2014

2014 is almost over.

It was a really good year. I'm constantly grateful for everything that happened in my life. All the good things and the bad things. It has been another uneventful year for me. No dramas at all. Just my studies, work, family and friends. Keeping things very simple and easy.

Studies

Part of me is still in a state of disbelieve that I'm actually doing the degree of my choosing in NAFA and am actually left with 6 more months to graduation. To top it off, I'm paying for it using my own money. Never in a million years would I have imagined that I would be paying for my own diploma and degree. I'm so grateful that my dad forced me to pay for my studies by myself. It encourages me to study really hard and make sure that I do really well for it. 

At the same time, because of my past working experiences, I am able to do all my assignments from an employee's point of view rather than just from a student's point of view. It helps that I am able to understand my lecturers' point of views easily as well. 

Lastly, I am so happy and thankful that I get to study the course that I really wanted and wished for. In Shaa' Allah, I will be able to graduate with First-Class Honours in BA(Hons) Creative Industry Management and receive the Best Graduate Award for my cohort.

Work

Started off 2014 being the teleprompter for Pentas' Malam Aku, Dia & Lagu, a dedication concert for one of Singapore's most acclaimed lyricist in the 1960's, 70's & 80's, Yusnor Ef or commonly known as Cikgu among his peers. It was an honour working with him, veteran artists and at Esplanade Concert Hall.

After that I helped out with NAFA's Open House 2014 with some of my batch-mates and our juniors. It wasn't as epic as 2013 where all my batch-mates were constantly taking initiative and being proactive towards the whole event. I had fun and now I'm looking forward to doing my final NAFA's Open House next year.

1 week after the last day of school, I got to work as a Production Assistant for Wali Band's concert at Scape Park. It was quite messed up but at least I had loads of fun running around and interacting with the artists even though it was just a one day event.

3rd week of May, got another event job as an Assistant Stage Manager for Music Matters Live with HP 2014 at Clarke Quay. 60 over artists performing at 10 different venues within Clarke Quay spread out within 4 days. It was crazy tiring but the amount of good music that I get to hear, enjoy, dance to and the people that I get to work with are totally worth it. I even have a new artist that I really like - Jeremy Neale and I get to meet both Taufik Batisah and Afgan Syahreza and I had to introduce myself since I was the ASM but I was too shy to take picture with them.

After that, I got a 2 month contract job working for NAFA's Office of Student Care. It was by luck that they were hiring people and I just happened to be there. It was so good to be working for an office and have an office hour job after almost 3 years. The job itself was simple and straightforward, I don't even have to think about it that much. I even get to be part of the planning process for the next year's academic year. And during NAFA Freshmen Week, I was considered as part of the staffs rather than a student. All my juniors just looked at me differently thinking that I am permanently working for OSC rather than continuing my studies. It was so weird having most of your juniors asking for your decisions when none of the other staffs were around.

Once again, I get to work for F1 as part of the Secretariat Team. I love working with these people. They know how to have fun and work their asses off both at the same time. This year's F1 was split into 2 with the General Artists being thrown to Concorde Hotel while the A-listers and the B-listers were thrown at Stamford Hotel. I was based at Stamford Hotel away from Jaime and Sheri which is so weird and uncomfortable. Working from Stamford Hotel for F1 this year was too quiet that I had time to catch up on my assignments and even read my comics. I really want to work for them again next year but provided they do not split us up at all and with the same people.

Lastly, I got a part-time job as a cashier at Kinokuniya Takashimaya Outlet. Working retail is really a tiring job, having to stand for 4 hours straight then I get to sit down and rest for an hour and standing for another 4 hours before knocking off. The perks of working there, I constantly get introduced to new authors every now and then. My books wish list is constantly growing, there's just too many books that I want to buy, to read and to understand.

In Shaa' Allah, I will be able to find a suitable job for myself after graduation.

Family & Friends

It's getting a little bit more obvious that both my parents are a little excited that I am going to be graduating with a Degree. Every now and then, they would asked me questions about school and if I have enough money to pay for my school fees and allowances. 

Fara graduated from TP a few weeks before I graduated from NAFA. Now she's working as a CSO for SIA. Haiqal ORD around September and is taking a gap year before he plans to continue back his studies. Apparently he's backpacking all over Southeast Asia. He went to Bandung, Bali and Lombok then next January, he's going somewhere with Amirul and he's planning to save up to go to Kathmandu with Nazron next May. Amirul just finished his O levels and I really hope that he will get into Meridian JC. Yana is going to complete her private diploma some time next year, other than that, both she and Nawar are happy and I'm happy for both of them.

Personally to me, Khairul experienced one hell of an emotional roller coaster ride this year. He lost his father and his mother's condition was going up and down. Honestly speaking, I have seen him mature so much and he is one of the strongest emotional person that I know of. I really truly hope that he will get the happiness that he deserved. In Shaa' Allah.

Netty, one of the happiest go lucky person that I have ever met. I almost truly thought that she has met the one until that guy turned out to be so blah. It was rather embarrassing that someone so intelligent can turned out to be such a blah. Now, she's facing certain work issues which I really truly hope that it will be resolve soon. I honestly hope that she will still have the strength to chase after her dream job and have the balls to just go for it.

Nazron. I might just accidentally kill him one day but at the same time, I love him too much that I won't know what to do without him. He really needs to take everything in stride and just stop being irritated or angry or annoyed at everything. He has too much pent-up issues in him that the first thing every time I meet him will be for him to vent out his frustrations and he just wants me to listen. As much as I understand his venting, it's a bit disconcerting that he can find issues with a lot of things. On a side note, I know it's weird but I will always hope that he will patch things up with Yasmeen. She's like the perfect girl for him.

I'm truly happy for Azieera. She's happily married and have one of the cutest baby in the world. I'm so in love with Zuhran. He is so fair and his hair is so black, he's like a baby boy version of Snow White. I really hope that she would get pregnant with a baby girl next.

