museum
1. The Lanes - Vintage Window Shopping
As we were walking along The Lanes, it started to rain. Shop keepers started shifting their stalls into the shelter, under a canopy, or just covering their precious items under a sheet of canvass. To hide out from the rain, the group of us headed into what looked like a small vintage stall with a tiny turnstile entrance.
What initially seemed like a humble vintage store, had an entrance that led to a double-story shop with multiple sections. The shop was selling all sorts of items from toys, old music records, vintage jewellery, to a whole section dedicated to men and women fashion wear.
I was so tempted to buy this dainty gold watch. But in the spirit of saving money, I decided that the beautiful gold watch is not something I NEED.
2. Visit the Open Market
I LOVE MARKETS.
And yes, you should to. Whats not to love about them!
The good thing about the Open Market is, unlike regular markets, was not as crowded. Partially because we arrived the minute it was opened. There were stalls selling cheese, books, craft, pastries, you name it. Daryl and Clarice both got a pack of 6 cream cheese spread for 30p (if I'm not wrong. I know it was rather cheap!) There were several other smaller markets that we went to along the way, but the Open Market seemed to have the most variety. The other markets were selling things like fresh produce, fruits, and some even had furniture!
If you happen to be up in the morning whilst in Brighton, OR, If you happen to (like us) arrive early for a day trip, head on over to the Open Market for breakfast and a cup of coffee!
The Open Market opens at 10am.
3. Admire the Architecture of The Royal Pavilion
After looking at pictures online of people ice-skating in front of The Royal Pavilion, I told myself I was going to do it as well. I had been monitoring entrance ticket sales for a week prior to the day trip to Brighton. As there were several tickets left, I decided not to pre-book it.
Unfortunately, the whole ice-skating thing slipped my mind when I was at Brighton. I told one of my friends “we’ll come back later in the evening” when he asked if I still wanted to visit the pavilion and if I was still planning on skating. However, we spent our evening at the beach watching the sunset and having a discussion about sun rays, and completely forgot about ice-skating.
Regardless, the architecture of The Royal Pavilion is indeed something worth admiring.
And if you have the time, heck, if you just past by, do head on in, because as you can see from my story, “later” doesn’t always happen.
Well, at least we had fun watching the sunset!
4. Visit the Fishing Museum
A museum that we spontaneously headed into to avoid the rain - the rain stopped after 10 minutes (or so it seemed, because we were pre-occupied with the museum).
a) There are is no entrance fee required.
b) There is a huge boat right in the middle which seemed pretty similar to what fishermen would use in the past. It had a net (which was torn apart) and other ship gears - pretty legit.
c) It is conveniently located along the beach.
There is no reason not to pop-in. It's a small museum which talks about the history of Brighton's fishing industry. Being a coastal city, the fishing industry was huge. If you're thinking, "oh man, another museum? I don't want to have to read..." Don't worry. They have a screen showing black and white images/videos of the fishing industry. Let them pictures speak those 1000 words to you!
5. Eat Fish and Chips
Does this even need an explanation?
England = Land of Fish and Chips
Brighton = Coastal City = Lots of Fresh Fish = MUST TRY FISH AND CHIPS.
Personally, I'm not a huge fish and chips fan, BUT, I'm all for trying different food specialities in different cities. Over the years, i've grown to become a foodie (the more places I visit, the more I enjoy the different flavours of food), and so, if you enjoy a good fish and chips, you'll have plenty to choose from in Brighton.
Along the Pier itself, there were several food places serving Fish and Chips, you are definitely not short of options!
That's all I have after a little day trip to Brighton and Hove! Oh I really do hope I have the chance to go back in the summer :)
What other Coastal Cities in England do you recommend?
As we were walking along The Lanes, it started to rain. Shop keepers started shifting their stalls into the shelter, under a canopy, or just covering their precious items under a sheet of canvass. To hide out from the rain, the group of us headed into what looked like a small vintage stall with a tiny turnstile entrance.
What initially seemed like a humble vintage store, had an entrance that led to a double-story shop with multiple sections. The shop was selling all sorts of items from toys, old music records, vintage jewellery, to a whole section dedicated to men and women fashion wear.
I was so tempted to buy this dainty gold watch. But in the spirit of saving money, I decided that the beautiful gold watch is not something I NEED.
2. Visit the Open Market
I LOVE MARKETS.
And yes, you should to. Whats not to love about them!
