Singapore 2015 (again????) Part 1 - HAR. HAR.

October 28th, 2015 was probably the most tiring day of my life.

It all started when I woke up later than intended at 4 A.M. And we were supposed to go at 5.

I hurried to get myself ready, and set off for the airport with my aunt at around 5:20.  While we were trying to exit Subang Jaya and enter the highway, we accidentally entered the wrong lane and almost ended up at Kajang instead of KLIA.Thankfully, we went back into SJ shortly thereafter and went back into the right lane.

We arrived at KLIA2 at around 5:50, I believe. (I didn't record the time before going on the flight)

My aunt went to pray, but since I couldn't, I decided to go buy some breakfast at KFC while waiting.

The time passed by.

6:00.

6:10.

By the time it was 6:15, I started to panic - the boarding gates have opened...!

At around 6:25 my aunt came and we started to head towards the departure area.

But before we went in, my aunt decided to buy a bottle of water before going on the flight, and she went to a nearby convenience store.

And so I waited.

6:30

6:40

What the heck is taking her so long? It's just a bottle of water...!

6:45

Ten minutes before the gate closes...!

6:50

I said "Screw her, I have my essentials anyways...!" and went into the departure area.After clearing immigration, my pant hook came loose while lining up for customs checks.I let everyone bypass me while trying to fix everything as quickly and discreetly as possible. Bloody hell...Thankfully everything was fixed in a jiffy, and off I ran to the plane once again...

...before it came loose again halfway to the boarding gate. Thankfully, there's a private place in the hall in which I could fix it, and I did. I scurried to the gate just as it was closing ( AND IT'S ALL THE WAY AT THE END AS WEL KXBJDFSKDABN)

I stepped into the plane to see my aunt standing in the aisle.

I sighed and sat at my seat, during which I got an earful from my aunt. (Really, how could she NOT see my standing like an idiot in front of the departure area???)

The plane started moving off towards the runway. When the plane started to speed up during take off, I didn't experience a massive headache like I did during my first flight (to Langkawi) last year.

The plane started flying towards Singapore at around 7:20. I got bored during the flight, so I decided to alleviate my boredom by doing a 5 over 4 polyrhythm exercise (shoutout to Matt Gartska for this...!).


When the plane started approaching the southern Johor area, it started to rain. Thank God, because that means that there's no haze, and no flights will be delayed. We landed safely and started making our way out of the airport. We made our way to Terminal 2 via the airport's skytrain in order to get to the MRT station (I thought the MRT station was accessible from there...!) .

But when we got there to clear the immigration counters, the officer told us to clear it from Terminal 1 instead. We reluctantly turned back to Terminal 1. After we cleared immigration, we stepped out only to find out the MRT station is at Terminal 3 instead.

HAR HAR. Stupid me.

We took the Skytrain to Terminal 3 and boarded the MRT to the city there.

I looked out to see Eastern Singapore being drizzled with rain.

We exited at Bugis MRT and my aunt decided to eat before we set off for Madrasah Aljunied. I decided to have breakfast at Burger King, because... I have no idea.

I ate the Ham and Cheese Omelette Platter. It was very underwhelming. I finished the omelette after the croissant so that I didn't have to leave the restaurant with a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe it's because I don't like nearly liquified eggs. The sausage and the hashbrowns were awesome,though...!

We packed the one drink that we didn't finish and started making our way to Victoria Lane. The guy at the Burger King counter told us it's going to take us 15 minutes to go from there, so he recommended us to take the bus.

We took bus number 12 there and disembarked at the Stamford Primary bus stop.

I walked down Victoria Lane and saw that the students were having their recess.

I went in and walked up to the receptionist's office.

I asked for the enlistment forms and told them I wanted to go into their pre-university program.

"Umur berapa? (How old are you?)"

"18... Ada had umur ke nak masuk pre-u??? ( Is there an age limit for enlistment for the pre-university level???)" She gave me the forms.

"Ada... (Got/Yes...)" My skin prickled and all of my hairs stood up. My heart started beating 16ths at 250 bpm. I'm surprised I didn't get a heart attack right there and then.

"Untuk pre-university... had umurnya... 21..." I calmed down. That scared me...! I thought I'm not going to ever enlist until the end of time...! (Although I'm not sure whether that meant that 21 is the age during enlistment or age during the first year of the program)

I told them I will possibly enlist next year if I had to repeat the year at my school. (Actually there are no repeats- I just asked to see what they're going to say) They asked which school am I from, and I told them I'm currently studying at Shah Alam.

