Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Fruitful February!

As the title suggest, it's been a fruitful February for me.

Chinese New Year seasons have always been very busy (maybe even the busiest) for emcees.
I've been working non-stop for most weekends during this CNY Season since Xmas- not complaining here.

(^ ^)

The last 2 weekends, on contrary, I gave myself a break to catch up with personal and family time before a new series of music-related roadshows will commence. Then it'll be working weekends for me all the way until April.

But I'm thankful. 
Thank you for all these opportunities.

#Throwback CNY GIGS

CNY Celebrations at Cashew Heights Condominium with GOH Dr Vivian Balakrishnan.




Valentine's Day Show at Topps Entertainment with Jason Chung Big Brother.


Before the V day show, I took a little breather at Gardens By The Bay to catch Corrinne May's Valentine Day's performance. 

I felt myself immersing in a galaxy of stars and soothing music. 
I felt LOVE.
I could relax for awhile.

I wish this moment would last longer.



KEYBOARD CLASSES
This is my 2nd month learning keyboard playing with Instructor Chi Sheng from Intune Music School
I AM ENJOYING IT SO MUCH I NEVER WANT THIS TO END.

Learning how to play my favourite songs.
People start learning how to play at the age of 3. 
Me, almost 30.

But it's never too late to learn. 
I do have fans okie.

There, my number one fan listening to my amateurish playing as usual. 
Hello Bubble Leong.


I think he must be wondering how come the songs that this keyboardist plays sound so laggy and out of tune most of the time. (which explains the peculiar expression in the photo)

 Let's save him from this. 

Being a domesetic dog, Bubble can only go out when his owners bring him. 
I thought it's sad that he spends most of his time at home so I make it a point to bring him out as much as I could (taxi fares cost a bomb + many taxi drivers refuse to give dogs a ride + a lot of places in Singapore are not pet-friendly).

To school, to the bar, to the park, for walks around the neighbourhood. 
I could tell Bubble really loves to travel.

Look. he's smiling!





Left to right: Colin, Me, Shannon
Photo credits to Shannon.

TAKE A BREAK

I am a workaholic. 
I work so much that Colin has to remind me the importance of taking breaks in between.
"You'll be burnt out."

He's right. 
I am.
Need. A. Break. 

So Colin and I went cycling at East Coast Park and had a hearty dinner at Siglap, spending #OneFirst time together. 

'OneFirst' stands for One and only + always the first.

It's a lingo we came up together for ourselves and we've been using this hashtag whenever we instagram or tweet about our relationship.






Work = always too long
Rest = always too short.

My final weekend break sped past in a flash!
I was having brunch at Paris Baguette Cafe on Saturday, family dinners, packing my bedroom and before I knew it, my weekend's all over.


Saturday Steamboat dinner with family.

Sunday dinner with younger brother, Raymond and his girlfriend Audrey.


BUBBLE'S GROOMING SESSION
Bubble Leong went for his monthly grooming session at Reiya Pets.
I thought it's a good opportunity to bring my young cousin to a pet shop for an experience since I'm at my Grandma's house that day. So, my 9 year-old Cousin Manfred came along with us to pick Bubble up and how he played with the poodles in the shop!

Dog + Children = CUTENESS OVERLOAD.
Rolling on the floor with them, playing fetch, asking 1000001 questions about them...


SPRING CLEANING

My mum has been nagging at me to clear my stuff. 
They are stacking up everywhere in the house!

Found these wonderful momentos as I was clearing them out. 
This is just a little portion of what I had. 
In the room alone, I threw out at least 7 thrash bags worth of books and spoilt items.

Super Junior Wand BDD Mandyshima gave this to me. 
I remembered we waved so it hard at Donghae Oppa, it broke.
This is too precious to discard and it went back into my treasure box. 



Teachers' Day gifts from students.
*I was a tutor for 7 years*


This classic and working Nokia N95.
but the casing was so worn and rusty I threw it away.

Actually, I miss my Nokia7610 most. 
Wished I'd kept it safe and away from my ex-bf. 
He sold it away for some TV mobile which was in trend then. 

RAWRS.

A mobile that we could use to watch TV channels but mine couldn't work anyway. 
-.-"


A necklace from a Good Friend of mine, Xela (Alex spelt backwards) on my 19th birthday. 
Hey I look like some basketball player wearing this. 
(yah right)

This charm is now added to my dog tag necklace.
Recycle your charms!


Oh look, a KitKat bolster from NestleSG,
so comfortable that I'm going to keep it and place it in my future car next time!

IF I EVER HAVE A FUTURE CAR, 
that is. 

