TO THE ONE

To the one who understood her task and her purpose.
To the one who looked at the road ahead, and
understood that it was a difficult journey.

To the one who did not make light of those difficulties,
but, on the contrary, made them manifest and visible.

To the one who makes the lonely feel they are not alone,
who satisfies those who hunger and thirst for justice,
who makes the oppressor feel as bad as the oppressed.

To the one who always keeps her door open, her ears listening,
her hands working, her feet walking.
To the one who embodies the verses of another Persian poet,
Hafez, when he says: Not even seven thousand years of joy are worth seven days of sadness.

To the one who is here tonight,
may she be one with all of us,
may her example multiply,
may she still have difficult days ahead,
so that she can do whatever she needs to do,
so that the next generations will not have to strive
for what has already been accomplished.
And may she walk slowly, because her peace is the peace of change, and chage, real change, always takes time.

(Message from Paulo Coelho to honour Shirin Ebadi at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony, Oslo, December 11th 2003).

Corrine May - Angel In Disguise

I woke up this morning feeling kind of blue

and I stumbled out of bed

and dragged my feet across the room

Right outside my front door was a rose

and a note that said

'Somebody Loves You'

But out on the street it starts to pour

and before I get soaking wet,

A total stranger runs to give me

the jacket off his back

I turn around to thank him

But he waves me with a smile

I can hardly believe my eyes

He puts on a halo and starts to fly

Take a look at the ordinary

Don't need to look for paradise

You could be next to

an angel in disguise

I met a good friend for lunch

and we had a delicious meal

But I forgot to bring my wallet

I felt like an imbecile

But she was sweet,she gave me a treat

and bought me a chicken sandwich

To take home for tea

But out on the street with nothing to eat

A man and his shopping cart go

Travelling to places,Collecting social graces

I give him my sandwich

and we chatter for a while

I see a rainbow wash over his eyes

He gives me his halo and I start to fly

Take a look at the ordinary

Don't need to look for paradise

You could be next to an angel in disguise

Don't try to hide away from me

I know you're by my side

Take a look at the ordinary

Don't need to look for paradise

You could be next to

an angel in disguise

Everyday can be legendary

Every minute, an endless surprise

You could be the next angel in disguise

I woke up this morning

Feeling kind of new...

Sweetest Petit Louis

< Just look at that smile! Anyone would just melt when this little boy smiles michieviously right at you.

Our little heart is turning 2 next month and how time flies...he's not only getting slimmer, taller , cuter and full of tricks, he is just irresistible, every minute you spend with him.

We were at the playgound at Dutch Club and he's been there so often that he knows the place like a mice running about like a little rat-tat-too-ee in the kitchen. >

<He used to be afraid of the tunnel but now, he OWNS the tunnel.

Trying to balance as mommy shakes the bridge. The mischief clearly came from his naughty mom who plays trick on him every single day. >

Little Monkey, what you looking at? Or should I say, little Zebra...

Best PJ ever...cute lorrrrrr v

v I still prefer this picture as his grin is just too contagious. Love you loads, Xiao Xin.;)

The Alchemist

I'm currently reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Fann, my buddy whom I can discuss intriguing subjects and share the passion I have for arts brought this book to my attention. Her thrist for books and literature always amazes me. She's like the only member in our own special book club apart from me.;)

2 years ago, a friend in the UK recommended this book to me and she told me that it's a book about making our own destiny which indirectly, kinda conflicted against christians belief. I didn't have such an open mind then to read this book and who would have guessed that 2 yrs later, I'm so readily exploring this piece of art.

Being compared to The Little Prince, (a children's book Julie, another dear old friend kindly posted to me during my days in Nottingham) about another boy, the Prince, who leaves his home in search of greater things, learning valuable lessons about life and love on the way. It is interesting to note that much of The Little Prince also takes place in the desert.

I shall review more on The Alchemist soon after I finish with it.

These passages are segments of the novel that best demonstrate themes and lessons to be learned when reading The Alchemist. They are the central ideas and morals of the book.(extracted frm Wiki)

"When you aspire for something with passion, all the universe conspires to make it happen..." [6]

"The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon."[7] n.b. [The oil mentioned refers to one's obligations in life.]

"...there is one great truth on this planet: whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, its because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. Its your mission on earth." [22]

"If something happens once, it will never happen again. But if something happens twice, it will surely happen a third time." [156]

"Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life."

"Courage is the quality most essential to understanding the Language of the World."[111]

"There is only one way to learn,...It's through action. Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey."[125]

"There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure."

"The darkest hour of the night came just before dawn."

"One 'dies of thirst just when palm trees have appeared on the horizon.'"

"I'm like everyone else-I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually happens."

Girls 不想长大 nite out

It's 3am and I'm sitting here, sleepless.

I've been browsing through photos and I remembered that I have yet to share some fabulous photos of a gathering we had some time ago.

There are times when I thought it's really something rare and truly extraordinary to have a close group of colleagues as friends. Despite from different depts, QA, Engg, Purchasing, Commodity, RnD, the friendship here is special. Therefore, I treasure them like gems. There is just an unspeakable bond here and they will always be a part of me forever.