I miss my NAFA clique so badly. I miss Nadia, Nicole, Olivia, Haikal and Lim Hui loads. I honestly did not expect them to leave much of an impact in my life. All of us are busy with our own stuffs but at least we text each other every now and then. For that, I'm thankful even though I desperately want to have a gathering with all of them.

Life

My life has been going on just fine this year. Constantly having faith in HIM, being positive and understanding that everything happens for a reason. It makes living life much more easier whenever you just have faith that HE knows what HE is planning for you even when you don't understand what is going on. I'm grateful everyday whenever I open my eyes to see that I have another day to live and another day to show my gratitude towards HIM. I don't think I'm that religious but it helps me to constantly remind myself to work towards improving myself as a human being and my life.

And also lately, I endlessly feel the need to broaden my horizon by reading the news everyday from different sources. I desperately feel the need to understand the ongoings of the world. The more I read, the more I become sad by how screw up most of the governments in the world are. It makes me realize that money is the root of all evil. Money is power and that they are too many power-hungry people in these world who are fucked up. There's too little people with genuine good hearts that wants to help. I make notes on my laptop to remind myself to pray for less fortunate people around the world. I really truly hope that one day the Muslims around the world would unite and help each other out. It scares me a lot to see the current state of the world.

As the day passes by, I beginning to understand the importance of certain things in life. I'm beginning to understand the need to be happy with myself first before anything else. I'm beginning to see the unimportance of all these branded products. I'm truly understand how shallow society are and how obsess they are with buying things that they don't need using money that they don't have to impress people that they don't like. I no longer care about a lot of things anymore. The few things that I care about are my own happiness, my family's happiness, my friends' happiness, my faith in HIM, my studies and my obsession with books. Also, I realized that it's quite easy to make me feel happy. I appreciate most of the small things in life. The little time that I get to spend with my friends, I honestly am grateful for it.

Lastly, I really need to stop getting obsessing with babies. I'm surrounded by toddlers and babies. There's Darnia, Darwish, Sasha, Syakeel, Umar, Uzayr, Zuhran and Susi. And working at Kinokuniya, every day there will always be parents buying books for their babies, toddlers and children. My motherly instincts comes out whenever I'm around any babies. Having dinner with the usuals last night and seeing Zuhran, really brings back memories as to how I helped my parents to raise Amirul. The more I am around babies, the more I really want to adopt a baby for myself and truly take care of him or her. It's weird but I really want a child of my own, to take care of, to protect, to provide and to raise as a reasonable human being.

In Shaa' Allah, 2015 will be an even better year for the world, the Muslims around the world, my family, relatives, friends and me. Amin.

28 Birthday Wishes

1. I wish that Allah SWT would forgive my family, friends, love ones, all the Muslims in the world and mine for our sins and wrongdoings.
2. I wish that Allah SWT would accept my family, friends, love ones, all the Muslims in the world and my prayers and gratitude towards him.
3. I wish that Allah SWT would protect my family, friends, love ones, all the Muslims in the world and me from any harmful incidents happening to us.
4. I wish that Allah SWT would blessed my family, friends, love ones, all the Muslims in the world and me with good health, longevity, knowledge and wealth.
5. I wish that all the world leaders in the world would understand that you can't achieve world peace by having more wars. I really hope that they would stop being stupid and greedy and stop all these unnecessary killings.
6. I desperately wish for world peace.
7. I wish that all 1.5 billion over Muslims in the world would unite and do something towards fixing the situation in Middle East and provide a safe place for other Muslims all around the world.
8. I wish that I will graduate with First Class Honours in Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Creative Industry Management from University of Essex - Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, next year.
9. I wish that I will get the Best Graduate Award for my cohort.
10. I wish that I will get to do Master of Management in International Arts Management at Southern Methodist University, HEC Montreal and SDA Bocconi School of Management when I turn 35.
11. I wish that I will be able to start taking care of my parents by the time I turn 30.
12. I wish that I will be able to pay part of Amirul's Degree fees.
13. I wish that I will be able to learn how to speak, write and understand French by my next birthday.
14. I wish that I will be able to celebrate my 29th birthday in Paris, France next year.
15. I wish that I will be able to go backpacking in Europe for a month before I turn 40.
16. I wish that I will be able to go to New York before I turn 40.
17. I wish that I will be able to go backpacking to Boracay, Koh Phangan and Bali within two weeks before my 30th birthday.
18. I wish that my sister would give birth to a baby girl as her firstborn.
19. I wish that all my siblings and friends would find their dream jobs.
20. I wish that I will get to see Nazron, Netty, Khairul and Azman get attached in a long-term relationship soon.
21. I wish that I will get to buy all 6 books of 'The Cousin War Series' by Philippa Gregory before my next birthday.
22. I wish that somebody will buy for me all 7 hardcover copies of Harry Potter.
23. I wish that I will be able to complete my books wish list, all 112 books.
24. I wish that I will get to watch either Florence + The Machine, Adele, Jessie J, Paloma Faith or Emeli Sande performing live in their concert.
25. I wish that I get to meet either Sean O'Pry, Mathias Lauridsen, Sebastian Sauve, Alexander Johansson, Garrett Neff, Jason Morgan, Marlon Teixeira, Alexandre Cunha, Julian Schratter or Steven Chevrin in person and take loads of pictures with them.
26. I wish that I will be able to get my own bedroom and filled it with books.
27. I wish that I will be able to establish myself in the industry where people want me as their first choice to assist them in their events.
28. I wish that I will be able to get a suitable job for myself upon graduation and save as much money as possible to achieve my dreams and goals.

In Shaa' Allah.

Birthday

Happy Birthday To Me.

I had one of the most nicest date ever last week. I got to know this 45 year old Australian guy who works for ExxonMobil Singapore office as one of their department heads. Apparently, he just tendered his resignation after working for the company for 24 years and based in Singapore for the past 7 years. He decided to take a break from work and just relaxed for the next few years. 

