The new phone comes with a 3.2 Megapixel Camera, so all the more we must fully utilize it for work. If you are thinking that we are using it to take photos of each other, you cannot be more wrong.
Yes, we are using it to take photos but not of each other. Rather, we are using it to take photos of our discussion of white board. Instead of painstakingly transcribing the notes to paper or printing out from the white board which sometimes can be unclear depending on the strength of the handwriting, we can now simply take pictures of the white board. Ta-dah, with this, we simply just download the image onto our PC and with our 17” monitor, everything can be seen clearly.
This saves the energy of discussion halting to allow for taking down of notes and minimize transcription errors especially pertaining to diagrams when in a rush, we may leave out certain critical items. The new phone certainly aids our efficiency.
June 27, 2008
June 22, 2008
New Favourite Cheesecake
After my thumbs up for the Secret Recipe's Raspberry Cheesecake, I have found another new favourite. It is the Tofu cheesecake from Sun with Moon Dining. It is a small piece serve delicately with a mint leave on top and covered under a miniature cage. The colour is almost white. Its texture is silky and light. For those who are not well taken to the traditional cheesy and salty smell, this will be one of my supreme choices with only a hint of cheese. Certainly, for those who are big on cheese, this Tofu Cheesecake may be too mild for your liking.
June 21, 2008
Sentosa Beach Volleyball
Here comes Ms Country Bumpkin again. I have seen the hunks and the babes playing beach vollyball. Erm, on TV. In reality, up close and personal, no. The new monorail in Sentosa? Well, I have heard about them and how one of two of the stations have to close down because of IR construction. I know that there is a station right at VivoCity. That's about all I know about the monorail as the few times I have been to Sentosa, I was taking transport (ie chartered buses).
The monorail is small but compact. It is crowded on a Sat afternoon with many youngsters rushing to Sentosa to enjoy the sea, the sand and the sun. There are also many families going to Sentosa for quality time spent together. Well, Sentosa is now full of activities and things to do with the sky trains, the luge rides, the Imbiah walks and even Cafe Del Mar (the IT bar to go to in town). Finally, I have a glimpse of it (as well as the hunks lying on the beach chairs sipping their drinks) *Wink*
Just beside Cafe Del Mar, there is a public court for the beach volleyball lovers. Once you are in that court, do not move out of it as there are many groups hovering around it waiting for their chance to 'jump' into the court. Despite having no courts, smally groups of people lined along the beach to do their 'dribbling' of volleyball. I know dribbling only applies to basketball. I do not know what is the appropriate word to describe routines for volleyball. If you know, let me know.
I sat with my colleague (we become better friends after being room-mates for the KL trip) while she admired her boyfriend and we chit chat with each other. After a while, her boyfriend encouraged us to play on our own. I was quite apprehensive, especially with my long and frequent history of accidents with the ball. I get hit by ball more often that I hit the ball (resulting in a myriad of injury from damaged specs to sprained fingers). Nevertheless, I thought since I was there, I might as well give it a try. Well, all I can say is I am still equally ill-fated with balls.
It was a rather languid way of spending a Saturday afternoon - basking in the sun and watching the volleyball games. Yet, I still feel this is not exactly my thing. Given a choice, I would prefer to sit in a cafe and read instead. It is abit awkward to be reading on the beach instead of getting into the thick of the action. It gets abit boring as well. Yet, I know my limits. Balls are definitely out for me if I want to protect myself from any potential injury. The only other thing I can do is perhaps to stroll along the beach. However, this requires a right party who is willing to walk that stretch of white sand with me. And I am still waiting.
June 20, 2008
Shokudo Bazaar
I was late as usual. As always, I was dragged into a last-minute meeting starting only at 6pm. Inevitably, I arrived about half an hour late. There was already a long queue outside Shokudo Bazaar. Fortunately, Ah Peng and Ms Chan were already inside, so I could skip the queue and just went into the restaurant to meet them.
This is the latest F & B outlet that hits the local shopping mall. Its modus operandi is replicated from Marche's concept, except that it has replaced Swiss cuisine with Japanese cuisine. For the die-hard lovers of Rosti, fret not. There is also the Shokudo's version of Rosti being served. For Japanese cuisine fanatics, you will be able to have your fill of Japanese snacks, bentos (set) and even desserts here. After finding a seat, you can just order your food, 'pay' with your card, and either wait for your food to be cooked or order something else before coming back to retrieve your cooked food.
The shortcoming of such a scheme is that it is self-service and you will need to bring your food to your seat. If you are seated at a secluded corner far from the main stalls alley, you may need to walk a fairly long distance. This is especially inconvenient when you are carrying hot pots or soupy food. It is also hard to resist the variety of food and we over-eat when we are attracted by the food array on the table. (Psst, we are slightly shock when we pay which indicates how much we have eaten).
Althought the restaurant is hip, cosy and refreshing, the ambience is not exactly very suitable for chit-chats as it is bustling with people and chatter. Moreover, the location where we are seated is also quite chilly with the aircon blasting down on our food.
For those who have like Marche and for those who wants an affordable Japanese restaurant which offers variety, Shokudo Bazaar will cater to your needs. Personally, I prefer the restaurant to its pasta chain which only offers pasta in Japanese-fusion style. My favourite? The Yuzuu Tea (grapefuit tea) - refreshing and heartwarming.
June 19, 2008
New Phone
My old office phone can finally walk into the history gallery forever. We have waited long for this new phone.
We could not keep our hands off when we get our new phones. The sleek feel is world’s apart from the previous bulky and heavy phone. The 3.2 megapixel phone adds convenience to our work. Well, we can take photos of discussion sketched our on white board instead of painstakingly take them down with paper and pen. It even comes with a USB charger so that we can charge both the PC and the phone together.
