During that one week that I'm not around, everyone decided to take a break and procrastinate their work. Now it's my job to literally rush and chase everybody for their work and I still have to filter out their research. But at least, I am done with Marketing Management Presentation which I am quite hopeful that we did quite well. Now I have to worry about the left over assignments and the exams date are out. I really don't want to freak out but I have a strong feeling that I might freak out or snap at somebody soon. I trying to take one week at a time if it's even possible. My assignments and my need to get As are literally destroying my social life. It feels as if I get to meet my GBFs only once a month. I just have to endure until mid November which is pretty much 1 month to go. I can do this. I will do this. I need to do this. 

Year 3, Semester 1, Week 1

Monday was my interview with Singapore Grand Prix for the F1 event that will be happening in September. I was just really excited getting the call for the interview and to top it off, the interview went really well. I'm so thankful and happy to know that I actually got the job. I am officially part of the 3-people Secretariat Team, in-charge of over 150 F1 crew members. I know it will be hectic and really crazy but I am so looking forward for it. 

On Tuesday was my first day of school, the start of my final year in NAFA. I have three 5 credit modules, three 2 credit modules and one 1 credit module. Marketing Management, Human Resource Management & Practices and Macroeconomics might be a slight problem since all of them are 5 credit modules and from the looks of it, it's a lot of researching. I really need to concentrate and be more discipline when it comes to these 3 modules. Then there's Arts & Contemporary Society, Events & Facilities Management and Level 2 Project, all of them 2 credit modules. Truth be told, I am fully confident of scoring an A for all these 3 modules. My last 1 credit module is Appreciation of Contemporary Masterpieces which is pretty much really straightforward, since I only have one assignment and that is a 30 minutes presentation of a contemporary play of my choosing. I really need to go crazy on studying this semester for the sake of improving my GPA and getting a scholarship for my degree.

It was super nice to catch with most of my classmates and schoolmates at our usual smoking corner and our favourite hangout place, Al-Jilani. It's weird that during the school holidays, none of us bothered to even meet up with each other but once school reopens, it's as if nothing have changed at all. The usual craziness, randomness, bitchiness and competitiveness are all there and even more.

As usual, I have a habit of biting off more than I can chew. School started and I have a production in mid August to do, F1 job in late September, need to plan for Khairul's birthday in mid August, Netty and Nazron's birthday in mid September, Hari Raya outing in mid August, Halloween outing in October, Christmas celebration in December, need to paint Fairul's room and Netty's room in December. To top it off, I have another job offer for a production in December but work will start sometime in late September or early October and I'm not sure if I want to take it. 

I really don't know why I want to keep myself busy or do I subconsciously want to destroy my social life.

Overall, I'm just really grateful for the jobs that I'm doing and Insya Allah, I will be able to juggle everything accordingly. Syukur Alhamdulillah.

Orientation Week

It's Orientation Week. 

One of the my personal favourite week in NAFA. Firstly, I get to meet the freshmen. Secondly, I get to work with other NAFA students from different departments. Lastly, the crazy and messy fun that I know I will have. 

First day of Orientation already, you could tell who has the potential to be a real leader and knows how to take charge of the whole situation. As much as I'm happy that Johan and Lae are the Chairman and Vice-Chairman for this year's batch of Orientation Leaders, I could tell that leadership doesn't come easily to them. Lim Hui and me were more than happy to help them along the way and I literally make sure that nobody tried to overstep their boundaries. Johan and Lae are not the type of people to get angry, so I literally became their own personal screamer. For goodness sake, I love to scream just for the sake of screaming. Well, I had fun screaming at the Orientation Leaders and Freshmen.

Three days of Orientation and I know who I could work with and who I really don't want to work with at all. For the most part, I had a blast working with all the OLs except for one. Thankfully, he's my junior so I don't really have to worry about him and I get to put him in his place every time he tried to take lead on matters that are not of his concern. Overall, I had a really good time and I'm so looking forward to doing it again next year. 

