Taking Stock, Fast Forward

Today being the last day of 2010, am sure a lot of people are also like me, filled with nostalgia, and reminiscing the year that is just about to pass.

I would classify 2011 as a good year, though it came with a lot of trials and tribulations, and at times, at its darkest hours, i wasnt so sure, but yeah, looking back, think I'd just call it a good year!

Found this picture today in a dainty little place (which I will blog a bit later), which really sums up in a nutshell what I want to say tonight, as we are about to usher in the new year.

1) For 2011, I shall remember and always remind myself that my `Attitude is Everything', and that it will dictate how my year will churn out.

2) I shall be less materialistic, i.e. buy less consumer goods, and be happy with what I already have. So, no new cars although I just paid off my car loan. :) The key goal would be to build up my retirement funds adequately, and to pay off my housing loan asap; so, the less consumer goods I purchase, the more extra $$ to put into these funds.

3) I will be less of a pessimist , and try to be as optimist as I can, especially in situations which are beyond my control. We attract what we think! Must believe in the law of attraction, since this is scientifically proven, right? :P

4) Last but not least, I need to be less of a perfectionist, since being a perfectionist sometimes can be very tiring and can actually kill your spirit. And, being a perfectionist can be risky, as it is also known to build up (gulp!) to obsessive compulsion behaviour (OCD).

Happy New Year 2011 ! :)

How to Enjoy summer in Taiwan

Taiwan is a subtropical island nation with hot, wet and humid summers. These could be the best months to travel but for those unprepared, it could also be extremely and unbearably hot. These are some of the learnings I had from this trip:-

1) An umbrella is very useful
An umbrella is useful to help shade and protect against the sun. Don't worry of looking stupid, you will find many people doing so similarly. Taiwan's summer is also very wet and you will find the umbrella useful for those unexpected but short showers, which comes and goes. So, carry a foldable umbrella whenever you move about.

2) Only buy your umbrella when you reach Taiwan, else look for one `Made in Japan'.
I find that the umbrellas made in either Taiwan or Japan are specially made for strong winds as they are usually quite prone to typhoons, or pretyphoon storms. These umbrella are more sturdier, and if a gust of wind is to blow at you, the umbrella will fold upwards, but once you strongly shake it a couple of times, it will resume back to its original position! Umbrellas bought elsewhere (read: local) tends to be broken by strong winds. I find this concept pretty similar to the building design and technology behind the Taipei 101 tower, which was built like a bamboo pole, to enable it to bend slightly and sway (and not be broken in half) to the wind direction should a typhoon strikes. Umbrellas in Taiwan are not expensive, and cost from NTD80-200, you will find these easily available in MRT stations or night markets.

3) No point in bringing a raincoat. Only takes up space in your backpack especially if you already have an umbrella. But raincoat can't protect or shade you from the scorching sun.

4) Bring a foldable `chinese' fan! Summer weather is simply very hot and humid. Alternatively you can find the small battery-operated mini fan in 7-11.

5) Drink lots of water! and also replenish your ions intake with isotonic drinks. These can be easily found in 7-11, under the brands of `Pocari Sweat' or `Supau". Be careful not to buy the one which increases your metabolic rate. Yes, there are 2 types in TW, the latter is promoted as a weight loss aid because it will make you sweat even more.


6) Sunblock every part of your body! For my last trip, I remembered to apply on my face, neck, and arms. But I went out in pants reaching only mid calves and wear open sandals, and I came back with bad sunburn from my ankle to my toes! The next day, after learning my lesson, I remembered to apply all over till my toes but alas, I came back, having sunburnt ears!

7) If you have sensitive skin like me and prone to sunburns, better to bring a tube of aloe vera gel as most shops don't carry this. neither do they carry calamine lotion. I had a tough time trying to find this to relieve my sunburns.

8) Bring a small foldable shopping bag too as 7-11 don't give out plastic bags. Taiwan stresses on being environmental-friendly.

9) In some places, the mozzies are aplenty. Good to prepare some mozzie repellents. I brought along the patches instead of cream but nonetheless it was just as effective and takes up less space in my pack.

10) Last but not least, do remember your sunglasses!

Day Zero: 8-9-10. At Airport Checking-in

Finally the day of travelling! Where exactly am I heading ? Taiwan ! Had planned out an 11-day itinerary of backpacking around the island nation.

