Thursday, August 23, 2007

爱国的季节

八月绝对是个爱国的季节。

首先,看了很草根的881,前晚又看了像是梁文福歌曲回顾展的《天冷就回来》,突然觉得做新加坡人很值得骄傲。

天冷出乎意料的好,音乐剧《老九》是巨大的learning curve,老九犯的错误几乎都纠正过来。天冷的歌是‘无得弹’,梁的歌- 包赢。 可是有点疲劳轰炸,这么多首歌可以分开两个音乐剧来唱,《天冷就回来》和《天热就出去》 哈哈哈哈。哎呀,忍不住啦是身上的corny worms在咬我!

还没有看的人赶紧买票哦, 听说只剩下好少的票哟。

Sunday, August 19, 2007

一人一半 881主题曲



my current fav song, i am learning how to sing it so that i can go karaoke!


Friday, August 17, 2007

Thank you again

Just had my first annual checkup and everything is normal. It's such an irony, I have always wanted to be special, to be unique. But for these tests, I only want to be normal.

With all the love and concern cast over me, i am normal.

Thank you my dearest............ you people are the shining stars in my life.

hugs & kisses

Thursday, August 16, 2007

吃软不吃硬


我是典型吃软饭的。

只要朋友稍微对我好一点就会感动到九霄云外。


任你怎样猜你猜你猜猜猜,都不会猜到这两颗星星是谁送给我的。













陈崇敬

881


一人一半,感情不散...........

i cannot shake off the melody of this beautifully arranged and written song from Royston Tan's latest movie 881.

881 is Royston's effort in capturing the life of getai (歌台) singers, and getai being a very Singapore thing, i therefore expected a very Singapore film.

and i was not disappointed.

it is a very Singapore film and i love his cinematic eye for local movies. Unlike another local movie maker 梁志强 whose local flavour is very much restricted to a very tv style. In Royston movie, u don't hv a feeeling u are watching a telemovie. It is not easy bcos he started with short films and some people juz get stucked doing short films and cant move on.

but having said all these, i am disappointed with the weak story line. It could hv been a very moving story. Imagine how colourful the lives of these people can be. But the characters in the movie are not fully flesh out and i suspect it's the director's fault - since he also wrote the story.

there is not enough said abt their inner emotions, why they love the geitai so much and most redundant of all is the mute character and his bird. Really, except for the silly jokes made abt him & his 'bird', i cant see why the guy kept his pet. It didnt help when the actor playing the mute guy looked and acted, well, dumb. Hey u think it's easy playing non speaking roles? Tony Leong Chiu Wai was made to play a mute in Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao Hsien's City of Sadness bcos his mandarin was so bad, the director couldnt take it! But Tony Leong, oh how should someone describe those soulful eyes, speaking to the audience in words and volume much better than spoken lines! (no, i am not comparing him to Tony, it will be very unfair to him. they are not in the same league.)

and the magic realism part didnt work either, too thin a spread, it's a very weak attempt.

but i really love the sound track, it is the best sound track from a local movie. Really wish i could get my hands on the CD if there is any.

and the costumes! my oh my they are so wonderfully loud and riotously imaginative i want to be wearing them too!!! Wondered whether they were all newly designed or modified from existing ones owned by the real singers. Anyways, kudos to the costume designer.

and all Singaporeans should watch the movie once.

Papaya 万岁!

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Espectacular

The human spirit is so amazing

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Announcing the Arrival of Prince Chen Wei

everybody say hello to my latest toy: Chen Wei - my sis's 2nd bundle of joy!






Monday, July 09, 2007

Dream chaser

another heartwarming story of giving up a high paying job to pursue a dream.

my friend Moses used to be a highflyer principal but gave up the job to open a shop at Toa Payoh.
his shop is very fun and the concept is very similar to Settlers - a place where u can play board games with friends at an hourly paid rate.

at Pauseability (nice name), instead of playing games, u get to laze around or make art & craft using materials provided in the shop. i did my first canvas painting !

