Down to the World

The 26th day of March bears a lot of significance to me. Four years ago, I graduated from high school on this particular day. Four years later, I graduated from college on this particular day once again. 

Mina and I had our makeup done at the Student Affairs Office together with the usherettes of the ceremony. Afterwards, we met up with our respective parents for more photo up before the start of the ceremony. We, Comtech students, also had our photos taken with our Program Director, Sir Aly.

I admit I got a bit sleepy midway through the graduation ceremony because of the long speeches but when we started singing our alma mater song, the "Song for Mary", it hit me that college is finally over. I started to get teary-eyed. The past four years had been quite a roller coaster. I cried quite a lot of times, endured many sleepless nights, and did lots of stupid things. But I will certainly miss those days.  

Bye Singapore

During the last three day of our bYSI internship, we hardly took any photos because we were cramming for our final marketing proposal. We haven't written anything the past week because we were just doing initial research or wasting our time checking our Facebook accounts. Haha! These are the last set of photos we took at Changi International Airport before we left today.

Singapore Sunday

My sister and I once again spent some quality time together today. We met at Novena Station and walked to the nearby Wee Nam Kee Restaurant for lunch. We ordered Hainanese Chicken and Cereal Prawns. It was pure heaven!!!

After lunch, we wanted to visit the Japanese Garden at Jurong but we got so lazy so we ended up going to IKEA (again) to check out their displays. I spotted lots of interesting things in IKEA.

Late afternoon, we dropped by Chijmes, a shopping, dining and entertainment center. Chijmes used to be a Catholic convent school known as the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus. My dear friend, Jana, is also in Singapore at the moment so we had dinner together with our sisters at Shokudo, a Japanese restaurant. 

Hershey's Store

It's our first weekend since we started our bYSI internship. My sister and I spent a lot of time together today because we rarely see each other on weekdays. We did Bikram Yoga together and then met with our friend Mads at Pepper Lunch. At night, we also met up with Trish and Brian outside Universal Studios in Sentosa. We visited the Hershey's Store while we were there.

Bysi Internship in Singapore

On our first day, we were picked up at Sheares Hall by the very friendly May Chan, the lady who constantly coordinated with us regarding the details of our internship. She first brought us to the office of Spring Singapore and introduced us to the directors. We also received our trophy for winning in the Global Entrepreneurship Week. 

We then went to bYSI's headquarters in Ubi, Singapore, where we would be working during our week-long internship.

We got a little bored so we hung out in bYSI's storage room during the afternoon.

After a day's work, we transformed into tourists. We visited the sparkling Esplanade at Marina Bay. We also lingered near the Merlion to admire Singapore's skyline.

On our second day, we left NUS early since bYSI's office is an hour away from our place. But first, we made sure we had our photo taken in front of the Mochtar Riady Building. Sayang ang outfit. Haha!

After work, we checked out Singapore's National Library. We had so much fun roaming around the library and screaming inside their elevator! Go figure out why! Haha! For dinner, we walked towards Clarke Quay, a dining and entertainment district.

We were immediately drawn to the Clinic Bar in the middle of Clarke Quay. The Clinic Bar draws inspiration from clinical/medical paraphernalia like colorful pills, syringes, drips, test tubes, and a lot more. We also loved sitting on their wheelchairs! Such a creative concept!

On our third day, we left the office early because our lady bosses decided to bring us to bYSI's branch in Citylink Mall for some "research". Was it really research or just window shopping? Haha! We found this very inspiring card from one of the shops in the mall. Indeed, an internship like this doesn't come along everyday. We are so grateful. For dinner, we met up with my sister in IKEA.

Chill Day in Singapore

The National University of Singapore (NUS) sponsored our accommodation for this internship. Today, we moved out from my sister's flat and moved to Sheares Hall inside the NUS campus. The residence hall is impressive even from the outside. Trish and I shared one room in the residence hall. How I wish my old dorm room in Manila was as cozy as this! I think I would have been more productive in my studies. Being the OC person that I am, I immediately arranged my shoes after unpacking.

