My first mug design

It all started by my sister's friend who wanted to learn clay making during the weekends. Surprisingly, both my sis and her friend are busy with their activities, unable to attend.

I was thinking since I have the time and I have the interest to take up new skills. Why not? The first day I met Alyson, she is the clay instructor. She teaches me how to make the clay and docorations. At first, I had no idea what do I want to design. Then I saw a lady who is doing her coloring of the mug. She gave me some ideas and inspirations.

I decided to make a flower handle and the land of beautiful sky and grass. Alyson, taught me how to make the flower petals and the leaves. I asked her guidance on how to make the handle. Whether is it too fat or too thin? Too short or too long? From her experience, she is able to see it at one glance and she advised me accordingly.

I spend one afternoon making the design of the mug. As I was making this mug, 2 children come over and ask me is it very difficult to make? I told them just enjoy what you do. :)

On the 2nd afternoon, Hazel, another clay instructor. She taught me the basic of coloring. I explore the colors on my own. The colors looks pastel when I color. Thinking that I need to color more layers to bring out the colors, I color many times haha :D Turns out to be the colors are very bright in the end, which is what I like :)

Hazel commented,"Wow, you can sat there for 3 hours just to paint the mug. You really got alot of patience." I smiled. This is the first time I heard someone saying me having patience haha :D I think mainly because I enjoy painting the mug and making sure the paints come out well :p

Hazel asked me if I will sell this mug, I told her of course not. This is my fruit of my labour :p It is really enjoyable making this mug. Seeing the mug from nothing to transform into a beautiful mug. This making of the mug requires patience, concentration and love :) It is the process that I learnt, makes the mug beautiful :)

Courage and Confidence

Today I met 2 courageous women. Early in the morning, after I had my exercise at the park. I saw a beautiful flower. A woman walked over and offered her help to hold the flower upright for me to take the photo. I took 2 shots and she asked me if I know the name of the flower. I shook my head and she asked me to go to the library to find out. I thanked her.


As she about to walk off, she told me that she is a cancer patient. She told me that the teacher who taught me the merdian points exercises is very good. I told her I feel the same way too. I will continue to learn from this teacher. She saw me wearing shorts and advised me to wear long pants and bathe warm water after 2 hours later. This is to prevent rheumatisms. I find her very caring and helpful despite of her illness. I think she is courageous to share about her illness and she has overcome her emotional challenges.

Another woman is a blind girl who walks confidently up the escalator just like any other people. At first, I didn't know she is blind because she is carrying a bag, a paper bag and a stick. Then I take a closer look at her eyes and realised that her eyes are blind. A few minutes later, I notice a older woman was running towards her and talk to her. I think she could be her mother because they board the train together after that.

Their positive outlooks have taught me to look at brighter side of life :) Confidence can be build up day by day. Have the courage to explore and by doing the right thing continously, it becomes a routine and thus confidence is built.

Olympics Spirit

That day I heard and watched Andy Lau's Everyone is No. 1 video at Olympics 2008, Beijing. I think the lyrics is very inspiring. Today I managed to find his MV. I think this video is even meaningful together with the lyrics.

I did question that why is it necessary to go through the downs? I think this video has the answers for me. With the ups and downs of life experiences we had is to have the courage to live on and live meaningfully. We will have our triumphs at the end of the day. Because we have overcome our life challenges.



Time really flies. Olympics 2012 is arriving in 128 days, 4 years have past since Olympics 2008. May those who take part in the Olympics have overcome their own challenges. Letting go of the past and moving forward. This is the true essence of courage.

The Bookbinder: Don Taylor

Don Taylor has worked as a bookbinder for 31 years. It's really great to see someone share their love of craft with people. Book binding is an art and those that take the time and patience to restore, should be honored.

I like the way this video is filmed and narrated. Great production style and story-telling. Toronto Standard‬ presents 'Made in Toronto' - The Bookbinder: Don Taylor. Directed & Edited by Tate Young / Produced & Written by Ian Daffern. Photographed by Tony Edgar.

Handmade Bookbinding

I was looking for videos teaching how to make book binding step by step. Of course there are many professional tutorials, what interest me was I came across this video. The tutorial teached by Eva, a 4 year old child. She makes a sketch book from scratch. If a four year old can do it, so can I! Good Job, Eva :)

You Can, I Can

I started illustration skills in Feb 2012. At first I was full of doubts, fear, uncertainty, no clarity. I still continue to draw despite I was facing my own negativity. My confidence grow when I was drawing 10% of the image and slowly builds up along the way. Slowly bits by bits, I feel joy, relaxation and confidence each stroke that I draw. I feel that each stroke becomes easier and smoother.

I was sharing with Evelyn that I was hurt when Laselle teacher threw my drawing on the floor. Even though, this event has past for 6 years. I still felt the rejection, the pain and the hurt and I cried. She helps me to release some of the pain. However, she told me such hurt could be even happened before this event happened.

I tried to recall for the past few days but I can't until today I remembered that during Sec 1. I took up the drawing class. I can't remember who was the teacher already. I remembered it was a still life painting class. I drew. As I didn't learn any skills about still life drawings before. It is naturally I drew out of porportions. The teacher gave me a F.

From that day onwards, I had this belief that "I can't draw well." This belief carries with me for 20 years! During that time, it didn't affect me at all as I was scoring As in my Chinese, Maths and Science.

However, ever since I wanted to be a successful creative director. This belief actually hinders me. I didn't dare or most of the time I avoided drawings to my best ability. As a result, this belief affected my learnings!

Fortunately, I have slowly overcome this belief which no longer serves me. Now, I can say to myself confidently. Yes, I can draw and I draw well. :)

Action Plans 2012

Recently I have a lot of thoughts what I wanted to do in my life. Then I realised it is the quality time with my family and friends that I want to spend time to work on.

My focus and plan for this year are
Spend quality time with the nature, exercising, meditate
Spend quality time with family and friends
Improve my drawing skills
Make a book
Write my book about gratitude
Take up interesting courses like learning mug making, origami, maybe ballet hahaha
Of course attend Buddhist classes
Finding more businesses for my freelance work to substain my current lifestyle
Attend my Toastmasters meetings once awhile

Yes It is about my well being, I think I really need that :) To give myself a new insights and fresh perspective of how I want my life to be.

I feel more excited and happier about my life as I am doing what I like :)

Vision Board

Last week I attended the basic Vision Board Workshop. The workshop was interesting and fun. The idea of having a vision board is to allow myself to stay focus on what I really want in life and make them into reality. Actually I want to remind myself that I am creative, I am courageous and I have a clarity mind.

The Making of Vision Board




"Dreams of Inspirations, Playfulness & Creativity." Commented by Evelyn Lim, Life Coach

Although it is just a week, I felt that by looking at the vision board, I felt happier and lighter. My thoughts are more positive and motivated. It keeps me wanting to learn more about my family, friends and noticing the surrounding with an open heart.

Looking forward to make my dreams into reality :)

幸福是什么?

有些人的幸福是买买不完的名牌包包，名牌衣服，名牌车子。有些人喜欢做菜，喝酒，跳舞。

我的幸福是跟大自然在一起，感觉他们很自然， 很亲切。他们仿佛告诉我一切有他们在万事ok :) 我的创作灵感来自大自然，生活。

我的幸福是可以合家人，亲戚，朋友一起吃饭聊天。看一部温心的电影，在公园散步，做运动。偶尔还放放风筝，爬山，跳跳舞，有时还一起去拍拍照，唱歌，聊聊天。出国旅行，乐融融 :)

我的工作上的幸福是可以学新的东西，和老板，同事和睦共处，每天上班有幸福的感觉，喜欢设计这份行业，现在我在学画画，折纸，看到纸，笔都感兴趣，尤其是看到手工特别兴奋起来。

你的幸福是什么呢？

一个爬山的故事

出名残障画家谢坤山

Xie Kun Shan - He is an amazing handicapped artist who uses his creativity mind in his daily life. I was touched by his positive thinking and there will be successes when we truly put in our efforts in the things we do.

他说:"我可以没有双手,但是不能没有面对逆境挑战的勇气. 我只要不去想我失去什么,我只要想我还拥有什么."

New Chapter

Felt like today is a new chapter for me because I just filed in my income tax. It has been almost a year since I left my ad agency. What need to let go have to let go, that is what I tell myself.