I stayed around the front area and looked around. A lot of the students were sitting on the floor near the mess hall, studying.  I started to ask them whether the Secondary Five students are at school or not (One of the people that I'm most close to at Madrasah Aljunied is a Sec. 5 student).

Most of them said no or either "don't know". But there is one slightly interesting incident.

I asked a couple of female students who were sitting at the front area like we were.

"Menengah Lima sekolah tak?" (Are the Sec 5s in school right now?)

"I'm not sure... Kenapa?" (Why?)

"I... nak jumpa... seseorang." (I... want to see... someone)"

"Siapa?" (Who?)

I mentioned her name.

I saw their facial expressions change, but I couldn't read it- did they knew her?

I found out that they were her brother's classmates.

"Oh, I see."

I excused myself and started to exit the school. (I've been there 3 times. I've never went past the receptionist's office on all three. Hahahahah.)


We both started making our to Mustafa Centre when I realized I forgot to ask them another question.

I ran back and asked them :

"My school's final exam doesn't have marks, just grades, so...........what is the minimum grade for enlistment??"

The receptionist and one of the teachers (whom I suspect is a very high ranking one) looked at each other. I asked, "Jayyid (Good) ke... atau... Jayyid Jiddan (Very Good). They looked at each other for another moment before the teacher said "Jayyid". I audibly sighed in relief.

"Thank you."

I went off on my way once again.

I walked near the school fence; I saw some two groups of students playing at the back area : male and female ( they're not playing together, though). I was slightly shocked when I saw the girls being all hyperactive in the presence of boys; such behaviour was basically non-existent in my school - I couldn't even run without my classmates telling me off.

And once I caught up to my aunt, we headed off for Syed Alwi Rd.

My musical influences

I have no idea why I decided to do this. I just do. Maybe I could use this as reference if I need ideas. Or if I forget which bands I haven't listened to in a long time.

Bands :

• Linkin Park (these guys are the people that got me into music. Thanks for making me waste my money and time, guys.  Especially you, Robert....jerk ;-) )
• OrkeStar Trio (Singapore) (The first band I ever liked. Surprisingly, they didn't inspire me enough to pick up an instrument, unfortunately... Never knew why.  They were "newer", maybe? They do inspire my sound a lot, though...)
• The Reign of Kindo (If it weren't for this band, Snarky Puppy and OST, I wouldn't have thought to mix every single genre in my playing. And their 8-bit stuff. Wow.)
• Dropkick Murphys
• All Time Low
• Blink 182
• Animals As Leaders
• August Burns Red
• Tesseract
• 30 Seconds To Mars
• The Word Alive
• Black Sabbath
• Megadeth
• King Crimson
• Porcupine Tree
• Pink Floyd 
• Metallica
• 5 Seconds of Summer
• Imagine Dragons
• OneRepublic
• Issues
• Dream Theater 
• Periphery (to OUUUURRRSEEEEEELLLLVVVEEESSSS)
• Twenty One Pilots
• Foo Fighters
• Ventura Lights
• New Found Glory
• Bad Religion (Oh, the irony.)
• Rancid
• +44
• We The Kings ( not a fan of Charles Trippy, though...)
• A Day to Remember
• Atomic Mosquitoes 
• Queen
• Led Zeppelin
• Green Day
• The Beatles
• The Dear Hunter
• Avenged Sevenfold
• Snarky Puppy
• The Offspring
• The Bellerophon Project
• Styx
• Bunkface
• Deep Purple
• Pomplamoose
• Royal Crown Revue
• The Police 
• The Transplants
• Red Hot Chilli Peppers
• Alestorm
• All American Rejects
• Flogging Molly
• The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band*
• Fall Out Boy
• Neck Deep
• Sekumpulan Orang Gila
• Alvarez Kings
• Black 47
• RED
• The Black Mages
• Rush
• Muse
• Radiohead
• Pierce The Veil
• Dance Gavin Dance*
• The Dillinger Escape Plan*
• The Apemen
• The Shadows
• Hawaii Samurai
• The Pogues
• The Dubliners
• The Venopian Solitude
• DragonForce
• Scale The Summit
• Korpiklaani
• Of Mice and Men
• Incubus
• Royal Blood
• Walk Off The Earth
• Twenty One Pilots
• Metallica
• Toto 
• The Script
• Kyoto Protocol
• Enterprise
• Pitahati

