Hey there I’m sorry I haven’t blogged in slightly over 4 months. Been caught up in school, work and drama. Traveled to Vegas over my spring break to celebrate my 21st birthday which falls on St. Patrick’s Day.

Indianapolis Airport waiting to depart. Sunset/sunrise always make my flight feel better.

MGM Signature Hotel

First thing to do? Take a selca.

View from MGM Signature Hotel.

Crystals at City Center. My fave spot in Vegas.

Me and my Bro! Havent seen him in 8 months!

Boy, was that snake heavy.

Todd English’s OLIVES Restaurant.

Best rib eye I’ve eaten.

The sea bass tasted pretty good too.

Hazel nut souffle was really puffy.

A really expensive meal but you gotta pay for good food!

Best Circus Show ever. Cirque Du Soleil “O” Show

I hereby conclude my shopping in Las Vegas.

At the revolving restaurant located at the Stratosphere

View from the restaurant.

Mignon Filet Steak. Small, expensive but delicious.

With my Oppa!

Tried on this red dress…

Which cost $2695. Ridiculous.

Earl of Sandwich

This is honestly the best sandwich I’ve ever eaten.

The Gondola ride at The Venetian was an interesting experience.

Prada heels!

Started my 21st birthday with a Fat Tuesday.

Here are the birthday presents I received:

Victoria’s Secret. Check.

Victoria’s Secret. Check #2.

Birthday Card, check #3.

Birthday Cake, Check #4.

My favorite gift, the Prada Gaufre’ Nappa Leather wallet.

I had a great birthday that I will remember for life.
Thank you Andrew for flying out and surprising me n’ the custom made Oreo Cheesecake, n’ the gifts.
Thank you Austin for spending time with me, Bimbo Do for your lovely card, Pete for your VS card, and everyone who wished me a happy birthday.

P.S I updated my portfolio page with new videos and travel/food photos which can be found here: http://www.euminler.com/portfolio

With Love,
Eumi

I rushed back to my dorm after class on 21st October. I frantically checked to see if I’ve got everything packed. Since time was tight I did not have time to get breakfast or lunch so I headed down to the store, bought some biscuits and eat them in the shuttle to the airport. I was at the airport 2 hours before my flight time. Prior to this trip, a flood of emotions washed over me and especially more so before my flight. Being all alone in an unfamiliar city that is infamously known as dangerous… what am I suppose to do? The questions disappeared soon after I met familiar faces… some of which I’ve never seen for quite some time.

It was quite a sight… The clouds gathered outside a dark circle forming a shape similar to a whirlpool.
I arrived earlier than expected and my two kind friends picked me up from the airport. It took a good 1.5 hours to get from the airport back to our hotel.

We took the subway to Penn Station and took a little walk around the city to get some alcohol (shhhh it’s just between you and me).
This has to be the nicest post office I’ve seen in my entire life (picture on top right).

Some random buildings in New York… Pretty unique design.

 Getting used to the street names in New York city, also known as “the grid”.

Oh I wish I had time to do some shopping.

 Subway from Penn Station. It’s probably one of the most disgusting subways I’ve ever seen. Trash everywhere. The whole place smells of pee and rats everywhere. If I had to rate this subway, it would be a FAIL.

But what can I do? I do not have spare cash for taxi and subway happens to be the most convenient mode of transport in NYC.

Some of the trains were decent. I would say that the trains were cleaner than I expected but the subway stations are dirtier than expected.

And we started drinking soon after we got back to the hotel. Chips + alcohol + TV = great combination for relaxing.

The sunset at Queens. Nice hue, if only it wasn’t blocked by buildings, like every other cities.

It’s saturday morning! Time to head downtown. A little photo-taking before we do.

On my way from Queens station to meet an old friend..

I love this Victoria’s Secret store.

More street signs. Purely for future references.

Another random view of the city.
The dark shadows cast upon the buildings formed the base of this masterpiece.

Intricate details in the design on the public library. Meticulous to details, feels like I’m in Europe.
Felt obliged take a picture with L in front of it.

Another…Random Building.

Times Square.

Good Morning America.

You know you’re in NYC when you see this.

Reminiscing the good ol’ days with an old friend, L , whom I haven’t seen for 3 years.
Time passed so fast and the next thing we know we’re both in college. When he knew that I was going to be in NYC, he knows he had to drive down to NYC from Vermont. He said, “I had to. It has been way too long.” So true. Plus, us three (including my bro) gathered once again, this time in NYC.

It was highly recommended by 2 friends of mine. L was complaining like a girl about the long lines….

The menu alone, sounded appetizing.

I got the ShackBurger and Great White Way which was only available at this store.

Looking happy with the remote.

I’m smiling because I’m finally getting real food.

The Shake Shack logo.

Eager to finish his ShackBurger double.

Definitely one of the best burgers I’ve ever tasted. Possibly the best fast food burgers out there.
Bread was soft and meat was soft, tender and juicy. Vegetables were fresh and saying it was delicious is an understatement. 10/10.