Anyway, I went over his house which he has been renting for the past few years with a flatmate. The house is a freaking 2-storey terrace with a basement. It was a simple decor with nice huge furnitures. He cooked dinner for me, which was roasted beef with mushroom risotto and vanilla rice pudding for dessert and accompanied by red wine. It was freaking delicious and we watched 'Horrible Bosses' while cuddling up next to each other. In between all that, I had one of the most exhilarating conversation on a date ever. He was really smart and thoughtful, we could switched between topics easily from his career to my studies, our respective industries, the latest books and political / world news.

It's almost impossible for me to find someone who could really talk about random topics the way that my mind works. For the first time in a long while, I was really excited. To top it off, he is quite muscular and cuddly. It was one of the nicest and simplest date ever. The downside to it, he's flying off to Melbourne on the 19th, so I'm not really expecting anything other than us having great conversations. We have been texting every now and then and so far, it has been really nice. So, I'm just happy with the way things are now.

Working at Kinokinuya for the past 1 month has been quite nice. It is tiring to just stand for 4 hours straight before I get the chance to sit down but other than that, it feels freaking nice to be surrounded by books. The ability to not give a crap about anything else other than just being interested in all the books down there is one of the best and simplistic feeling ever.

Birthday Presents Received

Pimm - The History of Middle-Earth, Book 1-12

Azieera - The World of Ice and Fire: The Untold History of Westeros

Netty - 2015 Peanuts Moleskin Daily Planner

Khairul & Nazron - The Hobbit & The Lord of The Rings Trilogy

Azman - The Hunger Games Trilogy

This year, all my presents are books. It's perfect and I love it so much!

Syukur Alhamdulillah for everything.

BA, S01W17

Lucas Fernandes

Module: Business Management for Creative Enterprises

Topic Title: 'Creative + Change = Innovation' - A Case Study on LVMH

Word Count: 2,721 words - 20 pages

Status: Submitted

Module: Marketing Communication in a Creative Economy

Topic Title: Golden Village's Marvel Movie Madness

Word Count: 2,747 words - 41 pages

Status: Submitted

Module: Creative Industry Study

Topic Title: Student Leaders - Perceptions, Experiences and Attitudes of 2012 - 2014's Graduates

Word Count: 6,377 words - 79 pages

Status: Submitted

I am officially done with the first semester of my Degree. I'm left with exactly 4 months and by April next year, In Shaa Allah, I will be graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Creative Industry Management. In Shaa Allah, I will graduate with First Class Honours and get the Best Graduate Award. For now, I just need to figure out how to pay for my second semester. In Shaa Allah, everything would work out just fine.

So I have officially started work at Kinokuniya as a part-time cashier. It has always been my favourite place in Singapore and now, it's my workplace. It's a nice environment to work in. The people there are quite friendly and some of them are quite talkative. The customers there are quite nice and surprisingly warm. Most of them would usually greet you first and some of them even asked about your well-being, which is totally refreshing. Lastly, the amount of good-looking and hot guys that buy books are shockingly a lot. I honestly did not expect good-looking guys buying books about science, economics, poetry, comics and a whole lot more. Working at my favourite place in Singapore, surrounded by books from all around the whole and it's filled with good-looking guys, I'm in love with my new job. In Shaa Allah, I will be able to work there all the way until graduation.

Life has been good to me so far. Syukur Alhamdulillah.

BA, S01W15

Bruno Santos

Finally, I managed to purchased a BlackBerry Passport. I'm so happy to finally get to use a BlackBerry again after almost 2 years of not using it. Syukur Alhamdulillah.

The pros of using it, it is an official business phone. Every thing about it is a professional phone. The way the app is being limited to strictly conduct business. You can access your emails easily and replied to them on the spot. You can ever do your assignments on it. It has access to Microsoft Word, Powerpoint and Excel. It's big and bulky. It has a physical keypad, which I have always love since forever. The screen is huge and everything is so clear. Lastly, the battery life is super great. I have been using it for the past hour and it drop only by 10%.

The cons of it, it is so totally not a social media friendly phone. Using Instagram and Twitter on it is so weird. It really has limited apps. I can no longer edit my photos and post it on Instagram anymore. I will have to change my format. I can't download Grindr, Jack'd or Planet Romeo at all. It's a sign. Pretty much everything that I am so used to on my iPhone is completely different on the BlackBerry.

Other than that, I know I will get used to it and will be loving it soon.

I went for the 2nd Kinokuniya interview and honestly speaking, I really think that it went quite well. Now I'm just waiting for them to call me back since they said that they would get back to me within 2 weeks. I really hope I will get the job. In Shaa Allah.

Module: Business Management for Creative Enterprises

Topic Title: 'Creative + Change = Innovation' - A Case Study on LVMH

Deadline: 12th November 2014

Word Count: 2, 614 words - 19 pages

Status: Completed

Module: Marketing Communication in a Creative Economy

Topic Title: Golden Village's Marvel Movie Madness

Deadline: 21st November 2014

Word Count: 2, 947 words - 49 pages

Status: Completed

Module: Creative Industry Study

Topic Title: Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts - Mentality of today's generation towards NAFA

Deadline: 17th November 2014

Word Count: 7, 702 words - 79 pages

Status: Completed

All that is left is for me to meet up with my respective lecturers and edit my assignments accordingly before the final submissions. 

Lastly, I need to start worrying about how to pay for my final semester school fees. In Shaa Allah, I will be able to get the loan from Mendaki. I really need it.