However, in terms of other features, I have not had time to play around and explore. Wait till I become familiarize with the new phone. Hopefully, it can help in my work more than my old phone. I believe its battery life should be more extended than the old phone. *Wink*
We could not keep our hands off when we get our new phones. The sleek feel is world’s apart from the previous bulky and heavy phone. The 3.2 megapixel phone adds convenience to our work. Well, we can take photos of discussion sketched our on white board instead of painstakingly take them down with paper and pen. It even comes with a USB charger so that we can charge both the PC and the phone together.
However, in terms of other features, I have not had time to play around and explore. Wait till I become familiarize with the new phone. Hopefully, it can help in my work more than my old phone. I believe its battery life should be more extended than the old phone. *Wink*
June 18, 2008
Photo-Taking for New Passes
Finally, we are going to get an upgraded security system. We will only need to tap and the door will open as opposed to the current system of slotting in the card into the machine. The current system is extremely inconvenient when we are holding many things on our hands.
For the new passes, we will need to take new photos to be placed on the passes. Hence, we agreed to do it today. After filling and checking our particulars, it is time to sit in front of the camera. Sit straight, a quick brush of hair, smile and click. It is done within seconds. After the shot, we can immediately view the picture and determine if we would like a re-take. We help each other see.
After the photo, we are even given a pack of tissue each. Wow, not only do we get new passes and photos, we even get free tissue. What a wonderful idea and enticer.
For the new passes, we will need to take new photos to be placed on the passes. Hence, we agreed to do it today. After filling and checking our particulars, it is time to sit in front of the camera. Sit straight, a quick brush of hair, smile and click. It is done within seconds. After the shot, we can immediately view the picture and determine if we would like a re-take. We help each other see.
After the photo, we are even given a pack of tissue each. Wow, not only do we get new passes and photos, we even get free tissue. What a wonderful idea and enticer.
June 17, 2008
Tea Session with GCFO
In order to promote greater interaction between top management and staff, a tea session was organized where several senior officers from various departments in Finance were invited. It was my first such session and I wondered what we would need to do during the session and after.
HR has warmly bought some beverage and tarts for the session. Self-introduction was always an ice-breaker to start the ball rolling. Given the size of Finance, it was my first time meeting some of the invitees. Then we were asked to share what we liked and disliked about the company.
The GCFO then shared some of his insights based on what we have commented. Maybe because we were all very shy, so he had to spear the dialogue session most of the time. Yet, it was still a fruitful session for us to hear direct from the top management as well as picked up new insights on how we could better manage our work and career.
HR has warmly bought some beverage and tarts for the session. Self-introduction was always an ice-breaker to start the ball rolling. Given the size of Finance, it was my first time meeting some of the invitees. Then we were asked to share what we liked and disliked about the company.
The GCFO then shared some of his insights based on what we have commented. Maybe because we were all very shy, so he had to spear the dialogue session most of the time. Yet, it was still a fruitful session for us to hear direct from the top management as well as picked up new insights on how we could better manage our work and career.
June 15, 2008
Flat Feet
One of my colleagues commented that I have flat feet because the arch below my feet was not apparent. She asked if I tripped and fell quite frequently in the past. I replied in the affirmative. So my frequent tripping and falling down was not solely due to my clumsiness but partly contributed by my slight 'handicap' of a flat feet.
I used to attribute my many accidents to factors like poor eye-sight (causing me to miss potholes and my steps), lack of motor skills (which meant that any tripping would result in severe injuries because I could not cushion the fall in time) and clumsiness (hence the tripping). Despite trying to always walk on the safe side and avoiding too adventurous sports, I still caused my mum abundant worries with my scars and the loss of blood.
Now, I could finally tell her that my falls were also partly hereditary as flat feet were supposed to pass down genetically. This means that no matter what precautions I take, I still stand a higher risk than normal people in tripping and injuring myself. Knowing my handicap does not mean that I will then throw precaution to the wind. On the contrary, I have to take extra care. I know even if I undergo lasik, practise more yoga or sports, I am still very vulnerable to trips and falls because of my flat feet.
Please also help watch out for me if you are going out with me.
Thanks in advance.
I used to attribute my many accidents to factors like poor eye-sight (causing me to miss potholes and my steps), lack of motor skills (which meant that any tripping would result in severe injuries because I could not cushion the fall in time) and clumsiness (hence the tripping). Despite trying to always walk on the safe side and avoiding too adventurous sports, I still caused my mum abundant worries with my scars and the loss of blood.
Now, I could finally tell her that my falls were also partly hereditary as flat feet were supposed to pass down genetically. This means that no matter what precautions I take, I still stand a higher risk than normal people in tripping and injuring myself. Knowing my handicap does not mean that I will then throw precaution to the wind. On the contrary, I have to take extra care. I know even if I undergo lasik, practise more yoga or sports, I am still very vulnerable to trips and falls because of my flat feet.
Please also help watch out for me if you are going out with me.
Thanks in advance.
June 14, 2008
Another Fire-Drill
This time, we participated by climbing 14 storeys down. After we took our attendance, we still went for our coffee before we went back to our office. This was because when the crowd dispersed, there would be a long wait at the lift lobby. Since there would be a long wait at the lift lobby, we might as well enjoy the wait with a cup of coffee instead.
For some reasons, I had either not been exercising for a long time or I had not warmed up. I ended up with very sore calf muscles the next day. Actually, I sort of expected it when my muscles felt very weak after the climb down.
Sigh! You would see me walking weirdly for the next few days.
For some reasons, I had either not been exercising for a long time or I had not warmed up. I ended up with very sore calf muscles the next day. Actually, I sort of expected it when my muscles felt very weak after the climb down.