Left my house at around noon as although the flight was in mid afternoon, was worried of any raya rush at the airport. I had wanted to check in on-line the day before as well, but wasnt able to do so as an error message kept appearing. Finally I called up the airline office and found out that as my flight is a long-haul flight to Los Angeles, hence web check-in is not allowed due to tight security reasons.

When I arrived at the check-in counter, was surprised to find it all empty. Was I too eager and had arrived too early? anyway, as the counter staff was checking me in, I waited with abated breath on the weight of my check-in backpack. How much would it weigh??

As in my previous post, the weight of my pack had been of upmost preoccupation of mine for the past few weeks prior to the trip. Hence I was particularly anxious to see if all my meticulous `mathematical calculations" and "economised-packing" has paid off?

And...the counter reading says == 8.7 kg !!

Woohoo ! I had expected 11-12 kg. So it s 8.7kg for 11 days of travelling. First time in my life, I am travelling with an unbelievably light luggage (well, by my own standards-lah).

Suddenly, my shoulders felt very light. it is as if the burdens had been lifted. :) psychologically that is!

Ilha Formosa - here I come ! :)

8 - 9 - 10

All my bags are packed, am ready to go....

Yes ! it is just a few more days before the start of a long-awaited holidays! will be backpacking in a trip that will be a combination of mountains-lake-historical small towns-goodfood !

8-9-10 is the magic number! never knew the date of departure is actually a consenquential series of three numbers, but come to think of it, hey, it will make the trip even more memorable, right? at least, its a date that is very easy to remember in the future years to come. :)

Just to share how my bag looks like.. :) It looks leaner cos I've compressed it ... (notice the luggage tag? its a Fit-to-Fly luggage tag, check out www.fit2fly.com.my. And Thanks to Row for giving me extras :) )


Will be using a 35+10L Deuter bag. The last time I ever used a backpack, it was 55L, and I nearly fell over as after stashing in all my clothes and whatnots, it became simply too heavy to carry! good thing at that time, the group of friends I was with decided to rent a car instead of taking public transport. This time around, have decided to be smarter and opted for a smaller bag and made of more hi-tec lighter material (note : bag is still expandable! so, can still do some shopping if the opportunity arises)


Ah...a smaller bag also means I have to `economise' on my packing and be very efficient with what I bring. This, itself, has been a series of careful planning, thinking and surprisingly, to a certain extent, has become a somewhat mathematical equation/solution. For e.g. taking a bottle of 150ml shampoo will last for how many days? or, should i pour out into smaller containers instead? as every little morsel and milligram will add to the weight to carry around, this has suddenly become very significant. Even the type of material for my clothings, have to be carefully taken into calculation.

Anyway, the bag is all packed now. and the only thing to do now is...

Counting down to take off ! :)

There are still good people around

Spent my merdeka holiday doing nothing patriotic. Was at Sunway Pyramid in the morning to meet up with an old friend for a catch-up lunch and gossip.

When it was time to go back, I paid for my parking ticket at the autopay machine and walked to my car. It only occurred to me after I got into my car that, `hey, where's the parking ticket that I was holding in my hand earlier? ". My paid ticket had suddenly gone missing ! and scarily, I seemd to have experienced a temporary state of amnesia. I simply can't remember anything!

Searched all my pockets... searched all my shopping bags..and then turned my handbag inside-out, and then outside-in... searched as I might, still it wasnt there...

It was around this time, that I looked up and saw a family of 5, a mum with 3 children and a grandmother, hovering in front of my car and starring at the pillar (I was parked next to a pillar). The mum was looking hard at the parking ticket and discussing with the family on whether its the `right' pillar.

Ah...apparently, they found my ticket!! and...they found me because I happened to have this habit of writing the location of where I parked my car on the ticket. In this instance, I had written the pillar number on it, that was why they were trying to confirm earlier.

Phew!

So to the mum and the family who found AND took the trouble to find me just to return my parking ticket today, I would really like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Although some might argue that its no big deal to lose a ticket, you can just pay the fine and still get out of the carpark, however, what this family did was save me all the trouble and hassle of doing that.

