Qween pLinc

Hello 2012!

2012-01-11T11:11:00.001+08:00

Hello 2012!!!!!

It is only the first 10 days of 2012….and it is already OH so exciting!!! Here is a brief summary of my exciting 2012…in typical journalistic ways…

Q. How did you start your year?

A. I was at home. As much as I was very 风心 (aka Hong Sim in hokkien) and desired to be out, I behaved and controlled myself and managed to stick to my priorities � i.e. stay home and rest. This is all thanks to Taka starting their CNY Fair before 2012. Check out www.yangyang.com.sg if you still don't know what I'm talking about. And if you still don't know what I'm talking about, it means you are only a fan, not a friend :p

Q. Who were you with at countdown?

A. I spent it with Liu Bei, Cao Cao and Zhu Ge Liang. Yes. I'm most proud that finally, at my ripe old age, I managed to complete the whole story of 三国。 It's been something I wanted to do for years…since 2000 actually..but never had the opportunity.

My favourite man is Zhu Ge Liang. I think ZGL is a most brilliant man. And silly Liu Bei should have stuck to listening to him. I'm in 2 minds as to whether Cao Cao is a good guy or bad guy. I think the producers of the show can't decide too…and portrayed him in such a way that it is very much left to the viewer to decide. I did cry when CC died…and when Liu Bei died…and when Zhang Fei died…and of course when ZGL died….ok I cry when most people die in the show.

Q. Work wise? What's "oh so exciting"?

A. We launched Way To Go, Singapore! www.waytogo.sg …ok DPM launched it. We worked on it behind the scenes.

We've been on the project for a few months…working endlessly with some great clients. Working on a nationwide outreach movement to share messages about productivity has been such a privilege. And I'll like to confirm, that DPM Tharman is very brilliant. Very.

And in case you'll like to see the press release for the above, it is here: http://www.mom.gov.sg/newsroom/Pages/PressReleasesDetail.aspx?listid=402

Q. What's up for the rest of 2012?

A. In usual Qween's fashion, I so look forward to the rest of the year, and can't wait to embrace every minute of it. I hearts my life, my lifestyle, the people around me. I'll dance through 2012...ideally to bossa nova style music. And if you really want to know about the rest of 2012…keep coming back to this page!!!!

Here's wishing you a rock and roll 2012. May the auspicious Dragon bring you great health and prosperity!!!!!!

To my dear client

2011-12-22T15:02:00.001+08:00

1. No, we don’t know every journalist everywhere across the island—not that it matters. Even journalists whose weddings we were in will turn down our pitches occasionally.

2. Few things actually warrant a press release …

3. … And a creative PR professional can still brainstorm ways to achieve your goals without one.

4. Stop insisting we call the media. Most of them hate this and specifically request we contact them exclusively via email.

5. PR is not free advertising. PR is not free (or cheap), period.

6. Don’t ask us to pitch an idea and then not be available for an interview. If you want the press, we need you to be ready to talk to the media at a moment’s notice.

7. What matters most to you may be totally irrelevant to a journalist. Remember that it’s what they—not you—think is important that matters in the end.

8. Publicists cannot control the end product. It is unethical for us to ask, to see, or to proof a copy of the story beforehand, or to dictate what the reporter can and can’t say. Doing so will backfire—trust me. Anyway, the journalists will not show you.

9. Social media is more than Facebook and Twitter.

10. If you insist on running all tweets and posts past your legal department, don’t expect results from your social media strategy.

11. If a journalist says he or she is not interested in a story, that person means it. Reaching out again will further annoy the reporter and guarantee you’ll be ignored the next time.

12. Don’t measure your PR results in ad equivalency rates. Do you want to know you had $500,000 of ad equivalent value in negative press, or would you rather know 80 percent of the press you received was positive in tone and accurate in its messages?

13. Ditto for “We’re so excited/thrilled/happy” CEO quotes. Pretend you’re explaining the story to a friend over drinks, and then give us that quote.

14. There’s no need for a logo and boilerplate for anyone who so much as breathed in a room where the project was discussed.

15. PR is a process. You know who hits it big overnight with a story on the front page of Straits Times? Criminals, dead politicians and SMRT breakdowns. Do you want to be one of them?

16. You can’t “make” something go viral. That’s why it’s called “going viral.”

17. An ethical PR pro is not a spin doctor. Do not ask me to lie, spin the truth, evade the press, or hide your dirty laundry.

18. I love you. You’re my favorite client. You’re the only one I work on all day.

60 of you a week?!?!

2011-11-09T01:09:00.000+08:00

After donkey years, I’ve finally checked into my nuffnang account to see if this blog is still alive. This is amazing!!!! This blog seems to be visited by about 60 of you a week for the past few months! Wow!!!! 60?!?!?!?! I know there’s like my sista, Jules, Fang…..who else is checking this site out????? Identify yourself to win special moments with me!!!! wahaha..

And to show my grandest appreciation, here are some photos

This was when Dylan just joined us. Big thank you to Julie for adding this bundle of joy to our lives!!

Seriously pretending to make cupcakes at Café 8. Haha….it was really sweet of Bill to allow us to make a mess of his kitchen…all for princess Jo’s birthday. Can’t imagine how drama it will be next year when she turns the big 3-0!

Haha…this is classic. This is Chris stuck in my car with so so many balloons!!!!

And this was at Alvin’s birthday, where we “make” him and force him to pose like the lady on the wall!!

Ok la…this is it for now. Identify yourself for some solo treats!

Farmer's Donkey

2011-10-28T15:18:00.001+08:00

A wise story from my daddy:
FARMER’S DONKEY

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried out loud. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. Witheach shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over theedge of the well and happily trotted off!

Moral:
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.
2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happens.
3. Live simply and appreciate what you have.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less from people and more from God.

Addicted..

2011-09-21T23:43:00.001+08:00

I never knew my addiction is strong. Initially, I didn't even think about it. Just moved and did the right thing. Days dragged to weeks. Some days, I really tried very hard but no matter how much I slept, I never really felt rested. Before I knew it, it became weeks. I wake up in shock some nights. And the rare times I slept throughout the night, I wake up feeling like I never slept.

Tonight, I defied all odds and instructions. I disobeyed and ignored the warning signs. I don't care that the works are still going on. I don't care that it stinks. I'm going back to my room and sleeping on MY bed! Yes!! I'm addicted to my bed!!!!

Wedding Emcee Script

2011-07-20T15:19:00.001+08:00

I've been to too many weddings as Emcee. Once, I was emcee for a friend's cousin � I therefore didn't know the bride and groom at all! I've been to so many as emcee, that I'm now the person others call for an emcee script if they are need one. So here it is. For one and all called upon by dearest friends to be wedding emcees…here it is.

[Introduction]

Good evening distinguished guests and beloved family and friends, my name is ______________ the MC for this evening. We gather today for the wedding celebrations of：

the (eldest) son of

Mr. and Mrs. _____________________________(name of Groom's parents),

Mr. _____________________________________(name of Groom)

And the (youngest) daughter of

Mr. and Mrs. ______________________________(name of Bride's parents)

Miss _____________________________________(name of Bride)

*Please always refer to the wedding invitation card for this part. Chinese families are particular.

Together with my co-MC _______________________, we hope to make this dinner reception a light-hearted and memorable one for you and the newly-weds.

各位敬爱的贵宾以及在座的所有亲朋好友大家晚上好。

我是__________________今晚的大会司仪之一，感谢大家百忙之中来参加今晚的婚宴, 与_______________________________夫妇的(长)子_______________________先生

以及_____________________________夫妇的(次)女_______________________小姐
在此我和我身旁这位漂亮小姐都希望能够呈现给大家一个温馨难忘的夜晚。

Ladies and gentlemen, please rise and join me to welcome, our stars for tonight: the beautiful bride and very handsome groom, Mr. and Mrs_______________

事不宜迟就让我们起立以最热情的掌声来欢迎今晚的男女主角 ___________________夫妇登山筵席的红地毯。有请！

And now, dinner will be served. Enjoy.
婚宴即将开始

[Video Screening]

This morning, the couple with their "brothers and sisters" went through a very exciting and memorable traditional wedding ceremony of "fetching the bride" over to the groom's place. We have prepared a short video clip highlighting the special moments from this morning. Enjoy!

今早，新郎可以说是上高上，下湖海去迎娶新娘。请大家欣赏我们即将播放的录影。

We've prepared a montage of photographs sharing the couple's growing up years and their journey together. Without further ado, here they are. Enjoy!

请大家欣赏我们即将播放的录影，关于 ______与 __________ 共度的人生片段。

[2^nd March In]

Ladies and Gentlemen, please join me with a your loudest applause as we welcome back to the banquet hall, _____________& ____________. Please remain seated.

各位贵宾，让我们再次用最热烈的掌声来欢迎，即将二度进场的新婚夫妇。

[Champagne Popping]

Let's welcome our newly weds ___________& __________to come on stage to pop the champagne!

接下来，有请我们的新人来喝交杯酒!

[Groom & Bride Speech]

The groom & bride will now like to say a few words.

现在有请我们这郎才女貌的新婚夫妇上台来为我们致感谢词。

[Ceremonial Toast]

Now ladies and gentlemen, I would like to invite the families of the bride and groom, along with the brothers from the groom side and the sisters from the bride side, up on stage for the ceremonial toast.

是的现在有请双方家属以及男方的兄弟和女方的姐妹一同上台来进行我们的敬酒仪式。　

Toast #1:

Someone said, happiness is not a destination. It is a journey. Please join me as we raise our glasses for our first toast to _____________& __________, wishing them a blissful lifelong journey together.

第一杯，是要祝贺新人，永浴爱河，永结同心，白头偕老。

Toast #2:

For the second toast, we wish our newly wed couple a bountiful harvest and to multiply in numbers!

第二杯，是要祝贺新人，好好做人，早生贵子，三年抱两。

Toast #3:

For the third toast, we would like to wish thank everyone here for joining in the celebrations, wishing all our guests great health and good fortune.

第三杯，是要祝贺在场的各位亲戚朋友，龙马精神，生意兴隆，身体健康。

[End of Dinner]

We have now come to the end of our joyous occasion. We hope that it has been a memorable evening for you and that you have shared the same blissful and happy moments with us. Wishing you a good evening and a pleasant week ahead. Bye bye!

俗话说　天下无不散之筵席　我们今晚的酒席也要圆满落幕了。再次感谢所有在座的贵宾和亲朋好友莅临我们的晚会。希望你们也和我们一样能够感受得到我们的喜悦和快乐，也祝你们身体健康，合家平安，有情人终成眷属。拜拜！

Want Less Stress? Don't be in PR

2011-04-21T17:30:00.001+08:00

A friend sent me a link to this article:

http://www.humanresourcesonline.net/news/25919

It ranks the least stressful and most stressful professions. Interestingly, PR came in number 2 of the most stressful profession. I’m sure all my lawyer friends are going to cry “NO WAY” for not having their profession listed there under the Top 10 most stressful. Personally, I think the word “stress” is such a convenient word. People throw the word around mindlessly to explain everything, from their mood of the day, to why they are putting on weight, to why they are dropping hair, to why they are not spending enough time with their children. “Stress man…” From my primary 4 cousin to my doctor, all use the word “stress” casually.

I hate the word, simply because I think there is so little common ground in terms of its definition. What does “being stress” mean? Or what does “stressful” means? A lot of work is overworked. Challenging is another concept altogether. Not knowing how to do the work is a different thing and doing something repeatedly mindlessly means not stressful? C’mon. I think it’s all very easy to use one word – stress – to explain the magic of the world. So stressful indeed.

Top 10 least stressful professions:

1. Audiologist

2. Dietician

3. Software engineer

4. Computer programmer

5. Dental hygienist

6. Speech pathologist

7. Philosopher

8. Mathematician

9. Occupational therapist

10. Chiropractor

Top 10 most stressful professions:

1. Commercial airline pilot

2. Public relations executive

3. Senior corporate executive

4. Photojournalist

5. Newscaster

6. Advertising account executive

7. Architect

8. Stockbroker

9. Emergency medical technician

10. Real estate agent

Shit i left you behind!

2011-03-04T15:10:00.001+08:00

My dad sent this comic to me....

This Cartoon Will Become A Classic

What is funnier is that last weekend, I borrowed daddy's car as my xiao
hei was in the workshop. Mummy then fetched daddy to his golf game at
the club.

In the evening, mummy and daddy were in the clubhouse having a drink
with their golf kakis after the golf game. Mummy was all ready to come
home, but daddy was still in his golf gear and not done cleaning up. So,
mummy told daddy she'll go back first since they are both driving.

Mum came home wondering how come daddy managed to get home earlier then
she did!

Dad finished bathing and started searching for his car keys. SHUCKS! His
car keys are nowhere to be found! Oh no! Oh, until mummy calls to say
"Shit! I left you behind."

This makes the above comic strip very relevant to us now. Hiaks!

Soft Rain

2011-02-19T17:31:00.001+08:00

I love the rain when it falls softly from the skies.

It has been a fantabulous 2011 so far. Sales at Yangyang were brisk and good. Everyone at home is healthy and happy. Work at Aprw has been steady and growing. I'll welcome a new godson this year and that's bringing about a growing excitement. An old friend turned up after 5 years with renewed friendship. All looks set for a fantabulous year!

Difference Between Complete & Finished

2011-01-07T16:12:00.000+08:00

People say there is no difference between COMPLETE & FINISHED. . but
there is:

When you marry the right one, you are COMPLETE....

And when you marry the wrong one, you are FINISHED.....

And when the right one catches you with the wrong one, you are ...

COMPLETELY FINISHED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO...ARE YOU FINISH OR COMPLETE?

Juggling

2010-11-11T16:10:00.001+08:00

Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. They are Work, Family, Health, Friends and Spirit and you’re keeping all of these in the air.

You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back.

But the other four balls – Family, Health, Friends and Spirit – are made of glass.

If you drop one of these, they will irrevocably be scuffed, marked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for it.

So, my friend, work efficiently during office hours and leave on time. Don’t keep work on your mind constantly. Give the required time to your family. Enjoy yourself with your friends. Have personal time to yourself. Have proper rest.

Random Freedom

2010-11-09T05:43:00.001+08:00

When I said I was going to Jakarta for the first time, my old school friends insisted I've been to Jakarta..apparently for a history trip in secondary school. Really? I can't remember.

Its amazing what stays in my mind, and what gets stacked up to collect dust in some unexplored territory in my little brain.

And so a trip to Jakarta I took. To support little cousin for the 4th ASEAN Primary School Sports Olympiad. All the badminton watching over 4 days made me convince a friend to book a court and start playing badminton with me this month.

Watching young children battle it out on the court. Ignorant of the pressure hanging over their parents' faces. Not intimidated by a taller and bigger opponent. Forgetting the roars from the crowd. Dashing from one corner to the other...focused...to catch every shot.

