I really thought these were irresistably cute. This pencilcase/pouch cum cardholder is a tiny farewell gift for j, who left for Japan early this morning. It was the most exciting send-off I've been to, really... And part of me wishes that I could go along, too. I suppose the thought of packing up to live elsewhere for a few years remains tempting for me, though not exactly executable. Oh well, I shall just plan instead to visit some time late this year :)

Incidents of injustice at work

I think it's a little disturbing how tolerant we have to be towards irresponsible ppl just for the sake of maintaining a "cordial" working relationship with another dept. This bad egg from another dept owed me something for a year... then when finance came and asked why we didn't incur the expenditure, after weeks of hounding bad egg finally responded with some smart reason as to why the piece of work was not done.... quoting high costs as an excuse... AND even that was so not the reason I had to take it as 'the explanation'... Well I guess I didn't have to take it if I really didn't want to, but deep down I knew if I didn't I prob would have a hard time getting this guy to cooperate with me next time... :( But yeah, feel so 心理不平衡!

Another somewhat disturbing person is fr pjt team... who has MIAed for the pjt, esp towards the 2nd half of pjt... And despite repeated emails/calls asking her to do assigned task; and to feedback if she had problems completing assigned things... I pretty much got ignored. Really dun understand why some ppl dun even have decency to tell me, Hey, I am too busy... I cannot cope; or simply 'Can you give me more time? I'll get to it as soon as I can". NOTHING heard. Then finally when pjt is ending then like agree to appear on day of briefing. And though assign her to brief apparently this lady will be on overseas leave all the way till weekend just b4 briefing. Win already lor. Thank goodness I have some really reliable folks in the team...

Bad day

This morning was just so bad that for the very first time at work I simply felt like sitting down at my desk to 痛痛快快地哭一场。。。It was just one of those why-all-the-difficult/tedious-issues-have-to-befall-my-town/sites days; one of those "your project team member tells you eh, the other team already bound their final report already" days.. And made infinitely worse by getting upset over not being able to manage time as well as experienced colleague; constantly comparing myself with competent individuals; refusing to really compromise on quality even when i'm at my wits' end... And then you can't help but feel so silly why want to be so miserable and stubborn.

Towards the end of the day when I talked to boss he shared some wise words (not his exact words) that I am well aware of but am terribly lousy at practising: Not to measure your self-worth using other ppls' standards. When can I master that...?

Was flipping through a Feb issue of The Economist on the way to gym this morning when I came across this article on Lakshmi Mittal (who owns the world's largest steel firm) And something towards the end caught my eye-- ArcelorMittal's new company motto "Boldness changes everything" I couldn't agree more... Frequently things dun happen 'cos we dun dare to do it? I mean, we'll worry... This thing could happen; that nasty situation is likely to come up; this is too difficult... and so we just dun have the courage to take that first step.... And we never find out 'cos we dun even try. I think I'm also guilty of it, but I hope to be more 'gutsy' with time :) since there might be more to lose if I give up something without even trying. But of course, need to couple guts with some brains lah. Else also no use :P

And just to clarify.... though my March motto is "Just get it over and done with", I actually dun think it's a very good motto to live by :P 'Cos it doesn't inspire one to put in his/her best at all and promotes shoddiness. Hai, but I guess sometimes one has to give and take a bit; and for the eeky things in life, I shall use this as a reminder that better days ought lie ahead :) And so, my new blog description shall read "Boldness changes everything", till I find something even more inspiring!

My personal motto for March is "Just get it over and done with"

Just get it over and done with
Just get it over and done with...
Just get it over and done with........

Above: The world in my colors

Below: Fallen

I actually dun recall seeing a dead bird before, but I stumbled upon this liveless mynah on the doorsteps of a bar (I think) along Ann Siang Hill. Though I felt sad for this little creature (I wonder what happened?) I also thought it looked really peaceful. And this weird coincidental death before a red door made it appear as if it were lying in a pool of red...