Sigh! You would see me walking weirdly for the next few days.
June 13, 2008
Friday the 13th
It is Friday the 13th - believed to be an unlucky day, according to the western superstitions.
Do take care.
Do take care.
June 09, 2008
My Shocking Story on Human Spirit
This is a documentary which portrays people who are different. It has featured the world’s smallest kid and the world’s smallest mum. The world’s smallest kid has a hereditary spinal cord problem which prevents her from growing up. Moreover, the curving of the spinal cord will affect her internal organs’ development. The world’s smallest mum has a bone problem such that her height will be limited.
We always erroneously think that being different, they will feel awkward with people who are different from them and would desire to live with people who are similar to them. We can never be more wrong. They feel nervous when they are about to meet people who are like them. They sometimes avoid meeting people who are like them because they feel that they are normal and may not want to be reminded of their difference. Yet, despite their positivism, some of the inherent differences can still cause some inconvenience to their lives. For eg, the world’s smallest kid cannot swim after her operations for prevent the further collapse of her spinal cord. The world’s smallest mum cannot drive because the mass-market car has not catered for her shorter limbs.
The last thing that they want is sympathy from others. In fact, they are more positive than we think. They are happy with what they have. They too have their mood swings, their wilfulness and sentimental side. They understand their difference and take things in stride. For those of us who are relieved of the challenges that they have to face on a daily basis on abashedly more negative and grumbling than them.
I was moved by their fighting spirit against their haplessness of their conditions. I was motivated by their positivism. Week after week during Monday night, I shared their fears, their resilience and their joys. If you have the time, catch the program on Arts Central and be motivated.
We always erroneously think that being different, they will feel awkward with people who are different from them and would desire to live with people who are similar to them. We can never be more wrong. They feel nervous when they are about to meet people who are like them. They sometimes avoid meeting people who are like them because they feel that they are normal and may not want to be reminded of their difference. Yet, despite their positivism, some of the inherent differences can still cause some inconvenience to their lives. For eg, the world’s smallest kid cannot swim after her operations for prevent the further collapse of her spinal cord. The world’s smallest mum cannot drive because the mass-market car has not catered for her shorter limbs.
The last thing that they want is sympathy from others. In fact, they are more positive than we think. They are happy with what they have. They too have their mood swings, their wilfulness and sentimental side. They understand their difference and take things in stride. For those of us who are relieved of the challenges that they have to face on a daily basis on abashedly more negative and grumbling than them.
I was moved by their fighting spirit against their haplessness of their conditions. I was motivated by their positivism. Week after week during Monday night, I shared their fears, their resilience and their joys. If you have the time, catch the program on Arts Central and be motivated.
June 08, 2008
Pampered Like a Queen
This is a sequel to the Miss Country Bumpkin’s adventure.
After my first-in-my-lifetime attendance of a pop concert, I went for my first-in-my-lifetime pedicure. All those times you have seen my painted toe nails, they were outcomes of my own D-I-Y. Knowing my sister has unutilized package, I pestered her to bring me to “see the world”.
Miss Country Bumpkin was both excited and nervous about my “maiden” pedicure. Will it be painful? Will it be ticklish? When I D-I-Y at home, I could withhold my strength for the more sensitive areas during scrubbing. Needless to say, I did not know where to put my legs, when to lift up and when to lift down. The pedicurist had to repeat her instructions many times before I knew what to do and my sister had to on-pass the instructions to me. I was slightly tense while my feet were undergoing the various treatments as it was ticklish and slightly biting, especially when the line of dead skins at the start of the nails were removed.
My feet were first soaked in warm water. I guessed this was to soften my skin and cuticles. Then it was scrubbing of the bottom of my feet. With the amount of dead skin piling on my feet, the scrub was not intensive enough relative to what I would do at home. After the scrub, it was back to some soaking before the cuticles were trimmed. Then the feet were messaged with lotion before nail colour was applied. I could not make up my mind with the wide array of colours in the catalogue. After the nail colour was coated on twice, we had to move to a dryer for our feet to be blown dry.
No more bending sideway and forward to reach the difficult areas during the scrub. No more bending down and holding my breath when applying the nail colour. No more trembling of the hands when the brush was applied to the nails for fear of colouring outside the nail. All I had to do was sit back and relax and be pampered like a queen.
I do not even feel like a queen during a massage as I will need to move my arms or my body up and down during a massage for the masseur to tackle the more knotty areas. During the pedicure, I literally do not have to do anything except to select my nail colour. After the massage, I feel better but it is a very private feeling. After the pedicure, I have the beautiful nails to tell the whole world that I just have my feet professionally treated. I feel happy just looking at the colours.
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After my first-in-my-lifetime attendance of a pop concert, I went for my first-in-my-lifetime pedicure. All those times you have seen my painted toe nails, they were outcomes of my own D-I-Y. Knowing my sister has unutilized package, I pestered her to bring me to “see the world”.
Miss Country Bumpkin was both excited and nervous about my “maiden” pedicure. Will it be painful? Will it be ticklish? When I D-I-Y at home, I could withhold my strength for the more sensitive areas during scrubbing. Needless to say, I did not know where to put my legs, when to lift up and when to lift down. The pedicurist had to repeat her instructions many times before I knew what to do and my sister had to on-pass the instructions to me. I was slightly tense while my feet were undergoing the various treatments as it was ticklish and slightly biting, especially when the line of dead skins at the start of the nails were removed.