Kit Kat bolsters never grow out of trend~


Zodiac animals made from Red packets by the residents of Eunos.
The residents do a new one every year according to the zodiac of that year. 

I received these momentos when I was judging for their Tembusu Idol years back.
The tiger is so auspicious I strike lottery a few times, buying the door unit number of the house it was in!

The tiger and rabbit:


Story and assessment books which will be passed on to my little cousins:


Limited edition collectibles and some stuff toys which I can never bear to throw away. 
I WILL CRY.

I'm saving them up as decos for my future house:
(plan for future)


That took me a whole afternoon!
More stuff to sort out as I've only packed my closet and book shelf. 

My helpers needs a break so do I, especially Bubble Leong.
He was guarding my things the whole time (dog instinct to guard possessions), curiously sniffing around and sneezing to the dust accumulated on these items.


TAKE A BREAK: NATURE WALKS
of course, I wouldn't want to spend my breaks doing chores.

With the little time in the late afternoon, I brought Colin on an adventure to Xiao Guilin at Bukit Gombak.
Nature Walks are the best!


He climbed to the highest climbable point at the quarry but I wouldn't go there due to my fear of heights. There wasn't any barriers nor hand grips along the way up, only slippery stones and piles of dry leaves which added to the slipperiness.

Dangerous as it is, many of us still want to climb up for a glimpse of the breath-taking scenery of Xiao Guilin.

He enjoyed standing at the top of the world, spending a while taking photos of the place.
He looked like playing Taiji here.


For those who think I'm some tai-tai on weekdays, think again. 

I was on a 3-Day Certified Behavioural and Career Consultant Course, 
running Profiling trainings and workshops in schools, going for my keyboard classes + practices and
planning for an upcoming online music show with my secondary school senior, Collin Chan.


That means going for meetings, sending emails, teach, write proposals and more meetings.
I'm also not complaining here.

It's fulfilling.



My classmates and life coach (Mr Ian, blue shirt with specs, from Lifeskills Enrichment).


The little time spent with my favourite boy helped tremendously to relieve a hard day's work.
Thank you for being here with me, OneFirst.

You mean the world to me.


On a random note, 
SUPER JUNIOR bought something from my HayDay roadside shop.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



I'm a happy girl.
REST TO WALK A LONGER DISTANCE.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Celebrate Valentine's Day at Gardens By The Bay With Corrinne May

Valentine's Day this year is so much more special than any other. 
14 February 2014 is also the 15th day of Chinese New Year, which is also our Chinese Valentine's Day!

2 Valentine's days in one means everyone from all over the world is going to celebrate the day of love TOGETHER.

Prepare your chocolates, 
Order your flowers, 
Buy your gifts,
Get ready your text messages for your loved ones!


Valentine's Day Special with Corrinne May

Here's a song by Corrinne May titled 24 Hours.
If you only had 24 hours, what would you do, what would you say?



Love songs from Corrinne May share with us meaningful values of love.
Imagine listening to them under the stars and beautiful Supertrees with your loved ones.
Comfort, cosy and full of sweetness.

This Valentine's Day, slow down your pace and spend precious moments with your other half at gardens By The Bay with Corrinne May. Bring along your picnic mat and food to go along with the performance.

Date : 14 Feb 2014, Friday
Time : 8:00PM to 9:00PM (Registration at 7:00PM)
Venue : Supertree Grove
Admission Is Free

This event is brought to you by Gardens by the Bay.

Year of the Horse Floral Display
17 Jan - 16 Feb 2014
Venue: Flower Dome
Time: 9am - 9pm

Gardens by the Bay ushers in the Year of the Horse with a new floral display on 17 January 2014. The display will bring an auspicious and prosperous start to the Lunar New Year with sculptures of horses amidst colourful blooms such as chrysanthemums, cherry blossoms, kumquat (citrus) plants and camellias. Designed by award-winning sculptors, each horse sculpture is made of a different material such as driftwood, galvanised wires or willows, with the concept of the centrepiece inspired by the Chinese painting "100 Horses" to tie in with the Chinese zodiac sign.

This marks the Gardens’ first display for the new year and kicks off the “Gardens by the Bay Goes around the World” series for 2014. Visitors can look forward to an exciting year of floral displays that will bring the different geographical regions of the world - starting with Asia - to the people of Singapore.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

A 'Living Non-Living Person' - Because You Played A Part, Know Yourself Well.

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone!
It's Lichun, the 5th day of Chinese New Year, the beginning of spring.

Today is also the birthday of God Of Fortune, 
HUAT AH!

This sounds very kiasu but I woke up early just to buy my lottery ticket. 
*bleah*

Today is ALSO the day to save money into your bank account.
According to chinese customs, it is believed that by doing this, it will bring you good wealth and good luck for the whole year!