My tasty milkshake that was too thick to be sucked out of a straw.

NYC Taxis… so what’s new?

It took L and I about 45 minutes to walk to Central Park and about 2-3 hours being stuck in Central Park exploring, getting lost and waiting for B.

Central Park…

The view of NYC from Central Park.

Poor horses look like they’re having difficulties with it. They’re so pretty but they shouldn’t be pulling carriages.

I need a white horse, and my knight in shinning armor. hahaha.

Many artistic individuals in Central Park, putting their skills to good use. Artists, Musicians, Performers.

Someone getting dressed up a little too early for halloween..

A castle. Home to a princess.

Squirrels never fail to amuse me.

NYC looks pretty from afar.

Family for life. Friends may come and go but family stick it out no matter what.

A ferris wheel in Toys R Us. Definitely the best Toys R Us I’ve ever seen. Puts other stores to shame.

Where else to go for a nice Asian dinner in NYC? Korean BBQ for sure.

Let’s have a drink to go with our meat. Raspberry wine. On nom nom nom

Galbi beef – one of my favorites. Definitely the best KBBQ I’ve had in the US.

You pay for what you get. The better the meat, the more expensive it costs. It was worth it.

Sent my bro off and headed back to the hotel. My friends were heading out to KTown so it was a worthless trip.
I went back to KTown with another group of friends, this time eating at a restaurant beside the one I was at.

Ktown with SSF Staff. GG… Bring the boys out.

Today’s the day. My first ever concert.
To the people who made it all possible: AP, AC, CL, DV.
You’ve not been forgotten and never will be. <3

I honestly love Shake Shack so much that I ate it a second time the next day. Got a ShackBurger double, fries and a vanilla milkshake.
The vanilla milkshake reminds me of my favorite vanilla ice-cream from australia which is not available here.

SSF Staff photo-taking Part 2.

The lines for the official merchandise was CRAZY.

Efforts to promote the fan-meet on Monday morning.

Back home… It was a bittersweet good bye.
The concert lasted 4 hours. One of the most memorable 4 hours of my life.
Unexpected artists had great singing abilities on their live performances.
I remember SNSD’s english introductions, BoA’s funny comment: “I just realized how short my shorts are”.

Suffering from SM Town NYC withdrawals. Wish I had more time to hang out with people.

Eumi is traveling again. Chicago next week! Seriously… I live to travel and explore. Let’s go!

With Love,
Eumi

5th August at 9.20am, I boarded the Singapore Airlines A380 bound for LAX via Narita Airport with hopes that I will have better exposure and opportunities in a foreign land. Letting go of your friends and family being independent and striking it out on your own is what I’ll need to do eventually. So why not start now? Plus, I want the whole college experience with a football team, sorority, fraternities with a college campus (sorry NYU), huge campus and all that jazz. So now, I embark on a new journey, I have no idea where it leads me to but I’ll find my path and direction indefinitely. Somehow I feel that arts/films is just a part of me that will never die down.

 
Krisflyer Entertainment System on Airbus A380. I felt that the movie choices were limited even though they had new movies. Emirates still has the best entertainment system ever. The A380 entertainment systems are also equipped with eternet input which I think will be implemented really soon. Now I can start using internet while miling 30,000 miles above sea level.

I was really impressed by Singapore Airlines service. I wasn’t feeling too well on the flight as I felt sick and could only drink hot/warm water. The steward noticed it and never fails to bring me hot/warm water to ease my throat. He would look in my direction and ask “hot water?” when they were doing their rounds for drink service. For the first half of the trip to Tokyo, I sat beside this woman who munched her nuts while watching a movie and drinking her wine. I think she got a total of approximately 10 wines within the 7 hour flight.

Looked out my window, the sun rays hitting down the metal plates of the wings and a rainbow emerged. How pretty.

Japan is known for their high technology and sophisticated bathrooms so I decided to take a picture of one.

Taxi at Narita Airport, getting ready to take off.

For those of you that do not know what Tokyo Banana is, Tokyo Banana is a chiffon cake with banana filling inside and it expires in a week which is why there are barely any exports. So.. here’s a summary. I bought my Tokyo Banana, all excited to leave Japan for LAX. Closed my eyes to rest and one and a half hours later, I woke up to the sound of an announcement saying that there has been an engine malfunction and they are required to fly back to Narita Airport as there isn’t anywhere else to land (unless I want to die in the ocean, that is). They also had to let the fuel leak out because the plane was getting too heavy. It took us another 1.5 hours to get back to Narita and it was around 9.30pm. The cabin crew had to request for clearance to serve dinner on board the plane. We were then told that we had to stay in Tokyo for the night and the plane could only be fixed tomorrow as the airport is already closed. I had no clue that Narita Airport had a closing time.  About 2 hours later, we left the plane and proceeded to check out with our hotel tags and luggage(s). It was definitely a fun experience. Staying in a city for a night that was unintentional.

In the shuttle bus that took us to the hotel. It took us 1 hour 30 minutes to get to Tokyo. It is insane. I was already dead tired because I can’t sleep on planes.

