I didn't blog much in March because I've been busy planning my boyfriend's 21st birthday! Part 1 of his birthday was the gift that I got him and this was the second part of his 21st birthday :B

Finally the day came - we celebrated my boyfriend's 21st birthday on 12 April 2014 and I'm glad he had fun ^~^ I've been preparing for his birthday since late November and it was great to see everything coming together!

I initially didn't want to blog about this because I'm kinda lazy :x But while I was researching for my boyfriend's 21st birthday, lots of blog posts helped me so I guess I should also blog about it in case some people need help too hahaha.

There was a lot of hiccups along the way though. The first being the venue. My boyfriend had a long list of friends he was going to invite and most hotels are too small! Chalets weren't a choice either because of the many obstacles (NSRCC and Treehouse Villa fully booked, Coasta Sands too small, etc).

Fortunately, the photobooth company I hired managed to source out Amara Sanctuary Resorts for me! I booked the one bedroom villa after much research and at +/- $950 a night, it was slightly pricey but at least able to fit all the guests, food and photobooth.

I loved how spacious and beautiful it was but I was greatly disappointed by the fact that even though the check in timing was at 3pm and we reached at 4:30pm, we were still unable to check in. Many guests faced that problem that day so if you're planning to celebrate your birthday there, you should take this into consideration.

Secondly, it was hard to find a company that delivers balloons to Sentosa at a reasonable pricing. After intense searching on Google, I managed to find one. However, I wouldn't mention the company as I feel that their customer service is quite horrible :/

There was a lot more problems I faced when planning for the event but I won't elaborate on them since they aren't the main point. The main point is that my boy enjoyed himself. I guess I'll just let the pictures do the talking! I didn't manage to take a lot of photos though because I was really busy that day :-(

Most of the photos were taken by my friends who came down early to help us out! Very very thankful for them because if not for them, we wouldn't have managed to transform the place and set things up so quickly :-)

Also, some of my boyfriend's friends/family members are very private people so I'm wont be posting too much of their photos to respect their privacy!

I hate it when people introduce me as a blogger. I feel that the term is too loosely used in Singapore - anyone who owns a blogspot/wordpress/tumblr can call themselves a blogger. And let's face it, a lot people have shit views about bloggers. Whenever a blogger receives sponsorship, people think it's just free stuff and they don't think about the efforts put in doing up advertorials and what not. So I never ever introduce myself as a blogger.

Embarrassingly, my boyfriend does it often. "This is Regine, and she's a blogger." Ugh, I just think people who introduce themselves as bloggers (and have like only 300 unique views daily lol wtf) are very pretentious!!! While I own a blog and do advertising every now and then on my Twitter, my main motivation is not wanting to make it big and get "free things." Yes, it'll be great if my blog gets popular but I want to be known for my writing and not anything else.

However, there are some bloggers on the "market" who wants to be known so that they can get sponsorships. I mean, it's totally fine if you provide your client what they deserve and what you both agreed upon (e.g. a sponsored outfit for an Instagram shoutout). What isn't fine is LYING ABOUT YOUR STATS.

As all of you should know, I ventured into a little business recently and I started an Instagram account officially yesterday. Then, I received an email from this girl.


First things first - calling me dear when we don't even know which other is already very unprofessional. But I can let that go especially since she's probably no older than 16. But please, just don't go around calling people your dear.

Anyway, I instinctively went to her blog and stalked her a little to find out more about her. 4100+ Instagram followers and 300-400 likes per photo - pretty impressive I must say. But with only have 500 readers daily? The numbers don't match up.

I got a little suspicious because I was aware that you can buy Instagram followers and likes. I went on to her Twitter. Barely 400 followers. Now the numbers really don't match up. How can someone have 4100 Instagram followers but only 400 Twitter followers? Seem like somebody forgot to buy Twitter followers as well, huh? ;-)

Because I was already suspicious, I went to dig deeper into the girl's Instagram account and this was what I found:

If this isn't proof that she buys her followers and likes, then I don't know what is.

And guess what?