Moses is very creative, u can see from the slide show some of the things made by him.
pls visit his webside www.pauseability.com.sg for more info and http://www.flickr.com/photos/7299994@N04/ for more photos of the shop.

it's an ideal place for friends to meet and create very special gifts or like sin yue, buy a handmade ear ring for my birthday!

pls hah, these grainy grainy photos not taken by me hor
nor my powershot Canon.
but they look fine at flickr.com - don't believe go & see for yourself lah


Sunday, July 01, 2007

what did ah lian say?

one night ah beng sent ah lian home after a date.

at the void deck, ah beng asked her :"wan to send u upstairs or not?"

ah lian pointed to her breast once and then her temple.

ah beng left.

wat did ah lian 'say' to ah beng?

Friday, May 04, 2007

The time is ripe

yap, today i got my reading glasses.

it is so liberating to be able to read those tiny sperm- size words printed on brochures which says : IMPORTANT! Please read before signing.

and finally, i can feel the wind blowing my hair.

Monday, April 16, 2007

可怜的Mr 杜

最近每天下午都打雷下雨,那天在巴士上看到细雨纷飞中,路人无不行色匆匆飞步避雨。突然想起现在正值清明节,于是随口吟了句“清明时节雨纷纷,路上行人欲断魂”。谁知身边那个听了竟说“Hah?! 遇断魂?Horror story ah? ”

今天和学妹提起这个笑话,她竟然问我“真的有这样的诗meh?”

其实我也好不到那里去,根本想不起诗的下句,更别说诗人的名字,一点印象也没有。

为了还杜先生一个交待,在此特刊全诗如下:

清明时节雨纷纷
,
路上行人欲断魂。
借问酒家何处有?
牧童遥指杏花村。

----(唐)杜 牧

可能到我侄儿连清明节也不知是‘虾米’东西呢。


唉,一代不如一代。

Thursday, April 12, 2007

今早的阳光特灿烂

因为赶着翻译作业,已经两个星期没去植物园。今天起了个大早,一踏进植物园的大门就心情大好,感觉天特别蓝,草特别绿,自己的笑容特别甜!

最让我动容的其中一棵大树落英缤纷,铺满一地小白花,煞是好看。风一吹来,花儿徐徐飘落,姿态潇洒从容,不少还落在另一棵树的树梢,让它看起来像是开满了花。虽是凋零之花,但成就了自己,也照亮了别人。

不止,不止,还有美丽的花蝴蝶在花丛里徘徊,寻寻觅觅,好像真的在找寻它的前辈子。当然少不了毛茸茸的大狗,蹦蹦跳的小狗;随着那首被用到烂的黄飞鸿的音乐要太极的aunties;讲话大大声的‘大长今’旅行团。。。。

嗯,还有养眼的six pack - 猛男。

是啦,家里那个也养眼啦,而且比猛男还多出一个bonus pack。

Monday, March 26, 2007

these amazing women in my life

24 Mar 2007 was a memorable day for me.

In the morning, I attended the talk organized by Creative-O on environmental issues. And I learnt abt a NGO called Roots & Shoots (www.rootsandshoots.org) which invests its time & resources in educating the young abt caring for the environment. I was very moved by the short interview introducing the founder of the group – Jane Goodall, someone who has devoted much of her life to researching & caring for chimpanzees.


i am so inspired by her, i have this urge to get autobiograpghy on her and find out more.

The good news is one of the amazing beng sisters, beng chiak, is going to start the local branch of Roots & Shoots.