(My ugly feet before treatment)
My feet were first soaked in warm water. I guessed this was to soften my skin and cuticles. Then it was scrubbing of the bottom of my feet. With the amount of dead skin piling on my feet, the scrub was not intensive enough relative to what I would do at home. After the scrub, it was back to some soaking before the cuticles were trimmed. Then the feet were messaged with lotion before nail colour was applied. I could not make up my mind with the wide array of colours in the catalogue. After the nail colour was coated on twice, we had to move to a dryer for our feet to be blown dry.
No more bending sideway and forward to reach the difficult areas during the scrub. No more bending down and holding my breath when applying the nail colour. No more trembling of the hands when the brush was applied to the nails for fear of colouring outside the nail. All I had to do was sit back and relax and be pampered like a queen.
I do not even feel like a queen during a massage as I will need to move my arms or my body up and down during a massage for the masseur to tackle the more knotty areas. During the pedicure, I literally do not have to do anything except to select my nail colour. After the massage, I feel better but it is a very private feeling. After the pedicure, I have the beautiful nails to tell the whole world that I just have my feet professionally treated. I feel happy just looking at the colours.
(My feet after treatment)
June 06, 2008
Sun with Moon
I have heard about this Japanese restaurant for some time. The reviews that it gathers are more positive than negative. Hence, I want to give it a try. After all, everyone's tastebud is unique. A man's meat may be another's poison.
There is no set meal offered. For someone who is dying to reward my stomach at the end of a week with a filling meal, I am disappointed. The highlights of the month are on Kyushu delicacies. Hence, I try the Char Siew Ramen while Ah Peng tries the green tea rice with salmon.
(Green Tea soup with salmon rice)
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(Char Siew Ramen with Pickled Ginger)
The dessert is more refreshing. The black sesame pudding is a welcoming change to the rather strong taste of the noodles. The pudding is smooth and the black sesame serving is generous.
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(Black sesame pudding and green tea tiramisu)
On the whole, the restaurant has not wowed me as much as its reviews. To be frank, I am slightly disappointed.
June 05, 2008
Medical Check-Up
I had not done any medical check-up since my pre-employment check-up. Hence, when the company offered free medical check-up at the office, I immediately invited my colleagues to sign up together.
As with all medical check-ups, fasting 10-hour before was essential for a more accurate diagnosis. We went for the check-up early in the morning as we were already very low on sugar. After registration, it was off to the toilet for urine test. Then, it was to the height, weight, waist line and blood pressure measurement. All seemed good and ok. In fact, I was 1 cm taller - my all-time high at 167cm. I wondered if this was a result of 9 months of yoga which stretched my vertebrae and made me stand taller.
The last test was blood test. Blood test always made me nervous because the nurses often had difficulty finding my blood capillaries (maybe my skin too thick. LOL). I knew things were not quite right when I felt more than just a tingle when the needle was injected. The pain lingered when the blood was being drawn and I felt the pressure of the pull. This was the most painful drawing of blood I felt.
I was right. That night, when I removed the plaster, I could see the swell and the starting of the blue-black. Sigh!
As with all medical check-ups, fasting 10-hour before was essential for a more accurate diagnosis. We went for the check-up early in the morning as we were already very low on sugar. After registration, it was off to the toilet for urine test. Then, it was to the height, weight, waist line and blood pressure measurement. All seemed good and ok. In fact, I was 1 cm taller - my all-time high at 167cm. I wondered if this was a result of 9 months of yoga which stretched my vertebrae and made me stand taller.
The last test was blood test. Blood test always made me nervous because the nurses often had difficulty finding my blood capillaries (maybe my skin too thick. LOL). I knew things were not quite right when I felt more than just a tingle when the needle was injected. The pain lingered when the blood was being drawn and I felt the pressure of the pull. This was the most painful drawing of blood I felt.
I was right. That night, when I removed the plaster, I could see the swell and the starting of the blue-black. Sigh!
June 04, 2008
Forgetfulness
I proudly told my colleague that our medical check-up would be in two days' time.
She looked at me blankly and asked was it not tomorrow.
Then, we frantically searched through our emails for the confirmation of the registration. We found none. No choice, I immediately called the helpline to ask if they could confirm which was the date I had registered for the check-up.
My colleague was right. It was supposed to be tomorrow.
I am really getting more and more forgetful. Luckily, I have asked my colleague before it or I would have missed the appointment.
Looks like my brain power is deteriorating faster than I thought.
She looked at me blankly and asked was it not tomorrow.
Then, we frantically searched through our emails for the confirmation of the registration. We found none. No choice, I immediately called the helpline to ask if they could confirm which was the date I had registered for the check-up.
My colleague was right. It was supposed to be tomorrow.
I am really getting more and more forgetful. Luckily, I have asked my colleague before it or I would have missed the appointment.
Looks like my brain power is deteriorating faster than I thought.
June 02, 2008
Looking Though the Lens
The digital camera is ubiquitous. I celebrate the advent of the digital photography age when we can take and view photos anytime and anywhere. For photos which are not well-taken, we can do editing or retake immediately. Many of the digital cameras even come equipped with a digital video function so that we do not miss out certain important actions in our lives.
Yet, the familiarity with digital camera can inadvertently led us to habitually experience our lives through the lens instead of with our eyes. How often do we practically switch on our camera and scan the sceneries constantly through the camera when we sight see? How often do we attempt to capture certain events on the digital media for future keepsake that we forget our claps and smiles? What we remember are not the blueness of the skies, the freshness of the air or the hilarity of our actions. What we remember are instead whether the flash light is on, whether the red-eye corrector is on, or even whether our hands are shaking when we press the shuttle release. We are gradually viewing all things through the digital camera lens.
It is no doubt a dilemma. Much as we would like to see and experience all the wonders of the moment, we also greedily want to capture the moments so that we can relive the emotions subsequently. Hence, we become increasingly reliant on our cameras, flashing it at each and every opportunity so much so that we forget to enjoy the moment for itself.