Friday and Saturday was Freshmen Camp. Lim Hui and me did it for the first NAFA Freshmen Camp and we know how firsthand how crazy and hectic it was behind the scenes. To do it again this year was just really crazy but as usual, we actually did it and at times, I'm really impressed that we were able to even survived it at all. Same like last year, we have our mini Amazing Race, the only different is that last year, it was all over Bugis while this time round, it's just at NAFA Campus 1 and all the freshmen are being blindfolded except for one in each group. I was in-charge of the Cheerleading Station where the freshmen have five minutes to come up with a 30 seconds cheerleading routine. I swear, it was freaking hilarious seeing them trying to come up and perform their cheerleading. It was ridiculously hilarious that I couldn't stop laughing at most of them. One thing that I was truly impressed was that most of them were actually into the race and were quite energetic through out the whole camp.

I couldn't be bothered to go for the Freshmen Party, I never did go since my freshmen year until now, my final year. And I also couldn't be bothered to sleepover at NAFA so I just came back the next morning. It was quite funny to see most of the OLs walking around like zombies because of their lack of sleep while there I was all fresh and hyper. Most of them wanted to slap me for being too hyper at 8 in the morning but who cares. Before the camp was dismissed, it was nice to have a department bonding session with the freshmen. I was able to tell them what to expect when they are in NAFA, the good things and the bad things. It was really nice. As usual, after the end of NAFA Orientation Week, I would always have a bittersweet moment with them. I'm so looking forward to doing next year's NAFA Open House and Orientation Week again.

On to another topic, this week's Iftar is seriously crazy but I'm so thankful for the people that I get to break fast with. I managed to break fast with the usual group of OLs at Jilani, our normal hangout spot. I get to break fast with Musfirah, Hakimmah and Mehreen since we were in the middle of our Chestnuts Production Meeting. It was awkward but we still need to break our fast no matter what. I'm so happy that we will have our Annual Cuzzie Wuzzies' Iftar at grandma's house with all the relatives and followed by our trip to Bazaar Geylang for snacks. I'm so thankful to Khairul for actually inviting Ayiz & Q to join us for Dolls' Iftar as a surprise. At first, I honestly thought that I might be awkward around them, but it felt like nothing did change at all. I admit that I'm no longer close to them but it felt really good to meet them and catch up with them. I'm so grateful to Khairul for the surprise. And Alif was also able to make it for the iftar which was very nice of him. It's weird but it felt really nice to have them there and it felt right in some ways. I really don't know how to explain it but it felt comfortable. Syukur Alhamdulillah for the Iftar.

Now it's time to start planning for our Dolls' Annual Hari Raya Outing which will happened on Khairul's birthday. It's a two-in-one celebration. Truth be told, I really don't mind going ice-skating in our Baju Kurungs just as Khairul requested. 

I'm looking forward to starting school, this coming week. InsyaAllah, I will be a full-time study freak and really work even harder for my grades.

Overall, I had loads of fun this past week and I'm just grateful for everything. Syukur Alhamdulillah.

1st Week of Fasting

I'm done with registering for my 3rd Year, 1st Semester modules. There's a total of 6 compulsory modules and 1 extra credit module that I needed to take. Now my biggest concern would be that I have 3 modules that are 5 credits each and I have never gotten an A for any of my 5 credit modules, I have always gotten a B or a C for it. This is my final year and I really need to go all out crazy psychotic study-whore to ensure that I will get a scholarship for my degree. I really need it. Insya-Allah, I will get it.

It was nice to see familiar faces in school after so long. The NAFA Freshmen Orientation Briefing went quite well. The only problem is that this time round, the planning is much more shorter than expected. The last time, it seems as if I had to come down more than twice for meetings with the rest of the committee to plan accordingly. This time, it's only two meetings and I really felt as if it's insufficient at all. So far, Johan and Lae are handling things quite well. Every now and then, they will ask me and Lim Hui for advice and how we got about doing things the previous time. Another difference is that this year, most of the committee members are made up of Malay guys and I pretty much know all of them. The feeling is different since last year, the committee members were literally made up of schoolmates that we only got to know from the camp. The good thing about last year's members is that most of them were really serious and know when to have fun and when to do their work. This year's members is slightly more into having loads of fun and I'm not really sure if they know how to be serious when needed to be. I'm still looking forward to seeing how they work though, me and Lim Hui already told Lae and Johan that we will help them in every way that we can.