Field shoot at Chinatown

Forced myself out of bed at 7.30am this morning for my field shoot today. Unfortunately, the skies were really cloudy and by the time we were ready to hit the streets (about 9 am), it was pouring pretty badly.... Nonetheless, the gloomy weather made it possible for us to shoot dripping water, so it really wasn't that 扫兴 after all :) And after class, I wandered over to interesting little streets in the vicinity like Ann Siang Hill, Erskine Rd, Club St... I wanna own a conserved shophouse! And it felt so nice strolling down the 5-foot (10 foot?) way along Erskine Rd...

Anyway, this post is dedicated to the beautiful shophouses I saw today...

First half an hour or so was spent trying to play with shuttle speed, since we were instructed to be creative with apertures and shutter speeds... I got the above shot only after a few tries...

The red-window shophouse along Temple St... I loved the rich contrast...

A close-up of the dripping water. I am still not v good at manipulating shutter speeds, but good try for a beginner lah ;P

This is one of my fav pictures of the day, taken along Club Street... It was also intentionally un-focused by me, 'cos I thought it looked lovelier that way.

And after this outing I realised that my Olympus DSLR actually takes pretty decent pics... :) Unfortunately the rest of my weekend has to be mostly spent rushing out some report.... :(

It seems like after ppl have worked for a while, they know what ppl like to hear and they become good at giving politically correct answers... It's a skill I dun think I can really master. Not sure if I'd want to master it though. But today I learnt the hard way that next time if I dunno how to package nicely the not so pleasing-to-ear things I want to voice then I had better shut up. :( Buddy says sometimes knowing how to react appropriately in situations just comes with age, no need to get so upset... Hai, zuo4 ren2 so difficult.

My photography class saved the day though. Today our instructor demonstrated how we could 'paint with light'... and I am totally falling in love with light. Photography can be so cool...

Experimenting with shutter speeds in class...

I tried very hard to draw a heart.... Well, this was the best of my many amateurish attempts. A flyaway heart... Oh well, bit deformed, but hey, nothing is perfect.... :)

嬉しいの日。

I was happy 'cos I didn't have to work today. I was happy 'cos I watched an excellent film today. I was also happy... 'cos I found out on my birthday that I had passed my JLPT 2 exam! That was perhaps the best present ever! I mean, I seriously think I was just super lucky, but hey, it feels good.... ;)

The movie I watched today, that I really liked, was The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Would blog about this in a separate post... aargh, all these nice French films are tempting me to learn French...

I am also officially addicted to One Republic's Apologize:

Colbie Caillat- Bubbly

I know I am very slow, but yeah, I finally figured out the title cum singer of this song:


Think she's got a lovely voice. I like the feet-in-jeans-on-bed shot...

I've been awake for a while now
you've got me feelin like a child now
cause every time I see your bubbly face
I get the tinglies in a silly place

It starts in my toes
and I crinkle my nose
where ever it goes I always know
that you make me smile
please stay for a while now
just take your time
where ever you go

The rain is fallin on my window pane
but we are hidin in a safer place
under covers stayin safe and warm
you give me feelins that I adore

It starts in my toes
make me crinkle my nose
where ever it goes i always know
that you make me smile
please stay for a while now
just take your time
where ever you go

What am I gonna say
when you make me feel this way
I just........mmmmmm

It starts in my toes
make me crinkle my nose
where ever it goes i always know
that you make me smile
please stay for a while now
just take your time
where ever you go

I've been asleep for a while now
You tucked me in just like a child now
Cause every time you hold me in your arms
I'm comfortable enough to feel your warmth

It starts in my soul
And I lose all control
When you kiss my nose
The feelin shows
Cause you make me smile
Baby just take your time now
Holdin me tight

Where ever, where ever, where ever you go
Where ever, where ever, where ever you go
Where ever you go, I'll always know
Cause you make me smile here, just for a while

Sticky Notes

Yesterday I retrieved something real pretty from my letterbox:

The two lines read "480 decorated stickies in assorted sizes" and "Post Messages and Reminders in Style" :)

The sender hoped these would 'jazz up' my workstation. But who would waste such pretty things on ordinary documents :P

