2017 was filled with moments that made me ecstatic, #madonline, anxious, surprised. I returned to school - the place where legends are born. With the move to SG for masters, I reunited with my parents after years of spending only summers and holidays with them. I embraced the beauty of diversity more than ever by fostering friendships with wonderful people from across the globe. Opportunities, opportunities everywhere. I traveled to places I never imagined I’d be in a decade ago such as Vietnam and Phuket. More memories were made and cherished.

2017, you were crazy. Then again, I am grateful for everything that happened and everyone I met in the last 365 days. Let’s go 2018! 🎊🎉😸

A highlight of 2017: remember that time we went to 🇻🇳? (at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

Savouring the last 12 hours of 2🌸17 in eloquent fashion by taking a stroll inside this haven at #gardensbythebay! (at Garden By The Bay-Flower Dome)

Postcards from Patong Beach 🌞🏖 #phuket (at Phatong Beach)

To say that our bellies were full after our Christmas food trip is an understatement.🎅🏼🍜 (at Bangla Walking Street)

Some things make your heart flutter at first sight. 😅🌊#vscocam (at Phuket, Thailand)

Well, Well, Well.

Look who just opened her blog after a month or so of hibernation.

Holidays? Oh sure, now is the perfect time to revamp this site and start posting again!

A highlight of 2017: 3.25.17. The #BDJWS2017 inspired me to conquer the world as a fearless, confident and strong woman through the guest speakers’ talks on body positivity, self-love, making a difference, women empowerment and having the ceaseless drive to believe and achieve the impossible. Loved listening to each and one of them! ❤️

Shoutout to the @bdjbuzz team and my partners-in-crime for that day Pau and Nica for making my first time at the Women’s Summit one for the books. It was a pleasure to have covered this event with you 👊🏻 (at Samsung Hall)

Rocher x Cookies and Cream gelato. What more can you ask for? 😋 #food

Study vibes from Tuesday #vscocam

Shutterbug caught in the wild

🤷🏻‍♀️

Bird Watching Chronicles x Shutter Speed: A Photoset #vscocam (at Jade Emperor Pagoda)

Wait, I Have A Blog?

Hello friends, your local Captain Sassypants has resurrected from the realms of procrastination to inform you that this is my first decent blog entry since the beginning of 2017. And mind you - a lot of things have changed. 

No friggin’ way, broski.

The last time I hit the “Post” button at this very site: the Penguins were the defending Stanley Cup Champions (and still are because back to back Cup wins baby), I was thriving in my role as a community manager, and I was shuffling papers for my then-pending MBA pursuit in Singapore.

Fast forward to October 2017, and here I am in my second trimester as an MBA student who recently survived a grueling course in accounting the previous term amongst other subjects. Academics are good and so is my social life. Extracurriculars just added the “fun” to my comeback - admin manager for Entrepreneurship and Investment Club, assistant events manager for the Business Club. 

On the personal side of things, I’ve been cutting down on junk food and crunchy chicken skin in favor of soya milk, apples, wheatgrass juice (yep that’s a thing), and salmon. Life is hard without the sight of greens now. Fear not, my friends, I still love chicken - but not much of the skin because grease is abhorrent.

Lastly, I’m @candiyooo on Twitter now. Hit the “Follow” button if you want to keep up with my life and the stuff I love when I’m not frolicking around Tumblr. A little warning though: there’s wrestling and hockey and dramaticus in the mix.

Thank you for listening. Stay awesome, fellas.

aka-outwork:

Drawing

『HEY』

2017.09.09  MOLESKINE

acryl gouache, watercolor

I’m extremely grateful to have this fabulous, witty, and super kaloka partner-in-crime / colleague / friend in my life. Happy birthday and miss you bebe girl! 😘

Nirvana ⛩ (at Jade Emperor Pagoda)

Chaos at the student ball photobooth three weeks ago. Hello blockmates and friends! 👋🏻
(at Ywca Fort Canning Lodge)

Tasty Vietnamese delights from Ben Thanh Market and 37th Street from last month’s getaway. Can’t wait to go back there soon! 😛 #food (at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

✌🏻❤️ 😄 (at Ywca Fort Canning Lodge)

I find it hard to believe that it’s been thirteen days to the day family and I first set foot on this wondrous place. More snaps coming soon! 🇻🇳 #vscocam (at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