BA, S01W01

Renné Castrucci

Attended the first two lessons of Research Seminar, let's just say that it was a real eye opener. Within an hour into the first lesson, we found out that we are to submit 2 proposals and a presentation on the 12th of August which is in slightly more than 2 weeks' time. Both proposals are about case studies relating to any company within the Creative Industry. If both proposals are approved then we can eventually start on our theses. The first semester, I will have about 16 weeks to finish up the first 6,000 words thesis. Then in the second semester, I will have another 17 weeks to finish up the second 10,000 words thesis. From the looks of it, I know what needs to be done for the first thesis. It's just a matter of being able to ensure that my work is great enough to score me an A. I will only more about what is needed for the second thesis sometime next week. In Shaa' Allah, I will be able to do it.

I'm trying my best not to really freak out but I'm really scared that I will. I am in constant need of money, like every time.

I owe Papa $1,200 for helping me with my first semester downpayment.

I took a loan of $8,300 from Maybank but I need to at least put in $1,000 by May next year if possible.

I need to save up $1,500 by end of year for my second semester downpayment.

I need to take out another loan of $5,000 from Mendaki.

To top it all off, I need to save up another $5,000 so that I will be able to go to Amsterdam, Paris and London in May next year with Khairul, Netty and Nazron.

In Shaa' Allah, I will be able to do it.

In Shaa' Allah, everything would work out just fine. I have faith in HIM to guide me through.

Week 28

Felipe Martins

It's official. I'm starting school on the 21st July at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Creative Management Industry in partnership with University of Essex. 1 year program and I will get that degree. In Shaa' Allah.

My 5 year plan is pretty much in a mess right now, so I won't stress out too much about it. It's better that way.

My school fees is around $16,000.

Semester 1 - $9,500
Papa - $1,200
Maybank - $8,300

Semester 2 - $6,500
Mendaki - $5,000
Savings - $1,500

Literally for the next 1 year, it's all about being very discipline and focus so that I will be able to graduate with First Class Honours. I will also need to find a fixed part-time job and do as many events as possible so that I will be able to save up as much money as possible to start paying off my loan and debts.

I'm applying for the Goh Chok Tong Youth Promise Award - Merit Award as my last resort. Hopefully, I will get it so that I would be able to return back the Maybank loan and not worry about it.

In Shaa' Allah, everything would work out fine.

Week 27

Lucas Malvacini

A whole string of news.

Firstly, I got so-called cheated of my payment for the Wali Band Concert that I did. I was originally promised to get paid $800 but then I was only paid $500 for the event.

Then after that, I found out that I got rejected by National Arts Council Arts Scholarship.

Soon after, I found out that I got rejected by National Arts Council Management Scholarship.

After being rejected by both scholarships, I found out that I got accepted into Paris, College of Art - Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) in Arts History, Theory and Criticism programme.

A few days after that, I received a letter stating that I was being offered a place in Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Top Up Degree programme with University of Essex - Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Creative Industry Management. 

After accepting the programme at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, I was being told that I will have to wait for them to call me to sign the contract. It has been 3 weeks and they still have not contacted me yet.

Then I was informed that because the programme was not MOE syllabus approved and switched into a two years programme thus I won't be able to pay for the programme using my CPF and my parents' CPFs. I will have to pay it using cash or cheque only.

Soon, it was the end of June and I still did not get my two weeks' worth of pay for May because apparently my workplace accidentally forgot to credit it into my account.

Then last Thursday, I received an email that I did not even get a single scholarship, bursary or merit awards at all from NAFA even though I know for a fact that I fit all of the criteria.

Pretty much, it was back-to-back bad news for me for the past few weeks. Now I'm applying for the Goh Chok Tong Youth Promise Award Scholarship as a second last option and the Mendaki Student Loan as a last resort.

As much as these news are really bringing me down, all I could think right now is that there's a silver lining behind all these dark clouds. I have faith in Allah SWT that he knows what is best for me and guiding me to be a better person everyday. I need to constantly think positive.

"Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior become your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny." - Mahatma Gandhi.

In Shaa' Allah, everything will be alright.

My Diploma Results

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Year 1, Semester 1

Arts Awareness (Music) - A

Arts Awareness (Visual Arts) - B

Computer Application for Production Design - A

Computer Software for Business - B

Fundamentals of Arts Management - B

Level 1 Project - A

Oral Communication - B

Principles of Management - B

GPA - 3.35

CGPA - 3.35

Year 1, Semester 2

Arts Awareness (Dance) - B

Arts Awareness (Theatre) - A

Creative Writing Skill - A

Fundamentals of Lighting & Sound - A

History of Pre-Modern Western Art - B

Microeconomics - D

Singapore Arts Scene - An Overview - A

Singapore Arts Scene - Fashion - B

GPA - 2.89

CGPA - 3.13

Year 2, Semester 1

Aesthetics of Art - B

Introduction to Ceramics - A

Introduction to World Music - A

Practical Scenic Design - B

Principles of Accounting - B

Principles of Marketing - C

Stage Management I - A

Web-centric Application in Business - C

GPA - 3.0

CGPA - 3.08

Year 2, Semester 2

Business Finance - C

Concert Management - A

Contract Law - C

Dance Production - A

Organisational Communication Skills - A

Singapore Arts Scene - Music - A

Stage Management II - B

GPA - 2.84

CGPA - 3.02

Year 3, Semester 1

Appreciation of Contemporary Masterpieces A - C

Arts and Contemporary Society - A

Event and Facilities Management - B

Human Resource Management and Practices - A

Level 2 Project - B

Macroeconomics - C

Marketing Management - A

GPA - 3.27

CGPA - 3.08

Year 3, Semester 2

Customer Relationship Management - B

Designs in Communication - B

Entrepreneurship - B

Graduation Project - A

Internship - B

Practical Arts Administration - B

GPA - 3.11

CGPA - 3.08

3 years, 6 semesters, 44 modules, 18 As, 19 Bs, 6 Cs and 1 Ds later, I have officially graduated from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts with a Diploma in Arts Management, Performing Arts.

Syukur Alhamdulillah

Week 21

Pablo Morais

My first break in two weeks. At last.