For a past whole month, I have been going to illustration classes. It has been rewarding for me. I find joy in drawings. What amazes me is from a simple lines or just using dots can be manifested into any form of interesting images. Today, I walked into Art Friend, I felt that I'm walking into a playground. I'm still looking forward on how can I stretch my imagination and using the tools to push my creative works into greater heights :)

Nutritious Breakfast

For the nutrition survey, most of the Singaporeans do not eat breakfast. However, eating good breadfast helps us to be fresh and alert during the day. I like this song because the lyrics is quite cute and funny. I thank my parents especially my mum for making breakfast every day with variety :)

你在煩惱什麼

蘇打綠 - 你在煩惱什麼
沒有不會謝的花
there's no flower that never dies‭ ‬
沒有不會退的浪
there's no‭ ‬tide that's always high
沒有不會暗的光
there's no light that always shines
你在煩惱什麼嗎
what's the trouble‭ ‬on‭ ‬your mind

沒有不會淡的疤
there's no scar that never fades
沒有不會好的傷
there's no wound‭ ‬that always stays
沒有不會停下來的絕望
there's no desperation‭ ‬that‭ ‬won't go away
你在憂鬱什麼啊
so why‭ ‬the sadness on your face

時間從來不回答
Time‭ ‬goes by without a trace‭ ‬
生命從來不喧嘩
Life‭ ‬goes on without fanfare
就算只有片刻‭ ‬我也不害怕
Don't be afraid of any moment‭ ‬that you‭ ‬have
是片刻組成永恆哪
Life goes on and on and on

这是很有意思的MTY。是说人生。虽然看起来很消极，可是仔细一看，其实是教导我们要积极地面对人生。所以，儘管美麗的事物都會逝去，但黑暗的傷痛也不會永遠停留，生命的言語從來單純並複雜，來來又去去，那麼，你在煩惱什麼？其實...難過也是過一天 開心也是過一天 就差在你要用哪種方式過完這一天...

Self discovery

After attended so many self discovery courses, I want to put my learnings into action. We have 5 main pillars of Harmonic Wealth that we need to take care of:
Mental (Mindset), Financial (Knowledge), Spirtually, Health and Emotional.

To have a fulfilling and meaningful life, we need to know what we really want.
We can look into areas of relationships with our personal well being, family, friends, romance, work, recreational, finances, environment, contribution to the society and spirtuality.

I am working on from my inner self, discover who I really am, in order to create positive outcome.

What are my values?
Gratitude
Courage
Honesty
Kindness
Open-mindedness

What are my 3 power word?
Creativity, Courage and Clarity
I am creative, I am courageous and I have clarity.
I be who I really am, then do what I need to do in order to have what I want.

My mantra is I inspire people through my creative works. I learn better through play.

My big dream is to create a better everyday life for the many people.

Now, it is time to do the solid foundations :)

Self Love Affirmations

This video is done by Evelyn Lim. She is now a certified life coach, a published author, intuitive consultant, Master Neuro-Linguistic Practitioner and EFT Practitioner.

Visit http://www.selflovesecrets.com/ She is sharing about what self love is all about. I felt calm and at ease after watching this video. Hope you like it too :)

舍得

学习什么是舍得。我自己的领悟是有舍就有得。今天我丢掉我穿过很多年的运动鞋。我是一个很念旧的一个人。这双鞋，我补了又补，爸爸替我粘了又粘，终于它不能再补了，我只好让它走。我感谢这双鞋陪了我这么久。因为它的离去，我得到新的一双鞋，这双运动鞋会陪我走我人生的另一个阶段。要懂得舍，才会得到更多。

所以我要舍下我的多余的脂肪，多余的坠肉，得到健康！我可以做到因为我有爱。

What have I learnt about romance

Today is bodhisattva's special day. At first I thought that it is bohisattava's birthday then my mum told me it is bodhisatta's special day.

I went to wish her happy birthday. With bodhisattava's great compassion, I felt that I need to share with her my heart. I need her guidance.

When I was young, I believed that there is one person I would love in my own entire life. I met my first boyfriend during poly times at the age of 17. During that time, I didn't know what romantic love is all about. I had this fuzzy feelings, easily get happy, sad, worked up easily because sometimes he cares and sometimes he doesn't and thus sometimes confused on this romance. The romance only lasted a year as he requested to make love to me, I wasn't prepared at all because from my understanding making love was meant to do it after married. Both of us were hurt and we decided to move on. He taught me I need to have faith in love.

I met my second boyfriend, he was very thoughtful and caring. The feeling about him is steady and calm. We have many good memories as we spend our time from poly till working life. It lasted for 6 years. His mum didn't like me but she accepted me who I was eventually. However, he become ambitious and wanted to setup a business with his friend, I didn't agree with him because I didn't really know what he wants in life. He said why can't I be more supportive over his career? He didn't really care much about our relationship and I have nothing much to talk to him either. His partner cheated on him and he didn't make the business worked. He borrowed money from me. Out of goodwill, I lend him. Although it took years for him to return me the money. Eventually he did. He taught me to be down to earth and know when to be supportive and have similar values and life direction in order for the relationship to work.

I fall for a good friend of mine. However, he was with someone at that time already. Thank god that I never get involved with him. I still wished him and his wife all the best everytime I see him because he taught me what is being faithfulness.

I was hurt and I stopped searching for romance until few years later, I met a doctor online, at first I didn't believe that he is a doctor. Because there are scams online. Eventually, we hit off as friends. He seems nice at first then one day I was a bit late, he shouted at me because he called 7 times and I never picked up his calls. To me is an small issue. I apologised and the next time he was late, I waited for him for 2 hours, he never say anything and as though nothing has happened. I never expect anything from him until one day, we saw someone lying on the floor near the road. I asked him to go over and see what was going on, he said it is okay as there are so many people crowding around that person. I felt that he should do something but he didn't. We broke up because I felt that I shouldn't be with someone who is so cold. He let me realise that I have a compassionate heart.

I met another person, we have the similar childhood, same common dreams, to me he seems like a long lost friend. We clicked off very well, we shared a couple of memories but it didn't last because he is not truthful. I was once again hurt. He let me realised how important trust and commitment are in the relationship.

I was standing in front of bodhisattava, I cried really loud today. It is a good cry I must say. I have not given up hope on love because love heals. If bodhisattava asked me what have I learnt, I will tell her that I have learnt more about myself. Love have understanding, faith, compassion, trust, commitment, forgiveness, honesty, acceptance and fun.

Afther a good cry, I saw rainbow. I think universe is kind enough to let me listen to this song.

I Believe

I like the words here, very powerful yet meaningful.
我相信会有一天会让我所有的梦想实现，cause I believe.

万事随缘

每个人的生活处境都有各自的因缘，我们只需要在当前的情势下，尽力过好自己的生活，做到心不贪求，知足常乐，万事随缘，这就是最好的生活。

今天读到这个生活道理，让我领悟到其实做人很简单，只是我们太喜欢复杂化了，只要把心活在当下就好了。就是这么简单！

Sing it out of love

【蔡健雅《说到爱》温暖首播[唱歌] 】Tanya的新碟保持了她一贯的风格，唱着独立熟女的心事，这首主打歌《说到爱》强调的是"珍惜"，歌词里写了不少Tanya的真实经历。"Sing it out of love"，Soothing ballad about cherishing your loved ones, which Tanya composed to remember her late father who passed away earlier this year.

I personally feel is a very relaxing song where you can listen when you are about to sleep during the night time :)

感恩的心

There are some great teachings on the video slides.

作词:陈乐融　作曲:陈志远　编曲:terence teo

我来自偶然　像一颗尘土
有谁看出我的脆弱
我来自何方　我情归何处
谁在下一刻呼唤我
天地虽宽　这条路却难走
我看遍这人间坎坷辛苦
我还有多少爱　我还有多少泪
要苍天知道　我不认输
感恩的心　感谢有你
伴我一生　让我有勇气作我自己
感恩的心　感谢命运
花开花落　我一样会珍惜
我来自偶然　像一颗尘土
有谁看出我的脆弱
我来自何方　我情归何处
谁在下一刻呼唤我
天地虽宽　这条路却难走
我看遍这人间坎坷辛苦
我还有多少爱　我还有多少泪
要苍天知道　我不认输
感恩的心　感谢有你
伴我一生　让我有勇气作我自己
感恩的心　感谢命运
花开花落　我一样会珍惜
感恩的心　感谢有你
伴我一生　让我有勇气作我自己
感恩的心　感谢命运
花开花落　我一样会珍惜

感恩

姐姐，这片文章是为你而写的。
记得有一次，你跟我说人生的价值是在于过程。你打个比方说好比一本好书，还是一个好的剧本，如果只有头跟尾，这样一点意思都没有。人们都喜欢看得是：故事的过程。我当时还不是很了解你要跟我说的意思。因为我是一个喜欢看大结局的人。

今天，我找了《感恩的心》的影片，有一个画面是瀑布。我又想起了你跟我说瀑布最美丽是它的中间那一段。我想献这个瀑布给你因为感谢有你一直在我的身边鼓励我，支持我。我喜欢你和我谈天说地，无所不谈，一点秘密也没有。让我诚实的面对我自己，让我慢慢的坚强起来，做我自己想要做的事。我现在会努力的做好我的设计事业，对得起自己，和爱护我的人。

姐姐，我爱你 ：）

游子吟

游子吟
唐朝诗人孟郊

慈母手中线，游子身上衣。
临行密密缝，意恐迟迟归。
谁言寸草心，报的三春辉。

讲解：母亲用手中的针线为出远门的儿子缝制衣服。临行的时候，母亲一针一线密密地缝着，把衣服缝得结结实实，惟恐儿子久久在外，无人给他缝补。母亲对子女的爱，如春天的阳光使小草得以生长一样，做子女的又怎么报答得了母亲的恩情？

English translation:
Poem written by Meng Jiao (751-814, Tang Dynasty)
Loving him, the mother takes thread in hand;
Leaving her, he’ll have this coat on his shoulders.
Now that he’s about to go, she mends with fine, fine stitches;
She knows the fear that he’ll be gone a long, long time.
Who would say the heart of a tiny blade of grass
Could repay the sun for all the warmth of spring?