It's the first week of fasting. Syukur Alhamdulillah. I know it's weird but I'm not looking forward for this year's Hari Raya. I'm actually am having more fun fasting so far. It's so weird. It's the fifth day of fasting and so far, everything has been going along smoothly. My dad is almost done with painting the house, all that is left is to paint my room. The new curtains and cushion covers just arrived yesterday and my house will seriously be super bright, sunny and really chirpy. It's just too yellow but surprisingly it looks really nice. 

For the first time in years, I really have no idea what colour should I wear for this year's Har Raya. At first, it was decided that all 5 of us siblings would be wearing gold but then we decided not to. When I went to Bazaar Geylang with my family last night, I really felt so lost. It's as if none of the colours appear pleasing to my eyes. There were too many dull and boring colours that everything looks like crap. There was only one outfit that I like which is all grey with a black collar and black lining. I guess I really like it a lot because it looks more like a suit rather than a baju kurung but the sad part is that it cost $190 and no way in hell am I going to waste my money for just a one day, one time outfit. So for now, I really have no idea what I'm going to wear for first day of Hari Raya.

Now that the fasting month is here, I really need to plan all my iftars accordingly. How come when I got all the free time in the world, I never bothered to catch up with my friends but now that it's the fasting month, I really feel like squeezing all of them into my schedule and meet up with all of them. Seriously, what's wrong with me? 

Anyway, I will most probably be breaking fast with the Orientation Leaders this coming week since we shall finish our event everyday around 6 or 7pm. On Thursday, I will be meeting Nani and Abang for break fast but the only problem would be that we have no idea where to eat. On Saturday, I will break fast with the relatives and the Cuzzie Wuzzies and on Sunday, it will be with the Dolls. This coming week is pretty much settled. All that is left is to schedule iftar with Emma really soon and then, with the classmates which will most probably be at Arab Street and lastly with Fidah, provided that I will know her schedule by then. If Ica and Hazim has time, I will try to make myself free for them but since Ica's due date is nearing, I think I will just visit her at the hospital. I'm so looking forward to seeing her baby.

How come it seems that whenever I miss you, you will all of a sudden text me some really random message and it never failed to put a smile on my face. Even though I know that our friendship would never be the same again, I'm just super thankful that you were a part of my life. I am really happy that you are happy with him. And I know for a fact that you are the type of friend that even if we have not meet up for months, when we do meet up, it feels as if nothing has ever changed. I'm really super excited for your birthday, it will be a blast. I know you are reading this, so thank you love. xoxo.

Post Production Week

Bump-in week is physically and mentally torturous. Bump-out day is physically torturous. Post Production is mentally torturous. Basically, the before and after of a production is the most torturous period of the whole production period. The most relaxing time is during the production shows itself. Even before bump-in week, the rehearsals and amount of planning is really quite taxing on everybody. That is what I learnt from being an Assistant Stage Manager for "Pursuant: A Musical". 

It was definitely a challenge for me that I really was on the verge of just quitting it but then, I realized that this is what I wanted, this is what I'm passionate about and this is what I can foresee myself doing for the rest of my life. Well, other than the fact that I foresee myself getting married to an old and rich man and living my life in his riches. I am truly thankful that I managed to survive throughout the production. I came out of it learning a lot of different things and it was really refreshing to experience it. Syukur Alhamdulillah.

The amount of paperwork that I have to do for the show is quite a stack. I always have this notion that it was quite straightforward since I have done a Prompt Book before for one of my modules. This time around, it was quite overwhelming. I had to do all the blockings for all 12 scenes and 14 songs. To top it off, I had to do the Preset Props' List, Props Movements List, Paging List for Stage Right & Stage Left and lastly, Props & Sets List with all the pictures of the props and sets. As much as it was a tad bit overwhelming, I actually happy that I get to do the paperwork after two weeks' straight of doing physical labour.

Once I was done with all the paperwork, it was pretty much a relaxing week in the office. Just had to do a whole load of filing and data-entry for Singapore Lyric Opera's past donations. I am supposed to create a database for the company for easy referencing. Other than that, I pretty much dislike the General Manager because she has a tendency to talk down to me which seriously irks me big time. I'm just letting it slipped past me since I'm left with 3 more weeks to the end of my internship. Then I will have 1 week break and followed by 1 week of NAFA Orientation for the incoming Year 1s and then I will finally be starting my Year 3 and graduate with a Diploma in Arts Management, Majoring in Performing Arts. Insya-Allah.