Monday, 12th May 2014

PA3B's Graduation Yacht Party. Not all of us went since some of them have flew back to their country and some have already started on their new jobs. It was a really nice way to end our 3 years together as classmates. The yacht trip was totally worth it even though it was only for 5 hours. After that, some of us went over to Ria's house which was Reflections at Keppel Bay, to just chill. It was freaking gorgeous. It was a nice change of things considering that whenever we are out as a group, it's always about partying but this time round, it was a quiet gathering of watching movies and cooking dinner together.

Wednesday, 14th May 2014 - Sunday, 18th May 2014

Koh Phangan and Phuket trip with them. Let's just say that my regrets for this trip was that we spent way too much time travelling and that Khairul had to cut short his trip because of family emergency but other than that, I had a blast. I totally want to go to Koh Phangan again for the full moon party and Phuket so that I will have time to enjoy Soi Bangla at Patong Beach. The next time I'm going there, it has to be at least a week or more. I had a blast at the famous Full Moon Party, it was crazy awesome. Truth be told, I kind of miss the Full Moon Party the most, out of the whole trip. Other than that, I'm so thankful to Khairul, Netty, Nazron, Abang Is, Hariz and Syafeeq for coming along with me on this trip. 

Monday, 19th May 2014

Reached home around 2 in the morning and woke up at 7am just to start my first day of work at NAFA Office of Student Care. Let's just say that there's a lot of things to be done in that office which truth be told, would require me to at least stay back a few times to just get in complete. At least, working there will let me find out about the latest things that I need to know about all school stuffs related. I have also found out that the results will be out on the 2nd of June and then subsequently I will know if I got accepted into Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts - Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Creative Industry Management.

Wednesday, 21st May 2014 - Saturday, 24th May 2014

Music Matters Live 2014 with HP, 63 bands from 18 countries performing 176 shows over 4 nights in 10 different venues concurrently. It was crazy fun! 4 days straight from 5pm till 1am. I discovered a few new acts that I really like a lot and so far, Jeremy Neale is my favourite! The event was really awesome and most of the music arts are really awesome. Different acts playing different genres and being professional about it throughout the whole time. I love it whenever I realized that I'm surrounded by creative and talented people who are very passionate about the things that they do in their lives. It helps me to be more motivated to pursue my goals and be very determined about it, regardless of the situation.

There's so many things that I want to type out in detail but my brain is not functioning really well right now. I just want to sleep it off on this Sunday and figure things out later when my brain is ready.

I will save up for that trip. InsyaAllah.

Final Week

Lucas Gil

Practical Arts Administration

The first module to be over with. I swear, the final presentation went straight to hell for literally the whole department except for one group. I have been getting Bs for all 3 assignments but I doubt that the final presentation would pull my grade up to an A. The lecturer didn't explained to us what we were supposed to do for our presentation. Well, I was in Japan so I pretty much have no idea what was going on. All he did was gave us 2 Budget Forms and told us to present on them. Let's just say both 3A and 3B got thrashed by him except for Nicholas's group but even then, they were questioned by Mr. Tan, just not as bad as the rest of us. InsyaAllah, I will get a B for this module.

Entrepreneurship

It was the second module to be over and done with. I have been getting A for both the proposal and presentation. There was a slight hiccup over the final presentation but overall, I still think that I did fairly well. The final test was surprisingly easy and I'm really confident of getting an A for my overall grade. InsyaAllah, I will get an A for this module.

Customer Relationship Management

14 weeks later and I still have no idea what the hell did I learn from this module. It was by far my most messed up module because of my inability to pay any attention at all during any of the lectures. I pretty much screwed up both assignments, I got Cs for both essays but on the bright side, I really think that we did well for the final presentation and proposal submission. Mr. Andrew was quite pleased with all the details of it. InsyaAllah, I will get a B for this module.

Designs in Communication

Let's just say that pretty much the whole department screwed up the online test which was 40% of our overall grade. I got a C for it and our remaining 60% is on our final poster design submission which I am really proud of. Design is pretty much quite subjective and even though I have received a lot of compliments for my final design, it is pretty much my lecturer's opinion is all that matters. InsyaAllah, I will get a B for this module.

Graduation Project

It is literally one of the most stressful and drama-filled module that I have ever done in my entire life. Imagine having to manage 45 students under you for an event to cater to 240 students. It was literally chaos. Filled with headstrong personalities, constantly trying to get their point across and those who can't even be bothered about anything at all. If it is was up to me, considering that I was chosen to be the Chief Operating Officer, I would have fired about 30 of them and just worked with 15 of them plus Lim Hui, who was the Chief Executive Officer. I literally felt like killing most of them on a daily basis. Thankfully the event was quite a success, taking into consideration that this was the first time that the department has ever done such an event. InsyaAllah, I will get an A for this module.

Internship

Apparently, Internship was considered as one of Year 3, Semester 2 module. Truth be told, I don't even remembered what did I do for it other than being attached to Singapore Lyric Opera to help out with their production. Other than that, I'm really confident in scoring an A for it as my supervisor was one of the nicest lady that I have ever met. InsyaAllah, I will get an A for this module.

Pretty much my Year 3, Semester 2 result would be: -
Practical Arts Administration - B
Entrepreneurship - A
Customer Relationship Management - B
Designs in Communication - B
Graduation Project - A
Internship - A

Now I'm pretty much trying to get myself fully occupied while waiting for my University Applications to respond back. 

My May Schedule is surprisingly almost full.
3rd - 4th May - Wali Band Concert
12th May - PA3B Yacht Graduation Party
14th - 18th May - Koh Phangan Graduation Trip
21st - 24th May - Music Matters Live
25th May - Mom's Birthday Dinner

I'm so thankful that I get to work for the Wali Band Concert at Scape and also Music Matters Live 2014 at Clarke Quay/Boat Quay. On top of that, I need to do a proper proposal and prompt book for the concert, "Malam, Aku, Dia dan Lagu" as the organisers are planning to do one in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. Since I helped out with the one at Esplanade, and since I'm really good at the paper work, they have asked me to compile and sort everything out for them. F1 already called me up to work for the event again as Secretariat. InsyaAllah, I will take it provided that I am still studying in Singapore. I still need a part-time job though. After so long of constantly having people asking me if I want to help out with events, it really feels weird to be going out and trying to find a fixed part-time job. InsyaAllah, I will get one soon.