This was most hard-felt when I was attending the Angela Chang's concert. This was a concert which allowed cameras to be brought in. Many started taking photos at different moments in the concert. I never brought my camera but I had a camera phone. Spurred on by the kiasu syndrome, I also started to take photos using my camera phone which proved to be rather difficult given the distance I was from the stage and the lighting on the stage. Hence, I was constantly fustrated with the effects of the photos which were often blurred (from too far and the lower resolution of my phone camera) and too white (from the overexposure of light but I could not rectified as camera phone had fewer functions than a full-fledged camera).
To a point in time, I realised I was more concerned about taking photos than truly immersing myself in the performance. This was when I decided to ditch my phone camera and began to enjoy the show through my naked eyes instead. That was when I could fully appreciate the ambience, luxuriate in the soulful singing and be stunned by the kaleidoscopic colourful light and costumes on stage.
Much as we would like to record certain moments, we should not let that overtake our living.
Yet, the familiarity with digital camera can inadvertently led us to habitually experience our lives through the lens instead of with our eyes. How often do we practically switch on our camera and scan the sceneries constantly through the camera when we sight see? How often do we attempt to capture certain events on the digital media for future keepsake that we forget our claps and smiles? What we remember are not the blueness of the skies, the freshness of the air or the hilarity of our actions. What we remember are instead whether the flash light is on, whether the red-eye corrector is on, or even whether our hands are shaking when we press the shuttle release. We are gradually viewing all things through the digital camera lens.
It is no doubt a dilemma. Much as we would like to see and experience all the wonders of the moment, we also greedily want to capture the moments so that we can relive the emotions subsequently. Hence, we become increasingly reliant on our cameras, flashing it at each and every opportunity so much so that we forget to enjoy the moment for itself.
This was most hard-felt when I was attending the Angela Chang's concert. This was a concert which allowed cameras to be brought in. Many started taking photos at different moments in the concert. I never brought my camera but I had a camera phone. Spurred on by the kiasu syndrome, I also started to take photos using my camera phone which proved to be rather difficult given the distance I was from the stage and the lighting on the stage. Hence, I was constantly fustrated with the effects of the photos which were often blurred (from too far and the lower resolution of my phone camera) and too white (from the overexposure of light but I could not rectified as camera phone had fewer functions than a full-fledged camera).
To a point in time, I realised I was more concerned about taking photos than truly immersing myself in the performance. This was when I decided to ditch my phone camera and began to enjoy the show through my naked eyes instead. That was when I could fully appreciate the ambience, luxuriate in the soulful singing and be stunned by the kaleidoscopic colourful light and costumes on stage.
Much as we would like to record certain moments, we should not let that overtake our living.
June 01, 2008
Angela Chang's Concert
Call me a country bumpkin all you like and I will not deny. Fancy my grand old age of 28 and I have not gone to any concert previously. Maybe I should say I have not gone to any paid pop-star concert before. I have been to a complimentary concert featuring Valen Hsu and Grasshopper when I was temping after my A Levels as the company I was temping at was the organiser of the concert. I have also been to musicals and instrumental concerts. However, the ambience of pop concert will certainly be different.
I have always admired the vocal power of Angela Chang (张韶涵), especially from a pretty petite frame. I started noticing Angela Chang when I was catching the Taiwanese drama starring her as an aspiring starlet. The songs featured in the show - "Journey" and "遺失的美好" (My Lost Happiness) were soulful and touching. I was disappointed when the concert was postponed due to the artiste's ill-health condition. Hence, I was full of anticipation when the night of the concert finally arrived.
The venue of the concert was not quite ideal as it was at one of the halls in Singapore Expo where I felt that squarish layout might not enhance the accoustics. Most of the seats were levelled which meant that audience seated further away from the stage might be blocked by taller audience in front. The screens by the sides of the stage were too small to provide good views to audience sitting way behind.
The concert started at 815 pm with Angela Chang descending from the central of the stage with "夢裡花" (Flowers in the Wonderland). Throughout the next 2 hour show, she has impressed the audience with her powerful vocals and soulful singing. The special guests for the concert were equally impressive. Her songs reverberated throughout the halls. Many sang along with Angela Chang as she belted out the well-known ballads. The ambience was certainly influencing when many started waving their neon-light wands and singing along.
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Despite the soulful and up-to-standard singing, I was still slightly disappointed with the concert. I wondered if I had expected too much from a concert.
I have believed that Angela Chang was a singer who sang decently among some of the contemporary artistes. Although she had maintained her standards and sang along harmoniously with the live orchestra, the arrangements of the songs lacked originality. The arrangements followed dutifully to those in her CDs which meant that listening to her at the concerts was similar to listening to her CDs. I liked her original songs and were glad I could hear them live but I was expecting more. A different arrangement to some of the more familiar songs could better enhance her singing proweress. Moreover, there were some more-familiar-songs to the Singapore audience, such as "親爱的，那不是愛情" (That is Not Love) and "C大調 " (C Major) which were missed out. Many of us expected them to be covered during the encore section but we were disappointed.
In addition, I could finally empathise with the many criticisms of the difficulty of eliciting a warmer response from Singapore audience. Despite Angela Chang encouraging the audience to sing and clap along with her during snippets of her song, the response was rather muted. Hence, the ambience was not as lively as the songs performed.
On the whole, it was a good but not quite fantastic concert as I felt that it was too-safe a performance.
I have always admired the vocal power of Angela Chang (张韶涵), especially from a pretty petite frame. I started noticing Angela Chang when I was catching the Taiwanese drama starring her as an aspiring starlet. The songs featured in the show - "Journey" and "遺失的美好" (My Lost Happiness) were soulful and touching. I was disappointed when the concert was postponed due to the artiste's ill-health condition. Hence, I was full of anticipation when the night of the concert finally arrived.