Checked into a sweet, spacious hotel. I called my parents to reassure them that I’m fine. My eyes look weary and I look like a zombie.

The bed was amazing. Comfy. Catched up on my sleep for about 2-4 hours.

I enjoyed my stay at Crown Prince Hotel. Spacious with eternet ports (thank god I brought my eternet cable) and I love their amenities. Shiseido <3

The view from my room.

Breakfast was served at 6.30. I was up by 6am.

Wide variety of selection for breakfast. I wasn’t feeling well and I had barely any appetite.

What I got for breakfast.

Huge hotel lobby. Biggest hotel I’ve ever been to. Theres like 4 different wings/hotel in a cluster? I’m not very sure.

As a photographer, I couldn’t help but snap pictures of my surroundings because I know I’ll be using them in this very blog post.

A shuttle took us back to the airport and boy, was I glad to be back on the plane. Rice noodles tastes pretty decent for airplane food. I lost my appetite and couldn’t finish half of my food and the steward attending to my section asked if I wanted something else instead. Singapore Airlines, you deserve the best service for this trip. Hopefully on my return flight I will be well enough to drink my Singapore Sling and have like 6 Haagen Daaz Ice-cream.

I love it when the sky is filled with a tint of orange gradient.

First day in LA, my kind friends picked me up and we headed to Mr. Pizza in Koreatown for a SoCal meet-up. A very unique pizza with lots of cheese and crust filled with sweet potatoes. Of course, what can a SoCal meet up do without our girls?

What extent would you go to to get the perfect picture at the perfect moment?

The billboard was blocked by 2 ridiculously large black boxes. We were cussing about it. Koreatown baby.

You’ve never been to koreatown if you have not been to a AYCE Korean BBQ dinner.

You can’t compare the quality of meat with a $20 per plate Kalbi beef back in Singapore since we’re only paying $18.99 for it.

The Korean BBQ place we went was extremely popular.

Day 3 started with lunch at In-N-Out.Double Double and animal style fries. I regretted ordering animal style fries. As soon as I finished my burger, I couldn’t eat further. Why do portions have to be so huge here?!

Kodak Theater! And my favorite Star on the Walk of Fame. I wish I could be a VS Angel. PINK SHALL TAKE OVER THE WORLD.

Pictures with my lovely friends.

Amoeba Music. The biggest CD shop in LA. You can find almost everything there. I found a couple of familiar films. Old Boy, Godfather, and films by Ingmar Bergman. I miss watching films in school. Bluray movies here are also way cheaper than Singapore.

Making my 2nd last day memorable by visiting a very touristy attraction – to view the Hollywood sign. It was a bitch trying to navigate our way into the hills.

This is not just any ihop… This is… THE ihop.

International House of Pancakes

Next interesting thing to view: Homeless people. It still amazes me how many homeless people there are in LA. I’ve never seen one back in Singapore and I’m pretty sure being homeless is illegal in Singapore too.

Outlet Shopping! I think I spent most of my money in Banana Replublic and getting my leather jackets.

Best memory in LA? The epic photoshoot I had with my friends.

I wish I could take this place back with me.

 Camera: Check. Tripod: Check. Models: Check. Timer: Check.

Cloud view from my seat, and Las Vegas at night. View was pretty. Too bad I can’t enter the casino when I’m not 21. I miss the weather in LA. I miss the people in LA. I miss LA. There are so many places I’ve yet to visit, so much food I’ve yet to try. I’ll be back eventually. Thank god my connecting flight back to SG would be via LAX. Greek food, pinks, beaches and Hollywood… Wait for me.

With Love,
Eumi

Tim Ho Wan is a Michelin-Starred Restaurant located in Hong Kong. One of the restaurant’s chef, Chef Mak came to Singapore for a couple of days between June-July 2011. Naturally, the novelty of eating at a Michelin star establishment without having to queue or wait for hours was tempting.

Feng Shui Inn brought in Chef Mak as a guest chef.

Mushroom wrapped dumpling had quite a unique taste.

Siew Mai tasted good with fresh ingredients and prawns. That made a difference.

It was also my first time trying Ha Kau.

Fried seafood with mango made me realize how much I do not like food with mango.
I love the fruit too much to have it being cooked.

Dumpling with Foie Gras, one of my favorite dishes.

Abalone and Chicken Tart, the signature dish of Chef Mak lives up to its reputation. I wished they
offered something else other than abalone though. I can’t stand the taste of abalone.

Roasted Honey Pork Bun had sweet meat, firm crust with the tinniest dusting of sugar. Definitely
my favorite dim sum out of everything I ate that day.

I loved it so much I ordered another plate for myself.

Ended off with Fried Cheese Lychee.

I’m pretty sure this price is steeper when compared to the prices in Hong Kong.
I like Chef Mak’s signature dishes but I’m a bit skeptical about experimental dishes like cheese lychee, seafood mango, etc.
I’m a tad old fashion when it comes to dim sum. I’d like my dim sum to stay as original as possible.

