I'm addicted to Starbucks Green Tea Latte!

... and this Christmas,

it even comes in pretty red paper cups!

Blog ME!

For those of you who have seen my desktop, you'ld know that I have a folder titled "Blog ME!".



In this folder, I have:

(1) Shortcut to "Notepad" - so I can quickly jot down my thoughts and observations throughout the day, and have those handy for when I finally have time to blog. (I have an unbelievably poor memory!)

(2) Many individual dated folders, each containing pictures I took during that day - photos are kept in these folders until I have time to upload them onto my blog. (once again, dated because I usually don't remember the day I took it on.)



Being organized is one of my strengths, and that helps me to overcome my weakness of having poor memory =P

I LOVE BLOGGING! (... and writing in general, of course!) But I've been crazy busy the last few weeks, barely had time to get even a good decent 8-hours of sleep. Let's see... the average amount of sleep I have been getting... probably somewhere between 3-5 hours a night. Everyone says we have better quality of life these days compared to our grandparents, am I the only one who doesn't see that as being true??? Sleep is important! But what to do... when you have so much work! *sigh* Anyways, so too much work = no time to sleep = even more no time to blog!

My "Blog Me!" folder is EXPLODING! So much so, that it's almost as if the folder screams at me in protest every time I throw something else in it =X

So, it's Saturday morning... and I'm going to spend the next 2 hours playing catch up! =) (Gelien, some of these pictures were taken for you! I can't believe you will be back in EXACTLY 2 weeks!)

Something more current....

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2009 (Oct. 31, 2009)

Decided to kinda dress up for school that day, just for the fun of it =)





There was a booth and a "Trick or Treat" room (converted from a GSR) at the School of Social Science. Kevin was over there mending the booth. So, during my break, I decided to pop by to say "Hi".



We ended up going into the "Trick or Treat" room together, and each of us had to draw a card, which determined our "fate". I can't quite remember which card I drew, but it was a card to a treat - so 1 Ferrera Rocher for Felicia. Poor Kevin, who so kindly accompanied me, drew a trick card =P

And his fate?

I'll let the pictures do the talking...




Oooooo.... pretty colors!



Kevin's AWESOME!



Oh yes... did I mention that he's my Deputy Director of Artist Management Team??? I wouldn't trade our partnership for anything!



Later that evening (at around 8pm... which became 8:30pm because he was late), I met Ghit Hong for a little Halloween celebration at this pub over at Somerset called "Howl at the Moon".



Initially, it was supposed to be just the both of us chilling out...



Ghit Hong sprung one on me when we met at the MRT station... He goes "Erm... I actually have some friends joining us." And I was like, "Some friends? Do I know them?" And he was like, "nope". And I went "So, are they guys? Like PTI guys?" (Not rocket science... I mean, he IS in NS now... so if it ain't friends from 4E2 that I know, it's gotta be either BMT friends, or PTI friends.) And he was like "Yup." In my head, I was thinking "WTH? I'm going to be so out of place....Why did you do this to me?" In the end, I just replied with "Erm.... OK!"

I love meeting people! It's just... he should have AT LEAST told me his friends were coming, you know? When the night ended, I texted him to tell him what a great night it was and added a "... but it would be nice if you had told me there would be other people coming."

Group picture! (... and our almost all gone Hoegarden beer)



THE PTIs of Khatib Camp



Alvin



Wei Liang



... apparently I met him before during their department's chillax dinner last year =P I went with Ghit Hong because everyone HAD TO bring a date for that night. We were sitting at the same table. Embarassing thing is... he remembers me, but I don't remember him =P

My BEST FRIEND for the last *starts counting* 7 years.... GHIT HONG! =D



(Wei Li, you're my GIRL BEST FRIEND! Ghit Hong's my BOY BEST FRIEND =P)



There was a band performing that night, so we pretty much just drank and listened to them play music =)

Oh wait..... What's THIS?



Wanna know what was in THIS glass?



