The Lion King.

Caught the broadway musical for the second time this (or yesterday) evening. I first watched it when I was in London with mom and sis in 2009, and was totally blown away by the set and costuming.

Back then I was a freshly minted sophomore. Movies were not yet ruined for me as a result of my film education. The ‘formulae’ of storytelling had not yet become itemized segments in my mind.

Two years down the road and a few more short films later, I’ve become far more sensitive to the nuances, hooks and turning points in the process of telling a story, be it one on screen or stage.

There will be spoilers, but really, how many of you don’t know the story of Lion King?

Mixtape #1 – Ten songs for today.

Decided to do a song post! My playlist in general is a rather limited affair. It’s 50% sermons, 20% Christian songs (of which 90% is Hillsong albums), 20% soundtracks and the remaining 10%, others.

These ‘others’ don’t often include many current or latest hits because I honestly feel very little for much of mainstream music. (Find it hard to listen to songs without meaningful lyrics). Most of my secular songs come from friends as recommendations, or random songs I hear used in short films on the internet. HAHA.

So for tonight here’s 10 songs from the 10% that are on my favourites list. Be warned that there may (generally) be a lot of Ingrid Michaelson and Regina Spektor on this list!
(In no particular order.)

Lessons I’ve learned from serving in church.

For those of us who have been in church for a while, our leaders have often mentioned that there are many life lessons that can be gleaned from serving in ministry, lessons that will accompany you in the workplace and shape you as a person.

I’ve been serving for over 4 years now, and I’d have to say there this statement is true. While I am always, still learning, I have taken several key lessons with me from the pulpit out into the working world.

1. Remain teachable
No one likes a know-it-all, even if you really (think you) know-it-all. Carry yourself with a spirit of humility, not false humility and general Singaporean ‘paiseh’-ness (no lah no lah…). If someone praises you, accept it humbly and say thank you. It is not a crime to be good. It is only a crime to be full of yourself. If you do something wrong and get corrected, take it with a heart of teachability, accept your mistakes, take responsibility for your actions, right the wrongs as well as you can, and move on and be excellent. No one is beyond correction. Don’t wallow or remain shell-shocked at your mistake and ruminate in it, because that is arrogance and self-pride in thinking that you are beyond making mistakes. We are young, we are fresh, we are inexperienced, we live, and we learn.

2. Have an excellent spirit
Be the best _____ you have been called to be. Your job may not be glamourous, the hours may be long, the tasks may be demanding, seemingly unreasonable at many times. I have been called upon to do work in a few hours, to make more changes than would be considered ethical, to do ‘grunge’ designs I feel nothing for, but at the end of the day, to represent the heart and vision of the ministry. Having an uncomplaining spirit is part of being excellent. The saying goes: If you cannot be trusted with little, no one will trust you with much. So do all that is allowed into your hands, well. For if you cannot manage the small responsibilities (though they may seem menial to you, and ‘beneath’ what you think you should be doing), no one will give you big ones.

3. Honour your leaders/superiors
So you might think (or know) you’re better than them at this or that. They may not be as knowledgeable as you about certain things, but they have still been placed as an authority above you. Honour and give them respect regardless of their competence. You don’t disrespect your mother for not knowing how to use an iPhone or shut down your Mac computer. You don’t treat a person according to their ability or inability to do their jobs, or do your job. Again this goes back to the above statement: if you cannot be trusted with little, no one will trust you with much. If you don’t respect those placed above you, it is unlikely that you will respect those who will be placed under you in future. A good leader is a teacher, not a dictator. A good teacher starts with being a good listener and a willing learner. Honour is a choice. You may submit to a person because they are stronger than you, not because you respect them, and this is not out of personal choice but inevitability. But to choose to submit even when you know that person is not as ‘good’ as you think you are, shows your true weight in worth as a person. That is honour, that is respect.

There are many lessons I have taken away from church, these are but some that have made me who I am. Many of the things I’ve mentioned above I’ve learned the hard way, but I’ve learned anyway, and am still always learning.

Missing Europe.

So I’ve been home for almost half a year now.

Some friends have said I’ve changed since I came back, especially those who’ve been attempting to study with me for this semester’s finals. I’m more ‘slack’ (or distracted, in a way), less intense about studying, happier, but definitely slacker.