Ratings:
Roasted Honey Pork Bun: 9/10
Abalone and Chicken Pastries: 9/10
Mushroom wrapped: 7/10
Siew Mai: 8.5/10
Ha Kau: 8/10
Lobster Rice Roll: 8/10
Dumpling Froie Gras : 9/10
Fried Seafood Mango: 7/10
Fried Cheese Lychee 7/10

Address:
Tim Ho Wan,
2-8 Kwong Wah St | Mong Kok,
Hong Kong, China

To read my other food reviews, please go to: http://euminler.com/blog/category/reviews

With Love,
Eumi

Osia was crowned Best New Restaurant by CNNGo’s Best Eats awards 2010 and was recently honored by Singapore Tatler in “Singapore’s Best Restaurant Guide 2011“. You’re greeted with smiles as soon as you step foot inside the restaurant.

The counter at the back of the restaurant

Bar counter / Open-concept Kitchen.

 Really thoughtful staff who brought hot water with honey and a slice of lemon upon hearing that my dad was sick.

The Menu reminds me of the menu of Feng Shui Inn. A wide selection for you to choose from. I went along with the 3 Course meal.

1 main menu, 2 set menu and 1 drinks menu.

The decor and setting on the table were beautifully done. At any point of time when you leave your table for the washroom, etc,
the staff would fold your napkin and place it back neatly on your table.

Half Macadamia Pesto Nut and Half Truffled Kalamata Olive Flat Bread with Garlic Peta Spread.
I didn’t know which bread to choose, so I was suggested the option of dividing my bread into 2 flavors which I enjoyed.
I preferred the macadamia pesto nut flat bread – it has a unique, nutty finish which I really liked.

Salad of Roasted Beetroot – Didn’t really like it since I’m not a fan of beetroot

Osia Meslun Greens with Grilled Chicken Breast

Corn Fed Chicken Breast

Australian Beef Short Rib that only requires a fork as it has been stewed for several hours.
The best beef short ribs I have ever tasted. The sauteed onions went well with the beef.

Brown / White sugar for your coffee/tea as well as full cream milk or low fat milk.

Valrhona Hot Chocolate Soup with Black Peppered Ice Cream
Loved it. It was done to perfection.

Ratings:
Service: 10/10 (By far, the best service I’ve ever received)
Macadamia Pesto Nut with Garlic Peta Spread: 8.5/10
Truffled Kalamata Olive Flat Bread with Garlic Peta Spread: 6.5/10
Salad of Roasted Beetroot: 6/10
Osia Meslun Greens with Grilled Chicken Breast: 6/10
Corn Fed Chicken Breast: 7/10
Australian Beef Short Rib: 9.5/10
Valrhona Hot Chocolate Soup with Black Peppered Ice Cream: 9.5/10

Address:
8 Sentosa Gateway,
Level 2, Festive Walk
Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore
Tel: (65) 6577 6560

To read my other food reviews, please go to: http://euminler.com/blog/category/reviews

With Love,
Eumi

This is my 2nd favorite Chinese seafood restaurant in Singapore after Long Beach. It is a joint partnership between Tung Lok, Palm Beach, Seafood International, and Jumbo Seafood – Some of the top seafood restaurants in Singapore. I’ve been a frequent patron of Singapore Seafood Republic for months now and I’ve tried many different food from this place.

A cool sight of wine display as you walk inside the restaurant. You may also take your pick there.
Wine and beers choices are limited.

My Table Number. Lucky Number 6.

The Menu

The Menu

Reserved Table.

The setting of the restaurant. Hey Mister Manager, what are you looking at?

A nut cracker is used to ease the shelling of crabs.

Interior Lighting on the wall.

My favorite Pu-er tea tastes fragrant. Enough said. I drink tea to help “wash away” the oil.

Appetizer that is served before your food comes. A good mix. I once saw a Korean man ordering another plate after he was done with his crab.

Bacon Rolls.
This seems out of place when you have it together with rice but since I’m not a rice person, I felt this was a good alternative.

Although this is second to Long Beach’s cereal prawns, I like how they are very generous when I requested for more cereal.
The prawns were fresh and the cereal was crispy.

A different kind of vegetable apart from typical chinese vegetables in restaurants. Love it.
Who thought of adding spinach to the top of tofu? They blend well together.

The reputation for their chilli crab was well deserved.

I felt that the Yolk used was not fresh yolk and it was too thick – you could feel rough grains in your mouth.

Do not be shock if you bill comes up to close to $60 / person. It is pretty much the average cost.

Random photos of Resorts World Sentosa.

My beloved Victoria Secrets! Way overpriced if you ask me.

