journey

The MSI journey has finally come to an end.

I'm very ecstatic and proud to be your Miss Personality - especially so, because it was voted by my fellow ladies who got to know me during these past few months. 

I've received a lot of comments from family, friends, past Queens and finalists that they all felt I did tremendously well and thought I would have gotten placed in the Top 5. Even though I didn't, being a finalist and winning Miss Personality is more than I could ever dreamed of achieving. If you asked me a few months back, I would have laughed in your face and perhaps even scoffed at the idea of me being in a pageant. When my friends initially found out I was in MSI, they all thought I was joking and yet here I am, living in this supposedly absurd notion that became a reality. 

It has been a tough and an exhausting journey but I'm so thankful to have this batch of ladies by my side. Together we went through intensive lessons to speak well, have poise and deportment and learn how to catwalk in different attires. They taught me things I never knew - how to draw my eyebrows, how to curl my hair without burning myself, how to model in 6 inch heels etc. More than that, they taught me to be caring, to be kind, to be confident and to be gentle.

I love how that despite it being a competition, we sincerely help one another out, be it buying lunch/dinner, sending them home or giving friendly and helpful advice whenever one of us needed it. 

We've also seen so many past finalists such as Kyla, Jia Min, Vivi, Stella, Ashley, carve out time from their busy schedule to come back and help the current batch. An insane amount of gratitude also goes out to the MSI Organizing Committee such as Janice and Sharon to help make our pageant life as smooth and easy as possible. 

To be honest, I used to be one of those people who didn't think much about pageant or the people involved in it. I literally had to be forced to be part of Eusoff Hall pageant. Now, I'm completely changing my tune.

Before I joined this pageant, I came from a very bad place. Things were just going downhill in record speed until I found myself in Nepal and that's where SWA and MSI found me and scouted me out. I started out as someone who was swallowed by her demons but now I've become a better person, a better woman. 

I have this to thank to the people I met in this pageant. I learnt from each and every one of you:

To Kim - who's the cutest and most loving personal cheerleader I'll ever know,
To Jojo - a fierce, strong and independent Sexy Mama who's always unafraid,
To Deborah - full of love and kind words and all sorts of helpful (#debiseverywhere)

To Sim Mel - my favourite sunshine girl whom I secretly love even though she always laughs at me

To Thara - for making me tell me how beautiful I am and infecting me with your positiveness

To Kayley - the loveliest heart and possibly the most gorgeous girl at IRAS

To Lisa - my fellow nigga for all the times we laughed at ourselves

To Sonia - for all those witty quips and helpful insights to things I never knew o.o 

To Jo Ring - for your shyness yet insane determination

To Caro - for your inspiring resilience and perseverance 

To Aminah - for all our secret talks during the car rides hehe 

To Vanessa - for all those times you entertained me with your accent and being someone whom I can look up to 

I'm not free from my past but I am in a better position to deal with them now. I'm a lot more self-assured and empowered. To spare everyone the gory details, let's just say that it's been a long time since I have been comfortable in my own skin and this is a gift that I will fight my hardest to keep. I came so far and I never want to go back.

I'm sharing this little fun fact about me because I guess I just want to share to those who feel like they are stuck in a bad place; who feel like they are suffocating by their own crap - Your bones are not made of glass, you can take life's hard knocks. Things can get better, even in the most unexpected of ways. Don't be blinded by your own problems and open your eyes to a way out. Because my eyes are wide open and it looks amazing.

girls only

Woke up at 8.30am for a long and exciting day! Went to Lion's Home for Elders with the rest of the MSI girls to sing and interact with the Ah Gongs & Ah Mas! I was really nervous because I don't interact with old folks much so I had no idea what to expect. It was fine in the end because they're quite fun to talk to. I was hiding in one corner with this really cute Ah Ma who kept laughing at me the entire time :-( She kept telling everyone that I was hen hao xiao (very funny) because I was babbling in bad Chinese and she danced better than me. 

