The Life of Sophia Ysabel

Destination: Wellington East Girls College (names used in this blog are not their actual names for privacy reasons) That one evening before Production... I scour the crowd for any sign that my friends have arrived but with a disappointed sigh, I can't. What am I going to do without them here? But quite literally out of nowhere, I find Gabriela standing shyly in her beautiful cultural clothes. I'm not wearing mine, I'm wearing the clothes I'm using for my Drama act. I'll change into my cultural clothes later.  Now here's the thing. The reason why she's wearing that to Production (a school show basically) is because there's a theme to tonight's performance: in our neighbourhood. Now you may be wondering, how does dressing up in your cultural clothes relate to the theme? To be honest, I don't know. But Matt, a teacher that leads the Kapahaka * group, and the Kapahaka instructor, Mehi had both thought it would be a great idea.  *kapahaka is a tradit...

Destination: Michael Fowler Centre (for privacy, names used in this blog are not their actual names) but before that... Prologue Nervously, I stroll toward the salon with unease. I'm in a panic, since my appointment at the salon is at 3:30, and the performance starts in about 1 and a half hours. An hour and a bit till I regret life decisions. Now, let me explain what Artsplash is. Artsplash a collective group of schools formed together to make a choir. Schools from the Wellington region go to one specific place to perform: at the Michael Fowler Centre,  an enormous event venue in Wellington. It's no joke, the event venue had previous performances such as acting ones, and even the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra came to play instruments. And at 11:00am during school hours on a Wednesday, the people in my school who volunteered for Artsplash and myself included went on a mini school trip to the Michael Fowler Centre to attend a rehearsal with all the other schools. A takeaway from...

Previously on gluttony... "Where's Ninang?" I ask Mum, not entirely sure if she knows where she is. "I think we should go to the back. Maybe the main course is there." Mum suggests.  Great idea. Both hungry and gnawing on a satay stick greedily, I speed-walk to where the crowd's going to.  After rushing and following the crowd, I eventually find Ninang lining up in a queue. "There you are! Wait, what are you lining up for? "I wanna get some main course." "...what?" "You don't know? There's food out here in the back." It takes me a few seconds to process this before lining up and rethinking life decisions. I peek at a glimpse of the food. Whoa.  This is food heaven. I practically melt away from the mouth watering food that is smack dab on my face. I turn behind. The queue is becoming longer. I guess all people thought the same thing as I did when they saw the food. I try to remain as patient as I can be, but just the...

Destination: Singapore High Commission We arrived at the embassy at 10:30, which was located atop a hill. The journey going there was winding and therefore we had to meander using our car to the top. Normally I would've been feeling nauseous since I get motion sick easily, but fortunately this time I didn't feel an ill sensation at all. We parked our car near to the entrance, and took this as an opportunity to take a few pre-National-Day-of-Singapore photos before heading into the place. As we stepped inside, the place was scattered with people talking over the top of other voices that wanted to check if they were on the waiting list. Also, we were greeted with an assortment of kueh lapis (a layered dessert in Singapore), which looked even more irresistible because I was starving. I mentally reminded myself that I need to contain myself for a little bit longer. The organisers of the event hadn't even spoke a few words yet.  A beautiful banner rested at the top of the entran...