Some nights, when its dark and warm, the skies stir gently. And soft rain falls upon the earth. It makes a beautiful sound against my windows. Pulling over my thick blanket. I feel warm and at peace with the world. That's when I smile in the "oh I'm so wise" manner. Turn my ipod on. And play Charlie Sneller's "Jesus loves me" on repeat mode.

Why be insistent on finding the meaning behind everything in life?

Random freedom, my friend.

:)

Where To Find Your Perfect Partner - 12 Top Firm

2010-10-13T15:24:00.001+08:00

This email i got from my bro is so hilarious. Of course my friend the Ps disagreed – wife-to-be insist that her husband-to-be is more exciting than watching paint dry. So here it is for sharing purposes. Go search now!

We've called in the services of Ivana Takitall, author of the best-selling 'Bankers, Bonuses & Big Divorce Settlements', who has agreed to rate 12 top financial markets firms in terms of how likely they are to provide single females with their perfect partner.

First off, though, some general advice from Ivana. 'A single female needs to be very careful when dating someone successful in the financial markets. Often, traders or bankers can be on the look-out for trophy wives, and regard dating, or indeed marriage, as a transaction. There can clearly be significant downsides involved here, although a big financial settlement will cushion the blow. But never sign a pre-nup', she cautions.

'You also need to look out for the predators out there, who will simply see you as a 'bed-down' challenge. Give in before they are hooked, and you will never see them again', Ivana continues, 'And be careful about the bankers who are charming, exceedingly good looking and appear too good to be true - they are probably gay'.

Here are Ivana's thoughts on the top firms
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Keep to the guys who are based in the main financial centers, as the others can be a little rough around the edges. If you are looking for a life-long commitment, then these guys are generally not your best bet. The Merrill set, in particular, have been known to stray. Relationships can be very intense, yet of relatively short duration. These guys often have low boredom thresholds.

Barclays Capital
These guys are pretty smart, and are usually quite happy to splash their cash, bearing in mind uncle Bob Diamond is always happy to dish out big bonuses each year-end. Be a little careful, however, especially with the bankers who came over from Lehman - some of those guys had a lot of their net worth invested in that firm, and aren't now as well off as you might expect.

Citi
Those Citi boys are really quite a decent lot. Your mother would like them. They are generally respectful and are into commitment. You'll know where you stand. The only downside, however, is that they can be boringly conventional.

Commerzbank
If going out with a 'jack-the-lad' type appeals to you, then you should probably go hunting at Commerzbank. These guys might not earn the most money, but generally they have great sense of humours and enjoy a good night out. The downside is that your Commerzbank man might well prefer to be at Upton Park or Stamford Bridge, rather than at home having a romantic evening in with you.

Credit Suisse
Family men. Dull, but worthy. If it's a secure home and quiet family life you want, go fishing in the Credit Suisse pool. But it may be more exciting watching paint dry.

Deutsche Bank
Cool, polished, and debonair. Deutsche Bank man has the look (and feel) of James Bond about him - except the guys from Essex. In fact, you are probably better off searching out an Italian or US soulmate from the German bank (the place is full of them). It might take you a little longer to reel them in, but it will be worth it. And Italian bankers from Deutsche make the best lovers.

Goldman Sachs
What can you say about Gold man ? If you can bag him, you are in a no lose situation, although he is generally cautious, and wary of ladies who might see him as a meal ticket (which he is). And remember, those canny Goldman types always hedge their risks, so they probably have stashes of cash secreted away, and you'll never find out how much they are truly worth (and neither will your lawyer!).

Jefferies & Co
The firm might be a relatively small one, but these guys aren't small in any way. Generally tall and imposing, they are casual yet sophisticated. Many have huge packages (they do well at bonus time too). Intelligent and high-minded, the only downside is that they can be a little intimidating for a girl on the make.

JPMorgan
Imagine a firm full of little Jamie Dimons. Exquisite. OK, so there are a few Tesco Tonys (and Willy Wal-Marts) scattered around the firm, but JPMorgan men are the guys that will generally sweep you off your feet. If you are playing for keeps, look no further than Jamie's finest - each built in his image, and comes with a money-back guarantee!

Morgan Stanley
If you find a Morgan Stanley banker who is rich, free and single, you'll need to snap him up quickly. Girls put their names down early for these White Shoe boys. But be careful - you will have to pass the 'Mummy' test on both counts - you'll need to come from good stock to gain the approval of the family, and be made of stern stuff yourself, as babies are likely to come off the production line in quick succession following marriage.

Societe Generale
A glint in the eye, a warm French smile. Oodles of charm and fantastic sex. But your SocGen dream man will probably turn out to be happily married too.

UBS
Surprisingly adventurous and open-minded, UBS soulmates are generally good fun to be with. You'll need to be selective, however, as they are a mixed bunch. Keep away from the ones who might be into leather and latex though (unless that's really your thing).

Beautiful JZG!

2010-10-07T16:47:00.001+08:00

Have to re-post this because the last one somehow didn’t work out. Guess it’s because i tried to post it from China. So abit late but here are the beautiful JZG photos. And just to give you incentive for coming back to this blog, there are more photos here than in facebook. How about that, my dear blog fans! Seee i treat you all SO good!

Also, many have requested for the song to be posted on this blog. But i’m not so clever. I don’t know how to do that. :p

If you are very clever and want to hear the song, please first teach me how to put up the mp3. Thanks!

Someone

2010-09-07T19:02:00.001+08:00

Recently, I met a new friend. This new friend is some professional musician kinda person…as in she writes music, plays music, arranges music and her latest project is being some music director for a musical. Yah, you get the drift. You know me..I’m full of myself. So when you allow me to meet a professional musician, what do I say? “I also know music!”.

So there I was, showing off to new friend. Piano? I know. Sing? I did. I still do! In Shanghai Dolly no less..haha. Compose music? Aiyah…please lah…my composition come out CD one ok! Really?

That started a when why how what kinda thing from all round. So I proudly shared how back when I was in JC, I took part in some song writing contest. Well my song did not win first, second or third prize. BUT it got selected to be part of the CD they cut. And in fact, recently, the National Library Board emailed me (amazingly after so many years they found me at my work email address!) and asked me for permission requesting for copyright clearances for the song as they intent to archive and digitise Singapore composed music. Don’t play play!!!! That’s like MY song lah!

New Friend: Oh, is that for the Children’s Society song-writing competition?

Me: OMG! Yes! How did you know???

NF: I took part too..I was in Secondary school then…and I won first prize.

Me: ……

Muahahaha….irritating right?! So that’s why I didn’t win!! Well, NF found the CD amazingly, and ripped it and sent me the MP3 of my song – Someone. I just listened to it again. I am convinced once again…that I am sooooo talented. *grins

Chap Chai Rice

2010-08-24T12:13:00.001+08:00

‎1 curry, 1 veg 1 egg and soup
haha
N 1 fish
‎if me i just buy u one chap chai rice

Shinji By Kanesaka

2010-08-23T14:40:00.001+08:00

Spreading the word about a new restaurant opened by a friend – SHINJI BY KANESAKA. Helmed by a top chef – Japanese sushi master Shinji Kanesaka, whose restaurant in Japan has earned two Michelin stars. The restaurant is at Raffles Hotel.

Quoting ST’s Wong Ah Yoke, “Dining there, one can easily imagine oneself in Tokyo because so much attention has been paid to ensure the experience is as authentic as possible to a traditional Japanese sushi restaurant. It is not only that the fish comes from Tokyo’s famous Tsukiji market…but it is also all the other details such as the interiors of the restaurant that include a counter carved from the trunk of a Japanese cypress tree and a ceiling covered in traditional hand-woven latticework.”

The two sushi counters and two private rooms seats a total of 42 people. Shinji only offers an omakase menu, which means the chef customizes a selection of items for each day’s guests based on the best ingredients available. The only choices are the number of items you want to eat, with corresponding prices.

Lunch ranges from $75 to $180. Dinner ranges from $220 to $450.

Website: http://shinjibykanesaka.com

I’ve yet to try it..but aim to do so soon!

Lunarin

2010-08-13T22:58:00.000+08:00

My dear friends from Lunarin is back after taking a 4 yrs break. Armed with a brand new brilliant album, all self written self composed self recorded all, they are set to rock the local music scene! And if u read about them in newspapers, magazines or watch them on CNA..its becuz I am their unofficial publicist! Haha..

Here they are performing at Home Club tonight..

Love in Disguise

2010-08-13T09:31:00.001+08:00

The plan was to support Irene Ang and catch Phua Chu Kang the movie. But got distracted by Hom...

10 reasons why Love in Disguise was most enjoyable:

1. Simple plot. No need to analyse, no need to piece parts of story together, no need to discuss at length whether the top stopped spinning or not.

2. Fantastic music. My kind of music. Nice balance of songs such that it doesn't seem too much like an mtv or "musical-wanna-be". Perfect movie music in my opinion

3. Funny. Laugh out loud kinda funny. Not too cheesy, yet not your too much wit type. No need to be gifted to get the joke one. I laughed out loud several times during the movie.

4. Cinderella ending. Lovely. Highly recommended for all women who fall under the broad category of "once upon a time dream that Dao Ming Si will surely fall in love with ME when he glanced up at ME at my turn during the meet-the-fans & autograph session at Bishan."

5. Wang Li Hong. Wang Li Hong. Wang Li Hong. The angle of the camera during key romantic parts if the movie had the audience "stand in the position of the female lead" type. Which means visually, it felt like he's leaning forward to kiss you. It got to the stage where he was going to kiss the female lead, one can hear a chorus of murmurs across the movie theatre going "nooooo..." Or "bu yao bu yao!"

6. Wang Li Hong. Wang Li Hong. Wang Li Hong.

7. Wang Li Hong. Wang Li Hong. Wang Li Hong.

8. Wang Li Hong. Wang Li Hong. Wang Li Hong.

9. Wang Li Hong. Wang Li Hong. Wang Li Hong.

10. Wang Li Hong. Wang Li Hong. Wang Li Hong.

I highly recommend! :)
But of coz, do catch phua chu kang too!

Finally…Photos Uploaded!!!

2010-08-09T03:47:00.001+08:00

As usual…the spur of a moment overtook me and I’m now the not-so-proud owner of a MacBook. Why not so proud? Because I’ve had so much difficulties using it this afternoon, I was close to throwing it into the swimming pool. It doesn’t help that the man who is supposed to help me with it is up in KL… argh!!! But one good thing is that it pushed me to download photographs due for downloading since last year!!! So here is a spread of some photos! :)

We went to watch Broadway Beng…last year…haha…

The September Birthdays Celebration…last year…haha…

Ah…this one is recent! Grannie went to support PHUA CHU KANG the MOvie!!! GO WATCH!! Going onto the big screen this month!!!!

The love of our lives convocated!

I take the nicest photographs sometimes…*no shame

For those of you who’ve not seen my joel for a while…here he is all grown up!

Another handsome one from the family…getting ang baos for finishing O levels!

The SGNs went to BALI!

And recently, we did a HAPPY BIRTHDAY Andy!!!

Phews…that is all for now…until i figure out that silly laptop i just bought…

The World Awaits...

2010-07-29T11:35:00.000+08:00

My dear brudder, at the convocation ceremony!! Yeah!!! Indeed...the
world awaits.

Friendster Closed

2010-06-07T11:55:00.000+08:00

I've not logged into my Friendster account for the longest time. Like we are probably talking about a year or so. And I'm massively bombarded with loads of emails from Friendster reminding me about birthdays or new messages. I've had thoughts of closing my friendster account for the longest time. And the only reason why I kept the account alive, was to remember Damien.

I knew Damien from the hostel at NUS. He was one of the sweetest boy around. He was a good friend, one who introduced me to the gym and encouraged me to visit the gym with him. One who always made time to touch base after we started work and once a month we would go for a beer together and bitch about the world. One day, Damien fell asleep and never woke up. And I realise that our friendship is only materialised by a testimonial Damien left on my friendster page in 2003. Of course he's always in very good memories. But this testimonial remains as the only reason why I still kept my friendster account all these years.

I'm killing my friendster account afterall. And so here, I repeat the testimonial Damien left for me..so that it will be on this page from henceforth.

DamienNov 4 2003, 01:46 AM

OHMYGOD! This is one testimonial I SOOO
have to write. The first time I met
PeiLin (which was definitely NOT the
first time I'd seen her, who could miss
this woman???), I was petrified of her!
YES, PETRIFIED! With her pink, or
purple, or maroon, or whatever hair
colour she had at that time, and her
Hello Kitty pyjamas on ... believe me,
she was a mean sight to behold! And
that voice, not very loud, but no
mistaking when she's talking to you!
YES, YOU, I'M TALKING TO YOU! And she's
always so demanding! Come and meet me
NOW, do this THIS way!, WHAT DO YOU
MEAN YOU CAN'T MAKE IT? I've lost track
of the number of times she's psychoed
me into doing things I was so adamantly
refusing to do barely 10 mins prior! I
never did go to that funfair at
Fairfield Methodist for which I bought
$50 worth of tickets for, and I still
have the tickets to prove it!! That
being said, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING
AS A LEAGLE EAGLE? This woman should SO
be in sales! Then the Singapore economy
would have nothing to worry about! (Ps -
I've sent in your details to the EDB,
and they'll be contacting you shortly!)

Jokes aside, my life is alot better for
know this fantastic gal (I think!).
She's a wonderful, funny, entertaining,
generous friend ... and I'm only saying
that in case I need legal advice in the
future (knock on wood!).

Okay PeiLin, I wrote a fantastic
testimonial like you asked me too, so
where's my lunch treat?

It's Family Day Out!

2010-05-24T13:17:00.001+08:00

National Family Celebrations is back in 2010 with a real power pack movement - the Singapore Family Pledge Movement. In short, make your own family pledge. And you could stand a chance to win tickets and prizes! Best right? Well, to make your own family pledge, go to www.nfc.sg

I pledge to be have more patience for my family.

Mummy commented over dinner 2 weeks ago, that grandma asked her why people who do business become less patient. Why the question? According to mummy, grandma cited me as an example. I guess having less patience has very little with doing business. For myself, it is alot about having been through more in life, that as we grow older, we have less patience for alot of things. We feel that we worked hard and therefore, for some things, we think that we deserve it. For others, we feel that we do not need to put up with it. Be it a lack of service when we are at a restaurant; a vendor who did not send out the email that was meant to be sent out; the friend who is late for lunch; a colleague who did not complete the project report.

Yet, it is not true that we completely are without patience. We continue to have patience for our bosses and our clients. So, it means we have less patience, and we reserve this little bit of patience that we have for what we define as absolutely necessary - surely I can't scream at my clients for forgetting to send me the email they are supposed to. Surely not. Clients can change appointments 3 times, all last minute. But if a sibling cancel on dinner, that is it. Too much. Ok, i think you get my idea.