#tbt to one of our most recent groupies from March ‘17! Time indeed flies when you’re having fun. That said I can’t believe my lil’ fashionista cousin is 12 today aka a year away from entering the -teen years! Happy birthday @hey.its.reese xo ❤️👯

Happy birthday to my oh so fabuloso broski for life! 😘💋👯

08.09 🥓🥔😋 #vscocam (at Marche @ Somerset 313)

I totally forgot to share this photo two weeks ago. Sorry! Well anyways in case you’re wondering I’m part of the Avengers now 😜 (at Johor Bahru)

Oh hai 💁🏻 (at Lifelong Learning Institute)

Did you see what I see? 👀 #vscocam (at Eyescream and Friends)

Hey, I just met you but this is crazy #WonderWoman (at Bugis Street)

Never gets old. #vscocam (at Marina Bay Singapore)

Special shoutout to mom, Lola Cora, Lola Glo, Tita Janet, Tita Badet, Tita Peti and Tita Celeine for playing huge roles in my life. I couldn’t imagine where I’d be at this moment if not for their unconditional love and guidance through all these years. ☺️

Happy Mother’s Day to all! 👸🏻❤️😘

art:

Artist: Anna Gogoleva.

Tumblr: http://takeawinefromtheswine.tumblr.com/tagged/drawing

Welcome To My Life, Probably (c. 2010s) #vscocam (at Bonifacio High Street)

One of my Visita Iglesia stops from two weeks ago. Still not over how serene the ambience is in that place. ⛪️ (at St. Benedict)

#MIAS part 2 (feat. Caleb) 🚘 (at World Trade Center Metro Manila)

Even though I’m not the biggest car fangirl around, I still had a fantastic time at the Manila International Auto Show with my folks last Saturday! 🚘 #mias (at World Trade Center Metro Manila)

Gawad Sikhay Day! ☺️

(Credits to Anna and Al for today’s look)

“It takes grace to remain kind in painful situations.”

Rupi Kaur’s Milk and Honey. A masterpiece so enthralling it got me hooked from start to finish. Loved it so much I finished reading this in just two nights. Thank you Monz for letting me borrow this book! 😍

Happy 71st birthday to our beloved Lolo Manny! May the Lord bless you with more grace, happiness, health and love in your life ❤️😘 (at Al Fairuz Lebanese Cuisine)

Bad 🐥🐔 = straight 🔥 #vscocam #food (at Hole in the Wall PH)

Special delivery at the office from @heymundane! Merci Dane, this is lovely! ❤️

Ash Wednesday + Hobing with colleagues then lolo’s 70th birthday dinner at HapChan yesterday. ☺️

😾

Meet My 2017 (Birthday) Wishlist.

For readability’s sake in concurrence of the reported decreasing average human attention span in recent years: all I want in 2017 are graphic novels and comics that will stimulate my creative juices and Excite-o-Meter all at once, self-help books on content marketing, advertising and just life as a whole, contours, lippies, primers, BB compact powders, eyeshadows, stylish backpacks, sneakers and Oxford loafers. A whole lot more stuff can be added to this above image in the next eleven months; right now, however, these are what I can think on top of my Priorities List.

Moving on to that jackpot question: why is birthday enclosed in a parenthesis? Okay, let’s set the record straight.

I finished this supposed-birthday-turned-2017 wishlist the Sunday before my birthday (20th) and intended to publish this on the 18th or 19th. Alas, the plan failed due to my stacked schedule at all of my life’s aspects so there was little to no time for blogging about my heart’s desires. Needless to say, this wishlist is still worth the share for it accurately reflects my interests and the things I’d love to wake up and see them on the bookshelf, closet, and makeup bag.

Erstwhile, Birthday 2017 happened to be one of the best I’ve had since the very first time I said “Hello World!” twenty-three years old. Yakimix for dinner with my closest colleagues on the 20th, Timezone + movie + California Pizza Kitchen with my college squad on the 21st, and Trinoma + first time to try Taco Bell with my aunt on the 22nd. That said, I just would like to thank you all for the greetings - regardless of whether you did it on social media or in person. Much love and gratitude for making my life so special!