The 8 of us...
The super bz Pat, Christine jie jie, Diana ah Girl, Eve the ktv queen, Hwee Miang the calm and cool, Shin who shines like superstar & mahjong tiles,our food princess Sann & not forgetting Ah Viao.

On the perfect nite, in the perfect room..
The night was on the way...

Choosing Wu Yue Tian's songs......

this is how u look like when you started off early in the night....

We had a cool system lorrrr...boom boom boom....

That doesn't mean anything if we didn't have our team leaders, Shin & Eve...our most Qiang members of all...

.....Shin with her emotions when performing her touching song...

This is what Jue Dui superstar judges are looking for....

The feel...the look...the voice... the eyebrows..^^

Or a stage performing singer should have at least this kind of happy look...to cheer the audience up...to look good on screen...to just be cute lorr..

The night was still young.....

...so were we...

Everyone sang, "我不想我不想不想长大 。。"

"长大后世界就没有花"........Eve led "大家在来!"

everyone followed, "我不想我不想不想长大 "

"我宁愿永远又笨又傻".....Eve echoed "One more time!!"

and we never grew up at all that night. Or ever.

Cheers, Everybody!!

Found It

Have you ever feel like there's never a convenient time for something you've always wanted to do and yet giving yourself excuses that you have something of much higher priority to attend to?

If you do that, STOP. Feel like it, just do it!

I've always wanted to visit a jazz bar/pub for quite sometime now and I finally did it. I found a friend who shares the same interest and we went to this great jazz bar in the city. Happened to be the night of fireworks at Marina Bay and we were able to view the magnificient demonstration from our location. Waited along with a bunch of people with their SLR cameras on tripods, the moment was almost magical as the fireworks began.

What could be better than sitting by the bar of a nice, live performance of jazz after the beautiful fireworks?

The lead singer was a lady with sexy voice that I needed to close my eyes to enhance her vocal resonance in my ears.

I'm not an alcohol person but my Lycheetini cocktail was a treat. The lychee taste with a little tinge of bitterness from vodka or martini is surely worth a try.

Karaoke Marathon

It's 2.47am!!! I just got home and despite feeling soooo sleepy, I just want to record this down.

Bro and I went to KTV earlier and we started our singing session at 8.30pm up til 2.20am.

You would ask whether it's possible to sing for almost 6 hours Non- stop and the answer is YES! Bro and I were singing Mandarin, Canto and English songs from the 80s, 90s throughout up til 2007. I don't know whether it's an advantage for us to know the old songs back in the 80s and yet know the latest pop songs cos we get to sing more songs than most youngsters.

If it's not for us being so exhausted with our voices sounding like cats on the heat or pigs being slaughtered, we would have continued. There is never-ending choices of songs in the database and it seems like nothing could stop us. Both female and male singers, you name it, we'd sing it.. even rock bands like Beyond and Aerosmith.

I have a video of Bro singing " I don't wanna miss a thing" and he was shouting his lungs out....and I joined him.;) We sang and danced, made a fool of ourselves but man, what a good way to de-stress.

Sorry Bro, I couldn't stop laughing viewing these videos so I thought I should share the laughters. At least Mom and Sis get to see this.kekeke

Bro with his "emotional" performance. heee

王力宏-星期六的深夜

Just wanna share this beautiful yet sad number from Lee Hom...wonder how many of you shares this feeling with him.....on a late, Saturday night....I hope everyone of you out there aren't....

王力宏 星期六的深夜
星期六晚上 哪都不想去

也无法入睡 看着电视机

持续在发呆 喝了七分醉

闭上了眼睛 试着不想你

但已来不及 忘了如何让眼泪停止流下

还好没人看见（看到） 没人会说话

星期六深夜 我想起了你 每什么特别

只是回忆 你让我自由 我很感激

星期六深夜 永远不会有任何人能代替你

这就是遗憾的滋味 陪着我形影不离

明天我会面带微笑 但无法忘记你

Blood Diamond

Lately, I've not been watching any nice, moving films at all. Even Harry Potter's latest movie wasn't that satisfying. However, I finally managed to watch Blood Diamond since it last shown in April. I love this movie. I seriously recommend it. If it's not for the sake of awareness on the Sierra Leone Civil War in 1999 and the suffering of the locals, at least watch it for the sake of yummy Leonardo Dicaprio and Jennifer Connelly!!

In this film, Leonardo's acting was beyond perfect in his role as an accented diamond mercenary who smuggles diamond into Liberia. I just couldn't stop trying to catch his 'mistakes' in case he loses his accent but nope, he kept his acting professional and his unique accent as a white man from Zimbabwe solid and flawless.

His acting, either during action scenes or sensitive, romantic scenes were impeccable. You have to watch the end of this movie. You just have to.

Leonardo and Jennifer, an unlikely friendship bond.