The UNEXPECTED highlight of our Halloween evening! ^_^



How did that happen?

I wrote a note and handed it to Sherman, the guy in white with the bunny ears. He's also the pianist and singer. On it, I told him that it's Ghit Hong's birthday on November 15, and asked if he could do something special for him =P Ghit Hong got punk'd! Least he'll remember his 21st Birthday =D

No grudges... I'm sure he still loves me =P





Time to work my way through each folder! This is going to be a MAJOR PHOTO UPDATE!



Dinner @ Iluma @ Chang Korean Restaurant w/ May Cay, Bak Leong & Eileen (Sept. 19, 2009)

Check out Iluma's cool interior design! (... if you haven't already been there)

Went shopping with May Cay, Bak Leong and Eileen...

I can't wait to see my little baby niece in February!

If you like Seoul Garden...

... you'll LOVE the food at this place!

Aren't these chairs the coolest! They look like those baskets that people use to hold eggs =P

Here's a traditional Korean drink they serve there - pumpkin juice with rice water! It's really sweet and tastes like honey =)



DINNER IS SERVED!

Pork





Beef

Chicken

Ginseng Chicken Soup

The meat gets wrapped inside the crisp lettuce...





And to round off the evening... Chinese Desserts at Ah Chew's!



Visiting Gardenasia, After 4 years! (Sept. 20, 2009)

I did my 4-month polytechnic attachment at Gardenasia Pte Ltd 4 years ago (... how time flies!). Since then, I haven't been back to their office in Kranji to visit.

This semester, I have a management accounting project, which required us to obtain the managerial accounts of a company. Needless to say, managerial accounts are often confidential information that's only available to staff members. Hence, since no one in my group had connections with business owners and directors, we had a hard time finding a company who would be willing to share with us this information.

Thankfully, Kenny agreed to help us! Being a diligent and responsible intern REALLY paid off =D

Our on-site visit cum project meeting cum lunch date =)

Vegetable Pasta - Looks ordinary? Tastes EXTRA-ordinary! ^_^

PARTY TIME!!!! - SMUBE Hari Raya Party 2009 (Sept 24, 209)

Seha, Atiqah, and Shah prepared traditional Malay food!

Atiqah giving all the Chinese people a "Hari Raya Goodies 101" lesson =P

We pretend to be listening....

... but we're actually only thinking "GIVE US THE FOOD!"

Here it comes!

Awww......

Valmond and Si Ying!

Found out recently through Facebook that Valmond is Jonathan's (Fiona's boyfriend) scuba diving friend. WHAT A SMALL WORLD!

Reuben & Ivee!

Seha!

Yan Ping!

Serene!

Charlotte!

Desmond!

Racheal!

Dinner @ Ion Orchard @ BaliThai w/ Khai Bin (Sept. 25, 2009)

A belated Happy 21st Birthday dinner celebration... (his birthday falls on Sept. 23)

Ms Cindy Chian's 21st Birthday Celebration (Sept. 26, 2009)

I've pretty much lose count of the number of 21s birthday celebrations I've been to this year... but Cindy's was DEFINITELY the BIGGEST!

She celebrated her birthday at her elder sister's house. Her place is so HUGE, it easily accomodated the 150-200 people at the party! I can't imagine how anyone could afford such a big house in Singapore.

Curry and mee goreng at the party was sinful..... but DELICIOUS!

Sam met me in school and we drove to her place, wasn't exactly accessible by public transport.

SMUBE: Galvin, Shah, Amanda, Bjorn, Michelle's boyfriend, Michelle, Micheal, Charlotte, Cindy!

No wonder she's SMUBE's current Campus Radio Director! She's got her own home theatre and sound system...

.... and a MIXER!

LCD TV mounted on the mirror, nice!

Her birthday cake is really cute and kiddish!

Cindy... is this your 21st or 1st birthday party again? =P

Oh... 2 big candles and 1 small... so, 21st!

SMU Broadcast & Entertainment... ROCK ON!