Is this really a ‘return from Europe’ syndrome? Not sure how the rest are faring, but half a year in Switzerland and traveling across more than 20 cities in Europe has taught me more about life than the close-minded, narrow-sighted tunnel vision rat race that we run, constantly and daily, as a Singaporean youth facing Singaporean pressures.

I have learned to relax. To enjoy time. To enjoy people. To have a clearer understanding of the ‘eternal perspective’.

I have been reminded to treasure the people God has blessed me with, to put people above results. To put human beings before goals. To value a person above perfection in their work. To let go of things I cannot control.

I have learned to treasure the gift of time. The gift of time to spend with family, loved ones and treasured friends. To appreciate the fact that at the end of the day, my grades are not going to save me, they are not going to make me happy, the endless chase for perfection can only satisfy for so long, and that my life would be meaningless and worthless if I had no one to come home to, and no friends I can call to share my happiest and crappiest moments with.

I don’t want to wait till I lose somebody, someone gets a terminal disease, or face a near-death experience to realize that it’s time to say ‘I love you’, ‘Thank you’, and ‘I’m glad to call you my friend’ to the people who matter.

So, don’t forget to tell the people who matter to you that you love them. Love them now, not tomorrow, not when the exams are over, not when you have the time, not when they become perfect or do the right thing, not when you can finally prepare something grandiose. But love them simply, and love them fully, and love them now.

—

This post is titled Missing Europe. So here are some other photos from my travels, some from later trips than the last Europe photo post which was of us in Spain. If any of the juniors going to Europe are reading this, please, get excited, travel lots and don’t just be caught up in the photos, but be caught up in the experience.

I am a bit apologetic to say this but I cannot remember which lovely mountain range this is.

Open park. Vienna, Austria.

Home of 'The Sound of Music'. You can take 'Sound of Music' tours, we saw the steps where they sang 'Do Re Mi', the road lined with trees where the kids were climbing when their father returned, the church, the graveyard that inspired the one in the movie, etc. Salzburg, Austria.

Second trip to Bern, Switzerland. In Summer this time.

Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe. These are massive, walking through them is a bit of a maze. The concrete slabs are designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason. Berlin, Germany.

Jewish Museum. Very modern. Berlin, Germany.

Sachsenhausen concentration camp, actual prison cell. While not as famous as Dachau or Auschwitz, Sachsenhausen was one of the earliest concentration camps, designed in every possible way to inflict terror and despair (these were carefully thought out in the architecture, hierarchy, design and placement of camps, layout etc). Many of the later camps were modelled after Sachsenhausen. Outskirts of Berlin, Germany.

Park Guell. Barcelona, Spain.

Dancing on the streets. Barcelona, Spain.

Small lake nearing the end of winter, still cold. Lugano, Switzerland.

The Dutch would like you to know Amsterdam has more canals than Venice. Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Nearing sunset, Florence, Italy.

View from Hitler's Eagle Nest. Obersalzberg, nestled between Germany and Austria. They blasted a vertical tunnel right through the mountain and built a brass elevator that goes 400 feet all the way to to top, where they built a house. They presented it to Hitler for his 50th birthday. Unfortunately, their Führer was not much a fan of heights, didn't like it much, and rarely ever went back.

Final weeks of the European life.

Hey guys (or whoever actually reads my blog), sorry for the lack of updates. Still adjusting to the very visible absence of a 15 inch macbookpro. The 10 inch glory of my asus eee pc is still driving me crazy. I’m squinting at font size 4 text as I type now. And my main form of entertainment, believe it or not and laugh if you must, is Spider Solitaire. You have no idea how much of it I’ve played in the past week. Schadenfreude for you.

And now the biggest blow to my Apple ego… I have downloaded GIMP. This little guy is never going to run Photoshop (it can’t even stream videos without lagging, and I can’t play flash games because it lags too. Hence Spider Solitaire). So… a laggy GIMP is still better than nothing. >_<

I have Lightroom installed but I was never that much of a fan since I normally use Aperture for photo editing. And the interface becomes a lot less user friendly when its on 10 inches. In general, to sum up using a small netbook for regular daily use = I have never had to use so many scrollbars (horizontal and vertical) in my life.

And with that I shall stop whining about not having my macbookpro at my disposal. I miss you Greenie.