So ok, i pledge. I pledge to be more patient. Ideally, it should not be borrowed patience from whatever little is left in my bank. Instead, I pledge to create more patience. So that there is more to be shared around. :)

Oh and Family Day Out is on 29th May! Make plans with your family now! - I have no plans with my family. I can't, because i'll have to work the entire day that day. But yea, i can make it up another day! :)

NATIONAL FAMILY CELEBRATIONS 2010 (NFC 2010)

Organised by the National Family Council, National Family Celebrations is an annual event which celebrates and reinforces the importance of families and family life. This year, Singaporeans are encouraged to make a personal commitment to their families by being a part of the Singapore Family Pledge Movement.

To provide opportunities for Singaporeans to follow through on the pledges to their families, there are a myriad of activities under the NFC 2010 calendar – which will interest the young, the old, and everyone in between! NFC 2010 will be held from 25 May to 26 June 2010, and this year marks the 25^th Anniversary of the Celebrations. For more information on NFC 2010, visit www.nfc.sg

You're such a special Sister

2010-05-23T20:47:00.001+08:00

Unpacked an old box..and found a card someone gave me a long time ago. I'll like to return her the same words today. :)

You're my sister and I love you,

that's the way it's meant to be,

but because you are my friend as well

you mean much more to me.

For you are very special

and I'd be lost, it's true,

if I didn't have you in my life

helping me get through.

I know you'll always be there

at any time of day,

to listen and to understand

in your own special way...

I feel so lucky you're my sister

and I really hope you know

you'll have a special place within my heard

wherever we may go.

Prawning!

2010-05-16T23:13:00.001+08:00

Who says Singapore is boring? After a Sunday late lunch, we lazily had some durian ice cream at Udders before heading to Jurong for some prawning action.

It started slow..but we got the hang of it after a while and the prawns kept coming! It was fun!

And what you see here is after much work to the prawns we caught! Prawning is fun! :)

Where are the best colleagues in e world?

2010-05-05T18:38:00.001+08:00

They are all in my office! Ok. I'm a bitch, I complain n grumble. But its really times like this, they make a world of difference to my work life. Hugs*

Liv's bday party in skool!

2010-05-01T18:21:00.001+08:00

Good Monday Morning

2010-04-26T08:41:00.002+08:00

Isn't friendship about sometimes giving a "I agree. I'm on your side." type of response?

Good morning world. I'm back.

Let me FLY!

2010-04-17T00:31:00.001+08:00

For the first time, I have an avid blog reader sitting next to me as I type this blog entry. Singing to LET ME FLY!

I apologise for the long silence. The influx of facebook and twitter has indeed almost killed blogging. Plus work has been busy. But yah I know that is not new and not an excuse good enough for my avid blog readers. All of you out there. I AM SORRY! hiaks.

I’ve been flying this month. And spending money on good things. And here is a list of total purchase since i last blogged:

a new handbag for the year!
more than 20 underwear
many bag hooks
much much wine
a new pair of boots! (haven’t bought one for years!)
new shoes for work
a reprint of a painting i fell in love with last year
blusher from bobbi brown
a new bottle of Romance
a makeup bag
facial package

Sista is moving back to London soon. As a result, she move the nespresso machine back home becuz she has one already in london which she never removed. wooohooo……now to find the time between rushing downstairs and running out to car to operate the machine.

work has been exciting. But i dun think u wanna know about it anymore. I love love love work work work! And i took on the responsibility of heading the Institute of Public Relations Singapore’s Young Council this year. Came out with the idea of organising a joint networking night with the Press Club Young Chapter. It is starting to look really exciting! May 12th! Found the venue sponsor, wine sponsor and beer sponsor. With the prefect venue and free booze, I’m sure the crowds are flying in!

Ok i’ll try harder to blog regularly. Pwomise!!!!

Hold me up. Hold me tight…teaching me to touch the sky…I can fly..

GONG XI FA CAI….HUAT AH!

2010-02-22T01:26:00.001+08:00

“Happy New Year! Gong Xi Fa Cai! HUAT AH!” – quoting dear Hovan who very very cutely charmed everyone at the Greenbank CNY party! :)

Yes, i’m done with cookies selling. Thank you to all who supported Yangyang. And for all who visited the cookies stall and helped out to sell cookies. THANK YOU!!!! And very important, thank you to my dear colleagues at aprw who helped to hold the fort whilst i take time off to sell cookies.

I lurve CNY. I like it that once a year i spend time with my extended family and we have a chance to update each other about our lives and just chat and eat and chat and eat. :)

This Tiger year is apparently a good year for my chinese horoscope sign. Good news! For other “horses”, you might want to know:

“The Horse can afford to gallop into 2010, with its head held high and a big smile for the coming Year of the Tiger (who is its ally). It is a strong year for you with plenty of energy, self confidence and inner fortitude helping you forge ahead, perhaps too much because you can be a real feisty Horse this year. You will be louder, noisier and more hot-headed than ever.”

Haha…my friends and colleagues would be concerned about me being louder, noisier and more hot-headed!!! :p

Photos from CNY party courtesy of dear Aaron:

Cookies Cookies COokies….start with..ME!!

2010-01-28T00:43:00.001+08:00

U dun really know me unless u know that at this time of the year, i disappear to sell cookies! Somehow it sort of feels more optimistic and better each year!! And this year with some efforts, we managed to get some good PR thing going for the cookies!! :)

Here are some attempts at photographs all. And you should join us at our FANPAGE in facebook all! AND you should also check out the website which I spent months on with the good people at Forecepts – www.yangyang.com.sg

You won’t be hearing from me much until after CNY. Gong Xi Gong Xi in advance! And HUAT ah!!!

Seaweed Slice Crisp – New Creation also…prop using Tai Kei Nui seaweed haha

Almond Slice Crisp – Auntie’s new creation for the TIGER year all

Chocolate Almond Cookies – Dark chocolate imported from Japan ok. Dun play play.

Loveletters / Egg Rolls

Ukraine definitely got talent!

2010-01-18T10:30:00.001+08:00

My mummy forwarded this beautiful video to me. And I thought I’ve seen all the talents of the world already. This one definitely WOWs because it never crossed my mind this could be art.

This video shows the winner of " Ukraine’s Got Talent", Kseniya Simonova, 24, drawing a series of pictures on an illuminated sand table showing how ordinary people were affected by the German invasion during World War II. Her talent, which admittedly is a strange one, is mesmeric to watch. The images, projected onto a large screen, moved many in the audience to tears and she won the top prize of about £75,000.

She begins by creating a scene showing a couple sitting holding hands on a bench under a starry sky, but then warplanes appear and the happy scene is obliterated. It is replaced by a woman’s face crying, but then a baby arrives and the woman smiles again. Once again war returns and Miss Simonova throws the sand into chaos from which a young woman’s face appears. She quickly becomes an old widow, her face wrinkled and sad, before the image turns into a monument to an Unknown Soldier. This outdoor scene becomes framed by a window as if the viewer is looking out on the monument from within a house. In the final scene, a mother and child appear inside and a man standing outside, with his hands pressed against the glass, saying goodbye.

If you are wondering how she does all the above, watch the video below!

The Great Patriotic War, as it is called in Ukraine , resulted in one in four of the population being killed with eight to 11 million deaths out of a population of 42 million.

And on the second day of the new year…

2010-01-11T00:55:00.001+08:00

I watched another movie. What a start to the new year! Mabbe it will be movies year!!!

This time round, I was punctual. No lateness at all. :p

Ok more posts this year. Pwoooomise.

2010’s First Post

2010-01-02T02:11:00.001+08:00

For someone who can count the number of movies I catch a year with one hand, it is a pretty good start to be catching a movie on the first day of the year. And so this will be the focus of my first post for 2010. And to convince you about my irrelevancy, this post will be accompanied as usual with unrelated photos - photos from the countdown to 2010.

Against the Singapore skyline waiting for fireworks which went off at the stroke of midnight

And so, hosting some lovely friends from overseas, I made it into a cinema on the first day of the year to catch what is acclaimed to have overtaken Titanic…3D version of Avatar. Brilliantly, I did not research prior to the show. So I went in blank. Like totally not knowing whether to expect to laugh my way through the show or possibly be greeted with an animation film or a tear jerker thingie. The only thing I knew was that it is 3D. But then again, no expectations there also since I’ve never watched a 3D movie (except some ride I took in Orlando years ago).

We figured the only way to get him out of the picture was to ask him to take a photo for us…but he still managed to be in the photo despite being the cameraman!

To add on to the blurriness all, we were unfortunately a grand total of 40 minutes late for the movie. This meant that alot more brain cells were required to piece the story together and make sense of flying creatures all. Like woah…what and who is everyone?!

The entire Boomz-Bums Boat of Love gang

For those like the uninitiated me, Avatar, according to Wiki, is a 2009 American science fiction film written and directed by this man called James Cameron who apparently is the same man behind Titanic (Which is also why Avatar is supposedly going to tops Titanic according to a friend when we had an after-show discussion.)

Some people insist on ugly poses..so others obliged.

James set Avatar in the year 2154 (It is unlikely any of us would be alive by then. Irrelevant. I know.) And the story is about this fictional planet where humans have managed to locate and sort of land on (ok, i will admit that I found out this part only at the after-show discussion. This means that throughout the show, I thought that the show is about Earth years later. I was like “oooh! So it is not set on Earth! No wonder I thought it was a bit farfetched to expect Earth to look like this a century or so later.)

This fictional planet is called Pandora (yeah another WIki found answer. I didn’t get it from the film. Hey, but I was late lah) So humans get onto the planet and need some important very precious stuff found in the middle of what seems like a jungle in Pandora. And this jungle is inhibited with some creatures that are like humans. But not humans. They are the “Na’vi” – the sapient and sentient race of humanoids indigenous to the moon (yah lah all WIki la. You think i know the meaning to these words meh? Siao.)

I don’t know whether it is him, or the angle, or the lighting, or what. But yeah I think I look alot smaller in this photo man!

So, these Na’vi people of course very poor things. Their super nice big tree gets all bomb up because of the selfish desires of humans. Best part is these humans justified their wrongdoings with damn good shit. Well, the crux is that brilliant humans send a human spy into the Na’vi tribe. The spy was supposed to go in and find out stuff, and also possibly negotiate a settlement – which means ask the Na’vi to walk out themselves without putting up a fight.

The spy brilliantly fell in love with a woman in the tribe and the entire culture and in fact the entire tribe. The spy with his spy gang decided to turn the tables around and help the Na’vi against the humans.

Trust me. It only looks like this in photos. The reality was they were all fighting for the bottle.

And yah the Na’vis won with support from not only other tribes who turned up to help but also from the other creatures of the planet.

Well, Avatar is primarily an action-adventure journey of self-discovery. I feel that it discussed many different themes in rather obvious ways…ie it doesn’t take much for one to realise the issues and themes all. From environment theme, to patriotism, to the war against terror, to racial harmony, to the clash between cultures and civilizations.

“Yeah. I’m hou man!”

A little too heavy for the first day of the year. I had to resist allowing my brain to explore the themes fully as seriously after the countdown party all my brain abit still recovering. I would recommend you catch the movie, at a time you feel up for some heavy duty thinking. Unless of course you are the kind who can just dun care about themes all and just come out of a movie going “Woah! Cool action there!”

Leaving you lastly with a quote from James Cameron on the film’s theme:

"I have an absolute reverence for men who have a sense of duty, courage, but I’m also a child of the ’60s. There’s a part of me who wants to put a daisy in the end of the gun barrel. I believe in peace through superior firepower, but on the other hand I abhor the abuse of power and creeping imperialism disguised as patriotism. Some of these things you can’t raise without being called unpatriotic, but I think it’s very patriotic to question a system that needs to be corralled, or it becomes Rome."

& the Qween wishes you

Happie New Year!!

Huat ah!!!

Hairy Never Was This Attractive!

2009-12-16T15:11:00.000+08:00

And what are we talking about now? Hairy Crabs of course!

Chinese mitten crab, also known as the big sluice crab is a medium-sized burrowing crab that is native in eastern Asia (wherever that is).

Uncle jeff works in Shanghai and when he returned home to join in celebrations for grandma’s birthday, he brought along the Shanghai Hairy Crab (上海毛蟹). We brought it along to the restaurant and the chef cooked it for us.

Wooo….hairy indeed never was this attractive!

BBSGB Car Delivery Day 2010!

2009-12-12T17:28:00.001+08:00

One of the rare times I wake up early on a Saturday. And for a very good cause!

The wheels were in motion for the Boys’ Brigade Sharity Gift Box (BBSGB) project as more than 200 cars embarked this morning to deliver general wishes to about 1,000 homes in various parts of Singapore.

The BBSGB Car Delivery Day was flagged-off by Mr. Patrick Teow, Chief Distribution Officer, Prudential Singapore, together with Team Singapore Ambassadors. A fleet of over 60 cars driven by staff and financial consultants from Prudential Singapore – accompanied by Team Singapore athletes – set off to form the first wave of deliveries for the project.

Prudential Singapore, Presenting Sponsors for BBSGB 09, put in a strong showing today as they gathered more than 60 of its staff and financial consultants to drive in with their own vehicles and literally going the extra mile for the project. Prior to the car delivery day, Prudential Singapore was also involved in the preparing and packing of food hampers at a ‘Prudential Packing Day’ which involved a total of 40 staff and financial consultants from the company.

Importantly, my baby “alpha” is back in action! The photos above taken by me ok! Nice right? Machiam got news standard already la! ;)

Asia Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood

2009-12-10T15:02:00.000+08:00

APRW assisted in the PR for the launch of a collaboration by clients for early childhood and I attended the event last week. Early childhood education has come such a long way the past decades. I’m not sure how much of who I am can be attributed to my days in Kindergarten. But definitely I remember how I was performing on stage annually, doing “emcee” work from young and even singing in a TV show (by SBC then) called “Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars”. Maybe that’s why I’m such a natural show-off now. *grins*

But ok, back to this grand collaboration. What happened is that Singapore is now the inaugural host for ARNEC- Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood’s (ARNEC). And it’s all thanks to NTUC’s SEED Institute, Singapore’s leading training institute for early childhood education. SEED has been appointed to host the ARNEC Secretariat, which was temporarily based at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) East Asia and Pacific Regional Office in Bangkok, Thailand since its launch in February 2008.

Policy makers and early childhood educators, in Singapore and the region, will now have easier access to research, policies, and best practices in the area of early childhood education with the launch of the new Secretariat in Singapore.

They will also have more opportunities for networking to share good practices in this region and align Early Childhood Development (ECD) policies according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child – an internationally binding set of standards and obligations that spells out the basic human rights that children everywhere have.

