Day 262: GAB 3 Money

Some "watch words" we heard whilst growing up
1. Money don't fall from the sky.
2. Money don't grow on trees.
3. Finish your rice, don't waste food.
4. If you don't study hard, you become a roadsweeper
5. You spend money like water, next time how you become rich?

Money Reflecting Questions
1. What role did money play in your family?
2. Was it scarce or plentiful?
3. How did your family’s financial situation compares to other people you knew?
4. Did your family think of itself as wealthy, middle-class or poor?
5. What were the challenges and implications of being in a particular economic bracket?
6. What are the challenges / rewards you deal with money?
7. What are your views about money?
8. How money impacted your life?

Writing Tips
1. Use humor, family saying, poetry, quotes (from letters), snippets of dialogue you remembered, a family tree (life map event), and even your favourite recipes.

2. Never stop when you are stuck. You may not be able to solve the problem, but turn aside and write something else. Do not stop together.

3. Trust your creativity ('intuitive' side)

Day 261: Covid Free, Carefree Day 16

The vaccinated people say
1. It is dangerous to be unvaccinated, you will be easily get covid.
2. You have lesser chance to be seriously sick.
3. The vaccines can increase the herd immunity.
4. The vaccines effiency will be about 95%, but later it dropped to 69%.
5. You will still have the possibilty to be sick and spread covid. Or worse, death.
6. You will have a lot of restrictions.

The unvaccinated people say
1. It is dangerous to take the vaccines. The vaccines are still under clinical trials, 3rd phrase. The Big Pharma still have 2 more testing phrases to go.
2. The natural immune system is stronger than the vaccinated immune system. It can fight various variant.
3. There is no herd immunity as the vaccinated people still can spread the virus.
4. There are other options to get over covid through ivermectin, natural healing and strengthen immunity.
5. You will still have the possibilty to be sick and spread covid.
6. Lost of freedom, almost having total control from the govts.

After access and reviewing covid cases for half a year.
I feel the covid, pandemic, vaccinations are all created by humans. I am not going to get involved now. They can do whatever they want.
I decided to make my own stand.

What I didn't like because it is against my principles are
1. The govts just make their own rules and decide for the people.
2. They didn't inform that their vaccines are still under clinical trials, they mention mild effects on headache, fever and small pains. Why mass vaccination when the clinical trials are still on going?
3. They are not responsible for it, should anyone fall really ill or deaths.
4. They do it for the economy, not because the situation is safe. Just because they want to open up the economy, so at the expense of human lives???
5. The vaccinated people are equally struggling as the unvaccinated.

So who are we saving right now? We don't know.

What I would do for myself
1. I will take care of my own immune system.
2. I will exercise, sleep early, rest well.
3. I will eat more nutritious food.
4. I will eat Vit C, D and Zinc supplements.
5. I will focus on my aspects of my life, that matters to me.
6. I will never have to deal with Covid in my life.

Day 260: GAB 2 Family Self Reflection

My immediate family is small to begin with, consist my parents and 1 sibling. My mum has a strong mind of her own, she will make most of the family decisions at home and we will follow.

The closest relationship I have is My sister. We used to fight and screamed a lot with each other during our childhood but we became a lot closer after she got married. She has become my best friend, after we cleared our childhood misunderstanding and we share a lot what is happening in our life, especially Ting Ting has become our bundle of joy now.

The most distant relationship I felt is with my dad, I don’t really know how to communicate with him. Most of the time, he just asked me to do his things. That is the relationship / connection with him.

For my 2 family role models, my mum is the active one and sociable and she talks and nags a lot. Because she is sociable, she has many friends. My dad is hardworking, he is a quiet man he likes to do things to show that he cares. Most of the time he got misunderstood because he can’t express himself well, I sort of model him and my sister model my mum.

As my family lack of communication, we do our own things. As a child, I don’t feel loved and supported by my family. We don’t connect emotionally.

Family Rules
Talking about family rules, there are a lot. I need to report to her where I go and I need to reach home before 10pm. If I am at home, dinner will be at 7pm. Last time my mum will nit-pick whatever things that I do. It is always not good enough for her and I felt hurt. My mum talks super loudly at home. Sometimes it is unbearable. She will say we need to worry if she doesn’t speak loud enough! That is partly why I didn't like to stay at home, to stay out of her viewing area, to be away from her nags.

My mum, dictates her way and now my sister, because she models my mum, and she became a mother, her character somewhat becomes more and more like her and sometimes, I feels that I have 2 mums at home.

Family Hero
My grandfather (father side), how he runs his coffeeshop and take care of 10 children, 5 boys and 5 girls, send them to university. He doesn’t look down on women, he feels that all children need to have equal education. My dad learns the good values from my grandparents, especially my grandfather. That is why my dad supports me when I told him I want to study and upgrade myself.