Instead, I shall talk about happier things! Like the fact that I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S ALREADY THE END OF JUNE! WHICH MEANS THE 1ST OF JULY IS COMING (NEXT THURSDAY)!!! WHICH MEANS, *DRUMROLLLLLLLL* JASON IS COMING!!!!!

I’m so excited. I’m through trying to study for Thursday’s and Friday’s exams. Berlin, then I’ll get to see boyfriend (1/7), sister (6/7) and momma (9/7). Joy joy joy.

This is a (very kiddy, I know, I’m no artist) doodle I shoved into Jason’s bag just before we left for the airport in a rush on 5 Feb 10. I intended to give it to him properly but there wasn’t time so I folded it and threw it in for him to find when he got home. I know it looks like it was drawn by a 5 year old but he like can already okay? Lol.

Time flies. I can’t believe I can finally say I’m seeing him in a week.

Starting to firm up plans with my Mom and Sis for when they’re here in Swiss. They’ll both be here at different times and we’re doing different activities. (E.g. paragliding with sis and no we haven’t told mom, and sightseeing and taking cablecar and staying in nice hotels with mommy…).

The USIfriends are all starting to leave one by one. Jesus (one of the Spanish, for anyone who may suddenly be very confused) leaves tomorrow morning, and we’re waking up to say goodbye. I’m bad with farewells these days, but I definitely have had some amazing times with these people. By the time I get back on 1 July most of them will be gone… And I’d be saying bye to Becky and Maxi at Milan MXP itself as I wait out many hours for Jason to arrive. (Camping out in Berlin Schoenefeld overnight, reaching Milan MXP at 9am, Maxi’s flight is at noon, Becky’s at 1pm, and Jason arrives around 2.) I’m so definitely taking StarStation back to Lugano this time. Goodness.

StarStation is a private shuttle operator that costs 35CHF/23EUROS and goes from Milan MXP straight to Lugano. The other alternative to getting here is taking the shuttle to Milan Centrale (7.5EUROS), then taking the regional train to Chiasso (first stop on the Swiss border, 4.2EUROS), and then changing to the far nicer, brighter and more comfortable Swiss trains to return to Lugano (free for us after 7pm as we have the Track 7 Swiss Rail card).

According to our well thought out calculations, being stingy students abroad who try to save every dollar we can, this means that we save about 10EUROS going the long way. However, in the case of our return from Barcelona last week, saving 10EUROS also meant wasting 5 hours of my life as compared to the 1 hour bus ride proffered by StarStation.

Junhua and I landed in MXP around 8pm, got to Centrale before 9.30pm, missed our 9.38pm connection, ended up having to take the metro to another station to catch the last train at 10.38pm, got to Chiasso past midnight, and finally trudged back to our accommodation past 1.00am in the morning. Srsly? I’m just going to take StarStation. :]

Gonna go crash now so I can wake up by 7 to see Jesus off. But here’s some shots of my mini-Moo cards and card holder that came ages ago but I haven’t posted pictures of.

Moo’s pretty fun to use and it’s not exorbitantly expensive (yes yes I know we can get cheaper printing in Singapore), but I’m a victim of good marketing, services and user interfaces and Moo really makes it very easy for you to make namecards even if you aren’t a designer. Go check out their site (moo.co.uk). If anyone wants to get them done and wants to save on shipping you can send them to my Swiss address and I’ll bring them back for you. 100 minicards costs €13.79, with up to 100 designs if you so chose. I printed 5 designs, so its 20 cards per design. Shipping to Swiss is another €4.25 and I paid €3.74 for the sleek orange minicard holder. Total: €21.78

Go play around with the interface a bit and you’ll see how easy it is to use. They also offer a lot of gorgeous premade designs for people who want cards quick and ready to print, and you can easily add and tweak how you want your contact information to look.

Okay end of commercial. No they’re not paying me (I wish) to advertise, but I do acknowledge and admire a well-thought out online business.

Mmkay, bed time. I will do my best to keep to the resolution of updating more frequently. Goodnight, and good morning to everyone in Singapore.

Geneva and the Red Cross Museum.

Okay, in case anyone who reads my blog hasn’t noticed my grief on Twitter, Facebook and MSN, it is true. The MacBook Pro died. I don’t know which part of it died or if my hard disk is salvageable because 1) my AppleCare has expired and if I bring it to an Apple service centre here they’re going to charge me by the hour 2) the nearest AppleCare center is in Zurich which is 3hours away by train 3) forget it.

