More updates..

Really thankful to God for giving me at least a job to look forward to. Although I was rather disappointed that I didn't get my ideal DXO job, despite my confidence at the interview - perhaps it was the grades, or perhaps I was being too overconfident. I decided to accept the SIA job as a Customer Affairs Manager because I didn't want to go too long without an income and was rather sick of applications and rejections. Well, I'm starting officially on 2 Sept 2013, which also marks a new milestone for myself, a step into the working world. Many questions did run through my mind - how does it feel like to have a table of your own and officially have work to account for? How will my superiors be treating me? Will I have good colleagues? I really have to commit all of this into God's hands and stop the worrying.

Secondly, I think my runs and swims have been really stagnating, with the 10k ST run coming up marking the start of another new season of running, it can be quite scary. >.<

Thirdly, I'm looking forward to my short (again 5 days) trip to New Zealand, specifically South Island of Dunedin and Queenstown. Although this trip would actually cost about 1 month's salary, I do hope it will be worth it. Can't wait ;)

Moving On - Graduation and Job search

Finally ended university life officially with Commencement 2013 - went to 5 ceremonies including my own in total - Business, Medicine, Geography, Engin and my own! Had a lot of fun taking photos and we cross girls did our own photoshoot as well! Ben was our photographer and the cast involved me, Siew, Anne, Zak, Kelly and Tricia. It was super fun :D and the pictures turned out pretty well too!

we were once here!! ^^

I'm really thankful for this bunch of girls - they really made my university life so enjoyable, fulfilling, fun and happy :) Cross friends - training together, travelling together, competing together...etc. <3 And now, we've graduated together!! Ok, I'm happy and sad... Because now we all have to leave this common path of university we have and go our own way. I hate facing these sort of crossroads because inevitably people would leave. I can come back but they might not. We can meet but not as often I guess. :/ Already, Zak has started working, Siew is studying overseas, Kelly is going to URA soon, Anne is in the midst of SCDF training and marriage preparations and Tricia seldom comes down to run - where does that leave me?

Well, it's a good thing that I still have my aquathlon friends and other cross friends but life is always constantly changing and peoples' priorities do change! Oh well, my hope is that we'll still be meeting each other often and continue to be close friends - or perhaps - that's my own  wistful thinking.

Job searching IS TIRING! And I'm getting lazier. Hoping to get the DXO job soon so I can travel a little more :)

Artsy Me Part 2: The Museums

Since museum entries are free and I've got nothing much to do, I decided to explore the artsy side of me by visiting the Singapore Art Museum and the Asian Civilisation Museum - hoping to visit the National Museum soon too!

There were new exhibitions for both museums and I was really intrigued by the pieces. Was also happy that I took Reading Visual Images which allowed me to appreciate Buddhist, Islamic, Chinese and Western art pieces better, despite not scoring very well. These are life skills which can't exactly be cultivated outside school and special lessons.

At the ACM, there is a new cross-cultural exhibition which was really interesting - Devotion and Desire, Stupas-Buddhism art and Lacquer across Asia (similar to the exhibition in Wuhan where we saw lacquer pieces). Devotion and Desire is a themed rather than chronological/period exhibition which displays the interactions between people of different cultures shown in the artworks created.

Buddha at the centre of a crucifix?

Looks egyptian

At SAM, I looked through all the permanent exhibitions and also the new ones - Terms and Conditions, Art Garden 2013, President's Young Talents - which I thought were all very interesting! Terms and Conditions displays pieces from Arab artists about the Arab world - rather political.

The phrase “terms & conditions” often refers to the fixed set of guidelines at the basis of any official contract or agreement. While these extensive specifications are sometimes overlooked in everyday practice, their implementation can powerfully dictate the representation and interaction between people, entities and countries, as well as set parameters that appear rigid over time. Yet, taken apart, the words “terms” and “conditions” convey fluid and precarious concepts that can, in actuality, be continually negotiated and modified.

