#ochie does things

[kayatoastandteho]

2016 honour roll

cool things i did this year (in no particular order)

1. Involved in a design mentorship programme where my final project was a poster I designed based off someone’s poem - had my artwork on display for a week at the National Library! 2. Went for a drag show - so.much.fun. 3. Sold a bunch of old books on Carousell (it was a pain but hey I did it) 4. Went for a book-binding workshop (supporting a good cause!) 5. Enjoyed a trip to Penang with work colleagues - great airbnb, lovely food, good memories all round 6. Helped out at food cine.ma which was a whole new experience, and DFF for the third year running #boss 7. Got my tattoo - fucking love it. Finally. 8. Dance/Theatre for the year: NT Live’s Skylight, NT Live’s Hamlet, RENT, The History Boys, Vinayaka, Pooja Nansi’s You Are Here, 9. Concerts for the year: FrenchKiwiJuice/FKJ, Bon Iver (AMAZEBALLS),BlueNote Tokyo All-Stars Jazz, mouse on the keys (SO.GOOD.) , Gentle Bones (who SUCKED BALLS), Neon Lights (Blood Orange, Jose Gonzales, Sigur Ros, Yuna), Bombay Jayashree, 

10. Walked through the jungle surrounding my condo to find the Lentor Streams before it disappeared thanks to the MRT construction 11. Dated an idiot, had a lot of love-related firsts, found the love of my life (or so I hope) 12. MET GEMMA CORRELL at a workshop she held at SWF - got a photo and signed book! 13. Came in last in a pub quiz - woo bucket list 14. Made my very own terranium for my desk 15. Went to a cat cafe for the first time with colleagues (I’m quite allergic to cats) 16. Went on the Forest Adventure high-element obstacle course at Bedok Reservoir Park with colleagues and survived it even though it was tough at times #personalgrowth 17. Dropped four jean sizes from 30 to 26 (though 25 did fit me in Muji, hmm) this is really #goals and now i wanna maintain it 18. Went to Vietnam with Livia and had a fucking great time - loved her travel attitude and love her to pieces it was so much fun I hope we can start a tradition 19. painted a pretty satisfyingly pretty painting at art jamming with colleagues 20. been a total baller at work - doing loads of training, covering all teams and tons of campaigns, getting newbies up to speed, organising office events, holding interviews, being bandit in july + bandit of the year, been slaving my ass off and killin’ it workwise. 21. dressed up as my boss (my whole team dressed up as my boss) for the office halloween party

fav books of the year: 1. Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay 2. M Train by Patti Smith (she is magic with words) 3. The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Along by Olivia Laing 4. View from the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman 5. Yes Please by Amy Poehler fav music of the year: 1. beyonce’s lemonade 2. carly rae jepsen’s emotions 3. matt wertz’s gun shy 4. bon iver’s 22,a million 5. zayn’s mind of mine 6. the 1975′s i like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet unaware of it 7. ariana grande’s dangerous woman 8. gallant’s ology 9. yuna’s chapters 10. hozier’s hozier (a bit late to the partay)

[kayatoastandteho]

2015 honour roll

cool things i did this year (in no particular order) 1. finish up with college,with my sanity mostly intact 2. get a job, and start said job 3. volunteer at events and festivals like design film fest, singapore inside out 4. hear some really great music: andrew mcmahon, joshua radin, charlie lim,the great spy experiment, rufus wainwright,  5. watch some excellent theatre: the good, the bad, and the sholay, kafka on the shore, NT Live: A Streetcar Named Desire, Chinglish 6. watch my first live cricket match at the ICC World Cup where India beat South Africa for the first time ever 7. gave humans a chance even if they keep letting me down 8. try to be a better friend, still a work in progress 9. decided to actively do more design-related things : attend talks at NDC, letterlove, etc.  10. got myself a design mentorship in jan 2016. progress. 11. lost some five-ish kg and toned up so so much and i love it. never felt hotter 12. pushed my boundaries a little with the mugs selling but we did manage to raise money for a good cause which is good 13. spent way too much money at lovisa. must reduce this next year

[kayatoastandteho]

today i found the confidence from somewhere to drop a one-liner at a dude i’ve thought to be really cute for months (we met at a food court for like, five minutes and he was with a mutual friend in line at the same stall, so it was the most normal and mundane banter, but his smiled charmed me and i am not someone who is easily charmed). even though i did find out that he’s not single, he saw my one-liner message and took it the right way so i’m just really proud of myself for finally doing something about it, being kind of smooth and cool about it, and also being totally fine with the fact that he’s not single. i took a chance, and that’s big deal for me. 

i’m fucking awesome and i need to remind myself that every now and then. go me.