The good news is that I save all my photos on my external 1TB HDD. The bad news is that I didn’t back up my portfolio and it’s all still in the mac, including all my working files and hi-res copies of anything I’ve been working on in the past one year. And also I think Chandu and the stills from Chandu are in there as well. Sighs. Will only be able to send macmac to see a doctor when I get back to Singapore. In the meantime, life for me has come to an almost complete standstill. Can’t do work, and squinting at this tiny 10 inch screen (my asus eee pc, also known as The Not Mac) is driving me crazy. I can’t even stream videos or open too many tabs without this little guy whirring his fan off.

Bah.

Well. Moving on with the entry…

I flew back from Amsterdam to Geneva. Normally we leave from Milan Malpensa but it was a little bit cheaper to come back in through Geneva and I’d never been there anyway. I didn’t get to do the visitor tour of the United Nations because of my train schedule. But I did spend a good few hours at the Red Cross museum.

Here’s a picture of the main entrance to the UN anyway…

And a giant broken chair structure outside the UN that I’m sure has some symbolic significance or another…

Red Cross Museum. It was a really nice chronological journey of the Red Cross’ history. Honestly I never knew that the Red Cross originated from Switzerland and that the emblem was precisely intended to be the inversion of the Swiss flag. While the main exhibit was good and full of videos of the Red Cross’ work through the past decades, what impacted me the most wasn’t the main exhibit, but the temporary exhibit on Humanity in War – Frontline Photography since 1860.

There are some occasions where I am reminded why I am here, who we are as human beings and what our priorities should be, and this was one of them. There were many such ‘moments’ on this trip, having been to the Anne Frank House, Dutch Resistance Museum and Jewish Theatre in Amsterdam. And looking at the work of the Red Cross just really confirmed to me how fragile and silly humanity is. If not for the wars we ourselves rage, the Red Cross would not even have been born in the first place. And looking at the codes of honor in war before modern warfare, those codes were so much more honorable than even the current Geneva convention. Going past rows of photos, watching the videos of photographers who are unable to even put words to their work, you would have to be truly heartless or amazingly self-centred to not be able to give a damn.

Most of us are the second. Much of what I’ve learned lately is seared in my mind. I find it hard to articulate these days, perhaps from not having used English much over the past half a year. Writing during examinations and struggling to express myself as I blog is testament to that. But also maybe because I don’t feel like my words can make anyone who reads them understand precisely what my eyes have seen and my heart has felt. An experience is an experience, it is my own and it is personal. I cannot make you see through my eyes what the world looks like to me right now. And even if you were there with me physically, what it means to you may be completely different from what it means to me.

Eyes see only so much, and we choose our own interpretations of the world even when given the same field of sight. Perhaps in personal dialogue I will perform better, so feel free to converse with me if you’re up for a little reflection. But for now, I will remain reminded of my place in this world. If I can’t make it a little better, the least I can do is not make it any worse.

I ended up buying the book (54CHF) of the exhibition, and a short DVD (10CHF).

This is my favourite quote from the book (which is primarily pictures):

“The ICRC is not neutral, the ICRC is not impartial. We are partial, absolutely partial, we are always taking the same side, we are taking the side of the victims and we will always do so, because they are in need.”
Jean Hoefliger, ICRC head of delegation in Lebanon, 1977.

As a Singaporean, I have always taken the concept of the ‘Red Cross’ for granted. After all it was just a CCA in secondary school. We’d never gone to war in our time or had any disasters or crises on our shores. Even the plight of our neighbouring countries were just distant pictures on the front page of newspapers that sat in two-dimension on our tables as we sipped our coffee in the morning and muttered about the failing state of our planet.

Yet as I slowly took in the exhibits, it really began to dawn on me how silently important the Red Cross is, and how important the Red Cross is to individuals, not just people or hoards or masses or crowds, but to individuals.

We all know that you must have been busy doing more important things, and that was the only reason why you did not come to see us. We are not selfish, even though you and your team are our only window, let us say. You alone make it possible for us to breathe.

I would like to apologize for having misjudged you. It is only now that I have learnt what your position in the ICRC really is. Let me, by way of apology, tell you a little story:

A and B are standing together at the seaside. A says the sea is huge. Then he looks up at the sky and says that it is enormous. B thinks that A is mad or, perhaps, that he has never before seen either the sea or the sky. Something like that has happened to me. When I was a free man, perhaps I was as unseeing as B. But now that I am no longer at liberty, perhaps I have drawn a little closer to A’s way of thinking.