Her Twitter has lots of fake followers as well (but the amount is not as exaggerated as her Instagram followers).

What about her blog then? She has an Imotiv account, which is basically Twitter for blogs, and she publicizes that with a badge on her blog. I clicked on that. One follower - herself. At this point, I more or less knew that her stats were fake but I still replied her.


I'll be honest - I already had little to no intentions of working with her but I decided to give her a benefit of doubt and further clarified.

She replied with this image:


If you look at the image carefully, you can clearly see that the resolution of the words on the left is different from the resolution of the numbers on the right. While I can't confirm if this screenshot has been tampered with, I can confirm that the numbers are DEFINITELY fake. Without a doubt AT ALL. 

With 500-600 views daily, your monthly viewership should at least be 15k instead of 5k. This screenshot proves nothing because Blogger's default stats shows your views, not unique views. Showing only your views means that every time you refresh your page, you get a new blog view and it also means that it is very easy for lots of "bloggers" who only want sponsorships to lie about their stats.

Basically, your views is the number of page views and your unique views refer to the number of visitors you get. You can get 20 unique views and 500 views per day and it only means that someone is constantly refreshing your page. You see, depending on which one you mention, you get very different results.

I sent this girl another email to ask about her unique views.

Some people asked me what did I get for my boyfriend's 21st birthday so I decided to just blog about it! Okay, maybe if nobody asked, I would have blogged about it all the same because I'm excited to be able to finally share it with everyone!!!

I actually spent an exorbitant amount of money on his birthday party already so I decided to just make something for him. I had so many ideas but I just couldn't settle for one because they all seem great!

Then I remembered that my boyfriend lovesssssss receiving letters from me. When he's having a tough week in army whatsoever, I will always encourage him by telling him there's a letter for him when he books out and it always makes his days a little better.

That's when the idea of writing him 21 letters formed. There were many ideas on the internet but I decided to make it more personal so I made up quite a few of my own.



Each of them consist of a letter and some of them have little surprises in them. I can't say what they are or what I wrote because my boyfriend hasn't open the letters yet but if you really wish to know, ask me in private :p

I have never done so much for anyone before and the idea sounded too huge and a little crazy at first but I'm glad I did it because my boyfriend loved it :) I wasn't sure how long it would take so I started this immediately after confirming the idea (a little after Valentine's Day) and barely managed to complete them a few days before his birthday on 12 April so it took me around 2 months.

Even though it was a lot of hard work and my hands felt like breaking at times, I really enjoyed the process of hunting for little presents and putting myself in the situation. It's a bit tricky writing about the future but it was fun! ^^

The trickiest part is getting him a present that can be more awesome than this in the future wtf. Good luck, me.

We were never the best combination of friends from the beginning. You are friendly, loud, outgoing, extroverted. You are a people-person and people love you wherever you go. You are opinionated, and never afraid to voice out. You are confident and not afraid to make a fool of yourself. You never had a lack of friends.

Me? I'm the shadow of you. I'm shy and quiet around people I'm not close to. As an introvert, I rather keep to myself. I'm insecure about practically everything. I'm uptight, and I have a problem making friends. It's funny how we managed to get along so well, isn't it?

We had everything going and our friendship felt so right, no matter how different we were. I even believed that opposites truly attract. Yet, one thing happened after another and we are no longer as close as we used to be. I'm not sure if you felt it, but I certainly did.


I tried reconnecting with you, tried to ask you more about your new life, tried to understand it as much as possible. While I am thankful that you try to keep me updated as much as possible, it saddens me to know that I don't fit in your life anymore.

I never thought much about it, and always brushed it aside by telling myself you're just busy. But now I see. Today, as I struggle to find a topic to talk to you on Whatsapp, I wonder to myself what changed. Maybe it's because I got too focused on the little things in life happening in my life that I neglected you for a couple of months. Maybe it's because you have found new people in your life that you click better with. Maybe it's the differences between the both of us finally pulling us apart.