The good thing about the Open Market is, unlike regular markets, was not as crowded. Partially because we arrived the minute it was opened. There were stalls selling cheese, books, craft, pastries, you name it. Daryl and Clarice both got a pack of 6 cream cheese spread for 30p (if I'm not wrong. I know it was rather cheap!) There were several other smaller markets that we went to along the way, but the Open Market seemed to have the most variety. The other markets were selling things like fresh produce, fruits, and some even had furniture!
If you happen to be up in the morning whilst in Brighton, OR, If you happen to (like us) arrive early for a day trip, head on over to the Open Market for breakfast and a cup of coffee!
The Open Market opens at 10am.
3. Admire the Architecture of The Royal Pavilion
After looking at pictures online of people ice-skating in front of The Royal Pavilion, I told myself I was going to do it as well. I had been monitoring entrance ticket sales for a week prior to the day trip to Brighton. As there were several tickets left, I decided not to pre-book it.
Unfortunately, the whole ice-skating thing slipped my mind when I was at Brighton. I told one of my friends “we’ll come back later in the evening” when he asked if I still wanted to visit the pavilion and if I was still planning on skating. However, we spent our evening at the beach watching the sunset and having a discussion about sun rays, and completely forgot about ice-skating.
Regardless, the architecture of The Royal Pavilion is indeed something worth admiring.
And if you have the time, heck, if you just past by, do head on in, because as you can see from my story, “later” doesn’t always happen.
Well, at least we had fun watching the sunset!
4. Visit the Fishing Museum
A museum that we spontaneously headed into to avoid the rain - the rain stopped after 10 minutes (or so it seemed, because we were pre-occupied with the museum).
a) There are is no entrance fee required.
b) There is a huge boat right in the middle which seemed pretty similar to what fishermen would use in the past. It had a net (which was torn apart) and other ship gears - pretty legit.
c) It is conveniently located along the beach.
There is no reason not to pop-in. It's a small museum which talks about the history of Brighton's fishing industry. Being a coastal city, the fishing industry was huge. If you're thinking, "oh man, another museum? I don't want to have to read..." Don't worry. They have a screen showing black and white images/videos of the fishing industry. Let them pictures speak those 1000 words to you!
Alternatively, you can visit other Speciality Museums like the Toy Museum (I didn't have a chance to go to - it opened fairly late, and by the time we were heading back towards the train station, it was closing), or the Penny Slot Museum (Quite an interesting museum, but really tiny, and no pictures allowed).
5. Eat Fish and Chips
Does this even need an explanation?
England = Land of Fish and Chips
Brighton = Coastal City = Lots of Fresh Fish = MUST TRY FISH AND CHIPS.
Personally, I'm not a huge fish and chips fan, BUT, I'm all for trying different food specialities in different cities. Over the years, i've grown to become a foodie (the more places I visit, the more I enjoy the different flavours of food), and so, if you enjoy a good fish and chips, you'll have plenty to choose from in Brighton.
Along the Pier itself, there were several food places serving Fish and Chips, you are definitely not short of options!
That's all I have after a little day trip to Brighton and Hove! Oh I really do hope I have the chance to go back in the summer :)
What other Coastal Cities in England do you recommend?
5 Other Things To Do in Brighton
1 December 2014 Brighton, The City of Brighton and Hove, UK
Honestly, I wouldn't ever dare say that i've been cruising through my internship. I was merely surviving (and occasionally having fun!). Somedays, I dread having to wake up and practically haul my butt to work, other days, i'm pretty chirpy through out the day - all depends on the social situations and amount of work to complete each day. I am in no way qualified to give tips but anyhow, I managed to survive without bursting in to tears, without calling home and complaining, plus I actually kind of enjoyed the process.
I guess this post sort of summarises what I have learnt through my experience, andddd... I hope its useful to at least one person out there!
I guess this post sort of summarises what I have learnt through my experience, andddd... I hope its useful to at least one person out there!
SOCIALIZING
1 | Don't Take Yourself Too Seriously
People on the other side of the world sometimes have very little knowledge about Asia (similarly, people in Asia, myself included, do sometimes have a very limited knowledge about europeans). Much less a tiny country like Singapore. To them, in Asia, there is China, Japan and Korea, and they can't tell the difference in our appearance. Despite that, they wouldn't hesitate to judge you base on your appearance. Or make jokes about Asians in front of you.
Walking along the streets I do face with people going "CHINA? KOREA? JAPAN? VIETNAM?" and they say it as if I'm illiterate and would not understand the phrase "Which country are you from?" Initially I was a little annoyed, I wasn't affected by the fact that they didn't know where I came from, but more of annoyed they thought I couldn't speak english.