article from zaobao.com
英国著名黑猩猩研究家珍古德创办“根与芽”环保计划 要在新加坡扎根
游润恬
  “根向地下无尽地伸延,形成稳固的基础。芽虽然看起来娇小薄弱,却能够为了寻觅阳光而破土移石。”
  英国著名黑猩猩研究家珍古德(Jane Goodall)博士以这两句话,形象地勾勒出选择以“根与芽”(Roots & Shoots)为一项环保教育计划命名的原因。
  根与芽计划的主要教育对象,是从幼稚园到大学的学生,宗旨是鼓励年轻人主动关怀大自然、动物及社区。
计划的中文宣传手册印有以上古德博士说过的话,包括以下阐明:“如果我们为地球所制造的各种微调是一道道坚固无比的城墙,遍布世界各地生根萌芽的千万颗种子,就足以改变世界。”
  古德(73岁)自从在1986年淡出研究界后,便把更多时间和精力投入在倡导环保及人权上。她刚于去年底在新加坡成立国际珍古德教育及保育协会(JGI)的第25个国际分会。该协会很大一部分的工作是推动根与芽计划。
  本地分会才几个月大,台湾分会却已成立近十年。台湾分会执行长郭雪贞前天抵达新加坡,准备展开一系列中英语讲座,向本地人介绍根与芽计划。
当初决定加入这个组织,部分原因是受珍古德博士讲的一句话所感动:“每个人有意识或下意识做的每一件事情,都会对环境有很大的影响。”
  爱护环境、关心社会可说是个价值观,同其他价值观一样应该从小灌输。根与芽计划最小的对象是幼稚园。
郭雪贞说:“从小就让他们接触环保意识很重要,这样他们长大后,一辈子所做的决定,也许就能不一样,跟他父母做的决定不一样。教育就是要教人们做出不一样的决定。”
  在她看来,要解决规模庞大的环境问题,始于个人每天所做的决定。她说:“一个人的力量虽然单薄,但两个人、三个人、十个人一起行动,影响就不一样了。这个行动可以从很小的生活选择起步,比如今天出门,我该搭公车(巴士)、骑脚踏车还是走路?”
  她认为一味反复宣导没用,“最有效的方法是让年轻人有亲身体验,让他们知道行动能带来改变”。

In the evening I went for the xin yao sing along at National Stadium! It was my last time singing there since the old dame will be demolished soon. It brought back memories of singing there during the Youth Festivals.

As always, there was a lone butterfly spotted. It meant something for some of us.

Spy was jealous bcos he couldn’t be there. So to compensate, we had our own sing along in the kitchen the next morning. While I was brushing my teeth.

Friday, March 23, 2007

Lucky & Flo

these are the names of the 2 Malaysian police dogs that helped sniffed out the huge qty of pirated dvds in JB's Holiday Plaza.

guess what? the pirates now want these dogs assassinated, they actually put a price on the dogs' heads! the police, to protect the dogs, have transfered them to a safe secret place.

haahaahaa, this is really short film material - sure win award one.
spy said got potential to b Infernal Affair part 4 - wah Oscar material somemore!!!!


news taken from zaobao.com:
两犬捣毁盗版有功 马盗版集团悬赏取狗命

(吉隆坡综合讯)马来西亚盗版光碟集团已经发出悬赏,要杀死最近在捣毁南马盗版光碟大本营行动中立了大功的两只灵犬。
  国内贸易及消费人事务部执法组星期二在两只灵犬“Lucky”和“Flo”的协助下,捣毁柔佛新山假日广场大厦内的一个盗版光碟大本营,起获百万张盗版录音光碟、影音光碟和电脑游戏软件,同时逮捕六名嫌犯。


当局也起获12台制造和烧录盗版光碟的机器。若以每片盗版光碟5令吉计算,当局所起获的盗版货市值估计逾千万令吉。
  《新海峡时报》昨天报道,由于不堪蒙受重大损失,盗版光碟集团首脑已发出悬赏,要取“Lucky”和“Flo”的命,但赏金数目不详。
  贸消部执法组副主任费尔道斯透露,南马盗版光碟大本营被捣毁之后,线人通知贸消部,盗版光碟集团的成员正在追寻这两只灵犬。
  他说:“这两只灵犬对盗版光碟集团是个威胁,因此(盗版集团首脑)下令干掉它们。”
  贸消部接到盗版光碟集团打算对“Lucky”和“Flo”不利的消息后,已把它们转移到另一所更安全的房子,严密保护。

“Lucky”和“Flo”是于本月14日空运抵马,投入服务,使马国成为世界第一个使用灵狗侦查光碟,致力打击盗版光碟或盗版数码光碟的国家。它们在英国受训,能够嗅出制作光碟时所使用的化学原料的气味,让盗版光碟集团无处遁形。
  在星期二的行动中,两只灵犬先被带到假日广场大厦楼下的停车场,其中一只马上追住一辆正要开走的汽车,执法人员截停该车,从行李箱搜出大批盗版光碟。该车司机和乘客过后带领执法人员上楼,展开取缔行动。

Monday, March 19, 2007

my first opera recital

wa haha, spy & i actually went for Renee Flemming's opera recital at Victoria Concert Hall last sat.

only because we got compli tickets. so we thought, just give it a try la.

and for the first time in my life, i heard the soprano version of Over the Rainbow & Summertime.

never knew the rainbow song could be this moving.