Too much for you? Well, too bad. You wanted updates of my life on this blog didn’t you. :p

Shashimieeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

2009-12-07T14:48:00.000+08:00

I lurve shashimi! And my mummy introduced me to this GREAT place to have GREAT shashimi for a GREAT price! It’s at the end of the curvy windy road near Pasir Panjang (the road leads from Pasir Panjang to NUH & the Science Park) and we went over one day with Liv to have a wild time of shashimi.

Basically this place is like a japanese supermarket with tables for in-dining.

And you select the shashimi off the supermarket counter and they slice it immediately for you.

We had so much shashimi it’s not funny.

And my favourite is the swordfish ones.

Little Liv enjoys ice-cream best.

Liv’s daddy enjoys feeding Liv clearly.

Live pretending to pose so that she can get on with the ice-cream!

We had lunch with the Alumni Teachers again!

2009-12-04T12:35:00.001+08:00

Every year, the Fairfield Methodist Schools Alumni Association will take the teachers out for lunch. A tradition we kept for at least the past 15 years I believe. It is a lovely time annually, and very nice to catch up with the ones who played a huge role in moulding me into who I am today. Teaching is such a noble and powerful profession. Cheers to all the teachers out there!

Persuading Travel to Seng Kang

2009-11-30T19:17:00.001+08:00

Someone tries to persuade me to Seng Kang with the following poem:

sengkang is farrr
but cpl has carrr
so it is not so farrr
and with the white wine it be like barrr

The response from me:

sengkang is farrr
even with a carrr
it is really very farrr
and with the heat it wun be like barrr

So poetic we are! And we didn’t even take lit in uni! ;)

Happy Birthday Manzai!!!!!

2009-11-27T17:55:00.001+08:00

Ok. I’ve been bad. Neglecting posting all. I’m so sorrie. But u see….i…er…i… OK i wun even try with excuses. My friend said to me that people blog because they’ve some “msg” they want to send to others in a subtle way. And the fact that i’m not blogging means there’s no messages I want to send out. Oh, that is so not true lah. It’s only because i’m busy…plus being able to tweet sort of takes away some of the guilt of not blogging.

Anyway u can see my tweets at the side bar so it’ll make up for the lack of blog posts.

For this November post (before December comes raining on us), I’ll dedicate it to my brudder: MANZAI!

It’s another year older for the boy and of course we had to throw a part of sorts for him! Nice sweet alvin took leave to get the cake somemore ok!

We had very very delicious Japanese buffet with great sashimi…all for $50 per pax. I highly recommend EN BAR. We used to go to the one in River Valley alot but this buffet deal if i’m not wrong is only at this Crown Centre branch.

We ate all the way from 7pm to nearly 11pm. Confirms the restaurant did not earn from our lot. Confirms lose money.

The typical followed after dinner….

….some singing….

…some drinking…

…some group photos…

And some picking of pressies for all!!!! So cutsie right??

Ok. So that’s one post right in time before December. Christmas is round the corner again. I’m going to be on tv soon to discuss “How different is Christmas in Singapore vs other cities”. Share your thoughts with me!

Horse Business

2009-10-23T18:27:00.001+08:00

Who is the HORSE?
Fun, charming and attractive sums up the Horse’s traits perfectly. They love parties and crowds and being the centre of attention. They can also be egotistical, hotheaded and impatient. The Horse is a considerate and protective friend and partner and when in his company, there will always be excitement around the next corner.

Forecast for 2010
The Year of the Tiger will be an exciting and lively year for the Horse. On the home and family front, there may be some changes with family members moving in, moving out or relocating to another location altogether. On the social front, the Horse will be in much demand with invitations to parties and gatherings increasing as the year moves on. Health wise, with such a busy year and added pressures, the Horse must ensure that he looks after his diet and gets adequate rest. Otherwise, irritability and heated arguments could arise unnecessarily. Those born under this sign will do exceptionally well career-wise this year. However, they must follow up leads and career openings with vigor in order to take advantage of the fast paced energy of the Tiger year. A word of caution for the Horse – they need to keep a careful eye on their finances as overspending could happen very easily. August through September will bring fantastic opportunities for those looking for love. March through May will be lucky for changing jobs or careers while November and December will bring fun and lively social gatherings.

Interesting Horse Facts:
Zodiac Stone: Golden Topaz
Special Flower: Rose
Best Hours: 11am-1pm
Season: Summer
Horoscope Colors: Orange, White, Yellow

...i've been busy...

2009-10-20T18:33:00.001+08:00

sowwie...i will try harder

Mermaid or Whale?

2009-09-06T14:46:00.000+08:00

Got this from a friend:

Recently, in a large French city, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym. It said: THIS SUMMER DO YOU WANT TO BE A MERMAID OR A WHALE?

A middle aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.

To Whom It May Concern:

Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans). They have an active sex life, they get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Bering Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia

Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans. They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don't exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human? They don't have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them not to mention how could they have sex? Therefore they don't have kids either. Not to mention who wants to get close to a girl who's skin is all scaly and smells like a fish store?

The choice is perfectly clear to me... I want to be a whale...

P.S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my grandkids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver and a latte with my friends. With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy. Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, "Good gosh, look how smart I am".

Well, I can't say I want to be a mermaid as it sounds like being a mermaids suck. But something is stopping me from saying I want to be a whale.... what?

STUDY ENGINEERING!

2009-09-04T14:12:00.001+08:00

Creators of Tomorrow are found at www.ucreatechange.com

I love the way my clients promote their cause! :p

Life's Challenges

2009-08-25T15:23:00.001+08:00

Last night, late into the night, my phone rang. The person on the other line shared with me about how difficult life would be to keep someone alive. And that really, surely, we can do without such challenges in life. I chance upon this video today. Life is indeed challenging in more than one way. It is amazing how determine some people are to face up to their challenges.

Duty FREE!

2009-08-24T16:14:00.001+08:00

Just back from a weekend of Langkawi! The weather was terrible...it rained almost throughout our stay there. But it did not destroy the beauty of the island at all. Why is Langkawi beautiful? Because it is duty free! Yes! As in the entire freaking island is duty free!!! Here is a glimpse of how duty free it is:

You know this..the standard sized martell and the "Da Pao" or Canon types. Typically, the standard size in a club in SG would cost about SGD240. And at duty free Changi, it's about SGD70. In beautiful Langkawi....

Standard Size Martell: RM118 = SGD48 !!!

Da Pao! - RM565 = SGD231 !!!
And this is the Chivas Da Pao

RM 465 = SGD 190 !!!

One of my favourite wines, the St Clair white from NZ. Typically we pay about $60 per bottle here in SG. And in beautiful Langkawi...

RM47 = SGD19 !!!

And of course...there's loads of beer there on the island, all brands, all sizes.

6 cans: RM 10 = SGD 4.10
= SGD 0.68 PER CAN.

Now you know why we say it's not just duty free...it's FREE!!!!!

Room Additions

2009-08-17T15:43:00.001+08:00

Hiaks. I lurve moving things around my room once in a while. It gives me great pleasure. I realise it from a young age and thus, when I fought hard for minimal fixed furnishing in my room when mummy was doing the renovations. I didn't exactly get everything I wanted but at least, amongst all the other rooms in the house, mine has the least fixed furnishing.

iKea sent their 2010 catalogue to me and as a result, after a weekend of flipping thru beautiful rooms, i had gushes of inspiration as i passed by shops this weekend.

A particular "Mokmok", who shares my room with me, hates anything to be moved around the room, especially furniture. Against Mokmok's wishes, I insisted and as a result, the bed is now more West positioned so that I can sleep with my head more pointing "North-west". Mokmok took serious revenge by not waking me up this morning.

The below are new additions to my room:

Designs on the screen at the bathtub. I lurve it!

A water feature which will assist in the 4D drought

And since it's been a while since the last time I posted photos, here is some of what i've been up to last month

The SGNs have been celebrating birthdays for each other for the past decade or more. Recently, we did one for dear regina.

Then we realise that SGN-in-Law also birthday. So we engineered another one for brunch.

Of course, brunches means that dear LIV (or now known as Lucas) can attend.

We went to Relish @ Cluny Court. Sorry but the food really was not impressive. Reminded me alot of Saddle Club, which I think score more points because of the horses and green in the horizon.

In a world of her own, LIV totally bochup the mad women bitching away.

And this was at the 14th APEC Women Leader's Network Meeting opening dinner which was hosted by the Singapore Association of Women Lawyers. I was volunteering as the emcee.

By Mother Teresa

2009-08-14T19:24:00.001+08:00

When I pick up a person from the street, hungry, I give him
a plate of rice, a piece of bread. But a person who is shut out,
who feels unwanted, unloved, terrified, the person who has been
thrown out of society -- that spiritual poverty is much harder to
overcome. Those who are materially poor can be very wonderful people.

One evening we went out and we picked up four people from the street. And one of them was in a most terrible condition. I told the Sisters: “You take care of the other three; I will take care of the one who looks worse.” So I did for her all that my love can do. I put her in bed, and there was such a beautiful smile on her face. She took hold of my hand,as she said one word only: “Thank you” -- and she died.

I could not help but examine my conscience before her. And I asked: “What would I say if I were in her place?“ And my answer was very simple. I would have tried to draw a little attention to myself. I would have said: “I am hungry, I am dying, I am cold, I am in pain, or something. But she gave me much more -- she gave me her grateful love. And she died with a smile on her face.

Then there was the man we picked up from the drain, half-eaten by worms and, after we had brought him to the home, he only said, “I have lived like an animal in the street, but I am going to die as an angel, loved and cared for.” Then, after we had removed all the worms from his body, all he said, with a big smile, was: “Sister, I am going home to God” -- and he died. It was so wonderful to see the greatness of that man who could speak like that without blaming! anybody , without comparing anything.

Like an angel -- this is the greatness of people who are spiritually
rich even when they are materially poor....

Have a good weekend~

Only SMARTIES got the answer!

2009-08-13T16:26:00.001+08:00

Once upon a time, I used to chant the above quite a bit. Anyway, did you know...

KitKat:

Milky Bar:

Nestle Gold:

Crunch:

And of course Smarties:

All of them are proud chocolate brands of NESTLE? :)

Well...now you know!

Cruise Control

2009-08-12T18:20:00.001+08:00

Since daddy sent this to me, i'll share it with all you wonderful people :)

A 36-year-old female had an accident several weeks ago and totalled her car. A resident of Wollongong, NSW, she was travelling between Wollongong & Sydney. It was raining, though not excessively, when her car suddenly began to hydroplane and literally flew through the air.

She was not seriously injured but very stunned at the sudden occurrence! When she explained to the policeman what had happened, he told her something that every driver should know:

NEVER DRIVE IN THE RAIN WITH YOUR CRUISE CONTROL ON.

She had thought she was being cautious by setting the cruise control and maintaining a safe consistent speed in the rain. But the policeman told her that if the cruise control is on and your car begins to hydroplane -- when your tyres lose contact with the pavement, your car will accelerate to a higher rate of speed and you take off like an airplane. She told the policeman that was exactly what had occurred.

The policeman estimated her car was actually travelling through the air at 10 to 15 kms per hour faster than the speed set on the cruise control.

The policeman said this warning should be listed, on the driver's seat sun-visor - NEVER USE THE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THE PAVEMENT IS WET OR ICY, along with the airbag warning. We tell our teenagers to set the cruise control and drive a safe speed - but we don't tell them to use the cruise control only when the road is dry.

The only person the accident victim found, who knew this (besides the policeman), was a man who had had a similar accident, totaled his car and sustained severe injuries.

Happy 44th Birthday!

2009-08-11T09:55:00.001+08:00

Going to japan has been something we've been talking about since our dear Pauline got kidnapped there by a certain man. :p

Well, despite several sincere attempts, I still can only boast of a transit stop many years ago. So, when sista confirmed her japan trip some time ago, I went out shopping for presents for Zayne, who is Pauline's handsome cutie pie son. :)

I bought Zayne some nice patriotic clothing for them to celebrate National Day all the way in Japan:

When a loved one passes away...

2009-07-21T11:04:00.001+08:00

Did you know that you have to obtain a Certificate of Cause of Death? After which, you can register the Death and that is where the "Death Certificate" is registered and delivered to the family.

Did you know that the ashes of the deceased can be stored at home or in a columbarium or they may also be scattered at sea? The scattering of small amounts of ashes can be carried out at a designated site located about 2.8km south of Pulau Semakau. You can't just do it along any beach or the Singapore River.

Did you know that the Association of Funeral Directors (Singapore) and NEA came together to produce a very handy booklet in 4 languages as a guide on what to do when a death occurs?

As my sista shared, these are interesting things we learn in our very exciting lives. And there is no harm knowing more!

Somebody Complain

2009-07-16T18:17:00.001+08:00

Somebody complain.

Say I never update my blog regularly enough.

So somebody claims that I can't blame this somebody for not checking in regularly anymore since the updates are so irregular.

Big shot all now this somebody is just because she recently celebrated her birthday.

Who? Who? Who is this somebody??? :p Shhhh....I ne'er say!

The Holy One

2009-07-15T18:32:00.001+08:00

What is daddy pointing at?

Hmm...

OH MY GAWD! In case u can't read the sign behind Daddy, it says pertinently:

HOLE-IN-ONE
ACHIEVEMENT AT THE PALM COURSE-RAFFLES CC
17TH HOLE 142 METERS ON
WEDNESDAY

Birthday Invitation at the Peak!

2009-07-03T17:50:00.000+08:00

Got this in my email! A birthday invitation at the peak!!!!

On behalf of Genting - City of Entertainment, we would like to extend our warmest birthday greetings.

As our valued member, we would like to invite you to celebrate your birthday at Genting - City of Entertainment with the following*: -

■ 1 complimentary 01 night stay at Resort Hotel / Highlands Hotel Deluxe Room
■ 1 complimentary K-Lunch/K-Dinner voucher at Be A Star Karaoke *
■ 1 piece of grgtoo gift voucher worth RM20*
■Resort Cafe's breakfast buffet at a special rate of 10 Genting Points (GP) per pax* (*maximum of 4 pax per voucher)

This just jump start the birthday plans!!! Birthday at the peak, anyone? :)

Nice Haircut!

2009-06-21T02:51:00.001+08:00

I was invited to stay later. But I did not. Because I wanted to go home early and catch up on sleep. The ultimate aim was to be able to wake up early and go to work early. Successful I was to refrain from continuing the party, to pull myself away from the tv and head to my cozy bedroom and snuggle to bed. Successful I was to fall into a deep beautiful sleep. Until the phone rang. It was 4am.