You may be certain that we will always wish to see you. Windows are so very important. And for those who have only one window, they are much more than that even.

Letter to ICRC delegate from an internee held in the US facility at Guantanamo, 2008.

There is so much work that the Red Cross does that I never even began to know about. When the newspaper reports have faded and the world has forgotten, who is it that stays, who are the ones left behind to try and salvage the broken lives left behind in the wake of disaster? Yes, in many ways the UN and the Red Cross are powerless to do big things. We smear them with our accusations, a convenient scapegoat when we see inaction. But we never even get to hear the stories of the little things. Of the prison visits to those whose sanity and hope hinge on the infrequent visits of the ICRC delegates. Those who live on the forgotten fringes of society that we ourselves have never considered. We batter them with words, the same way those that they visit often do the same in their own frustration.

It is a thankless job, but they are not there for the praise. What they do is worth more than just our admiration. What they do requires more strength and courage than most of us could ever muster in our comfortable lives. They are not out to change the world, but to make the suffering of individuals just a little more tolerable. To share the burden of humanity, no matter how little, just a little easier to bear.

And so. Maybe I did manage to articulate a little bit of my own thoughts on the experience. Just a little.

I will end this with another quote from James Nachtwey, who wrote the introduction to the book. Another reminder on the role of the photographer. When I feel that photography has lost it’s value, this reminds me why the role of the photojournalist continues to be important for a very human reason.

“Photographs are not cold documents that merely prove something happened. They put a human face on events that might otherwise appear to be abstract or ideological, a matter of statistics or monumental in their global impact. No matter how overwhelming an event, what happens to people at ground level happens to them individually, and photography has a unique ability to portray events from their point of view. Photography gives a voice to the voiceless. It’s a call to action.”

The Dutch design pilgrimage (Day 3-5)… and a note on pantaloons.

This entry is (mostly) about the 2010 European Design Conference which was held in Rotterdam from 28 to 30 May. But also a little bit about these pyjama genie pants that’s all the rage here during summer.

They generally look like this:

I used to think they were funny whenever I saw anyone wearing them in Singapore, because they kinda remind me of pyjamas and were therefore such silly things to be wearing out of the house. But now that the temperature in Lugano is on par with Singapore, everyone everywhere in Europe seems to be donning these flappy pantaloons. (It’s way too hot for jeans and anything with sleeves now.) I bought myself a pair from H&M some weeks back and let me tell you, these things are AMAZINGLY COMFORTABLE. Why don’t people wear them more in Singapore??? (Because they look like pyjama pants, stupid.)

I love wearing them and am so definitely getting a few more pairs for home. They are a nice alternative to berms and shorts (which is all I wear in Singapore, anyway). And also since I never wear jeans in Singapore (unless I’ve been told to). Too hot too hot!

Okay I digress. Back to the conference.

There were 15 speakers in total, so I won’t go through each individually but I’ll talk about the ones that inspired me the most. Then I’ll give my overall thoughts on the conference at the end.

Reza Abedini (Iran/Netherlands)

One of my two favourites from the conference. His work with the study of arabic typography is groundbreaking stuff.
The most memorable quote for me from the conference also came from him. During the Q&A when someone asked him why he didn’t really work with roman typography and whether he would like to work with roman type, his reply was something like this:
‘You Dutch (or Western, something to that effect) people already do it so well, why would I want to compete with you doing something you have already perfected?’

As one of the very few Chinese Asians (I think the grand total was 3) there, this was a line that struck me deeply and will definitely influence my future work. I never stop asking myself the question why the Southeast Asian design scene is still so unestablished and what we can do to help strengthen and mature design culture in our region. It’s a cumulation of factors, definitely, but part of it could be accrued to the fact that we spend so much time trying to copy what the West has already perfected, and the results are often lackluster and pale imitations of work that already exists. Even a really good copy is still, at the end of the day, a copy. I really hope to see a unique brand of Singaporean design emerge in the next couple of decades as we mature and develop our own sense of style and culture and not always have to imitate the work of others. Integrate and assimilate into something we can call our own, yes. But not copy.

Zup (Italy)

Because I really liked their presentation, vibes and sense of humour.