We don’t have any family’s philosophy of life. I think probably unspoken one will be we strive to be a good person. Good family values, keeps us bonded. Of course, I have grown up, I understand where the house rules coming from, my mum fearing that my sister and I from straying, which we never did! The need to keep the environment clean so that it will become a warm, comfortable and cosy place to live in.

Area of improvement for my family
I hope to have better communication and understanding among ourselves. To have the freedom of speech and empathy among family members. After all, we are family, who happens to bond together because love exists.

Day 259: GAB 2 Family

"

This week theme is family.

I am learning about Clustering.
- helps with focusing
- assists with image words
- brings forth all your senses
- mind mappings
- fresh ideas
- visual map of brainstorming
- Free association
- Write more effective sentences

My family, my self
"All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." - Leo Tolsyoy

Here are some questions about family dynamics to reflect upon.
1. Who held the power in your family and made the major decisions? How do you know?
2. Which family members have you felt closest to, and which ones felt most distant? Why?
3. Did you like your family and feel supported and loved?
4. Were there any family members you were afraid of?
5. What were the rules in your family about eating, cleaning up, dressing, and so forth? When you sat down to dinner, where did you sit?
6. Is there anything about your family that seems unusual to you?
7. What is the history of your family? What were its origins, and how were its major figures?
8. Did your family have any hero figures who had stories told about them?
9. Did your family have a philosophy about life that was discussed and that you were expected to adopt? What were the ‘shoulds’ and ‘oughts’ in your family? What favourite sayings illustrate your family’s philosophy of life?
10. If you are unmarried and do not live with any blood relatives, how have you created a sense of “family” in your life?

Family isn't always Blood. It's the people in your life who want you in theirs. The ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what." - Maya Angelou

I find this quote meaningful because there is love. Love is not just words or actions, it must be felt. #JustDrawing #Family

Day 258: About the Covid Vaccines

Someone wrote this and I thought it was beautifully written.

Out of all the vaccines I have taken in my life: Tetanus, rubella, measles, mumps, polio hep, TB;

Never before have I seen so much confusion over a vaccine that says I have to wear a mask, and socially distance even when fully vaccinated.

Apparently I could still contract or spread the virus even when fully vaccinated.

Never had to have a double shot, never been bribed by establishments to take the vaccine in order to win a car, cash, or other prizes. Never before has a vaccine be available in Primark…!

I never had to worry about cardiac issues and or blood clots and DEATH as a side effect.

I was never judged if I didn’t take it.

I was never discriminated against for travel or other regular services.

The vaccines I have listed above never told me I was a bad person for not taking it, or taking it for that matter.

I have never seen a vaccine that threatened the relationship between a family member or a close friend.

Never seen it used for political gain and never seen it used to persuade kids in favour of free ice cream.

I have never seen a vaccine threaten someone’s livelihood, job, school, etc.

I have never seen a vaccine that allows a twelve year old’s consent to supersede his/her parent’s consent.

So after all I have said, can someone tell me how I am a conspiracy theorist, uneducated, non researched because I am not willing to take this vaccine. UNTIL the clinical trials are over at least two years from now.

Finally, after all the vaccines (shots) I listed above, I have never seen a vaccine like this one that discriminates, divides, and judges a society such as this one.

So much information is censored, deleted and removed from the internet.

So many doctors, scientists, are censored and forbidden to speak out or ask legitimate questions when what is being allowed or not allowed does not make sense.

People are taking this vaccine with DEATH as a side effect to buy back their freedom (which was your human right to begin with. You never lost it) NOT to prevent or keep you safe from a virus. Because it isn’t working. People who are double jabbed are getting it and still dying from it.

Seriously. Can you read that again?

This sure is one powerful vaccine. IT does all of these things that I have mentioned and yet? It doesn’t do what all the other vaccines that I have mentioned earlier were designed to do which is to fight off COVID, a virus with a natural recovery rate of 99% thanks to our miraculous immune system!

If you do not stand for freedom of choice then you are not in any way shape or form trying to get this country back to normal.

You are promoting a divisive society. Subjecting people to second class existences and stealing the freedom from your own and children’s future.

Day 257: KDrama - Bride of Habaek

Bride of the Habaek (Water God) is about a Water God, Habaek (Nam Joo Hyuk) who has to go to the human world to recover magical stones so that he can become king. He locates his servant Yoon So Ah(Shin Se Kyung) whose family is cursed to serve him for eternity. It is a love story between a god and human.

I felt this drama fall shot as a fantasy/magical romance, it failed big time. There was hardly any magic or demonstration of powers in the drama.