After that, we had a costume fitting for our Opening Act for the Finale. I've been allocated the costume hailing from 1950s Singaporean Women so I'm eager to perform and get on stage with my beautiful dress!

Quick lunch with the MSI girls before Kim and I spontaneously decided to just walk about town!

Went to Three Blind Mice flea where we (me, being egged on by Kim) went crazy over super cheap bargains. I bought a Zara pussybow dress for SGD12. retro midi dress for SGD20, and a red peplum stop for SGD5! What a haul! Couldn't help but take a snap with Panda at the flea too :-) He's quite skinny for a Panda but he's the Food Panda mascot? Still fun to hug anyhoo. 

Proceeded to one of Kim's favourite place in the entire world: A&F store! I FINALLY got my hands on a super soft, ultra luxe denim jacket that Kim swears by. Thanks for the recommendation Kimmy heehee matching denim jackets ;) We also bought this reversible waterproof A&F backpack that was about 13 bucks when it used to be SGD70. Wow seriously, insane happiness from slashed prices. 

Mr Bean's Soy Milk Ice-Cream! Everyone's gotta try it. The MSI girls are all going crazy for it so I decided to just try it for myself just to see what the fuss is all about. I GET IT NOW HAHA. It's 98% fat free and ultra delish so there's no guilt in eating a cone!

Here's my two favourite pieces from my haul today! Can't wait to wear them out.

Had such a happy day today that I felt like I had to blog about it because it's a memory that I want to keep. We did silly stuff like catwalk down the lighted runway amidst this huge crowd at Orchard Gateway (we video-ed it too hurhur), fan-girl scream and laugh at how we met Kim's Dude by complete coincidence and she took a photo with him (and how she never wants to wash her hands ever), more giggles at texts and just ending the day off perfectly with the soy-milk ice-cream we love.

Love Kim so much because she's such a sunshine girl and I simply adore her for it! Good things happen when we're together. How such a simple day can unexpectedly turn into an amazing girls' day out together is only possible if you have the best company around! 

best coast

"I was always an unusual girl. 

My mother told me I had a chameleon soul, no moral compass pointing due north,

no fixed personality; just an inner indecisiveness 

that was as wide and as wavering as the ocean."

 

I love how the sea is so majestic it can make you feel so small. The crashing of the waves and the tide that continually kisses the coast just calls out to the part of me that longs to be closer to nature.
This is a magical spot; it really is if you can overlook the litter and the fact that it's a restricted space (hahaha) I couldn't help but to plead Chang to come with me and we were there for that quick 10 minutes where she deftly took as many photos as she could before the number of bystanders watching us made us too conspicuous. 

I was completely soaked and Chang was walking on the sand in heels but there was so much adrenaline in us we made a quick getaway and found ourselves in a completely different part of Singapore. Can you guess where this is?

If you've guessed Haji Lane, you're correct! 

We had a nice cold Belgian lambic beer at Working Title around Arab Street to cool down and laugh over what just happened and then we were off again to meet up with Tino for some hearty frog leg congee for supper.

I think I'm all over Singapore nowadays but sometimes just wandering around aimlessly in a new area can be quite exciting. I thought I've seen it all but I haven't. Stow away your phones and open up your eyes! You may be surprised at what you find. I've certainly did these past few weeks and I can't wait to find some extra time to go back to those areas just to walk around. 

The reason why I'm travelling across the nation a lot is due to my internship work! The start-up doesn't have an office so we go around meeting people and the oddest of places. The previously unexplored East side has suddenly become new terrain guided by my boss, Kyla. She's the kind of person who's both gorgeous inside and out and she's such a lovely person to be around that I honestly don't mind the fact that I have to go across the country just to meet her for a while. I'm quite lazy so that says a lot haha. 

It's the end of the first month so my pay is coming in soon. Bought my parents dinner at Watami and it feels insanely awesome to provide them what they want instead of the other way around. 

