ALeXieL's MiSaNtHroPiE~~

A Quickie

2008-04-15T21:47:00.002+08:00

Ok... lots of things i need to update but for now...

Check out the superband website on Channel U... Our group... and our mascot...

http://u.mediacorptv.com/story.aspx?Editorial_ID=740&SubCategoryID=20

http://u.mediacorptv.com/story.aspx?Editorial_Id=741

We are called Chabalang....杂吧琅 dunno why they nv put down.... our Mascot is Momo...

Ahem... WE ARE NOT AN ACAPELLA GROUP.... We are just good at harmonizing... hahhaa...

Yah... tt's all for now...

My Journey..

2008-01-29T21:39:00.000+08:00

Well... Pineapple tarts were not the only thing that came out of my fruitful weekend...

I took part in both semis for Impresario 2008 and "Be My Valentine" over the weekend. the results was.... (drum roll...... CHEANG!)

I made it through both!!!

For impresario it was really a close call.. coz there were really many strong contestants.

The sound system was pretty sucky... no feedback moniter... i can hardly hear myself and the music... Somemore i was the 1st soloist of the day.... it all added up and i tot i din really perform as well as i should have... Still i'm ever so thankful to be in the finals... :)

I have never been this far in a competition since... primary school. wahahaha... Feeling nervous already... somemore impresario finals is in Mediacorp TV Theatre... Now i dun even know wat song i should sing...

Singing Competition Updates:

17 Feb - Be My Valentine (Finals) - 8 Finalist, 2 Rounds of competition, only 3 will b chosen into the 2nd round. Need to prep 2 songs... 1 fast 1 slow... *pull hair....*
23 Feb - TalentQuest 2008 (Semis) - J8, Group competition... Song chosen... but yet to learn and divide parts...
1 Mar - Impresario 2008 (Finals) - MediaCorp TV Theatre, 4 Female Finalists, Lotsa Jitters... WAT SONG TO SING?!

* i still got sore throat.... bad omen... (-_-

Pineapple Tarts!!

2008-01-29T21:17:00.000+08:00

After slogging by the oven for 3 days... Here is the fruit of our sweat and aching muscles... Still so good.. Mmmm mmm...

32 pineapples... 6 hours non-stop stirring over the fire....
18 斤of flour... wakingup 6 30 in the morning.. and non-stop baking till 5pm everyday...

Great pineapple tarts... priceless... (tt's why.. we only give them out as gifts... not for sale...)

Why... why do i have to get sore throat now... :(

AleXieL Got Talent!

2008-01-14T00:30:00.000+08:00

eh... ok lah... dunno if got talent yet... but i have been putting my singing abilities to the test... entering myself to a few singing contests... This year i am trying to take all the competitions more seriously... and try to push my singing and performance abilities up a level...

Current involvements...

TalentQuest 2008 - Group Category >> Semi-finals, 23rd Feb, Junction 8
Impressario 2008 - Female Solo Category >> Semi-finals, 27th Jan, Causeway Point
Music Clinic, "Be My Valentine" Singing Competition - Solo Category >> Semi-finals, 26th Jan, Music Clinic

I must be crazy...

My New Big Ass Shades...

2008-01-14T00:17:00.001+08:00

Went shopping today with shan after talentquest... and bought this pair of sunglasses.. I always wanted one of these big ass sunglasses.... but was never convinced enough to get one till today.. Thank you shan for convincing me hahhaa... I always wear spectacles i dunno why i need them hahaa.. but still i love them.. and i think they love me... coz i look good in them... *wink behind the shades*

I dunno how many times i've tried to take a pic of me in them on my phone... none of them look good enough... until i decided to play cheat and use my mirror... so i can see myself on my phone screen and adjust myself hehe... I just dunno how to 自拍.... sigh...

蓝光惠。唱歌... 真的会唱歌

2008-01-13T23:40:00.000+08:00

This is our group... "蓝光惠。唱歌". Named after each of us!!!

Well.. today we sang in the Quarterfinals of Talent Quest 2008 and we MADE IT TO THE SEMI FINALS!!!

Its pretty amazing for a group tt just started 2 weeks ago... hahaha...

We started as classmates in a singing class learning mandarin pop singing. Getting tired of just singing pop, we switched to a Harmonizing/backup singing Class in Dec. After just 3 weeks of lesson, we decided to join Talent Quest 2008... just for the fun of it... well at least i tot it was for fun.

Upon knowing auditions is just less than a week away, we decided to go for the auditions performing the ONE song we know from our 1st mth of lessons. "彩虹的微笑" Amazingly, we managed to impress the judges and got thru to the quaters. And one of the judges was Dee from JuZ-B...

"Are you guys from the Acapella Society?"
"(got such thing ah...).... No..."
"Then are you in an acapella group?"
"... No... *pause*... but we are from the same class..." (act innocent)
I think we got them fooled... hahha...

Quaters being just 1 week away... and we dun even have a 2nd song... we quickly picked one to learn and harmonized... and got a lot of help from our beloved mentors to put up an act today... hahha..

Well.. unfortunately we weren't as fantastic on stage as we were off stage... still... i guess we did okay since they let us thru! Dee did commented that we need a beatboxer to complete the group... I also wish loh... but its not something u can just pick up overnight... for now.. we would just work with wat we have bah....

For the next round, we really need to work on our stage presence... step up our act and choreography... Quite excited abt it... looking forward to it all...

告别二〇〇七

2007-12-31T22:35:00.000+08:00

我在二〇〇七年做的最后一件事... ...

吃半锅炒饭。

Carbonara.. Now u see it... Well u dun...

2007-12-31T22:17:00.000+08:00

After watching "I am Legend", acting on impulse, my bf and i decided to cook our own dinner tonite. I have been toking abt trying to make the carbonara after seeing how simple it was form Jamie Oliver's show... So out of memory, we went to NTUC supermarket, grabbed a couple of ingredients and head straight home to fire up the stove.