Most of the plot lie flat and super slow and air time is wasted on scenes, which don’t offer much storyline. Usually there is a slight build up (often near the end of an episode) which results in NOTHING when the next episode starts. This quality remains consistent throughout the drama.

The gods’ world was well presented but it suffered because of poor direction, writing and weakly developed characters. In fact, I hope to see more in the heavenly scenes. The stylists, makeup artists, set designers and special effects team did a great job. This is definitely one of the strong points of this drama.

The casting was nice and the acting was pretty good too. I think every actor had their good moments and gave their best, even when the direction wasn’t clear.

Although it was a romance-based story and with some cute moments, the romance between the leads didn’t have much foundation or strength. The storytelling had ZERO charm and the writing was a total mess from beginning to end, even though they already had a ready made plot. Usually there are protagonist and antagonist in a normal storyline. In the end, everyone's characters are somewhat the same.

I was quite bored and lost in the middle, where there is no explain why Habaek's human form first love had to die, why did the demi god was outcast, why Habaek sometimes have power and sometimes don't, he looks so confused all the time... He is supposed to be the future king! I was completely lost half the time. The script was pretty vague. It’s very hard to understand what the characters are feeling, what their intentions are and where the story is going.

The director wasn’t able to express the thoughts of the characters well and execute situations properly for the the most part especially during the heart to heart conversations. It was hard to undertand what the director was trying to project, for instance every time Yoon So Ah reached out to grasp Habaek’s shirt or the aggression between various characters.

There are some story lines not closely connected to the main plot which come to the surface every now and then yet have no clear conclusion. There are A LOT of unanswered questions left at the end and the happily ever after the writers struggled so hard to create has nothing happy about it.

I felt I have wasted 16 hours of my time to watch this. I would give a 4/10 the 4 goes to the gods’ world creation and the casts' acting efforts. I won't recommend anyone to watch this drama.

Day 256: The Best Of YIRUMA Yiruma's Greatest Hits ~ Best Piano

This music album gave me so much comfort whenever I listen them.

Kiss the Rain is one of the trigger points when I recalled during my primary school period. The self critical happened when my parents, especially my mum, started to nitpick everything that I do... Everything seems not to be good enough for her...

As I grew up, I became the mother to myself, Sometimes I feel that I can never meet my own expectations.... I wasn't good enough for myself, a part of me had died *Sob Sob*



Yiruma, kiss the rain, it might be something painful that has happened in his life. I can feel the sadness in this piece of music... That's why everytime I feel like crying too when I listen but at the same time I feel very comforting as if I have been understood... No need words, just silence will do...

After hearing a few more rounds of this piece of music, what I felt is live life without regrets. I can never gain more time, I can only make the best out of my own time.

I also feel some strength after listening to this.... No matter how big is the rain, the rain will pass one day.

3 Things I am grateful for today
1. I am grateful that I am still alive and I didn't give up myself.
2. I am grateful to be part of this supportive System of the Heart community to find back myself.
3. I am grateful that I have connection with myself.

Day 255: Reaching out to others

I thought of spreading the good works of SG suspected vaccine injuries to others, more people are aware of the health risks. The clinic trials are still on going and SG Govt are forcing people to take the vaccines.

CDC Vaccines findings
Today the reuters unews shared that "vaccinated individuals infected with delta may be able to transmit the virus as easily as those who are unvaccinated,” and that, “Vaccinated people infected with delta have measurable viral loads similar to those who are unvaccinated and infected with the variant.

Yesterday I attended this special zoom session, Healing the Divide.

Many speakers, I would call them the brave souls, to share valuable insights, current statistics and other feasible solutions to end this pandemic.

I really hope our SG Govt and Health Authorities are opened to listen and really look into the current health data, instead of just saying injuries and death cases are not vaccine related. I personally like the idea of having a Bioethics setup, it is an entity that will ensure that data and results are unbias and ethical. We need to have transparency and complete overview, what is truly going on in this mass vaccination exercise. Currently we do not have sufficient real data to support, if covid vaccination is doing good or harm to the humanity in a long run.

Can you imagine a healthy person after vaccination, having serious side effects and still have to normalise oneself to say that it is alright? It is definitely not okay.

Please have empathy and compassion towards the people who are suffering the loss of their love ones and dealing with health issues.

Val Looi expressed how she felt towards vaccination.
I do not need a vaccine.
I lead a healthy lifestyle.
I rarely fall ill.
I have never taken a flu vaccine.
I do not have flu for more than 10 years.

What we do with our body is our own choice.
It is our fundamental rights, it has to be that way.
Considering you are vaccinated, you still can spread the covid, it makes no sense.
The risk of vaccine outweighs the benefits of my health.

