One Woeful Month

This month is NOT a good month for me. So it began with the project that led to about 10 DAYS of staying over at school and sleep deprivation syndrome. i did NOT procrastinate, mind you.

Then one day, my friends and I went to have dinner then i went to the toilet and left my blackberry, iphone and wallet with ALL my IDs inside it. i just realized the loss after about 2 hours, when i was packing my stuff to get home.

to cut the story short, none of them came back and i need to:

go to the police station to report the loss, then

back to school to get my student recognition letter, then

the the immigration office to replace my Student's Pass (otherwise i can't go back to Indonesia), then

the ATM to get a new NETS card, then

Tiong Bahru to get a new Student Card/ezlink card.

so that was a lot to do, especially in THE submission week :(

comments on today's concept board presentation.

so, we have this assignment where every 2-3 people are assigned 1 architect. our assignment was to research and present this on an A1 concept board. today's presentation was a TOTAL execution. i was lucky my architect didn't get chosen.

the thing is, our one and only male lecturer, who still has some humanity in him, was absent today. so we were all left on the mercy of the eagles' talons. *hyperbole*

all i can hear was negative negative negative comments said in a way that made those critics can't seem developing, but discouraging. but there's this one girl who got all positive comments for her superb organization of ideas and in-depth understanding <--their own words.

for the rest:

"can you talk of only ONE project that you at least understand? i want to know that you've been working on SOMETHING in this past 7 days."

"you're ideas are all scattered and not organized, you know, and from here i can spot at least 7 spelling mistakes."

"so what do you base the arrangement of your pictures on?"

now that i write it that way it doesn't seem too...sadistic. but with the perfect combination of ever-changing facial expression, with a dominant frown and dissatisfied expression, how can the presenters not feel intimidated and nervous?

at least in IB, even though they threw the harshest comments on us, i never felt intimidated or "afraid", but here, everything makes me SO. DAMN. NERVOUS. i do not know WHY.

Inspiring Visit from Kent Corbell

So, I'm back after 3 months of neglecting my blog.

Yesterday, a guy named Kent Corbell came to LASALLE. He is the architect-engineer-designer-electrical guy that helped make Universal Studios Singapore. Interested, me and my friends came to his...seminar. Which turned out to be inspiring.

Basically, he motivates us to expand our knowledge, as in to be curious about everything that happens around us. And he also likes to position himself in the Gap, which is the Gap between Theory and Practice. He encourages us to put ourselves in uncomfortable position as often as possible, be it a mere action of asking WHY, or working with people you don't usually work with, plunge in an area that is totally unfamiliar and working with the impossibles.

He asked a question of "Where is you gap NOW?"
I was sitting in the first row and had an answer, but too cowardly to actually put my hands up and share my thoughts. Especially because more than half of my lecturers are there. For my answer is this, "I actually don't know why I'm here. Because unlike you, i don't know what my real talents are. I mean, you've been 'the mechanical guy' since you were little.

I play the piano, I can solve math calculations, I read Raymond Chang and understand chemistry, I love Biology and can explain about mitosis and meiosis, I also love the arts and that pretty much explained why I applied here, I understand technology, I can relate well to different kinds of people, I also LOVE fashion...

Basically if, and only IF, my parents say..." YOU HAVE TO BE A DOCTOR" or "YOU HAVE TO BE A BUSINESS WOMAN", I can just study whatever Science, or Business, or Computer Engineering or whatever, and actually pass with a Bachelor's degree, BUT never with a summa cum laude. It's like, I don't know where I'm REALLY good at. But, where do I ACTUALLY belong??"

Reasons for me to not say that out loud:
- i don't wanna be seen as this "cocky Level 1 student"
- my lecturers are there. what IF they think that "wow, this girl isn't really serious about studying Interior Design"
- i just made some FRIENDS. and i'm pretty sure they'd flee from me after they listen to THAT.

And, in positioning myself in the uncomfortables, does that mean I can break the norms? Does that mean that I should express my ideas freely and not care about people around me?

I don't know. Maybe I just think too far and all that. But those are questions from the deep abyss of my heart. And yes, I would really like to have the answers to those.