As simple as it looks on tv... within less than an hour, we finish preparing and cooking our bacon and mushroom carbonara... And it taste pretty decent too!! Though i found it a little too eggy... while my partner tot it was too creamy... Basically it was a little rich and i would say it is best served warm. But tt's coming from 2 person who actually preferred tomato based pasta sauce in the 1st place. We just tried carbonara My brothers found it okay... Maybe the portion was a little too much. we cooked for 2 but i think there was enough for 3... regular eaters... Still, it was rather successful, for cooking something without a proper recipe... i din even really know how much of wat to put in... haha...it all by "feeling"...

To accompany the carbonara, we also bot a bottle of Hardy's Chardonnay... It's pretty easy to drink and fruity too... finished the entire bottle in a meal. hehe...

It was only at the end of the satisfying meal that i found out in horror that i forgot to take a picture of my beautiful carbonara.. So as u can see... i can only show u the empty plates and bottle of our little cooking adventure... But i hope in the near future, i can supplement with a picure of my second attempt and i would like to add a grill salmon fillet on top of the pasta... hmm...

Financial Summary...

2007-12-30T12:33:00.000+08:00

I keep a spreadsheet of my monthly expenses... Well its sort of the downloaded transaction history from my bank account. But i tidy it up and update to my savings graph to track how much i spend and save monthly...

Its the yr end now and my accounts... looks bad... over spending... credit card payments not meant for pple of my kind of income... My whole looking-for-a-new-career ordeal made me suffer quite a bit financially... I lost most of my savings from my prevous 2 yrs of work.... IT SUCKS!!!... Din really felt the pinch till now....

Den one has to ask the question.... Was the search for a new career all worth it?

In a way... I had to do it.. i would regret and be miserable if i din even try. But do i think i have tried hard enough... nope... So what did i gain?

Definately lessons learnt, I learnt about other jobs.. i learnt being jobless... I learnt getting interviews and jobs... and i learnt not getting jobs... Most of all, i learnt about myself...

The learning goes on... But change is constant. Have i found a career? Still need some time to tell... There is a whole new year ahead for more experiences...

But at the moment, i should be looking for more money... :P I need to start saving more... for more rainydays...

Impresario 2008 -Auditions

2007-12-26T23:43:00.000+08:00

Oh.. just a quick update... hehe...

I took part in Impresario 2008 and got thru the Auditions to qualify for Semi-finals... (yah... kinda fast... only 8 girls and 8 guys left).

Quite excited... eh... well... i'm not suppose to know yet... but got inside info lah hohoho...

The semis will be on a public stage in Jurong Point on the 27th of Jan. Haven picked my song yet... still trying to find KTV DVDs... (See i support 正版 ok!)...

I never really take competitions very seriously... this time i'm trying to try harder hahaha... and see where i can go... Wish me luck...

Xmas just got Serious...

2007-12-26T23:31:00.000+08:00

Santa Claus is CHINESE... Evidence dug up from Qin Emperor's Grave...

Humilation of uncontrolled replicals drove the generous gift-sending old man to the west thousands of years ago...

Say no to Piracy!

Merry Christmas... :p

What do you see??

2007-12-26T23:20:00.000+08:00

Okay... Take a look at the picture below... and tell me what do u see?

Scroll down and i tell u wat i see...

Answer: What The Fuck

Well... if u dun see it... then it's just not meant to b lah....

I was sitting down waiting for my food when i happen to look up and there it was... " What the Fuck"... Tot its kinda randomly cool...

Who Killed My Mouse...?

2007-12-26T22:49:00.000+08:00

A Tribute to my Beloved Mouse

He was a special one... I still remember the day i bot him...

It was after being handed over a mobile workstation at work, and the mouse tt came along with it was not fit for human use. (It is supposedly white... but instead it was suspiciously "off-white". I tot the brown scroller gave the "off white" mouse a vintage touch.... But to my horror, the sticky touch and clay-like rub-offs gave it away. I dun even want to think abt where the poor mouse had been to...) So at lunch i bot Him at a PC shop in Causeway Pt. I chose him cause he was simple and cheap.. ok... i was attracted to his resemblance to an apple mouse.

When i got back to my office and plug him into my lappie... Unlike other optical rodents, he glowed in blue... a bit "beng" but stylo man!... and it was den i know i had made the rite choice...

He was all i wanted and even more. The clicking was smooth and the tactile feedback was just nice... I can feel my single and double clicks perfectly... never having to second guess myself. He was quiet... i could play minesweeper with him all day and not drive my neighbours crazy with "click... click click... click" The scroller is CLEAN and smooth... no irritating clicks when i scroll... IT'S A SCROLLER!!! WHY U WANT IT TO CLICK WHEN U ROLL IT... (Well, Den u should just use the up down button u clicker!)...

Ever since i started using him, many pple has stopped and admired him... They can't help but notice the elegant clear body and classy blue led. The best part was their look of approval when they heard he was only for 18 bucks...

Not only is he stylishly functional... He was durable... I regret being a clumsy user, for i have dropped him on a few occassions. Each time he broke open, gutter-spilling and all.... I even broke a snap feature... However even after my repeated abuse, he still manage to pull himself together and continue to with his duties to serve me without complains.

But all good things comes to an end... Guess there is only tt much abuse a mouse can take. He has served me well... and this blog in his honour is the best a proud owner can do for him....

And now... i have moved on to my bluetooth Razor ProClick hehe...

Accidental Art

2007-12-26T22:42:00.000+08:00

I din even realized i had this picture until i was transferring some photos i took for a report at work. Of course i din rem how i took this pic... just when (from the date and time hahaha...)

Kinda liked the colour and the blurry effects... so i'm keeping it :)

Maybe i'm some borned-artist... i just have to let my subconscious take over...

Ah.... who am i kidding.. i'm a shutter idiot... well.. tt's y it's pieces like this i treasure... :)

Fav. Dessert @ Raffles Place

2007-12-26T13:23:00.000+08:00

This is a tribute to my fav. dessert at Raffles Place. hahha.... Since very soon my company will be moving to our new home... I won't have much chances to eat it.. :(

I LOVE MY BLACK SESAME PASTE WITH PEANUT FILLING DUMPLINGS!!!