Double Happiness~

Image from Google Search

Beliefs aside, everyone should keep doing good and accumulate good karma points for yourself the whole year round!

I came to discover a 'new' type of human beings. 
I term this kind of people 'Living non-living things'.

Even though they do not do harm to others, they do not help others either. 
They are neither rude nor polite, heartless nor soft-hearted.
They know what's going on around them but yet oblivious enough to ignore a situation that is happening.
These people doesn't flare up easily but on the contrary, they are the most patient people ever who can stand at one side and watch calmly as the episodes unfold themselves.

They are living things, yet they possess a kind of non-living thing behaviour. 
They are breathing yet not budge a single bit when things happen. 

Here's an real-life example of a 'living non-living person'(X):
X and an eldely woman crossing the road at the pedestrian crossing. 
The green man started flashing.
In front of X, Elderly woman struggling with bulky packets and a trolley from her market trip.
X was carrying his small packet of breakfast.
Elderly woman was just halfway across.
Lights turned red. 
Cars started honking.
Elderly woman finally managed to reach the other side but one of her trolley wheel was stuck.
X walked on with his packet of breakfast, casually after he'd crossed the road.

I was on my way to the market, saw the incident and quickly ran up to the aid of the elderly auntie. 
X noticed the auntie, saw that she was having trouble with her bulky bags.
 X could've helped the auntie with her bags since they were going in the same direction.
He simply... 
move on with his life; I guess?

They do not give thanks nor help to hold the elevator door for others, yet they do not try to close the elevator door quickly so that no one could take the lift with them. 
They just stand there and NOT MOVE A SINGLE BIT, not even to make way for others to come in, until they've reached their floor. 

Have you noticed someone like this or are you someone like that yourself?
I'm not saying this is anything good or bad. 
I'm just surprised at the behaviour. 

Don't be lah~ 
Start doing good, any form of good! 

Little kind gestures make mass differences.
Say 'thank you' when someone holds the elevator for you, share your umbrella with a stranger on a rainy day, smile and greet your neighbour, offer to wash the dishes for your family after dinner together...

You can also vote for your favourite Top 10  N.E.mation! 8 finalists to support homegrown talents!

Because You Played A Part.

You'd had seen the N.E.mation! 8 Call For Votes posters everywhere by now at MRT stations, bus stops, magazines and more.

I spotted one at the bus stop myself on my way home:


The Clips of the Top 10  N.E.mation! 8 finalists are out!

What Do We Have To Do? 
3 Easy Steps.

 NUMBER ONE. Watch The Clips
NUMBER TWO. Vote For 2 Of Your Favourite Clips.
NUMBER THREE. Stand To Win Attractive Prizes!


 Simply visit www.nemation.sg on your PC or mobile devices and watch all 10 clips. 
Vote for your three favourite clips, and stand to win attractive prizes like the iPad Air 16GB (WiFi + Cellular), Canon IXUS 132, iPad mini (Retina, WiFi), Canon Selphy Printers, Nintendo 3DS XL, Universal Studios Singapore passes and more! 

Voting ends 15 February 2014.



Pay SPECIAL attention to these 2 groups of students, 
They are my beautiful angels who've worked so hard so hard during their Dec school holidays.
My journey with them have been extremely heart-warming.
Capable yet so humble. 

VOTE for them and their hard work to produce such meaningful animation clip!

NE8C07: TEAM SYNCH
From Kent Ridge Secondary School
with their one and first typography animation clip in the contest.







NE8C09: TEAM UNICORNSANDRAINBOWS;)
From Orchid Park Secondary School
Spread the love, spread the colours.






 THESE ARE THE 4 METHODS TO VOTE.
You can do all four!


Voting phrase is from 18 January to 15 February 2014


1.Visit www.nemation.sg from your PC. View all 10 clips and vote for 3 of your favorite clips!
2.Visit www.nemation.sg to vote on your smartphone on your smartphone! Alternatively, you can scan the QR code above to reach the same destination.
3.Visit N.E.mation! Facebook page on www.facebook.com/nemation
4.Vote via SMS in the following format:

NE8WEB [1st choice],[2nd choice],[3rd choice] NRICFull Name to 76677 

Example: NE8WEB C01,C02,C03 S1234567A Ben Tan Wei Chen
Those below 21 years of age must seek parental consent to participate in the SMS Voting. 

Standard SMS rate applies.

Please note that each vote must be for three different N.E.mation! 8 clips.
Each person is only allowed to vote once on each of the voting platform. 



Congratulations to all Top 10 finalists!