Art Exhibition Set Up

IB Art Exhibition and Examination is coming up!

Day 1

We began setting up on April 13, at 1 pm. It was EXHAUSTING. First, we have to bring ALL of our artworks and research workbooks from the Art pod all the way back in Junior School to the 4th floor of Senior School. Yes, we did use trolleys to transport, but the journey along the road and ramps were painful. Almost all of the artworks are fragile, so we had to handle them with care.

After that, the two big auditorium, K400 and K401 are still crammed with chairs and tables. It's SUPPOSED to be cleared before we even entered the room. So, we all (12 girls and a guy. OH YAY ART CLASS!), stacked those chairs (hundreds of them!) and moved them out of the rooms. Another tiring process.

The rented panels were all dropped on MY space, which is a hallway between the K4 rooms. I couldn't work until all of them are moved out and we, again, spent another hour and energies to move the panels. By this time, the EO guys have started setting up the panels for each of us.

I stayed until around 8 PM at school and, boy, school was so creepy at night time! My space got set up second last, cause the hallway is used when they transport stuff in or out. Meh. So at the end of the day, I only had my panels and lamps set up. Apparently, I need 2 more panels, but fortunately, Jess had 2 extra panels :D

Day 2

We got the entire day today dedicated for art. That means we could skip all the classes and wear free dress to school! I just need to mount the artworks, arrange the installation, clean up the frames and stick up the artist statements today. I tried hammering in the nails, but to no avail *sigh*

With help from the Office Boys and grade 11 art students, I got mine all mounted and labeled. I also got a red sofa for my space and and it's so comfy! I changed my layout and positioning several times, so I'm grateful for all the helpers that I got for today. They made all things possible for me :)

There were several events that happened during the set up, such as the 2 broken mirrors of Cassandra's installation, Andri's re-recording of her performance art (I helped by being the cameragirl!), etc. It's been a hectic day for me and all my muscles are sore from all the lifting and moving of stuff. But, looking at the results, I can say that every drop of sweat dripped has paid off.

"I'm leaving you my FINGERPRINTS!"

This term, I take Forensics Science class in HOL (Hogwarts Online). And during this spring break, I did the Extra Credit for the Fingerprints module. And this is the result!

Mock Exams

Yes people. I, too, wonder why my posts are mostly related to IB. It's been a VERY long time since I posted, and now here I am, posting about the mock exams. *sigh*

Well, I guess, when you're in IB, the WHOLE 2 YEARS OF YOUR LIFE MUST BE DEDICATED TO IT. And "when you start the IB there's no going back." (Do ToK - Group 4 Project) Listen to it, IB ppl, it's AWESOME! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJOO8Jx8OpI

So yeah. I guess the mock exam isn't that bad since:

1. The grades aren't going to be in the term report (except for Maths)

2. Look at the name. Mock. So, yeah.

3. Even teachers say that this is a "practice exam" and one of them even say that the mock is "rather useless".

4. We can come to school later and go home earlier.

5. We have a holiday and 2 weekends in-between. (I, personally, have one more holiday due to my subject choice combination)

Anyway, I have to go and 'study' now.

why pink?

i suddenly wonder why there is a word 'pink'. I mean, basically it's just light red, right? Why doesn't light blue, light green or light orange have the same privilege and get their own 'names'?

Anyway, it's 1 AM here and my brain has begun to... generate questions like this. I guess I'll just have to hit the sack now. Nighty night.

Sailor Moon!

I was sitting in front of my table, supposed to be doing my homework but was too bored. Then I noticed that I have this little figurine on the table.

It's cute, isn't it? This is one of the characters in the Sailor Moon series. When I saw this, I immediately remember my childhood years, when every Sunday morning is dedicated for watching the 'Sunday morning cartoons'.

This is the character of Sailor Mars (Rei). Well, she's okay, but not my favorite one. My favorite is Sailor Jupiter (Makoto). I just thought that it would be so cool to have the power to control thunders and all that. She is also good in cooking and housekeeping, the two areas that I lacked the most. Her picture can be seen here.