I personally think that the chinese explaination is more touching haha :D I dedicated this photo to all parents who put in all their heart and soul to nurture their children. Feel the kindness towards our parents today :)

踢毽子

今天我又去山顶走走，跑步。想锻炼自己的身体。就当我运动完的时候，我就看见一群老爷爷和老奶奶在踢毽子。他们玩得特别起敬，特别开心:) 踢毽子是个很有趣的活动。原来踢毽子已经有两千年的历史了！它可以帮助运动身体的每一个部位，有益生心。我看着，看着也想和自己的朋友一起玩这个运动。

Totoro

I watched My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ, Tonari no Totoro?) today. It is very nice animation, with great storyline. It is a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli.

The film follows the two young daughters of a professor and their interactions with friendly wood spirits in postwar rural Japan. The film won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize and the Mainichi Film Award for Best Film in 1988.



To watch the video:
http://www.veoh.com/watch/v16162450GfdGAfpf?h1=my+neighbor+totoro+(eng+dub)

Leap Day

Yesterday was Leap Day, I was excited to see rainbow on my way to mrt to attend my Toastmasters Club contest. Rainbow to me has a special meaning. Whenever I see rainbow, I feel there is hope in life. Maybe it is rare, therefore it becomes precious. Life is beautiful as it as many interesting things for me to explore and notice. I realised the colors of rainbow are gentle and soothing. I really feel blessed when I saw the rainbow as if it is just meant for my eyes.

There is a saying, though I do not know who quote this, someone said,"There will not be rainbow without rain." Actually, it should be there will not be rainbow without rain and sunshine! Whether it is sunshine or rain, they are part of beauty of life, without one of them, life will not be complete. Rain helps the farmers to nourish their rice in padi fields. Sunshine helps the farmers to dry up the rice for harvesting. To the farmers, both are equally important. I will appreciate the rain as much as the sunshine. Thank You, Rainbow! :)

Some knowledge taken from Wikipedia:
A rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon that causes a spectrum of light to appear in the sky when the Sun shines on to droplets of moisture in the Earth's atmosphere. It takes the form of a multicoloured arc. Rainbows caused by sunlight always appear in the section of sky directly opposite the sun.

In a "primary rainbow", the arc shows red on the outer part, and violet on the inner side. This rainbow is caused by light being refracted while entering a droplet of water, then reflected inside on the back of the droplet and refracted again when leaving it.

那些年

Nice song to recommend. Have been humming this song for quite some time hehe :) I want to go and learn this song!


【那些年，我們一起追的女孩】
電影主題曲《那些年》
演唱：胡夏／作曲：木村充利／作詞：九把刀

又回到最初的起點
記憶中妳青澀的臉
我們終於來到了這一天
桌墊下的老照片
無數回憶連結
今天男孩要赴女孩最後的約

又回到最初的起點
呆呆地站在鏡子前
笨拙繫上紅色領帶的結
將頭髮梳成大人模樣
穿上一身帥氣西裝
等會兒見妳一定比想像美

好想再回到那些年的時光
回到教室座位前後　故意討妳溫柔的罵
黑板上排列組合　妳捨得解開嗎
誰與誰坐他又愛著她

那些年錯過的大雨
那些年錯過的愛情
好想擁抱妳　擁抱錯過的勇氣
曾經想征服全世界
到最後回首才發現
這世界滴滴點點全部都是妳

那些年錯過的大雨
那些年錯過的愛情
好想告訴妳　告訴妳我沒有忘記
那天晚上滿天星星
平行時空下的約定
再一次相遇我會緊緊抱著妳
緊緊抱著妳

句点

今天本来是和朋友一起去植物园的，朋友却因为头痛而不能和我见面。既然我已经起来了，就想到上山走走，呼吸一下新鲜空气。走着走着，就想起了你。我虽然已经没有对你怨恨了，我还是想为何我们需要走到这一步。就这么一想，一片落叶掉了下来，方佛告诉我说是时候放手了。

太执著着我和你发生的点点滴滴，只会让我无法放下。我只是不了解为什么你要骗我，难道我和你的关系就没有坦诚和信任吗？这样我和你又算什么？当你把我的名字删除，已经告诉我,你已经不再爱我了。当时是我自己还是不肯放手，无法接受这个残忍的实事。

我终于想通了。你就像我生命里面的宝贵的一课，你让我尝到了人生的喜怒哀乐，也让我领悟到最爱我的人不是你而是我的家人。他们让我看清事情的真相。谢谢你曾经对我的好，虽然我们不可能再见面了，我还是想祝福你和你的家人。这就是我对你的完美的句点。

Catch Up

Finally willing to let go of the past unhappiness and I'm ready to move forward. I'm happy with myself that I'm willing to let go.

Recently I got a $100 mobile voucher from Starhub. I use this voucher for Samsung Galaxy SII. It is a good buy. Happy with the phone as it is slim and light.

As I was happily using the phone, I have this thought about do we really need a phone that has broadband, videos, music, games apps, social media apps and the list goes on... OR just a phone that is able to call our friends :)

Obviously we don't need such a complicated phone but if everyone is using such phones and we do not update ourselves with such technology. it will look as if we are fallen behind with times. Terms and technology jargons become geek to us if we do not followup and know what is going on and happening around us.

Just now I heard this phrase, "一日之计在于晨，一年之计在于春。" 意思是一天的学习就在于早晨的用功晨读，只有这样才能学到自己应该掌握的知识。 一年的收成就在于春天的种植，不然秋后就不可能有收获。Therefore I want to use my time wisely to learn new things this year so that I can become a better and a wiser person. :)

Come what may

When Vice President Eduation, Swee Tiong asked me if I could be the backup speaker, I hesitate thinking that I will need more time to prepare. However, I tell myself that there is no right time except now. Therefore, I take up this challenge to speak. It builds my courage and confidence again. And the reality is that when something, on the surface, seems like a bad thing, it could actually be a good thing.

Come What May...

Healthy Diet

There are so many types of food we can eat each day and we have to make the right choices to stay well nourished. There is no one food that can provide all the nutrients our body needs. We have to eat a wide variety of food, all in moderation and in the right balance.

Made up of four 4 food groups stacked to form a pyramid, the Healthy Diet Pyramid serves as a guide to help us plan a healthy diet. Follow it and we will achieve a well-balanced diet that provides the nutrients we need, in the right amounts, each day.

For more information, click here.

A happier and healthier me

I want to be happier and healthier in 2012.
I looked back at my past posts. I realised that I have not been putting enough conscious effort to make myself healthy. Therefore, this new beginning I want to make a conscious effort to make myself healthier.

Yesterday attended LOHAS-Meridian Exercise (LOHAS-ME) on 14 Jan. It is a simple and effective exercise routine that enhances my body transport system (meridian systems)
so that I have more energy and vitality (Qi).

Our body meridian system is a sophisticated transport system (something similar to MRT systems) that interconnect our body vital organs and outer surface.

Practising LOHAS-ME can be comprehended as regular maintenance to our body transportation system so it becomes more efficient.

Applying 4 Golden Rules
1. When I Am Hungry, Eat

2. Eat What I Want, Not What I Think I Should

3. Eat Consciously And Enjoy Every Mouthful

4. When I Think I Am Full, Stop Eating

Action Plan:
Started to sleep before 11pm.
To have quality sleep.
Mediate 10 mins daily.
Daily Exercise.
Enjoy my food.
I can slim down.
I want to take good care of my body.
Slowly slimming down my body to my ideal weight 50kg.

Perservance is the word to have a healthy body, mind and spirit.

在闲云下看花

看到一篇散文，作者说“宠辱不惊， 看庭前花开花落；去留无意，望天上云卷云舒。”

意思是说人高高在上时，多看看闲云，保持一颗平常心，想想任何荣华富贵也不过是过眼云烟。人在低谷时，多看看花草，想想自己也曾经绿过叶，开过花，人生浮沉，不过像四季更替，只要保持一颗不死的根，总会有草长花开的时候！

謝謝你們 愛我的每個人

今天我看到Selina的video，我哭了，这首歌让我感动了。她被火烫伤了，但她还是很坚强的活每一天。她让我想起了每天爱我的父母，姐姐和爱我的每个人。谢谢你们爱我。

我会好好的照顾我自己，爱我自己。坦诚的面对每一天。从每天一小步，到一大步，让幸福越来越近。谢谢我爱你们！

Growing Up

These few days I have been going through my blog entries that I wrote in the past. Some of them makes me laugh, some of them make me think. These are some of the past experiences that I encounter. These entries seem like a garden of treasures that I have slowly built up for the past few years, ie at least 4-5 years.

I didn't take good care of this garden for the past whole year. I just let it ruined. However, I'm glad that I have decided to clear away these weeds and slowly nurture my plants back to healthy state again. Even water needs love, all the more I should spend time with myself to nurture and love.