Lim: Peilin arh, please help me. Really need your help. Really. Please..
Me: !$#$^%&*^E% It is *ucking 4am! What the $#####^)I^%$_$#@
Unknown voice: Mdm? What is your name?
Me: Who are you?
Uv: I'm the police officer. Are you on your way?
Me: On my way to where? I just woke up.
Uv: OH. We are at Outram. Your friend is very drunk. What time will you arrive? Please come and pick him up.
Me: Oh. Ok. Give me 15 mins. No, I mean 20 mins.

I arrive to a very very drunk Mr Lim, who could only smile non-stop and say he wants to beat up the policeman. I was VERY upset. Extremely angry. Attempts to ask him questions like where he was before that or what he was doing were futile. The only response he could give me the entire time was to give me the "pistol shot" signal with his hand, and say: "Peilin arh, nice haircut!"

Of course, by the time the saga was over, it was 7am. I simply can't understand why the police do not just arrest the drunkards.

Sharks Aplenty!

2009-06-09T03:28:00.001+08:00

*with pictures from PHUKET!

The Japanese have always loved fresh fish. But the waters close to Japan have not held many fish for decades.

So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went farther than ever. The farther the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring in the fish. If the return trip took more than a few days, the fish were not fresh. The Japanese did not like the taste.

To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer. However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen and they did not like frozen fish. The frozen fish brought a lower price.

So fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks. After a little thrashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull, but alive. Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference. Because the fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste. The Japanese preferred the lively taste of fresh fish, not sluggish fish. So how did Japanese fishing companies solve this problem? How do they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan? If you were consulting the fish industry, what would you recommend?

How Japanese Fish Stay Fresh: To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks. But now they add a small shark to each tank. The shark eats a few fish, but most of the fish arrive in a very lively state. The fish are challenged.

Have you realized that some of us are also living in a pond but most of the time tired & dull, so we need a Shark in our life to keep us awake and moving?

Basically in our lives Sharks are new challenges to keep us active and taste better..... The more intelligent, persistent and competent you are, the more you enjoy a challenge. If your challenges are the correct size, and if you are steadily conquering those challenges, you are Conqueror.. You think of your challenges and get energized. You are excited to try new solutions. You have fun. You are alive!

So, my friend, instead of avoiding challenges, jump into them. Beat the heck out of them. Enjoy the game. If your challenges are too large or too numerous, do not give up. Failing makes you tired. Instead, reorganize. Find more determination, more knowledge, more help.

No one can go back and make a brand new start. But anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.

Masks Not Enough!

2009-06-08T07:46:00.001+08:00

When the flu started weeks ago, a friend suggested this. Now, another friend sent me this. So in case, if ever, masks not enough, you may want to consider this.

But of course, must find one appropriate with the size of your face..:p

Did I meet you on May 27th?

2009-06-05T19:24:00.000+08:00

Have been so busy that I didn't ready my horoscope in May. Here I am lazing in Phuket when I remembered that hey, it's time to check out my horoscope. So I just read the MAY one and it's interesting to read predictions after and not before. It got me scrolling backwards in my calendar to see if things fit in.

For your reading pleasure, below are excerpts:

Career opportunities will begin to surface just after the new moon May 24 and in the two weeks that follow it. Entertain any offers you get, and be sure to follow up on all details. This new moon is falling late enough in May - near the time Mercury, your ruler, will turn direct - so take all discussions seriously. It appears that in early June you can uncover really great opportunities and those will be further fleshed out in weeks to come.

A day-to-day assignment seems to have captured your full attention. This one project seems to allow you to showcase a wide range of your visionary and artistic talents, and it appears to be expressed through very modern digital media. It may also be an endeavor that is meant to encourage awareness about a charity or humanitarian concern. While you may have been working on things for weeks or months, this project seems to reach an important peak stage May 27. From this date on, your reputation in your industry or the community will begin to mount significantly, and it all will be due to your involvement in this project.

May 27 is important because it marks the first of three legendary conjunctions that will occur between Jupiter and Neptune this year before they go their separate ways, not to meet again until 2022. Keep your antenna up - this will be a big day.

Romantically, if you feel things have been dull, you have reason to feel that your love life will start to show new signs of life. Saturn rules your fifth house of true love. Saturn has been in retrograde since December 31, but will turn direct on May 16 and will stay in strong orbit the rest of the year. This is excellent news, romantically: From then on, your future is bright.

The pairing of Jupiter and Neptune will help you draw closer to an established romantic partner. If the road to happiness with this person has been strewn with pebbles and has been bumpy, but if you still love one another, plan something sweetly romantic for May 27.

Question: WHAT HAPPENED ON MAY 27TH? WHO DID I MEET?

Family Day Out Carnival!

2009-06-04T18:58:00.001+08:00

This is the reason why I was out of action for the longest time. Putting together the entire National Family Celebrations for another year was challenging despite having done it before. But this post is not about another series of whining. Too many of my friends have been subjected to too much of my irritating whining.

So here I am at the beginning of the Carnival, pretending to be a tour guide to the VIPs on the Singapore River Cruise. I was so not feeling well physically and it dampened my mood and definitely affected the usual cheerful self that my clients were expecting. But no choice. The show goes on...

My entire job of tour-guiding included "opening the way" for the VIPs. Was just sharing with a colleague yesterday that there was this strange big man who came up to the VIPs dressed in rags and he really shocked me when I turned around and saw him so close by. I was seriously looking out for whether he was carrying kerosene or something man.

And of course, putting people on TV and newspaper is my business and so here is our Guest-of-Honour and his little boy sharing family tips with the rest of Singapore.

My own family is not the type that will go for such "family day outings". Outings for us are usually meals and drinks. But I still had my share of a family day out with visits from my little godsons. Here I am with Brandon, who is the most most friendly to me of the lot. Therefore that makes Brandon the BEST for now! :)

And I am the coolest godma ever because godma flew Ben10 to the Family Day Out carnival!

The Celebrations

2009-06-01T00:49:00.001+08:00

For the rest of the nation, the Celebrations has only just begun. For me, the Celebrations started a long time ago. Someone said to me recently that the journey has not been pleasurable. I regrettably agree. Someone asked me how it went. My answer was "It's over."

Sista is home. We had our monthly dinner, this time with sista and cousin Jason. The food was standard zhi cha take-away. The company and laughter that went round was standard family love. And some of the younger ones went for a round of beer nearby after the dinner. We laughed at each other, shared silly jokes, the boys did the non-stop NS sharing stuff, drip sarcasm all round in typical fashion, irritate the older ones whenever we can, squeaking to imitate and eat eat eat. This is the real celebration. The celebration of Family.

The Qween is back. Start coming back here often or you may just miss some good stuff!

An accurate prediction

2009-05-07T13:02:00.001+08:00

A 100 years ago, they said that when a black man became president,
pigs would fly.

And on the 100th day of Barack Obama's presidency, the swine flew.

ZAiA!

2009-04-27T00:00:00.001+08:00

I was not allowed to leave Macau unless I watched ~~Cirq Cirq Circus~~ Cirque Du Soleil - ZAIA! It is supposedly THE only reason why some people go to Macau...Why? Because Macau is the only place in the world where you can see ZAiA (or so they claim).

And so i went to watch ZAiA. In fact, in our enthusiasm, we actually bought double sets of tickets thanks to very friendly Macau-ians friends who went all out to assist. So literally, my one bum had two seats that night in the theater.

At the entrance, there is this very photo-friendly structure which provides a photo op for one and all. With the date prominently displayed, it sure is a good way for visitors and the audience to leave memories of the show on their cameras, which if caught taking photos during the show will be jumped at immediately (I tried to test out how immediate is immediately. It is really IMMEDIATELY. Do not try.)

It apparently took 3 years and US$150 million to build this theater within The Venetian.

The key focal point of the show is this 25' diameter Sphere (i call it the BALL) which moves ~~dangerously~~ on 3 axes and weighs a grand total of 4,000 lbs.

The backdrop of the theater uses 3,000 fiber optic stars to recreate the night sky of Macau.

Every performance takes 115 technicians and 75 performers from 17 nationalities to stage.

Wooowwweeee there are 1,500 individual costumes each made by hand and the artists do their own make-up (about 1 - 2 hours per person, per show).

The above is the scene where the only thing we noticed is the tight pants ~~and huge bulge~~ of the dancer.

The entire show only has two live singers. But it sounded like an entire choir was there. How did they produce the effect of a choir? The two live singers are digitally mixed during the performance to sound like a chorus of over 60 voices. ~~Cheats~~.

Zaia is a girl who dreamed of being an astronaut. The show is about this mystical and magical celestial journey she took where along the way, she discovers the secrets of love and the true beauty of Earth and its human inhabitants. As you can see from the photographs, in reality, the entire show is about acrobatics and gymnastic and dance. Music of course is a big part of it too.

Honestly, I understood the show only because at the end of the show, I picked up a programme sheet in the souvenir shop and read about it. Throughout the 90 mins performance, my guesses of what the show is about were all wrong. But it is really not my fault...most of the songs in the show (and the characters did not talk; they only sing. It is like a musical.) are sung in an imaginary language inspired by Hindi phonemes. WTF. How was I supposed to get that? ~~You can't blame me for falling asleep at some parts of the show lor...~~

A good way to summarise the show: it is definitely not the reason why i go to Macau. :)

BUT if you have never caught a cirq cirq circus before, go catch it. At least you can boast you got watch before :p

Greetings from Hong Kong & Macau!

2009-04-17T19:21:00.001+08:00

Have been so busy working that haven't had the time to really sit down and blog. Plus, beyond work, nothing much has been happening and really, you must be so bored of my work already. But here I am, sitting in Cafe Landmark in Hong Kong's Landmark Building sending you greetings from HK & Macau! :)

Although I've merely just arrived, we have done so so much already. When in great company, it is easy to tune my attitude and mood to one of simplicity contentment. Every sight is beautiful. Every restaurant serves great food. Every minute precious.

Some great places I've been to in the short less than 24 hours:

CHE's Cantonese Restaurant
Cuisine: Cantonese
Address: 4/F, The Broadway, 54-62 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong; Wanchai MTR Station Exit C
Telephone: +85-25281123
This is like the third time I am here. Super duper good dim sum served in this hidden gem! According to reliable source, the restaurant is opened by a local showbiz celebrity and thus often boast of celebrities as frequent guests. A must-try is the freshly baked Chinese roast pork puffs and the steamed custard bun (liu-sa bao). The glutinous rice & ha-kao is also very very good. Not cheap but not expensive in the sense that food is worth every dollar. Reservation is a must or confirm no seats hor.

Il Teatro (Wynn Macau)
Cuisine: Southern Italian
Address: 1/F, Wynn Macau, Rua Cidade de Sintra Nape, Macau
We were recommended to this restaurant by a HK friend who works in the Wynn Macau. Initial thought was he must be promoting his own place or something. But so wrong we were. Firstly, I must admit I'm not much of an ang-moh foodie. And Italian usually is an "ok" kinda choice only, definitely not a WOW thing for me. But this restaurant is splendidly good and different from other Italian restaurants! And the plus plus point is that relatively, for the standard of great food, great quantity and great great service, the price is very very reasonable (I said relative ah. RELATIVE.) I chose a seat facing the windows and it was really beautiful because there is a huge musical fountain right outside which dances to the music inside the restaurant. After that good excellent meal ~~and 4 bottles of wine~~, we were ready to conquer the casinos~ ;)

And this is where we are staying and where some amount of money has been won already - VENETIAN MACAU. ;)

Astrological Blog

2009-04-06T02:46:00.001+08:00

Listening to: 忘記時間的鐘 [古巨基]

This entry is going to be long. Be warned. If you are reading this in between completing that powerpoint presentation for your boss, you should stop now because it will be so hard for you to peel your eyes from this blog and you may very well not complete that presentation on time. :p

To give you the boundaries so you understand what the hell is happening, the parts in blue and italics are my "April horoscope reading" from a trusted website. The parts in black are my comments. The photographs have nothing to do with both. They are there just because someone brilliant told me a blog entry is never complete without photographs....so i simply dug around for some photos which have never been on this blog...& posted them up. Hiaks~ Anyways...so here goes:

The gals wanted to hang out so much we used Liv's birthday as an excuse last month. Haha...

Since mid-March, you've been dealing with Mars in your seventh house of partnerships, never the easiest place for you to host Mars, for it tends to bring out one (if not more) vocal critics. You may wonder to yourself, "Why is it that I can't seem to get along with anybody these days? Everyone has advice for me, or worse, is out to tear me down!" Ah, it's not your fault, dear Virgo. It's just the way things are right now, so do the best you can.

The last month was difficult because of the various hospital admissions, of 2 old women and their cat. Regrettably, the above paragraph was true because everyone had advice for me, especially the family. The truth is that their advice and opinions came out of super goodwill. Everyone only had great intentions. But I can't seem to get along with anyone and any advice. Everyone came across as a vocal critic...even the social workers in the hospitals got it jialuts from me because they sounded so very critical of me. What really made it worst is that many times, the advice or opinion were really useful or helpful.

It's so convenient to now blame it all on the stars and not my lack of patience and ability to handle them all. :)

Liv made sure we remember why we were there for dinner...attention grabbing is definitely a trait!

There may be other critics around you, certain types who seem impossible to please. A competitor may suddenly become quite aggressive, or a detractor may try to poke holes in a plan you've recently put forth. You may mumble to yourself, "Is there no justice?" Fortunately, this is a temporary phase and is due to end by the third week in April. Before it does, you may have to compromise more than you'd like, but doing so will help you keep the peace and keep things moving forward.

I've been really busy because work for National Family Celebrations have started. We're doing all the planning work now for the month long campaign that will kick start on 30th May. It's the biggest project I did last year and probably the biggest one this year too. When we did it last year, there were many many times the team felt very dejected, very tired, very irritated and frustrated when holes are poked non-stop on our plans. We didn't just mumble the "Is there no justice?" We screamed it out loud at each other all the time. Hopefully, there wouldn't be a repeat telecast this year. So far, so good (relative to last year). Let's keep it going at this pace babes!!! :) oh and start planning for Singapore's Family Day Out = 30th May 2009!!!

Teck celebrated his birthday last month!

You have only one really tense day due, and it's coming on April 15. On this day, Mars (war, energy) and Uranus (surprise, outbursts, and explosions) will merge energies and in so doing, oppose your Sun and be conjunct transiting Saturn. That's a potent brew. When news strikes, it will be sudden - something you'd never have expected. This could be the kind of day that starts off quietly but can turn out to be anything but easy as you go along.

The first weekend of April turned out to be splendidly beautiful. It was more beautiful than all the other weekends of March. No A&E visits..no hospital admissions (of humans or animals)...no curt conversations...not having to be verge of tears this weekend...on the contrary, i was actually very very happy this weekend! :)

I think I have my feelings written on my face. Dor took one glance at me and went "oh, happy eh?" I think you can so easily tell from my smile. :)

Here he is with the Klee boys

So, what did a great weekend consist of?