Ms Fleming sang both as encore & she brought the house down.

i didnt expect to enjoy myself this much, may be also bcos of the low expectation.

i like her not becos she has such powerful lungs (she impressed us w/o using microphone) but the fact that she sang in character. She was very expressive, using her body language.

i like her also bcos she tried to connect with the audience throughout her singing.
for me that's very important, something comes alive between the performer and the audience.
that's why we go for live performance right?

so even though i could not understand a word except for the 2 english songs, the emotions came through for me.

never heard of Ms Fleming before sat night. but i think she is a true diva, in the positive sense of the word.

Friday, March 16, 2007

finally he smiles

went for my weekly chinese sinseh visit today.

finally, the stern father figure sinseh gave me a smile.

the reason for such a big hooha that it warrant writing in the blog was i kanna scolding from him during my previous visit.

well, i didnt appear before his royal highness bcos it was chinese new year and then spy's father came visiting and diagnosed with shingles the next day and the virus went to his eyes and we had to rush him to the eye specialist and so i had a very drama week.

after everything settled, it was 3 weeks later.

the sinseh looked me in the eyes and said in a i-am-not-joking-with-u tone: "i asked u to come everyweek and take medicine 6 times a week. u come once a month. do u know your tumour was not small and it may recur?"

for a moment i thought "even my late father would not have been so harsh with me!"

luckily, i have become quite thick skin & even smiled at him.

and i heard my friends agreeing that i deserve a little scolding.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

shake legs

my friends have been asking me "no need to work not bored meh?"

actually i am really enjoying myself.

in the morning i will do my taiji exercise then go for breakfast. and by the time i get home & read a bit of newspaper, hey, it's time for lunch. then rest a bit after lunch, go online, do my cross stitch or more reading, hmm, dinner time!

of course cannot day in day out repeat the same rountine lah. i started my volunteer work at Red Cross on friday. then i need to visit the chinese doc once a week, meet friends for dinner/lunch/breakfast, watch performances/movies (film fest is round the corner!), visit my nephew, go to the countryside (we have u know)........ so many things to do how to be bored?!

and i have been away from work for more than 6 months already.

nice.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!




CHINESE NEW YEAR so must be red red!

wah today i very proud of myself b'cos i am technically moronic but the fact that i actually set up this blog myself and now managed to change the look and add pic.....
heehee, actually very simple, clickingn does the trick.

and thanks to ngiap heng who took those beautiful photos.
WISHING ALL OF YOU
GOOD HEALTH
AND
A FULFILLING PIG YEAR!











Sunday, January 21, 2007

bad bad me

I have been a bad girl for not updating my blog.

Pure laziness plus the fact that I dun hv anything interesting to write about.
Too much naval gazing has made yixiunai a boring person.

Then I realized my friends, esp those overseas, have been very worried – “oh dear, kahwei must be too weak to write.” Plus the fact that I missed a surprise birthday party simply b’cos I didn’t update my blog!

So my dear friends, I am feelin better now – can talk on the phone and I have returned to my routine walks plus taiqi at the botanic garden. I have so far gone for a theatre production and a movie, gone shoppin at Vivo City, had meals with friends…….

Still have to deal with the excessive gas in the stomach – I went to see a specialist and the scope showed that the opening to the stomach is not closing properly which explains the excessive & violent burping. But now the condition has improved and I am eating better. And no more sleeping pills for me hurray! And my hair is growing……

So dun worry about me. I wil see another Chinese physician to improve my health. And for the next 5 years, I wil hv to take hormone control pill.

I won’t go back to work till another 6 months. So my friends in s’pore – u can call me or visit me now! I am good enough to play mahjong too!!! and dun forget to invite me to your next surprise party heehee.

guess I won’t be updating this blog so often now that I have the energy to talk. But I wil check my email more frequently so my overseas friends, pls email me.

The fact that I am scolding spy more these days shows that I am really recovering…….