Sunshine or rain don't matter as these are part of the natural ingredients to grow the plants. Everyone of us have flaws and virtues. I am willing to accept myself completely.

乌达木

好美的歌声，好美的梦想， 人以为梦想而伟大， 我被感动了！
希望自己也可以像乌达木一样坚强，勇敢 ：）

别怕我伤心

今天我听到张信哲的歌：
一颗爱你的心，时时刻刻为你转不停
我的爱也曾经 深深温暖你的心灵
你和她之间 是否已经有了真感情
别隐瞒 对我说别怕我伤心

我想如果当初你对我坦白，或许我们就不会有这样的结果了。事情都已经发生了，也让我领悟到我要相信自己，爱自己。心灵的创伤会慢慢复原的。我想有一天我会原谅。

Happiness is a choice

Felicia thanks me for the wonderful photos that I have send her. She told me she hope that she could really live her day to fullest. I told her learning to appreciate each day of our life is already our blessings. Even though sometimes we may feel tired or lousy, there is always something we can feel happy about.

For example, my leg was painful yesterday but I told myself I want to be healed and recovered fully. Today my leg is less painful :) I know that my leg will recover soon. Even though, I was asked to make changes to my design, I do it willingly and within my best ability. I feel happier and more fulfilling towards my job.

We can really choose our attitude and we will have more joy and less worry in life :) I started to mediate recently, it helps to calm my mind and focus on constructive and positive things.

Self Love

Today I decided to do something for myself - To revamp this blog. Even blog needs to revamp from time to time, we also need to reflect and clear away those things and thoughts that no longer serve me.

Recently I have been reflecting why was I behaving in such a negative way in the past. I have decided to let go of the pain with him. I was devastated because I have lost the trust in him. Someone whom I loved dearly has betrayed my trust. The pain was indeed unbearable however, holding on to him and our memories do not make me happier.

I must admit that I was lacked of self love that brought me into that situation. I acknowledged that and I am willing to love and trust myself completely again. Only loving myself again will make me happy and moving on my life.



First and foremost, I will need to take care of my health. To make it healthier, I will need to exercise with love. Eat more vegetables and fruits and less meat. Choosing the healthier food and avoid fried and oily food, so that my body will become stronger and healthier.

Talking about food, I have enjoyed tonight meal with my family because my mum cooks with her heart :)

Moving On

Today I watched the show "Lu xun you yue". It is an inspiring programme. Chen Zhou, a guy without legs, is full of hope. His passion in life has touched my heart. He has climbed many mountains, it's his perservance and determination that pull him through. He has taught me that no matter what happen in the past, I have the courage to move on. I will move on in my life. I will overcome.

I'm grateful there are caring family and loving friends around me. It is all about respect and sharing.

梦在手里

我把每天都看成一道风景
雨天或是晴天
都值得纪念的美丽

我把每天都当成一个节气
感动和悲喜
回忆的痕迹都用心聆听

我不去相信上天注定
梦想握在手里
相信只要努力会有奇迹
爱可以操纵天气

当狂风暴雨遮蔽了眼睛
让爱暂时喊停
我不会让希望再荒野流离
梦想一直前行
当幸福只剩下檫肩距离
我决不会放弃
只要守着坚定他总会有
属于我的动人 剧情

总有一天幸福会放晴

----------------------------
I like this song because it's a hopeful song for relationship. When we believe that we will find happiness in life, one day we will find our true love. It doesn't matter what other people say or think. Most importantly, how we feel toward our love life.

Letting go of past relationships

Dreamed of past relationships, I have let go of the past relationships as they have no longer serve me any purpose. Every relationship has its own story. Unable to let go in the past. It is because of my own attachments. Attached to the feeling of being loved, being cared for. However, through Buddhas teaching, I learned that attachments served no purpose as the relationship has gone and done with.

More importantly is the present, how well can I live my life? Letting go brings Joy because no longer feel sorry or sad about past relationships.

Impulsive Buying

Dreamed that I was at IT Show, buying Lego at $360 without looking at the price.

Lesson learned: Never buy things on impulse. Research and know the value of the product.

Finding a pair of suitable shoes

Diamonds are women best friend. However, shoes are my best friends. Few months back, I saw a pair of beautiful shoes but I was in a rush so I didn't buy it. Few weeks later, I went shopping with my friends and I try it on once again. My friends and I find that this pair of shoes looks great on me. It wasn't as comfortable as I thought but I bought it in the end because of my desire.

I wore for the first time and it was uncomfortable. Thinking that the shoes were new. It takes time to adjust. After a couple of times wearing it. I really felt that it was really uncomfortable and it creates bruisers everytime I wear it so I decided to stop wearing it.

Deep in my heart I know that it doesn't suit me, I shouldn't have bought that pair of beautiful shoes but because I can't resist the temptation. Certain things take time to adjust and to evaluate whether it really suits us. Other people can only look on the surface and give their appropriate advises but only we will know it best. Forcing ourselves to adapt it and eventually it will wear us out.

This pair of beautiful shoes is left on my shoe rack now...

An ending is a new beginning

Very often, i hear this statement "An ending is a NEW beginning". How true is that...?! I guess there is a new lesson to be learnt in every chapter of my life. I have tasted happiness, sadness, bitter feeling and excitement in almost every week which coming close to 5 months.

I never regret making this decision from the start, therefore, I should not feel any regrets when coming to the end. I have tasted more happiness than sadness. We have beautiful memories but because of our wide differences, I feel that I should let go despite how unwilling I am. Yes, perhaps you may feel im a coward, not willing to face all the challenges coming in front. But to me, this is the lesson I have to learn. I have to let go when time is ripe. How difficult it is...

We are sad for this moment. Don't blame ourselves that it didn't work out what we wanted. We will understand why it happens and there is always a reason why it happens. We may not able to understand right now but one day we will. We will appreciate why we did this today.

I will continue to be his light and always give him my blessings, no matter which part of the earth he is.

Joke from Citibank

I wondered is it because today is April fools' day or the citibank decides to play a joke on me.

I have recieved the citibank statement today. I remembered I have booked and cancelled Countrylink, an online Australian train transaction, just a few days ago. According to the Countrylink, once i cancelled my transaction, it says that it will fully refund me the payment. However, the citibank has charged me $30.

Therefore, I called up Citibank to find out what is going on. The customer service person told me immediately that I have to pay that $30 because it was due to the transfer currency rates.

I was unsatisfied with that answer. I questioned him "I was told from Countrylink that it will refund me the payment fully. How could Citibank charge me something that was cancelled?"

He quickly tells me that he needs to check with the higher authority.

After a couple of mins, he told me that it is not my fault but I need to fill up "Card holder letter of dispute" so that they could waive off the discrepency.

I was thinking If I had kept quietly, probably I will be a fool to paid Citibank a transaction that was not even processed at all.

时间的约束

今天早上我读了一篇散文， 它是说我们都市人整天都被时间迁着鼻子走。一下子说要规划什么，一下子说时间不够，人生就因此在我们的“控制”范围进行着。有时一闲着，就担心是不是自己的人生太空虚了。

回想一下，我们简直是被时间给无形的控制。谁说人生一定要忙忙碌碌，才算多姿多彩。又谁规定我们一定要有一颗模型进行，才不会出错。

地球上除了人类之外，没有任何生物需要依赖时间。我们就是很奇怪，心甘情愿得让时间给约束。也不曾怀疑它的不好。

有一个朋友很纳闷。就因为她没有男朋友，同事都怀疑她是同性恋，搞得她整天想找男朋友。有一个朋友更离谱，她就带了戒指，就是怕旁人的眼光。我听了就很生气，为什么女人一定要在30岁以前结婚，不然她一定有问题。

每个人都有自己的人生，自己的路要走。我们到底想抓住什么？我们不可以因为“时间到了”就要去做末些事。有些适合别人的，不一定适合自己。到最后伤害的不是旁人的目光，而是对自己最大的伤害。

Dealings with uncommitted person

Recently had a joint project with 2 of my friends. We were enthusiastic about this project. We had lots of good ideas. After two weeks, perhaps everyone is busy with other commitments as well. The project seems to be slowed down. When I tried to ask one of my friends, how was his progress. He seems to be less involved compared to what he promised to do.

Last night, two of us couldn't take it anymore, had a big fight with him because he didn't do what he promised and when we said we want to meet up with him. He just said he was busy and this project doesn't really need his approval.

My friend and I were so pissed off by his words because this project supposed to be done and completed by 3 of us. He said that he felt insulted that we said he doesn't contribute to this project and now he wanted to pull off from this project.

I was disheartened by his attitude and his response to handle this project. We haven't really kick off this project and he simply give up just like that. The copywriting was pushed to my friend and the website coding and design were done by me. All he need to do is just setup the website hosting and payment part. Is asking some of his time commitments really asking too much?

I realised that its not the technical procedure that is most difficult to deal with.. The most difficult part is to deal with uncommitted team member.

Take a break from singlehood life

It has been years since I have been to Botantic garden. Its KH's first time there too. We tried the foot therapy, it was so painful. I guess I have a lot of health problems in my body... He held my hands and went through the painful path with me.

