Me? A Model?!!!

Unbelievable! I was spotted for modelling by a talent scout. Beguilingly but flattered, I went for the interview in Takashimaya Tower that explained to me the mechanics of the freelance modelling. It was a big ego boost when I was told that I was selected & all my training expenses will be paid for. Imagine talking to this slender, porcelain face model-wannabe interviewer who told me how presentable I look when I always thought I could lose a few inches off my tummy and to have bigger breasts besides a sharper & slimmer nose, and the list goes on, you get the idea. Female! ;)

No I am not insecure but in the midst of these beautiful leggy Singaporean girls who does facial and body wraps at least once a fortnight, I can’t help feeling a little inferior but fuck them, I have brains, beauty and benign sweetness so who cares. Maybe Mediacorp is looking for the unconventional girl next door with a square jaw and small slit eyes. Listening to the saccharine sweet bimbo-sounding interviewer explain the modelling business made me think I hope to not lose my brains and intellect if I was ever to be in the business. Sometimes I wonder do they even know how brainless they sound. No offence to all the beautiful models as I know some beautiful models w€ho are extremely intelligent, aka Charlize Theron.

I like one of Rina Omar's(famous for her opionionated articles on the Star & NST and now 8TV) quote who got tongue tied while hosting 8TV's quickie who said how the thick hairspray is clogging her brain cells. Which is true, I feel the thicker your makeup the smaller your brains.

Finally I heard the catch, that I am required to buy THEIR set of make-up, costing an exorbitant $550 from two well-known brands which unsuprisingly I have not heard of. When I tell them tat I alr hv my own make-up, they told me my commercial make-up will get smudged and will not cover all the oil patches under the harsh camera lights. What happened to my presentable face?! On top of that, I have to get myself a pair of at least 3-inch stilletos. What! I have not even tried one in shoe shops let alone buy one to wear on a raised catwalk platform. Fortunately I am not forced to buy THEIR brand of stilletos. All these sound like a make-up sales tactic to me. But to some girls who long for the coveted chance of appearing in the limelight for payments of up to 5-digits, $550 for make-up could be nothing. So shld I take the opportunity and stand a chance to be Sg's next top supermodel? Haha. U must be dreaming! The ego boost was well worth it for a while ;)

Autumn in Singapore

Autumn has always been associated as a romantic season what with its sceneries of red and yellow leaves falling to the grounds upon being slapped by the willowy breeze. The cool but unthreatening winds crumpling your hair and chilling your cheeks add to the sensuality of the season. Anyone who adores and follow the ever popular Korean drama "Autumn in My Heart" will attest to this.

It is with this notion that the founder of Mt Faber, Mr Richard Loh Keng Yan transformed a lost and barren land on the hills overlooking Sentosa Island into a venerable tourist attraction with the mood/season of Autumn all year round. The mountain which I prefer to refer to more as a hill as we have so many higher mountains in Malaysia consists of a small cafe overlooking the beautiful city skyline, a collection of restaurants called 'The Jewel Box' or specifically 'Altivo' with an impressive view of the same skyline and a lookout point with a Merlion on top. With its easy accesibility from Sentosa Island, this place makes a good destination for tourists and citizens alike to go up this hill(abt 15 mins by car to reach the summit, yeah, what?!).

I commend the founder for turning such a small, unwanted plot of land into such a money making venture, just like how I would commend Lim Goh Tong for turning the mountain called Genting Highlands into a bustling tourists and Malaysian attraction. Engulfed in the romanctic aura that Mt Faber emanates, I thought of the idea of why Malaysia do not have a place like this besides the Snow House in Mines Wonderland where ppl can go to relax and be somewhere different? Go on, turn Litle Genting in Cheras into a more luxurious place where tourists can go for night viewing and charge them an exorbitant amount for 'teh-o-ais-limau' while you are at it. If it works for Mt faber in Singapore and Victoria Peak in Hong Kong, why didn't anyone think of this type tourist destination for Malaysia. I would do it. Just need an investor and I will handle the rest. If Lim Goh Tong can build a casino on a mountain over 4,000 metres, I don't see why I can't build a nice restaurant and lookout point overlooking the beautiful (but now hazy) skyline of Klang Valley and make money in the process. My mountaneous ambitions. :D