And, they also showed that they care enough for a total stranger to go around the carpark looking for the `pillar'. Hey, suddenly, it occured to me that there are still good and kind people around after all! I am very fortunate and blessed to have met them today. Reminded me of what my own mum always tells me, `A little good deed goes a long way". This family's little deed really made my day.


And to those friends who always laugh at me for writing on my car park ticket vs taking a photo of my location with my mobile, well, looks like this old fashioned habit of mine is useful and serves me well after all ! :)

Brand Plans - The Aftermath

Its finally over...
After
- days and weeks of preparation
- sleepless nights due to an over-excited brain
- flip-flopping between references of global and regional slidesdeck
- cross referencing of other portfolios best practices
- overanalysing on market data as woulnt want to be caught `pants down' cos having not done enough analysis
- rehearsing the presentation
- anticipating possible questions
- rehearsing how to `rationalise' the lacklustre performance of certain months

Brand plan came..went by, finally, on last wed, the whole presentation was over in 1 hour !

Will have to spend another day to clean up the plans, finetune the numbers and walla! its all done for the year!

And now...the fun is about to start...its all the way to Execution!

That Time of the Year

Its THAT time of the year again...

No, its not about celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, festivities...

Its the `Oh No' for most brand managers (at least in my company). For some, its the dreaded time of the year.

Its Brand Plan time. Period.

Its about pulling out ideas, cooking up ideas, and panning it out in a plan to take through for the next 12 months.

Its about trying to put together a bunch of analysis, assumptions and `predictive future' of the marketplace and how it impacts the brand.

Its about identifying market/niche opportunities, and how to drive and convert into something tangible (i.e. sales numbers).

Its about challenges, and how you come up with a way to face up to those challenges or to circumvent it/them.

Its about getting prepared to go in for the presentation, which might sometimes turned out to be a long grilling session , comprising of intensive questions and debates, and of which you have to be on your toes and in top form, to answer as best as you can.

Its about when you have to show that you know the GUTS about your business.

Its about `Oh no, not another new template this year", whereby every year there is almost certain that there will be a new template or format to present your plans.

Some would also argue that its the very essence of a marketer's job.

Its also about `Oh no, another year has passed by....so fast ah? "

That said, after so many years, gosh, I still hate brand plans month!

Conversations

When I was last in Nice, in southern France, came across these 7 statues of men, sitting high up on poles along the Massena square's (Place Massena) tramway. At night, these `men' are all illuminated by colour neon lights into a wonderful array of multi colours. From day 1, I've been asking around to find out the meaning of these `men on poles', and what were the theme/message the artist was trying to convey. Many people just take it as just something nice to look at at night, without trying to know more.

I did eventually managed to find out that this piece of work is by a famous artist called Jaume Plensa, and he gave it a title of `Conversation in Nice'. All the 7 figurines were to represent dialogues between the seven continents in the world. As a result, there are also locals who call it the `Dialogues of 7 continents' art piece. Its basically encourages more harmony between continents, via more conversations between and amongst one another.

Hmm..makes one wonder, in our own lives, do we really talk to each other? between nations? between continents? between family members? colleagues? and friends?
a lot of the miscommunication and some conflicts these days, are really more of lack of communication between parties rather than anything else.

I applaud the artist for his ideals. If only this is well conveyed and received by the leaders of nations....

Meanwhile, come to think of it, I also realised that I am not a good global citizen. Heck, I can't even name all my 7 continents..gosh.. looks like my geo is really failing me...*red face* :O

25 Things About Yours Truly

1) I have 2 left feet.. I can’t dance and am really clumsy at coordinating my movements;

2) I can’t sing either, but I love to sing the chorus parts when others are singing karaokay (sounds very kay-poh, I know!) ;

3) When I was growing up, my ambition(s) changes every few years, and so far, I had aspired to be a nurse (in primary school), an archeologist (after being inspired by Indianna Jones) in lower secondary, a microbiologist when I was in upper secondary, and a lawyer when I was waiting for my STPM results. Ended up being none of these;

4) My Chinese name when merged with my 2 brothers’ Chinese names, can actually form a scenic picture. That of mountains by the sea, and there are swallows flying above. In fact, this is often the picture we siblings usually draw for our parents whenever we do our homemade festive greeting cards (talk about lack of creativity!)