They really do come in assorted designs and sizes... :)

Afternote to earlier post: I realised earlier this afternoon while fiddling around with the 'spoiled' Olympus DSLR that it really wasn't spoiled at all... hahaha. Certain modes appeared spoiled 'cos the exposure settings had been set to like -5EV (which made everything come out black black) I guess it just goes to show that you need to get to know your camera well b4 you can tap on its functions! Yay can save some money and perhaps free-ride when Dad gets another DSLR... (yeah this Dad, always want to buy new gadgets then 80% of time dun really know how to use)

First photography class

Was really looking forward to this class all day and was like a bit kan cheong spider when I couldn't get off work till like 645pm... But luckily I still made it in time :)

My instructor is this pretty young chap in his late 20s maybe and he does some wedding photography as well as documentary photography. The first half of the session was somewhat haphazard and disappointing 'cos he didn't appear very prepared and several times during the class he openly told us he forgot what he wanted to say. I mean, imagine going through the history of photography, then like you forget the year this famous pic was taken, pause for long time and refer to your notes halfway... And he wasn't very articulate; or rather, he wasn't very good at expressing himself/ putting across clearly what he wanted to convey. Which in my opinion is an impt skill for an instructor to possess. Of course, not like I'm in a position to criticise him for that 'cos I know I've made ppl get real impatient with me for taking like super long to say certain things... But on the whole he appeared nice and approachable lah. And I shall not be too critical so soon, as long as the practical bits of the class are decent.

The people in my class seem pretty interesting. There are four teachers in the class - An Indian lady who teaches P5 English; a lady who teaches at Republic Polytechnic and two American guys who teach at the Singapore American School. And apparently both their wives bought them this class as a present. So sweet. I also got to interact with a girl who quit her accounting course to be a freelance videographer... And this 23-yr-old runs a few-wks-old company doing wedding videography for ppl... Out of curiosity I asked her what made her decide on such a bold decision... And she said, "Just do it lor". So brave.

Unfortunately, I didn't really learn much today 'cos Dad's DSLR was spoiled or something; some modes just didn't work. Then when instructor said to do this this this or that that that my camera just couldn't make it... Then like so sao3 xing4. And so I think I'm going to splurge and buy myself my very own DSLR... Even though it might easily cost me my whole month's pay... it might be a huge initial investment well worth it.... No pain no gain?

Poor Boss (II)

Hee just a status update from V-day episode. So yest morning, everyone received a pot of cactus + an artificial rose from you-know-who. And it turns out that the reason why roses weren't given on V-day itself was 'cos Boss had already ordered cacti for us... just that they didn't arrive in time (or he didn't manage to collect in time) Unfortunately, 'cos the 'mini flower pots' had diff designs; it still led to some behind-boss's-back comparisons....

Hai. Moral of story is women can be very petty creatures. Not bad lah; Boss already learnt that if got leftover roses give to the one and only guy in the unit then no one will complain. But next time he should perhaps also bear in mind to give all the ladies the same thing cos else they will still secretly xin1 li2 bu4 ping2 heng2. This bunch of ladies so hard to please, maybe that's why previous boss never give anything, hor ;)

The Kite Runner

If you read the book, think you'll enjoy the movie.
If you haven't read the book, you should still catch this!
If you studied at Berkeley, you HAVE TO watch this!

It was quite an emotional 2 hrs for me; and in particular this kite scene done at the Berkeley Marina made me feel very nostalgic... There are just some places you grow really attached to and know that you long to return to some day. I don't know if the Afghanistan bits were really shot in Afghanistan but I liked the movie for bringing to life the street scenes, the children, the kite-flying... and it made the 1970s Kabul seem like such a bustling and beautiful place. And I like places and buildings that feel old and historical...

