Crossing the Mark

Had a fabulous birthday celebration over the weekend..No better way to cross the 3-0 mark on a lovely Sunday morning at a beautiful venue (with our private space at Mimolette) with close friends, good food. I must also give credit to my new DSLR camera, the new Nikon D5000 which shot some really good pictures I must say, though it took a bit of fiddling around before getting the right settings.

That said, there were mixed feelings about turning 30. You want to do so much, and you want to do them fast now, just cos' 'time flies'. I remember celebrating my 21st at Hard Rock and now i am almost another decade older. Despite that, I feel blessed because my friends are still, well, my friends. I've known these people for years and years, some more than ten years, and we've really seen each other through trials and tribulations. So I guess it makes the birthday extra special.

I'd let the pictures do the talking!

more pics here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=149216&id=668328828&l=d3a37f2c0c

sun, sand, sea

What makes a great holiday?

Sun, sand, sea, nice breezy weather, great conversations with girlfriends, a gorgeous villa with an even more gorgeous pool, excellent food at cut throat prices, home-made breakfasts..what more to ask?

weeee!!!! silly things you would do with gfs.

love this pic. so trippy.

charlie's angels, if you haven't already figured.

till the next time, Bali.

Blown Away

I caught the Pixar movie, UP during the weekend and I must say I haven't caught a movie that moved me in so many ways since 'Life is Beautiful'.

The premise of the story is simple, an old man who wants to escape from it all by flying his house away with balloons. It taps into the child in every adult. We have all had those crazy ideas that we hope would somewhat happen- living on another planet, being able to fly with wings, being Harry Potter. But this is not just a typical animation movie. Pixar ought to give themselves a huge pat on their back for being able to come up a animation movie with so much heart, Miyazaki would be proud.

In many ways, UP makes you cry, laugh, think. Beneath the absolutely charming idea of having a house fly away to 'Paradise Falls', the place grandpa always dreamt of going with his late beloved wife, the movie has underlying themes of loneliness, procrastination, sickness, abandonment and cruelty, seemingly unapt for an animation movie. But they hit you subtly, makes you walk away from the theatre with a bittersweet feeling. How many of us have always wanted to do something, but always put it off? And before we know it, decades have passed? Grandpa had a young, bright-eyed and eager boyscout to show him the way eventually, but it's scary to think just how many of us are so afraid and scared to move out of our comfort zone.

Highly recommend this movie. If the guy sitting next to me could be moved to tears, it must say something.

Curtain Call

Despite his idiosyncrasies, very few will dispute his talent and his great performances. Have you ever seen him dance? He illuminates the stage and had brought so much joy to me with his songs, videos, concerts and dances. More importantly he grew up with me, and introduced me to the wonderful world of music.

You were more than the king of pop, MJ. You were an icon in your own element.
Anyway I absolutely adore his song, Ben, written for a pet rat, sung when he was a kid. Poignant. Brilliant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U36DO_nrJeA

Roll, Roll, Rollasole…

OMG. Why didn't anyone think of this sooner?
God, save our feet!

Flats available for sale in vending machines (only in UK for now) for our tired, sore feet from those back-breaking heels. You can roll them up and place them in your handbag!

www.rollasole.com (I am so getting this)

Seeing is Believing

You really got to see Angkor Wat to experience its majesty and grandeur. The sun burn was worth it! My only regret was that I didn't own a SLR camera, cos' every spot was awe-inspiring, and yet strangely mysterious.

ruins of Bayon -very Indiana Jones

Ta-Phohm (my fave pic)

Apart from the grand Angkor Wat however, there were other temples worth seeing. Bayon was my favorite with Buddha-ish statues all around and Ta-Phohm had the tree-in-temple feel, the site felt like a labyrinth.

But away from the attractions, most of the time, I felt like a rich bastard (as in a female version). The people are ridden with post-war traumas ie. Landmines, poverty and it is heartbreaking to see landmine victims who are kids begging on the streets. I read somewhere there is someone being blown up everyday in Cambodia by landmines, and there are about 2 million landmines yet to be discovered. One in five kids does not survive past their childhood.
War really SUCKS.

headless statues in Angkor Wat- result of loot during Khmer Rouge

Stop Playing the Blame Game, Singaporeans

One of the major problems I have with Singaporeans is their failure to look within themselves when things go wrong or when things do not go their way. Disclaimer: I am talking about majority here. I think this is due to the fact that for most part of our lives, we live under the comfort of what our government/parents/schools paved for us, and when something fucks up, it is due to them telling us to do this or encouraging us to do that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9pCQYsEOhI

I was rather pleasantly surprised at one of the recent ads for the Speak Mandarin campaign which featured ang mo kids speaking delightfully in Mandarin. Anyone's guess is that they were probably expat kids whose parents were posted to a Chinese speaking country. I thought it was tongue in cheek, and even adorable that they could speak Mandarin quite well at such a tender age. But alas, this series of ads didn't sit so well with Singaporeans it seemed.

They whined that the ads were in bad taste as they ridiculed us locals. And that the ads had to feature foreigners to tell us or imply that we need to buck up or that our Mandarin sucked. I completely do.not.get.it and was quite infuriated with the reaction. YES, I do think the ads do have the intention of telling us 'hey, watch out, even foreigners are picking up Mandarin, the universal language of the world's largest population, and please do something about your Mandarin or at least realise the importance.' But does the government always have to tell you to do something in a feel-good manner, with good looking celebrities and one sided communication? I mean, it is ridiculous enough the government goes to the lengths of telling us to flush the toilets, get married, have kids and god forbid, be kind even (the Kindness Campaign, don't even get me started on that one)? What a joke!

I personally know the person who conceptualized the ad campaign. She was saying how fast other markets are moving in on the Chinese market, they realized that it is not just the dollars and cents, but also understanding the way the Chinese work, live and play, so that explains the surge in foreigners learning Mandarin. Singaporeans on the other hand, are a rather complacent lot.

It's about time to get off your arses and do something instead of complain, complain, complain.