5) I once dreamt of being given a box, which opened up to reveal a 2-headed snake that ate the accompanying hard boiled eggs (yeah, there were eggs inside the box!). The next morning, I was `betrayed’ at work by a trusted colleague..duh! I didn’t realize the dream was a sign..sigh..;

6) On 25th Dec 1981, Christmas night, I locked myself in the toilet and cried. It was the day my younger brother was born, and I was really disappointed that I didn’t get a sister (nope, no ultrasound those days!);

7) I had an unforgettable birthday party when I was 12 years old. My brother (read #6) was an overactive toddler, and he had `accidentally’ stepped onto my birthday cake just before my party started. I had to keep a brave face and still posed for pictures with my guests with a smashed cake in front of me;

8) I don’t eat onions, and I really find them pungent ;

9) I don’t exactly love garlic either, but I like using them for flavouring when cooking. Only thing is, I can’t bear the smell of garlic on my fingers after I peeled them. So, I’ve found the perfect solution – garlic paste!

10) I love to read and re read the Reader’s Digest. I can read the same issue a few times, but of course, on different occasions. I only get to do this when am back in my parent’s house, where my mum is also an avid reader of RD. In fact, she still keeps issues of RD wayback from the 1960’s;

11) I don’t like to eat much of sweet stuffs, be it desserts, biscuits or even danish pastry. In fact I love savoury foods, and my breakfast has to be something savoury, if not I would feel like I haven’t eaten anything at all! So, no go for breakfast cereals and fruits for breakfast, but yes to fried noodles, eggs and sausages (yeah, bring on all the unhealthy stuffs!);

12) Drawing is not my favourite subject in school, and so far, I only have one masterpiece in my whole life. This was painted when I was 14 years old, and so far, is my proudest piece of work. It was actually copied from the calendar produced by the Mouth and Foot Painting Artists. If anyone knows who’s the original artist, please let me know, because I would really like to convey my thanks and gratitude to him/her. This painting was carefully kept by dad for 15 years, and after he had it framed up, it was presented back to me to when i moved into my current house;

13) I love to cook and feed people. It gives me great pleasure and a sense of accomplishment to play hostess, to cook for family and friends, to organise and hold gatherings etc.

14) Refering to #(13), I hate to wash dishes though (so if I cook for you, please `sek-chou’, and help to wash the dishes right after my sumptious meal);

15) All the men/boys in my family, starting from my dad, to both my brothers and now my two nephews have big, round, dark, beautiful eyes with double eye-lids! Of which I don’t have. Why o why was i missed out, and forever deprived of this gene? so unfair!

16) I don’t have Astro at home. Am still feeding on free-to-air (FTA) channels, but thank heavens for 8TV and NTV7, am still doing Okay :)

17) My final year project was processing and producing bee-hoon, made from sago starch instead of rice. That was at the height of a regional price increase for rice. As a result, I don’t eat bee-hoon nowadays if I have a choice!

18) Although I have been living out of Penang since 1993, I still keep my home add in my IC, and will drive 4 hours back to Penang, just to exercise my voting rights, where I think my single vote still counts. Viva Penang!

19) I love musicals, especially broadway, and am a big fan of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber;

20) The best year of my life was the one year spent in Cardiff, doing my MBA. It was a year of discoveries, many beautiful friendships, and of course, converting my science background over to business and obtaining the degree which launched my career :)

21) I can spend a whole day at art museums (non comtemporary). The ones which made the most impressions on me, would be Prado in Madrid, and the Louvre in Paris.

22) I love roses!

23) I think Michelangelo is the most brilliant, genius, greatest artist ever! It was an awesome yet humbling experience to be able to personally see the Sistine Chapel ceiling. If ever there's one place in Europe that I would really like to visit again, that would be the Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel.

24) My favourite food is dim sum ! esp siew mai and char siew pau. Yup, the 2 conventional staples of dim dum..guess I like my stuffs authentic and original ..:)

25) Last but not least, I'm basically a private person, so this entry has taken me much longer to write than earlier expected! but, now that the mission is completed, what a relief! :)

Majestic-al experience

Some time ago, I had the chance to travel to Malacca for work, and as we were holding our function in the Majestic Hotel, I decided to stay and experience the Peranakan experience that was so widely promoted in the hotel website and brochures.