So, what's your favorite cartoon characters when you were a child?

Electroplated Valentine

Hello, hello. So, how's everybody's Valentine? I had a little celebration in commemorating St. Valentine's. You'll know my opinion about this day by seeing this picture.

What a merry little Valentine.

This is an aluminum plate, electroplated with copper. Experiment done by my friend Jessica, heart shape scraped by me. Yes, this is what happens when 2 Visual Arts student accidentally took Chemistry HL class. A madness in the lab.

Anyway, this is just my way to express my opinion about the unimportant-ness of the Valentine's Day. As a friend says, "Valentine's Day is a holiday invented by greeting card companies to make people feel crappy." So, Happy un-Valentine's Day to you all.

The 'Fake' Louboutins

I was strolling in the mall yesterday and found the most curious thing. I was in the department store and saw this long array of shoes with RED SOLES. Yes, with red soles and they were NOT Louboutins. I mean, like, is this even allowed? Has Louboutin patented their trademark red soles?

In attempt to satisfy my curiosity, I Googled that and found that actually some brands such as Forever 21 (and even Paris Hilton's 'bridal collection'!) has made some heels with red soles too. If you're interested to read about the discussion on this, open this link:

And actually, yes, Louboutin DID patented his red soles. (link)

Although the designs were different to those of Louboutins, some of these heels are made based on Louboutin's design. Rotelli is one of the brand that sells these heels. And another, Amadea, is not really well-known. One of them is a peep-toed heels with bows at the back, made of satin and about 12 cm heels. Reminds you of Louboutin's? And another one, peep-toed, with triangular stones decorating the toe box. They are priced at around $100, which is about 1 million rupiah and WAY cheaper than the real Louboutins.

As for me, I would call this extreme plagiarism. But hey, who would know that you're wearing 'fake' Louboutins (except if they constantly read Louboutin's catalog regularly)?

Red, Maroon, Crimson, Carmine (and Pink) Everywhere

It's nearing the Chinese New Year! I went to the mall yesterday and saw that ALL the stores were displaying red stuff on their foremost part of the store. Clothes, shoes and accessories were flaming red. And since this year is the Tiger Year, everything is tiger-ish, from mini statues of tiger, tiger dolls, tigers on t-shirts, Pooh's Tigger positioned on the center with the others circling him... And my father constantly grinning and saying that "Hey, this is my year."

Chinese New Year this year is on the 14th of February. Yes, it coincides with the Valentine's Day. Therefore the lighter shade of red, pink, also dominates stores, especially for the teenage and chocolate stores.

Yesterday was the final day of midnight sale in Mall Kelapa Gading. It was crowded, but I was there and saw mommies choosing and buying red clothes for everybody in the family and girls buying fancily packaged chocolates for their boyfriend (this is an assumption).

For me? I spent my time in the bookstore, bought a cartridge for my printer, correction fluid and pencil. What a merry Valentine's.

A Song In My Mind

If It Kills Me - Jason Mraz

Hello, tell me you know

Yeah, you figured me out

Something gave it away

It would be such a beautiful moment

To see the look on your face

To know that I know that you know now

And baby thats a case of my wishful thinking

You know nothing

Well you and I

Why, we go carrying on for hours on end

We get along much better

Than you and your boyfriend

[Chorus:]

Well all I really wanna do is love you

A kind much closer than friends use

But I still cant say it after all weve been through

And all I really want to do is to feel you

As the feeling inside keeps building

And I will find a way to you if it kills me

If it kills me

How long, can I go on like this,

Wishing to kiss you,

Before I rightly explode?

This double life I lead isnt healthy for me

In fact it makes me nervous

If I get caught I could be risking it all

Cause maybe theres a lot that I miss

In case Im wrong

[Chorus]

If I should be so bold

Id ask you to hold my heart in your hand

Id tell you from the start how Ive longed to be your man

But I never said I would

I guess Im gonna miss my chance again

All I really wanna do is love you

A kind much closer than friends use

But I still cant say it after all weve been through

And all I really want to do is to feel you

As the feeling inside keeps building

And I will find a way to you if it kills me

If it kills me

If it kills me

I think it might kill me

And all I really want to do is to feel you

Yeah, the feeling inside keeps building

Ill find a way to you if it kills me

If it kills me

It might kill me

So, what do you think? A mere copy-pasting of a lyric of a well-known song?