I have officially graduated from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts with a Diploma in Arts Management, Performing Arts. Syukur Alhamdulillah.

Year 3, Semester 2, Week 12

Evandro Soldati

Came back from Japan and all I could think about was assignments, assignments and more assignments. Half the time, I constantly questioned myself why did I grouped myself with a bunch of people who doesn't have initiative to do anything at all but just sit and wait for further instructions like idiots. Don't get me wrong, my ideal grouping would be with Nisa and Lim Hui only but both of them don't really gel that well working together. Lim Hui is a risk-taker while Nisa is strictly by the books and me, I'm 50/50, depending on my mood or on the module. I swear, if it's just Lim Hui, Nisa and me, the 3 of us would literally score all As for all of our modules' presentations and proposals since year 1. 

Entrepreneurship

The final presentation and proposal. Technically, we are done with the slides for presentation and about 90% done with the proposal. We just need to get through with tomorrow's presentation and edit our proposal again based on the lecturer's criticism before submission. Then I can start studying for the final exam and it's a wrap. Insya-Allah, we will get an A for this module. 

Design in Communication

Found out that the submission date was being pushed behind till 17th April which means that I got 3 more weeks to work on my poster, an additional 1 more week. Since the lecturer pushed the date out of the blue, I'm guessing that the lecturer is asking for a higher standard quality of work. I'm going to go all out on this poster and might even consider submitting a series of posters rather than just one. Insya-Allah, I will get an A for this module.

Customer Relationship Management

I swear, up till now, I still have no idea what I learn from this module at all but at least, it's going to be over and done with soon. I am so thankful to my seniors for giving my group their work as a reference. From literally nothing done when I came back from Japan and now we are at least 50% done with the proposal. As usual, I had to chase them to tell them what to do instead of any of them taking the initiative to figure it out themselves. 50% done with the proposal and shall start on the slides by this weekend. Doubtful that I will get an A for this module but Insya-Allah, I will get a high B for this module.

Practical Arts Administration

One of the weirdest modules that I have ever had throughout my 3 years in NAFA. I literally think that this class is totally pointless. After I came back from Japan, found out that we had a final presentation which we are supposed to present 2 Budget Forms on any organization of our choosing. And as usual, none of them bothered to find out the minor details about what exactly we are supposed to do or even bothered to ask the lecturer to explain about the forms at all. So now, I'm literally trying to figure out how to do it. Insya-Allah, I will get an A for this module. 

Final Year Project

Truth be told, the amount of drama coming from them, it really forces me to question their level of professionalism throughout the whole situation. Other than that, from the looks of it, the project is coming along quite fine and I can honestly say, I think it will be a success. Insya-Allah, all of us will get an A for it.

I got to start finding a job as soon as possible. I really need to start earning money to pay for my graduation trip to Koh Phangan and maybe to Boracay if I'm still interested in going with the classmates. Other than that, I'm just waiting patiently for Paris College of Arts for my phone interview and NAC to call for the interview. I really need to rush my application for NAFA Degree and the scholarship as well. Insya-Allah, I will be able to get everything done by this weekend.

Japan Trip

Rafael Verga

Day 1 - 10th March 2014, Monday

The 2nd time I'm boarding a plane. I was still not excited about the whole trip to Japan. It was as if I can't be bothered about the trip at all. I was more concerned about my assignments rather than be excited about the trip. It wasn't until I reached Haneda Airport and checked out that I really realized that I'm in Tokyo, Japan. Then slowly started to get to know the rest of the people that was part of the trip. 8 students from LaSalle, 11 students from NAFA and 1 supervising officer. 11 girls and 9 guys. 6 hours on the plane, 2 hours of waiting at the airport and half an hour bus ride to the airport before we reached Harumi Grand Hotel. We reached the hotel around 9am and had a quite briefing with checking into our hotel room. I was pretty much jet lagged from the trip that I slept for 2 hours before waking up for lunch.

After lunch, we took the bus and went off for the program's orientation briefing. I was surprised to see a number of other Asian countries involved in the program as well. There was Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. Singapore has the smallest number of students with only 19 of us, no surprise there. It was an hour of briefing and before we know it, we were on our way back to the hotel and kill time for dinner. Everybody was excited to go out the first night after dinner when we found out from the tour guide that walking to Ginza would take about 30 to 45 minutes. The biggest problem of the night was that all of us underestimated the strong winds. We knew it was cold but because of the winds, it was literally freezing. I was constantly hyper just to get my blood pumping.

It was quite a nice feeling walking with one big group even though the weather was killing us. I was still in disbelief that I am actually in Japan. It was cool exploring the places with them. I was really impressed by how certain brands have their own buildings. Like Uniqlo is an 11-storey building, Zara is a 6-storey building and Abercrombie & Fitch is a 12-storey building. It was just quite impressive by how pack everything was. By 9.30pm we were on our way back to the hotel and we were separated a few times with one group walking quickly because we were freezing while another group were excited and taking pictures of everything and anything.

Came back to the hotel room and Hyrol used his laptop to set up a hotspot for all of us to get free wifi. I'm so thankful for free wifi.

Day 2 - 11th March 2014, Tuesday

We went to Tokyo National Museum in the morning. I was really excited for it. It has 5 separate buildings which showcases Japan's history, Asian histories, Global histories and even a research centre there. It was a pity we were rushing for time. After the museum trip, we went to Sensoji Temple. It was quite boring there but at least I got to try their popular sweet bread. It was really good, crisp on the outside and really soft on the inside. To top it off, the bread is really big, almost the size of my head. I love it!