Saturday was so much fun. First time, in my life that I was really drunk that I couldn't remember half of the things that happened to me. Nazron said that I was screaming half the time while Netty and Khairul said that I was constantly about to fall down randomly most of the time. It was really crazy fun to go clubbing with familiar faces. There was Abang Is, Abang Jon, Hafiz, Muhsin, Elfie, Yasmeen, Elias, Aien, Haziq, Afiq, Diana and a few other people who are just their friends. We got like a bottle of Chivas, Jagermeister, Belvedere, Roberto Cavalli vodka and one 1.5litres of Roberto Cavalli vodka. I seriously have no idea where the hell did all the drinks appeared from.

The music was nice. The drinks were great. The company was excellent. The only problem was that I had a few blackout moments in between. There was one time when I don't even know how the hell did I end up at the toilet and I was sleeping. The fuck up part was that I never did learnt my lesson. I always told myself that I should never drink to fast because I will be the first one to get high and it would seriously suck big time. This time round, it was no difference. All I know is that I need to do it again before fasting month. I'm so fucked up.

I'm missing people. I'm missing Fairul, Syima, Azieera and Emma. And I have no idea when am I free or when are they free to meet up. I got to start planning for iftar and our Raya outing.

Performance Week

I shall just start with this past week and will try my best to recap my previous weeks that I have completely forgot to update about since I have been super busy.

So my internship with Singapore Lyric Opera started on the 9th May 2013 and I have not any off days ever since except for my 2 days MC because of my swollen eye. In all honesty, this internship is a whole new level of experience for me. It is so hectic that you don't really have time to stop and absorb the situation. You have to constantly be on the go every time you're at rehearsals. 

My job scope as an Assistant Stage Manager is to just ensure that I know every single details about the show. From the cast, the script, the props, the sets, the projections, the blockings, the costumes and many more other things. My job is ensure that I know the show like the back of my hand because we do not have a Stage Manager for the show, we only have a Deputy Stage Manager who comes in 2 weeks before the show just for the sake of calling all the cues. From rehearsals at SLO studio to TheatreWorks studio to Drama Centre, it has been crazy.

Rehearsals at SLO studio was really cramp and quite pathetic since we were constantly using mock up props and half the cast are usually missing. After that, rehearsals at TheatreWorks was much better since the studio was almost the same size as the actual stage. Most of the set pieces and the props were being brought it so the actors could get a feel of it. Even costumes were being prepared there since there was additional space. The only downside to it was that the food there are super expensive and I constantly brought along my sandwiches from home. And another downside was that I would be walking passed Clarke Quay at around 10 or 11pm looking like a zombie with my bag pack. It was even more embarrassing when I bumped into some of my NAFA schoolmates there. 

Then this past week was bump-in week at Drama Centre. The horror and the torture that the stage crew have been put through. At times, I really think that the show is curse. A lot of shits happened along the way that causes the crew to literally go berserk at times. There's me, Mus, Lila, Sheryl, Hakimmah, Alycia, Stanley, Ratna and Nathaniel, from Monday to Thursday, we came to work at 9am to do the props, staging, plotting and focusing. We will only got off from there around 1 or 2 in the morning. I was almost at the stage of crying every night because of being so tired. Physically tired that I couldn't even think properly most of the times. 

Thankfully, the first show went quite well. We could have improved on the scene changes but other than that, everything went quite smoothly. Syukur Alhamdulillah. On another note, it is really tiring to be an Assistant Stage Manager and be a calefare for the production. I was in-charge of stage right, on top of all the scene changes that I need to do with the crew, I still need to change my costume since I'm playing 4 characters and I have 3 lines as one of the characters. I was a military guard, a court guard, a concentration camp guard and a paramedic. This whole week, I have been skipping my lunch and dinner because I'm just too tired to eat. To top it off, I'm constantly sweating because I'm wearing 3 costumes at once and am still helping out with the scene changes. 

3 shows down, left 5 more shows to go. I can do this.

On another topic, my exam results came out yesterday. I got 5As and 2Cs. I got A for my Stage Management II, Concert Management, Dance Production, Organisational Communication Skills and SAS - Music. I got C for both my Contract Law and Business Finance. I find it rather weird that I got C for both my 5 credit modules. In all honesty, I thought that I did well for both the exam papers. I knew how to answer the questions and are really quite confident of my answers. I didn't even bother bullshitting about it at all. Overall, I'm super thankful that I'm still maintaining my GPA at 3.0 and above. Syukur Alhamdulillah.