The venue of the concert was not quite ideal as it was at one of the halls in Singapore Expo where I felt that squarish layout might not enhance the accoustics. Most of the seats were levelled which meant that audience seated further away from the stage might be blocked by taller audience in front. The screens by the sides of the stage were too small to provide good views to audience sitting way behind.
(The stage before the start of the concert)
The concert started at 815 pm with Angela Chang descending from the central of the stage with "夢裡花" (Flowers in the Wonderland). Throughout the next 2 hour show, she has impressed the audience with her powerful vocals and soulful singing. The special guests for the concert were equally impressive. Her songs reverberated throughout the halls. Many sang along with Angela Chang as she belted out the well-known ballads. The ambience was certainly influencing when many started waving their neon-light wands and singing along.
(A very blurred picture of Angela Chang singing, but already the best among those I have taken for the night)
Despite the soulful and up-to-standard singing, I was still slightly disappointed with the concert. I wondered if I had expected too much from a concert.
I have believed that Angela Chang was a singer who sang decently among some of the contemporary artistes. Although she had maintained her standards and sang along harmoniously with the live orchestra, the arrangements of the songs lacked originality. The arrangements followed dutifully to those in her CDs which meant that listening to her at the concerts was similar to listening to her CDs. I liked her original songs and were glad I could hear them live but I was expecting more. A different arrangement to some of the more familiar songs could better enhance her singing proweress. Moreover, there were some more-familiar-songs to the Singapore audience, such as "親爱的，那不是愛情" (That is Not Love) and "C大調 " (C Major) which were missed out. Many of us expected them to be covered during the encore section but we were disappointed.
In addition, I could finally empathise with the many criticisms of the difficulty of eliciting a warmer response from Singapore audience. Despite Angela Chang encouraging the audience to sing and clap along with her during snippets of her song, the response was rather muted. Hence, the ambience was not as lively as the songs performed.
On the whole, it was a good but not quite fantastic concert as I felt that it was too-safe a performance.
May 31, 2008
Beauty Workshop
I was initially abit apprehensive on the usefulness of the beauty workshop conducted by the CC. Will it be a product marketing platform just like other beauty workshops conducted by some beauty houses? Will it be boring one-way information flow talk when we hear a lot but none specific to our skin type?
I arrived at the class 5 minutes early. Any classmates who have arrived kept to themselves and groups. There was no sight of any instructor. I started to feel unease. When the instructor had not arrived 15 minutes past the starting time, my unease grew. I wondered if the class was cancelled without my knowing. Although the number of arrivals had grown, everyone was quiet. I secretly started to hope this class would pass by quickly.
20 minutes past the starting time, the instructor finally rushed in with all her equipment and teaching kits. She was full of energy and I was instantly taken in by her exuberance and her jokes. Her anecdotes sometimes held little relevance to skin care and make-up yet they were her personal experiences which imparted other knowledge, for eg on how to deal with some beauticians’ hard selling, how to handle stress, how to handle disobedient children or how to cure our headache through pressing the acupoints.
After the long but informative and also entertaining introduction, we were ready to start our class proper. The first step was to learn how to properly cleanse our faces. There were 5 basins in the nearby toilet, so off we went in groups of 5. We were taught on how to wash, scrub and tone our face. We were chided for our mistakes of rubbing very hard with scrub which we thought we were doing a very thorough job. Yet, we did not know that we had inadvertently hurt our skin. Here are more tips:
- When we wash or scrub our face, we should always do in circular motions.
- When we want to dry our face, we would pat our face with a dry towel instead of wipe it with the towel.
- We should scrub both our face and body once a week.
- When we scrub, we should not rub it too hard and hurt our skin.
- We should always apply toner as it refines pores and helps clean away any dirt not removed by the cleanser.
- When we apply toner, we should pat them in for the skin to absorb.
- We must always apply sunblock to prevent damage of skin from the sun.
- For skin which is more prone to oil seeds near the eyes, a gel-form eye cream will be more suitable than an oil-based.
- Moisturisers are a must even for oily skin. Both moisturizers and toner help the make-up to be applied on more easily.
After washing our skin clean, it was back to class to learn how to apply eye cream as scrubs would dry our eyes and caused wrinkles. Then it was the application of tinted moisturizer as moisturizing was essential after a scrub. Well, it was the first-time I saw a tinted moisturizer as it was more popular in the West than Singapore.
Then, it was time for learning the basics of make-up. The instructor required a student to be the ‘model’ for the demonstration. Surprise, surprise, I was picked. My face then became the palette to be used for telling the class how to apply foundation, blusher, eye-shadow, eye-liner to lip gloss. I was extremely nervous with someone so close to my face and the whole class looking at me for a good half an hour. I never felt so ‘stared-at’ and scrutinized my whole life. Fortunately, the instructor was kind and jovial while my classmates were very encouraging and lavish with their compliments. Hence, my nerves were calmed soon after and I began to enjoy the process and also being the centre of attention for once in my life.
My instructor has only done the blusher and the eye-shadow on one-side of the face and I was supposed to be complete the other on my own. Hmm, I was clearly a novice for make-up. To achieve the same colour and effect of my instructor was clearly an impossible task. Moreover, my eyes were closed half the time when she was applying the eye-shadow and I could only feel and hear what she was doing. Needless to say, my attempt was far off from what the instructor had done.