Solo Artists, "Boy/Girl Bands", Composers, Orchestras, Ensembles and others that are not rock bands  :

• Steven Padin 
• Jake Bowen
• Chick Corea
• Vinnie Colaiuta 
• Alhafiz Jamat
• Russ Miller
• Virgil Donati
• One Direction ( not so much, but still... it counts)*
• Michael Jackson
• Ellie Goulding
• John Williams
• Hans Zimmer
• Karl Jenkins
• Steve Jablonsky
• Brian Tyler
• Junkie XL
• John Mayer
• takaharasuiko
• Some random Kpop bands that I periodically listen to
• Luca Striganoli 
• Omar Faruk Tekbilek
• Dave Brubeck Quartet 
• Buddy Rich Big Band
• London Symphony Orchestra
• Patrick Williams
• Andrew and Simon Hale
• Alex Rudinger
• Nick Glennie-Smith
• Vibrasphere*
• Jack Arel
• Phil Collins*
• Salatin El Tarab Orchestra
• Yasin Sulaiman
• Various Arab, Brazilian, Japanese, Italian, Scottish and Welsh composers and orchestras ( the names are mostly unknown since I listen to random mixes on YT for stuff like that)
• Vitamin String Quartet
• Eric Calderone
• Yuna
• Sting
• Steve Jordan
• Two Steps From Hell
• Johan Skugge
• Juka Ritamaki
• Nobuo Uematsu
• Ryuichi Sakamoto
• Richard Wagner
• Keith Carlock
• Steve Gadd
• Jack Conte
• Jordan Rudess
• Aphex Twin
• Weird Al Yankovic
• Nino Rota
• Fort Minor/Mike Shinoda
• Noisecontrollers (dammit)
• Lincoln Brewster (instrumentals) *
• Marty O'Donnell
• Bill Conti
• Robert Glasper
• Lars Erik Fjosne
• Steve Vai
• Steven Wilson
• Jon Licht
• Daniel Platzman
• Dick Dale
• Madrasah Aljunied al-Islamiah Angklung Ensemble ( do you know how weird it is to take inspirations from a group that your friend is in? .___. )

OK.

_________________________________________________________________________________

* - This means I've only probably listened to less than 5 of their songs.

Singapore Trip 2014 ( Day 3, Part 2 : I Regret...)

I rushed all the way back to Victoria Lane and I think I got there in... 5 minutes. Halfway there, I saw some Aljuniedians coming out into the street.

"Oh no no no."

I doubled my pacing (I think?), crossed the road and started checking everyone's faces for familiar ones...

I started asking everyone whether school is over or not, then I reached the gate and entered the school...

I looked at everyone while walking slowly, and I recognized one; she looked at and recognized me shortly thereafter and I walked towards her.

"Awak nampak lain gila,"

"Uh...." I really have no idea how to respond to that.

We talked about a few things; where she lived, among other stuff... but I can't remember much, because I was tired.

After we departed at the Victoria St./Ln. intersection - she was going to Geylang for something - I decided to go back to Bras Basah again... for more drum gear. Plus, I need to use up my Ez-link balance... heh.

I went there, bought my gear, and returned to my hotel at around 12-12:30 pm. Since I already packed earlier in the morning, I rested for an hour before checking out at 1 pm. I took a taxi to Queen St. to take the 170 bus again; I checked the time. I still have some time... I could go to Bugis and walk around. Well, SOME time.

I decided against it; the bus ride took me 2 hours the last time... and I have to be at the station by 3:30; otherwise I run the risk of being left behind.

I waited for the bus which then arrived shortly after, and boarded it at around 1:20-1:30.

Damn, I was wrong about the duration of the bus ride.

The bus ride reached Woodlands Centre Rd. when the clock had not even struck 3 yet. Darn it, I could've went to Bussorah St. or somewhere else...

I should've taken a plane ride home instead. Less travelling time back home = more time in Singapore. Maybe taking a 6pm plane would've been nice. I could lepak for 3 more hours.

Ah... nevermind. At least now I've learned.


I put my luggage at the waiting area of the checkpoint, and went out into Woodlands Ctr. Rd. I was hungry... and I'm surely not going to eat anything they serve in the train...!

I walked towards a nearby food court, and had a some chicken rice and some sort of a blueberry drink. It was a nice way to end my time in Singapore. I walked around the buildings and looked around, but didn't buy anything. I even walked into a grocery store.

Darn, everything here's expensive. Well... almost.