Ratings:
Pu-Er Tea: 9/10
Bacon Roll: 9/10
Tofu with Spinach and Mushrooms: 8.5/10
Fried Prawns with Cereals: 7.5/10
Chilli Crab with Fried Buns: 9/10 (Everyone comes here for their chilli crab, so this is a definite choice)
Black Pepper Crab: 7.5/10
White Pepper Crab: 8/10
Salted Egg Yolk Crab: 6/10
Asparagus with Scallops: 6/10 (Way too salty though scallops were good)
Pumpkin Soup: 8/10 (Quite a refreshing taste, and it is thick enough)
Cabbage with Pumpkin Sauce: 8/10
Fried Mushroom with Soft Shell Crab: 7/10 (Felt like I was drowning in oil, but otherwise, it is worth a try)
Fried Yam Ring with Scallops: 9/10
Chrysanthemum Rib: 9/10 (One of my favorite dish even though it sounds weird. A MUST TRY.)

Address:
8 Sentosa Gateway,
Basement 1-M Crockfords Tower,
Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore
Tel: (65) 6577 8899

Do make reservations on a weekend before you head down or expect a long waiting time!

To read my other food reviews, please go to: http://euminler.com/blog/category/reviews

With Love,
Eumi

Feng Shui Inn is probably one of the less known fine dining Chinese restaurants in Singapore. It is located at B1-M, Crockfords Tower, Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore which is just outside the Crockfords Club & Grill – The place for high rollers. In addition, there are four private rooms equipped with a mahjong set and table for you to dine and play in private. Walking inside this restaurant, the decorations are the first thing that will capture your eyes. The modern and sophisticated design gives a luxurious feel to the atmosphere. Their signature dishes includes the Ginseng Chicken Soup, Peking Duck and Bird Nest Egg Tart. Be warned that dining here is pretty costly if you’re not entitled to discounts.

The service counter outside the restaurant.

The Crockfords Club & Grill for High Rollers.

The setting of the restaurant. Spot light spilling down the side of the wall.

It was nicely decorated. The color of the flowers blend in with he colors of the table cloth and chairs.

The abstract artwork on the wall that gives a lush feel.

The setting on the table. It was thoughtful of them to provide 2 pairs of chopsticks beforehand.

Tea is served in the classic chinese way, usually seen in period dramas/movies like Princess Pearl.

It was an interesting experience sipping tea in the traditional way.

The design of the menu looks classy.

I would have preferred a menu with pictures or a menu that isn’t made of paper.

Ginseng Chicken Soup (SG$28 per bowl).
It was good, the Ginseng was sufficient enough but not too strong to turn you off.

Asparagus with scallops and Foie Gras. They were generous with the scallops which tasted fresh and the asparagus did not taste bitter.
The Foie Gras was done to my liking. Soft, smooth and it melts in my mouth.

Roast chicken with Almond nuts and BBQ sauce. It tasted normal, nothing special about it. Meat was tender, but there were bones in them.

Now this is what I’ve been waiting for. The wait for the Peking duck with Mexican buns was worth it. I savored every single piece of it. I love how the duck compliments with the bun, the sauce and spring onions. It was quite a unique taste. I will definitely be back for this unique and mouth-watering Peking Duck.

Sadly, I’m not a fan of Bird Nest (let’s just say I’m allergic to it) but I decided to give it a try. I’m pretty sure those who love bird nest would love this.
Price: $5.20 per piece

As you can see, I’m all smiles after the meal.

The verdict? Overall, it was a good meal but it was costly (approx. $200 for 3 person). I look forward to returning soon when Guest Chef Mak pays a visit to the restaurant!

Ratings:
Ginseng Chicken Soup: 8/10
Asparagus with Scallops and Foie Gras: 9/10
Roast Chicken with Almond Nuts and BBQ Sauce: 6.5/10
Peking Duck with Mexican Buns: 9/10
Bird Nest Egg Tart: 5/10 (Not a fan of Bird Nest but my Dad loves it)
Pu-Er Tea: 7/10

Address:
8 Sentosa Gateway,
Basement 1-M Crockfords Tower,
Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore
Tel: (65) 6577 8899

To read my other food reviews, please go to: http://euminler.com/blog/category/reviews

With Love,
Eumi

Congratulations to the Class of 2011. We’re the most indebted graduates ever… or at least I would be in 3 months time. Our graduation ceremony was the moment I’ve been waiting for. Some of you may remember how I started counting down my days to graduation. yes. all the way from 2008. Life in college isn’t always smooth sailing, I’ve had my fair shares of misery. After 3 years of hard work, sacrifices, sleepless nights and perseverance, I’ve finally graduated officially as a film student and as a business student. The unofficial graduation date was the last day of our Media Law exam, seeing the vast amount of happy faces gleaming, people squealing and screaming excitedly as they walk out of the examination room was quite a sight. Hugs were obviously mandatory. Thinking back about how I met my friends on the first day of orientation/school/class/clubs really jocks back my memory.