The body belongs to you and you alone.
You get to choose what goes into your body.
No strangers, who do not know our lifestyle, our health and medical history, to decide for us to take the vaccine or not.
If we surrender this fundamental human rights, what will we become?
The vaccine is not the only way to end the pandemic, there are other options.

We all want to move forward.
Let us open our hearts and mind, stand together, support one another.
For Freedom, For Health, For Equality and For Peace.
Watch this video in full: Healing the Divide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eIUR36OsfA #SGUnited

Day 254: Healing the Divide

Last month, a friend directed me into this link. It is about a petition writing to Mr. Lee Hsing Long. During that time, it was just 500+ voting, I asked my friend, "is it worth to vote? Will our govt took time to look at it? Surprisingly, after 1 month, the voting shoot up to 10k+.

Singapreans do care.

The organiser started off with many vaccine injuries cases and interviewed 2 people live.
Andrew Tan's mum passed away recently due to vaccine. As Andrew took the vaccine and nothing happened to him so Andrew forced his mum to get the vaccine and she passed away. Andrew felt a bit guilty... because his mum actually she doesn't want to take the vaccine. His mother has diabetes, high blood and his mum blood wall was narrowing so he doesn't truly know if it's really by the vaccine He is still waiting for autopsy results

Michael Yong took morderna, his immune system is messsed up. He couldn't move. After paying 16k for medical fee, doctor says his immune system is damage. He can talk but he cannot move around much. The doctor said his case is new and treated him like a new medical file 😰 From normal person become handicapped 🤦🏻‍♀️ He doesn't even want to talk about the money. He just wants to be well...

There are many good insights in this sharing session.
These speakers really know what they are talking about as they have done their "homework" with overseas researchers, scientists and viologist.

I find this consellor shares more of the solutions, how can we make this vaccination situation better. Why is it important to setup a bioethics?

1) Experimental Vaccines Trials
How Clinical Trials Works It is a 5 stages process and each process will take about 2 years. Pharmas have never done before within 1 year and tested vaccines on human beings. They will take at least 10 - 15 years to roll out new vaccines.

Can we trust the speedy development of Covid-19 vaccines The long-term effectiveness and safety of these vaccines are yet to be fully investigated. Another drawback of accelerated development is that full stability information about a vaccine formulation may not be completely mapped out, or the formulation itself may not be fully optimised.

2) Suspected Cases Injuries and Deaths
Many cases dismissed as "nothing to do with vaccines" and has little explainations

3) Safe and welcome professional space
A place where the local medical doctors can discuss over the situations in a non judgemental way

4) Transparency and Completeness of Data
The key rationale, vaccines do not stop the transmitting of the virus but to prevent serious illness, deaths, icu and oxygen support

5) Bioethics: Value and Sanctity of Life
How can "the benefits outweight risks" when someone has to bear all the consequences of risks of harm? The person can't sue the govt, the doctors and the big phrama should anything happen to the person as he / she is "aware" that he /she is in clinical trial.

Other Solutions
34 countries have used ivermectin, the covid numebers have come down significantly. This applies to India, Argentina, Slovakia, Zimbabwe, Mexico

Appealing to Health Authorities

Summary to protect the weak, women and children

Val Looi's Voice

I do not need a vaccine.
I lead a healthy lifestyle.
I rarely fall ill.
I never taken a flu vaccine.
I do not have flu for more than 10 years.

What we do with our body is our own choice.
It is our fundamental rights, it has to be that way.
Considering you are vaccinated, you still can spread the covid, it makes no sense.
The risk of vaccine outweight the benefits of my health.

The body belongs to you and you alone.
You get to choose what goes into your body.
No strangers, who do not know our lifestyle, our health and medical history, to decide for us to take the vaccine or not.
If we surrender this fundamental human rights, what will we become?
The vaccine is not the only way to end the pandemic, there are other options.

We all want to move forward.
Let us open our hearts and mind, stand together, support one another.
For Freedom, For Health, For Equality and For Peace.

Watch this video in full: Healing the Divide

Day 253: GAB 1 Branching Points Self Reflection

Recall a memory of a past
I recall that as a young child, I always hope to seek approval from my parents. Hoping that they would love me the way I want it. I tried to do well in my studies from P1 - P4. My results dropped because I felt that they didn't really care if I do well or not. I started to mingle with friends, who like to have fun more than study. Of course, my good results also gone with the wind.

As I didn't do well in my PSLE, I couldn't continue in my Girls' school. I had to study in neighbourhood school, Braddell heights secondary school. It was the first time, I felt shame. I blamed myself for not putting enough efforts in my studies. There was nothing much I can do with my results. I accepted my fate. Because I felt so shameful, that I become a lot quieter in my secondary school days. There was not much joy in study. I could no longer feel joy in learning.