I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived at the hotel, not to find a tall building, but rather a quaint little mansion, in a narrow little street. I had driven down from KL, and it had taken me slightly more than 2 hours, it was mid-day, and grumpy as I was, was glad that though the hotel was rather hidden away from the main street, still, it wasnt difficult to find.

A different world welcomed me, upon stepping into the cool reception area of the hotel. The receptionists were all prettily dressed in nyonya kebayas, and they were very quick to recognise me by name (even though I wasnt registered yet!). This could likely be due to this being a boutique hotel, hence there weren't that many guests staying in, at any one time. I was also very pleasantly surprised that at the reception, instead of mints, they serve the brown coconut sweets, which was a very popular sweets of yesteryears but not so common nowadays. Nice!

There are only 50 odd rooms in this colonical styled mansion, but within the premises, everywhere one can see very tastefully designed interiors, and furnitures. Elegant and traditional.

This is what my room looked like.


Really comfy ! what's best about the room, is the bed! The mattress is suitably hard, sturdy, unlike the lumpy mattresses normally found in other local hotels. I was also very amused to find a bolster! just like my childhood days, the bolster is suppose to be the teddy bear for Asian children, to hug at night so as to feel more safe and secure. It is therefore a very thoughtful gesture of the hotel to include a bolster for the comfort of their guests. I, for one, simply find it irresistible, and couldnt resist hugging it whenever I'm back in the room. :)

The room itself is very spacious, and aside aircon, there is also a ceiling fan, should one choose not to use the aircon at night. The old world charm coupled with these modernity, really adds to making the guest feel cosy, and very at home. Love the wooden flooring as well.

The bathroom is simply so elegant and luxurious.. :) The bathtube has legs, just like old time. Though upon knocking, was kinda disappointed that it wasnt porcelain. The bathroom opens up into the room, and can be closed by the sliding wooden partitions. Hence, one can choose whichever level of privacy (or not).

.

Paying attention even to the little details, the hotel has also included a copy of the famous book on Nyonya kebayas, which I enjoyed reading during my stay. All these are in tune to the Peranakan culture that the hotel seeks to promote.

This is truly an experiential hotel stay! needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this majestic-al sojourn, and would certainly want to come back for more in near future.

State of Inertia

Inertia: according to the online dictionary, this refers to " a disposition to remain inactive or inert".

This is what I have been, towards this blog of mine for the past few months.

Not that I had completely forgotten that I do indeed have a blog.

My state of inertia has to be a function of my workacholism.

With the mounting workload, and working at home after hours, just couldnt bring myself to blog. As blogging involves looking at the computer screen again, when I can actually already log off to do something else... hmm..so, am I not cut out for blogging maybe?

Similarly with exercise. State of insertia, that is, until recently. Due to stress, I was compelled to push myself out of this exercise inertia, and yes, believe it or not, I am finally back to the gym. And in order to make it more interesting for me, I have a focus in gym. I mainly go for Muay Thai... hai-yak! chomp chomp, ...which turned out to be an excellent destressing tool albeit the bruises and aching limps thereafter :)

Maybe, just maybe, if I try writing short whimsicals every day (or alternate days), I could just push myself out of this writing inertia too? let's try!

Smoke Not?

Found these some time ago, while I was window shopping at the duty free section in Schipol airport in Amsterdam.


These are very `in your face" messages posted by the tobacco manufacturers themselves on the potential risks and harms of smoking.

I guess it was a local ruling, as across the board, all the different brands carry such warning messages, albeit with a different twist or angle.

Few questions that hit me, will such messages actually deter consumers from picking up that pack of cigarettes?

Will smokers be concerned & alarmed (as intended) with all the warning messages as stated?

How successful was the campaign in reducing the number of new smokers? or getting the chain smokers to give up?

I don't have the statistics though..so, can't tell now..

Now, let's play with an analog...let's just visualise a plate of succulent char siew..well marinated, fragrant, with dripping sweet dark sauce, a little bit of overburnt dark skin on the side... and someone just plastered "Char siew is carcinogenic", "Eat Char Siew makes you fat"... "Char siew can clog up your arteries".. hmmmmmm....

Will that stop anyone reaching for this plate of char siew then? You tell me!
Meanwhile, I know I'd still go for my porky fix anytime.. :)

In Retrospect - Movies Mania of 2008

Just as some people have a cookie jar to keep spare change, I have a tin can that I place my movie ticket stubs into. Not that these little pieces of paper are worth anything, nor are they a collector’s item. Come to think of it, am not sure why I started this practice in the first place. (duh!)

