Uploaded this on insta (@etherealpeonies) earlier today, but this is for you guys who don't have insta:)

"Sunrise in Nepal, over the Himalayan range. The vastness of it reminded me of how each of us are like small flecks in this universe. But i'd like to think that each of us contributes in our little ways to shape this world. Like a little gust of wind carrying a dandelion bud to someplace new; a field of dandelions blooming years later. I'd like to think that its not the years that count, but how fulfiling each moment is. And in each moment you live, live vicariously. Leave an indelible mark on this Earth in a good way. I hope this New Year's Eve will be wonderful for everyone, and the upcoming year ahead as well<3"

I'd be spending New Year's Eve quietly this year, just having a HTHT with sylvia. 

But i think that'd be really nice, its my idea of a peaceful New Year's Eve with people i love.

Just wanted to say that thank you so much to everyone who have left really kind and encouraging comments for me and my classmates, we appreciate it alot:)

We will learn to stay strong, to accept, and continue with life no matter what happens.

Have a blessed New Year's Eve again everyone:)

Love,

Felicia (or Chee, as close friends know me by) 

:)

 It was the day before i left Nepal when i heard the news that an AirAsia flight QZ8501 was missing.

At that time, i found out that 1 Singaporean, 1 Malaysian, 1 Briton, 3 S.Koreans and 149 Indonesian passengers were on that flight.

Never ever, would i have imagined that someone i knew would be on that flight.

An hour later, our class whatsapp chat was flooded with news that our form teacher, Miss Tina was on that flight.

At that moment it didn't sink in. I felt numb, indifferent, blank.

It just didn't seem real that you were really on that flight, Miss Tina, it didn't. 

It finally sank in when more and more news reports with your face and writeup appeared online, on TV and on the newspapers.

"Hwa Chong Institution teacher among missing passengers on QZ8501"

My heart broke.

No this could not be happening.

I just saw you weeks ago at prom didn't I?

We took lovely photos.

And graduation day. 

You were like our proud mother hen seeing us graduate from HC.

You gave us our bears and jokingly warned the guys not to hug you on stage.

And what about all that said we'd do together in future?

You would be there for us, a few months down the road in March.

You'd be the one personally handing us our A level results.

Tears of joy or disappointment, we promised we would get through it together.

You would be proud of us, no matter what our results were, because we didn't survive these 2 years alone.

You were always there with us. 

And what do we do now?.. 

All of us are constantly refreshing our news tabs, awaiting your news.

I am constantly checking your last seen on whatsapp, hoping it'll show something other than last seen on saturday. 

But now, reports state that the plane you were on is likely to be "at the bottom of the ocean".

The thought of that is so, so painful and heart wrenching.

I really don't want to believe that that is what happened, i just want to throw that thought out of my head and pretend it never existed, but the rational side of me tells me that as painful as it is, it is an option that is highly likely, and it hurts so bad.

We're all trying to stay optimistic because we want you to know that we are never giving up on you.

"Java sea is reportedly not that deep, 64m they said. Its possible to have survivors."

I believe that every single member from S74 is praying for you so hard right now.

We're holding on to every inch of hope there is because you mean so much to us and tears just keep flowing as worry piles up.

I know there's nothing we can do for you now but pray our hardest.

But rather than just let the media label you as a "Hwa Chong Institution Biology Teacher", i want to let everyone see who you really are, as a teacher, as a person, as our friend.

Your first encounter with us was when you were still a trainee/new teacher remember?

You sat in on our project work class by the side.

We were looking at you curiously wondering who this new quiet, reserved teacher was.

You proved us wrong as you eventually became our biology teacher and project work teacher a few months on.

We had loads of fun in class, you always pronounced words in your unique accent and called our names funnily, but thats how little moments were created, just between you and our class. 

 You were young and relatable to us on many levels, and soon we grew really close.

Do you remember this picture?

It was during Teachers' Day last year, when you performed on stage with your super cool guitar in a "teachers only rock band" we didn't even know existed,

We made this huge card saying "tRNA we love you!!" (tRNA was a pun on your name tina)

and our whole class stood up and shouted that when you stepped on stage.

You were so shocked that this class is so crazy and gave us the "omg i don't know you guys!! can yall sit down PLS, im so embarrassed" look.

But i'm sure you knew, deep down we were your biggest fans that day.

Can't quite recall what occasion this was but it was the day you bought us teh-bing.

And were totally cool with helping us as we attempted to break the Guinness record for "most people in a selfie". 

 And, you're the only teacher who takes this kind of selfie with us haha.

You were and always will be young at heart.

This was when you randomly photobombed us one fine day after morning assembly as we took a picture!

 And you never said no to a proper photo when we asked.

Looking at this photo reminds me of our daily morning conversations.

After a year of observing your fashion choices, S74 came to the conclusion that your favourite blouse was this purple one.

And every time you wore something new we'd be like "Wah miss tina new dress is it!!" and then you'd give us your signature "roll eye" look and we'd all laugh.

Even the class next door laughed at our silly convos.

Or when you have a little bit more makeup than usual like lipgloss, then we'd niao you and say "wah miss tina going out for date today is it!!" and bug you to show us a picture of your boyfriend.

And then you'd be shy and say "don't want lah!!".

Now, kaypoh us finally know who/how yr bf looks like, but we'd never want to find out this way, via the news as he was asked about you. 

In fact, if you just come back safely, we'll never bug you or niao you or annoy you anymore, a promise is a promise. 

I still remember last year i was featured in our school magazine because of the blogshop article.

And then after class you told me "wah i really want to support the blogshop you model for leh! But got my size anot!" and we both laughed and talked about girly stuff like shopping and clothes, just like teenage girls. Just like friends.