Raffinerie (Switzerland)

Because they’re good-looking and Swiss.

Okay. More than that. Because I really like their series of posters for Schauspielhaus Zürich and their awesome cardboard boxes installation at the 2000-Watt-Gesellschaft. Better graphics on their site.

Philippe Apeloig (France)

My other favourite and most admired designer from the conference. His work is just so conceptually strong, tight, clean and poignantly brilliant. And his designed typefaces to suit the personality of each piece he’s executing… admirably awesome work. *kowtows* Snapshots below, but a lot of his work is clearer and well presented on his site, so go look at it…

And there was also the grand-daddy of Dutch design, Gert Dumbar of Studio Dumbar. His work was also really amazing… especially the infographic system for disaster/epidemic relief that he’s working on now that he kindly requested we not publish online.

Most of the speakers were good, but I didn’t manage to catch photos of everything so these are just some of the ones I did.

It’s hard for me to describe all that I’ve learned from my 168 euro investment just to attend this conference.

Of the conference itself, I must say as a first experience I was slightly disappointed by the turn-out. I guess in my mind I had expected more, especially after attending the Design Society’s Forum in Singapore in January.

However, it was a great, GREAT learning experience for me, just sitting there taking it all in, listening to the speakers and to the types of questions being thrown about during Q&A. Just from the questions alone the difference between the design scene back home and here is clearly evident. It enlightened me to just how mature and established the Dutch design scene is. I am envious of how fortunate they are to have a very supportive government and private sector, who trust and often give their designers great autonomy in their work. Many crazy and exciting ideas can be done, the government supports experimental work, and the study of graphic design there is seen more as respectable profession than I have ever known it to be back home.

There, graphic design is not diluted by advertising. The two professions are clearly defined and well separated. Back home we tend to equate one to another, which was a great cause of my growing disillusion with my craft. (I already don’t believe in advertising, but I was starting to despair about design.)

However, after this entire trip, wandering Amsterdam and Rotterdam and laying my eyes upon beautiful works of design, my strength is renewed. I again begin to believe that good design can and will, change the world. It’s difficult to expound on, but some of my closer friends have heard me try to explain, and I hope they see at least a little of how I’ve seen it. Everything I have learned is firmly in my head, the vision burning behind my eyes, and the cause firmly planted in my heart.

I have learned so much about myself and my craft this trip, and not just this trip, but this entire experience in Europe for the past few months. Coming to Europe has definitely been the greatest turning-point in my life yet. It has built the foundations for my future, directions for where I want to go as a person, as a designer and as a believer in how the role of design is to communicate.

Initially I really felt as though I was wasting my time here. I like Lugano, and USI, but doing PR and marketing courses are really not my life’s passion. Here I was in Switzerland, the land of grids and Helvetica with so many good design universities to it’s name, and I was doing PR and marketing courses.

But God always causes all things to work out for my good, and it turned out that the way the courses were structured gave me oodles of free time to pursue personal projects, to work on my own craft and to have time to reflect and grow not just in technical skills, but learn more about what it takes to be a professional designer and not merely someone who can use Adobe software. I’m still growing, ever growing. My motto remains that: the day I think I’m good is the day I stop learning, and is therefore the day I fail.

This is why I often seem to be very harsh on myself, but I want to continue to learn and grow, keep learning, and learning, and keep getting better and better at what I do. I will never be the best. And I will never be ‘good enough’, because the race will never end. But I will be the best Lizzy that I can be, the best designer that Lizzy at whatever point in time of her life can be, and once that moment passes, the next ‘best’ awaits.

Things are moving for me at the moment, I’ll talk more about it if and when it actually happens.

Doors are opening, and God will lead me to the right ones. Now the next pressing task is to find an internship for next year. Self-sourcing will not be easy, but the same way God made all things work out for my good by causing circumstances to allow me to come to Switzerland, the same way God will provide the needed time and chance for me to do an overseas, graphic design internship for Spring 2011. Amen, amen and amen.

Lugano sunshine.

The temperatures here are reaching Singapore’s soon. The weather in Lugano has now surpassed the 20 degree Celsius mark. Some days in the week ahead are going to start hitting the high 20s.

Online forecasts tell me Amsterdam is still slightly cooler, and I hope it stays that way because it is getting real hot here. Brilliantly WARM sunshine and disgustingly beautiful skies.