芝麻糊加花生汤圆!!!

(must be from "真姐" @ Amoy Food Center)

The thick sesame paste with the refreshing frangance and wholesome goodness of black sesame, but it's sweet enough for me to complete my meal. The tang yuan is like little packages of surprises during my dessert ritual., chewy and bursting with peanut filling in every bite.

I will miss u... sob sob...

What makes you cry?

2007-11-27T23:50:00.000+08:00

I was once asked in group, "What makes you cry?".

Independently, out of 6 pple... 5 said the death of a love one. All except me... It just din occur to me as a reason. I said TV dramas and anger makes me cry.

I din lied... but seeing other's response i pondered...

I have been really fortunate, i haven't had to lose someone really dear. The closest i got was losing my grandmothers (both mum's and dad's). One i wasn't too close to, another was so sick with cancer i was pretty glad when it was all over. Both occassions i was young enough to be spared from most of the dramas...

But back to the question of wat makes me cry... I cry not for those who have passed on... but I cry for those who got left behind...

I cried when I remember how my grandpa set all his pet birds free after my grandma passed away, becoz she nv liked them. I cried when I remembered how he would tok abt her fondly at her funeral with both a smile and a tear. I cry when I remember my mum's grief when she realized she wasn't able to make it to my grandma's deathbed in time. I cry when I remember my dad breakdown by the wall at the hospital, when my grandma when into critical condition.

The dead can't be sad anymore, they can't be hurt again nor feel pain. What is painful are the pple they had to leave behind? Pain belongs to those who still have to hold on. Pain belongs to those who can still love... For that, my tears goes to those left behind...

能饿是福？

2007-11-26T22:41:00.000+08:00

那天我妈跟我说了很欠扁的话。
她说：“唉，最近我觉得肚子饿是最幸福的事。”
“你是命太好吧！你出去跟人这么说小心被打！”
“可是这么多好吃的东西，我却一直这么饱。很惨嘞！”

这算是我们的福气还是诅咒？在人人都有的吃的近步时代，原来我们怀念的是从前“没有福气”时的那种渴望。

Save the Bunny!!

2007-11-26T17:06:00.000+08:00

Something to kill time with... or just something to kill hehe...

http://www.10mg.nl/

Yes yes y'all...

2007-11-25T01:00:00.000+08:00

I always wanted to try putting a youtube clip n my blog... just din have a good enuff reason to... But i guess my prayers have been answered... Not in the best way...

This clip has been circulating on the web for a while... you should know... THIS IS NOT A SPOOF.. IT'S THE REAL DEAL...

Till now i still dunno what the hell it was meant for... "Man! What's your POINT?" BTW, i found this clip in the category of comedy on Youtube...

I dunno about you... But i couldn't even laff when i was watching this... Totally agreeing with my bro... "It's like something inside u DIED... after you watch this... WTF!!!

I do pity some of those pple in the clip... It's like their names are rite there beside their faces! How can they go to work the next day?

I apologize if this entry had caused any irreversible damage to you...

Paranoid...

2007-11-23T09:04:00.000+08:00

I am pretty new to this blogging biz... So i just got a question...

Sometime, not very so often, i get a comment from pple i dunno. Usually just a polite "Nice Blog..." (Yes Teri i mean u...) When i decided to chk out who they are, i realize their blog is a biz blog...advertising some product, or some e-catalogue... I can't help but think i have been tricked into increasing their view counts... It like some scam where pple go ard leaving comments that really dun mean anything... get u curious.... tot its an old fren or something... den click... BAM... u just earn tt person a few cents...

Can anyone explain this to me...? (Yes Teri i mean u...) Enlighten me... maybe i am seriously paranoid..

Finally now..

2007-11-22T22:10:00.000+08:00

Okay... So i've been having blog diarrhoea... trying to catch up.. the very least blog my photos...

And here i am Finally.... in the present times!!!

My jobless days have ended.. after almost 4 mths of trials, failures and simply idling.... I am grounded again... Currently job... RESEARCH ENGINEER!!

Yeah.. yeah.. what? Engineering? Why? tot u... huh?? Well... it's a good opportunity, so after much considerations... i decided to take on engineering again. ;p

So here i am.. working for my new employer... Renewable Power, RP in short. No prize for guessing what industry i'm in. It's a new start up, so everything is pretty exciting!

Currently we are situated in a service office in Prudential Towers... we even have our own balcony... Nice place, Fantastic view!

Well... most pple spend half their life working in CBD and don't get the chance to work with such a view... hehe.. I count myself lucky!

To me the best best part abt working here is being able to have lunch with my beau and go home with him... heh... kinda like the school days haha...

But all good things have to come to an end... Soon we will be moving to science park 2 in Dec, I will miss this place and miss my lunch break kiss hahaha...

<<女>>

2007-11-22T21:41:00.000+08:00

With time on my hands... during my break i decided to paint. This canvas and the oil paints were my birthday gift from my brother. Have been putting it off for a while.. not knowing what to paint... and also where to put it up haha..

However, not to put it to waste, i made it into part or my room's deco. The idea is a modern art piece... Green to go with my room's theme and i used the chinese character for "girl"... becoz i am... duh.... kinda fit the term “红男绿女”haha...

Theory and Reality...

2007-11-22T13:13:00.000+08:00

Contrary to everything u were told... i still can't help agreeing to the following.. hmmm...

Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.
Hard work pays off in the future, laziness pays off now.
I intend to live forever - so far, so good.
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.
Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread.
To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.
The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.

Cooking Mama Mia~

2007-11-22T00:28:00.001+08:00

During my long break from the working life... one of the things i really enjoy doing was COOOKING...

Below are just picture for my attempts... mostly a spur of the moment... involving suddenly printing out recipes from the net and rushing out to the supermart to grab the ingredients...