It's really depressing to know that someone whom I used to not be able to live a day without talking to can just become someone so distant. That our endless conversations would eventually lead to these one word replies. I just can't get over the fact that you simply got over our friendship. That if you could, anyone else could too. I feel so empty, so vacant. There's a void in my heart from the space you used to occupy.


How did we end up like this? We used to spam each other with messages to the point of our phones lagging but today, as I try time and again to start a topic, your answers are short but not sweet. I get one word replies so often and you blow me off so much when before, we could talk and joke about everything under the sun.

As I maneuver my mouse to the 'Publish' button, I let one last tear slid down my cheeks that are extremely wet by now. The pain of losing someone whom I place so much trust in is indescribable. I still keep our photos in my wallet, hoping one day we'll be the same.

Goodbye. Goodbye now.
Nothing can replace what we shared,
No one can ever take your place,
But I guess we all have to bid farewell someday.
I love you.

I wish that's the case for me. I hate how I am easily affected by words, especially if they are from the people I care about. In the past, I used to go MIA when I receive undesirable comments from just anyone because I wasn't strong enough to deal with them. I'd like to think that after many years of putting myself out on the social media, I no longer take shit from people I don't even know. But the truth is far from such.

I guess there are just some days when you feel like you're never good enough, when everything you do seems wrong. Some days you just feel like the world is judging your every action, and you just want to shut down.

A while, someone told me something that made me want to stay away from a couple of social media platforms for a long while. I'll be honest - tears welled up in my eyes. I don't know what happened; it's the first time since forever that I let a stranger's words get the better of me. Even till today, I still can't get over it.

I know it's silly, and words from strangers only know my internet persona and not personally shouldn't even hurt me. But I came to learn what they said about me through someone very close to me. Maybe I wouldn't have minded so much if it was just another comment left by an anonymous on my ask.fm - I've already gotten used to those trolls. However, those hurtful words came from the mouth of someone who holds a special spot in my heart.

What do they know about me? They probably know me as a social media addict but not me personally. They would know what I'm like if they knew me on a personal level. Heck, I put myself out on this platform so much that they would have understood if they tried to find out a bit more. But no, of course not. Of course people wouldn't go through the trouble of knowing me better before they start wagging their tongues. Talk is cheap anyway, so why bother?

My supportive friends questioned repeatedly, "Why did they have to be so mean?" I have no answer to that. No sense of humour? That's fine. Never experienced childhood to understand what was I talking about? So be it.

I can only think the worst of those who are trying to put down a 18-year-old teenager who's still experimenting with life. That's not the point though; I was broken mostly because I couldn't understand why wouldn't someone I truly care about defend me.

In that split second, you shattered all traces of confidence I have so painstakingly built up. Because of what they said, you discredited all I've ever done. You made me feel insecure once again.

Why did you take their side instead of mine? Why weren't you at least encouraging? Why did you make me feel so stupid, so dumb, so helpless? 

Why?

I love how your name sound when it leaves my lips, how my heart feels when I hear your name, even till today. I talk endlessly about you occasionally just to hear your name because it brings me such wonderful vibe. It's funny how much things can change over a year huh? 365 days ago, I wouldn't believe it if anyone informed me there would be a day I stop using your name.

It's crazy, just like how our love is. The insane number of times we laugh when we are together, the silly things we do to put a smile on each other's face, the strange way my heart still skips a beat when I think of you and everything we have, the way I yearn for your touch again the moment we say goodbye.

Your voice gives me the warmest, fuzziest feelings even if it's just over the phone. More often than not, I eavesdrop on your conversations not because there's no trust between us but because I'm in love with every part of you - even your voice. How am I still so infatuated remains a baffling mystery to me and it scares me sometimes. I have never felt this much, this sure, this secure before. Feeling something so strong, so perplexing is so new to me.

Family apart, never has anyone treated me the way you treat me. Never have I connected with anyone so easily. All those risks were worth it, they were so worth it. You make me see the things I couldn't see, you make me smile even when I'm annoyed at you, you make the stars shine even in the darkest nights. 

To you who made me the happiest girl,

Thank you.