I was not the only one who benefited from the magical touch of the instructor. She was patient and kind enough to do a little something for everyone in the class – from the shaping of eye-brow through trimming and drawing, to make-up on different skin tones and to eye-shadow and foundation recommendation for everyone. Not only did we learn some basics, we also had fun experimenting with the different colours that the instructor had brought along and getting personal consultation on what colours would be good for our skin tones.
With such customized teaching, the class stretched more than an hour after the official ending time, yet many still lingered around to ask the instructor more questions. The instructor also patiently addressed each question and provided more tips to us.
The workshop was certainly successful and useful. I hope the CC would conduct more such courses for the ladies so that others could benefit from this and we could pick-up new skills.
I arrived at the class 5 minutes early. Any classmates who have arrived kept to themselves and groups. There was no sight of any instructor. I started to feel unease. When the instructor had not arrived 15 minutes past the starting time, my unease grew. I wondered if the class was cancelled without my knowing. Although the number of arrivals had grown, everyone was quiet. I secretly started to hope this class would pass by quickly.
20 minutes past the starting time, the instructor finally rushed in with all her equipment and teaching kits. She was full of energy and I was instantly taken in by her exuberance and her jokes. Her anecdotes sometimes held little relevance to skin care and make-up yet they were her personal experiences which imparted other knowledge, for eg on how to deal with some beauticians’ hard selling, how to handle stress, how to handle disobedient children or how to cure our headache through pressing the acupoints.
After the long but informative and also entertaining introduction, we were ready to start our class proper. The first step was to learn how to properly cleanse our faces. There were 5 basins in the nearby toilet, so off we went in groups of 5. We were taught on how to wash, scrub and tone our face. We were chided for our mistakes of rubbing very hard with scrub which we thought we were doing a very thorough job. Yet, we did not know that we had inadvertently hurt our skin. Here are more tips:
- When we wash or scrub our face, we should always do in circular motions.
- When we want to dry our face, we would pat our face with a dry towel instead of wipe it with the towel.
- We should scrub both our face and body once a week.
- When we scrub, we should not rub it too hard and hurt our skin.
- We should always apply toner as it refines pores and helps clean away any dirt not removed by the cleanser.
- When we apply toner, we should pat them in for the skin to absorb.
- We must always apply sunblock to prevent damage of skin from the sun.
- For skin which is more prone to oil seeds near the eyes, a gel-form eye cream will be more suitable than an oil-based.
- Moisturisers are a must even for oily skin. Both moisturizers and toner help the make-up to be applied on more easily.
After washing our skin clean, it was back to class to learn how to apply eye cream as scrubs would dry our eyes and caused wrinkles. Then it was the application of tinted moisturizer as moisturizing was essential after a scrub. Well, it was the first-time I saw a tinted moisturizer as it was more popular in the West than Singapore.
Then, it was time for learning the basics of make-up. The instructor required a student to be the ‘model’ for the demonstration. Surprise, surprise, I was picked. My face then became the palette to be used for telling the class how to apply foundation, blusher, eye-shadow, eye-liner to lip gloss. I was extremely nervous with someone so close to my face and the whole class looking at me for a good half an hour. I never felt so ‘stared-at’ and scrutinized my whole life. Fortunately, the instructor was kind and jovial while my classmates were very encouraging and lavish with their compliments. Hence, my nerves were calmed soon after and I began to enjoy the process and also being the centre of attention for once in my life.
My instructor has only done the blusher and the eye-shadow on one-side of the face and I was supposed to be complete the other on my own. Hmm, I was clearly a novice for make-up. To achieve the same colour and effect of my instructor was clearly an impossible task. Moreover, my eyes were closed half the time when she was applying the eye-shadow and I could only feel and hear what she was doing. Needless to say, my attempt was far off from what the instructor had done.
I was not the only one who benefited from the magical touch of the instructor. She was patient and kind enough to do a little something for everyone in the class – from the shaping of eye-brow through trimming and drawing, to make-up on different skin tones and to eye-shadow and foundation recommendation for everyone. Not only did we learn some basics, we also had fun experimenting with the different colours that the instructor had brought along and getting personal consultation on what colours would be good for our skin tones.
With such customized teaching, the class stretched more than an hour after the official ending time, yet many still lingered around to ask the instructor more questions. The instructor also patiently addressed each question and provided more tips to us.
The workshop was certainly successful and useful. I hope the CC would conduct more such courses for the ladies so that others could benefit from this and we could pick-up new skills.
Bring Out the ‘Kampong’ Spirit in You
One of my PE teachers used to have this tagline – ‘Bring out the animal spirit in you!’ This was used at the start of friendly matches or during our physical fitness tests. Allow me to modify this tagline a little – ‘Bring out the Kampong spirit in you!’
Kampong, a Malay word, is used to describe a village. In the Malay village, the community is often cohesive, close-knitted and cooperative. When Singapore started to develop public housing, we have wanted to retain this community spirit so all the flats come with corridors. To be frank, I am not 100% certain this is the reason for having common corridors and void decks for our flats but I learnt this from the Channel 5 series ‘En-Bloc’.
For those of us growing up in HDB flats, the common corridors definitely hold fond memories. Well, my childhood was practically spent on the long-stretched corridors playing chasing games with the kids of my neighbours. We even extended our ‘territories’ to the accompanying stairway. Our play-time started immediately after breakfast and continued through to lunch. We would have skipped lunch if not for the warning canes from our mums.
Community Centres (CC) were built in each housing estates to foster friendly relationship of the community while providing workshops and recreational activities for the public. In the older days when people were poorer and not everyone owned a television, some of the neighbours would go to the CC in the evening to watch television. (If you can recall, the channels are not 24-by-7 when we were young, some channels start broadcasting only at 6 pm on weekdays.)