Poor Boss

I suppose it's never easy to head a unit of ladies. 'Cos boss set precedent last year by giving everyone a stalk of rose for V-day, some of us were (jokingly) expecting similar treatment this year. That did not happen of course... so early in morning borrowed bouquets of flowers were placed in boss's workstation as hints to him. When he discovered that the lovely flowers were not meant for him; i bet he was secretly thinking... these subordinates damn difficult to please... But we sorta half made up for it by buying him a cake later in afternoon... which apparently made him v touched... but while cutting cake (and so he kept saying he v touched and wanted to share his heart) some ppl still couldn't get over fact this yr no flowers and like kept telling him places to get flowers from... I... erm... have no comments. haha. Our new DD was sympathetic of boss's plight and sent him an email with an animated bouquet of flowers, with the msg "hope this helps".

Later after proper office hours, Boss came over to convey some amendments he wanted me to make to a paper... (smthg like just adding one 's' to something). Then he walked away, self-proclaiming he very 'particular' hor... Then like he asked what's a better word to describe that... Then while he walked down the walkway, I suddenly shouted "anal"... Eh, then boss like got quite violent reaction... saying that it was 'uncouth'... Miss yy was like laughing v loud in her workstation... Hai, I very 'geh kiang' and dunno how to zuo4 ren2 right, but came home and verified with dictionary -- Anal merely means "showing too much concern with small details, especially in a way that annoys other people"... Where got uncouth :P

Past three days at work have been quite crazy... and two ten pms made me terribly, terribly eye-achey :( During times like this I really wish I were a taitai... Nonetheless, managed to squeeze out two lunches with two friends the past two days... and one was at Holland V, after attending a self-initiated lect at the CSC ;P Somehow whenever I'm out somewhere during office hours I feel like my surroundings are brimming with activity and life... perhaps I felt it more keenly after a lonely depressing night in the office... like it's just really refreshing to not be in office.. :P And I discovered a new, week-old yogurt bar at Holland V yest called 'Frolick'. It had good, plain yogurt and cute shop deco... Their walls were evenly polka-dotted with a variety of 'lil badges, with interesting texts like "I like it topless", "Cereal Killer".... And apparently their badges were as appealing as their yogurt -- to itchy fingers that pilfered them off the (street-facing) walls.

Colors of Haji Lane

I returned to Kampong Glam yest evening, this time to check out Haji Lane... 'cos recently heard many good things abt this little street and wanted to check out its quirky stores. Alas! Most of the stores were closed (guess ppl are still resting for CNY)... Instead, I took to photographing some of the shopfronts.

Nice blue gate.

While J was trying stuff, I scouted around outside for photo ops. Above: Shophouse with color-combi I really liked. Below: '46' was painted on one of the pillars outside an adjacent store... to mark the address '46 Haji Lane'.


This was not taken along Haji Lane but at the old Cat high sch. I thought the patterns were cute... and liked the weathering/decay going on on the left-hand side-- an indication that it has prob been around for a while! Wonder how old this wall is.

In the end we settled for dinner at a Turkish restaurant at Kampong Glam... After a very satisfying meal, we strolled to the pedestrianised Bussorah St... past the Morrocan Deli place I dined at the other time. This is prob one of the few nice spots in Sg that's not overly touristy/upmarket, with relatively affordable eating places. There seemed to be a substantial Caucasian crowd, but I couldn't really tell if they were tourists or expats. Prob more expats. We also discovered quite a few ppl smoking sheesha in relatively dark corners/five-foot ways along Haji Lane on our way back. Anyway, the alluring Sultan Mosque by night...

p/s: Actually Haji Lane is not a v colorful st. My pics might be misleading 'cos I only showed you things I chose to snap. As with many things in life, you are unlikely to get the full picture unless you experience it yourself... :)

Singapore Art Museum on Chu1-Er4

Admission was free at the Singapore Art Museum today and I decided to pay it a visit... Not a big fan of new year visiting and too poor/sian to go shopping. There were two exhibitions I wanted to see -- These very pop-artish paintings by Chinese contemporary artist Feng Zhengjie; and hand-woven pieces by renowned S'porean fashion designer Benny Ong (The banner on the left depicts one of his works).
I was very drawn to Feng Zhengjie's art-- Though most of his glamorous women drawings on display were primarily in rather clashing colors of bright pink and green, the overall effect was so... captivating. And I couldn't help but marvel at the nice blend of colors on the life-size oil paintings...
Hee, though I think picture-taking was not allowed, I sneakily took some (Aiyah it didn't seem to be strictly enforced, so I assumed it was ok :P). I somehow really like the shot I captured above, with the men discussing the glam woman painting :P

More glam women paintings... They are all in green/pink style, but took a couple in black-and-white. I think it actually shows how well his shading is done.....