Usually occuring during periods of time when my parents are overseas... so no one freaks out when i mess up the kitchen... But i always clean it up okay!

So in chronical order...
1) A simple dinner of saute mushrooms and bbq meatballs...

Mushrooms were a little salty, a little too much oyster sauce... but good on rice. The meat balls were made from scratch, with a little punch of charred flavors.... u get wat i mean... but still i get thumbs up from my bf and brothers... (with persuasion of course) hahaha

2) My Glorious Cheesecake and Rasberry sauce!

Made from scratch... cookie base, sauce and all... found a fabulous recipe... though i had to bake double the instructed time because my oven was not hot enuff... The center was too wet at first but soon set after sitting in the fridge for half a day... dun worry, its common. End result a really good cheezcake i must say... I will sure make it again. Erm.. maybe when i quit the next time.. hahha...

And i really LURVE the rasberry sauce... So simple.. just frozen berries... sugar, cornstarch and water.. boil and simmer.. It will go well with yogurt or icecream... sara lee pound cake... shortbread, scones, endless combi...

3) Cupcakes

Rolling along with my momentum on desserts, i decided to make golden butter cupcake with buttercream frosting... No quick mixes... but still it was fairly simple. The hard part was the decorating without proper tools...
Everything turned out ok.. taste a little sweet but really depends on if you like sweet... (its a dessert for godsake... so fuck diabetes...) Next time i will really want to improve on the looks though...

4) Ja-pa-nees Ka-ri & Sweet Potato Croquette
Actually this is my second attempt on this dish... Well i use the packet jap curry u can find in supermart... U can't go wrong with tt.. just follow the instructions on the box. But i kinda jazzed it up. I use Chicken Thigh meat (coz i think they are the best!), I cut out the meat to put in the curry. Use chicken stock made from the thigh bones instead of plain water. Added onions to make it sweeter. Pre-seasoned the fresh ingredients to add more floavours... Sauteed the ingredients separately for diff duration instead of all at the same time.. coz they do cook at diff time...
The 1st time i kinda messed up the jap rice by adding too little water... this time it was nice and fluffy... the trick is after ur rice cooker is done cooking open it up and air the rice for a while... it will seem really soggy at 1st sight... but after ard 10~15 mins... it will it just nice to serve!

The Sweet Potato Croquette is something i thought of... not from any recipe.. well fine... ok i adapted from the original Potato Croquette, only i made it with japanese purple skin sweet potatoes... (the best!). But i actually adopted the preparation steps from the DS game Cooking Mama... haha.. its too simple... so u can't to wrong.. It takes quite a while to prepare... esp when i was particular to make each of them the same size.. and perfectly circular hahhaa.. They were a hit with my brothers and fq's gf... it happens to go really well with the curry... Yippie for me... Will sure make them again someday...

Well.. so much for my cooking adventures... I really enjoyed them... esp when they all turned out so well... :) Good for a glutton like me.. at least i can feed myself hohoho...

BTW, anyone interested in the recipe I am glad to post them out upon request! hehe....

Italiano...

2007-11-22T00:19:00.000+08:00

Think i look menacing on a vespa... hohoho... fierce huh...

Maybe i should start with 2 wheels 1st... since i think i'm hopeless with 4....

They have done it again

2007-11-21T23:41:00.001+08:00

After their unsuccessful attempt at the "Pirated" Disneyland, China has done it again. (Ref http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=1678) This time they took a shot at HMV's Gramophone Dog.

Despite the striking resemblence, the Chinese insisted that its just a cat with skin problem... Yeah rite...

August 5th 2007

2007-11-21T22:50:00.000+08:00

Special Day!!! It's our 7th Anniversary!!! (okay... kinda belated blog for such a special day.. but hey better than nothing... haha....)

FwaH... 7 yrs liao... And we SURVIVED... truth is it wasn't really that hard... You made it all so easy. I LOVE U!!

Okay... I shall not tell the location of where we celebrated our special day... but here's the view...
That's the NDP preview in the backgrd... kinda blur as i had a hard time focusing a windy nite. Still the nite was beautiful :)And another beautiful thing from him to me...

The same bouquet he got me on our 1st anniversary...

Sorry Damon...

2007-11-21T22:28:00.000+08:00

Haha.. okay.. i couldn't resist it.. i almost forgot abt this pic until i scan thru my phone album... thought its cute... Sorry Damon haha...

After school we trainee teachers went to the new AMK Hub... to shop and well... fooling around..

Anyway... Damon is a polite and overall nice guy, really serious about helping the students... if any girl want to know him... it can be arranged.. ;)

(Hey not so bad to be featured on my blog... might just meet someone... haha... though not many read my blog, only those who matters hehe...) Perhaps one of these days i will feature all my bachelor frens... even my single girlfrens.. hmm...

To Teach or not to Teach... ? Is not the question...

2007-11-21T01:17:00.000+08:00

The question is what the fuck are you teach!?

My teaching experience... Briefly... i taught for 3 weeks in Chong Boon Sec... and decided not to go ahead with the bond... So i tendered and served another mth of notice. My teaching days clocked up to 2 mths in total.
Many pple would think its bcoz teaching is "scary" and many probably couldn't take it... on the contrary, i find it can be something i can get use to... (Really... i had ponder over this for quite a bit... to make sure i'm not saying just to save face or something like tt...) So my Reason for leaving was... I wasn't ready to jump. I use "jump" because like jumping off something... once u do u can no longer choose but travel in a pretty singular direction. And i din leave my previous job for tt. I wanted to explore more...

So why teaching in the 1st place... out of curiousity and also i need to start my adventure engine.. and Just do it... try watever... no more stopping at just thinking abt it...

However, nonetheless the 2 mths teaching experience in Chong Boon had been memorable. With stories i see myself telling for a long time. And even after 20 yrs of my education, i never have so much respect for teachers... and also in some cases as much disappointment in them.