This song has been playing and replaying in my mind for about 3 days. I've liked this song for a long time, but a few days ago, I was taking a bath and really listened to the lyrics. And I found out that it's beautiful. And romantic. And because I like it for reasons that I can't mention here :X

The Very (Un)Important Discussion on Ears

During a 'study time' on Monday, I noticed that Stella's ears seem unproportional to her head size. And that is why I was tempted to...touch hers. They seem so fluffy, but her ears were so DECEIVING!

As soon as I touched it, I felt that her ears were so thin. Like...crepes. Stella, feeling raped and uncomfortable, looked at me and said, "what. are. you. doing?"

Then I explained my motives. Slightly calmed, she touched MY ears. Then she said, "It's so weird!" And continued saying that my ears are flimsy and elf-like. I'm pretty okay with that at first, since I imagined the super-cool Legolas from The Lord of the Rings. But Stella mentioned Avatar, and I was not as pleased. But then it's okay, since they have sexy tails.

Then, came Cassandra. And annoyingly, she agreed with Stella's opinion that my ears were the abnormal one. So, we began comparing ears. It involves a lot of ear-touching, folding and rolling. By this time, more people were involved in the discussion.

Jessica, having the same ear-type as mine, showed that her ears too, could be easily folded and rolled. Then she said that her right ear is more flexible than the left. While for me, it's the contrary.

I came up with this brilliant theory that the side that you tend to sleep on everyday, would be more flexible. This is due to the cartilage that is experiencing constant pressure during sleeping hours. And this is proven to be true :)

Anyway, after the long discussion, I came up with a list of ear types:

• Stella - too small, complex shape (due to the slow growth of ears), thin, but with hard cartilage.
• Cassandra - a bit small, VERY hard, almost impossible to fold.
• Mine - left ear more flexible than the right, proportional and adorable :D
• Jessica - flexible, small (but proportional to head size)

Any other people want to be tested and put in this list? :)

High School Students Utter Disappointment about iPad

Everybody's anticipated the new Apple Tablet called iPad that has just been launched 24 hours ago. But immediately after its launching, all the blogs and websites were full of criticism towards the gadget.

Even us, high school students who were supposedly 'spend our school time by learning and doing our school stuff' were trying to keep up with the news about the tablet. To me, the opportunity came when I was in Business class. While the teacher was talking, I browsed the Apple.com and go through the gadget's specs. IT WAS DISAPPOINTING.

Then, during TOK class, I opened my Twitter account and my friend, Michelle, tweeted "for once, i'm ashamed to be a Mac user". I was too. Then jokes began to circulate around the school, like, "iPad! Next time it will come with wings!" and such. Poor Steve Jobs.

A Weird (Day)Dream

After I got home from school today, I was feeling incredibly exhausted although we did nothing in school today. Actually, we had a LOT of free periods today, I don't know why.

Anyway, I was exhausted and as soon as I got into my room, reached the AC remote and turned on the AC, I fell on my bed and started..dreaming.

FYI, the 'driver' in this story is not my personal driver. He's my anter jemput driver and often referred to as Kepala Suku, a nickname that describes his appearance so perfectly and is invented by my friend Cassandra.

I was in the school lobby, approaching my beloved little green car, ready to go home. Suddenly I heard a loud cry from behind me, "Hey, wait up, CC!"

That was from Mr P. And he was walking together with Mr Mike Weider who was still wearing his lopsided sports pants and unmatched SPH shirts. Before I had a chance to even ask, Mr Mike said to me, "Didn't he (the driver) tell you that from this day on we will be riding in your car everyday?"

I was like, "WHAT? WHY?"

Then Mr Mike said, "You young lady, has too many questions to ask. Now get into the car, coz we're blocking the traffic and we do not want that to happen in our school area, do we?"