Once, my third year starts, I really need to go all out. I really need to do super well so that I can get my scholarship and pursue my degree. InsyaAllah, I can do it. InsyaAllah, I will do it.

I'm missing my Dolls, my Twins and my Bestie.

A Letter

"I choose friends with money".

Honestly speaking, I have no idea what's the full story is but after hearing that sentence, I have no intention of listening or finding out about the truth. 

Firstly, I actually felt sad that you would even say such things about me. I don't know what prompt you to say that sentence. Secondly, I felt angry that you would think of me that way and I can't even comprehend why you would think of me that way. Thirdly, I truly felt insulted that in some way you looked down on me and think that I am a materialistic type of person. Fourthly, I'm just super annoyed that you think you still have the right to judge me considering that we are now strangers. Lastly, I'm really thankful that I am a better stage in my life to accept that so-called judgment of yours towards me.

I'm not surprised at all that the question would pop up when I saw the picture on instagram. I was more surprised that you actually agreed to meet up with them, then I remembered that both of you have an unspoken bond with each other. 

Personally, from my perspective, I really disagree that I choose friends with money because if that was the case, I would have not become friends with a lot of people. I know for a fact that I choose to be friends with people who wants to improve their life for the better. 

People who constantly challenge themselves to be better at what they are already good at. People who know what they want in life. People who are positive in life. People who want to make a change for themselves and their love ones. People who pursue what they love. People who doesn't waste time idling around when they can do something productive. These are the type of people that I need to be around with in order to improve my life as a better human being, a son, a brother and lastly as a friend. 

Trust me, you do not fit in any of the criteria at all. I'm not sorry that the people that I happened to hang out with have money. They have money because they are successful in their life and have went through what I am experiencing right now. They have the wisdom that I need to guide me to be a better person. If I really choose friends with money, I won't be with the dolls at all. None of them are rich, all of them are just financially stable. I'm friends with them because of their personalities and attitudes, not because of their money. I have the upmost respect for each and every single one of them.

Azieera - She is changing her life around by becoming more and more religious and Dzaki is leading her to be a better person, as a human being, as a daughter, as a sister, as a future wife, as a future daughter-in-law and as a future mother.

Syima - She is doing what she loves, which is being a camp instructor. Even though it is not paying that well, but you can see that she loves doing it whole-heartedly. And you also can tell that Najib brings out the best of her.

Nazron - He is living his dream and he is one of the most positive person that I have ever known throughout my entire life.

Netty - She is still discovering herself but at the same time, she knows that she wants to break into the events industry. It's just a matter of her establishing her contacts first while waiting for that, she is putting in her 110% in her current job even though she doesn't love it. We all know that she excels real well at her current job.

Khairul - He works his ass off to improve his own life and his parents' lives. As much as Khairul is very happy go lucky about certain things but when it comes to his parents', I personally think that he is one of the most filial one among us.

Fairul - He is like Syima. He is doing something that he is so passionate about and you can see it in his eyes that he loves doing it even if it doesn't pay well. 

Azman - He is believes in love. That's one thing why he will always be my friend. His childlike innocence and naivety on his beliefs of love. No matter how many times his heart has been broken, he willingly lower his guards down just so that he will fall in love again. 

Kak Lenny & Abang Wan - They have went through what I am experiencing right now. They have the wisdom that helps me to improve my life for my own sake and for my family's sake.

How about you? You have no idea what you want in life. You don't really know what you want to do with your life. You constantly complain about everything and anything that you can. You have your endless throngs of guy friends that you chat up with. You are skeptical when it comes to love. You prefer to sit around or go have late supper and not come back home until the wee hours of morning. So don't you dare judge me when I am not judging you in the first place. 

When people asked me what happened between us, I have the decency to only say the littlest of fact and tell them that we just grew apart. I was busy with school while you were busy with life. Out of respect for you and 13 years of friendship, I keep quiet and try to avoid to the whole conversation. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect you to blurt it out so easily and never did I expect you to judge me. 