Dover Park Hospice TV Ad - Filming Day!!! (Sept. 27, 2009)

You're probably thinking... "wait, you're not a media and mass communication student! What is a business student doing filming a TV commercial?" ... or something along those lines.

Well, I got on this project team by chance after my career counsellor, Theodore, asked if I would be interested in filming an ad for Channel 5 and Channel U. I've never done anything like it before, and I'm interested in media, so figured this would be a good chance for me to get exposed to advertising.

This TV advertisement project was initiated by Dover Park Hospice (DPH) and the hospice is one that houses terminally ill patients who typically have less than 3 months of life. The objective of this ad is to create awareness of the good works and people in the hospice and share the concept of Palliative Care, which is to improve the quality of life for people who are approaching the end of their lives. DPH approached SMU to take on this project, which involved the production of a 30sec TV ad that communicates the idea of palliative care.

We were on an extremely tight timeline! And this is what I call "a miracle TV advertisement". We had only about 2 months to come up with the idea and storyboard, film it and produce it. The entire production team was made up of SMU students. Unpaid. On top of academic commitments.

I was on the Creative Team. My Role: Casting & Locations Director =D I got to pick the cast for the advertisement, as well as the location that would best fit the script. I had to make sure our actresses get the script and know it. On the day itself, made sure that their welfare was taken care of... like hold the umbrella to block out the sun during break time, have tissue paper and water on standy... unglam behind the scene job that goes into every advertisement.

When the script was finalised, we needed 1 little girl and 1 old woman for the ad. I knew almost immediately EXACTLY who to approach to play the little girl role...

My 5-year-old cousin, Hannah =)

I approached my aunt and Hannah, and they were both up for it! =)

Hannah's mom and aunt came with a few sets of clothes, a few pairs of shoes, and a ton of hair accessories =P

She can speak perfect English, Mandarin, Cantonese (she lives with her grandparents, so learnt it from them), Malay (learnt from her maid), and a little Spanish. She's an amazingly bright little girl!

Here, she goes "Felicia, look.... I can make the Cadbury thing...." and starts messing around with her eyebrows! I couldn't stop laughing!

On-site at Ang Mo Kio Park

Hannah: Our little star & Felicia: Her cousin/agent =P

She's a natural! (... I think it runs in the family =P)

Despite the hot sun and warm weather, she was very cooperative throughout the shoot.

I LOVE her sweet and innocent smile =)

At the end of the shoot, she decides to return the favour by taking pictures of Hua Zheng and his friend (our videographer).

After the shoot, we headed back to the BE studio to record both Hannah's voice and mine for the voiceover.

Emir, our Creative Director, helping her go through her lines...

Isn't she cute?

She looks like a DJ already! I see potential... lots of it! =)

An amazing experience for everyone!

Here's our finished product! It was aired on Channel 5 and Channel U in October, during National Hospice Week...

Dinner @ Crystal Jade Steamboat Dinner w/ Childhood Friends (Oct. 2, 2009)

Thanks Shilesse for organizing this dinner for everyone! =D

Eileen and Jovyn couldn't make it for the dinner that night... can't remember what the reason was. Joel and Marcus, Shilesse's brothers, just didn't want to come (they've always been the shy boys ever since we were young).

It's always nice to meet up with friends I grew up with. Every time we hang out, we'ld reminisce the many wonderful memories we had back in Dallas when we were kids. Our dads are colleagues in the Singapore Air Force, and they've been there for the longest time =P

We talked about Las Colinas Elementary School, Barbara Bush Middle School, our friends over there, all the silly things that happened when we were on the yellow American school bus, times when we would go to Wal-Mart to get free popcorn, played on our scooter around the neighbourhood, ate at Macdonalds... and the list goes on.

Novyn.... my closest childhood friend!