Studies wise you were a big part of it as well.

As all JC students know, PW is... mostly seen as a "burden" to alot of students.

It was a subject we had no idea about. 

All those PIs, written reports, EoMs and whatnot.

But we were so lucky we had you as our PW teacher, because when it came down to serious work, you got things going and made sure we produced work of standard.

You drilled our oral presentations with us even though it meant staying back till late evening.

And it paid off.

This was the day we called you our "PW goddess".

It was your first year teaching PW and our whole class got A.

 Everyone is really all smiles, and its not too much to say that this was all possible because of you.

 This was our very first professional class photo.

You totally blend in with us really!

 And the last day of school.

You kept your promise of treating us to pizza and we were sooo happy because really we're such gluttons.

It was something we bugged you about months back and you never forgot about our little promise, even though we were actually kidding when we bugged you about it.

 And this.

Merely 2 weeks ago.

 Thank you for turning up for prom even though you really didn't have to.

And for telling us how dashing/pretty we looked that day.

I could see how proud you were of us, for making it through all the way till where we are today.

I've said all i wanted to say in this post, and i know that it isn't enough to show how important you are to us as our favourite form teacher, as a friend, as family.

But i just hope that people, non HC-ians, HC-ians, the media, will not just see you as a "Hwa Chong Biology Teacher", but as who you really are, Miss Florentina Maria Widodo.

(Note that this post is not meant to be published anywhere else. I can't believe i have to say this so explicitly, because i just got notified that a certain newspaper company published my article almost word for word and used pictures posted here without consent, which is simply, unacceptable and disrespectful. Please, just respect our wishes and don't do things like that. Its the least you could do.)

Rosette

/ / p r e / /

/ / m a i n / /

Its cafe hopping time with nikks again! 

I can really count on her to be my best cafe hopping buddy ;)

We decided to try Artistry, which is a short 7-10mins walk away from Bugis MRT because i had a blogger event at bugis in the afternoon:)

We ordered their Duck Confit Croissant and Peanut Butter and Jelly French Toast to share.

The Peanut Butter and Jelly French Toast is supposedly the highly raved dish, so we had high expectations for it. To a non-peanut butter fan like me, i thought it was not bad. The peanut butter taste is definitely not overpowering. Paired with ice cream and berries, it was pretty nice. The toast is thick enough as well, so that it gives the chewy texture which i prefer over the thin sliced toasts. Portion wise its quite small tho! For guys it may not be enough.

As for the Duck Confit Croissant, the portion is comparably huge. Nikks didn't eat much of this cos she found it too oily for her liking (as a bread lover she has high standards for all kinds of bread haha). I, on the other hand, couldn't tell if the croissant is overly oily or not but it wasn't to my liking cos it was too crispy/flaky without the chewy texture (which imo breads should have!!). I actually quite liked the scrambled eggs and savoury duck confit though, albeit the duck being abit oily. 

Overall food was ok-ok, ambience pretty good, table settings on point, with the picturesque bouquet of fresh flowers, wood block and striped table :)

We took some our OTD outside Artisty after that!:)

Nikks and I are matchy matchy in diff tones of florals wheeee :)

Outfit details:

Floral Organza Romper from Labellavita

Shoes from HVV

Bag from Forever New

Review(Labellavita Romper): I loved the unique combination of the mesh overlay and mid pink florals when i saw the previews, so i knew this was an item i would be camping for. There is inner lining for this piece so its more or less non sheer, and it features an anti-slip lining. Sizing wise there is only one size for this, its slightly big for me at the waist and ptp even though its elasticized. This would probably fit a UK8 or 10 better imo. Also, this is actually a romper even though it more or less looks like a dress from the outside. Overall i would say its a hit and miss for me, lovely prints but sizing wise not so suitable. If anyone is interested in this piece do email me at etherealpeonies@hotmail.com:)

Moving on..

Some selfies as usual:)

We headed over to Bugis Cube after that, for the launch of... F Supermarket! 

I was invited to the opening of F Supermarket, which is a pop up retail store managed by Chickisslove:) It'll only be around for a few months so do head down to catch a glimpse of it before its gone!

They have loads and loads of apparels, i kid you not! 

I had a fun time browsing through the wide selection:)

They have accessories, bags and misc items like iphone covers as well!

I loved the different designs they have as well, to cater to people with different taste:)

As you can see there are mono colour geometric skorts, and various printed versions as well!

I call this the "girly rack", cos it has the pastel, sweet colours like pink and florals!

And of course i was attracted to florals and basic white tops, definitely my favs ;)

I was obviously very serious about shopping hehe.

They house some really quirky stuff as well!

These unique printed pouches aren't just pouches, they contain matching eye masks inside!

Nikks and I were quite fascinated with these hehe.

See, its so pretty!! 

This is my fav print there hehe.

F supermarket houses many of your favourite brands as well! 

Check out the whole long list of shops! Excited yet?;)

And i thought i'll just show you guys some of the items i liked/picked out from the racks:)

Here's a grey tweed mermaid skirt, which is of pretty good quality! 

And this burgundy neoprene-like panel skirt, the material for this is seriously good!

And i've been looking for a basic ribbed top for the longest time ever since it goes with anything!

This one is from SetApart :)

Pricing wise, i was pleasantly surprised. Most of the apparels i spotted were around $21-26! Which is really affordable imo, and even cheaper than getting them online sometimes! 

After shopping around we were treated to lunch, buffet style!

Thank you CKL for providing us with this spread!:)

So yes, do head down to Bugis Cube, Level 6 to shop at F Supermarket!;)

I'm updating this from the business class lounge at the airport btw, heading off to Nepal later on!:)
I'll try to update whenever i can so see you guys in a bit!

Till the next;

xoxo