So, now, at the start of 2009, looking back into 2008, I started to count the stubs, which now represents the number of movies I've watched in either GSC, Cineleisure or TGV last year. :)

I know I am a great movie fan, and love to watch at the cinema occasionally (or so I thought) but I’ve never realized that I am such a movie-addict, till I started to count the stubs that I’ve kept for 1 year. All in, there are 32 movies I’ve watched in 2008 in the cinema alone.. (read – not counting those on DVDs yet).

I must stress the cinema part, cos I also have another collection of movie DVDs at home (will blog on that separately). That makes it an average of 2.6 movies a month.

Golly..and 2008 had been an extremely busy year for me, and I myself am amazed at how I managed to do that, considering i don't watch movies during weekends, only week nights!


I guess this is the part of me that is really `spontaneous". Gosh, what a revelation from a bunch of ticket stubs. If only they have bonuslink/loyalty programme for cinema goers.. :P

Zambuk-ing into the new year!

On the 2nd day of Chinese New year, via a freak `accident' at home, I slipped and fell, hitting down hard on my kneecap. The pain was surprisingly excruciating and my family had even thought that I had cracked my kneecap. Perhaps it was due to the whole weight of mine, which accumulated to one point, and pressed down at that very second on my poor left knee cap. In fact I fell kneeling down on one knee in that infamous position for proposals! It was a painful experience, yet on hindsight, appeared pretty hilarious as well.

My older bro immediately jumped up and whipped out his wonder ointment, Zambuk, and advised me to slowly apply and rub into the affected part.

I went like `duh? Zambuk ? are you sure?"

What exactly is Zambuk ? as far as I can remember, it had always been around ever since I was little. My grandparents used it like a `cure-it-all". Zambuk is in fact a dark green ointment, with a distinct aromatic herbal smell. It comes packaged in a dark green tin, and has that `classic' look. The fact that this little gem is still around after so many years (I had forgotten all about it until this moment!) piqued my curiousity.

Upon googling, I discovered that the name is actually a town in South Africa, and thats where it supposedly originated from. There are many uses for Zambuk, be at as an antiseptic, for minor cuts and burns. In this case, my brother and his family has also been using it for mozzie bites, or like in my case, "to rub away the formation of a bruise"(is this even possible??) when the kids had a fall.

Did you know that Zambuk is also a nickname for a first aider in Australia? the story goes that the St Johns ambulance men used to carry Zambuk in their first aid kit bags, and when neccessary, whipped it out to immediately treat injured rugby and football players on the field. The name has since stuck esp with the older generation Aussies.

And so, I followed my bro's advice, and gingerly applied on my wounded kneecap, slowly rubbing and hopefully to rub away the pain of the fall. Feeling the heated sensation (is it from the ointment, or is that from my rubbing?) somehow did help to dull the pain

The next morning, the bruise that was starting to form wasnt apparent anymore!

And so, Zambuk, really lived up to its name of being the `cure all'!

Meanwhile, I brought back the ointment with me to KL since am not sure if I can buy it in the local pharmacies here and hey, it seemed too wonderful to let go...:P (Sorry bro.. but saw that you already have a backup at home, a brand new can! :D )

Happy Moooo Year!

Here's wishing everyone a Happy Chinese New Year!

Gong Xi Gong Xi! May all wishes come true and the new year be filled with joy, happiness, good health, and prosperity.

Cook for Your Team !

The latest trend in team building is to utilise existing resources (i.e. employees) to entertain each other in the name of team building, which in turn, is a way of `maximising' resources. Of course, it does help to save on the cost of a commando trainer (for outdoor sportsy activities), or smart-aleck facilitators (for those mind boggling games, played indoors).

A few days back, I was in one of such new trend team building, where a group of us, were brought over to a local golf resort hotel, and participated in a `Cook for your Team", team building exercise. Ah, how this works is, we were divided into a few groups, and each group was randomly given a recipe to follow. Then , they had to work together in the hotel's kitchen to come up with the food for the evening's dinner! that is, they need to serve the team respectively through whatever culinary skills they might possessed (or not!).