Pork Ribs in Singapore

The best invention in Singapore since ...nothing really...is PORK RIBS!
Among the better pork ribs I have tried so far, not very comprehensive as I have yet to experiment all...man, I cud only wish without putting on the calories:

1. Tony Romas - succulent to the edges of the bones. Talks are ongoing that it is opening in Malaysia but what is the point if there is no pork ribs. Since they are reputed as the world's most famous pork ribs, how would it work if pork ribs is not available. It's like a shop promoting Malaysia's most delicious & famous satay without selling the satay.

2. Cafe Cartel - large chunks of meat dripping with the right amount of sauce. Complemented with great variety of drinks and free flow of bread with every main course, what more can one ask for. ()

3. Billy Bombers, not that great but good enough for me to finish even when I am already full. Great concoctions of burger with cocktail names like B-52. Great blend of thick, I mean densed milk shakes.

The only pork food not available in Singapore is McPork which suprisingly is only found in Thailand's McDonalds. Hmmm, now we know which Asia country has the least population of Muslims or at least the most open country.

Malaysians do not know what they are missing out ;)

Remember When Your Dreams Came True?

Michelle Kwan, the ever graceful ice-skater from US did it. So did Michele Wie from Korea who won so many golf matches, even guys could not beat her. What did they do? Their dreams came true from all their hard-earned sweat. Hopefully, something I can relate to in the near future. Enjoy the song sung by LeeAnn Rimes called:

Remember When

Do u remember your imagination
Whatever land was your destination
Our magical adventure wouldn't know the ends
Just hold on tight and don't forget

Chorus:

Every wish, every dream u ever had
Close ur eyes
It will all come rushing back
Fly away
All u need is to believe
And remember when

You never know where your dreams might take u
So keep them safe and sound
Don't let the hatred wake you
Feel the sweet memories and carry you away
Just get lost in yesterday

Repeat Chorus

So granted in your innocence
You are thrown and left behind
And reason shadow is inside

Repeat chorus

Why Singapore Population is Aging

I do not want to get married! Why? Cos there is just too much temptations, too much opportunities and too much to do that the moment I get myself tied down esp with children, I will not have time for myself. I never thought I would metamorphise into this but one can feel the aura of adventure and opportunities all around one in Singapore.

Females dressed to kill no matter where they go, to attract the richest men around. Sights of young, sweet, pretty female in big, old, luxury car driven by old, balding men is a common sight. SO what if they already have a partner, that does not mean they cannot sleep around or have casual sex partners. They even have a club that encourages swinging among couples and suprisingly, even girls who have partners turn up without their boyfriend to "sample" other guys. As the motto of the club goes: Variety is the spice of life! So why limit yourself to one. Even the sound of "happily ever after" chills their spine.

Reading the blog of this one femme fatale in Singapore called "Babe in Toyland" (be warned of a lot of sexual innuendos and encounters here) confirms my bi-curious identity in which I do get attracted to female sometimes. Only certain females who have a dominant and strong personality with pouty lips and killer bod. Give me a Chinese version of Angelina Jolie or Evangeline Lilly of 'Lost' fame anytime. So don't be suprise if I organize a all-female bash one day to identify those who are bi-sexual and potentially interesting enough to "make sensual love" with. ;) If you do not experiment with everything in life, what is the meaning then?

So, what about marrying and having babies as a different experience and experiment in life? That will just have to wait till I have tried everything that having a husband and baby will stop me. And that includes work, career and travel opportunities.
Call me selfish but this mindset is the reason why Singapore is facing the dillema of an aging population. And we are not only talking abt Singapore, the same things are happening to HK and Japan as well.