[kayatoastandteho]

maybe i do deserve good things in life

i've lived many, many years being convinced that i am worthless, i am not worthy of things, and i don't deserve any kind of happiness. i've spent most of my teenage years believing that i'm not supposed to be able to enjoy my teenage years and do the things i want to do and put myself out there. i've always been told to be responsible, to hide myself from the general public (because they shouldn't have to be subjected to my fucked up face), and to spend most of my time on my own and be okay with that.

2015's already messed with that whole ideal and i'm kind of enjoying it. i've seemingly found some kind of independence and happiness in pushing myself a little bit, stretching myself a little bit, but doing things that i love and enjoy and meeting interesting people along the way. i've been encouraged to take chances and risks and live a little, and i've finally been convinced that maybe i do deserve some happiness, maybe i do deserve to enjoy myself a little bit in life.

i think i've changed a lot in the last year, and it's not necessarily a bad thing. i think it's good that i realise that things are on track to get wildly different from how i generally perceive life to be, and i need to be aware and able to stop myself before it goes a little too far. this is a good thing, knowing where i should remind myself to be careful. i feel like this is a part of growing up, of realising that there are spaces you need to find where you fit in - that over the many years where you've been indoctrined with beliefs that aren't necessarily your own, you still need to find a place for yourself and figure out what are the things in life that make you happy. 

i still feel like i don't deserve these things - a part-time job at a good agency, a one-off stint with a film festival, getting to meet nice people, being able to make a decision to buy myself a new phone considering my phone's screen has been cracked for three months now. i can see my life changing and moving in a direction i am sort of pleased with, but still know that the end-game is getting out of here and somewhere i can own a car and be able to live on my own in a fairly safe environment and have nature not too far away.

i am grateful for everything in my life right now and am motivated and dedicated to working as hard as i can to make things work out in the end. the work is never done. i'm just stopping for a moment to realise ' shit how is this my life now' and appreciate it for what it is. 

[kayatoastandteho]

2014 honour roll

cool things i did this year (in no real order)

join a gym and actually go thrice a week. Had a gym membership in Gothenburg, and I got one back home in Singapore too.

braid my hair in krabi (#lifedreamsachieved)

Went snorkelling in krabi (prep for greater experience in the near-ish future hopefully)

buy something off photojojo (been stalking stuff for soooo long)

attended a bharathanatyam conference

dressed up as beyonce for the office halloween party

finally went to an escape room!

was a festival assistant at a design film festival

ran a 10k with my bestie shal at the Shape Run for women

worked for six months full-time at the best digital marketing agency ever 

which also gave me my first yacht party experience!

and the opportunity to finally make my henna fundraiser a reality for diwali. and i raised $170 for The Straits Times Pocket Money Fund

watched a ton of theatre: A Midsummer Night's Dream by the Shakepeare's Globe Theatre from the UK, a local production of The Pillowman, film screenings of The National Theatre's Frankenstein and Coriolanus, Miss Saigon in London, La Cage Aux Folles in Gothenburg

Lots of dinosaurs in my year : visited an exhibition at the ArtScience Museum about dinosaurs and procured some dinosaur jewellery.Had a giant dinosaur two tram stops down from my place in Gothenburg that I passed by multiple times every day.

Lived in Gothenburg, Sweden for six months

Also visited bits of Europe: Stockholm, Malmo, Lund, Copenhagen, Berlin, London,York, Brussels, and Belgium. So many great experiences there

Went on a solo trip just to meet someone I hadn't spoken to or had any contact with in 2 years and made things between us better. Scary decision, but a great one I'm very proud of myself.

Attended a Pride! in Gothenburg!

Lived through the Midnight Sun in Gothenburg. And Scandinavian winters.Saw snow for the first time!!Actually lived through spring happening - spring hares and all!

Got my first bikini \o/

Fantastic food consumed. Had a meal at Duck & Waffle. Tried Laduree macarons. Best swedish coffee ever. Semla.

Visited Ikea in Sweden. Multiple times!!

Took part in L'Oreal Brandstorm against my will

Spent my birthday in Berlin. Visited the Holocaust Memorial, got a free Starbucks drink, and had best beer I've ever tasted (and worst mushroom pasta ever) at JW Augustiner's.

Had meals with professors. Still not entirely sure how they happened, but they did, and I think I finally understand how profs can be friends with students.

Taught myself to knit. and proceeded to knit a random piece of knitted cloth. Wasn't sure what to do with it after that. But it was extremely soft and squishy.

Was one of those seniors who have attended four Arts Camps in a row, in varying capacities.

Made time to hang out with friends on an almost weekly basis. Much better than last year.

Visited the Warner Bros Studios in Leavesden and was a swooning fangirl

Got published in a local online magazine Chapalang.

Stayed in touch with design.

Mastered the non-dairy life. Life is definitely much, much better without dairy in my life. 

Earned back the money I spent while on exchange.