Dumbfounded, I obeyed his command and got into the car. Mr P opened the door to the backseat and said, "There is NO way I'm gonna fit in there. My legs too long"

So Mr Mike hopped in the backseat and Mr P sat in front. The car started moving and I, as usual, plugged in my earphones to my iPhone and began listening to songs in my Top Rated. And, as usual too, I dozed off...

Until suddenly the car was hit from the back by a pickup, resulting in a WOW from Mr P and a What-in-the-world-was-that from Mr Mike. But before they had the chance to look back, the driver's door was opened and he was yanked away from the car by a person from the pickup. Then, I began to panic and shout.

Mr Mike, a quick thinker and not a panicky person, shouted "P! DRIVE THE CAR! YOU'RE SITTING IN FRONT, FOR PETE'S SAKE!"

Triggered by Mr Mike loud voice, Mr P got hold of the steering wheel while he struggles to get his leg to the other side of the car. He shouted, "I forgot how to drive a manual car!"

During his struggle, the car was practically zig-zagging along the road and we received angry honks from angry drivers around us...

Fortunately, Cassie called and saved me from this awkward, insane dream.

Stunning 2D (or 3D?) Artworks!

These are street artworks and I am stunned by the concept, the idea, the skill, everything! My personal favorite is the "Siete Punto Uno" by John Pugh. Since it is very realistic and I love the idea of a...secret historical site in the middle of the city. Anyway, check out the site and tell me what you think :)

http://ow.ly/1112N

Another Good News

WOOHOO I LOVE THIS DAY! After the acceptance message from La Salle, I got a phone call from my mother. She told me about the term report grades. The way she told me was so...annoying. She asked me to guess first before she told me the real grade. I was so desperate for Chemistry and I guessed that I'd have a 3 on my report. Turns out my teacher is still generous and decided to give me a 4.

Some teachers are way too generous, another are too stingy, another just LIED about my grade to me. I wonder why. IB teachers are weird. But it's okay as long as they give me enough total to get into a good university.

Recent Updates on University Acceptance thing.

So. I got an SMS. it says "Congratulations! You're accepted to the La Salle College Foundation Studies, and blah blah blah". I am glad, because my mom is happy and hope that will compensate for the potentially bad report.

This is a second offer from the university that I applied to. The first one was RMIT in Melbourne, but it requires minimal IB grade of 32. And it was for the architecture major.

La Salle said that if I'm applying for Level 1 Interior Design, I would have to...wait for another decision after the lecturers' meeting. And I might have to go through another interview process. The scholarship thing will be announced at around March and I'm hopeful for that :)

Anyway, I'm still waiting for the acceptance from UNSW. There I applied for the Interior Architecture program. About 2 days ago, I got an email that my application has been received and I just have to wait.

That's all for the university-thing update for now. Off to bully my cousin ;D

My Current Top Rated Playlist

I regularly updated the songs and playlists in my iTunes. Currently, my Top Rated playlist has 20 songs (woohoo even number!). And they are listed below:

• Two Is Better Than One - Boys Like Girls ft. Taylor Swift
• Down in New Orleans - Dr John (Princess and the Frog)
• Replay - IYAZ
• I'm In The Mood for Love - Jamiroquai & Jools Holland
• Whatcha Say - Jason Derulo
• Down - Jay Sean ft Lil Wayne
• Empire State of Mind - Jay Z ft Alicia Keys
• Your Love Is My Drug - Ke$ha
• Tik Tok - Ke$ha
• Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon
• Need You Now - Lady Antebellum
• Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
• Fuck You - Lily Allen
• When We're Human - Michael Leon-Wooley, Bruno Campos and Anika Noni Rose
• Never Knew I Needed - Ne-Yo
• Cry Me Out - Pixie Lott
• What Hurts The Most - Rascal Flatts
• The Man Who Can't Be Moved - The Script
• Jump Then Fall - Taylor Swift
• Hey, Soul Sister - Train

As you can see, it's quite random. 3 songs are soundtracks of the Princess and the Frog and 2 of them are Ke$ha's song ( I love her songs!). And they are not necessarily all new. My Top Rated is a compilation of songs I would want to listen to the most and some of them are stuck in my head for days.