He is 2 years younger than me. It's so weird that he's serving his National Service now. What's more, for the first time EVER, we talked about relationships that night. It was a nice feeling. Despite only meeting 3-4 times a year, every time we meet, we just pick up right from where we left off. I have to admit that it's a weird feeling seeing him grow up so fast. He's almost like my little brother, and I can't believe how fast time flies. I guess I shouldnt' forget that I'm growing up too =)

Shilesse! She's currently doing her Diploma in Events Management at Republic Polytechnic.

While waiting for the food...

Novyn & Shilesse!

Joshua & Jolin! They're both doing their Diploma in Tourism Management at Shatec.



If you're with a bunch of hungry friends between 8pm-12am, you should definitely head down to a Crystal Jade for their steamboat buffet =)

They have a menu with over 100 different items, and unlike most steamboat buffets that are self-service, they serve up the food items from the kitchen when you place your order.

This plate of prawns made me sick!

When it first arrived at our table, I took 2 up and stuck them in the boiling hot soup...

Novyn said (in his slow, deep and calm voice), "Feliciaaa, how come their tail still moving?"

He scared the heck out of me! And I immediately let go of the skewer!

Joshua laughed "Huh? You don't know is live prawns, meh?"

My heart sank into my empty stomach, and that alone was enough to make me feel full. I can't believe someone in the kitchen could bare to stick a skewer all the way through the prawns WHILE it was still alive and kicking! Fresh out of the water!

And worse... just leave it suffering and dying slowly on a plate! It's CRUEL! Why would any restaurant serve something like that to their customers??? I was completely grossed out! But there was nothing I could do about it. So instead, I just told everyone to cook all the prawns first to end their suffering =( I didn't eat them.

We ate WAY TOO much that night!







We definitely have to do that again when Gelien gets back =)

Nicole's 1st Birthday Celebration (Oct. 04, 2009)

Our precious little Princess Nicole is already 1 years old!

A rare opportunity... when ALL the cousins were present! (Gelien, we can photoshop your head and place you between Mark and Fiona's head =P)

These next few pictures, I feel, really capture the meaning of parental love.

Parents do all that they can to bring happiness to their children. (Mark went through all that effort to organize a birthday party for Nicole, knowing it will make her happy!)

They will always be beside you.

They hold your hand through whatever, teach you and guide you... until you can finally do it on your own. (... like cutting your own birthday cake)



They'll share what they have with you unconditionally. (...Daddy Mark feeds her a little piece of her birthday cake)

Come here Nicooooole....

I LOVE THIS PICTURE! (.... she looks so blur-cute!)

Her birthday dress is like a wedding gown!

Look who knows it's time to open presents??? Smart girl!

As more and more toys surrounded her.... she couldn't figure out where to look or which toy to start playing.

She kept going "WAAAHHh....... Waaaah....... WAAAhhh!" while smiling and laughing =D

This girl knew it was ALL hers!! =D

When I start working, I'm going to buy her lots of pretty clothes and shoes ^_^

Auntie Nira's 27th Birthday (Oct. 07, 2009)

Who makes the most yummiest porridge in the world?

And keeps it warm in a pot so I'll have dinner on nights when I get home late from school?

And who knows I like brown rice, not white rice?



AUNTIE NIRA! =D

Look what Eileen and I got her for her birthday present!

She can draw and design clothes better than both of us can. I'm not kidding! She draws and colours in her free time. Her brother is a tailor back home in Indonesia, so she grew up with some background in apparel design.

Eileen and I figured she would like this book from Kinokuniya because it's got every imaginable type of apparel in there! Tops, shirts, shorts, pants, jacket, shoes, undergarments, glasses, EVERYTHING! It'll give her tons of ideas =D













I might get a copy of this book for myself in December. That's when I'll have time to just sit home and draw =) I used to be able to draw well, but since I stopped drawing in polytechnic, I'm not as good anymore =/

Need any help deciding what to get Felicia for X'mas? ^_^

Is TWO months before TOO early to be doing Christmas shopping? =P

Well, I wasn't exactly shopping for Christmas presents when I came across it... I was just doing some general shopping on amazon.com >_<

Who should buy this product?