Took some shots so I’ll let them speak for themselves – 100% unedited! Did not adjust brightness, exposure, contrast… merely resized.

The lake and San Salvatore in the background.

Same spot in winter when we first came.

Chess players, ubiquitous part of the lakeside landscape.

Trees finally blooming!

Everything is green, green, greeeeeen.

And of course the weather called for some ice-cream.

And still amazed at the fact that no matter where you are, you can always see a mountain or two peaking out from between the buildings.

Mountain! From outside our residence. The white building in the vanishing point is our university. Yes it’s about as near as Hall 7 is to WKWSCI. Lol. WITHOUT the slope.

View from my window today.

Same view back when we first came!

Interesting cloud outside…

This is the sky outside at 8.45PM. My sun-powered body clock is all messed up now. During winter we used to cook dinner at 5.30PM because it was already so dark then. Now, 8.00PM looks like 4.00PM and we always wake up with a start at 6.00AM thinking we’re late for school because it’s sooooooooo bright (looks like noon, sun high in sky) and the birds are chirping super loudly and pissing Becky (roomie) off.

AND. Got something really nice in the mail today.

Okay one came on Monday. The other one came today, I assume, since one of my kind neighbours slipped my mail under my door today.

(P.S. If you want to send me lovemail that’s my address for you. )

No prizes for guessing who it’s from!

The ‘U’ intentionally left out in all usual boyfriend cheesiness.. But he hasn’t cheesed me out quite completely yet. And oh the letters were just scattered inside the envelop for me to figure out (with very little difficulty) for myself that it was oh-so-puny ‘missing u’. HEH.

Okay actually it’s quite cheesy now that I’m spelling it out (another pun!) in black and white.

My last day of school tomorrow, and my final presentation for the semester. Had to do at least one presentation for every class we’ve had here. But I really like the teaching style here way more than back home.

AMSTERDAM/ROTTERDAM next week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Excited much. ‘Tis one of the biggest highlights of my Europe trip (I still have Spain in June in the middle of my exams and Berlin at the end of my exams and THEN BOYFRIEND COMING UP LIAOOOOOOOOOOO.)

Even though I will be too embarrassed to call myself a designer while at the conference I shall just take this opportunity to learn and absorb and know that God will open the right doors for me at the right time to get to the right places.

So excites!

Time really passes so quickly. 3 months here have gone by way faster than I thought it would. Jems and Shiu skyped me from SINGAPORE yesterday, those two blokes are already home and many of the rest are already slowly gravitating back to Singapore in trickles, especially the ones returning home from the US. It’s almost June. The exams will come, my trips will fly by, the boyfriend and the family will come up, then I’ll have to go home, already. Just another couple of months left in beautiful Europe.

Most of the fears I had about coming up remain unfounded. I have grown in many little ways here and have had my eyes opened to many new and exciting revelations.

These few months have also been the most RELAXED months of my life since, probably, forever. Even the period after A levels I was relief-teaching and doing design for TJ. There has never been such a great lull in my life since after the ‘O’ levels. Initially the vast vacuum of ‘nothingness’ made me really edgy. In some sense I am still, sort of edgy now. Workaholic anonymous much. But I’ve learned to let loose a lot more, to be more open about people and ideas, to appreciate to some extent, the completely laid-back Swiss way of life.

I really haven’t had much to do here, except soak up inspiration, I don’t even have many design jobs (unpaid, prior commitments or otherwise). I’m not juggling deadlines. I’m not pressed for time. I’m not trying to do 100 things at the same time… and it’s a sensation I am well and truly unused to.

Chiang said to treat this period as my sabbatical. And while my mind is all: ‘C’mon, I can’t possibly have NOTHING to do… gimme something to do. Why is my inbox so empty? Why is no one contacting me for anything? *worries about not having anything to do*’. I know that this is probably a much welcomed break that I needed. I’d been so wound up these pasts few years, especially since entering WKW, with all the activities that I choose to pick up (and sadistically enjoy doing everything within the same time period).

God is still teaching me the meaning of the word ‘RELAX’, something I realize I’m not very good at doing. But I know I’m going back refreshed and ready to go.

Missing church, people, and actually, most importantly, missing FOOD. (Can’t wait to eat SG food)

I miss Singapore food so much I actually dream of it.

Okay. Peace out.