Looking at this playlist, do you have any suggestion on what songs to download? ;)

LASALLE Interview

I had my La Salle Interview today. Had to fit 13 artworks in a sedan, which is already filled with several boxes of house tiles and 4 adults. I got stuck in a traffic and almost came late because of that.

The interview is in a group of about 12 people. I chose the 12.20 slot and quite surprisingly the applicants were all girls in that slot. I presented the wayang-marionette artwork which can be seen below:

This is the unpolished, unframed version of it. But, this is the only picture of it that I already have in my computer. Other artworks include the series of shoe paintings, installation about Oniomania (shopaholic problem), some sketches on A3 paper, other paintings and drawings, lino prints of Venetian masks and a video art about plastic surgery.

During the 'art discussion' session, I also managed to 'challenge' others' opinions. Basically, I defended my viewpoint that artworks can be morally wrong and still called as art (well, there was this girl that said "i think art MUST be used for positive purposes) and that anything that has a concept or idea behind it can be called as art too. In this case, I took Marcel Duchamp's urinal artwork as an example :)

God, I'm thankful I paid attention to Miss Christine in TOK Arts.

During the Q & A session, I did a rather stupid thing. I stupidly thought that one of the lecturer was a fresh graduate. And when he declared himself as a lecturer, I was like, "Really? I thought you're a fresh graduate!" Hope he doesn't remember me as a girl-who-questioned-his-authority then.

I am so GRATEFUL that I chose to be in the 12.20 slot. In the next session after me, there was this Korean girl that has like, 20 gigantic artwork, each one with texture and mesmerizing color choice that makes you literally stared at her artworks. I would have had an extreme mental breakdown if I was in a room with her.

She made a really big scenery painting by sticking colorful tiny circle papers from paper puncher. Which was REALLY stunning. Amazing patience.

Another one is from tiny origami paper boats, clustered tight together and sticked on a BIG canvas. And then she painted those with acrylic paint and make them look like reptile's skin texture. More like a dragon's skin, because it was dominated with sapphire blue color.

Anyway, today I am quite refreshed and inspired by looking at others artwork and got plenty ideas for my next artworks :D

The IB thing.

Since in my first post I've already mentioned about the IB, I might as well tell what subjects I am taking. You might see this list as a weird combination of subjects, but, oh well. Here it goes:

• Maths SL
• Bahasa Indonesia A1 SL
• English A2 HL
• Business HL
• Chemistry HL
• Visual Arts HL

SL stands for Standard Level and HL stands for Higher Level. Yes, I am taking 4 HL instead of 3. Hmm.

Am I a very clever, always-above-the-average kind of person? No.

Then why did I take 4 HLs and make my life more difficult? Honestly, I've been asking myself the same question.

Why I made a blog.

I was NEVER interested in making a blog. I had that thought in mind until I joined Twitter. Since it's called microblogging, the posts are obviously limited (to keep the 'micro' word alive!)

Then, sometimes, well, lots of times, I feel like 140 characters are just NOT enough for me.

What I write here is literally what is going on inside my head. Be prepared to enter the COLORFUL WORLD OF CAROLINA! ;D

intro intro, here we go.

Hi all!

Yes, that is the best sentence to declare my existence in the blogging world. I tried not to sound too generic, but it's past midnight, so pardon my slow-functioning brain. Can't think of anything creative and catchy.

So. Name's Carolina. Words to describe me, according to myself, are creative, easygoing, cheerful and can be quirky at times. Anyway, I'm never good with introductions. I will try to post regularly about every little thing that happened. If I didn't post... well, assume that nothing interesting is happening in my life. Or maybe I'm just too busy with my IB life.

Oh yes. I'm an IB student. Grade 12. IB is short for International Baccalaureate. It's some kind of an educational curriculum and I think its main purpose is to make students life difficult.

There. I said that.

Gah. Why am I writing about IB in my very first post? See. I can easily confuse myself.

I guess that is enough for intro.