Many artists with roots in the Arab world work simultaneously across different geographic, physical and cultural contexts, making it difficult to define and constrain them to specific identities and representations. Their work is thus a result of a variety of techniques, which enables them to navigate and speak within multiple contexts.
Terms & Conditions presents an open-ended debate into how history and social realities are represented, with an emphasis on the Arab world. One of the first Southeast Asian surveys of contemporary art from this dynamic region, the exhibition showcases works by artists with roots in the Arab world. These artists work across different geographic and cultural contexts, and through a combination of techniques, to produce unique artworks that fluidly traverse and defy social identities and representations.

My favourite piece was the one about 3 women singing ballads about Saddam Hussein. There's something sinister about the song but the way it is sung is so normal that you'll never imagine the meaning behind the song. The art garden was pretty cute but meant for kids to have lotsa fun. It stretches your imagination and makes you feel like a kid once again.

Chinese blue-white porcelain with images of Iran

cute phrase

quirky room

enter the scary world of nightmares

Artsy Me: First Experience at the Esplanade Theatre - MACHINES

I won tickets to the opening night of a local theatre production called MACHINES (by Orangedot Production) so I invited Patrick along with me to my maiden trip to the Esplanade theatre! It was a rather eye-opening experience, I would say.

Machines, I was told, is a new production (directed by Jeremiah Choy) of an old play in 2003, which won the best script award. It stars 4 new actors and the duration was 1h 40min without any intermission. The genre is contemporary romance and the play was pretty abstract. Well, for me without any knowledge of theatre studies, it does seem quite interesting and also the storyline seems pretty understandable.

Basically the story is about 4 adults, 2 office ladies (Lina and Kim) and 2 repairmen (Rex and Heng). Their paths crossed when Rex and Heng appeared to repair Lina and Kim's washing machine. These 4 people have very different personalities, which is reflected in their actions and speech - Lina being very outgoing and gregarious, Kim being more subdued and shy with a mysterious past, Heng is a repairman who thinks about machines all the time and Rex is has slick charisma which is hiding something. What's the meaning of love and partnership? Which is pretty relevant to today despite the script being written 10 years ago. Is love fickle, transient and how can we achieve it? It seems that these 4 adults treat love as something sexual and transient, as can be seen from how quickly they switch partners.

After this production, I thought I appreciated theatre much better because it was really difficult to memorise a 1h 40min script at one go, and acting naturally with much emotions and also with much sexual content. Definitely the goodlooking cast worked wonders by making me glue my eyes to every movement and word they say :)

Do watch it if there's a 3rd reproduction ;)

The Rooftop (天台) Movie Review - SIMPLY AWESOME

It has been quite packed for me this week so far. Nevertheless, I managed to squeeze some time to catch the latest movie by my only and favourite Taiwanese artist currently - JAY CHOU!! Met up with Jinxing (the only fan who is probably willing to watch with me) and we saved some money by watching at The Cathay at 2pm - student price :D I didn't think too much about the movie because I thought it wasn't that interesting in his concert when he gave a sneak preview but I was WRONG. I'm so glad that this is the first movie I've caught in the cinema this year!

The Rooftop can be said to be a movie where Jay Chou had fun and also showcased his multiple talents in directing, acting, singing, songwriting, kungfu and dancing - all in one. He bravely experimented with a variety of genres, blended them to form a hybrid Bollywood-lesque & kungfu genre which we've never seen before -  comprising of musical, action, romance- something distinctly Jay & unique in the movie industry. I must say that the movie was wonderfully made technically with interesting camera angles, especially memorable during one of the scenes where Wax (played by Jay Chou) pinned for Starling (Li Xin'ai). The colours of the set was vibrant and a little ostentatious, but gave a theatrical effect. The music blended well with the dance and story line and the lyrics were pretty witty, adding light-hearted moments in the movie.