I saw the other side of the world, the school boys were notorious and they have gang fights at any other days. The teachers felt disappointed with the students. Most of the teachers basically give up on us. The school culture was so bad that they had to put bars around the school compound, to prevent the students from escaping classes.

Until one day, I met my A-Maths Teacher, Mr Lim. He was very patient with the students who were weak in Maths. As my maths were weak, he asked me if I was interested to join his A Maths remedial class. As I wanted to do well for my Maths, I say YES. I attended his remedial class every week, without fail. He explained to us the techniques and formula of A-Maths. On top of that, during my own time, I practise the maths questions on my own. I started to enjoy the process of solving the Maths questions. I felt empowered and good when I get my answers correctly. During my 'O' Levels, I not only do well in my A-Maths, my E-Maths also turns out to be great.

Till now, I always feel very grateful towards Mr Lim because he cares and he shone light into my life that I thought I can't and yet because of him, I finally see that it is possible to achieve what I want through perserverance, determination and grit.

Good teachers teach, great teachers inspire.

Day 252: GAB 1 Branching Points

Signup for the 10 lessons of Guided Autobiography (GAB).
Lesson 1 Branching Points
Story of your life, written by yourself.
A kind of timeline of events in a person's life
- Childhood
- Parent
- Friend
- Mentor

Benefits
Gain insights about our own life
Combine work with Play
Group settings gain so much more insights and reflection

Programme Takeaways
GAB started to used in 1980s
- Helps to increase sense of Self
- Strengthen Cognition
- Make new friends
- Increase writing skills
- Renew life's aspirations
- Create a memoir of sorts ie People, Things, sights, smell, touch, past memories

Warm up: What is my favourite childhood food?

My favourite food is 9 Layers rainbow kuey, because it is colorful and it is fun to tear away one strip by another strip.

Recall a memory of a past
I remembered my mother's grandma place where it is shophouse. My grand parents used to open a provision shop. Times were hard. Yet, the children played together and I remembered most of the fun games are at the staircase.

The Major Branching Points in Your Life
Branching points are the turning points in your life - the events, experiences, or insights that shaped your life and its directions. They may have been big events such as marriage, war, moving to a new city, or retirement. Or they may have been small events that had big outcomes, like reading a book or going on a hike.

SENSITIZING QUESTIONS
1. What was the earliest branching point in your life? What happened, and why was it important? How old were you at the time?

Day 251: Reflection of Hotel Quarantine

I had a quarantine order from 16 Jul - 26 Jul 2021. Everything happens just too quickly. Today is my last day of Quarantine order given by MOH. To me, it is like staycation at So Sofitel. The hotel services was great. The staffs tried their best to accomodate my diets, my toiletries and my needs.

The desk corner is like my drawing, dining, online, music place. I find it very comforting doing my own things at my own time and space. There are no house rules, just simply me. I can mess up or clean up the place whenever I want to. This is the kind of freedom that I want. To be honest, I am grateful to have this opportunity to stay at such a comfort and luxurious place at such a choatic situation. The external factors do not affect me anymore. I have come to a point to realise that since I have no control what will happen to me. I will take care and support myself instead.

I personally like this coffee corner. They make it like an mini bar where they keeps their cups and sauces, flash there.

Due to the space constrain, I like the compactness. I don't feel the room has anything lack. Probably the staffs also attend to my needs. I enjoyed the most is their plant based diets meals. The chef really prepare the meals well. I have some surpises in terms of taste and what kind of food they prepared and it was interesting. They gave me free flow of water. Previously I heard shangri-la has to ask the patrons to boil their water.

Quarantine isn't a bad thing if you know what are you going to do!

Instead of making myself feel bored, I planned for my staycation ahead. I made myself feel at home. I brought my books, masks, healthy snacks and food, my pen and paper. I spent most of my time watching movies, read Franz Ruppert book "Who am I in the traumatizing society."

This paragraph speaks to me.

Pyschotraumas cause the trama conditions to be permanently stored in the pyche and the body. The unbearable reality has to be located deep within himself and there it continues to exist, even if the outer reality is over.

Traumatised people have to make tremendous effort all the time, to prevent the intrusion of traumatic memories into their conscious perception. It is the only way in which they can resonably cope with their everyday life.

This means that a traumatised psyche finds it difficult to distinguish clearly and reliably
1） inside from outside
2） then and now
3） I from You
4） Reality from Friction

Te distinction between self and other people fails. The unfamiliar is experienced as one's own and what belongs to oneself to experienced as one's own.
For example, I feel like you
You think You are I

You believe / think that you can make decision about me, even though you have no control over yourself!