I was teaching Lower Sec Sci... Had some wonderful time and a couple of blood vomitting moments with the sec 2 kids... Also, i get to rub shoulders with some older kids from the upper sec who turned out to b very welcoming. Words (or simply my vocabulary) fail me when it comes to describing these kids... They are so "real", they can't even really lie or pretend... They love and hate so openly... i can only wish i can rem the last time i was like them... if i ever were. They had taught me more abt myself than i have to them in pythagora's thm. I only wish i could help them see their potential ahead... How much they will have if they just believe they can...

Besides the kids... i meet many inspiring pple working WITH the kids (any other ways wouldn't be rite... against, above, under, in... would be so wrong)...The REAL Teachers! The passion they spoke of really touched me. And most of them are not even taking half the credit they so deserve. Being in a neighbourhood sch was a big culture shock from me... but like they'd said.. put them in room full of "model" students probably shock them as much too... I also had the honour to befriend a few promising trainee teachers who really believe and wanted to make a difference for the kids... I wish them all the best on the path they have so bravely chosen.

Signing off...

Self Fulfiling Prophecy

2007-11-21T00:07:00.000+08:00

So a few mths flew by, and yesh... i din not manage to get back to my stories. And the truth is.. much of it is already a little blurry... The last thing i want to do is to put in things i din really remember. Its one thing to not remember, and another to read an old blog and get an false "recollection" of the event. Kinda like cheating yourself...

Maybe i just tok abt the earlier events a little...

Lived the Dream... in a nutshell.... I dreamt and I'm still alive.. haha... It was quite an experience to step in a studio to do a recording... see myself on tv for split seconds... its was like 1.5 sec of fame haha... On the other hand, it was also quite a nitemare to stand b4 pro judges like Dick Lee and Ken Lim, and get criticized... (nv felt so small... I was nanoscopic...) and then worried abt how embarrassing it would b to be featured on tv with all tt criticisms. Den ironically, feel even worse when you find out the producers have totally cut out ur part due to lack of "entertainment value". It was a roller coaster ride... which in the end all i can say is "Been there! Done that!" haha... BTW, congrats and all the best to Fendi and By Definition!

Be a Star... well we paid 36 bucks each to enter the competition... I muz say the organizers are nice enough to hold about a zillion preliminary rounds to make sure they let as many pple thru to the next round. The multiple rounds allow all the contestants to fully warm up to the competition and have plenty of room and time to improve... and of course.... gather many of their frens and supporters to come pay for entry and vote for you!! Okay.. so it's a win-win situation. If u want to really get all the experience of singing to an audience, this competition is ur best training ground. And i got to give it to partyworld for finding all possible ways to earn our money. (Participation fees, supporters entry fees, supporters buying multiple entry tics to votes, and not to forget frantic paricipants booking ktv rms during the competitions to prac or just to kill long waiting time.) So what's the verdict u ask?? I got to the semifinals along with, i dunno... 100 other pple... and got eliminated down to only 16?? Not much sense of achievement... but its was good exposure.. now i am sure my nerves have a problem with me during competitions. haha...

Think i will stop here for this entry... coz i would like to dedicate an entire entry to my teaching experience... :)

Our 21st Century

2007-08-16T13:44:00.000+08:00

So true in the 21st Century ...

Our communication - Wireless
Our dress - Topless
Our telephone - Cordless
Our cooking - Fireless
Our youth - Jobless
Our food - Fatless
Our labour - Effortless
Our conduct - Worthless
Our relationship - Loveless
Our attitude - Careless
Our feelings - Heartless
Our politics - Shameless
Our education - Valueless
Our follies - Countless
Our arguments - Baseless
Our boss - Brainless
Our Job - Thankless
Our Salary - Much Less

Got this from a webbie...

Backlogs...

2007-07-02T03:55:00.000+08:00

Ok... think i betta make a list of things that happened lately before i totally forgot. If i have the time in future i will come back to them and provide more details.

Live the Dream Walk-in shoot @ Music Clinic (8 Jun)
Be A Star Auditions @ Partyworld International Plaza (11 Jun)
Live the Dream Auditions @ Media Corp (17 Jun)
Teacher Prep Training @ NIE (21 & 22 Jun)
Helping Shan in 飞乐时空 Semi-Finals @ Junction 8 (23 Jun)
Starting Enhanced School Experience @ Chong Boon (Since 25 jun)
Live the Dreams Auditions with Judges (27 Jun)
Transformers - Movie Review (31 Jul) *Transformers RAWKS!!!*
Recording for 飞乐时空 Finalists' Compilation CD (1 Jul)
Be a Star Preliminary Round @ Partyworld International Plaza (2 Jul)

So many things to blog abt... so little time. Most prob i wont have time to talk abt all well at least i have a timeline now to remember the sequence of events... haha... playing cheat...

Tribute to Flex...

2007-07-02T02:32:00.000+08:00

It has been awhile... There has been lotsa stuff going on in the last 2 weeks. (I can't believe that it has only been 2 WEEKS! Felt like mths...) Well, i will try to touch on the events updates soon... i hope...

I happened to be looking thru pics on Misanthrope and found some backlogs of pics of places in Flex and also of my colleagues. SO! i decided to have a little tribute here for my favourite flex places and some of the pple i work with (Sadly, i forgot to take pictures with my ex-colleagues, only managed to catch some late birds still in the office after 6 pm). hehe...

Fav Spot: the Ladies' Bigger Cubicle

I know this is like... Weird... to pple.

But i fell in love with this spot every since my first day in Flex. (Kinda explain my extended toilet trips... hehe... *Guilt as charged!*) Bare with me here as i tell u more abt the Toilet du Flex. It is an ordinary and clean toilet, but wat is extraordinary abt it was its view. (Refer to pic above). Though only standing 6 storeys above ground, its view is unobstructed thanks to it location in the Woodlands Industrial Park.

Sitting on the porcelain bowl, with a tilted vision of 20 degrees above the horizon, one can enjoy doing they daily biz while looking up to the blue skies above. If expecting a long "delivery" one can also engage in a relaxing game of "Guess-What-Animal-is-de-Cloud"

Fav Room: The Pantry

Please do not be alarm... All the pics above are taken from 1 single room... The Pantry.

