Showing posts with label Musings. Show all posts

Amongst the many things Alex and I talked about, I remember discussing learning new languages and how it changes the way you think about the world. When I was 12, I developed an interest in learning French because we had one of those touristy "learn French" books at home, but I told myself I was too old, I mean, there were kids who've been learning it since they were born - that's 12 years ahead of me and I'd never catch up.

So as ridiculous as it seems (imagine if I actually did start learning French when I was 12), I won't let being "too old" ever be an excuse again. The thing about learning languages is that there is no downside. No one will ever react to you negatively for trying to speak their language, if anything, it opens up doors and helps you connect with people. I say this with first hand experience, having an acquaintance turn into a new friend because of a shared interest in a language (Norwegian, ahem, hi Beverly); speaking to strangers randomly and seeing their eyes light up in gentle amusement when I ask them if they are German in deutsche.

Honestly, I was so horrible in Chinese I believed myself for years to have zero flair for languages and still, I don't think I have any kind of natural ability - just a desire to learn, and that's the most important thing. I wish I learnt more relevant languages to where I live but I guess we can't choose what we are passionate about.

What next? Cantonese? French (finally)?

It's been a while I've woken up this early for anything but you know how all photographers rave about the morning light, so I figured it would be fun to test myself - and for dear E-main too! Fun fact, the light only got really good around 7:30-8:00am onwards, but like they say, it's always better to be early than on time, right?

Anyway, a part of me is worried about how my photography style has changed ever since I switched up from my 500D to my 6D. While I truly enjoy the sharpness I get from a bigger sensor now, there's a part of me that hates it if my pictures look to clean cut - too sharp, too professional. To me there is artistry in a bit of grain and fuzziness. In the end, it's easy for any layman to take a nice and sharp photos if they have the money to throw at a fancy camera (or borrow a friend's), but it's how you do the post-processing that makes all the difference between an OK photo and a much more evocative one.

*Photography rant, ignore* I paid a ridiculous $26.00 to get my slide film developed at Ruby Photo - this was after a miscommunication on their side in which I was told to come back after a week to collect it, but after a week I came back only to be told to come back in two more weeks because my film only finally got sent out for developing. HUH? Then why even tell me to come back in 1 week when it takes 2 weeks to develop it in first place? I could go to Grace Digital Labs to get my normal film done in 1 hour except they just don't develop slide film, only cross process it, so basically guys, do not go to Ruby Photo ever to get your film developed. *End of photography rant*

It's things like these that remind me why I don't shoot film as much as I used to before (though seeing the full frame images is motivation for me to save up for my 6D. Hopefully this year heh). Justin helped me take this photo while scouting for my location for Kathleen's shoot. Andddd, because I hate it when people act all secretive about locations, this is the rooftop cafe of the YMCA opposite the Grand Cathay. There's a pretty awesome pool, and the cafe is generally empty. I'll upload the rest of the photos soonish.

This week has been insanely busy but fulfilling at the same time. After one year of running The Ordinary Co, I feel like the business has finally made another leap of progress the past weekend. Hoorah for Christmas! Also, after much procrastination, I finally found the time to write my Christmas cards this year - a habit I almost forgot I had. I still find a lot of joy in writing with a pen rather than typing - forming little blocks of letters as fast as I can but still making them all align. I wish I bought more cards because there's so many people to thank for making me who I am today but you only have so much time and space in your heart to store it all, you know?

Mussels are filter feeders.

I tried to draw a picture of a mussel but it was pretty abysmal, so dear Annette (whose adorable drawings on her blog always make me feel a little lighter inside) helped me to draw one instead hahaha. I guess I must have sounded pretty crazy when I first asked her but it's absolutely adorable and much better than what I initially came up with.

I feel strongly most of the time that we are a product of our environment, and sometimes the choices we make are influenced by the people or situations around us. How in control are we, really?

I jumped straight out of school and into employment. Yes, I have a job and skipped the whole aimless "what do i do with my life phase", but that said, I wouldn't have minded just a week or two off to chill once exams ended since I kind of hit the ground running ever since I came back from exchange. YET at the same time, it feels good to be at a nice little company where it's actually fun to wake up and head into work, and skip the whole headache of job hunting. Weekends are precious, and I work on personal projects, even after work itself. ALL I TALK ABOUT IS WORK. I guess this is the start of the rest of my life, and I didn't realise how soon it was going to start.

Hi guys, sorry if this space is a little dead these days. It's not that I have nothing to post - trust me I still have a ton of traveling photos - but as you may have guessed in my previous entries that I'm in a state of denial over the end of exchange, and a part of me is holding the photos back because it's like if I don't release them, I won't have to deal with it being over.

I've started my part-time internship this week at The White Space - I'm a suit/creative/copywriter (do it all!), but this isn't the only part of my life where I have dual roles - other than interning, I'm also a student, and now a half a business owner (do it all!) and there's only so much time in a day you have, really. If I'm not working, i'm doing things for The Ordinary Co, doing projects for school, attending class, squeezing in time with the bf... Yes, I have a habit of overloading myself with things. I think I am over-compensating for how I hardly did anything when I was a kid. However, there are some things I do because I enjoy them, and this blog is one of them.

The night before my first day of work, I think it did finally hit me that exchange is over. I miss my big airy kitchen. I miss only having to think about where I'm going next, what new dish I wanted to experiment with, having a nice dinner to look forward to every Sunday with my exchange family, knowing the fact that I could probably just uproot myself and go overseas to work and not be missed much (except by Justin and the few sweet friends who made the effort to talk to me even when I was away). I wish we had more time together, exchange. I wonder if exchange were a person if he'd spend as much time thinking of me as I do of him. Haha.

My goal this weekend is to put up a big, fat post. Don't abandon this space, friends!