By 3:20, I took my bags and lined up at the Train Checkpoint. I got everything checked, and boarded the train. I saw the last of Singapore's shores at around 4pm. I reached KL Sentral at around 11:00 pm.

All in all, it was a nice trip, although the final day was a bit too rushed (hence the reason I forgot all the details). I didn't get what I actually came for (my enlistment), but I learnt a lot, and I got awesome new music gear, met new friends and had lots of awesome food (I'm soooo going to bring more money for food the next time...!).

I'm not going THAT close to any exams anymore. And I'm not going to spend 6 hours on a train, either... unless, I'm really broke.

Someone remind me to pick a better time and plan better for the next trip, darn it.

Singapore Trip 2014 (Day 3, Part 1 : Marathons and New Friends)

I was up at 4:00 despite the fact I was tired as heck...

Well, when you're going to see your internet friends that you've never met IRL before, the fatigue magically goes away, you see... excitement and happiness prevails!

I took a shower (cold hotel room + warm water = longest shower ever) and got out the hotel at around 8:20 a.m .  I had prata (yaaaassss) at Rowell Rd (I think) before setting off towards Madrasah Aljunied.

The original plan was to take the enlistment forms and walk around the school and sit around at the canteen for 5 minutes or so.

Halfway through walking Victoria St. , I realise that I have ample time left, and turned back to head to Jalan Sultan to find Madrasah Alsagoff so that I wouldn't get lost and indirectly, save some time.

When I reached Madrasah Alsagoff, I realised that the gates are closed... I did not dare try to open the gates.

I headed back to Madrasah Aljunied at around 9:20; the moment I approached the gates, I saw someone close the gates... Darn it.

By the way, remember when I said that the actual distance compared to what is shown on the map is larger?

Looks like a small distance , right?

This took me 10 minutes. And I have to run. RUN.

Alright. Done... Anyways...

I waited around the outside until I saw some students approaching the school. I walked to the gate and saw that the gate wasn't actually locked when I saw the students open it.

OK. Paiseh giler.

I went to the receptionist's office and asked for the enlistment forms :

"Saya nak ambik borang pendaftaran."

"Daripada mana?"

"Malaysia."

"Umur?"

"17."

"Peringkat(?) mana?"

"Pre-U 1."

"OK."


I took the enlistment forms and read it. Ah noooo....

Even if my Arabic was up to par... I still couldn't take the exam without resorting to "extreme and excessive measures"; the entrance exam was on the 20th of November... I have to sit for my Physics papers on that day. Not that I intended to pass it, but--

"Nak isi kat sini ke?"

"Tak, tak."

"..."

"Uhhhh... orang luar boleh masuk dalam sana tak?" *points to school courtyard*
"Oh, tak boleh."

Darn it...!



I went off to the side, out of the view of the receptionists.

"Sigh. Looks like this is it."

I put the enlistment forms in my bag and waited for their recess time, hoping that someone, anyone would recognise me.

By 9:55, I left Aljunied and headed towards Alsagoff. I waited for my friend. By this time, the primary students were having their recess. A primary student came up to me:

"Akak tunggu sapa?"

"Ah, takpe, takpe... Uhhhh... pelajar menengah dengan pre-u dah rehat ke belum?"

"Belum... pukul 10:40 nanti"

"Ah, takpe uh. Tunggu sini je lah."



I waited even more and tweeted  that I have arrived, hoping that she would see it. She did.

At around 10:20, I saw her familiar face walk towards me at the gate. Finally...! By this time I was tired and dazed from running marathons around Bugis.

She greeted me warmly. I gave her a letter (which was from a friend of mine in another school who coincidentally knew her as well),  and opened the gates. I looked at the primary students near the gate, looking at me in a bewildered and confused way, wondering who's this lone, small girl and why is a student sneaking her in.

She gave me a letter for my friend in Malaysia, and we headed towards the school interior.

"Dah lama sampai ke?"

"Pukul 10 tadi."

"Oh ya, actually sebenarnya sekolah SAMBest ke SAMBestari?"

"Dua-dua boleh."

"Oh, OK. Eh, masuk toilet kejap; ramai sangat orang kat sini."

We headed towards the toilet, and I washed my face so that I didn't look like I was coming out from hell.

"Awak tinggal kat mana?"

"Selangor--"

"Tak, tak kat Singapore..."

"Oh, hahahaha... kat Little India."

We headed towards the canteen. Everyone was staring at me. Maybe it's because of my black shirt. Maybe they don't have visitors often.