It seems as though time passed slightly way too fast. I think each and everyone one of us have grown and matured as a person after three years. 3 years ago, we started off as strangers, became friends and grew to love each other like family. 3 years ago, we were novice at film-making, photography, scriptwriting, film analysis, after effects, final cut pro, avid, photoshop, maya, audio production, film loading, studio production, cinematography, lighting (yes those kinos, 650s, 1k, dedos), hell we didn’t even know what dogma films were or what was French New Wave, German expressionism or Italian neorealism or who Jean Luc Godard was, nor have we watched The Battleship of Potemkin, Citizen Kane, Seven Chances, The Red Violin, 400 blows, Dancer in the Dark (remember how everyone was crying at the end of the movie?), Rashomon, Little toys, Lost in Beijing, Farewell my concubine, Shree 420, and especially movies from the less popular Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia films. It’s almost impossible to name all the movies we’ve watched for class; I would say a good 80-100. We also learned how regional films were surprisingly better than Hollywood films. It changed our perspective on the stereotypes of bollywood films, old historical films and perhaps the less known cinemas.

I recall people shrieking, squealing and screaming when nudity was first shown during our Introduction to Film class when we were just freshmen but evolved to making fun of the nudity when were were juniors and as seniors, nudity was normal.

Are you proud to be a Film & Media Studies graduate? A Mass communication graduate, a Film, Sound & Video graduate, or a Digital Visual Effects graduate? I sure am. Our location at the peak of the hill, gives us an edge over others. We were the ones being stereotyped in school, most infamously being known as elitists. Hey, we’re not located on the top of the hill for nothing. We have the coolest facilities, coolest equipment, coolest teachers and coolest friends in the entire school so I guess that makes us the coolest students (or rather, i’d like to think that) on campus?

As a Film & Media Studies graduate, I’m already misssing the looming deadlines, the rushing of projects, the discussing of ideas for film production (camping at makan place while doing so), doing up production work, staying overnight at the LOFT, filming in the wee hours or until dawn, calling our teachers on a weekend because our film was exposed accidentally or wouldn’t load properly, freezing in the preview theater or anywhere else in the media block, playing with the cool cameras, hanging out with the TSOs, skyping during mass lectures, watching movies during class, watching movies as assignments, critiquing and analyzing directors/movies, the overseas immersion program with our friends, teachers and faculty director, laughing at our friends, teasing our teachers and skipping classes -oops-.

I’ll also miss the Kaki Fuyong from the Japanese stall, the roti prata from canteen 3, the Japanese curry chicken rice from canteen 2, and the chicken rice from canteen 1, the Ban Mian from SIM, so on and so forth.

As we graduate, we conclude a chapter in our lives. Whatever we write on the new page, marks a new beginning. As cliche as it may sound, we’re moving on to something greater out there. However, this precious book we wrote on is our memory locker, every single event that happened is being written permanently and every single friend we’ve made would be there amongst those pages, to be remembered… forever.

I found something interesting on the web related to the Class of 2011:

Credits: Flowtown

This is quirky, yet true. If we had a yearbook, it would have consisted of:

1. Facebook – Stalking our friends, bitching about others, massive uploading and tagging of photos (this is hell), updating our statuses, adding our teachers on facebook and actually have assignments or homework given out on facebook groups.
2. Google: Using this friendly and efficient site to find our answers and used for our research papers.
3. Youtube: When we’re just plain bored in class, this is great self entertainment. Plus, our teachers uses youtube to teach too.
4. Twitter: Getting the latest juicy info about your friends and reading tweets of your friends being pissed about something or someone.
5. Wikipedia: Where we sometimes try to pass off our research as facts by wikipedia-ing.
6. Imdb: Reading the synopsis of the film before actually watching it or after, because I simply do not understand the film (for others, they fell asleep while the movie was being played).
7.  Live Journal – that’s right, our beloved spree organizers. Don’t we just look to shop online during mass lectures? F21, Victoria Secrets, American Eagle, ASOS, Urbanoutfitters, Nordstorm, Supre, Old Navy, Zipia are the common sites I see students frequent. Hey, media students have to keep up with the stereotype of being fashionable and this is the reason why Singapore has the most number of online shoppers in the world despite being one of the smallest countries.
8. WordPress – oh boy our storytelling and scriptwriting blogs.
9. Skype – because its cooler and MSN fails so badly (and the fact that it was blocked in school for quite some time). Plus, webcamming one another even though we’re in the same lecture room.
9. Purdue Owl APA formatting and style guide site to help us write our papers without plagiarizing anything so we do not lose our precious marks.
10. FourSquare – Although i’m not a user of this, my facebook/twitter feed is constantly flooded with check ins from all my crazy friends who are trying to be the mayor of a particular place.

TIMELINE

January 2008 – March 2008 : DPA period & The New Beginning

We were the first batch of students that gained early acceptance to the school, way ahead of our peers. We beat 400-15 to secure a place in FMS (Film & Media Studies).We started school 3 months earlier and went through what is still known as the Direct Poly Admissions Preparatory Program. Modules that would normally take 14 weeks to complete were compressed to 7 weeks, yet we enjoyed our time together and bonds started forming.

It was concluded by the Overseas Leadership Program where we jumped into the waterfall and danced our hearts out during the last night.
We parted from one another as we were separated into different classes based on our courses; Mass Communications, Film, Visual Effects. It took some getting use to as school officially commenced in April and we had classes with our peers together for the first time.