My face was tomato red. I was wondering it is the pain from my foot or the excitement that he held my hand. But I know it is definitely a good blood circulation. :)

It has been 6 years since someone has ever sincerely held my hands. Feels kinda funny at first haha... Maybe I'm so used to be alone after all these years. I always thought I will be ready for love but the feel of being in love seems to be so out of place in my life.

How long do I want to torture myself mentally? The fear of being losing someone eventually has come into my mind over and over again. My first negative thought was when will it last? I'm quite skeptical about any relationships. Yar, I know not all relationships will have a sad ending. Maybe it is just me. After so many years, I just couldn't get over the pain inside me. KH knew where is my worry and he is reassuring that it will not be the same.

I know every relationship will have different outcome. Who knows this may really work out in the end? I shouldn't have kill the possible that it may work out eventually. For at least, my heart did pump differently for once, when he held my hands...

All I need is time...

1st time I told you about my past, you give me your support
2nd time I told you about my woes, you give me your sympathy
3rd time I told you about my problems, you provide me with your solutions

It wasn’t easy me to say, but you are there to be my listening audience
Perhaps it wasn't the right timing and place to say
And I wasn't prepared to accept
Perhaps all I need is time...

Meaningful day yet a Restless day

Today is a meaningful day yet a restless day. I rented some vcds to clear my boredom as well as to distract me from hearing the renovation noise from my neighbour. My mum is amazed that I could watch my vcds in such an undisturbed mode, esp. Yesterday, I got to shout at her (Not that i mean to shout at her but it is too noisy :( ) to tell her that I will escape from the unexpected noise level.

I watched 3 movies: "Enchanted, I am Legend and PS. I love You" Out of the 3, I think I enjoyed "P.S. I love you" the most. It is about a young widow, starring Hilary Swank, who discovers that her late husband has left her 10 messages intended to help to release the grief that she had for him. As the seasons pass, each new message fills her with encouragement and sends her on a new adventure, all ended off with "P.S. I Love You".

I think P.S. I Love You has a perfect blend of sadness, and little light-heartedness. This is not saying that that the light moments belittle the sadness; no, rather the opposite. It adds to it, because it mirrors real life. Real life is not all about sadness, but about the good moments mixed in.

P.S. I Love You is about the love that every woman (and probably the men too, but they just won't admit it :P) aspires to one day have in there life. It shows that no matter what, when you have that one special person, that one special love in your life, you can get into any manner of small or big fights, and even if you really don't appreciate what you have until it's gone, that person is always a part of you, and only wants your happiness.

I guess the big picture is cherish our love ones, before it is too late...

Inspirability

I just completed a great book, Inspirability. After reading it for 3 months. It is easy to read and why did I take such a long time to finish this book is because I do not want to rush through the process. I wanted to enjoy and understand what it takes for these influential designers to be successful.

Seriously, I never thought being a designer could achieve so much and have such a great influence on people. It is indeed an eye-opener for me. Just imagine how many little things we can do in our lives to 1) Maximize our creativity 2)To be good people.

These 40 top designers who talks about where did they get their inspirations. The idea of inspiring people really seemed to sum up what designers do. Inspiration is defined as any stimulus to thoughts or action, and put simply that’s what we do. We are in business of creating artwork that influences people’s thinking and behavior.

I think most of the designers never really think too much about ability to inspire others. Inspiration is a huge part of our lives but most designers are really only concerned with getting inspired.

One of the common grounds is that these designers simply love what they are doing. They will pay more attention to the things that just truly make them happy, the more success that they will have. They are curious people that constantly seeking for new ideas, new ways of doing things. Of course not all the time, they will get good results. What really, really inspired me most was they never give up on what they do.

Designers always like to put faces on things and we try to build meaning behind it. There are a lot of designers who create something that they love and they find a reason to sell to the client and that doesn’t really make sense to me. I found that recently – It is more than all that other stuff, more than the pretty office, more than making stuff that gets awards –

“I want meaning, I want meaning behind things. Because everything we do is going to be hard. If it is easy, we get bored.”
- Terry Marks

It is always been inspiring to see someone undertake an incredible challenge. I like it when people do something they feel they have to. Because it is right or because it is good or because it is rooted in and there is something more.

One of the good advises to get inspiration from Matt Pashkow is that there is a voice inside there somewhere, your genius. You have to have faith that it is going to speak up and when it does, you have got to listen.

翻跟斗

一户潘姓人家，长辈过世。
家祭时，请来了一位乡音很重的老先生来当司仪。
讣闻是这么写的：
　　　孝　男：潘根科
　　　孝　媳：池氏
　　　孝孙女：潘良慈
　　　孝　孙：潘道时
但这位老先生老眼昏花又发音不标准。

当他照著讣闻唱名时，凡是字面上有三点水的或左边部首都漏掉没看到。

于是就给他念成这样子：「孝男，翻……跟……斗……」
孝男一听，直觉得很奇怪，但又不敢问，于是就翻了一个跟斗。

接著又说：「孝媳，也……是……」
孝媳一听：「我也要翻啊？」于是孝媳也翻了一个跟斗。

再来：「孝孙女，翻两次。」
孝孙女一听，想想爸妈都翻了，我也翻吧！于是就翻了两个跟斗。

此时孝孙心想：「老爸、老妈都各翻一次，姐姐也翻两次，那么我要翻几次？」
心里想著想著就开始紧张了：「怎么办？」
只见老先生扯开喉咙，大声念出：
「孝孙……翻……到……死」

能忍住不笑算你厉害!

All you need is love

The most inspiring lyrics that i find today:

There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game.
It's easy.

Nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time.
It's easy.

Nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.
It's easy.

All you need is love. Love is all you need. - Beatles

The Beatles Background
The Beatles were a rock and pop band from Liverpool, England that formed in 1960. During their career, the group primarily consisted of John Lennon (rhythm guitar, vocals), Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals). Although their initial musical style was rooted in 1950s rock and roll and skiffle, the group worked with different musical genres, ranging from Tin Pan Alley to psychedelic rock.

Their clothes, style and statements made them trend-setters, while their growing social awareness saw their influence extend into the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s. After the band broke up in 1970, all four members embarked upon successful solo careers.

The Beatles are one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music, selling over one billion records internationally. According to Rolling Stone magazine, The Beatles' innovative music and cultural impact helped define the 1960s, and their influence on pop culture is still evident today. In 2008, Billboard magazine released a list of top-selling Hot 100 artists to celebrate the chart's fiftieth anniversary; The Beatles topped it.

3 Working Classes

Imagine 3 people are studying biochemistry, one in ITE, one in Poly and the 3rd in University. Upon completing their course, first one gets a Certicate, second gets person gets a diploma and third person gets a degree.

They found a job and happens to work together in a same lab.

The cert holder get the correct test tubes for the experiment, wash them clean dry them and put them on the study table - he earn abt 1000 - 1,200 a month

The diploma holder come in get all the correct chemicals and add them together in the respective test tubes - he earn abt 1800 - 2000 a month

He walks in look at the colour changes of the chemicals due to the reaction, tell the other two to wash the test tubes properly and walk out to write his analysis - he earn abt 2500 to 3500 a month

The worst part is, the cert holder salary and the dip holder salary will not be increasing much but the degree holder might be earning thousands more as his ability to look at the colours and write better anlysis improves and one fine day, he might just become a scientist who earns millions.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I remembered a lawyer friend tells me this story 1 year ago when I asked him if I should get my degree. I look at this story as just the interpretion of life at the various levels... Afterall, I always think most degree holders are nothing but a group of theorists that never apply their knowledge into working life.

He asked me to think through what I really want in life. After I thought through, it is not really applicable to creative industry, as they are looking at your strong porfolios and presentations.

The main motivation or reason that makes me apply for it because I want to gain more design knowledge. Ever since I took up my degree, it really does make an impact on me, on how I look at things right now. I tend to open to more ideas and perspectives, in a way not so narrow-minded like I used to be.

I took up a challenge of coming out with 30 creative ideas when we only need to come out with 1 best idea. With this project, I discovered that Ideas are endless if I allow them to come into my mind. I still continue to believe that education is just a stepping stone and applied knowledge is still the best practise to soar.

You gotta make a conscious decision where you wanna be in a few years time and the time to start thinking about it is NOW. Because by the time the better late than never comes, sometimes you will wish that since it happened so late that it is of not much use anymore... Maybe you would have missed to golden opportunity already and will start regretting it... Why haven't I done this?

Post Valentines' Day

I watched "Look for a Star" with Siew today. It tells a beautiful metaphor that love is a crystal, it shatters onto the floor one day. Everyone is trying to pick up the crashed crystal. Some people get more and some people get less but nobody could get a complete one.

We should give and take in relationships because there might be a chance where we cannot celebrate Valentines' Day with our love ones.

I do not mind that
You didn't spend time with me
because you are busy with your work.

I do not mind that
You didn't buy me any flowers
because you want to have a little nice surprise for me another day.

I do not mind that
You make me wait
because you are too far away.

Most couples think that Valentines' Day is a day where all couples must celebrate but I personally feel that Valentines' Day has become a commercialise day for love.

Do not feel any sadness if you can't spend your time with your love ones. We can also spend this day with our friends too.