Before flex took over the building, this room was the main office of its previous owner. Extremely spacious, with ceiling to floor windows, he even had his own bed and fully equiped bathroom with bathtub. Wat used to be the bathroom is now the storeroom for the janitor, Aunty Mony. (its Mo-Nee, i'm not sure if it's spelt this way) Of coz, flex took away the bed and replaced it with a Ping Pong Table.

Besides Ping Pong, there is also a Dart Board and Fussball Table, courtesy of some ex-colleagues no longer with flex.

Wat pantry is complete without a coffee machine, a fridge stocked with drinks and an assortment of biscuits.

It was a place for relaxation, informal chit chats between colleagues, birthday celebrations, Yoga classes, steamboats, food sharing, breakfast, lunch breaks, 2 pm teabreaks, 3pm teabreaks, 4pm teabreaks, 5pm teabreaks, after work dart games, Anytime Pingpong matches, etc... The good times...

My Knick Knacks

I like to personalize my work space, thus explain my little roadside freakshow of voodoo dolls, flying pig, poseable idiot figure, yoga duck, headless sexy girls, etc...

My Ex-Colleagues

Newbies

Left to Right: Me lah..., Eric, Lake, Stacy, Bryan and Joshua

Veterans

Left to Right: How Young (how young? dunno?), Me lah..., Desmond

Same Batch: Kin Song joined flex in the same yr as me, but a few mths later.

Lots of beautiful memories, though i hoped i have taken more pics with the pple, guess there will be other times. :)

Self-Portrait

2007-06-12T15:42:00.000+08:00

I was complaining to Shan about how i just could not get my own picture on my phone rite. I always look... i dunno.. weird... unnatural.

So Shan, the guru in "自拍", started to give me some pointers.

Always take picture from top down. Make you eyes bigger, the chin smaller. More Kawaii desio!!
Position your camera, then ask a friend to help you check from the viewing display. Why can't you just ask your friend to take the freaking picture for you? Coz it is more rewarding to accomplish it on your own. Also, depend on who you want behind teh cam, you may have difficulties smiling. I know sometimes i have.
Understand ur Camera. How long does it take for the cam to snap a picture? The response time varies from Camera to camera. If it takes a long time dun start smiling too early, or u will look unnatural
Smile just before the camera snaps. Count 1-2-3 den smile. DUN HOLD. If you missed your smile just take another one. (thanks to advancement in technology we can delete!)

So Tadah!!! My Self-Portrait, one that i actually like haha.. U can see from the reflection in the mirror me behind i took it myself on my phone cam. And Shan is beside me coaching me (while picking her nose...? hahha...)

Cupcake Momma!!

2007-06-12T11:54:00.000+08:00

At the Art Market, besides the fun of performing in the great outdoors, I also stumble upon some amazing CUPCAKES!! haha... They are absolutely pretty and yummy too!

At first glance, they look like some kids play-doh project, their vibrant colours and cute design may be too much to swallow. I bot them becoz i tot they were pretty, din really xpected them to taste half as good as they look. But fortunately enough, i was proven wrong.

They were made of butter rich spongy cakes topped with sweet and sinful butter frosting. [Warning: Very Fattening! Do not attempt if you are unable to live with the guilt]

The cupcakes come in delectable designs to choose from. I bought 2 cupcakes back form the Art Market on Sat, ate them at home and realized how nice they were. So on Sunday, i went all the way back to Fort Canning Park to buy another 8!

About the "disfigured" cupcakes above, i apologize for KH, who have accidentally knocked the boxes of cupcake off the table during dinner... This box suffered less damage. The other box... i would rather not tok abt it.. sigh...

About the Cake:

Buttery Vanilla Sponge. Reminded me of the 60 cents butter cream cakes we used to be able to get on our local confectionery. So full of flavour and buttery richness, with a tint of saltiness make it very appetizing.
In also came in Chocolate Sponge, a dark brown moist cake. Not too sweet, but very chocolatey. nice... kinda reminded me of the birthday cake u get at McDonalds if you throw a party there.
Blueberry Cake, a new flavour according to the owner. Not to my liking, because of the somewhat artifical blueberry flavouring. (like they added too much blueberry essence or something.. strong smelly) Also the cake was too sweet when eaten with the sweet frosting.

About the Frosting:

All Butter and Sugar! Best kind of frosting in my opinion. It is wat that makes the cupcake my "Happy" Cake... like Space Cake...
The butter is smooth but the sugar is a little coarse. A good butter frosting will have its sugar melted and combined with the butter. But in this frosting you can still bite the sugar crytals. I suspect its the kind of butter they used. Strangely, i left the cake over night without refrigeration and the frosting din melt at all by next morning. (Mind you: Singapore room temp is between 27 ~30 degrees celsius) If it's butter, i would expect it to melt or at least see some oil separation from the frosting...
Then again... it is hard to find butter frosting these days... this is good... in controlled amount tt is... too many of them at a go will make you feel oozy...

So if you are interested they are from Cupcake Momma. You can check them out online, coz they dun have a shop haha...

Performance @ Art Market by Music Clinic

2007-06-12T11:28:00.000+08:00

Last Sat, my vocal singing class VS42 and our "师姐s" from VS1 went over to the Art Market @ Fort Canning Park to perform. (Singing of course...) We all did a repertoire of 10 songs, solo, duet & group.

Everything went about smoothly. Kinda fun to perform outdoors. (My first) Well... can't say much abt the crowd though... kinda quiet... but hey they were clapping along when we asked them to.

Group Photo!! (From left: Shan, Me(top), Weili (bottom), Juliana, Jacqueline, Clara and Zen)

Shan singing "遗憾"

Me & Zen singing "制造浪漫"

Weili singing "不要骗我"

We had tonnes of fun. I was damn tired the next day, from the excitement I guess.

I've got a few other acts coming up. Suddenly so many lobangs... haha.. Stay tuned!