On the MSI side, I am honoured to have won the title of "Miss Sporty" during our training session! To be honest I was quite surprised because my friends keep calling me a slug. I may look really tan but I've actually been bowling competitively for ten years. So when Coach Luke announced the winner I was just stunned and it was really heart-warming when the other contestants kept chanting my name as I went up to receive the title. This MSI bunch are such sweethearts :') I'm very thankful.

Also, I've FINALLY received my confirmation to go to Shanghai for exchange. It's really soon and I have yet to settle anything so fingers crossed that everything goes well xx

make it work

The photos from the Bay Hotel Photo Challenge are out!!!
Basically we were taken into a room one by one and were briefed to change into one of the 3 outfits given, choose 1 out of 5 locations, and spend a maximum of 15 minutes to take 5 good shots. I was exhausted from the day's activities but it was really exciting and nerve-wrecking because I'm usually the one behind the camera. I didn't win (it was well-deserved by lovely kim and joring) but I had tons of fun ordering Darwis around to help me take crazy shots (whoops) I only could get these so I didn't get to see my crazier ones. Check out my pointed toes!!! Must be all that conditioning I did for my contemporary dance earlier on in the year. Kudos to my choreographers. But I did learn an important point and that it's really all about working the space. You know how photographers (me, gracia, shiya etc.) always complain about location location location but really, anywhere can be a good space to get good photographs. 

I also had the privilege to do a runway show for Dressabelle! Yet another fresh experience for me. I met Francesca, the blogshop model, and she is even prettier in real life than in the photos! I was a bit starstruck heehee. Kinda sucked that we didn't have enough time to work on our catwalk. Honestly felt that my walk could have been TONS better but I love being on stage anyhow. It was amazeballs fun! We had our makeup artist on standby as well as our own personal changer to quick change into 3 different outfits. 

So far the MSI experience had been supersonic hypnotic funky fresh but made a gazillion times more awesome because I really have such lovely girls by my side. Everyone is secretly an inner crazy chick heehee and such great fun to be with. One of my pageant besties is Kimmy!!!!!! Happy 20th gorgeous ♡♡♡

Can't imagine doing MSI without you esp. with our spontaneous selfies/ your left profile and my right profile is better/ nature wonders fruit and nuts (omnomnom!)/ chickpeas are gross etc. Throwback to our mini HTHT sesh with gelato at our first public appearance! You are such a beautiful person inside and out; truly glad to have found you! Here's to more giggles and laughs x  

strike a pose

Sooooooo the big news is that I'm a finalist of Miss Singapore International 2014.
OK, I have braced myself with a barrage of laughter because yeah, this isn't something that I would choose to do. Technically I didn't audition, and the organizers were "ok we want you to join and we can make an exception for you if you do it" and I was "heck, why not". One reason that motivated me to join is because a bevy of past MSI contestants that I know have such genuine hearts and I believe them when they say that it would be a good experience. I've just ended a 3D2N orientation staycation at Bay Hotel a couple of days back. It was pretty fun but now's the hard part with all the training and coaching! 

I've also received a flurry of anon questions in my formspring inbox:

Would you rather be 3 feet taller or 3 feet shorter?

3 feet taller because I've always wanted to grow some more!

Do you like getting your foot tickled?

NO >:(

What is your mission?

Nothing specific - just wanna be happy and make the people around me happy

What's the craziest thing you've ever done?

Come out of my mother's womb

Don't you think that everything is changing too fast?

Yeah, it certainly feels that way because sometimes we don't have the luxury to just slow down. That's why we've got to be in the present and enjoy every moment before it passes us by.

I AM ALSO SADLY UNEMPLOYED. Actually, I'm doing an internship but it honestly doesn't take much of my time and I need to find some form of vacation income. Cause ain't nobody got time to be broke. 

Email me at stwt93@gmail.com if you have jobs for me!!!!!!!! 

Or ask me questions or whatever.