But after a while I realised, its not about me. Don't ever make it about you.
Eventually, I stopped being bothered about people asking me if i'm from China/ All sorts of weird questions about China (as if Singapore was ever part of china). The best thing to do in such situation is to brush it off. When people joke about china or asia, I typically just laugh it off. Its funny because sometimes the stereotypes are true, and there is no denying it!
Walking along the streets I do face with people going "CHINA? KOREA? JAPAN? VIETNAM?" and they say it as if I'm illiterate and would not understand the phrase "Which country are you from?" Initially I was a little annoyed, I wasn't affected by the fact that they didn't know where I came from, but more of annoyed they thought I couldn't speak english.
But after a while I realised, its not about me. Don't ever make it about you.
Eventually, I stopped being bothered about people asking me if i'm from China/ All sorts of weird questions about China (as if Singapore was ever part of china). The best thing to do in such situation is to brush it off. When people joke about china or asia, I typically just laugh it off. Its funny because sometimes the stereotypes are true, and there is no denying it!
Sometimes people choose not to speak english even though they can (because of various reasons, some legit, some not), or they cannot speak english/the language you speak, just let it slide. And as much as you don't like it, conversations will go on as though you are not there.
For me I found myself lost in all of the french conversations. Before I left for France, somebody told me this 'Be expected to be treated like a chair - you're there, people know it, but you're just THERE', it was kind of true, but only when there is a really big group of people. So I played a game of guessing, where I just count the number of words I can pick out in the whole conversation. I do text sometimes (but that's not polite, and you come across as unfriendly, so, try not to do that haha!)
For me I found myself lost in all of the french conversations. Before I left for France, somebody told me this 'Be expected to be treated like a chair - you're there, people know it, but you're just THERE', it was kind of true, but only when there is a really big group of people. So I played a game of guessing, where I just count the number of words I can pick out in the whole conversation. I do text sometimes (but that's not polite, and you come across as unfriendly, so, try not to do that haha!)
In fact when the other interns notice that i'm trying to understand, they do try to include me in the conversation by randomly asking me the same question in english, or explaining the conversation in english for me.
Point is - I realised that there are always nice people around, its better to take things lightly, and be thankful for every single time somebody is nice!
2 | Don't Get Involved in/Create Drama
Working in an office with interns, there will definitely be drama, cliques, people liking someone more than another person. ALWAYS take the neutral stand. Especially if you don't understand what they are saying!
(I think this is more of a reminder to myself when I graduate and start working. Dear Future Carina: Don't EVER be involved in politics. Avoid it like the plague. As far as you can.)
(I think this is more of a reminder to myself when I graduate and start working. Dear Future Carina: Don't EVER be involved in politics. Avoid it like the plague. As far as you can.)
If people approach you with their problems, be nice, and JUST LISTEN. Never add oil to fire, don't commit social suicide.
Sometimes you get approached only when people need something for you, always be genuine about helping them. Don't be upset and think they're making use of you etc. don't create drama for yourself. I believe, if i'm not genuine, people will know. There is no faking it. Being fake nice is gross - another self reminder.
I actually enjoyed helping the other interns in the company, mostly to read through english stuff, made me feel a little more useful (see point under work)!
I actually enjoyed helping the other interns in the company, mostly to read through english stuff, made me feel a little more useful (see point under work)!
Oh, and, if people expect you to be a certain way that you're not, just smile and let it go. I realised, its never a good thing to get upset over that.
3 | Be Nice and Make Friends
This is pretty obvious. If you want people to be nice to you, you should be nice first. Truth be told, it's hard to make friends when you speak a different language. Somedays you just want to shut up and not try, but, sulk for 5 minutes, listen to your favourite song, and then put on a happy face and go talk to people (or at least look approachable - I think I struggle with this generally!)
Most of the time I feel weird cutting in/openly speaking to everyone whilst they are having a french conversation, but, when there is a smaller group, or if I'm speaking to one or 2 people at a time, I tend to open up a lot more!
Whatever it is, I think interacting with people as much as possible should be the way to go - I wish i had opened up more earlier and faster! But well, it was definitely fun talking to people who have such different lifestyles and upbringing, be it 1 or 100 new friends, its nice to get to know a part of somebody else's story.
WORK:
1 | Google(and google translate/any translating device) is Your Best Friend
I think everyone realised this since stepping in to University. But really, I had to google something / look to google for help regarding the work I had to do, almost every single day.