To be frank, I used to participate in the activities of the CC actively when I was in primary school. I will attend drawing lessons and take part in drawing competitions and lantern festivals of the CC often. Somehow as I grow up, I gradually lose interest in the activities of the CC, until recently.
When I wanted to sign up for yoga lessons at the nearby CCs, I was amazed by the array of activities that the CCs conducted these days. CCs are becoming chic and trendy with coffee outlets for those who wish to chill out after lessons or simply want to chill out at a quieter spot with a nice cup of coffee. The classes available at the CCs cater for all age groups with special classes for children, senior citizens and working adults. The types of lessons are comparable to the latest fad, such as yoga, salsa and in-line skating. For those who prefer the more traditional types of lessons, one can still find the all-time favourites, such as cooking, language, dancing and singing lessons. There are also local and overseas trips organized.
The CC I frequent are relatively quiet on Saturday morning when I attend my yoga lessons except for the fervent basket ball players who dribble away on the court. I was attending a beauty workshop on Saturday afternoon when I was being swept away by the ‘Kampong’ spirit which I thought was long-gone.
The CC was crowded with people with different interests and different age groups. There was a Malay wedding at the multipurpose hall. There were parents bringing their kids for drawing lessons. There were girls (from age about 10 to 60) attending the beauty workshops. The CC congregated the community under the same roof and rekindled the ‘Kampong’ spirit. When I talked to two of my classmates, I was informed that there was even a Women Executive Committee (WEC) which consisted of 30 odd members who met monthly to organize different activities for the ladies. Wow, I was immediately swelled with respect for my classmates. They sacrificed their personal time so that the ladies members in the CC could enjoy different classes and activities.
During the class, the girls also cheered each other on when we were practising our make-up. We encouraged each other for those who were shier and less experimental. We helped look-out for each other when we tried on the colours. This was when we met each other only for the first time and did not even know each other’s name. Moreover, we were also from different age groups. Yet, all barriers were broken when we washed our faces at the basins or applied our eye-shadows together in front of the mirror.
All unease I felt about signing up for a class alone was dismissed. I truly enjoyed the experience. I was also felt with warmth on the experience and the witness of the ‘Kampong’ spirit once again. I will come back for my classes to pick up new skills and
May 29, 2008
Going Back In Time
The 9pm Channel 8 drama serial was finally reaching its ending. Although it is slightly make-belief with the protagonist traveling back in time to reverse certain decisions and change the ultimate outcome, such a wish can be prevalent.
Come on, in every person’s life, regardless of how happy or optimistic a person is, there will still be instances where we wish we can go back in time. We wish to go back in time to relive certain happy memories or to minimise the regrets from a wrong decision or action. Sometimes, the wish can be immediately or shortly after the occurrence of the event. How often do we wish we can go back one-week in time to while we are still vacationing overseas? How often do we wish to go back to the minute before we utter a stupid comment which hurt our loved ones?
If you are given this ability to go back in time, which point in your time will you want to go back to? This may not be a simple question that can be answered at the blink of an eye. Sometimes there can be more than one moment, especially when we are trying to address past mistakes. Where we are today and what we are today are results of our past experiences. Each past experience or event could be a link in a chain and changing any one of these could lead to a domino effect. The outcome on the new projectile could be so different from where we were previously.
In my past 28 years, there are phases where I have gone through emotional roller coasters. I have been happy, sad, confident and inferior. I will be lying if I say there is no times where I feel like I can do better during those phases. For instance, I thought I should have made more full use of the my time in the university to more constructively use my time, eg pick up driving then, spend more time with my friends, take up more part-time or temporary jobs to gain more experience. On hindsight, I thought I have wasted time when I was in university.
Yet, if you really grant me this wish, will I really want to go back? On second thoughts, I probably will not want to go back. Would I have changed myself or my destiny in the process? I do not know. No single event or experience is isolated. When one event or experience is changed, there is a chain effect. Moreover, I do not live in a no-man’s land. When I attempt to trifle with my own destiny, I do not know who else I will be affecting in the process.
What about you? Do you want to go back to certain point in your life? If yes, what is your purpose? Do you want to change anything?
Come on, in every person’s life, regardless of how happy or optimistic a person is, there will still be instances where we wish we can go back in time. We wish to go back in time to relive certain happy memories or to minimise the regrets from a wrong decision or action. Sometimes, the wish can be immediately or shortly after the occurrence of the event. How often do we wish we can go back one-week in time to while we are still vacationing overseas? How often do we wish to go back to the minute before we utter a stupid comment which hurt our loved ones?
If you are given this ability to go back in time, which point in your time will you want to go back to? This may not be a simple question that can be answered at the blink of an eye. Sometimes there can be more than one moment, especially when we are trying to address past mistakes. Where we are today and what we are today are results of our past experiences. Each past experience or event could be a link in a chain and changing any one of these could lead to a domino effect. The outcome on the new projectile could be so different from where we were previously.
In my past 28 years, there are phases where I have gone through emotional roller coasters. I have been happy, sad, confident and inferior. I will be lying if I say there is no times where I feel like I can do better during those phases. For instance, I thought I should have made more full use of the my time in the university to more constructively use my time, eg pick up driving then, spend more time with my friends, take up more part-time or temporary jobs to gain more experience. On hindsight, I thought I have wasted time when I was in university.
Yet, if you really grant me this wish, will I really want to go back? On second thoughts, I probably will not want to go back. Would I have changed myself or my destiny in the process? I do not know. No single event or experience is isolated. When one event or experience is changed, there is a chain effect. Moreover, I do not live in a no-man’s land. When I attempt to trifle with my own destiny, I do not know who else I will be affecting in the process.
What about you? Do you want to go back to certain point in your life? If yes, what is your purpose? Do you want to change anything?
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