How true this statement is. We always think we have control over our life and someone else's life but no one has any control. The best relationship is you live your own life and I live my own. We just share our experiences when appropriately.

IOPT Healing Process I did my own healing process on thurs.
My intention is "I health".
Again, it was a very deep process.
My feelings were hurt by my family and friends.
I had to pretend to be someone that I think what people want me to be. Basically I lost myself. Those were the most painful experiences, especially the drawing experiences, after all the hurtful remarks, I was so afraid to draw again. I am so glad that the traumatised parts surface up and I acknowledge them. Thanks my survival parts protect my traumatised parts so well. I can release them now.

I can draw freely now Surprisingly, after this healing process, I am able to visualise what kind of house I want to live. I need space. I draw my dream home out, the way I want it. Another big shif is that I can draw a lot easier. I drew 2 artworks within these few days, I can draw more to connect with my own inner state. I feel very calm, focus and joyful whenever I draw. It is an theraputic experience! 用心去画就对了

Pandora encourages me to design products in future. Such as mugs, dishes, placemats, notepads, scarfs, stationary, tote bags etc. (She is a very humble lady. Later, I found out she is a very successful career woman, she no longer needs to concern about money as she is living in abundance. She told me that having a finanical stability will help me in my retirement. I do agree with her.) I felt so touched and thanked her for planting such wonderful ideas into me.

IOPT Hangout I also attended Rebecca's hangout as her topic covers the trauma of sexuality. She mentioned when we have sex in an unhealthy way, it is a form of disassociation from the presence. The body and the psyche have to split of in order not to feel the pain. What an insight to me. I guess it applies the same as food, TV programmes, my favourite korean dramas, gamblings, drugs etc

This special staycation makes me realise that time is precious and valuable. Money I can always make but once time is wasted, it is gone. My "me time" is precious, where I can connect with myself fully, truly and authentically. People around me, I will cherish as I cherish myself. I love you, Rachel.

Staying contact with myself makes me healthier, wiser and making better decisions for myself. The people, events and things happen to me have also become positive and supportive.

I am truly grateful for these new experiences. Finding back myself is amazing and it is truly a blessing!

Day 250: KDrama - Vincenzo

Starring by Song Joong-ki, the series’ protagonist is Vincenzo, a Korean boy who was adopted by an Italian mafia boss and subsequently introduced to the mafia world. Following the death of his adoptive father, Vincenzo decides to return to South Korea after many years, and take a new job. Unsurprisingly, Vincenzo represents an interesting blend of Korean and Italian cultures. When Vincenzo displays habits like cursing in Italian when he is frustrated, and holding Italian cuisine close to his heart, it feels rather natural in a pleasing way.

Vincenzo is a K-drama with crime, dark comedy, and slight romance that aired on Netflix. It stars Song Joong-ki (Vincenzo Cassano), Jeon Yeo-bin (Hong Cha-young), Ok Tae-cyeon (Jang Jun-woo), Kwak Dong-yeon (Jang Han-seo - Jun Woo's younger brother) and Kim Yeo-jin (Choi Myung-hee - Jun Woo's Legal Lawyer). The drama instantly became a hit due to its storyline and the amazing acting performances from the actors!

Vincenzo Cassano, a mafia consigliere, has dark charisma and is very competent. After he leaves Italy, he flies to South Korea to tear down the Geumga Plaza since he wants to reclaim the hidden gold down there after the owner of the building, passes away. The plan doesn’t go well since a real estate company under Babel Group illegally snatches ownership of Geumga Plaza.

Vincenzo has to become involved with the residents of Geumga Plaza and the attorney Hong Cha-young. Initially, the residents are suspicious about him but shortly accept him after Vincenzo fights for their rights along with Hong Cha-young. After Cha-young father’s death, she manages his father’s law firm named Jipuragi and cooperates with Vincenzo against Babel Group.

I pretty like the residents as they are warm hearted, caring and sometimes crack some jokes with each other. Although Vincenzo seems very dark and thrilling, the existence of the Geumga Plaza residents made it have a great sense of humor! They portray such hilarious scenes that somehow calm down the tension between the conflicts! This scene was the residents were having fights with Babel Group fighters when they wanted to tear down the building.

I took quite awhile to finish this drama, almost one month, as the entire drama is just too gruesome for me. The part that I really dislike was in the last episode, Vincenzo portrays the heartbreaking and brutal scene that you guys couldn’t have imagined! The death of Choi Myung-hee and Jang Jun-woo marked the end game of Vincenzo, although it was painful for Jang Han-seo after all of the sacrifices that he has done. Vincenzo and Hong Cha-young won and even got the hidden gold safely.