• It's like the perfect gift for a student! (... I'm a student *raises arm high up in the air*)
• Anyone who loves a good read, but don't want to have to carry a book around all the time.
• Someone who lives in a really small (HDB) house and can't find space for a home library.
• Person who is environmentally conscious and is determined to stop deforestation!

Amazon Kindle 2!

Get ready to be amazed ... ...

Are you amazed??? =D

It's an AMAZING technology, isn't it?

It's wonderful how technology has become so advanced today that anything you imagine, could actually happen!

OK, so it's going at US$259.

Each Kindle book download is US$9.99 on amazon.com.

Some Kindle books are FREE!

The question is... do I really need one?

OMG! It's just so cool!

FLASH MOB.... IN SINGAPORE?

Alex just showed me this video... it's WICKED COOL!!! SHEER BRILLANCE!!

ENJOY!

It's a pretty long video, but watch it from start to end... it's worth it! =)

I love how at the end of the whole flash mob, they just go back to acting like nothing happened =P

I can't believe it happened at Raffles Place this afternoon!

Since when do such things happen in Singapore?

We should definitely have MORE!

Super Mario Marriage Proposal (Awww.....)

Being a DJ for E-finiti, an entertainment show, on SMU Campus Radio has its perks! For one, I'm ALWAYS up-to-date on the latest gossips, entertainment events, news, music and videos! ^_^

And this week, the "Super Mario Proposal" video has been all the rage! Almost as popular as Ris Low and Boomz (did you know New Urban Male is selling tops with "Boomz" printed on the front? That poor girl!) Anyways, this video is NOT just popular in Singapore, but worldwide! If you haven't heard about it, well... let me fill you in =)

To all the guys out there, if you think that girlfriends and computer/video games DON'T go together, think again...

On October 15, Brad Smith, a super sweet geek (yes, I know "super-sweet-geek" sounds like an oxymoron), proposed to his girlfriend of 5 years in a very VERY very unique way...

Through Super Mario World!

Brad is a computer and video game lover, and he has a talent in video game editting. Using Lunar Magic, a video game editting software (which I recently found out is a software that only geeks use =P), he was able to spell out "Lisa... Will you marry me?" with gold coins in one of the levels (you know, the ones you have to jump and "eat" in Super Mario World, and when you do, a bling bling bling sound goes off?). Alright, instead of having me explain what happened.... just go watch this!

When I first watched this, I was like "Brad is so cute! He's definitely not your typical geek!" =P When I showed the video to Eileen, she had the same reaction too. She was like "He not that bad looking what...." =P

If I was Brad, I would be preeety darn disappointed though. Did you notice her reaction? Lisa's reaction wasn't as big as what mine would have been if I were in her shoes. I would probably be like saying "OH MY GOSH!!!" about a million times before finally saying the magic word "Yes." =P Then again, they have been dating for 5 years, so maybe it was kind of expected that he would pop the question eventually *shrugs* I think he kinda "spoil market" for all the geeks out there =P HAHA!

MARIO FOR THE WIN!

Say "Frog"...

This is what happens when you try to teach a toddler to say "Frog" before she can pronounce her Rs and Gs....



I think she's quite poor thing though.... here she is trying her best to say "Frog" the right way, but now she's on the web and whoever watches the video is going to laugh at her =X

(Thanks Alex for showing this to me ^_^)

The Starbucks Experience - I had 2!

We're all familiar with "the Starbucks Experience".

Starbucks Coffee's marketing campaigns revolve around it. (How else would they have been able to sell their $3.50 homebrew coffee and $7 Frappuccinos?)

Every Starbucks Coffee outlet looks the same and feels the same because of it.

And their baristas (found out from a friend who is one) are not allowed to wear perfume because customers are supposed to smell exactly the same smell at every outlet they walk into - ONLY and ALWAYS the smell of coffee brewing freshly behind the counter. Wearing fragrances would mess up that smell and change the whole "experience".