We reached the canteen, and I bought something to drink; it was a relief after running around for an hour. I sat down at the canteen and was greeted by 3 of her friends. We shook hands.

We chatted about my Singaporean friends and my enlistment, among other things. Unfortunately, I didn't remember the order or much of the details of the conversation... so I'll write a few parts :

"Kenal sapa kat Aljunied?"

I told them the names of the ones I regularly interact with.

"Awak kenal semua budak madrasah ke?"

"Macam mana awak kenal pasal Aljunied?"

"Ah, actually my family member(?) ada ajar kat Aljunied waktu sekolah tu mula2 bukak dulu... and I idoli-- looked up to him, so..."

"Lepas Junied... kalau masuk, nak sambung kat mana?"

"Kalau keadaan ok, Mesir uh. Kalau tak... Jordan."

We chatted until their recess was over. We took a few pics at the table.

My friend walked me to the gate... but before that, she beckoned for me to take a picture in front of the school building.

That day was the first time anyone invited for me to be in a picture, ever. So everything was weird and awkward. I stood at the wrong place the first time. But at least I got a good laugh out of it.

She took a couple of pics and walked me to the gate.

"Make sure awak datang next year bila nak daftar masuk Junied tau...!"

"OK...! Bye...!"

"Bye."

It was 10:35. Realising that the Aljuniedians might have finished their exams, I rushed back to Victoria Lane.




Note: All of the conversations on this day were paraphrased due to the rushed nature of the events... None of the conversations are 100%correct, so, if you talked to me on that day and you remember everything, tell me and I'll correct it.

Singapore Trip 2014 (Day 2 : Burning Money and Getting Lost)

I woke up at 7... I think. I don't remember.

After waking up, I got ready and set off for Mustafa Centre at 8:30 for some shopping... chocolates to be exact. Don't ask me why...!

I walked along Jalan Besar and reached Mustafa Centre before my entire gut decides to give up on me.

"Fine, I'll have breakfast first."

I ate at a nearby restaurant (Can't remember the name unfortunately...). The prata (roti canai for you Malaysians...!) was nice, although a bit small... not that I cared at the time; I was rushing...

I think I was in there for at least 2 1/2 hours... I got 7 bottles of sparkling water, some souvenirs for my classmates (bayar oi...! lol jk)  and 3 bags of chocolates because they were cheap as heck.

Here's 2 out of 7 of the bottles. I got 4 of the blues JUST because of the colour hahaha.

I walked back to the hotel and put my stuff before setting off for Bras Basah.

For what? My drum gear, of course...! (As if I have any interest in buying anything else...)

I got off at City Hall MRT before walking to Bras Basah Complex.

There, I walked to Swee Lee Music Company(?) and bought a practice pad, a pair of Vic Firth American Jazz 1 (AJ1) sticks (great sticks, minus the lacquer...), a pocket practice "pad" (to sneak in masuk asrama next year mwehehehe), a Planet Waves NS Micro Universal guitar tuner  and a pack of Ernie Ball regular gauge (.10 gauge for the highest string and .46 for the lowest) guitar strings for my brother. (you'd better pay me darn it)

I got to test out some drums as well for 45 minutes or so. Apparently stick size matters little when it comes to reducing volume during playing...

I think I spent at least S$ 190. RIP savings....

Then, not knowing what to do... I walked back to City Hall MRT, and decided to visit the Esplanade Performing Arts Centre, more specifically the famed Outdoor Theatre.

I got lost on the underpasses. I think it took me 20 minutes from City Hall before I reached the Esplanade Concourse. I reached it at around... 4pm

And guess what?

I got lost in the building itself... but hey, at least I got to see a good part of it...

And, finally, I got out to the area where the Outdoor Theatre was located.

The entire place looked so, so different then from what I've seen in the videos and pictures.

First off, it was smaller than I thought it would be. Nice stage equipment though.

I took some pics of the venue and the bay that lay beyond it, and sat down at the seats of the theatre.

To know that some of my friends, my acquaintances and my music heroes has been here has left me with this unbelievable feeling... (If The Reign of Kindo ever performed "Till We Make Our Ascent" at the Outdoor Theatre, I would die alsndkhisds)

From there on, I swore to myself that I'll be on that stage one day... whether it's as someone's touring musician... or with a band of my own.

I sat and rested for a while. It was calming to to look out into the bay and see the place from which I've looked the very place I'm at right now two years ago.