Day 249: KDrama - Hotel Del Luna

Hotel Del Luna, a mystical hotel that caters to spirits and prepares them for their journey to the afterlife. Things shake-up when its owner, Jang Man Wol (IU), recruits elite hotelier Goo Chan Sung (Yeo Jin Goo) to be her new general manager. After she unlocks his ability to see ghosts, Chan Sung's resistance towards taking on the role is futile. A new world opens up for him at Hotel Del Luna when he finally takes Man Wol up on her offer.

Reflection
I thought that the writing was pretty solid throughout the drama. It is refreshing to watch a drama that ventures into foreign territory and breaks free of the traditional kdrama tropes and cliches to explore the less commonly visited genres of horror (though I wouldn't really consider this drama to be scary at all) and fantasy + romance. The plot is layered and has some depth, with plenty of twists and turns to keep you on the edge.

The main character Man Weol's story captivates you right from the get-go, as the show uses flashbacks very well to reveal small snippets of her past at a time, causing you to be curious about her past, and eager to find out more. The generous use of humour also helps to balance out some of the heavier, more emotional scenes, while also allowing the drama to be easy and fun to watch throughout its lengthy episodes. Personally, it was fitting to the themes of this drama and very beautiful to watch, as well as very emotional. The drama explores the themes/ideas of 'letting go', 'resentment', 'unselfish love' and 'forgiveness', which are all very meaningful, thought-provoking ideas, not just in the context of this drama, but these themes also have a place in our lives as well.

The story line was new and refreshing, and it was filled with moments that were relatable, hilarious and heart breaking. After watching the final episode, in my opinion, one of the many masterpieces of Korean television. The actors all had great chemistry together, especially the main leads. I really liked the way each relationship was explained and portrayed. I like the trio staffs: Bartender, Receptionist and Lady Assistant, who have unique stories on their own. I also like Mago that has 12 unique characters, but only shown 6 for this drama. Because of this, the last episode had me bawling my eyes out as we said goodbye to each of the staff members. Also, the ending to me was brilliant. The way that they all were connected in their next lives made me so happy as I felt like they all got the happy endings that they deserved, especially Man Wol and Chan Sung.

It was a tradition practice that the staff will take one group photo when they leave the hotel. It is a pretty heartwarming idea.

Hotel del Luna, although a fantastical drama, is actually a foray into the reality of life.

It teaches us many things:
1) Flowers from the moon tree, life is beautiful yet fleeting - and so, we must make the most out of it.

2) Humans are endowed with the ability to make choices and are consequently tasked to bear responsibility for the choices they made.

3) Life is not always easy or fair - as such, we must learn to play the hand we're dealt with much courage and grace.

4) If the past is a source of suffering or ill-feelings, we must learn to let go and make peace with it and with ourselves when it doesn't enhance or value add our lives.

5) Our way of thinking and feeling can have a powerful outcome or influence.

6) Revenge is sweet for it provides an outlet for pent-up aggression and wounded feelings. It is create pain and sufferings and does not diminish with time, thus inflicting endless pain on the person who exacted vengeance.

7) Forgiveness has a rending and liberating power; that love has a transformation power which can shape our character.

8) Goo Chan-seung has perfectly shown us - that true love is put others before self or it makes you forget yourself and seek the welfare of your beloved.

"It is natural to feel sad and disappointed when you let go of someone you love. Just like a flower dreams of blooming again while withering away, you will live, meet and love again." Mago, Hotel Del Luna

At the end of episode 16, Kim Soo-hyun as new owner of the Guest House of the Moon, renaming it Hotel Blue Moon. Hopefully there will be second season of Hotel Del Luna.

Day 248: Money Dates

I spent an hour to sort out my finances.
Yes, I ran away from facing my financial report again.
It wasn't easy to face my own finance.
But it will be harder in future if I continue to manage my funds in old ways.

Having money problem is a good problem to solve.
It just means that I have to change my ways to get in more projects.
I find ways through my wisdom to resolve this.
Working through my finances is the way to finance abundance.

Interestingly, I heard 2 elderly discussing about their own finances, basically they have no issues with their money. They had passive incomes and they are able to do charity work. These are the directions I want to go. Having more than enough is abundance. After hearing their conversation, I feel that I have more confident in taking care of my money. It is an abundance quest.

Day 247: Voice Coaching - 2nd Lesson

In second lesson, I learn
To project my voice in front, not above.

Relaxation Technique to relax voice muscle and body, when I feel more relax, my voice sounds more alive.

Visualisation Technique, as if it is already happening.

Practise the vowels
Ya Yeh Yee Yo You

Ha Hay Hee Ho Hu

We also go through the "Mary had a little lamb" script with more vocal expression.
It is my first time I realised that storytelling can be so expressive.