The job scope that I had was nothing related to my major in Uni. Some people may prefer to do something more related to what they are studying, but I enjoyed learning more about business, excel etc, things I otherwise would not have the opportunity to learn whilst studying engineering.
Google has been a great at help.
I think everyone realised this since stepping in to University. But really, I had to google something / look to google for help regarding the work I had to do, almost every single day.
The job scope that I had was nothing related to my major in Uni. Some people may prefer to do something more related to what they are studying, but I enjoyed learning more about business, excel etc, things I otherwise would not have the opportunity to learn whilst studying engineering.
Google has been a great at help.
2 | Keep Yourself Occupied
Unfortunately, working in a big company your bosses don't really have time to bother too much about you, (well talking to my other friends on internship, this seems to be a such norm) or they might be away for a day, a week (a month - french have a 5week paid leave, why do Singaporeans only get 14 days, sigh!) and you find yourself being unoccupied after completing the relevant assignments/allocated workload.
There were a couple of times I found myself browsing thought catalog, chatting up random friends on FB, tumblr-ing for the 100x in the day, and still feeling immensely bored, and just... being very useless.
For most companies, any form of audio/video/filesharing website will be blocked - thankfully for me, facebook and blogger were available - so i spent my free time switching between Doing My French Homework, Editting Photos, and Planning for my Holidays/Weekend trips! Planning for trips are the best, because I do get tips on where to go/what to see/what they liked about the place/where else I should visit etc. from the other interns who have been to these other European cities!
What I found interesting - and this is probably a better tip - was that the other interns proactively approach other managers and ask if they could help in any sort of work. I admire them for that. Typically not done in Singapore I guess? Well I have never heard of it until then - my ignorance maybe. But its nice being more proactive and not just doing nothing when your supervisor is on holiday right?
What I found interesting - and this is probably a better tip - was that the other interns proactively approach other managers and ask if they could help in any sort of work. I admire them for that. Typically not done in Singapore I guess? Well I have never heard of it until then - my ignorance maybe. But its nice being more proactive and not just doing nothing when your supervisor is on holiday right?
Other ways to keep yourself occupied can include reading Ebooks or listening to Audible - But please FINISH your work first.
LIFE:
1 | Learn the Language
1 | Learn the Language
I cannot stress how important this is. People are nicer when they see that you try. Besides, learning a new language = being able to meet new people from class! Living in a huge city alone, its hard to find friends. Going for language classes is the best way to find other people like you, plus its always fun to learn something new! I met really nice people whilst learning french. Nice and interesting people with such wonderful stories to share!
The down side though, is people have different schedules, so sometimes they leave class after a couple of weeks and come back later/go to a different class, but I'm so super thankful to have met such nice people whilst studying french, and hopefully we do meet again sometime in the future!
2 | Explore. Even If You're Alone.
I was such an enjoyable time exploring the city alone. That experience will be one of my most cherished. I gained a ton of independence, and NAVIGATION SKILLS - thank you citymaps2go. I would say the only I wish I did was travel to a different city alone. I did not have the guts to do that. But well, Paris is never boring, so weekends alone, was how I discovered more about myself, learned to live alone, and gained a lot of confidence.
Not many people know, but my relationship with myself was a wreck for quite sometime, and I depended a lot on others to feel worthy, but living alone sort of changed that. I am happy with myself and what I have. Thankful, and hopefully more appreciative. My mum noticed I became a lot more confident as well. It wasn't that I was not confident before, but now I am more comfortable with myself, I have accepted myself for who I am. I feel like I've learned how to take care of myself, love myself, and be proud of myself.
3 | Have Little Reminders of Home
I'm not very dependent on my family, and I have never felt homesick even on school trips/camps/overseas with friends etc. but I being able to do things that reminded me of my lifestyle back at home helped a lot.
Back in Singapore I watch a lot of american dramas, sitcoms, etc. Being able to do that while having dinner, really made it feel as though I was back at home. At least for that hour.
Then again, I didn't have the stress of having to study and keep my grades up, so more on this topic when I officially start school in London. I hope I cope just fine!
Time to pack pictures and bring some dorm room decorations along :)
If you actually took the time to read everything in this post, THANK YOU! Do share with me any tips/stories that would help with my year abroad. I hope this was not too much of a bore, and if it was too wordy, at least the photos made up for it! Thats all from me about Paris, hopefully I get to go back again as a full fledge tourist sometime in the future.
Pictures from a lazy sunday out in the Louvre/Concorde Area of Paris
Interning in a Foreign Language (+Tips?)
28 September 2014 Concorde, 75008 Paris, France
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