So, if you've been to a Starbucks Coffee before, you've experienced the Starbucks Experience.

Well.... I'm about to share with you an experience I had while studying at Starbucks Coffee this week. If you think this is going to be about good/poor customer service at one of their outlets, sorry to disappoint, it's not! I'm going to leave that to other Singaporeans to talk about (=P)

I experienced something I call "C2C": customer-to-customer service. In fact, I had 2 encounters with C2C service this week.

C2C Service #1 -

So, there I was... sitting at a table next to a wall, engrossed in my Management Science revision. All of a sudden, this man dressed in business wear and holding a laptop stands in front of me and goes "Hey, you look very familiar. I think we've met somewhere before." I looked up from my notes because I heard some muffled sounds (I was wearing ear plugs), and saw this man looking at me. So, I took out my earplugs and said "Huh???" And he repeated himself. So, I was like "are you a student at SMU? I go to school there." And he goes, "No, I graduated from NUS 3 years ago, I'm 28 this year and working." So, I was like.... "Hmm, I have no idea" and continues to think of possible places we could have met. Thinking back, I feel really stupid because it was so obviously a pick-up line, which I bought into *slaps myself on the forehead*

Anyways, so this guy goes "You caught my eye, and I think you're interesting. I'm very open-minded, are you?" For a while, I thought he was a missionary who goes around spreading Christianity and was hoping to get me to go to Church with him or something. I was like "In what way open-minded?" He goes "Do you have some time to talk?" I was interested in what he had to say, so I offered him the empty seat at my table. But, no.... he doesn't want it. "I prefer talking outside, do you mind stepping out for a bit?" he says. I had my laptop set up and notes spread out on my table, I didn't want to keep all of it just to go out, and I certainly didn't want to leave my laptop unattended. So, I was like "No... I don't want to go out, I'm good here." Leaving him no choice, he sat down.

A: "Hi, I'm Alex. You are?"

F: "Hi, I'm Felicia. How are you?" *shakes hands*

A: "Do you have a boyfriend? I'm sure you have a boyfriend, right?"

F: "Erm..... no." (and this is the point when I finally realised he was trying to pick me up... ya, slow.)

A: "So, as I was saying... I'm very open-minded. Are you?"

F: "Yes, I asked in what way?"

A: "Are you open to flings?"

F: "No, I'm not."

A: "Oh.... why not?"

F: "Wait, you have flings? So, how many girls have you flung?" (He laughed. I really liked my reply! I got it off of Friends Season 1, Ross used that line, hehe!)

A: "That number is for me to know and for you to find out." (thank goodness he isn't bad looking, otherwise, I would have puked!)

..... and then he said something else, but I can't remember anymore because all I could see was his lips moving, nothing he said went in. I was just thinking to myself "What a jerk! Leave me alone... I have a Management Science mid-term to study for." Then, after like another 2 minutes, he got up from his seat, we shook hands, and Alex left.

Was that episode a part of what Starbucks Coffee had in mind for the Starbucks Experience? =P

C2C Service #2 -

This happened 2 days after #1, when I went to Starbucks Coffee to study for Management Accounting. A little after I arrived at my table, Jose, an Australian guy, asked if he could share the table with me. It's pretty common at Starbucks, so I didn't think much of it, and told him he could.

Jose asked if I was going to get a drink, (of course I was) so we went to the counter to get our drinks. We chatted a little while in line, and that's when I found out he's in Singapore for work. He paid for my drink! ^_^ I was really surprised. I mean, technically, we ARE strangers. Why can't we find Singaporean guys like that at Starbucks? =P

So, we chatted for like another 30min or so back at our table. Talked about his job, my school life, places of interest in Singapore, what Sydney is like (that's where he's from), life in Australia, and so on... It was nice =) Then, he had to leave to go for a meeting, so we said our goodbyes.

Just when I thought he was already gone, he comes back 2 minutes later and placed this card on my table...

