just like old days

A few weeks back I went back to my old secondary school for a carnival! :D It was a fund raising event to raise money for a new performance arts cum sports complex but i didn't even know about the purpose of the carnival till I got there and read about it on the display boards in the reception area. Heh well for my friends and I, any reason to head back to school is good enough for us... I was pretty amazed at the sheer scale of the carnival! They actually brought in theme park style/sized rides and had these inflated pools filled with water where kids could paddle mini boats or squeeze into a gigantic inflatable ball and roll around on the water... AHH i totally wanted to give it a go!!

Lots of yummy food sold by different classes that'd set up their own stalls. Of course they probably ordered in all the better looking cupcakes and such to sell. Some other classes sold handmade cookies and snacks. Really brings back fond memories of the times we had mini carnivals in school and each class had to think of what to sell at their stall... I don't really recall selling anything sensational though. Probably just the usual iced drinks and toasts or sth unremarkable like that. ;p

These little SC bear notebooks were sooooo adorable!! I would've gotten all of them if not for the fact that they were REALLY expensive. $7 each?? AGHH. :(( But they depict the typical SC uniform so accurately!! The green shorts the bears are wearing are actually called 'bloomers' ;p and i used to wear them when I was in primary school (the equivalent of Elementary school elsewhere I suppose) for sports lessons. They're notoriously hideous looking and soo uncomfortable because of the elastic waistband but really cute and puffy so I like seeing little kids wear em now that i no longer have to >:P

Some bits about my school have changed. There are a couple more play areas now and there were tons of little kids - siblings of the students or kids of the teachers.

This little dude in particular was SUCH a good subject. Most kids either run away or turn their faces away but this guy just stared calmly into the camera and REMAINED STILL.

Heehee I was just like "You're doing a great job, kiddo!! SMILE ok???", and without a word, he continued staring at the camera with a big GRIN. :D

Of course I couldn't resist -- got myself an SC teddy bear!!

After the carnival I met up with maro and we went to Central Mall for lunch on the way to the Asian Civilisations Museum.

(psst. fake cherry blossoms in the background. part of some travel exhibit promoting travel to Japan :p)

One of my favorite buildings in the area! I've always wanted to go inside the MICA building because of the cool multicolored shutters but i've never actually had the guts to do so. It IS a Ministry building after all... Another thing on my to-do list.

We went to the Asian Civilisations Museum because maro wanted to check out this exhibition about "jewelled treasures from the Indian Mughal empire" and I have to admit that it was pretty interesting... it was just bejewelled EVERYTHING. From swords to dinner plates to earrings to hair accessories... The one bit that was fun though was sitting down at a childrens' corner coloring a special illustration specific for the exhibition. ;p An outline of a little Mughal king/queen and there was a mound of crayons for us to use. Sigh, I go to a museum and all I remember was coloring a sheet of paper. Totally cultured aren't I?? *cough cough*

(shirt: Zara, vest: Topshop, pants: H&M, clutch/bag: Melie Bianco, shoes: Jeffrey Campbell Pilgrim Shoes)

After that we made our way to the Somerset area where we walked around some more... I love going out to town with my boyfriend, really, because he's the only one who comes close to being able to keep up with me. ;p

Went into one of my favorite shops -- Rockstar by Soon Lee -- at Cineleisure and as always, it was just like going into another world altogether. They sell the nicest (but also incredibly pricey) stuff there that hints of old school prep and vintage. I've only ever gotten a basic white tee and a pair of pants there before because most of the stuff is wayyy too expensive! I love going in there just to look at all the gorgeous stuff on display...and to enjoy the soothing music that's always makes me feel like I'm in an a softer world. My friend noted that Kings of Convenience is always playing.

Aren't these black canvas slip ons pretty? :) Nothing spectacular, I know, but I like stuff that's infinitely versatile. (Like this.)

A few weeks back I received my Jeffrey Campbell Pilgrim shoes from NeedSupply! :) It took quite a bit out of my savings but boyyy when I first stepped into them at home, I knew it was totally worth it. The leather is so soft and there base of the shoe felt comfortable and supported -- how often do you get that nowadays? I used to buy all these cheap flats last time but now I try not too since they don't offer much support for feet at all and end up hurting one's feet anyway.

So I wore these babies out that day to the carnival and the museum and they held up really well until the afternoon when I realised my cardinal mistake -- I'd forgotten to wear socks with them!! >< I'm so used to slipping on flats without any socks so for some reason I thought i'd be able to do the same with this pair; completely forgetting that it's brand new, unworn, and highly likely to give blisters regardless of how comfortable it feels initially. So needless to say, I ended up with a ton of blisters and it got so painful after awhile I ended up sending my dear maro to get a pair of socks for me while I waited at a corner pathetically. ;p Central Mall has like no store that sells proper socks so in the end I ended up with one of those cutesy toe socks bought from a gift store that's not only BRIGHT PINK but also has a cutesy cartoon print on it with bad english.

Whew, ok that was a lot of photos and words! :) Surprised to see more than 1 new post within a week? Heh I'm trying to keep it up since I'm on holiday now... Haven't really done anything much today except bring my mum out for a mother's day pedicure session and gorge on Northern Indian food. Time flies by so quickly though! I ended up getting seasons 3 to 5 of How I Met Your Mother from a classmate of mine today so I'm going to entertain myself with that over the next few days too.

Tomorrow I'm going to continue with research for my trip. Heh so if you guys have any stores to recommend to me while I'm in the U.S (NY and Seattle), do let me know?? :D

Muchos Gracias.

Here's to an awesome week ahead!