I find this quote very true... on the other side of this wall was an English translation --

It is very easy to change one's appearance or pick up a new kind of fashion - A way or a style to maintain one's looks or a very cosmopolitan lifestyle... But it's not that easy to emulate inner substance and the more intangible values in life.

One of themes that Feng Zhengjie tries to explore is the divide/ tension that exists between the inner life of an individual and the outer face that is turned to the world... Which is supposedly why all his women portraits all have diverging eyes... They are beautiful but disturbing at the same time... and I get the feeling that they are all hiding something...

This last picture was not taken at the SAM, but at a rather run-down building right behind the SAM... and according to my mum, it's the old Catholic High Sch... True enough, I found the words "Gong Jiao Zhong Xue". Though old and somewhat dilapidated, it had quite a serene feel to it. This was one of many little angel statues lining the stone-wall structure fronting the side road. I thought the stairways in the background were really lovely... :)

Had an extremely early (5pm!) reunion dinner at a Teochew restaurant this year. Think ppl are increasingly busy (or lazy) and so dine-out reunion dinners are getting very common. The restaurant I dined at had 3 sessions -- 5pm, 7pm and 9pm... So it was somewhat difficult to like stick around after dinner 'cos restaurant was waiting to 'recycle' our seats :P Nonetheless, it was actually nice to get home early to laze around/tidy up a bit...

Was sorting out letters and re-discovered this letter from DBS... with the Live Fresh credit card enclosed, only pending activation. Wanted to toss it away but decided no harm finding out what's so special abt this credit card... Ok, most of the discounts/offers didn't catch my eye... BUT they had an interesting section with discounts on courses. "15% off aerial photography/ jewellery-making courses", one of the 'perks' read. Upon further investigation, I was directed to the Emily Hill website and the art workshops offered.... and hey, they seem pretty cool. The aerial photography course seems fun and out of the world and I would totally try it if not for the fact that it costs like $400 for 3 sessions. Sigh, out of budget. But I might really go for one of the printmaking/jewellery-making stuff :) Hai, I might activate this credit card after all.....

A Happy Chinese New Year to all!

My problem with FB...

One thing I absolutely detest abt FB is how some applications refuse to let you proceed to a more advanced level/ play around with more interesting features unless you invite XX number of friends. As a result, Facebookers will flood their friends with invitations to add this/that application... Maybe I dun understand the fine details of how things work and there are actually ways to get around this... but this 'requirement' really puts me off! Simply 'cos you have to bug your friends to be able to derive greater utilty/ enjoyment from the application... Else having that application is quite fei4. And I hate doing it 'cos it requires too much 'pro-activeness' for the AS me. And sometimes you invite ppl not really 'cos you want your friends to have the application; but cos you want to find out what this application is capable of and you can't find out unless you invite XXX friends. Like so insincere.

Hee... actually I also dun like how sometimes ppl find you and add you when you scarcely know them. Then like you add all these random ppl as your friends, when in actual fact maybe only like 1/3 of your friends on FB are your friend-friends... In short, these kinda social networking sites not too appealing to AS ppl like me :P (Very mao dun right, then why i still join? Why i dun quit? I guess there's still a tiny KPO streak in me that wants to know what's going on with ppl I know)

That said, I have to say that some applications are pretty cool. Esp those that dun entail these inviting here and there. All the AS-friendly ones lah. Such as the Traveller IQ Challenge thingy.. can just keep playing and playing on my own. But realised my geography really v lousy... haha. Ppl who come up with all these applications can get so creative!