Jose: "I bought you a drink today, but you're nice and I'ld like to buy you drinks on other days too. So, here's a pre-paid card."

And, I was like.... "Wow, that's really sweet. Thank you."

Jose: "Have a nice day!"

He TOTALLY made my day! And now, I have 5 free drinks from him =D OMG! But what I really liked was that the conversation was friendly, and unlike Alex, he wasn't constantly sending out the signal "I'm a sex addict!" We didn't even exchange numbers or contact details. It was just a one-off enjoyable chat with a friendly stranger.

Was that episode a part of what Starbucks Coffee had in mind for the Starbucks Experience?

Alex - Singaporean Guy VS Jose - Australian Guy: My Starbucks Experience =)

On a 15 minute break now...

Can you believe how long it's been since I blogged??? O_O

My last post is dated "September 29, 2009"....

EXACTLY 3 weeks ago!

I'm TOTALLY bumped out now!

Just got through my Management Accounting mid-term!

It wasn't a tough paper, but there are way too many questions!

How do you finish 13 accounting questions (the loooong ones) + 2 MCQ in 1 hour???? >_<

Everyone's releasing steam by talking and the seminar room sounds like a market! =P Ask a friend "Did you finish the paper?"... and the reply they'll give is "Nooooo!!!!" *sigh*

Management Science mid-term tomorrow! The stakes - 35%!

Onward Felicia! *stress!*

(... I feel like playing Hold'Em now!)

The Mid-Term Evolution

Week 7 - Day 1

The land once occupied by Singapore Management University has been transformed into a breeding ground for SMUombies (pronounced smoo-om-bees) - people who are under tremendous stress, lack sufficient sleep and need ample rest.

CAUTION! DO NOT STEP ON ANY SMUombies' TOES!

Tread with care...

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

It's the mid-term week... I'm going to be way too busy with work to have time to blog >_<

I've got loads of overdue pictures to upload though...

... so I'll DEFINITELY do an update this weekend =)

Meanwhile, if you're an SMU student, ALL THE BEST FOR YOUR MID-TERM TESTS!

Pantene - You Can Shine

A Procter & Gamble commercial from Thailand -

The story of a deaf and mute girl who learns to play the violin against all odds.

(shown to me by Guo Wen)

I didn't know they used American Sign Language in Thailand.

My favourite line:

"Why am I different from others?"

"Why... do you have to be like others?"

MC - Technology & World Change - Social Life

SMU Week 5 down... 10 weeks to go =)

It's really bad that I'm counting down to my Term Break (... it's in CAPS because it's a holiday =P). I know doing that will only make time crawl... but yes, I'm really REALLY really looking forward to the school holidays. For one, I want a break. For two, my parents and Gelien will be coming back to Singapore ^_^ I can't believe they've already been in Dallas for 2 years... They'll be back for good in like less than 2 months! Unfortunately, Term Break is only 1 month... unlike our Summer Break - 4 MONTHS! Oh well, better than nothing... at least that's enough time for me to spend some quality time with my family before semester 2 starts =)

I just got home from MC-ing with Kevin See for SMU RunAbout 2009 (the annual run organized by SMU Run Team) and for the United Nations International Day of Peace 2009 "Peace Run". Yeah, I know.... 2 runs in 1 day! It was my first time MC-ing at a sporting event, I really enjoyed the experience and commentating was alot of fun =D I actually had to Google for track and field terms before the event. I mean, I wanted to have a bigger vocabulary, and not just "Oh look! The guy is running and running and running and running....." -___- It's like duuuuuhhh.... basically, I didn't want to sound like a bimbo =P

#1 MC Rule - Event Knowledge (Know your stuff!)
#2 MC Rule - Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! (If you don't know your stuff, pretend you do by researching beforehand =P)

The atmosphere and feel was very different from the other events I've hosted at. Athletes are SO full of energy, and when you say "CHEER FOR YOUR TEAM!".... they really SCREEEEAAAMMM!!! Which just makes everything a whole lot more upbeat! I hate hosting at events where you know you have to get everyone's energy up, but when you get people to cheer... you hear crickets chirp -____- Those events are REALLY REALLY hard and awkward to do. In Singapore, that happens alot because the public is generally shy. So, people reading this... it's NOT easy being an MC. Sooo.... next time you're at an event, and the MC says "CHEER!", cheer lar.... OK?