For me, I was in the odd group out, the `entertainment cum decor" group; where part of our job was to turn the bland hall into something presentable, and also keep the entire team entertained for up to 1.5 hours. We further split up our team into 2 small groups, one for decor, and the other for entertainment, and i fell into the former.

The materials we were given? were all very basic and `natural". We had coconuts, coconut leaves, banana leaves, roses, dried leaves, etc. Of course, we also had the proper table cutleries, napkins, water goblet, etc that we have to set up.

Ah ha..here is where old me, comes in useful. Long long time ago, I've actually attended a short course on fine dining, and ahem, as a result, I was pretty familiar with the settings of the fork and spoons, which to place where etc. :P

The end result of our 2 hours' hard work , (drum roll please!)....ta-dah !

As you can see, the banana leaves because our table runner..and we sprinkled rose petals of pink and red roses on top, to give a light, natural yet romantic air to the atmosphere...ahhh....
The whole place lit up and looked amazingly magical!! :)




We also folded the napkin so that it can hold 1 stalk of rose for all the `guests' (aka our other team members, who are the cooks




...and then someone also had a stroke of genius...to decorate the otherwise bland glass `table mat', with a dried leave underneath!!








And alas, the food was out from the kitchen!!... behold, the food galore...wah. that was something else! the cooking group really produced a glorious buffet spread for us...yum yummy!
This particular dish is worth a mention. This is the Nasi Hujan Air Panas, which comes in a an array of rainbow colours. The team that produced this, consisted of one Aussie girl and 3 guys, all 3 of whom, has never step foot inside the kitchen!! 2 of the guys were from Korea..and when later I asked one of them, how did the dish come out looking (and mind you, tasting as well) so good, his rather perplexed answer, "I dunno..I only wash the rice.."..ha ha..



More food!!




And last but not leat, not forgeting...the Desserts Galore !! (oh no...there goes my diet..again!!)

Decisions, decisions, decisions

Had the priviledge of attending a closed door forum with our company's top brass earlier today. One of the things that I lifted off centred around `decisions'.

"You exists in the company because of the decisions you make. When you make no decisions at all, you cease to exist". Isn't this profound?

This really brings me back to my 1st year with the company, with the MD then. When I went in for a consult with him for a decision to be made on a particular project, his reply was "You are paid to think.. tell me what you want and what you decide..if I find it acceptable, I'd go with it, but first you must think, decide and propose".

That, combined with today's comments are both proving to be very valueable insights for me.

Life is really all about decisions (which are also choices, in guise). Work life or personal life.
Every morning, I can decide to get up and go to work, or call in for an EL if I don't feel like it (ahem, not that I do that..just that its possible, right?).
I can decide to eat the fried noodles, which i love but of which will increase my caloric intake for the day, or choose a healthier breakfast.
I decide what clothes I want to wear today.
I decide what deadlines to prioritise at work, which meeting to pay more attention to.
And at night, I decide what to do after work, and then what time to hit the sack.

Yes, when we cease to make decisions, all the above will not happen...and really, we cease to exists..

My New Activity

I've been putting it off again and again. Finally, yesterday i decided enough is enough, and if i don't get moving, I'd fall back into the trap of inertia..with determination, I finally ventured out and went to try out something new...

What did I do? I went for my first class of Yoga!

Why did I do that? well, the virtue & supposed benefits of practising yoga has been expounded many a times by so many people. It is an `activity', a form of exercise that purportedly can help one to achieve control of the body and mind, to tranquility and stillness of mind through a series of postures and breathing exercises.

In a way, I reckon it can also be taken as a form of meditation. I've been meaning to attend Yoga classes as a way of dealing with stress and pressures, but never gotten around to it. The first (and last time) I ever tried out a class, was a few years back, in my no-longer-going fancy gym-in-the-mall. The class had over 20 students. And I couldn't follow the moves by the teacher, and at one point, when he tried to correct my position by tilting my head, I heard a loud `click' coming from my neck, and heck that was pretty traumatic!! though nothing untoward happened to me (or my neck), still I never dare to go back again!

This time, I decided to try out again, but to choose a proper Yoga centre, instead of those in those gyms. Ended up I went to a neighbourhood Yoga centre (so I have no excuse that `no parking in the shopping mall' or `too far'), as I wanted convenience and no frills (translate to `cheap' fees).

