Yeah

I’ve been doing my best to refrain from perpetuating the stereotype of Singaporean students; that all we do is hang out in our own groups and not mix around. In defense of them, it’s not an elitist thing, or even shyness—it’s just that Singapore is a really small place, and people who study abroad (and there are many) tend to gravitate towards one of three places: America, the UK or Australia. Chances are that you will know people studying somewhere (I know more than fifteen people studying in New York, for example), so it’s a bit hard to leave an existing, readily-accessible social circle for a new one.

Over the past week or so I’ve met a few (non-Singaporean, ha!) people from Goldsmiths who’ve actually read this blog, which is one of the main reasons why I’m updating it now. I’ve been here for three weeks already but never got around to posting here (or on Common, which I’ll get to doing in a bit) because until last week, I was sleeping on my poet friend (and first-class History student) Jin’s couch in Waterloo. I also finally got around to refreshing the about section, since I’m 1) no longer looking for a job and 2) not a professional features writer anymore, whatever that means.

If you happen to be in London, Sandcastle will be screening at the ICA on the 15th and 17th of October. More details are available at the London Film Festival website. I’ll be introducing the movie on one of the days (or maybe both; I haven’t decided yet) so if you’d like to ask questions or buy me a pint, I’ll be in the area.

I’ve had the amazing opportunities (coming from somewhere with a dearth of regular concerts) to catch Wilco and Two Door Cinema Club play one week after another. Suffice it to say, watching Nels Cline solo on Impossible Germany was a near-religious experience.

Then there was this girl called Florrie opening for TDCC who was pretty damn good. She works extensively with Fred Falke and you can hear his influences in her style. His remixes of her tracks, are, of course, classic Falke tunes (see what I did there?) that never let you down. Here’s one of her tracks:

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But I’d love to make music in London—the crowds here are so much more appreciative of bands they’ve never heard of, which is more than I can say for the rampant shortchanging of bands in Singapore. No names, but if you’ve been following the local festival circuit you’ll know what I’m talking about. That, and the audience doesn’t yell at you to “get the fuck off” the stage so the band you’re opening for can play… but that’s a rant for another time.

To everyone who’s been asking what my room looks like (it’s not usually this messy, I swear):

Continue reading →

I am done with you
I’m sailing my own
My own sweet way
Around the world

This is a long overdue post—here’s what I’ve been up to recently:

So I seem to have started a small (four people) Singaporean thread on the Goldsmiths fresher’s page. Have also been hearing horror stories about visa applications—apparently you can’t smile in your photo or your $428 application fee is gone. Apparently they’ve started sending out accommodation letters, though, so I guess that’s a good sign.

In the mean time, Wall’s has been kind enough to give away tons of free ice cream, as well as feature me as an ambassador in two of their videos. It’s been popular enough that I get recognised as the “Wall’s guy” at Velvet, then as the “lead guy from Sandcastle” (most of the time during RT at Bedok Camp—go figure), and lastly (and hardly ever) as “that guy from The Fire Fight“. Score one for publicity!

Also, If Wall’s is good enough for the prata shop opposite Zouk (no, really, I’ll take a photo there this weekend), it’s good enough for you:

There are more videos on the Wall’s Share Happy Facebook Fan Page, as well as a way for you to win a year’s supply of ice-cream (something even I don’t have). This baby won; why shouldn’t the next one be you? If you win that year’s supply of ice-cream, I want to raid your fridge every other day. If you’ve been receiving these app invites from me on Facebook—don’t ignore them! Wall’s won’t spam you, and you’ll get a free ice cream when you share it with your friends. Promise.

Or if you just want the free ice-cream with minimal fuss, head down to Giant at Parkway Parade and have your photo taken by the vending machine—you’ll get your ice cream. Mmm mmm.

I’ve also been updating Common with the usual selection of stuff I want (or don’t get, but that’s been mainly limited to the Margiela accessories) out of the roughly 600 posts from 77 websites I go through on Google Reader every day—that’s some metrics for you right there. And it’s been doing pretty well; this blog and Common combined have been giving me an average of 700+ page views per day, according to my server logs. You have no idea how many times I see these ads every day:

But no matter. Walls is awesome. Sandcastle is awesome too; the film got rated NC-16 uncut. The premiere date and opening dates have been set, and a movie poster with my crazily intense double eyelids is up on the Sandcastle Film Blog. With any luck, we’ll be screening at festivals in the UK while I’m there. Would be awesome. Fingers crossed.

See you guys soon—and don’t forget to check out Common, Share Happy and Sandcastle.

I’ve been thinking about getting a tattoo for the past two to three years already, but never went ahead with it because 1) I couldn’t find the right guy to do it and 2) I didn’t have the money. I wanted a cross on my back (or at least on the nape of my neck) to serve as some sort of reminder that as messed up as I am (I haven’t been to church in over a year, I think; possibly two), I am saved by grace and grace alone.

It’s a bit strange, this belief thing. Most people want to believe that there is something bigger than this, that after 80 or 90 years on this planet we’ll go somewhere with 72 virgins, or somewhere where we’ll get wings and a big fat harp to play all day. I wouldn’t want to be dying and asking myself, “is this it?”. But I digress.

So I met this tattoo artist at Cafe del Mar the other day during their relaunch, and we got to talking after everything was over. I told him of my plans and thoughts, and he looked me in the eye (albeit we were both slightly drunk at this point) and went, “that’s some heavy shit, bro.” I asked, “Why?”

“If you believe he’s carried the cross for you, why do you want to carry it on your back?”

Well, shit. Dude makes a good point.

—

So I’d been waiting almost a month for Goldsmiths to get back to me on my admission status. It’s apparently one of the best schools in the UK for media, or so I’ve read from almost everywhere on the internets. And the A-level cutoff is AAB, so I suppose that’s good. They emailed me at 6pm today, but it went into my junk folder and I didn’t notice it until several hours later:

So hooray, I have 2½ months to sort out the movie premiere, clear my RT (yes…), book an exit permit, sell all the gear I don’t want, and settle my visa, rooming and ticket.

Exciting times ahead.