Day 246: Hope

［希望］
人要有希望，才有力量。

信心是一点一滴累积而成的。 #ZenArt #Mindfulness

Today also have a meeting with the teachers on how to conduct dharma lessons through online. It was a fruitful meeting. Always good to prepare in advance so that the time is effectively used.

Day 245: KDrama - Tale of the Nine-Tailed Fox

The mythical nine-tailed fox, or gumiho, Lee Yeon had to settle in the city many centuries ago. Able to transform into human form, he eradicates supernatural beings that threaten the mortal world. His real aim is to find the reincarnation of his lost first love. He lives in the city where he is assisted by his loyal subject, veterinarian, and fellow Gumiho, Goo Shin-Joo.

The talented television producer, Nam Ji Ah, works in a show that features urban myths. In the past, her parents were involved in a mysterious car accident and disappeared, and she suspects that Lee Yeon might be connected with this accident.

The half-brother to Lee Yeon is the captivating Lee Rang. Despite being half-human himself, he harbors a deep-seated contempt for all people. For fun, he will unleash his seductive prowess by promising to grant them their wishes, only to trick them into paying a hefty price for their earthly desires.

The protagonist, Serpent, who were supposed to take over Lee Yeon's body so that he could rule the world. Unfortunately, he is quite "powerless" in front of Lee Yeon. Even though he tried to kill a lot of people and make lots of people fall sick. Reflection I enjoyed watching this fantasy drama with a compelling love story backdrop about star-crossed lovers with intertwined fates was enough to entice me but the ending I just felt it was a bit nonsensical. Why the younger brother has to die? Is it because he is 2nd lead? When Lee Rang comes back he was 10 years old but when Lee Yeon comes back he was at adult age. It doesn't make sense and at the very last part, Lee Yeon turns back to Fox, which even more strange.

I thought it could be better if the drama can show the nine-tailed lol :D Throughout the drama, they just mentioned that he has nine tailed but never see his true form. To me, Lee Yeon is a just a human with special power. Not really seeing the "Fox" capabilities.

Generally, I like the part where they shoot in an ancient korean times, 600 years ago. The scenery was beautiful. I also like the part where Ji Ah tried to find back her parents and relive her life in a different outcome. It is like to let us know that we can change our destiny by changing our thoughts, feelings and actions.

Day 244: Busy with Asean Report

I was busy with NUS Business School, Corporate Sustainbility Asean Report.
Luckily, I was able to complete this 50 pages of layouts.
I personally love this globe on the green forest. It symbolise we are able to make this earth sustainable.
Unfortunately, the client doesn't like to globe and asked me remove it.
Well, we can't please the clients all the time. Just give them what they want.
I can always keep this cover for my own portfolio.

Day 243: Voice Coaching - 1st session

First time engaged a voice coach，Christiane to teach me how to use my vocal variety.
I get to know my lowest and highest tone of my voice.
I also realised my pitch belongs to a higher pitch.
It is easier to make myself feel more excited whenever I am.
Voice can help to emphasis a certain expression, mood and feelings.
By understanding my own voice, I can express and articulate myself better.

My goals are 1. To appear more confidently when I speak.
2. To improve on my pronunciation.
3. To have more control over my voice crack.
4. To speak with more tonality, that would have better diverse intonation.
5. To learn the range of my vocal variety that I already have.

As it is my first class, I can't remember how to make my tone from low to high after I came back from my class.
I will practise this reading first.

Mary Had A Little Lamb
Mary had a little lamb,
whose fleece was white as snow.
And everywhere that Mary went,
The lamb was sure to go.

It followed her to school one day
which was against the rules.
It made the children laugh and play,
to see a lamb at school.

And so the teacher turned it out,
but still it lingered near,
And waited patiently about,
till Mary did appear.

“Why does the lamb love Mary so?”
the eager children cry.
“Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know.”
the teacher did reply

Baa Baa Black Sheep
Baa, baa black sheep
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir
Three bags full.

One for my master
And one for my dame
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.

Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King’s horses and all the King’s men,
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

Hush, Little Baby
Hush, little baby, don’t say a word,
Papa’s gonna buy you a mockingbird.

And if that mockingbird don’t sing,
Papa’s gonna buy you a diamond ring.

And if that diamond ring turn brass,
Papa’s gonna buy you a looking glass.

And if that looking glass gets broke,
Papa’s gonna buy you a billy goat.

And if that billy goat don’t pull,
Papa’s gonna buy you a cart and bull.

And if that cart and bull turn over,
Papa’s gonna buy you a dog named Rover.

And if that dog named Rover won’t bark.
Papa’s gonna to buy you and horse and cart.

And if that horse and cart fall down,
Well you’ll still be the sweetest little baby in town.