who is gilda?

all my life i've been asked,
"is that your real name?"

yeah it is. my siblings and i all have special names.

i did a quick search and here's what i got.

according to behind the name, it's
gender: Feminine
usage: Italian
Derived from Germanic gild meaning "sacrifice".

at think baby names
The girl's name Gilda \gi(l)-da\ is pronounced
JILL-dah, GILL-dah, GEEL-dah.
It is of Old English origin, and its meaning is
"golden, gilded". A short form of Teutonic names
containing "gilde"; can be traced to Ermengilda,
an Anglo-Saxon name. Familiar since the 1940s
due to the movie "Gilda" starring Rita Hayworth.
In the 1980s: actress/comedienne Gilda Radner.

but i think my parents named me for this meaning
that i got from babyhold.
The name Gilda is a baby girl name.
The name Gilda comes from the Celtic origin.
In Celtic The meaning of the name Gilda is: Serves God.


all my life i've had to deal with people
who couldn't pronounce my name.
nor spell it.
in fact, i've gotten so used to it,
i respond to all sorts of ways that people pronounce it.
my own parents confuse me sometimes heh heh.
they call me gil-da or jil-da depending on
i-don't-know-what.
so i'm quite happy with either.

i HATE, however, how my name sounds like in japanese.
because the japanese language lacks the alphabets,
or sounds, to produce how my name should sound,
i ended up with ギルダ (read: gi-ru-da).
which is something that i basically have to repeat twice,
to everyone whom i meet for the first time,
or on the phone to the pizza delivery.

i love my name though.
but i do not recommend anyone else
naming their babies gilda.
i'm selfish and want that name all to myself.
heehee.
but if you or your baby IS named gilda,
please email and tell me all about it!!

my elder sister's name, by the way,
is bibiana, and my younger brother, jorim.

aren't we all just a bunch of special kids?
heh heh.

also, my dad is andrew and my mum is maggie.
my dog is shadow and her sister was misty.

i turned 24 on april 19th,
which was when i started this blog.

i was borne and bred in sunny ol' singapore,
and lived at home for 20 years.
when i was in high school (we call it junior college
in singapore) i decided i wanted to do fashion,
and was supposed to head over to new york.
(since i could already speak english,
i figured why learn japanese or french.
and london seemed so cloudy and dreary so...)

but the same year, september 11th happened,
and my parents freaked out and said NO.
so i got irritated, and decided to work instead.

i worked for a year helping to manage
a travel agency that my parents own.
but after a year, i decided that i hated office work.

so i quit, looked through classifieds,
and saw an ad for a nailist.
for those of you who don't know,
i LOVE getting my nails done and i love nail art,
and had always done it myself.
so i called up,
got hired,
got the keys to the shop within a week,
and actually did pretty well.
i really loved my job and treated the shop
like it were mine.

but my boss was a prick and i wanted to quit.
when i told one of my regulars that i was leaving,
she offered me a job at her design agency.
well, at that time, the company was basically
designing things like pamphlets, p.o.p.s,
catalogues and stuff like that,
for some really huge companies
in the technology market.
i started as her personal assistant slash
project coordinator, with zero knowledge.
it was tough work and i had many screw ups,
but i also had so much fun and learnt a lot.
so rog and von, if you ever read this, thank you.
for giving me a chance of a lifetime
and teaching me a lot,
and most of all for being great friends.

in between all that, and since high school,
i had fallen in love with japan and
hence quit work to move here.

i came in october 2003 and started studying
in a japanese school called inter-cultural institute.

i loved it there, made so many friends,
and my teachers were some of the loveliest
people i have met in my life.

then i moved on to bunka fashion college.
for those of you in the fashion circle,
you might have heard of my school.
it's the only asian school listed in the
top ten fashion design schools in the world,
and home to the best of japanese designers.

i took a 2 year course and it has taught me
everything that i know now.
i've also made friends who will last a lifetime
and won't ever forget.

well, rewind back, my parents have always
wanted me to graduate from university.
so i tried applying to my school's university
program (i was in the 2 year intensive program,
much more famous by world standards).

i got in, but when i met up with the professors,
they suggested that i do not enter the university,
because whatever i have already learnt,
would be repeated and then it'll just
be a waste of my time.

so talks began with the parents,
and i was thinking and going all excited about
prospects of st martins in london.
then guess what my dad says?

"how about new york?"

wow, you know i don't regret any minute
that i've spent here in japan,
but it does feel as if my life had gone by
in a flash and i'm back to where i was
5 years ago.

so well, new york's my next destination
and school will be starting in the fall.
in the meantime, i'll be back in singapore
for a while.

so there.
that really sums up my life.

"what a freaking long post!
we didn't need all that info, you know!"

sure. whatever.

i can't help it;
i'm like a long-winded grandmother.

if you have any questions you have for me,
email it and i'll answer them all here yeah?

xoxoxo

gilda