Shrek 4: The Music Clinic (Pte Ltd)

2007-06-12T11:19:00.000+08:00

Following the success of Sherk 1, 2 & 3 in Singapore, DreamWorks decided to shoot their next sequel of our popular smelly green Ogre right here! Reliable sources revealed that Part 4 will talk about Shrek travelling to the Great East to escape parenting horrors and his now-ever-more-out-of-shape wife, Fiona. And during his adventure, he falls for the asian Ogre (above). Also, Donkey falls for our very own Merlion! *Gasps!"

Cheesecake Cafe

2007-06-08T09:55:00.000+08:00

It was my mum's birthday yesterday. Like every other year, i went around to search of good cheesecake for my dear mama... A different place every yr, target to try all the good cheesecakes we can find...

This yr, based on some recommendations from forums and online critics, i decided to try out The Cheesecake Cafe. Usually i would go down and taste the cake b4 i order them, but i was too bz lah... So based on popular vote, i bought the "Peach Jelly Cheesecake"

It has 2 layers of light cream cheesecake filled with bits of peaches, separated by a later of peach flavored jelly.

What to Like about this cake:

Very light and fruity, the kind of cheesecake u can enjoy even after a hearty meal.
Most of us find the jelly being the best part of the cake.. (hmm.. should this b a compliment?)

What NOT to like about this cake: (now i'm warming up...)

Too light, with the citrus taste of the peaches, it tasted more like peach yogurt than cheese. Dun get me wrong, i LIKE cheesecake with fruits, (raspberry, blueberry, i would even eat NY cheesecake with jam sometime) but the peach stole all the limelight from the poor fromage...
Did i mentioned i din taste cheese? I'm a American-Cheesecake supporter. When u eat Cheesecake.. there better be CHEESE in it. so i kinda felt cheated... sob...
The cracker base is quite a disappointment too. (It usually is my Favourite part) It is a no-bake cheesecake, so the cracker was not baked with the cheesecake, thus explain the lack of flavour in the cracker. It is hard and dry, but the top surface of the cracker was amply drench in the peachy cheesecake moisture. The blend cracker did not fit in with the fruity taste of the cheesecake. Most of us would just leave de cracker base uneaten. Sigh...
It's a little too pricey, 72 bucks for a 9" cheesecake... i could get a better one from a hotel. In my opinion, not worth it

Okay... Maybe i'm a little harsh on the cake. Please understand it is my MAMA's Bday... I promise her nice cheesecake every yr, and this yr... it's the worst. Sorry mama.. i letcha down...

Well, my conclusion is... IF you are not a die-hard cheesecake fan, and u usually find it hard to finish an entire slice on ur own ([cough]*~Lo~Ser*) den this is the cake for you. IF you like yogurt, you have to try this then.

Alrite, i'm not here to bring down Cheesecake Cafe... besides the peachy cake i bought for my mum, i also bot a slice of their "Rum & Raisins Cheesecake". Just to try...

This is a baked cheesecake (kinda like NY style), filled with "rummed-up" raisins.

What's to like:

TGIC (Thank God Its Cheese), a cheesecake with more soul
It is drench with Rum, if you like rum tt is... think if u stuff the whole cake into your system in 10 sec... u might get drunk
The Raisins are nice.. *hic
The cracker base is tastier too

What's Not to:

PGMC (Please God, More Cheese)... i think i'm a mouse...
It is 6 bucks a slice... kinda ex loh... i can get a decent one under 5...

I would think that the Rum & Raisin is a nicer cake than the peachy thing... But the truth is, i dun think i will eat their cake anymore. But for those who haven tried themselves, well... you can still give it a try coz 1 anal cheesecake lover's poison can be another's ... i can't think of a positive word... Well just do what u like... dun take my word for it... Geesh.. like who am i rite.. u probably just stumble my blog by chance... (All the best...)

Wasted Rainbow Bears

2007-06-07T11:25:00.000+08:00

Rainbow Bear (Rt): "Hic* I'm wasted... i think i see a tunnel of light ahead... Hic*"

Rainbow Bear (Lt): "Take me oh almighty one! My friend is stupid take me! Take me..."

On the other side of the glass panel: "Aiyoh.. dese bears so cute... take picture!" *Flash*

Was waiting to catch Hula Girls at The Cathay and saw these wasted bears on display outside... damn cute when then clump together in bunch haha... Kinda gay (in all sense of the word)

KH had to brace the danger of being caught by the vigilant Security Guard who can be hiding anywhere, waiting to pounce on him and say "Hey Sir, you cannot take picture of anything in the building." So be glad you get to see this here.

The New MUSIC CLINIC is UP and RUNNING!! (Sort of...)

2007-06-07T11:05:00.000+08:00

Exchanged a couple days of leave... for an ultra long weekend... Since last Thursday thru Tuesday.. Woohoo... Din really do much... still felt so tired... WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME...?

Anyway, over the weekend, The Music Clinic finally started lessons in the new location @ No. 27 Teo Hong Rd. It is BIGGER & BETTER! The school is bigger than the old place. EVERYTHING IS NEW! New equipments, fresh painted walls, New Signboard!

Shan had me pulled over on Sat to be the 1st to step into the school. But ended up She and Momo were the 1st 2... i got it later after i have prata with KH.. haha.. But it sure is great to see the school up and running again! Yeah... got nice place to sing for free! hahaha...

The place is not exactly fully renovated yet. So i will post more pictures later hehe.

Coming week is going to be pretty exciting for me. Going to be having sort of an audition for "Live the Dream" in the new school on Friday...And will be performing in Fort Canning on Sat... .. den on the following Monday, it is my auditions for "Be a Star" by Party World... I've got like 5 songs to prepare... AH... going crazy... but its fun lah hahaha... just hope i dun end up screwing up everything.. :p *crossing all fingers and toes*

*Trip~*

"Aiyah!"

*Fall flat on face...*

"Doh!"

(oh... Simpsons are coming to the big screen will definately go watch hehe...)