Then we went off for lunch, before we went to Harajuku. It was like a bloody shopping marathon there since we only had 2 hours to explore the streets. I was rushing everywhere. Within 2 hours, I bought a pair of boots, a clutch, a Stussy Japan edition t-shirt, a Forever 21 Men's t-shirt, a TOPMAN Limited Edition short sleeve shirt and two pairs of heattechs long johns. I spent about 20,000 Yen which is around SGD250 and to me that is considered quite a bargain. I think. 

At night, we split into 3 groups. About 8 of us took the subway to some location about 8 stations away since Joel and Wei Li found out that there's an area filled with second hard bookstores. Norvin and Jovan went for sushi and sakae at some restaurant near Ginza while the rest took the subway to some other location. It was a pity that most of the shops in Tokyo closes by 8 or 9pm, so when we reached there most of the shops are closed. So we just walked around and explore the streets before we went back to the hotel.

Day 3 - 12th March 2014, Wednesday

We went to Nihon University College of Arts for their orientation. It was really impressive to see the country's investment into the Arts Industry. The place itself was really huge and the latest state of art technology that the government invest in for the school. After lunch, we watched a few performances from the University's Traditional Dance Group and from the Cambodian students.

Once we were done with the tour, we went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office to visit the observation deck. It's on the 45th floor of the building and has a 360 view of Tokyo. It was super cool to experience firsthand the sights of Tokyo. Even though it looked like a real concrete jungle, the view was still breathe-taking. 

After dinner, most of them went out while I just stayed in the hotel room to at least try to start on my assignment. Managed to do it for half an hour before I gave up and caught up on most of my TV shows.

Day 4 - 13th March 2014, Thursday
Checked out from the hotel by 8.30pm before we moved off on a 4 hour bus ride to Nagano. Most of us continued sleeping on the bus while I continued watching my TV shows on my laptop. We had lunch first before we checked in at Shirakaba Kogen Hotel. The hotel was located in the middle of one of the mountains and was quite secluded. I think we were the only group of people who checked in, other than 4 other old couple at the hotel. After checking in, all of us rush to play in the snow. We had a few sled races and a few snow fights. Even though it was really freezing, I had loads of fun going crazy with everybody. Played all the way till it was time for dinner.

Around 9pm, most of the guys decided to use the public bath since it was pretty much a first time for most of us. After using the public bath, most of us just hang out in the lobby at the wifi/smoking area using our laptop and playing taiti until midnight.

Day 5 - 14th March 2014, Friday
In the morning, we went over to the Tateshina Town Office as a courtesy call to the Mayor. The Mayor introduce us to the town itself and we found out that the town is as big as Singapore with a population of 8,500 people only. It was interesting to see the contrast between the town and Singapore. It's slightly scary for me and I don't know why. After that, we moved over to their local cabinet to understand the concept of their local government which was quite neat.

Had an early and long lunch before we moved off to Tatekita Metal Company just to listen about their local company and how they work with international companies for business. We even had a quick tour of their factory and was treated to their speciality pastry which was a huge puff filled with 2 different types of cream. It was really good that I took 2 for myself.

After that, we took the bus and started dropping each other off to our host family houses.

Since it was the first night with the host family, they literally went all out for dinner. There were at least 7 different types of dishes and they even served rice and vegetables pasta. I stayed together with Wan and Hyrol and the 3 of us took more than an hour to finished up our dinner. We were taking our own sweet time enjoying the meal. I know I was pretty much in bed by 9pm just catching up on my TV shows. I swear, it defeats the purpose to even sleep in the house because it was still fucking freezing inside. I was sleeping in 3 layers of clothes under 2 blankets and 2 comforters. It was a miracle that I was able to sleep in that freezing weather.

Day 6 - 15th March 2014, Saturday
Woke up early for breakfast and even breakfast, they served quite a lot. After breakfast, our home stay host drove us to the town hall for us to learn  how to make Udon noodles from scratch. It was really fun and we had loads of laughter learning how to make the noodles. I must say, it was really delicious and surprisingly, I still remember the recipe for it but I completely forgot the steps.

After lunch, we went to the old Nakasendo Road to learn about the history of it since it was one of the first highway in Nagano to be constructed. Lastly we visited Nagano's very own Sakae shop which makes the wine from scratch. It was crazy fun for all of us because we literally tried all 7 samples of the sakae that was being put out on display for us. 

We were pretty much done for the day after that and went back to our home stay. We just chilled and make small conversations with the host family. By 8pm, we had dinner and were done for the night. Surprisingly, the weather wasn't as cold as the previous night but at least, it was quite comfortable sleeping under 2 blankets and 2 comforters.

Day 7 - 16th March 2014, Sunday
We said goodbye to our host family and exchange some parting gifts before the bus came to fetch us to go to one of the town halls. We had a 4 hour discussion session but really, I was just happy that I got wifi. After 2 days of no wifi, I'm just thankful for it and couldn't really be bothered with the whole discussion. Typical me, I just pretend to know what was going on and agreed to the suggestions every now and then. 

After lunch, we went to Silver Land Mitsui Nursing Home for a quick visit and we even perform a medley of nursery rhymes for the old people there. Seeing the facilities there, it was quite impressive. There have all the latest technologies and it was very spacious and comfortable. 

At night, we checked in at Saku-ichimanri Onsen Hotel. Some of us just stayed in while the rest explored the surrounding areas. From what the others said, there was a lot of cheap second-hand shops around the area. After dinner, some of us followed Joel and Wei Li to a nearby bookshop. Then after that, we went to a porn shop opposite the hotel. It was quite overwhelming to see the amount of porn and different types of fetishes there are.