I always wonder how much work and money put in filming war scenes. The extras acting were so real as if they were really at war. Leornardo and Djimon at this scene were saving their asses from the shooting from rebels and Leonardo was trying to keep his black friend alive as he is the only one who knows where the huge, pink diamond was hidden.

Jennifer Connelly is an absolute babe. A journalist, always rugged with her looks in this film, she still oozes the true beauty with her killer smile and kind eyes.

Djimon, found the pink stone, the priceless diamond which resulted in his fate with Leonardo and the exposure of conflict diamonds controversy. Below, the scene where his family was separated from him and his son was captured to be trained as a terrorist.

This film will change your perspective about wishing for a diamond ring as your proposal ring. Every gal should watch this and every guy should make sure his gal watches this.

Rebonding Horror

I was supposed to rebond my long hair.
I was supposed to dye my newly rebonded hair.

It was supposed to look nicer.

It was supposed to FEEL nicer.

What did I end up with?

Taken with Mei Eng and her children at The Curve, PJ

Look how long my hair was...sob sob..but

It was a bunch of dried up ends which was more frizzy than before.

I didn't even dare to touch my own hair.

And today, I decided to chop it off to salvage what's left of me.

Now, I look like this, if I style it.

Don't talk about bad hair day. I'm going to have a bad hair season.

Sob sob....

Lucky for me, hair grows...& I kinda like having short hair again!

Renoir Part II

I know it's a long overdue entry on Renoir as I would continue to introduce his famous paintings. Or rather, my favourites. Having to introduce his paintings in Part I, people had been telling me that they enjoyed the art entry. I'm glad to know some share the same interest in ancient art.

Renoir once said: Why shouldn't art be pretty? There are enough unpleasant things in the world.

And I agree with him. Art should be the channel, the message which artists translate from what they observe from the world around them with the touch of their artistic inspiration. And thus, let us see that the world is indeed beautiful and not as ugly as what we've seen. We just have to learn to pry through the dense layers of realistic and cruel side of human. If we're lucky and observant enough, beautiful things are just about everywhere.

The Luncheon of the Boating Party

We can see how the French back then lived. Eat, drink and be merry. Gentlemen and ladies alike, observe how the interests of the opposite sexes were obvious after a few rounds of wine. Under the yellow and white stripes canopy over them. The colours Renoir used were vibrant and cheerful. Back then, women or men didn't wear colourful cloaks or suits. And Renoir added some colours in contrasts of the yellow hats, the red flower on it and canopy. It was believed that he was at this luncheon and painted his company of friends.

The Luncheon of the Boating Party by Renoir is the most well known painting in The Phillips Collection.
This masterpiece by Pierre-Auguste Renoir is one of the top French impressionist paintings. We give it our vote for the best impressionist painting.
Art lovers visiting Washington, DC should put the Phillips Collection of their must see list, because of the Luncheon of the Boating Party. Facts extracted from Wiki.

Next, we move on to another magnificent painting of Renoir's favourite actress of his time. Madame Henriot.

Madame Henriot

This divinely looking woman is Henriett Henriot or Madame Henriot. When I first saw this, I was just so awed by how Renoir managed to capture the essence of her beauty. The Impressionist indeed stroke his brushes to its finest work, at least, to me. Somehow, she does remind me of Anne Hathaway with smaller lips.
Such remarkable beauty can only be enhanced by Renoir as other paintings of her showed a more voluptuous French woman, beautiful in her own distinct aura.

Lets analyse this painting. Observe the colour contrast between her white dress , the background and her red lips. The full lips with a little shy, reserved smile. A sign of gentleness which complimented by her seated gesture. The piercing eyes, was made possible by Renoir, the eyes were not only soft and kind, they pierce through as if she's looking into yours. The brown, curly hair, tied up in a bun blends well with her eyebrows. Of all Henriot's paintings, this one is indeed the most brilliant one. No wonder she was Renoir's favourite actress in his era.

In the 1870s Renoir's technique reached its peak. He actively participated in Impressionist exhibitions in 1874, 1876, 1877, and 1882 and was a founding member of the review "L'Impressionniste" in 1877. His technique was now firmly defined. With a masterful rendering of movement and facial expression, Renoir painted youthful portraits of his acquaintances, mostly artists and writers. Painted during this period, Madame Henriot and Madame Henroit in Costume both feature the model Henriette Henriot. An actress, Henriette Henriot was Renoir's favorite model and the object of his affection in the 1870's and is included in at least eleven of his paintings. Facts extracted from Wiki.

Hope you enjoyed Renoir as much as I do. In the coming Art entry, I shall be sharing about Monet or perhaps Van Gogh as both have their very own personalized, moving history and style.

Random feelings

Maybe it's the time of the day,
Maybe it's the time of the month,
The sky is not so clear,
The wind stops its fun,

The moon is not so bright,
The office is too damn cold,
The dogs are having a fight,
The integrities had been sold,

The food is not that inviting,
The air is suffocating,
The phone, please stop ringing,
The day will not end without a dispute meeting.

Why am I not smiling?
Why am I still typing?
Swallowing things still needs practising,
At least I'm still talking & you're still listening.