Personally, I felt that the storyline was pretty smooth, though less complicated that Secret, but I'm glad it ended well, or at least what is being inferred at the end - I dislike movies that have a cliffhanger -__- Basically, it is a romance-brotherhood story which seem to display Jay's true character - loyalty to his friends (which is evident in the cast) and shy towards the girl he fancies. Jay Chou plays Wax (Lang Zi Gao), named after his liking for waxing his hair; a loyal friend who always helps his buddies (Tempura/Hei Lun, Egg and Ah Lang) ; with a bad-ass don't-mess-with-me-or-I'll-kick-your-butt attitude; and awfully romantic as well. The story revolves around Wax and his neighbourhood - a rooftop slum that is culturally vibrant, and the common plot of the rich-poor divide with the poor guy fancying a rich girl is being employed here, together with the baddies as the gangsters. Well, the plot does not end there because the ending did become a little twisted and was pretty exciting because of the car chase action scene which causes the audience to hold their breath, hoping that something good would happen. But no, the plot did end realistically though ;)

star of the movie

pretty setup

I'll be quite generous because of the unexpected quality - 4 stars out of 5, despite the not-so-good press review : D

Turning into a Lee Seung Gi fan - My Girlfriend is a Gumiho (내 여자친구는 구미호)

After watching the Gu Family Book, I couldn't get enough of Lee Seung Gi, hence I decided to hunt for past dramas of his to watch and chanced upon this 2010 drama - 내 여자친구는 구미호 My Girlfriend is a Gumiho, which is a mirror of his current drama - instead of being a gumiho, Lee Seung Gi plays the role of Cha Dae Woong, a human who encountered a gumiho (nine-tailed fox) played by Shin Min-a.

Lee Seung gi and Shin Min-a

The story is pretty funny yet melodramatic because it started off as Dae Woong trying to shrug Miho away in fear that she would eat/harm him but later fell in love with her deeply that he didn't even mind dying for her. The drama runs for 16 episodes and the storyline is pretty short and simple. Miho wants to be human but she can only do so if she places her fox bead into Dae Woong, because it would suck all his human essence out after 100 days and by getting the human essence into her, she would turn human. The story also has extra characters like No Min Woo who plays Park Dong Ju, who likes Miho because she looked like his ex, many years back, who had the same fate but was betrayed by her human lover, and Park Soo Jin as Eun Hye In, a diva whom Dae Woong initially liked but played hard-to-get, resulting in him losing interest in her.

Basically, the story spans a 100 days and it showed the relationship between Dae Woong and Miho, getting closer through funny things happening that in the end became really meaningful for them. It's hard not to fall in love with Miho, through her child-like innocent character and she is really pretty with hardly any make-up on!

Overall verdict: A good light-hearted drama which ends well and leaves its viewers happy :)

Awww... :"

A traveller's desire

It's been a while since I've posted because I've been rather busy (and bored of) looking for jobs. I'm no longer a student since I've graduated, my student transport concession had expired, I'm penniless (figuratively), without an income. Losing hope but still hopeful. Feeling kind of lost as well, since I'm just not doing much constructive work (and that gives me income) and the only thing that makes me feel alive now is going for trainings. Been dreaming about travelling once again, at least I get to experience something new and lock it into my memories, just that I do not have enough money to do so but there's no harm imagining right? ;) Here's a list of TO-GO places:

1. South Korea (Seoul, Jeju-do, Busan, Yeosu, Suncheon - famous for nature, Daegu & Gyeongju - historical sites, Suwon - Korean Folk Village)

• KTO has so many itineraries to offer! From romantic walking trips in Seoul, cultural experiences in Seoul , cheap shopping & food in Seoul, Nami Island, active cycling along Hangang, architectural buildings , temples/churches, hiking trails, the ever-famous Gangnam
• Seoul: Gyeongbok Palace, Bukchon Village to look at hanoks, Changdeok Palace, Dongdaemun, Myeongdong, Cheonggyecheon Stream (TaecGui couple episode 12), Seoul Grand Park Zoo, Dream Forest (north), Everland in Yongin (TaecGui couple episode 13), Chungang University (My Girlfriend is a Gumiho, Playful Kiss shooting location), Namhasanseong, Korea Petit France, Samcheonggak, MBC Yongin Dramia (Nambu Bus Terminal-->Baegam Bus Terminal-->Mini bus 105/Taxi
• To watch Kpop shows

2. Tibet
3. China - Jiuzhaigou (in winter/autumn)

• Been there in summer before but visiting in winter or autumn is likely to be very different because of the temperate forest there!

4. Mongolia - Ulan Baator
5. New Zealand - likely for the natural surroundings
6. Australia (Melbourne, Sydney, Tasmania)