I'm truly sorry that we are no longer friends anymore. I will cherish the memories that we had but other than that, I do not regret what happened between us. I always have faith in HIM and HE knows what's best for me. If in the future, we were to become friends again, I will gladly welcome you with open arms but for now, I'm ok with the fact that we are not friends. I won't judge you or badmouth about you and I expect the same courtesy back from you. At the end of the day, I will be happy for you knowing that you are happy with your life. It's your life, live it the way you want it. I won't disrupt it.

Year 2, Semester 2, Week 14

Last Sunday was one of the most random outing that I had with the Dolls. Nazron called me up around 9pm asking if I want to meet up with him, Khairul and Fairul at Pasir Ris. At first, I was hesitant but then I was like fuck it. I miss them. In the end, we meet up around 10.30pm and just chill at Pasir Ris Beach all the way till 3.30am. Syima and Najib came around 2.30am and they bought for us Nasi Lemak Changi which is super nice. After so long of constantly going to places with them, chilling by the beach and literally not doing anything was such a nice welcome. 

Anyway, Fairul just went off for his two weeks' trip to the States. He's going to New York City, Boston, Orlando and Atlanta. I'm so envious of him but at the same time, I'm super excited for him as well. 

There are certain things that I really want to express but I realized that I would rather put it aside first and concentrate on my upcoming examinations.

NAFA's International Student Night "Vertigo" Party at Zouk was loads of fun. Mainly because I got 5 tequila pops and 1 tequila shot for free. And I also get to be the door bitch. I have always wanted to be a door bitch ever since I first went clubbing at dbl O at Muhammad Sultan Road. The only minor hiccup of the night was that I didn't get to wear the original outfit that I planned to wear. Other than that, the party itself was quite fun and since we already got the stamp, we get re-entry to Zouk after the NAFA party ended. 

I drank at the nearby bridge with Pimm, Mandy, Matessha, Putra, Irah, Eugene and Shaun. We drank Chivas and plus the previous 6 drinks that I'm had, I felt a bit high and that was only at 11.30pm. The surprising part was that we drank beside a huge group of about 30 Caucasian guys and ladies. It was weird seeing them buying bottles outside and drinking at the bridge. Honestly speaking, the amount of bottles that they bought, I really think that they should just buy drinks inside.

The last time I went Zouk was more than two years ago. I must say, I'm really impressed with the crowd there. There were literally hundreds of hot guys there. Hot Caucasian guys for me, hot Chinese guys for Fairul and Netty, hot Malay guys for Khairul and hot guys for Nazron. The number of guys that I "accidentally" touched, it's a miracle that I didn't get arrested for molestation and it's also a miracle that I didn't came in my pants. 

Then Roland came over with his friends, Brian, Matthew and Hidhir and they opened 3 bottles and bought like 20 tequila shots. I was just so happy. I know that I drank another 4 more shots and drank the tequila from the bottle itself a few times. Surprisingly, I wasn't that drunk but I was quite high and I just managed to dance it off.

Another thing, it felt so good that about 30 to 40 NAFA students stayed back to continue clubbing so it was kind of cool to feel as if you are popular at Zouk. Since all the NAFA students that stayed back know me, it was fun dancing with different groups and don't really care about how stupid you look.

Throughout the whole night at Zouk, there was this one Malay guy that I bumped into a few times and he would always smile at me. As if he knows me. Truth be told, I don't really remember his face but I know for a fact that he really has a charming smile.

I had fun this past week.

Year 2, Semester 2, Week 2 & 3

At last, I have attend all 7 modules' classes for this semester. I was able to attend Stage Management II, Organizational Communication Skills and Business Finance. Truth be told, I have no idea what did I even sign up for. It was as if I took up some business course in some business school. 

Stage Management II

This module is pretty much the same as last semester's Stage Management I module. The difference is that this current module was being taught by a Stage Manager from T.H.E. Dance Company. Also it focuses on how to manage a real dance production. I foresee this class would be very detailed but if I can get an A for the previous module then I don't see why I can't get another A for this module. Insya-Allah.

Organizational Communication Skills

Another business module. Basically, it's a module on how to effectively and efficiently communicate your message to the masses. The lecturer seems alright. I think it's going to be quite a straightforward module. It would be 14 weeks of 1hour of lecture and 1hour of group discussion. We have to come up with a business proposal on how to promote NAFA and also support an organizational charity cause. That counts for 50% of the overall module. Bottomline, I really need to do well for the business proposal.