Other Things To Note:

• I know I’m so behind on the hype train, but I finally got to watch La La Land in the cinema yesterday. What an enchanting film that reminded me so much of Singing In The Rain, a classic I watched in INTFILM class back in my Comm Arts days. Lest not forget the superb performances from the cast, foot-tapping score, and an all-too-powerful use of nostalgia in the production design.
• I wrote this between 10:30 - 11:00 PM on a Sunday night. Sounds unusual to blog at this time, eh? Oh well, let me get my beauty sleep now.

becketts:

Kevin Mazur

[gallery]

captainswaan:

Women’s March around the world [January 21, 2017] 

Don’t mess with 3/5 of the squad. Missin’ you @sagatakesashot. ❤️

…meanwhile, Kevin went full Kevin again by saying no to the photobooth again. 😅

My Birthday 2017 was one of the best I’ve ever had since the day I first said “Hello World!” Just want to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone for your greetings and for making my life oh so fantastico. Much love! ❤️🎉

PS. For all those asking what’s my age again, I suggest you take a look at Michael Jordan’s (not the crying one of course) jersey number. Hope it helps. 😉

Christmas may be over, but the spirit of #pokemon lives on. (at Changi Airport)

011517: Advanced birthday treat w/ the fam bam 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦🎉 (at Shakey’s SM San Lazaro)

So, 2016.

Let’s be honest: the way 2016 went, it’s no surprise we turned into Imperator Furiosa by year’s end.

What can I say about this year? Yeah, it was crazy. A circus. A hit soap opera with storylines that will make you either amused like some animated unicorn or vexed to the point you’d rather be chilling while the world is in flames but still you say, “This is fine.”

Truthfully, if there’s one thing the over 7B of the Earth’s population agrees on, it is that 2016 has turned to be one of the most unforgettable years ever - alas, not in a way we danced in circles under the rainbow and lived happily ever after. Nevertheless, the disaster that dawned upon us should not blind us from the great little things that have happened to our lives in the last 366 days. May it be zero health scares, going one step forward in your career, a budding romance, adventures with your friends and family, to each of our own.

I know you’ll ask me this question impulsively until you get the answers you deserve, so I’m not going to beat around the bush any longer by sharing the major lessons learned in 2016:

1. You can’t always get what you want. It takes a dose of reality to make you understand some things happen beyond your willpower. The downturn of events over the past year turned the world topsy-turvy, sure. Nevertheless, it only underlines the one thing some of us just don’t get it at all: crap happens. No matter how good of a person you are, no matter the amount of work you put in - let’s face it, some things are not meant to work in our favor. That’s not the end as we know it. Rather than sulking in the corner with an overflowing stream of “What if?” thoughts running rampant in your mind if faced with this situation, better welcome other possibilities as if they were long-lost family members. Besides, life’s not as edgy if you refuse to come out of your comfort cocoon.

2. Thou shall not underestimate the power of social influence in a world bombarded with a heap of socio-economic issues thrown against humanity. Frankly, our generation (and the ones before us to a greater extent) are not just all talk, all tweet, all CAPS LOCK WARRIOR MODE, all smack nowadays. This generation makes it to the point they read up and verify their information before going on a social media rampage and getting into petty arguments with people who might know so much more than you do. Given all the free information we get from the WWW nowadays, perhaps it’s inexcusable to shrug off all the rage behind Trumpism, #___LivesMatter, the Aleppo crisis, the macabre approach of PH’s anti-drug campaign and many other issues polluting our world. These things are not meant to look smart or for bragging rights. Rather, we feed our minds with information across traditional and modern channels for educational and self-awareness purposes. These takeaways, of course, could be the foundation for our call to act upon the resolution of these issues which in turn will benefit no one but the common good.

3. No relationship, not even the ones straight out of Hollywood, is PERFECT.  Wait, is is still a necessity to write an expository paragraph tackling this subject? All jokes aside, the Big Split of the World’s Most Powerful Supercouple is a manifestation of this bittersweet truth. Word to all those currently in relationships and those who aren’t but still hoping Prince Charming / Princess Badass arrives in your life: I hope you don’t base off most of your #RelationshipGoals from Hollywood and the Internet. Fin.

4. Nothing is ever guaranteed. Don’t let this recycled-yet-still-true sentiment distract you from the fact that the 73-9 Golden State Warriors blew a 3-1 Finals lead, impeding them from earning the title of NBA’s greatest team ever.

2016, if it were a meme.

Thanks, 2016. You were fun while it lasted. But now the new year is up and running, we have no choice but to bid adieu to you. Here’s to hoping a bright and better 2017 ahead! 

Stay woke, friends.

Jack of All Trades, baby. Much love and gratitude to the entire C&S team for this honor! 🏆🏅 (at Comm&Sense)