My initial apprehension melted away after the class started. I thought the teacher will be intimidating, turned out, she was not. I thought the other students will laugh at my clumsiness, turned out, they are more interested in getting their moves right, and its all about `doing your own thing'. I thought I was improperly dressed as I expected all the branded yoga wear to appear (just like in those chain gyms-in-the-mall, where girls dressed to `kill' in the gym!), turned out, everyone was dressed appropriately for yoga, but in an easy going manner (translate to "non fancy yoga pants/track pants and tshirts or normal looking exercise tops").

Did I enjoy the session? well.. there were ackward moments, when my body just wouldn't turn and bend properly. Guess this old pack of bones really lack stretching for a long long while! But the session turned out much better than I expected! I was able to follow 70% of the time, and I consider that pretty encouraging.

In fact, I signed up there and then for a package of 12 classes. Ah..like what they say, its only with consistency that will lead to results. I thought the price was pretty reasonable as well (and yes, it was a `no frills' yoga studio), and the class size is no more than 10 at a time (because the studio area is small!). The teacher, Jo was very pleasant to talk to and also very patient.

Hey, I might not be aspiring to be a Guru, but at least some day I would want to be able to call myself a Yogi (i.e. someone who practices yoga), and be better at stress control, be more `nimble', and more relaxed! and yeah..do headstands. :)


Namaste!

Whatever happened to ME?

My long hiatus from my blog is very glaring. I have had friends (`loyal' readers of what little I have wrote) calling me and asking me, `when are you going to update your blog?", "are you ever going to write a new entry?" and lately even my brother (whom i never knew ever read my ramblings) actually posed the same Qs as well.

So the question really is, whatever happened to ME all these months?

Here's the answer:- I `delivered' another new `baby' for the company! and since then had been hecticly busy with 'feedings, burpings and diaper changes'. To those uninitated, I have just launched another product for my company (4th one in 6 years, to be exact), and have been `mothering' this new pink little baby with lots of tender care and attention.

Now, the baby has learnt to crawl.. but nonetheless, things at work has not simmered down like before, rather, its on the contratry. I have since also adopted another portfolio, and some expanded responsibilities.

Whatever happened to ME in my personal life then? nothing much, same ol' same ol'. But as time goes by, I have also realised that we go through phases in life when friends come and go. And as one gets older, and more friends get married (when they become `Smug marrieds') or add more to their brood, they tend to have even less time to socialise with the Singletons.

Do these Singletons unite then? Alas, this is not always the case. Again, with the passing of age, people tend to develop different interests, and likes, and some fixations in the way things are run. Flexibility to embrace and accomodate diversity & differences also starts to wane. In time, one will hang out only with those friends who are least threatening to their established routines.

So, whatever really happened to ME? all of the above! plus procrastination, plus lack of inspiration, plus ......

Whatever-la ! I better get started again on all those blog ideas I have jotted down over the months...waste not!

Behold, the Northern Babe is back.

Procrastination is the Thief of Time

I have been so lazy. Have not been updating my blog in the longest time!
There are many reasons (or excuses) for this. Mainly I have been going through a rough patch in my personal life. Can’t really begin to tell the story here as it is not so simple.

The truth is, for the past few weeks, I have been grappling and trying to get a grip on myself and my emotions. Remember the Whitney Houston song of yesteryears, “Where do broken hearts go?” Well, that song sums up nicely on how I had been feeling.

Been trying all sorts of ways to pull myself up. In the midst of all this, I was assigned to a business trip to Monaco. A dear friend commented that when one is down in one’s luck, one should go `down south’ to `change our fates’, so, we happily concluded that the location of Monaco in Southern France is really `down south’, hence things should be brighter & better when I return.

So I went… came back…got immersed in work and spend my nights absorbing tv series (Grey’s Anatomy is a great `escapist’ show!)….and whadda-ya-know, the weeks FLEW by…then the months (well, 2 months to be more exact). The next thing I know, `TIME’ seemed to have came and went, and left me breathless! Suddenly there are things that I haven’t been doing all this while during my escapism trail, but yet, now I can’t turn back the hands of TIME.

What started out as just purely a survival instinct of escapism had turned into a form of laziness and putting-off-till-tomorrow-what-can-be-done-today…

Procrastination! Ah… indeed it is the thief of time..