After resting a bit, we had a look inside the Mochtar Riady Building, the main building for NUS Business School. The interiors were very sleek and modern. How I wish I am a student here!

Later in the afternoon, we went to Bugis to do some shopping. We couldn't resist buying milktea from Jollibean, a brand we came to know during our marketing class in college.

Makeover at Orchard

Today, the three of us woke up a little past noon time. We slept so late the night before because we got so addicted to the Chat Roulette. We had a quick bite near my sister's flat and then we headed to Orchard Road, Singapore's premiere fashion district. Connected to the metro station is the newly opened mall, Ion Orchard.

Since we don't have that much money to shop, Trish and I decided to give ourselves a free makeover at Shu Uemura. I loved the final outcome!

Kuishin Bo Japanese Buffet

We had a very sumptuous dinner buffet at Kuishin Bo, an authentic Japanese restaurant in Suntec City tonight. Brian, Trish and I were together with my sister and two other friends from my hometown.

There were tons of choices in the buffet table: zuwaikani (snow crabs), appetizers, sashimi, sushi, seafood, teppanyaki, tempura, oden, soba, udon, ramen, hot dishes, desserts, a variety of drinks and Japanese ice cream.

Bysi Trio Invades Singapore

Early this morning, Trish, Brian and I left Manila for Singapore for a week long internship in bYSI, a Singaporean fashion brand. We won the business case study competition during Singapore's Global Entrepreneurship Week and the internship opportunity is part of our prize including 1000 SGD, free air tickets and accommodation. 

I am so grateful we took Philippine Airlines going to Singapore. At least I get the chance to land in Changi International Airport, not in the Budget Terminal. With graduation just around the corner, the signage below truly describes our sentiments.

My sister picked us up at the airport and brought us directly to her flat because our free accommodation will not be available until Tuesday. After lunch, we went to Bukit Bintang for Charles & Keith's Warehouse Sale. Everything was so cheap! I bought a pair for myself and three pairs for Mina because most of the shoes on sale were her size. Later in the afternoon, we went to Suntec City Convention Center for the IT show. My sister bought me an Acer Aspire netbook in exchange for redeeming all the mileage points we accumulated together in our shared credit card. Ohh happy day!

My Dorm Life in a Nutshell

I have officially moved out from the small townhouse I have been living in for the past four years. Back in freshman year, I hated my room because it was so small and so hot (no air-con!). But later on, I had slowly learned to love my tiny abode in Katipunan. Back in freshman year,  I did my best to make my room as homey as possible. Ate Therese and I used to do DVD marathons together especially when classes were cancelled due to typhoons!  When I was in junior year, I moved to another room in my dorm. It was more spacious so I was able to put more furniture!

It was hard to pack up all my college mementos and other little trinkets. It was like breaking up with somebody you've spent time with for the past 48 months. I will especially miss my ever dependable study table, which I've sometimes converted into my dining table/dresser/tambakan for everything. I will also miss the people I have lived with like Ate Therese, Ate Jov, Ate Kaye, Rissa, Dessa, and Erika. One highlight during our stay in the townhouse was when we went to ABS-CBN for Ate Jov's Game KNB? application in 2007. We had so many good memories!

ACTM Year-End Party

Last night, the Association for Communications Technology Management (ACTM) had its year-end party at Fiamma Bar in Makati. For the past four years, I have never attended any party by ACTM because I was always busy with something else. So the party last night was my first and last ACTM party as an Ateneo student. There was a mini fashion show during the party. That night, Mina and I couldn't enter the dorm because the gate was already locked so we spent the night in Jollibee in Katipunan.

Provident Block Party

It all started as a joke. We told our blockmate, Bingkoy, that we will have our block party at his home's rooftop in Provident Village when finals week is over. We even joked in passing about making the party a fundraiser for Bingkoy, who was one of the victims of Typhoon Ondoy last October. Come finals week, we were surprised that Bingkoy took our joke seriously. He told us that the party would be happening at his house the Saturday after our last day in school. I do not usually like to go to drinking parties but I didn't want to miss this because I know that after college, I won't be seeing my friends so often anymore. It was definitely an epic night!