Because EVERYDAY is a Valentines' Day.

Slumdog Millionaire

'Slumdog Millionaire' was norminated for 10 awards and has won the best cinematography award from the National Society of Film Critics, US. It is a pretty cool movie to watch. I have enjoyed every moment of it.

It is about the modern rags-to-riches fairytale. From a game show unlocking the childhood memories (or miseries) of a typical poor orphan who grew up in the slumps of mumbai india (aka 'slumpdog').

The film digs into the social troubles and cruelty that emerging economies face (india in this case) - childhood prostitution, gangsters, child beggars, poverty, religion conflicts and so on.

I think the entire script and the movie directions were carefully thought through except towards the later part of the film, u see skyscrapers replacing the slumps, I'm unsure about what the director is trying to deliver, probably to signify that India is shedding its past troubles and ready to be accepted as a new world.

This is my first time watching an indian movie in a cinema. The typical indian dance is incorporated at the end of the show, which I think that is the trademark of all indian movies. When I was a kid, I was totally put off by the typical indian dance on the TV. That's why I never thought I would watch it at all. Well, there is always the first time.

I personally think the moral of the story is the people that we meet will shape our life and reality doesn't lie.

Synopsis
Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?". But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating. Jamal proves his innocence by telling the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to each one of the game show's questions. When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out...

Will you be my Valentine?

It's been a month since i blogged. Yeah, 1 full month already. I had been busy with my art history during my CHINESE NEW YEAR... That is alot of hardwork. Sad that I didn't really celebrate it. Finally, get some time to relax a bit before going to dive into my next project real soon.



Valentine is around the corner. YUP, just 6 days away. Not to forget to change my blog wallpaper as usual. This year, I would say it's a slightly different year, I can sense a fruity smell of romance in the air.

A little chance that I may get into a relationship. Well, it's still too early to say anything but I'm working on it. I hope he does feel the same way. Romance can be coming too quickly and leaving too soon. That's the more I feel that I shouldn't let go of any good opportunity that comes along.

I start to question myself, "Am I being too desperate? Aren't I'm just like the rest of the people? Having a relationship, Get married and have kids? Is that what I really, really want?"

Well, I'm not trying to be hard on myself again but anyway, my gut feeling tells me that I should be in love :) It's really nice to be in love having someone to take care and to think of you everyday. Isn't sweet? But of course, that person must be someone in your favourable list. If not, you will think that he is such a nuisance, such a pest, can he stop irriating me any further...

Still searching.. still looking... "Will you be my Valentine?"

Could you read this?

I saw this article in one of the creative workshops and my friend forward me this again thought its quite interesting to share with you guys!

Olny srmat poelpe can raed this.

I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in what oredr the ltteers in a word are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is that the first and last ltteer be in the rgh it pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it wouthit a porbelm. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

If you can raed this psas it on!!

Perception and Personality

No one can be so perfect
What is beautiful to one's eyes
Can be ugly to another.

Confidence is what makes a person shine
She knows no matter how the world looks at her
She knows that she is beautiful.
And she accepts the way she is.

Our personality is built
By how the world views us
How they praise us for our talents
How they critise us for our flaws.

We let their words affect us
And it can be for the better
or it can be detrimental.

What most of us don't realise
is that we can change the way
how others look at us by building
our own personality.

Just tell yourself today
"This is the way i want to be"
And you will subconciously
be the person you want to be.

After all, your destiny is in your hands
Don't let others control your destiny for you.

Written by Averal, a 20 year old freelance designer and marketeer.

I like the way she wrote this poem. Yes, we can change the way we look, the way we want to be. We have tons of choices and choose what kind of personality we want. If you are a shy person, be a happy shy person. If you are an arrogant person, so be it. We shouldn't care too much how people perceive us. It will be too tiring if we keep trying to gain approval and happiness from others. Be happy of who what we really are.

New Year Winner 2009

We are informing you that your email address as indicated was drawn and attached to ticket number 001768432463 with serial numbers FTS/8070337201/06 anddrew the lucky numbers 15-22-24-48-50-37(30) which subsequently won you 1,000,000.00 (One Million Great Britain Pounds)from the U.K. The draws registered as Draw number one was conducted in Brockley,United Kingdom on the 1st January 2009. Find below the details of the Claims Agent and contact him with the following details for verifications:

1.FULL NAME 2.FULL ADDRESS 3.NATIONALITY 4.AGE 5.OCCUPATION 6.MOBILE/TEL EPHONE NUMBER 7.DATE OFWINNING AWARD 8.SEX 9.TOTAL AMOUNT WON 10.SERIAL AND LUCKY NUMBERS AGENT NAME: Mr Albert Thomas AGENT EMAIL: albertthomas008@hotmail.com

Mrs Rita Shawn
U.K Promo Announcer

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Wow, I can't believed that I'm so lucky in 2009. I am the winner of the draws from the U.K. and I have won One Million Great Britain Pounds!!!

So good to be true right? But wait ar, since when did I bought a ticket no of 001768432463 from UK??? Wake up the idea!!!!

Alright, I'm so used to be the target of these scammers. It is not the first time, I have recieved such mails. It's a scam.

Although I will never fall for such tricks, but it feels good to recieve such emails, it makes me feel that I'm 1 million richer and this time round, I have recieved 3 times such emails that makes me 3 million richer hahahaha I'm feeling great man :)

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How does these scam works?
According to Usulki, he said that 1st mail is to catch those stupid greedy idiots who thought "Maybe I really won some big draws? No harm sending some info over la.."

But once u reply, then they follow up with emails/phone... They make you really believed that you really won ... then say need small admin fee or other charges for what bank transfer purpose because it is not a small amount of money...

If you are overseas victim, they cannot transfer to oversea account... so they will ask you to open a UK banking account... with minimum deposit of xx amount...

Of course, eventually they will mail you some certificates that looks so real, or ask u call some number with answering machines that sounds like real bank/lottery company... and some really, really pro scam ones will have websites too!

Good luck to you then hahahhaha :)

Breaking free

In my facebook, I wrote:
"I'm breaking free from burden and starts a new beginning!"

Some of my friends asked me what burden I was having? I feel that I'm carrying unneccessary worrying and negative thoughts. Half of the time, I have spend my energy that bad things will not even happened at all. That is really wasting a lot of my precious time and before I can start the actual work. By the time i really wanted to work, I'm half drained and tired. So in the end, the result is obviously not good.

I'm telling myself that I'm going to break free from this kind of burden, that will be a great sense of freedom.

If we didn't try from the start, how do we know it doesn't work. If I failed, how can I make it even better? With these kind of mindset, I'm sure even if I failed, at least I have tried and I know I can do it better for the next time. Each time we failed, we are gaining new knowledge and experience. Don't be afraid that things will turn out badly all the time.

Cat shared with me this chinese phrase: "对自己宽容一点, 也许会过得比较快乐". I agreed totally because if we don't allow ourselves to make mistakes, we can never be a happy person. We will be too drain out by our own undue stress and worrying.

My dear friends, please take a step back, and you will see a happier self in this stressful cityscape.

Divorce, Custody & Pepsi Cola

Heard too many divorce cases already, share with you guys a divorce joke below...

A man and his wife were getting a divorce at a local court, but the custody of their children posed a problem.

The mother jumped to her feet and protested to the judge that since she had brought the children into this world, she should retain custody of them. The man also wanted custody of his children, so the judge asked for his side of the story.

After a long moment of silence, the man rose from his chair and replied: "Judge, when I put a dollar into a vending machine and a Pepsi can comes out, does the Pepsi belong to me or to the machine?"

Don't laugh, he won!

The Best of Us

I happened to spot this video clip will surfing the net. It is an inspirational clip made by Singaporeans. Cool Stuff!



The theme of the campaign is "The Best of Us" - a simple, powerful idea that transcends cultures and borders, motivating young people around the world to participate in sport by proving that sport can bring out the best of them. They are using these 5 elements of Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth as the background concept.

Heroes - Legendary Olympic athletes including Roger Federer, Yao Ming, Laure Manaudou, Liu Xiang, Yelena Isinbayeva, Kenenisa Bekele, Haile Gebrselelassie, Vanessa Ferrari and Carolina Kluft who, star as superheroes seeking to achieve the seemingly impossible.

It's our very own Singapore production who produced this Official Beijing Olympics 2008 Commercial. Cool stuff, isn't it? I read about their interview, in fact the team production faced a lot of problems in this production. Best of all, they never give up on their hardwork. I'm so proud that we are such an amazing video production talents in Singapore!

Embrace 2009

Happy, Happy New Year, my dear friends!

Despite how much me and Ah Ger really dislike the party crowds, we still went down to the Marina Countdown Party last nite... Yuppie, it was really, really damn crowded and we almost got ourselves jammed in the human crowd last nite when we making our way back despite we left quite early... Nothing was the perks except the amazing fireworks that lasted for 10 mins. After going home, I start to reflect about 2008 and what should I do to make a better year in 2009.

Let me share with you what does 2008/2009 means to me

What does 2008 means to me?
First of all, I always like to look back at my last year resolutions and they were "I need to find peace with myself and showing gratitude to others as well as myself."