Sidenote: You know how M.C. stands for Master of Ceremonies? I wonder why in Singapore, people spell it "emcee" instead of just "M.C.".


Future of Singapore in 2015


During Technology & World Change class today, a classmate of mine did a presentation on Singapore iN2015. Before that, I had no idea such a plan even existed. If you're as 'noob' as I am, here's what the plan is about:

"In less than 10 years, every single person and business in Singapore will find the world - and everyday life - transformed by technology.

iN2015 is the blueprint to navigate Singapore’s exhilarating transition into a global city, universally recognised as an enviable synthesis of technology, infrastructure, enterprise and manpower. It is a living plan that gives every individual and endeavour seamless access to intelligent technology - and with it - the capability to take charge. It is the new freedom to connect, innovate, personalise and create.

Intelligent Nation 2015 (iN2015) is Singapore’s 10-year masterplan to help us realise the potential of infocomm over the next decade. Led by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), iN2015 is a multi-agency effort that is the result of private, public and people sector co-creation.

From the people sector, individuals provided their ideas and views through focus groups and the Express iT! iN2015 Competition. The competition attracted thousands of entries from students and the general public on how they envisioned infocomm would impact the way they live, work, learn and play in 2015. In addition, hundreds of private and public sector representatives participated in numerous discussions to come up with ideas for transforming their sectors through infocomm, and how to translate these ideas into reality." Taken from Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore

Here's an unbelievably cool video that was shown during the presentation:





Moving away from school....

Yes, believe it or not, I DO have a social life =P

I met Wei Li for lunch at Marina Square Seoul Garden a couple of weeks back =)




I had a 3 hour break in between project meetings, and it so happened to coincide with her lunch time =)



Unfortunately, she had to leave to go back to work for a briefing/meeting shortly after arriving, so I was left to finish ALL the food by myself >_<



Despite feeling VERY VERY full, I didn't want to waste food because when we were in secondary school, Wei Li once told me that all the food I waste in my life will be collected in this bucket, and when I die, I will have to eat it from the bucket when I'm in Heaven/Hell >_<



Last Friday, I met Alan for dinner. He just completed his BMT training on Wednesday that week.

I think he lose like 10KG or something, maybe more ... definitely fitter than his polytechnic days!

He had clam chowder soup at The Soup Spoon (officially one of my favourite places to eat out at):



He still eats as much as he used to =P





AND he was REALLY REALLY enjoying every bite of his dinner, making frequent comments like "OMG! This is sooo good!" "Wah, this is delicious!" "NS food makes any food in real life taste like gourmet." "In NS, the vegetables, meat, rice, noodles... all taste the same. They use a special NS seasoning for all their food." "The best food you can get in there is bread with spread".

I had pumpkin soup:





It was nice catching up with Alan again after 3 months =) His block leave ends on September 20. AND he just found out today that he is going to be a Combat Medic.

I could TOTALLY imagine Alan as a medic - caring, kind, friendly, patient, not afraid of blood. When he texted me to tell me his posting, I replied and told him he'll be like Jim Gordon in Ghost Whisperers =D He's worried because he knows the training will be tough, both physically and academically. He'll be studying at the School of Military Medicine (it's like so him considering he did a Diploma in Molecular Biotechnology). I also found out that in addition to the standard battle order, he'll be carrying a casualty station bag and a stretcher, which adds a good 20kg to the already unbearable load =/ Having the knowledge of a medic is useful even for regular people though because you never know when you can help in an emergency, and possibly save someone's life.

Got these a few weeks ago from my mom =)





Until next time... ADIOS! =)