We were all back in the hotel by 9pm and started playing card games and drinking in Norvin's room. There was Norvin, Jovan, Chong Shun, Wan, Joel, Hyrol, Eleanor, Priscilla and me playing a card game that Priscilla invented as part of her school assignment. It was fucking hilarious, we were screaming and cursing at each other for a good 3 hours before we called it a night.

Day 8 - 17th March 2014, Monday
Woke up for breakfast before we checked out and moved off to Tokyo. 

We reached Odaiba, Tokyo around 12pm and I literally had a 15 mins lunch before I went around to shop at Aqua City Shopping Centre. I literally spent 13,000 Yen on a Fred Perry short sleeve shirt as a present for Haiqal and 22,000 Yen on a Porter long wallet, Japan exclusive collection. Before I knew it, I was left with 10,000 Yen. I almost wanted to change more cash so that I could buy a Coach wallet for Fara but didn't had time to change more cash.

We went over to Urayasu City Bunkakaikan Samll Hall for the presentation from all 6 countries. It was pretty much a bore and I was asleep a few times. At least during our presentation which was presented by Joel and Priscilla, we literally clapped and made loads of noises. Typical Singapore students.

After that, we took the bus and went to checked in our last hotel, which was Hotel Nikko Narita and it was by far the best hotel out of the rest. The shocking part was that all 6 countries checked in the same hotel so you can imagine the chaos. 

Anyway, after dinner, I told the rest to come to my hotel room at 9pm so that we can play the same card games again. This time round, more people joined. There was Norvin, Jovan, Chong Shun, Wan, Joel, Hyrol, Eleanor, Priscilla, Wei Li, Kray, Alvin, Marion and me. We played all the way until 2 in the morning. 

Day 9 - 18th March 2014, Tuesday
It was the day for us to go back to Singapore. I can assure you that all 19 of us were starting to get freaked out about our assignments. We checked in at the airport and did last minute shopping. Literally all 20 of us, including Norvin bought Tokyo Japan snacks. It was as if we went crazy on buying the snacks. 

This time round, flying back to Singapore took 7 hours. Upon landing at Singapore, all of us realized how much we actually missed the Japan and the carefree days that we had.

I got surprised by Nazron and Khairul for fetching me at the airport. They were super cute with their signage. Then after that, Netty came from work and the four of us had dinner at Pizza Hut.

~~~

It really is the best trip that I have ever had since forever. My parents sent me off at the airport, I had loads of fun with the group and my GBFs fetched me from the airport. It was perfect.

By the way, I have a crush on you.

Holidays - Week 7

Marlon Teixeira

Monday and Tuesday was spent at Esplanade Concert Hall, doing the sound and light checks for the rest while I was double checking the lyrics for all 26 Malay songs. After checking them, I had to do the slides for all the lyrics as well to make it easier for the singers. There was a total of 228 slides worth of lyrics. Thankfully, I had an enjoyable time during the rehearsals and sound checks.

I was pretty much asleep by 11pm so I pretty much missed the arrival of 2014, which is pretty much a normal thing for me since I can't really recalled when was the last time that I celebrated New Year. It's either I spent New Year Eve at home sleeping or at home watching the television. I never did find the need to celebrate the new year.

Anyway, Wednesday was the day of the concert, as much as it was really hectic, I had loads of fun singing and dancing my ass off to all 26 songs since I'm the teleprompter for the concert. Overall, I had fun working with Esplanade's production crew and the people from Perkamus Singapore. InsyaAllah, I will get to work with them again in the future.

Since I got paid on the spot, Thursday was the day I went shopping in town like a crazy bitch. I have no idea how I did it but I was able to spent $120 on comics, $100 on boxer briefs, $100 on toiletries and $150 on clothes. Why the hell did I even spent that much on briefs and toiletries? At least, I did have fun shopping alone and it's been so long since I went to town by myself. 

Had to come back to school on Friday to welcome 7 SOTA students who are transferring to NAFA. Had to give them a tour of NAFA and introduce them to the craziness of NAFA. At least, it gives me something to do on that day.

Saturday was the training and briefing for NAFA Open House and from the looks of it, there's only 20 of us, seniors who have done it before while the remaining 78 of them are all doing it for the first time. Thankfully, this time around the outcome was much better than last year's. We only had about 60 over NAFA Ambassadors and this time round we have 98 ambassadors, so I don't have to worry about shortage of manpower. The newbies still need time to get comfortable but I really do hope that most of them are really hyperactive as my batch. We will just have to wait and see.

Collected my $1,800 bursary which shall be use to pay for my graduation trip with my classmates and the GBFs. 5 days and 4 nights trip to Bali with the classmates and another 5 days and 4 nights trip to either Boracay, Koh Phangan or Phuket with the GBFs and a whole load more people. Syukur Alhamdulillah, now that I don't really need to worry about finding the money for my graduation trip.

Tomorrow is my first day back to school for my final semester. I really need to work my butt off to ensure that I score really well for my final semester. Insya-Allah, I will be able to do it.

2014 Resolutions

2013 New Year's Resolutions

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

- Be more optimistic. (Succeeded)

- Be a full-time study whore. (Succeeded)

- Be more organized. (Succeeded)

- Be more helpful to other people. (Succeeded)

- Try to eat at least one fruit a day. (Succeeded)

- Maintain my weight of 55kg (Failed)

- Learn a new French word everyday. (Failed)

2014 New Year's Resolutions
- Continue being grateful for everything and anything that comes my way.
- Continue being optimistic and positive.
- Continue being a full-time study whore.
- Continue being organized and be more efficient and effective as a person.
- Continue being more helpful to other people and be nicer to them as well.
- Continue eating fruits everyday.
- Quit smoking completely.
- Go jogging every Monday and Thursday.
- Have a birthday stay-cation at one of the hotels in Sentosa.
- Try to get involve in Audi Fashion Festival, FIDé Fashion Week, F1 and ZoukOut 2014.
- Will try my best to help my friends to fulfil their resolutions.

Insya-Allah.