Berlin is such a historically profound city that it both awes and terrifies me. Cheryl and I went on a free walking tour and it was mindblowing to see the juxtaposition of Berlin's most known landmarks — the SS Headquarters (Topography of Terror) and Berlin Cathedral were in such close proximity that you could be discussing war horrors or torturing a prisoner before sauntering over to pray to be a better person.




Adjacent to Berlin Cathedral is Lustgarten (literally, Pleasure Garden — see how close German is to English?). The unassuming park saw numerous rallies and protests during the years of Weimar Republic. Later, under Nazi Germany, Hitler held rallies attended by up to a million people in Lustgarten.

Stedelijk Museum was everything I enjoyed, all in one museum — modern art, contemporary art, photography, typography and graphic design. I don't think I can ever fully put into words how impactful Stedelijk Museum museum was. I had always held a steadfast belief that I was not artistically-inclined. After all, my grades proved so — Art was the only subject that ruined my perfect streak of straight A's — and who was I to question the educational system?

But strolling through Stedelijk Museum made me realise that art is subjective. Art is not the grades that I let define me for the past decade. Art is not blindly following a painting and the strokes my teacher showed us. Art is not the punishment my teacher subjected me to because I couldn't follow her instructions. And most of all, unlike Singapore's education system, art is about failing. In fact, art embraces failures.

How many household names out there have failed countless times before creating their masterpiece? How many artists passed away before their names were known to the world? And how many continued painting till their deathbeds despite never producing a known work.

All my life, I associated art with paintings, colourings, drawings — all of which I was atrocious at. But Stedelijk Museum showed me that art is more than that, and that I've been creating works of art without even realising it. Photography is art, typography is art, graphic design is art. Even if you find it impossible to comprehend, contemporary art and modern art is art. You don't have to like it, you just need to respect it.

It sounds silly that I'm raving about how big a difference an art museum made in my life, but Stedelijk Museum allowed me, a girl who never believed in her artistic sense despite having been a designer for distinguished companies, to fall in love with art over again.

I'll let some of my favourite photos do the talking but Stedelijk Museum is literally my favourite art museum in the world right now, and well worth every bit of that €10 ticket I was initially reluctant to splurge on.

P.S. You can get tickets to Stedelijk Museum at €10 as long as you're a student anywhere in the world.

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam

Address

Museumplein 10, 1071 DJ Amsterdam, Netherlands

Opening hours

Saturdays to Thursdays: 10am to 6pm
Fridays: 10am to 10pm

Price

Adults above 18: €18,50
Students: €10
Below 18: Free

The irony that the sign was made by the prisoners and placed outside concentration camps, as if to taunt them. This phrase seems to have some sort of strange truth wrapped around it. Over-exhaustion is fatal yet, unfortunately and tragically, death is really their only chance at freedom.


When you look closely though, you might notice that the B in Arbeit is upside down — a gesture of silent resilience, an oxymoronic sign of oppressed assertion, a defiant “fuck you” to to the Nazis.


I couldn't stop thinking about it for days to come. How many teenagers of our generation can honestly say that they know about WW2? Sure, we know the basic facts, but do we understand the cruelty that happened in the concentration camps? The pain and humiliation suffered by the generations before us, their will to survive and how they fought for freedom.

Holocaust deniers worry me to no end. Aren't the pictures and videos enough to prove that these atrocious truly happened? None of those trialled after the war ever denied that the holocaust happened — their defence were that they weren't aware, they were following orders etc.

Please. Remember these lessons. If we don't learn from history, we are bound to repeat it.





Wrote the above about Auschwitz in 2015, and finally visited the historical site in 2018.

Unfortunately, after three years, my German remains abysmal at best due to the lack of practice, highly contributed by my everlasting need to procrastinate. Nun ja.

Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum

Address

Więźniów Oświęcimia 20, 32-603 Oświęcim, Poland

Opening Hours

8am to 3pm
(Best to book the earliest timing as there will be less people and tour groups)

Tickets

Free for all. Tickets to be booked online.

It seemed like no trip to London is complete without brunch at The Breakfast Club; as a first-time traveller to London, I naturally included that in our itinerary. We were there at about 11am and there was a queue of about three groups in front of us. The waiting time was about half an hour, which was pretty reasonable.

The Breakfast Club opening hours

We took the time while queuing to look at the menu and decide on our order.

The Breakfast Club menu

Now, Althea is definitely a brand that's familiar to you guys. Other than being a third-party platform for beauty and makeup products, Althea has been constantly innovating new products, which is why they have been appearing on my blog so often! This time, I'm happy to share with you three releases: A’bloom Meringue Puffs, A’bloom Refreshing Skin Mask Pack, and A’bloom BHA Blackhead Blaster.



Look at how adorable these makeup puffs are! A’bloom Meringue Puffs, inspired by meringue cookies, help you achieve the perfect skin make up. It can be used in two ways:

1. Soak the puff with water for a moist and glossy makeup look
2. Use the puff dry for a matte and flawless makeup look

A’bloom Meringue Puffs are made out of non-latex sponge with hydrophilic properties which grow up to 1.5 times bigger when soaked with water, allowing makeup to be applied perfectly on the skin.

House brands are typically viewed as inferior to national brands but Althea has been putting in their best efforts to change this perception. A’bloom Meringue Puffs are super soft and fluffy to touch, and super gentle to your skin.

Look at how cute these fruit masks are! Environmentalists will be glad to know that A’bloom Refreshing Skin Mask Pack are made of 100% natural eco-friendly fabric. A’bloom Refreshing Skin Mask Pack gives a light citrus scent to help you relax after a long day at work. The avocado mask I tried didn't have a strong scent (or any at all) but it gave me a soft and supple skin even the morning after.


My favourite part of the day has to be coming home and picking which mask am I going to use after a warm shower. I love the little informative graph at the back of the mask packs to inform you which A’bloom Refreshing Skin Mask Pack aids with what properties.

Lastly, A’bloom BHA Blackhead Blaster contains natural ingredients to deep cleanse the pores and removing dead skin cells while preventing any irritations or redness on the skin. A’bloom BHA Blackhead Blaster is a gentle daily triple treatment for blackheads, whiteheads and dead skin.



A’bloom BHA Blackhead Blaster contains natural BHA ingredients to deep pore cleanse by exfoliating the dead skin cells, apricot seed powder to remove excess sebum, charcoal to absorb the dirt in the pores, tea tree leaf oil to soothe as well as prevent any redness and irritations on the skin.



Make your purchase on Althea today!