Loads of good great family time.
Fantastic food!!! Had dim sum at Imperial Treasures. Satisfied all the dim sum cravings at one go. Ate so much dim sum i probably can go without dim sum for a few weeks!
Caught a movie
Played arcade (oh i wanna say i really miss having a 24 hrs arcade in Marina South! Where else got 24 hrs arcade in Singapore???)
Took photo-sticker in machine like old times!! Except the machine is now so sophisticated you can add small images like stars and hearts everywhere or write words all.
Attended a most fun most thrilling birthday party in Ritz Carlton! Photos not available becuz i silly-ly didn't bring a camera. But it was real fun! It was a "J" Party!!! Tell u more next time
Hospital visits of happier and healthier old people! Woowie!
Mahjong!
Wine! Although it was merely a glass..but the great company made up for the mere glass.
Harry Potter Movie Marathon!
A great book courtesy of jules

And with the entire gang! In case u are looking for me, i'm hidden behind PY ~hiaks~

Saturn's position also shows just how much work and responsibility you've had to shoulder alone lately, seemingly without help. You are very capable of doing so, of course, but it would be nice to have a little help and emotional support. Instead you appear to be swimming in high seas alone this month. I am sure you are thinking as you read this, "No help is often better than having the wrong help." How right you are, dear Virgo.

The reason why the party ended really super duper early~

Honestly (I dun dare to say humbly), I am truly a "no help is often better than having the wrong help" kinda person. I am so virgo hor?

Yet April will be an up and down month, and you'll be due for some luck. On the heels of this tough aspect of April 15 will come quite a divine one on April 21. That's when Venus and Mars will align in your seventh house of close relationships, a day that could well spark feelings of warm affection.

Brought mum & dad to the annual 938LIVE Laugh N Learn a while back. They made it all worthwhile. :)

This leads me to think that while there may be one partner who'll drive you crazy this month, there will be at least one loyal, supportive person who will care about you and who'll be willing to show you how much on this day. Put a gold star on April 21.

I am so looking forward to April for many reasons. April 21 will just add on to it all! Don't anyhow send me nice caring smses or flowers on April 21 ah! I may just think that the one loyal supportive person who care about me is you! :p Cannot play cheat!!!

Check them out, participating in all the activities and really having a time of their lives! :) Thank you to the wonderful people at 938LIVE who thrilled my parents as usual.

Once Mars leaves Pisces on April 22, your life will instantly improve because you won't feel so challenged by partners and collaborators anymore. You will find that your plans, both personal and professional, will get approved more easily, and life won't be so much of a negotiation anymore.

I AM NOW REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO TOMORROW!

You see, life is that simple. Don't need to think so much. Yes, I know, yesterdays were tough. It didn't seem like life was fair. But heck. Stop debating on whether you deserved it or whether you should get more. Just leave it all behind, the principles, the reasons, the whys, the search for answers...Put them all down. Embrace tomorrow as if it is a brand new life, a brand new you. You can do it.

Listen to your heart

2009-03-29T01:09:00.001+08:00

Red and yellow and blue and green,
Purple and orange and pink,
I can sing a rainbow,
Sing a rainbow,
Sing a rainbow too!

Listen to your heart,
Listen to your heart,
And sing everything you feel,
I can sing a rainbow,
Sing a rainbow,
Sing a rainbow too

Emotional March

2009-03-23T23:06:00.001+08:00

It has been an emotional March. More than one time, I sat down wanting to blog about it but somehow ended up posting up photos or jokes. When it comes to such issues, I find it very hard to put in words and relate what's happening. It would somehow end up as if I am either complaining or demanding for love.

One fell on 1st March. A large part of 2nd March was spent calling an ambulance and running in and out of A&E. Some time was also spent transferring the other one to grannie's house. The 3 weeks after that were endless visits to the hospital, uncountable telephone calls with doctors and social workers, answering questions of different family members, explaining situations to one and all, feeding a cat, catching a cat, packing stuff, an operation, understanding step down care and everything else relating to elder care.

Finally, she was due to be transferred to St Lukes. The appointment for transfer was for Saturday. The stars aligned and the day before the due transfer, the other required the same emergency admission into the same hospital. Ambulance, wait, A&E, wait, doctors, wait, nurses, masks, hospital gown, medical history, wait, blood tests, xrays, wait, admission process, wait. When all was done, it was nearly midnight again.

I broke down at least 6 times this month. For probably the second time in my life, I broke down in front of grannie...causing her to end up in tears with me. The truth is everyone has been trying very hard to be helpful and supportive. Regrettably much of the burden simply can't be shared. Too much information is with me. Too much knowledge.

When I grow older, I will like to join a club. Not a country club with golf facilities. Not a hobby club with like-minded folks. But a club that I can move myself into when I turn 70. A beautiful condo-like place with elderly friendly facilities like ramps and a convenience store downstairs, with a 24 hours doctor on standby. I will have a nice studio apartment which is built elder friendly. Meals will be sent to me if I ask for them. It will be like room service. I can ask for Laksa, or chicken rice, or fruits.

There will be plenty of social activities from trips to Orchard Road to daily exercise groups at the garden. Golf trips if I ever manage to learn golf. The club house downstairs will always have a mahjong set and table ready for my friends and I to book. Press a button and a maid will come up to clean up my studio apartment. Emergency buttons placed in every toilet in case I fall. There will be overseas trips planned for us. I probably will need to pay a fee but I will start saving for it now. It will be a beautiful environment welcoming my visitors. City Development or Far East, are you reading this?

Do you want to grow old with me? Will you stay in such a club with me?

Donkey Bank

2009-03-19T10:54:00.001+08:00

Young Chuck moved to Texas and bought a donkey from a farmer for $100.00. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day. The next day he drove up and said, 'Sorry son, but I have some bad news, the donkey died.'

Chuck replied, 'Well, then just give me my money back.'
The farmer said, 'Can't do that. I went and spent it already.'
Chuck said, 'OK, then, just bring me the dead donkey.'
The farmer asked, 'What ya gonna do with him '
Chuck said,   'I'm going to raffle him off.'
The farmer said    'You can't raffle off a dead donkey!'
Chuck said,    'Sure I can ! Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he's dead.'

A month later, the farmer met up with Chuck and asked, 'What happened with that dead donkey?'
Chuck said, 'I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars apiece and made a profit of $898.00.'

The farmer said, 'Didn't anyone complain?'
Chuck said, 'Just the guy who won. So I gave him back his two dollars.'

Chuck now works for one of the major banks

Circle of Life

2009-03-17T15:02:00.001+08:00

Dad & Mum recently installed MSN Messenger and because i'm the most tech-savy in the house, the grand task of education was left to me. It started with:

Q: How come your one got photo and mine don't have?
So, photos went up.

Q: How come my screen keep shaking & moving?!
That is a nudge.
Q: What is a nudge?
You know, a nudge *stick finger and poke mum's shoulder* Nudge. To push and 'wake' someone up.
Q: Then why nudge me?
Daddy is irritating u. Nudge u to irritate u. Nudge people to irritate them.
*Mum sees light*
Mum to dad (who's sitting next to her on the same table): STOP NUDGING ME LA YOU, IRRITATING!
*Both laugh*

*Suddenly, there is light as both realise the buttons below mean something!*

Q: What is this button?
It's to wink.
Q: How come got this yellow round face on my screen?
Someone send you a picture. To symbolise something.

It was heart-warming and comical to watch them learn MSN. It occurred to me that once upon a time, Dad & Mum must have gone through the same when they taught me to read, to spell and to add. Circle of Life.

Do you know who is in the highest position in the World?

2009-03-09T10:25:00.001+08:00

President Barack Obama?
NO!
Pope Benedict?
NO!
Wonder No Longer...

In the world's highest position is BABU from India - the crane operator of the top most floor of Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world.

Babu Sassi, a fearless young man from southern India is the cult hero of Dubai 's army of construction workers.Known as the "Indian on the top of the world", Babu is the crane operator at the world's tallest building - the 819-meter (2,687 ft) Burj Dubai. His office, the cramped crane cab perched on top of the Burj, is also his home - apparently it takes too long to come down to the ground each day to make it worthwhile.. When the building is completed, its elevators will be the world's fastest.

Stories about his daily dalliance with death are discussed in revered terms by Dubai 's workers. Some say he has been up there for more than a year, others whisper that he's paid 30,000 dirhams ($8,168) a month compared with the average wage of 800 dirhams a month. All agree he's worth it.

Technorati Tags: Dubai,Crane,Crane Operator,Burj Dubai,Babu,World's highest,tallest building

I'm Yours

2009-03-07T15:50:00.001+08:00

Called me recently? :)

It all started from Ming. We were watching Jack & Rai perform one night. This was a while ago. In fact i tried recalling the exact month but really couldn't figure. I figured it to be 2008. Anyway, it was J&R performing, when Ming turned to me and declared that "This is my favorite driving song now." A driving song is a song u put on when u drive.

The next few times I heard J&R perform this song, I'll turn to Ming and go "Ur driving song!" Eventually, it hit me to ask "What song's this?" Finally, i was out one day with SA when we aimlessly entered THAT CD SHOP and that was when i had the sudden desire to own the song in its original form...and that is how i got myself a Jason Mraz's CD. :)

Then i wanted to change the way it'll sound if people call me. The primary reason for that is i dun wan callers to know i'm overseas & put the phone down. I want peeps to keep calling me even if i'm overseas. Rather, my job requires that. SO, i had to subscribe to this service which plays u a song when u call me. And i had to choose a song. I asked the guy over the customer service hotline to suggest a few and the first one he said was I'm Yours. It didn't take long for me to decide. :)

Then Jason Mraz realised how popular he is in small little Singapore. He decided to come over to our indoor stadium to thrill the merlion crowds. Ming bought tickets to the concert. Although we missed our original companions who were supposed to hang out with us at the concert, it turned out to be a very beautiful fabulous night! In return for the concert treat from Ming, I paid for dinner & a t-shirt that said "Fond of Hats" which was just so him.

My first concert in more than one way: English & no frills. No dancers. No confetti. No costume change. No backdrop. He can really really sing. Although more than once throughout the night, I thought I found myself in a church service... *winks*

Well you done done me and you bet I felt it
I tried to be chill but you're so hot that I melted
I fell right through the cracks
Now I'm trying to get back

Before the cool done run out
I'll be giving it my bestest
And nothing's going to stop me but divine intervention
I reckon it's again my turn to win some or learn some

I won't hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait, I'm yours

Well open up your mind and see like me
Open up your plans and damn you're free
Look into your heart and you'll find love love love love

Listen to the music of the moment baby sing with me
We're just one big family
And It's our God-forsaken right to be loved love loved love loved

So I won't hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait I'm sure
There's no need to complicate
Our time is short
This is our fate, I'm yours
Scooch on over closer dear
And i will nibble your ear

I've been spending way too long checking my tongue in the mirror
And bending over backwards just to try to see it clearer
But my breath fogged up the glass
And so I drew a new face and laughed

I guess what I'm be saying is there ain't no better reason
To rid yourself of vanity and just go with the seasons
It's what we aim to do
Our name is our virtue

But I won't hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait I'm yours
Well open up your mind and see like me
Open up your plans and damn you're free
Look into your heart and you'll find that the sky is yours

Please don't, please don't, please don't
There's no need to complicate
Cause our time is short
This oh this this is out fate, I'm yours!

Technorati Tags: Jason Mraz,Mraz,I'm Yours,Concert,Singapore,Singapore indoor stadium

The Rainbow Connection

2009-03-04T02:28:00.001+08:00

i saw a full rainbow recently, on a day i would label "perfect". And had the perfect opportunity to capture the sight whilst driving. when i saw the rainbow, it brought to mind a song, a song which is close to heart in more than one way. what i just found out elevated the entire experience, as if i am seeing the rainbow all over again. thank you, for being...you.

Why are there so many
Songs about rainbows
And what's on the other side
Rainbows are visions
They're only illusions
And rainbows have nothing to hide
So we've been told and some chose to
Believe it
But I know they're wrong wait and see

Someday we'll find it
The Rainbow Connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me

Who said that every wish
Would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star
Somebody thought of that
And someone believed it
And look what it's done so far
What's so amazing
That keeps us star gazing
What so we think we might see

Someday we'll find it
That Rainbow Connection
The lovers the dreamers and me

Caught, with the one from MANpower!

2009-02-24T15:37:00.001+08:00

Thunder Thunder. Not the cheer we chanted back in school times (think Thunderation~) but THUNDER from DOWN UNDER!

Still clueless? Thunder from DOWN Under is a male cabaret revue show filled with men who claim they come from Down Under - Australia. And they swept into Singapore recently to perform in Zirca (previously the Ministry of Sound) where they wowed a predominently female crowd with their 120 minutes of bump and grind on stage.

Still not getting it? Ok. How about MALE STRIP SHOW. Geddits?

These "sexy imports" jumped around the stage to loud music and flashy lights, showing off their buffed bodies to screaming female audience who can't seem to get enough of them. In fact, the screaming started way before, when the stage was empty. Throughout the performance, these "hunks" play out the fantasies of their audience. How much you ask? We saw everything except the penis. Geddits again?

The host started the show with "Ladies, guess what? This is your night! Because your boyfriends are NOT here tonight!" (Audience responds with SCREAMS!) "Your husbands are NOT here tonight!" (Audience responds with louder SCREAMS!)

I don't know how to describe how amused I was by the ladies present that night with me at Zirca. It opened my eyes to a different Singaporean woman. Whilst I saw that some of the ladies there had threw caution to wind and were there mainly for a wild fun time, there were some who appeared like they were seriously turned on by these men.

Well, you get a glimpse of what I caught thanks to RazorTV:

Click on this link if you can't see the above properly (due to my blog settings)

http://www.razortv.com.sg/site/servlet/segment/main/lifestyle/22248.html;jsessionid=4FA72B0298E55A6A16CB3682B43E453A.00

Technorati Tags: Thunder,Down under,Male,Show

Culinary Fine Art!

2009-02-20T12:10:00.000+08:00

One of the best part of my job is having the chance to be acquainted with and exposed to different industries and people. And the past few weeks, I have been learning the fine art of culinary!

The project gave me the privilege of visiting Temasek Culinary Academy in Temasek Polytechnic. The facilities, students and the lecturers were very impressive and gave me an entire new perspective about culinary schools.

The Singapore Chefs Association - Nestle Professional Junior Chef of the Year Competition happened in Temasek Culinary Academy a few days ago. This competition brought togteher budding aspirants who hunger for the excitement and exhilaration of a culinary competition.

The theme of this competition are menu creations using Nestle Professional's newly launched concentrated seasoning MAGGI Chef's Secret and MAGGI Mild Salsa Sauce. These are professional sauces used by chefs in kitchens outside of the home.