Business Finance

I feel as if I'm retaking Microeconomics and Principles of Management combined into this module. The lecturer is super boring and within 30 minutes into the lecture, i was on my Instagram, Twitter, Jack'd, Grindr, PlanetRomeo and Tumblr. It is so heavily theory-based that I feel like shooting myself. To top it off, we have to submit a business proposal within 8 weeks.

I was supposed to update my blog last week but I was super busy and swamped with school work that I completely forgot about updating my blog.

Anyway, a summary of how my school work is going to be like.

Contract Law - 5 Credits
10 Tutorial Assignments
Group Written Assignment - 20%
Group Presentation - 10%
Individual Class Test - 20%
Final Written Exam - 50%

Business Finance - 5 Credits
11 Tutorial Assignments
Group Written Assignment / Presentation - 30%
Final Written Exam - 70%

Organisational Communication Skills - 2 Credits
Individual Class Test - 15%
Group Written Assignment / Presentation - 35%
Final Written Exam - 50%

Concert Management - 2 Credits
Individual Assignment 1 - 20%
Individual Assignment 2 - 20%
Group Project 1 - 20%
Group Project 2 - 30%
Attendance / Class Participation - 10%

Stage Management II - 2 Credits
Individual Observation Report 1 - 15%
Individual Observation Report 2 - 15%
Tour Report - 40%
Attendance / Class Participation 30%

Dance Production - 2 Credits
I have no freaking idea because the lecturer is new and didn't give us any breakdowns.

SAS Music - 1 Credit
5 Reports - 20% each


My biggest concern is Contract Law and Business Finance since every week we would have to submit our tutorial even though it's not graded. Every single lesson is really demanding and getting more and more complicated. I don't want to breakdown because I know that I am better than this. Insya-Allah, I can do this.

End of 1st week

I celebrated the New Year by having a "Homeland" marathon. Both Season 1 and 2 of the show. It is by far, one of the best shows in recent years. The plot, the drama and the acting was really good from the cast. I'm just excited for Season 3 of the show. On a side note, i just realized that i'm keeping track of 31 TV series right now. I am seriously addicted to online TV or am i just addicted to my Mac? Anyway, on another topic, I have the whole six seasons of "Sex And The City", all eight seasons of "Charmed" and my all-time favourite, the completed seven seasons of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer". I'm such a happy boy.

Something totally completely random. From London, England to Washington DC, USA to Florence, Italy to Hamburg, Germany and now in San Francisco, USA.

Even though school only starts on the 7th, I'm pretty much have been going to school for this week. On Thursday, I have to give a tour of NAFA for 4 SOTA students who are transferring over to our school. Briefing them on their courses and bringing them around the campuses. It was only for 3 hours but at least, i get paid for doing it. 

The next day, we had training and briefing for the NAFA Ambassadors for NAFA Open House next weekend. As usual, I end up helping OSC with welcoming the students who signed up for it. Even though, there's no official committee for the Ambassadors but I think Faric and me are so-called in-charge of all of them. We had to brief them what to do, tell them which routes to take when touring the students and other stuffs that we feel that they need to do. The weird thing was that this is my first time doing it and I literally had no idea what I was doing. Thankfully, this is Faric's third time doing the NAFA Open House so he is like a pro at it.

On Saturday, some of us came back to help pack the goodie bags. It was fun doing it with them and we did it quite fast since we were pretty much done by 2.30pm. We started around 10.30am and we were done within 4 hours packing over 2300 goodie bags. 

At last, I am contactable. Pimm let me use her iPhone 4S until my contract is up so that I would be able to buy a new phone then. Honestly speaking, it is quite complicated to use it but I'm going to get use to it. 

Lastly, I'm just excited to get back to school tomorrow. I need to be a full time study whore to pull up my GPA in order to get a scholarship to cover my 3rd and final year in NAFA Diploma. Insya-Allah, I can do it.

2013 Resolutions

2013 New Year's Resolution

- Be grateful for everything and anything that comes my way.

- Be more optimistic.

- Be a full-time study whore.

- Be more organised.

- Be more helpful to other people.

- Maintain my weight of 55kg.

- Try to eat at least one fruit a day.

- Learn a new French word everyday.