April 2008 – August 2008: Our first official semester together

Heading out with the SLR cameras during photography class for some photo-taking.

Introduction to Film class in our friendly preview theater, with our beloved teacher, Melanie Morrisette.
I remember speaking to her during graduation about me missing black and white films and replied coolly with a smile “tell that to your juniors”.
I chuckled. They’ll appreciate it when they graduate.

October 2008 – March 2009: Photoshoot & Danzation

Photoshoot for the school’s billboard, catalog and book was an interesting experience.

Getting all freaked out when a face can be seen in our studio production 1 studio. Perhaps it is the doing of Helen the mannequin?

It was our privilege to be taught by an Emmy Award winning guest lecturer from Hollywood. Non-linear editing became a whole lot more interesting.

How can I ever forget this? Danzation was probably the biggest dance event that I participated in. After 2 months of hard work, sweat, training, learning, cleaning the choreography, we managed to impress the audience. Well done guys, well done.

August 2009 – October 2009: Overseas Immersion Program

How high would you go to achieve your ideal shot/framing?

I’ll never forget the days we spent in our dorm/hostel. Calligraphy class, chinese history, dancing to traditional dances, interacting with the locals and international students and obviously… the LONG ROAD TRIPS. Shopping for groceries was also one of my favorite thing to do. We practically snacked everywhere we go.

Our friendly tourguide during our trip to Wudang, the birth place of Taichi. We were there at the exact period when they were filming karate kid. Watch out for my kungfu. Yes, I know kungfu. be afraid, be very afraid.

The infamous waterfall where our dear friend JY fell inside and his clothes were soak thoroughly, just as we were about to head to the peak of the mountain which was 7 ℃ with cold hard wind blowing strongly.

One event that I’ll never ever forget: Falling and sliding down the stairs of the Chinese restaurant at Wudang mountain. It hurt so much I had a long, thick bruise on the right cheek of my butt that stayed visible for 2 weeks.

To summarize the 6 weeks immersion program: Waking up late to go to class which was just a minute walk away, munching on corn dogs and chicken burger, frequenting KFC for their terriyaki chicken which tastes similar to the drumlets at Pizza Hut back in Singapore. The Korean fried rice from the western restaurant, the chinese food in the school’s restaurant, the food at Hu Bu Xiang (Beef Biscuit, Dou Pi, BBQ Scallops, Tang Bao, la-mian/ramen), the best bubbletea at CoCo bubbletea in Hankou, shopping at Metres Bonwe, bargaining as much as we can (I’m an expert at it), going everywhere by taxi because it is so freaking cheap, and pretending to be Korean, Japanese, Spanish, French, Indian, American which they actually believe that we are from wherever we say we are from – Innocent or Gullible???? you decide.

And not forgetting… red cliff, three gorges and wudang class trips.

I got to know this really close friend of mine known as ST on the trip and our friendship blossomed from there to what it is now. Through this trip, I also got closer to JO and S whom I was already friends with before as we crashed each others room, shared gossips, shopped together, ate together, hung out together. We were like a family. It was REAL. ST and JO were also the hosts for my non-fiction production project and the finalized video can be found here.

October 2009 – March 2010: The last semester of being a Junior

The most hated Maya class wasn’t as bad as I thought. I loved modelling but hated texturing, lighting and animating. Kudos to all animators/vfx artists out there.

March 2010 – August 2010: Senior Year – INTERNSHIP

The Aspiring Bollywood actress was interning at the same company as I was. We had our fair share of burdens and happy moments. Long lunch breaks were one of them.

With our colleagues on location as we were filming a program.

Internship was probably the best decision I’ve ever made during school. The environment was amicable, so were the people.

October 2010 – March 2011: Last Semester – Stressed!!!

Returned to school to find out that we have the coolest janitor in the entire world. He writes calligraphy on the ground with his gigantic, thick brush with his martial arts pose. He’s so amazing, he’s been featured in the newspaper.

Popping bottles like a g6 at the class BBQ.

The most dreaded exam: Media Law. It was a if you fail, you’re screwed and you’ll not graduate kinda thing. Oddly enough, I enjoyed Media Law.

Regional Cinema. Honestly speaking, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia bore me. My favorites are Japanese Cinema, Korean Cinema, Hong Kong Cinema and Bollywood. John Abraham is my ideal guy.

My lovely JO helping me out as an actress during my Directing for Camera test. Action!!!!! and….. Cut! Good take. Now now, you should really go to Hollywood.

Messing around during advanced studio production class is perfectly normal. Being the floor manager gives me absolute rights to do so.

Final assignment for Advanced Studio Production: Open House 2011

The set was fairly good considering our tight budget.

During the Open House program, with the crew, host and guest!!

Location Scouting for Advanced Film Production.

We spent the night at macdonalds, rushing through the paperwork. Drawing our storyboards, production file, shot list, floor plan, etc. It was tedious. It was the deadline the next day and we sacrificed our lunch to complete them.

I apologize for my terrible, terrible drawing.