Held for the first time, the competition seeks to open up new pathways for Singapore's junior chefs by assisting to develop their potential to the fullest.

Each participating team comprises of two junior chefs age 25 years and below who are members of the Singapore Junior Chefs Club. Out of all the applications received, a total of 8 teams were shortlisted for the competition.

The judging assessment consists of a few components and taking up a significant percentage of the criteria are the taste/texture of the competition dishes and creativity and usage of the Nestle Professional products.

It was interesting to see the panel of honourable judges quizzed the junior chefs. It was beautiful to witness their creations of fine food. After a morning of buzz and some amount of anticipation in the theatre, the winners finally emerged.

The winning team not only walk away with a champion trophy. They get a sponsored trip to Perth... ... to partake in the WA Oceanafest 2009 alongside the Singapore National Culinary Team!

The Singapore National Culinary Team will be entering the Restaurant of Champions, one of the main highlights of WA Oceanafest 2009. Also known as the Pacific Rims international hot kitchen competition, its objective is to allow culinary chefs representing their country to put their skills to the test and compete against one another.

On behalf of the team, we invited friends from the media to join us that morning for a preview of the team's competition dishes.

Noteworthy that the Singapore National Culinary Team participated in Restaurant of Champions for the first time in 2007 and brought home the title. The pressure thus is to defend the title this year. And they have full intentions to do so with their ammunition:

Appetiser:
Terrine of Fruits De Mer
Compression of Pickled Watermelon
Apple Celery Espuma

Main Course:
Hazelnut Xocopili Lamb Rack and Gateau of Braised Lamb Shank
Creamed Salsify, Orange - Sweet Potato Mousseline
Sauce Marjoram

Dessert:
Warm Zesty Almond Fondant
Mint Parfait with Raspberry and Frozen Exotic Coulis

And of course, the team is kindly sponsored by Nestle Professional!

Working on the project gave me the privilege of getting to know some of the best chefs in Singapore and I am indeed honoured.

And of course, APRW did a decent fine job!

Watch the television news clip here:

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/409850/1/.html

Technorati Tags: Chef,Chefs,Culinary,WA,Oceanafest,Restaurant,Champions,Competition,Culinary Competition,Nestle,Nestle Professional,Academy,Culinary Academy,Temasek Culinary Academy,Singapore,Singapore National Culinary Team,Singapore Chefs Association,CNA,Media,News

A lion danced to Greenbank Park!

2009-02-10T15:40:00.001+08:00

Don't pway pway...

The lion got stuns one also!

They made so much noise the neighbours came over too to check out the party!

Initially skeptical, the family was most thrilled in the end.
CNY at Greenbank Park has just up itself a notch!
These beautiful photographs are courtesy of my neighbour-in-law, Sir Eng Joo. Kudos to him for capturing such wonderful lion moments!

Technorati Tags: Chinese New Year,Lion Dance,Lion,Dance

GooOOOooOOOOOoooo!

2009-02-09T03:13:00.001+08:00

For the 3rd time in my life, I welcome the year of the OX this Chinese New Year with my family. Although some in the family simply can't fall in love with this festival, it is undeniably the BIGGEST thing in our family calendar.

Annually, the entire tribe returns to Malaysia - JB for mummy's side, and Pontian for daddy's side. I contemplated writing something long and story-like. But it is really way overdue my bedtime. So here is a slightly more pictorial version. :)

10 INTERESTING STUFF ABT MY FAMILY'S GoOOoo CNY:

1. Like previous years, we took pains to dress up the house.

2. From recent times, we take pains to dress the children up. ~~If you are above 21 years old, nobody really cares what you wear anymore.~~ vs

3. The dining table is a very important table. Seemingly, this is the place where we gather for CNY meals.
Instead, around this table is where everyone gathers to have conversations after conversations.
Unknowingly, through the years, the dining table became very much the place where strong bonds are built during festivals like CNY.
The table missed 2 very important people this year - my dearest sista & bro.

4. We pai nian to our elders on the 1st day of CNY.
This is a tradition with mum's side of the family.
In return, the children get ang baos (red paper wrapped with money inside) from the elders.

This year, my two cousins wore t-shirts filled with CNY greetings in hanyu pinyin. That is why my other cousin is staring at her korkor t-shirts, rattling off the CNY greetings in a desperate attempt to impress grannie.

Although she gives the most ang-baos, grannie remains the happiest from the pai nian tradition.

5. Both sides of the family have the tradition of having two big meals in celebration of CNY. That makes a total of four big meals for me. Two are reunion dinners. The other two happen after the first day of CNY. This is the 4th year in a row we did 'mum's side of the family' CNY dinner back in Pontian (2008 we returned to Benut).

6. Hugs are given freely and wildly only on CNY.

7. We do this massive photo-taking business annually. It is another tradition of the family on mum's side. Annually, we end up in the mercy of the maids as they try to figure out our canons. This year, I made full use of the free tripod that came with my sony alpha. :)

8. Aunty Cindy was bored in Pontian alone as her husband went golfing on 1st day of CNY whilst her son took a random trip to Japan to escape boring Pontian. Thus she joined us in JB for the day (and press my sony alpha when it was on the tripod).

9. Like every other year, we welcome and celebrate the new year with noise noise NOISE!

10. We had many more children running around the house this year in Pontian.

One more is on its way.....

---------------HAPPY GoooOOooo YEAR!----------------

p/s sista: have you spotted someone new?

Technorati Tags: Chinese New Year,Festivals,Family,Traditions,Tradition,CNY,New Year,Family traditions,family routines,family celebrations,celebrations,pontian,malaysia,interesting,food,reunion

Happiness is flying to KUCHING on Jetstar Asia

2009-02-04T18:07:00.001+08:00

Jetstar Asia is flying to Kuching (Malaysia) from 1st March 2009!

Celebrating this with our Facebook fans, we are giving away 10 pairs of air tickets to Kuching (excluding taxes of S$74/pax) for travel from 1st to 8th March 2009!!!

Simply leave the following message/post on the Jetstar Asia Fanpage Wall from 6 February 2009 at 12 noon (SIN) and the first 10 fans could be on their way to Kuching:

“Happiness is flying to Kuching on Jetstar Asia”

Become a fan of Jetstar Asia on Facebook today! Indeed, happiness is being a Jetstar Asia fan!

For those who can afford it...

2009-02-02T17:02:00.001+08:00

...SPEND! :)

To put things in perspective, it was in celebration of a "partnership". One which convinced someone who never owns anything more than an "UMBRO" (not to be taken literally) to go for her first "branded bag" buy.

As you can see, she made it more than her first in one night. Thank you to all these wonderful people who continue to contribute positively to spur the retail industry.

Congratulations once again babe! :)

You've 6 more days...

2009-01-19T01:12:00.001+08:00

...to buy your YANGYANG Cookies. :)

Things are much easier this year, thanks to the experience from last year. I'm more sure of what is expected. More importantly, i've great help at the store with some fantastic aunties helping me plus 2 nice young kids waiting for their A level results (one of them my dear cousin). Other cousins, mum, dad, auntie and uncle turn up randomly to assist throughout as well.

Most touchingly, fwens offer their help all the time too. Daily, i get visits from lovely fwens who drop by to show their deep deep love for me. Some roll up sleeves and help promote the cookies. So I have at my cookie stall assisting to help sell cookies: lawyers, top marketing heads, bankers and even one press-sec-to-be! Woohoo!

Plus the new concept of franchising is working. The store at White Sands is doing much better than expected and it is thrilling more than one person. :)

Warning...our cookies are SO HOT this year, something is always out of stock at the store. So make sure you pre-order with me before you turn up at the store. Especially for Pineapple Tarts (which are of a special fish-ball size this year or moth-balls as described by dor), Prawn Rolls and Chocolate Almond. Well, this does not mean that they are our best sellers. If you are the type that need to buy what everyone is buying, they are:

1. Pineapple Tarts

2. Green Pea Cookies

3. Almond Cookies

4. Fragrant Pea Cookies

cute right? me da photographer wanna be :p

Question of the day: We can't decide on the name of this product. We've called it Kueh Baloh, then change it to Kueh Bahulu. But some other names float around too when customers come by our store, correcting the name. So, what is this:

C is for COOKIES!

2009-01-09T00:05:00.001+08:00

Ok, i'm not THAT poor thing la. IT was only that day. IT was a bad day. THAT day is over. I am now fine. :)

And from henceforth, C is for COOKIES. COOKIES COOKIES COOKIES start with C! :p

www.yangyang.com.sg is where you find the product list and prices. Takashimaya & White Sands Mall is where you find the stalls.

OH I'm so poor thing...

2009-01-07T22:36:00.001+08:00

This is the self-pitying post. The post which if you choose to continue to read, you must finish feeling real sorry and bad for me. Concertedly, you will all sigh sadly and go "awww" after reading the last word. If you know my hp number, you should sms me to show me all your love. If you see me in real life, you should give me the mega-watt smile and be real cheerful when you see me.

It all started with having to be a grooms-man even though I'm clearly female. Being one of two groomsmen means that I had to be wedding driver, church pianist, the xiong-di who play the games and kena tekan at the door in order to reach the bride, rushing from groom's house to bride's house to church to groom's parent's house back to bride's house then to the hotel all within 8 hours. Two dinners followed consecutively with me hopping on to the stage at random moments to either be giving a grooms-man speech or hosting the show in mandarin.

I was already feeling all weird on the first night after all the running around. But it didn't hit me until Monday morning when I felt the physically I was on the verge of collapsing. The fever exploded in full force by the afternoon and come night, I was running such a high fever I felt myself going insane at various parts of the night. Even had a nightmare about clients. That was when i couldn't tell between reality and illusions. Started having the strangest thoughts all.

I visited the family GP, Dr Yeo, on Tuesday. And brilliant Dr Yeo gave me the ultimate super-duper MAGIC injection to bring down the fever. Thankfully it did.

Ok. I give up. I'm only on Tuesday, where i slept all day. I am so not able to explain what happened today. Or describe what happened today. I don't care. I am just so poor thing. :p Just believe me ok. I am really really poor thing ok! argh. whatever la.

Welcome 2009!

2009-01-02T00:41:00.001+08:00

The last thing I did in 2008 - sleep.
The last dinner i had in 2008 with - my family.
The last drink i had in 2008 - red wine.
The last person i talked to in 2008 - hao.

The first person I saw in 2009 - mummie
The first place i went to in 2009 - dragonfly
The first drink i had in 2009 - beer
The first dinner i had in 2009 with - my family.

And these are the first photos i took in 2009, courtesy of leon:

Happie Birthday Yvon dearie!!

Welcome 2009! I look forward to another year of:

good health in the family
great wealth for aprw
great times
fantastic company all year round
parties every other week
winnings in everything possible

Lastly, dear yvon made a very special christmas present for me...using a photo we took many years ago. Since i've a plenty of blog fans who only knew me recently, here is what i look like once upon a time....

Happy New Year!!! :)

Drifting Power

2008-12-29T15:55:00.001+08:00

With the screening of popular street racing movies like Initial D and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, driving techniques like drifting and drag racing have gained a steadfast popularity amongst Singapore car enthusiasts.

Following Singapore’s first-ever Formula Drift race which took place in April and attracted an enormous crowd of 11,000 spectators, Asia’s first and largest motor sports gathering, Carrerista Jamboree, started over the weekend aimed at bringing motor sports fun and activities to the locals.

Due to work reasons, I was at the event over the weekend and here is why I say my motor sports education is really peaking this year. Thanks to very patient experts who were always understanding about my zero knowledge about cars and motor sports, I now understand the difference between drifting and drag sprint.

The local motor sports scene is indeed ending the year with another 'first'. For the first time in Singapore: the first ever Quarter-Mile (402 meters) Drag Race. The Quarter-Mile Drag Race will have more than 60 participants who have submitted more than 100 entries across 13 categories. This drag race is sanctioned by the Singapore Motor Sports Association and held under the Sporting Code of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).

Local drivers I met at the event confirmed the popularity of drag racing in Singapore. One of the competitors, Derrick Ang, 29 years old, has been taking part in drag races for the past 7 years in both Singapore and Malaysia. He shared that there are currently about 4 drag races held at Kallang annually. And the fantastic turnout of these drag races is evidence of the popularity of drag racing here.

However, those drag races are only for about 200m. This is the first time in Singapore that they can take part in a quarter mile drag race and according to him, the entire community of racers is very excited about the prospect of racing next week. Derrick himself will be taking part in 6 different categories at this event. At yesterday's qualifiers, he clocked 13.6 secs with his Honda Civic.

But for me, the highlight of the event is most definitely Mr Nobuteru Taniguchi, or "NOB" (No One Better) as he is known by drifting and motorsport fans.

Taniguchi is a professional Japanese driver who has many wins to his credit including the 2001 D1 Grand Prix Championship in Japan. Most notably, Taniguchi drove the all carbon fiber body HKS CT230R Misubishi Evolution and set the current Tsukuba Time Attack record of 53.589 seconds. He continues to hold the record today.

Here is a video I took in very raw format. The crowds were really there just to watch his drifting and to be up close and personal all...

Whilst we witnessed Taniguchi perform drifting demonstrations, the good people at Garage R were very generously inviting me to take the passenger seat next to Taniguchi. Well, no surprise that I kindly declined the invite. My colleague however took the offer and was given the ride of her life when she took the hot seat next to Taniguchi at one of his drifting demo!

The organisors have also imported from Japan, 4 top race cars of top Japanese racers to be on display at the event. These cars will be on display for the first time in Singapore thanks to the good people at Garage R, who were instrumental in assisting to import the Japanese racing cars.

Carrerista Jamboree is held from 27 to 31 December at the Changi Exhibition Centre, and does not only cater to serious racing enthusiasts, anyone who has an interest in motor sports (even the young) will be able to partake in motor sports related activities like Kart racing and Formula Fun Prix Challenge (a scaled down version of Formula 1 for children). Join the action before it speeds past you!

Tis the Season to be jolly!

2008-12-28T15:49:00.000+08:00

I've been very busy at work preparing for a proposal and juggling a last minute job which sped its way into my life. There is no better way to sum up the past 2 weeks than in jolly good photos. So here goes...

It was always someone's birthday in Velvet...tis time Fifi...Happie Birthday Fifi!

Joining in the celebrations in zouk for the first time of their lives, my new fwens from Hong Kong! :)

Guess where?

Klee!

Where someone got unfriendlie...

And of course, the famous people at the random xmas party!

...who had random drinks...

...random food...

...and random drunks...

But most awesome of them all is the AUXMAS Party!

The auxians rented an empty shophouse for 2 days, and transformed it into the most awesome party venue

it came complete with the entertainment system...wii all...

...an area with sofa all...

DJ console and all the aux sound system put together...

bartenders all...

...pretending to be really bartendering..

plus lovely balls from the ceiling :)

Merry Christmas belated all. And in advance, happie new year! :)

Vengeance!