Have I done that? Yup, I finally able to know who I really am and I have learnt to love myself and practising gratitude to others as well as myself. I'm grateful to be able to re-connect with my family and my close friends ever since I start schooling. It had been a fantastic year for me. I get to know myself better and I know what I really want in life and making my life to the fullest.

What does 2009 means to me then?
I guess it would be a challenging year for me because I have lots of goals in mind and I know I have to get them done. In this new year resolution, I would like to continue to have good health, spend more time with my love ones and continue to develop a strong passion in design, finally STAY FOCUS towards my small goals and I know I have live my life the way I want it :)

I like this phrase that I saw it one day:
Be clear with intentions & FOCUS upon it with unweaving faith

Night Safari

The last time I could remember last visit to Night Safari was 10 over years. During that time, I was a bit upset by the place because all I could remember was to sit in the tram and I could see nothing else except the darkness and hidden night animals.

When my friend asked me if I'm interested to go to Night Safari, I decided to give this place a second chance, after all it has been 10 over years. We took bus 138 and it was a super crowded weekend, probably its a holiday season. We queue almost 15 mins and the buying ticket queue has not been moving at all.

Luckily, I went to a special counter to get the map and it sells the tickets as well. That shortened the waiting time. I overheard an auntie was complaining that her kids that they had to wait almost an hour just to get the tickets.

Anyway, as we entered the entrance, we still have to queue to go in. It took us another 20 mins. The silliest thing they did was they only allow one person at a time. People just refused to wait by then and tried to start pushing and cut queue. By the time we went in, it was already 8.20pm.

There were 3 main trails, compared to the past experience, at least this time round I get to walk around the trails and see much more night animals such as the eagle owl, bats, flying squirrel, hippo, pucupins, hyena, civet, leopard cats but most of the animals are resting. Fortunately, we saw the malayan tiger walking towards us and it was as close as 30cm away from us.

I wanted to snap some photos of the animals but my camera is obviously not good enough and no flash photography is allowed. I just let myself immersed with the nature and the walk. Although the website claimed that they had total number of 1040 animals in the safari, but we never get to see so many animals there, probably it was too dark.

The night show was quite entertaining and look at those cute little animals performing, thrilled me.

The ticket seller insisted that we must buy the tram tickets and we bought. However, by the time, we walked finished the trail walks and finished the night show, it was already 11.15pm lor... We hurried back to the bus stop to catch the night bus.

What a night! Probably I will visit again 20 years later lol...

Courage to LOVE

A friend shared with me about her dating issues and asked me for advice. After analysing her problem, I realise that she doesn't have the courage to express her love.

I just told my friend that we should have the courage to love. Not many people can do that... Most of them just give up without trying... Love may not be boy-girl relationships, it could be family and even friends.

In the past, I told myself I do not need many friends and I lock myself up. Keep everything to myself and suffer in silence. I can't blame anyone else because I choose it to be in this way.

I have learnt my lesson: the Courage to LOVE. Because when we have love in our heart. We need to love ourselves and others. We tend to care for the people around us. We tend to be more sensitive towards other people. We tend to recieve help from others when we need one.

Through this learning, my relationships in family and friends have improved tremendously. If you haven't start to love, start loving now. I want to share this message on the Christmas Day:

It's a gift to love.

Be like water

"Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way round or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be like water my friend." - Bruce Lee

This is useful not just in combat, but in life. If those who represent themselves as your enemy become your teachers -- teachers on how to be patient, on how to deflect, how to confront in a way that peaceably resolves the conflict -- then you learn the skill of being like water.

I used to blame myself and other people, why my life so unsmooth? Why all the bad things come to me. A friend told me we need to learn lessons in this life and that's why we are here.

Another friend gives me an insightful experience about his life. He told me we have to keep learning something until we have learnt. This statement has an impact on me and I totally agreed with what he said. I have never realised it until he said that to me.

I look at myself and the people around me. We all make the same mistakes over and over again until it comes to a time that we learnt our precious lessons these negative cycle will never appear again... Sometimes when I look back, it is us who always trap ourselves into these cycles and we choose to do that. Without learning the painful lessons, we can never able to appreciate the people and the things around us.

He told me not too think too much but I think I have learnt something from this statement. If we chose to be an unhappy person, we will always be an unhappy person. Even someone tries to be nice to you, you will choose to believe he has a bad intention. However, if we always chose to be a happy person, even when things are bad, we will use a positive attitude to turn the situation around.

Well, interesting insight to me at least. Life is not so bad afterall, if we choose to become water! Rite? :)

My little friends

I remembered my childhood dream was to become a teacher. I was inspired by my caring teachers in my primary school days. Most of them were caring, helpful and patient and best of all, I will be able to use the red pen to mark the students' work. Ah-ha :)

When I grew up, I know that I can't be a teacher because I have no patience with kids and I know that I will end up either being bullied by them or stressed up myself. I decided to give up this idea of being a teacher.

I was looking for a part-time job as I needed money for my melbourne trip. A golden opportunity came, knocking onto my door 5 weeks ago. CDAC is an learning environment and offer meaningful programmes to help students cope with their studies and social lives.

CDAC was looking for some part-time teachers, I went for interview and I got in. They just need teachers to teach maths and science for Pri 1-6, preparing them for the next year. Being pretty good in maths, I was assigned to teach maths for Pri2, Pri4 and Pri5 except there is one week, i have to teach science.

Having no experienced in teaching, I was so worried that I can't cope with it. However, I did spend time going through all the maths and science syllabus before the class. Of course goes without saying, for the first week, I wasn't that confident in teaching and I have to use the "math language" terms used by the schools, so that the kids are able to understand. After 2 weeks, I was able to teach the kids proficiently.

I almost wanted to give up when some kids were like monsters. However, some kids were like angels, that encouraged me to become a better teacher. Some were smart and fast, some were lazy and slow. No matter what, I have to gain their respect even if they were kids. When they realise you truly cares for them, even little monsters will be tamed by you slowly.

Although I was pretty under paid but overall, it was a very meaningful and fulfilling experience. With 88 students under my care, I did really enjoy myself with these 5 weeks of teaching.

First of all, I have learnt that these kids are pure at heart without any ill-intentions, they are just being playful or mischievious. Secondly, every kids are special in their own way, to be a capable teacher, I have to customise my teaching style so that they are able to absorb the knowledge better. Most importantly, I have learnt to be firm with my words and not to be influence by others.
Yes, I have fulfilled my dream of becoming a teacher and I have made quite a number of little friends. They did teach me something back in return when I have imparted my knowledge with them and I will cherish these memories.

Thank you, my little friends :)

点一把火炬

I always hear people saying, "letting go" when u experienced the negativity in life. It always said easier than done. I finally able let go of my sadness about a bad experience which i have been suppressing for all these years. Letting go and cried all my heart out is a good healing therapy. Now I feel light, carefree and happy again because I'm able to release my burden which i have been carrying all these years.

I have learnt not to supress my negative feelings. Yeah, it a wonderful experience of releasing my sadness. I want to thank my rubberband time friend for helping me to release the pain within me.

I want to share this song because I like the meaningful lyrics in this song."脆弱的世界, 人变得坚强因为有梦想" This is so true :)

点一把火炬
Artist: 林俊杰
Composer: 许环良与邢增华

天上的星星有多少数不清
承诺和许愿又多少能兑现
雨后的彩虹是真实还是梦
悲伤和快乐可以自己选择

忙忙碌碌转啊转盲盲目目从早到晚
喧喧闹闹是与非伤痕累累学会谦卑
听过自己哭泣才会懂得珍惜

点一把火炬 让爱和生命延续
用心用呼吸感应在黑暗中照亮风雨
脆弱的世界人变得坚强因为有梦想
让爱翻越所有围墙点燃每一个心房
照亮我们共同的家
照亮你我的家

Beauty of Life

Ger read about this "The Reality of Life"
Promises are meant to be broken
Secrets are meant to be shared
Friends are meant to be make use of

Not to pin point on what she wrote but I just can't agreed with it. Here are my own interpretation about these words.

My own interpretation
Promises are meant to be broken
- This shows that this person cannot be trusted

Secrets are meant to be shared
- This shows that this person is a gossiper

Friends are meant to be make use of
- This shows that this person is a devil under the angel face

If that is the case, why should I continue to be with this person? I can tell you that person will not have any true friends. Everyone will start to see that person true colors and will leave that person eventually. That person can fool everyone many times but can't fool everyone all the time.

This will ties in very well with my new xmas theme on relationships - The best of the most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must felt with the heart.

If you are sincerely true to your family and your friends, they will feel it. True hearts will meet together eventually.

Great Ideas

Most often when we see great ideas from others, we will start wondering why we didn't think of that? It can be a single, practical solution that solved the problem we have faced.

After attended a creative workshop called "Creative thinking makes easy" today, I realised that it is not about how much time we spend on the work but rather that how much work we spend on the time. As a human being, all of us are creative. We should constantly see things with an open mind and making changes to improve our lives. Even a silliest idea can be practical one if we just tweak and change into something relevant and useful.