We gave our all during production. We’re not perfect, we make mistakes but we learn from it.
Filming all the way to 3/4am was just a taste of what it is like in the media industry.

It was still good to see the post production process for our film.

There are so many memories we had in this green screen room. Our set up is EPIC.

I miss filming. I miss directing. I miss scriptwriting. I miss editing. I miss…. school.

With our dearest Directing for Camera teacher and director, Boris Boo. All 8 of us attended his movie premiere! I think this is one of the best class I’ve had in years and the smallest class ever. That just means we’re special… right?

Memories of the past 3 years are etched in my mind and my memory bible. I’ll never forget my classmates, the friends I’ve made, the most understanding and caring teachers (those who were nice enough to postpone those deadlines!!!) and my closest friends, some coming from other faculties. I’ll miss you guys so much. I’ll definitely reminisce the times we spent together and the memories we share together.
So, let’s celebrate the phenomenal accomplishment of graduation and party away!

Love,
Eumi

If you don’t know what Selca is, its the asian Korean term for Cam-whoring, derived from self-camera (otherwise known as self portrait) and hence shortened to selca. What do you need to take a good selca? Photobooth on the mac works, your webcam, ipod touch 4g, iphone, ipad 2. Basically for beginners who are new to self-portraits, all you require is just a camera where you can see what you’re actually taking. As you slowly advance to a novice or expert in selca, all you need  is a good pose, a good angle and obviously, a camera. So let the selca begin!

What’s a selca without the indefinite classic asian pose / peace sign?

I really think adding in facial expressions and hand gestures are important in taking a selca photo. Well, I’m just thinking what to type next.

I like to pout. “Pffft. Go away.”

This is actually one of the few photos where I show my forehead, without my fringe. Enjoy.

“Be afraid… be very afraid”. Geez. I hate horror movies.

Paparazzis are coming. Prepare the hat and shades. Now… where are my shades?!

Fighting! 화이팅!

The damsel in distress look

Innocent look

Juxtaposition of emotions

The devil look

I seriously need to go on a diet and lose weight.

Selca in the changing room. That’s what I’m talking about.

Selca in the washroom. That’s how we roll.

End it off with a cute pose and voila!

Note to self: I am definitely not a narcissist.

With Love, Eumi

Right now, it’s Korean wave. I’ve been patronizing Kim’s Restaurant for almost 2 years now and I’m proud to say that I’m a loyal customer – a face that the owners recognize. I’ve tried several other Korean restaurants, I won’t name which ones in particular and they’re definitely not on par -so far-. Firstly, I would like to apologize for the image quality as they were taken over time using my phone.

I’m a carnivore and a meat lover, so I would just flip to the BBQ page and order a plate of Kalbisal beef.

Here’s how it looks like. I love BBQ it myself – so much fun. Rating: 9/10

Kim’s very generous with their appetizers. There will be at least 8 plates of side dishes and they are refillable for free, if you ask the ahjumma or ahjussi kindly for a refill.

The big round plate is the famous spring onion pancake with squid. $12 for it and its good to share between 2 people. The black pot is the Bulgogi stew which is worth trying. $12 for that and Jajangmyun as well.

I tried Jajangmyun for the first time at Kim’s I would have to say that it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great. The sauce was too bland for my taste. Rating: 5.5/10

We -almost- finished the appetizers/side dishes. The picture is different from the previous pictures because I complied all my photos at Kims’ to write this review.

One thing to note though, is that they change their appetizers from time to time(usually day to day), so don’t be disappointed if your favorite side dishes are not being served when you revisit them.
Side dishes that survived after 2 years:
Kimchi (don’t worry. you’ll definitely have kimchi as one of your side dishes. Koreans live for kimchi.)
Potatoes (I really like the sauce)
Anchovies
Bean Sprouts

Side Dishes I loved (Unfortunately, they are no longer served as a side dish):
Seaweed
Hot dogs in tomato sauce
Mini Korean Pancake

It is also refreshing to have Soju to go along with your food. I noticed that many of the customers ordered rice wine instead of Soju. Soju has an alcohol percentage of 19-20% while rice wine has around 9%. If you’re a girl like me, you might want to stick to rice wine instead. I personally felt that Soju was too strong that it tasted like vodka.

After your meal, you can wait for fruits and Cinnamon tea to be served as dessert.

What’s more? To satisfy your hallyu/korean wave, there’s even a Korean mart right next to it (a couple of stores away).

Ratings:
Kalbi Beef: 9/10
Bulgogi Stew: 8/10
Spring Onion Pancake: 8/10
Kimchi: 7.5/10
JaJangmyung: 5.5/10
Rice Wine: 8/10
Soju: 6/10

Address:
Kim’s Family Restaurant
17 Lorong Kilat #01-06
Singapore 598139
Tel: (65) 6465 0535

Bus: 77, 173, 174, 985, 970, 157, 61, 66

A worthy review by Ladyironchef on Kim’s Restaurant can be found here.

To read my other food reviews, please go to: http://euminler.com/blog/category/reviews

With Love,
Eumi