The Great Julian Beever

2007-05-28T12:23:00.000+08:00

It has come to the authorities' attention that it has become a hazard to listen to music over the headphones on the streets of Singapore.

2 teenagers, still yet to be identified, had been found to have fallen into a hole.(picture no top) Leaving behind only their headphones. Police are still searching for their bodies.

The government is seriously considering passing down laws to ban headphones or earphones in public places to avoid more of such tragedies. However, to appease the music loving masses, the authorities also said they will box out areas and mark out tables in public areas where people can still enjoy their music, beside the smokers that is.

Caught this display outside Raffles City yesterday. A promo gimmick for Nokia. This is a piece of street art by the talented Mr Julian Beever.

Check out his other works, http://www.thegreenhead.com/watercooler/2005/06/amazing-sidewalk-art-by-julian-beever.php
This one is definitely not one of his better ones, not very exciting hor... But still its chalk on tiles... still pretty magnificent.

Curry Favour

2007-05-28T11:36:00.000+08:00

KH and I went to this Japanese Curry Restaurant last evening, called "Curry Favour". I always wanted to eat there, but never remember it before meals.... only after when later I passed by the place. (Very frustrating one u know...) So finally, i get to eat there.

The Food:

I've always been a small fan of Japanese curry. So test how good they are I ordered the classic Rosu Katsu Curry (Fried Pork Cutlet Curry).

It came with 2 medium sized Ton Katsu (Pork Cutlet, pretty generous), rice and a jug of spicy curry (no mild please! R u singaporean?!) The Spicy Curry, to my liking, was rich and peppery hot. Not too sweet like some curry served in other places. Though I wished they served more curry, i guess you can always ask.

I wasn't too crazy abt the Ton Katsu, they were thick but a little tough too. Perhaps the Chicken katsu would be a better choice if you dun like tough meat?

KH had the Stew Beef Curry (Not Steew-Bid). We both agreed that it was the better one. They gave a generous cut of Beef. Each piece was perfectly medium rare, thus you get a burst of juices when you bite into one. The curry sauce is the same but less sharp because of the added carrots and the beef. I think I will eat that the next time...

We also orders 2 sides, Age Chikuwa with Cheese and Mushroom Fry (yes... Fry... that's wat on the menu... engrish).

The Age Chikuwa was a little blend, not my recommended way of eating the chikuwa. It's either the chikuwa was not so good, or the frying and cheese had robbed it of its sweetness.

On the other hand, you can't go too wrong with Mushroom Fry. Each shroom was densely wrapped with japanese bread crumbs and fried to golden brown. Careful when you bite into one, you may be overwhelmed by the juice squirts out from the big shroom. Yesh.. it's rather big, you are advised to cut and eat. It is served with Japanese BBQ sauce, very appetizing.

The Location:

The restaurant along Stamford Road in Stamford House. It's beside a cafe called Moonriver. In fact, you have to go through the main door of Moonriver to get to Curry Favour.

The deco is classy yet pretty cozy, fusion of east and west. Warm red walls with contemporary spanish paintings on one wall and cute japish styles doodles on the other. According to the waitress and doodles were by one of the ex-employee of the place. (i guess he is an EX becoz he has too much free time doodling...)

Despite its classy look, we found ourselves dining to Jay Chou's latest album... ( i expected jazz...) Perhaps its to do with the crowd that tends to hang there are younger. Around my age... hohohoh... (17 ~29)

Overall:

The place is quiet to hang, food is pretty ok. In all, we spent ard 50 bucks last night, and we were really full... I would go back again but maybe not too soon.

ATTACK OF THE 10FT JAPANESE...

2007-05-28T11:17:00.000+08:00

In light of the increasing obesity problems among young children in Singapore today, MOH decided to launch an exhibition to educate our little ones on Self-Discipline. Exhibition shows luring GIGANTIC dishes with "Please Do Not Touch" signs. Trainers nearby explaining the perils eating too much.

"Children, eating too much eggs especially the yoke can choke your heart. Not to mention, you may accidentally fall into the bowl and drown while reaching for the egg!"

Caught sight of this big bowl out side of OP in Junction 8. [Almost walked right into it... *Gasps* I could have drown!!! ] Thought the girl looked quite cute staring at the bowl of noodle. Her mummy was trying to teach her the names of the ingredients that made up the ramen.

"Girl, show mummy where is the corn?"

"What corn.. it's styrofoam mummy... you want me to be stupid?"

+1 More KPoh

2007-05-25T18:05:00.000+08:00

Hehe... Nah Eric (natcire)... dun complain bo jio ok...

Think before I leave flex I will take a couple of photos of pple i worked with... for keepsake... :)

KH's First

2007-05-25T17:54:00.000+08:00

"Grandma... What big hands you have?"

"The better to keep your stupid camera phone out of my face with...!@#$@!#$"

My right hand... with our ring...

This is the pic KH took with my phone last nite. His first on my phone...

Din really want to be photographed in my PJs...

How True...

2007-05-25T15:57:00.001+08:00

"We trained hard, but it seemed every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing, and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralization."

From Petronii Arbitri Satyricon AD 66 (Attributed to Gaius Petronus, a Roman General who later committed suicide)

Curious KPohs

2007-05-24T17:44:00.001+08:00

Bo jio! (left to right: Bryan, Joshua & Stacy)

A couple of my colleagues got curious when they see me so bz playing with my new toy. So i tot i show them how the Picture Blogging is done hehe...

Then, i was reminded of the cost of transferring data through phone... Yikes... forgot about that. Guess i just have to reduce the resolutions of my pics... to save some money... Me very poor after investing in a couple of new toys lately... and there are more to come hehe...

Virgin BlogPic

2007-05-24T17:00:00.001+08:00

This post is purely experimental... i just bot a SE K800i. It comes with the "Blog This" function in the camera, tot I give it try. This pic is just a pic of my cube's wall... filled with random pin-ups. I kinda liked the way it turned out. (^-^)