Sunday, August 28, 2005
Choosing Names

My mother and I were looking through some Feng Shui/Baby naming books on how to find a good & nice name for dear Helena. Little did I know there was so much education to name a child....

First of all, because she is born in the year of the Chicken, it'd be best for her name to have the chinese characters 'cao' (3) or 'cong' (2) in it.....Reason being, you'd want the child to have plenty of food in her lifetime, and since chicken eat worms or grains...you'll need to have these 2 characters in her name. Secondly, if there is a character which gives a shelter (because chickens are afraid of rain, thunder storms etc), it'd be best as well. My command of the chinese language isn't very strong (hey! I am good in the spoken form but written...? Sorta returned most of it to my teachers already!) so I cannot even recognise most of the chinese characters.... Besides the characters itself, my mum also says the number of strokes will matter as well....something like the entire name must not be below 50 strokes....it's best if it's 100 strokes exactly....I doubt if I can ever find a name in that case.....*hmmm*

*Sigh* so even after 1 week of research, I ended up with just one name.... It's Ying (2) Xuan (1)....so what do you think?

Friday, August 19, 2005
Book Review - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Normally i enjoy books which have lots of action, horror, or romance (just like my movies) but this is one book which I really enjoy and it has none of the above.

"The Curious Incdient of the Dog in the Night-Time" tells the story of a 15-year old autistic boy named Christopher. The great mystery addressed, however, is only loosely connected to a certain dog-related happening.

In actual fact, this book tells us the mystery of how the mind of an autistic child works and how the world around him reacts. The plot of the novel is virtually irrelevant. The beauty of "A Curious Incident" lies in the behind the scenes look, so to speak, of the autistic mind.

Mark Haddon has done a remarkable job in getting the readers into the detail-oriented, order-seeking, extremely logical and mathematical mind of Christopher. This novel not only sheds light onto autism and how an autistic mind works, but it also illumates readers on the social dynamics around individuals who share the same grounds with children with special needs. Furthermore, it positively reinforces compassion and empathy towards people with special needs.

Overall, I feel that Christopher's story is a touching story. It is an enjoyable read, with illumating effects on the lives of Autistic children.

Disappointment!

I don't believe it!!! Hong Junyang is out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is ridiculous, this is kelong!! He is clearly the better performer, how can he have fewer votes!? Is Mediacorp manipulating the votes cos' they want Kelly to be the ultimate winner?

I was shocked and really disappointed. I really liked his version of ''Tong Hua", Weilian's version was ok but the judges are correct, it lacked emotion and romanticism.....*sigh* My eyes watered when I watched Junyang step off the stage last night. Now, there is nothing to look forward to anymore (don't feel like watching the battle between Weilian and Kelly on 1 Sept)...I don't even wanna buy the CD by Weilian.

I was off work today but my colleague told us that Junyang's dad (another colleague of ours) walked into our office today and he looked really really sad and his eyes sorta watered.

Well, looks like the power of sympathy is clearly not be to underestimated. Weilian def won by that count...I also thought that XinHui did better than Kelly in all rounds (finals and before the finals) but Kelly clearly had more supporters and well, she is prettier...

Thursday, August 11, 2005
Project Superstar!

I have always been a sucker for singing competitions...be it Asia Bagus, Talent Time or Amercian/Singapore Idol, you name it, I've watched it. My latest craze is Channel U's Project Superstar! Seriously, I would have to give top marks for this programme...the judges comes highly qualified and most of the contestants not only have good vocals but also looks good.

I'll delve more into the male contestants cos' thats where my focus is...(never been too interested in female singers...*zzzzz* normally find them quite boring & ''un-entertaining"). Anyway, Project Superstar is now into its Final 3 male contestants and boy is the competition stiff. We have Kelvin (Weilian aka known as the blind contestant who is said to have been able to come this far due to sympathy votes), Derrick (the cute prince of pop with more than 700 supporters in his fan club) and Jun Yang (the one with a very good Voice....& also my colleague's son).

Every week, I would vote for Kelvin (1 sms) without fail. Not because I sympathize with him, but because I admire him for his courage. I had heard him singing (with simply a mike & his guitar) at the Boon Lay MRT station a couple of times and I was impressed with his voice then. Today, his singing however, truly touched my heart....so much so that I gave him 2 sms-es....he sang the theme song of the 1980s local drama "Five Foot Way" and also another song called "Zou Chu Hei An and Shi Jie". The first song brought back memories of my primary school days...even during then my love for singing had shown itself....my friends and I would hold singing competitions every morning before school starts. Anybody could join...no restrictions whatsoever...during then I had 'won' one of the competitions with this song...the "Five Foot Way" song...As for the 2nd song, I just thought that it was such an apt song for Kelvin to be singing and he sang it with such emotion that my eyes watered round the edges...so thats why he won 2 sms from me... I had also given 1 vote to Jun Yang. He had always been consistent and I think he has good control and great vocals. Of course, the fact that he is one of my colleague's son sorta play a part. I also think he looks quite the part of a Superstar. I was impressed with Derrick last week when he sang his version of Teresa Teng's "Yue Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin". I thought he did a great job. I have grown up listening to Teresa Teng (my dad's a ardent fan) so I am pretty critical of her songs...not many people are able to sing her songs well but I thought he had done the song justice. Today however, he was pretty disappointing. But Derrick would still stand a good chance getting into the finals as he does have a huge fan base.

Anyway, I can't wait to know the results tomorrow. $%@....feel like singing karaoke now...

Tuesday, August 09, 2005
My Dreams

I'm not sure if it's due to work stress or an overactive mind but I have been having the same recurring ''dreams". Day-dreams to be exact....

I have always been pretty ambitious & competitive. When I was younger, I wanted to get into the good schools, get good grades, get a good job...climb through the ranks...be a Manager of some sort...earn a good $10K per month by the time I turn 35-40...own a condo...a nice continental car...graet no. of branded goods.....blah blah blah...you get the drift...I guess most Singaporeans plan their lives that way. These days however, I just wanna have a simple life. Own a little shop where I can tend with my other half, do some bimbotic, mindless tasks like flower arrangement or help out in some packaging details...eg design CD covers, collage for other half's clients....Cookey and Helena can be with me and we can tend the shop together. It's just so much more fun and meaningful...at least I'm doing things which I enjoy.

Alas! Life in Singapore is just so practical...it's so difficult to leave whatever security one has now to pursue something else. There are so many what-ifs to address and risks to calculate....is that what life is reduced to? A calculated risk? I am torn between giving up a lifestyle which I have grown used to and a simple, non-materialistic life. Well, whether one likes it or not, people measure success by money, assets and materialistic possessions (the no. of LV bags, On- Pedder shoes, Cartier watches or even techie stuff like the latest models of HPs, MP3 players and palm pilot). It's just so competitive!

Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Ready to Pop!

I'm now 8 months and dunno how many days pregnant...and my tummy has swollen to an astronomical size...*arrgghh*. What made me really upset is the fact that though I religiously apply stretch-mark oil on my tummy, bums, thighs etc (hear this, I don't just buy any stretch-mark oil; one bottle cost probably two of the normal kind), I still have hideous, horrendous looking stretch-marks on my tummy! Looks like I have to bid goodbye to my bikinis...*sob sob*

My colleague sent me an e-mail from one of her friends who is now suffering from post-natal blues....I swear that if I do get post-natal blues, it'll be solely because of the awful stretch-marks that will be with me forever + the extra weight I've put on! *sigh* The sacrifices of a mommy? Here's a pix of my baby for your preview!