Two views... 20 November 2012  from Merlion  Park looking out to the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre (left), and 22 October 2014, from the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre looking out to Merlion Park (right).

I got up and got back to the MRT station in order to go to Plaza Singapura so that I could check out more drum gear (cymbals, to be specific). I got out of the train when I realised that the next train I was supposed to be on was right in front of me...! I rushed towards and barely got in when the doors closed. It was fun, hahahahaha....

I stepped down at Dhoby Ghaut MRT and began making my way to Plaza Singapura.

I swear that the underground MRT was like a mini-mall or something... All those pathways... my legs still hurt oK.

I had one of those KFC Cheesy BBQ Meltz which some of my friends had talked about a bit on Twitter... heh. I could barely walk by the time I finished my meal (darn it).

I walked to the Yamaha store and went to the drums section...

Damn I was in for a disappointment. Most of the newer models weren't there...

"But the pictures..."

Then I realised that I was at the wrong store; the store I was supposed to go to was at Paya Lebar... and I had no time left.

I was on my way down when I saw a headphone store. I went there and bought a pair of cheap ATH-M20X studio monitoring headphones... Well, at least I got something...

That and the KFC Cheesy BBQ Meltz which I ate.  Worth it...!


By the time I was back at Bugis MRT, it was almost 7... I roamed around Bugis Village and Bugis Junction and got a pair of Vans for S$ 69.00.

I can't believe this thing is actually cheaper in Singapore than in Malaysia.

After getting out, I took a bus (can't remember the number, though...) and went off to Arab St. to eat again... because I have a black hole for a stomach. I got the chicken murtabak... wasn't as nice as the beef murtabak but... hey, it's food...

At around 9:00-9:30, I returned to Dickson Rd., ending my final night in Singapore.

What a day.

Singapore Trip 2014 (Day 1 : Back There Again...!)

I travelled to Singapore on the 21st of October to attempt enlisting again into Madrasah Aljunied... at first. But a performance review given by my teacher the week before deemed me unfit for enlistment ,and so I decided to postpone my enlistment (again...!) for yet another year.

Now that's out of the way... alright.

I woke up at 5 and set off for KL Sentral at 6;45.  And the train is supposed to leave at 8... So you could imagine rushing from SJ to KL with a traffic jam.

I barely got on the train.

I reached JB at around 1:30. I'm not a fan of going through weird pathways just to get my passport and luggage checked, but... eh, whatever.

I first stepped on Singaporean soil at 2:00. Thankfully, we only have to go up the stairs once to get out into Woodlands Centre Rd.

After 2 minutes of waiting (yay Singapore public transport...!) , I got on bus 170 from Woodlands Train Checkpoint. The bus ride wasn't fun, but at least I don't have to stand... The northwest part of Singapore was a bit boring... to me, at least. It was fun seeing the sights, though...Also, the schools. Darn, some of the schools are like universities, size wise...

I got off from the bus on Queen St.When I reached there, I realised something.

The distance on the maps looked small. The actual area isn't.  (I will show this in a later post)

What looked like a 2 minute walk was actually an 8 minute walk instead. Nevertheless, I reached the hotel at Dickson Rd. around 4:30 pm.

After resting for a while, I set off to Geylang/Paya Lebar so that I can go to Joo Chiat Complex. I had problems on how to buy the tickets, but thankfully, I braved myself to go and ask the lad manning the nearby counter. (Actually it was embarrassing. Not doing that again ever.)

 I bought my stuff there before returning to Bugis MRT.

Then, I walked around Bugis Junction and had dinner at Yellow Submarines... It was awesome..! :D

I walked out to Bugis St. and browsed for items to buy, though none of them were of my interest.

When I walked out along Victoria St. to return to my hotel, it was awesome. I couldn't believe I was actually there... Seeing all the bulidings, lights and vehicles just felt surreal. (As I write this post, I actually didn't know whether I walked back along to my hotel on the first night or the second...)

I reached my hotel at around 9:00 pm, but I was so tired that I couldn't sleep until 11:30.

But at least I managed to sleep, thankfully. The next day will be one the most physically exhausting days of my life.

Let's do this.

Two years. Well, almost, in a way. In another way, it is almost three years since all of this started.

So much has happened, and it hasn't even started yet.
I'm proud of what I've done.
I'm proud to have trodden down a path not many have before me.

Now, the time has almost come.
Ready or not, let's do this.
No turning back.
It'll take everything to stop me.

Almost three years ago, I said to myself, "I will succeed."
And succeed I will.