2008-12-21T15:33:00.001+08:00

This weekend, i took serious revenge. TOTAL revenge. If not for a particular rambling alcoholic who begged kindness on behalf, i wouldn't have pulled the punches at all. Overall, it was sweet vengeance as if I've never slept before. :)

Well, thanks to the alcoholic, i also found some time to do what i've been wanting to do for the longest time. After my lappie died sometime ago, what wiped out was also hundreds of songs I've painstakingly downloaded from a plenty of CDs into the lappie (which then translate to them being in my ipod). I finally am getting down to doing it, especially the Christmas songs which i so adore!

Christmas songs bring such beautiful memories. From a certain McDonalds boy to angeldelics to a particular "I saw mummy kissing Santa Claus" to 2 ponytails with a white top & a tie plus blue jeans. These beautiful memories continue to help the looking forward to Christmas feeling. This year, instead of the usual peter house thing, a particular random party is brewing in the works. In fact, the next 2 weeks have amazingly filled up already and everything sounds fun, including a last minute client's event which sounds more exciting as i learn more about it.

So, my dear blog fans, ask me privately about the random party or the exciting vroomz vroomz event which i'll blog about once i get delicious photos all. But in the meantime, since i found the link, here is the beautiful story on CNA done by satish:

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/397507/1/.html

Click on the link above THEN click on the related video link on that page to watch the short news clip, which gives you a preview of what to expect :)

Technorati Tags: Vengeance,revenge,Christmas,Sleep

Where should the Glory be?

2008-12-18T12:05:00.001+08:00

Some churches do not have the book of Matthew in their bibles?

Matthew 6:1-4:

Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.

Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly

Technorati Tags: Bible,church,God,Matthew,Matthew 6:1-4,Charity,Glory,reward,charitable deeds,books,disgusting

Delivering Cheer

2008-12-15T14:26:00.001+08:00

Saturday morning was tiring but definitely fun. We began the delivery of general wishes with the official car flag off.

This year, for the first time, we had a Guest-of-Honour for the event: Nominated Member of Parliament and one of BBSGB Ambassador, Ms Eunice Olsen. She flagged off a convoy of 28 Rav4 cars that were led out of ACS Barker Road Car Park in style by four Harley Davidson motorbikes, which captured the fiery spirit of the project in the resounding roar of their engines.

After the flag off, Eunice got into one of the Rav4 cars to make deliveries with the convoy. The Rav4 convoy also voluntarily acted as the mode of transport for 15 youths from Beyond Social Services to do delivery of food hampers to the beneficiaries. This is the first time a voluntary welfare organisation is taking an active participation in the delivery. These youths are also recipients of BBSGB but did their part to give the Christmas cheer to others as much as they receive. This "pay it forward" idea is the proud brainchild of my colleague Sabbie. :)

The rationale of organising a car delivery flag off is to encourage and allow members of the public to experience the joy of sharing and giving through personal involvement. Food items that are collected and packed into bags are loaded into the vehicles and these are delivered to the beneficiaries. This is the third time we are running the event and response was overwhelming.

Friends like mei & tara were first introduced to the project 3 years ago. And they signed up really early to join in the delivery this year. We are grateful. We again had a APRW bus this year, inviting members of the media to join us in the delivery not for media coverage but to experience the project as a volunteer.

Most regrettably, we had to reject many who volunteered. This is not because we have too many drivers. Rather, we have too little food bags to give away.

The project aims to benefit more than 18,000 beneficiaries with these food bags, which can typically provide them with an estimate 6 months of supplies. Sadly, the project currently has only collected about 40% of what is needed to fill these bags for the 18.000 beneficiaries. We are 4 days away from closing the project, and can only pray very hard that Singaporeans would come forward with donations with enough to fill the remaining empty bags.

The project ask for not your cash but our low count products (cooking oil, hallal can food, cereals). You can buy from anywhere...FairPrice, Cold Storage, Seng Shiong etc. Drop them off our giftbox outside Takashimaya, our giftboxes at 13 FairPrice outlets or at the BB HQ off Zion Road (Opposite great world city).

For more information, you can go to www.bbsgb.org.sg

Sincerely, we plead for your support to allow us to continue to delivery cheer to our beneficiaries.

Technorati Tags: Charity,Boys' Brigade,Sharity,Car,Flag off,Delivery,Beneficiaries,Beneficiary,Food,Donations,Donation,Donating,Help,Rav4,Drivers,Driver,Cars

In Cold Blood

2008-12-11T05:09:00.001+08:00

A year ago, over a cup of coffee, I shared with K, a journalist, about a book I was reading - authored by Jeffrey Archer, whose works I dare boast I have almost completed. K began talking about In Cold Blood, a book I will most definitely love and enjoy reading, in his humble opinion. He claimed that it is a book most brilliantly written. As a follow up to this conversation, we exchanged our books with each other, to convince the other of our own opinions about book, and person.

An image of the book as found on Amazon

He returned me the Jeffrey Archer months ago. Regrettably, I only completed In Cold Blood hours ago. I started reading the book the moment it came into my possession. In between the cover and the end, I went on to read dozens of books - mostly romantic, mindless chick flicks type as evidenced by previous blog entries. I beg to differ from any accusations that I am without depth. The truth is that the beginning of the book did not capture me at all. It was heavy, slow, and told the story of Herbert William Clutter, who was 48 years old, physically very fit, the proud master of River Valley Farm and father to four beautiful children. The author alternate between describing the peaceful perfect lives of the Clutters and narrating a journey of two strange friends, whom you will gather from the beginning of the story-telling, as the murderers of four of the Clutters - Mr Herbert, his lovely wife and two teenage children.

The book claims to be a true account of the 1959 murder of the Clutters, one of them is this gentleman: Kenyon Clutter, who was 15 years old at the time of the murder. This photograph was taken from his high school 1959 year book.

In fact, the story went on boringly to tell of how the murders happened, how the good people of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation went around in circles for a long time, and how the two murderers skipped town and traveled through other parts of America. There was no suspense and surprises typical of crime fiction. Seriously, you cannot blame me for taking a year to read the book - at least from page 1 to page 161.

I embarked on page 162 in the beginning of this week. And am writing this entry because I just finished reading the last word typed at page 343 of the book. And for the author, Truman Capote, I have only one word: brilliant.

Truman Capote

The reason why the second half captivated me is because of the way Truman had weave together the complicated psychological stories of the two seemingly cold-hearted murderers. He cleverly provided detailed accounts of their lives and gave the murderers plenty of voices in accounting the story, which inevitably provoked me to ponder, consider and decide, the dynamic psychological state of the men at the time of the offence.

What further intrigued me, was the inter-play of his explanation of the legal system at that time. More specifically, he educated his readers about how the law regarded "sane" vs "insane" at that time, and the views of respected veterans in the field of forensic psychiatry in the 60s. Quoting this part of his book, which I re-read more than once tonight.

"In attempting to assess the criminal responsibility of murderers, the law tries to divide them (as it does all offenders) into two groups, the "sane" and the "insane". The "sane" murderer is thought of as acting upon rational motives that can be understood, though condemned, and the "insane" one as being driven by irrational senseless motives. When rational motives are conspicuous (for eg, when a man kills for personal gain) or when the irrational motives are accompanied by delusions or hallucinations (for eg, a paranoid patient who kills his fantasized persecutor), the situation presents little problem tot he psychiatrist. But murderers who seem rational, coherent, and controlled, and yet whose homicidal acts have a bizarre, apparently senseless quality, pose a difficult problem."

I recently read Mr Subhas' book. There, he titled the chapter about Took Leng How as "The man who should not have been hanged". Took Leng How's matter is to many, another exciting coffee-shop talk. It gripped Singapore for a while, and hovered in our front pages as a senseless murder that nobody could comprehend. Yet, for some people, Took is more than the file photo repeated constantly by the newspapers.

Commonly known as: File Picture.

But, some people knew him. Some had conversations with him when he was in prison. Others had conversations with his family, his friends and the family of his victim. Some saw him several days in a row in court. Saw him in real life.

What am I getting at? Firstly, that I am suddenly flooded with one question. Which is why I'm not sleeping. Why I can't get to sleep. i.e. Why is the death sentence in Singapore mandatory? What Mr Subhas has advocated for years - that he's not suggesting to do away with capital punishment when an accused is found guilty of murder.

To explain the point further, a man is first charged with the murder charge. After the trial, the judge first decides based on the evidence before him, whether a man is guilty of murder or not guilty of murder. After that decision is made, then the judge decides how to punish the man.

However, in Singapore currently, the judge has no choice after finding a man guilty of the murder charge. You either find him guilty and he dies; or you find him not guilty and he doesn't get punished at all. There is no in-between. No lesser sentence.

The new Supreme Court in the background...the old one remains in the foreground

The argument put forward about what the law should allow instead, is for judges to make a choice as to whether to impose the death sentence or the life imprisonment sentence. Pertinent to note that life imprisonment was decided by previous Chief Justice to be the natural life of the prisoner, i.e. until he dies. Therefore, there can be no complains of how one can be paroled after seven years (unlike the case in US).

Sound? Suddenly so!

The question is how can such a change be implemented in Singapore? The judges' hands are tied. They can't change what is in statute. Who can? The politicians who sit in Parliament. The Ministers and Ministers-of-State and Members of Parliament who busy themselves with GST, trading of human organs and how town council invests funds. Which are all not wrong and should be argued in Parliament. Question is, which of them will talk about this change? I await the new Minister of Law to impress.

Depending on tomorrow's junk to raise public interest & change policies? Is that possibly an outcome in the landscape?

Well, there is a second way out of the unfortunate legal dilemma - for the Attorney General's Chambers to amend the charge to one lesser of murder. This is what we call "Prosecution Discretion". Brilliant! The Honorable Attorney General, Professor Walter Woon, is addressing this exact topic later this afternoon in the Supreme Court at the inaugural annual lecture organised by the Association of Criminal Lawyers. And I look forward to what he has to say. Maybe, he could call for the new Minister of Law to impress.

Meantime, I'm also losing sleep because I'm trying to decide which of my theories would be correct as to why K finds this book brilliant. I am sure I got it already so I'm going to rise for the day (or night for that matter)...good day!

Technorati Tags: books,book,novel,truman capote,in cold blood,murders,capital punishment,death penalty,singapore,judicial system,law,judge,crime,criminal,media

The Best I Could

2008-12-09T14:41:00.001+08:00

"Even the most heinous offender deserves a proper trial"
- Subhas Anandan

Subhas Anandan is undoubtedly the best-known criminal lawyer in Singapore. From taking on Singapore's most infamous cases, such as that of Anthony Ler, Took Leng How and Ah Long San, to espousing his views on the mandatory death sentence and police entrapment, Subhas has become the face of criminal defence in Singapore.

I had the privilege of getting to know Subhas during my days in HEP, and assisted him in one case during my pupilage days. Although I hardly did anymore work with him after that one file, Subhas was always friendly and never put on any airs typical of senior lawyers. He would frequently buy me coffee or tea in the bar room, ask me about the files I was handling and avail himself if I needed any advice or guidance.

During my early days doing PR, because of HEP, I became known in the media circle as Subhas' PR girl. Apart from his nephews who worked with him, I was the only other person the media could get in touch with to arrange for interviews with Subhas. Times when both nephews ignored media phone calls would mean that I was the only door to Subhas.

Because of this close relationship and being familiar with the reporters and journalists Subhas has been dealing with the past 6 years, he asked if I could assist him with the publicity for the launch of his book - The Best I Could. I remember promising him that I will help out with the publicity years ago, when he first mentioned the possibility of him publishing a book. Of course I remember that promise and tried my best to arrange for interviews and book reviews.

The book is currently out in the bookstore. A very very interesting read. It gives one a peek into Subhas' colourful life, his 10 months of incarceration without trial after being wrongfully accused of being the leader of a notorious criminal gang, some of his most notorious clients and crimes that gripped Singapore in the past 10 years. Get it today!

Technorati Tags: book,books,biography,subhas,subhas anandan,anandan,the best i could,marshall cavendish,launch

Glamour Grannie...UNVEILED!

2008-12-04T23:01:00.001+08:00

Some time ago, I shared how I had a hand to play in turning grannie into Glamour Grannie. After a long wait from the studio, we finally got the photos from that afternoon of photo-taking.

My mother thinks that grannie no longer looks like grannie, and that therefore it defeats the purpose of photo taking if you end up not looking like yourself in the photo. Well, I guess it is subjective.

I think that it's quite an experience for her and why not, even if it is just for fun. Got old folks at home? (defined as 60years and above). I suggest you bring them one day for this special excursion of photo taking. It thrills them and make a great gift!

Technorati Tags: Grandma,Grandmother,Photograph,Phototaking,Glamour,Studio,Shots,Make-up,Gift,Gifts,Senior,Photos

Launching Sharity Gift Box

2008-12-01T13:28:00.001+08:00

Doing something annually reminds you painfully and acutely how time flies. And before you know it, we are at the start of Sharity Gift Box again.

And so, on 28th November, we returned to the main box of BBSGB to launch the project. It's meaningful because we have not been launching the project at the main box for a few years. Returning to the main box at our 21st year symbolised a coming-of-age thingie.

Despite the current financial turmoil, BBSGB is determined to fulfil the Christmas wishes of more than 28,000 beneficiaries. The project unveiled the main box and begins its call out to the public to donate food & household items.

Guest-of-Honour President SR Nathan, who is also the patron of the Boys' Brigade Singapore, unveiled the Main Box with three BBSGB ambassadors - Beatrice Chia-Richmond, Yip Pin Xiu (Team Singapore Paralympian, Beijing Paralympic Gold Medallist - 50m Backstorke) and Mok Ying Ren (Team Singapore Triathlon Athlete, SEA Games 2007 Gold Medallist).

Appealing to the public not to hold back even in these bad times, President SR Nathan and the ambassadors call for Singaporeans to come forward and donate charitably.

NTUC FairPrice took the lead of the collection drive by being the first to donate 14 trolleys filled with FairPrice food & household items. Each trolley is represented by a branch manager which indicates the number of outlets the other Sharity Gift Boxes are located at.

Group CEO presented the first trolley to the "boys in blue" who received the items on behalf of the Boys' Brigade. This symbolic act was witnessed by President SR Nathan, which marked the significance of the start of the collection of food & household items from the public.

And of course Orchard Road was invaded by our "boys in blue"...

Lastly, there's me representing APRW to collect the token of our participation and BB's appreciation for our efforts to support the project. In case you are in doubt, we volunteer for the project. :)

Join in the project today! www.bbsgb.org.sg

Technorati Tags: Charity,Boys' Brigade,Christmas,Gifts,Wishes,Beneficiaries,President Nathan,Singapore,Gift Box,Event,Opening,Ceremony