Nothing is evolved with nothing. There must be some old ideas that trigger it, to make them into even better ideas. The speaker, John Teo told us that if we shot down our initial ideas from the start, it will be quite unlikely we are able to make a breakthrough. Creativity comes from constantly practising with an open mind and rearranging the old into new.

I really enjoyed his workshop and wished it didn't end so early. At the end of his workshop, he shared with us his life experience of becoming a successful magician. Of course, he did some small little magic performance for us.

This is just to prove ONE point -
IT IS ALL ABOUT BEING CREATIVE IN OUR MIND.

Loved it!

The expression of the urban

I'm researching on Art Therapy recently. I was inspired by the bilingual local newspaper, "My Paper". It has a section called "the person in the rain". The art therapist just used the drawing to analyse and identify the strength and weaknesses and any issues. She will provide some suggestions on how to cope with difficult emotions and feelings.

I believed that arts have the power to influence. Arts therapy has the ability to help to change and improve lives. We need not use verbal to communicate, we can use visual in art media such as drawings, photography and other forms of visual to express our inner struggles.

Art therapy is still a very new concept in Singapore. However, the local hospital such as Singapore General Hospital is using art therapy to help the cancer patients as well as disabled patients. I believe that it could really help people to open up themselves to be a mentally healthy and improve the quality of their life.

In order to feel what art therapy is all about, I decided to work on some paints. I have used lines as to depict sketches drawings and tried to use paints and shimmering to form the eye of the human, with the help of design software to do some graphics editing. These are various forms of expression on the relationship between the city, myself with arts. I called this piece of artwork - the expression of the urban.

Maybe in future, when i feel stress up, I will do some free expression painting lol Don't know is it because i did the research on this project. I do feel a sense of relaxation and freedom when I paints. Does it got to do with myself or the psychology part?

Typography in Helvetica

Being an inexperienced designer, I often don't care much about usage of typeface, as long as I like it. A typographer told me what kind of fonts and the size of the fonts I have used, simply by looking at my work.

To be honest, I'm kind of impressed. There are people out there who are so passionate about typefaces that they can breathe, eat and sleep with them. That is the vast diffence between a professional typographer like him and an amateurish like me. Of course, with constently looking at the details and study of typefaces, I'm sure in the years to come, I can be as good as him.

Recently, I watched a video about "Helvetica". It has bring me into another perspective. It is an interesting video talks everything about Helvetica, bringing the awareness to the designers about how Helvetica was created, its history. The famous typographers who take great passion in creating font types and usage of Helvetica.

One of the typographers said that most of the designers do not care about typography at all(which is absolutely true). But he doesn't care. A trend in design industry is that there is always a small group of people who pursue great design and large number of people are doing trash stuffs. If you care about your own works, you will care about the usage of typography.

I also realise that every typeface, like every one of us, has its distinguishing features. You might be forgiven for thinking that some fonts are clones, or identical twins. However, closer inspection reveals subtle differences and nuances that simply escape casual perusal. Something that can really help to heighten our sensitivity to those differences is getting out our magnifying glasses and really taking a closer look.

The two popular typefaces, namely Arial and Helvetica — faces that are often confused, and often the subjects of mistaken identity. But first let me re-introduce you to these two popular faces:



Helvetica
Designed in 1957 by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann, Helvetica’s design is based on that of Akzidenz Grotesk (1896), and classified as a Grotesque or Transitional san serif face. Originally it was called Neue Haas Grotesque; in 1960 it was revised and renamed Helvetica (Latin for "Swiss").

Arial
Designed in 1982 by Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders for Monotype (not Microsoft), it’s classified as Neo Grotesque, was originally called Sonoran San Serif, and was designed for IBM’s bitmap font laser printers. It was first supplied with Windows 3.1 (1992) and was one of the core fonts in all subsequent versions of Windows until Vista, when to all intents and purposes, it was replaced with Calibri.

Sad to say, Arial was born of a hasty decision to avoid paying out massive licensing fees for a typeface that had grown to become the benchmark for most written communication.

I must say Helvetica is still always the prefered choice for mac designers, while Arial is for the pc designers. Most people do not know Helvetica is NOT FREE font. I should try to appreciate those fonts which famous typographers have created.

Credibility

5 months ago, I was engaged to design a website for my client's client, Mr X. This is my first time working with this new client. It's my friend's contact. This client was a sales manager. He was very sales driven therefore, he pushed hard for his sales as well as his project.

My client told me this particular job was urgent and required me to rush for it. Of course, I played my role and delivered the work to him. However, Mr X just doesn't seem to have any interest with his own website. Whenever my client asked him about the feedback, he always said that he's busy. Afterall, Mr X was the one who wanted to push the website to be ready 4 months ago.

3 months ago, my client felt bad about it and said that he will transfer the full amount to me first, even though the project has not complete yet. I told him this is not the way to do business. I told him I have to complete the project.

My client has told me that Mr X has decided to stop the project today. To be honest, this is my first time doing project without completing it. Although I still get paid for my service, I just don't feel good about it. Because the project was not complete at all.

I always think that credibility should play on our part but in reality, i think it works both ways.

Design Costs vs. Values

Two days ago, I got a call from my friend's whose girlfriend wanted me to design a web site for her image consultant business. She asked me how much do I charge per website. I told her that depends on my client's theme and requirements.

She told me she needs 10 pages of website. I told her $300 - $500 for customised design fee (not using any design templates) and $150 per page. Without even looking at my portfolio yet, the only reply I heard is, "That is expensive! You are limiting the amount of contents I want to put." and she continues saying that she will call me up when she needs my service. Apparently, she didn't. Of course, I didn't upset over it because it doesn't worth my time doing it anyway.

I’ve read an interesting article written by Chris Pearson on how much a site/blog design should cost and his experience when dealing with the customers and project costs.

After looking through the designers' comments from the design industry, I feel that my pricing is reasonable. Like most web professionals out there, they are charging $1500 or as high as $2000 just for the basic design cost. In fact, most of my designer friends have told me I undercharge most of my clients. To me, money is important but the experiences and challenges to do that is even more important.

Why is it okay for dentists, lawyers and a number of other highly-paid professionals to charge $200-300/hour for their services, why is it okay to shell out $100-150/hour to an interior designer, but it is a sin to pay that much money to a web/graphic designer?

And what’s even more intriguing and interesting to find out is why we never question and simply accept the high prices of dentists, lawyers, psychiatrists, interior decorators, plumbers... but behave so differently when it comes to building our brand name awareness in print and online?

What do you think should happen in order to change people's mindset on design costs and values? Or do you think that nothing should change, that it is the way it should stay, that there are no reasons why designers should get paid any more than those working night shifts at 24 hour drive-thrus?

Just simply because some people just don't know the value of the work of a good web/graphics designer. Quality creative designers go through the design thinking process while the designers just work like a factory worker. Everyone knows Photoshop but that doesn't mean they can be a creative designer.

Chris quoted that everybody wants a killer design, especially after seeing one that they lust over. Problem is, nobody wants to pay for it.

True indeed.

Harmless ";"

Last night, I was busy rushing my client's website. It is just a maintainance of the website. Finally, i finished all the updates and went to bed. I was rather tired because few days ago, because I was rushing other projects as well.

My client emailed about the whole website fonts are all screw up today. I was kinda puzzled, so I went to the site to take a look. It was indeed the website is screwed up. I recalled what did I do last night.

Thinking back, I did nothing MAJOR revamp to the website. Just a couples of information update. Then I remembered I did touch on the CSS style sheet because I want to tidy up the coding. I checked and checked, the piece of coding seems perfectly alright.

After half and hour of checking, I spot that harmless ";" hidding itself in the codes.

Now I know that 1 harmless ";" can be a silent killer that screw up your entire website. Thank god that my client didnt screw me up, they are nice people. Grateful!

To Lose Weight

On 24th April, I vow that I will lose weight within 3 months. Today is 7th Nov. I feel so guilty about it. I broke my own promise. I not only didn't lose weight. In fact, I put on weight!

Starting from 54 -> 56 -> 59!!! I can't believe it myself until someone placed a weighing machine in front of me.

Reasons for not succeeding:
1) I didn't exercise for 3 months.
Mistake: Wasn't enthusiastic to lose weight.

2) When I am super stress or happy, I eat much more than usual. Mistake: Never control diet.

3) Want to lose weight in 3 months
Mistake: Never set realistic timeline.

I know above are just excuses! Now i want to set it straight again.

Motivation to lose weight
1) Doctor says I have slight hypertension. I'm SHOCKED. I still very young, I don't want to spend money on pills!

2) I want to be HEALTHY. Reason: I don't want to fall sick easily.

3) I want to be LOVE myself. Reason: I want to be responsible about my own body. Take really good care of my body.

4) I don't want to be the fake pregnant lady anymore!!!

With these 4 strong motivation, I must SET realistic timeline:
1) Be choosy about food, no more fried food for me right now.
2) Exercise twice per week Tues and Sat eg Swimming, Yoga, Jogging, Gym exercise
3) Set exercise time.
4) Motivate myself.
5) Monitor my progress.

I must not break my promise to my body again. I shall set this as lifetime piority in my life.