Impacts:

1. Singapore is lossening rules to allow more foreigners to work in Singapore. EP is now on the employee basis rather than employer. Non-PRs are sent inivitations to be a PR. Couples are getting bonuses on their first & 2nd babies and tax rebates from the 3rd babies onwards.
2. Institutions in Japan are facing a problem of lacking students to fill their university intakes that they have to target foreign students incessantly.

The poor government but they just have to live with us being "single and lovin' it" till we have 'sampled' everything. It was their fault to make us so liberalised and to provide so much form of entertainment anyway.
(P/s. This might not be an exact representation of me. Speaking from a Singaporean gal's pt of view.)

Singapore - The State of Affairs

I wonder if Singaporeans find themselves too controlled, too contrived, too constrained sometimes, too no character? Let me explain why.

When I arrived in this kiasu-land, I laud the government for its various initiatives that help the people of Singapore esp their cost control measures and technology advancement. For eg:

1. The cost controlled supermarket called NTUC FairPrice is available every stones throw away no matter where you are in Singapore. Nowhere can you find themed offers like American month where all American produced products go on sale. Yum yum, Tim Tam.
   
2. Called it boring & secure but advantageous for the society as every hawker center serves the same dish at the same price. Noodles and rice go as cheap as $2.50 in no air-cond hawker centers and some are pretty tasty. No more going the extra mile to cheap food stalls as it is available everywhere.
3. The government via IDA has recently introduced free Wireless access at 512kb called Wireless@SG in public places by Jan 2007. With this initiative, users of iCell, QMax or Singtel network can log on to more than 900 hotspots all over the country. To increase the usage of this free broadband, the govt is giving away 10,000 subsidized computers to low-income students which will help bridge the digital divide in the country with development cost of abt $100M. Yipee! Now I do not have to only look for McDonalds whenever I want to surf outside. :)

All these measures do put Singaporeans in very comfortable positions but just like taking bribes from someone, there could be an underlying message or agenda. Singapore has turned into a country extremely controlled by the government so much so that even their business is monopolised in a very indirect way. Smart huh? For eg.

1. Morgan Stanley's Asia correspondent quit after a disruptive email remark regarding the reason Singapore is chosen to host the IMF when it would have made more sense hosting it in countries like China and India. When said that it is due to the illicit money laundering to corrupt businessmen in Indonesia and that Singapore's success is far-fetched, noone knows what happened but one could only assume the amount of pressure he could have been under.
2. M1 which was one of the top telecommunications operator in Singapore has gone down the drain, unable to beat competition that comes in the form of government-controlled telcos like Singtel and Starhub. How can a privately-owned M1 reduce their price as much as the other 2 players so much so that they are actually a loss unless they have the government's funding? Makes us think why Government Linked Companies in Malaysia could not experience the same backing and funding from the Malaysian government. Well, no-brainer.
3. Pacnet, a privately owned ISP with high profit margin when they have just started has its position now taken over by Singnet which dropped prices so low only the government's funding can cover their losses. Not only that Singnet is offering free laptops and handphones with any new signups of brodaband that only costs $60++ a month! Another one bites the dust.

Toast to the government. Great job though to maintain the stable economy.

My Mid-Autumn Festival Message

This coming full moon festival, when the moon is at its roundest and brightest, who will you be thinking of? Regardless of who is with you or around you, who will be on your mind?

For thousands of years, the Chinese people have related the fullness of the moon to the symbolism of reunion between loved ones, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is commemorated based on that principle. Celebrated during the period of the Autumn Equinox, the moon is said to be at its most beautiful.

I have always regarded the Mid-Autumn Festival as the most romantic time of the year. I do not know why but it is almost as though I have had a past life that had celebrated Valentines Day during the Mooncake festival. I stared at the full, round moon and wished that the person who is right for me would be staring at the same moon at the exact same time. Despite all that daydreams, I always seem to get disastrous results during the Mid-Autumn festival when I am with my loved one or when I am not. Either we end up arguing or we end up not being with each other at all. Perhaps it is the fact that I expect too much from the relationship during this time of the year. Perhaps my past life had too good a Mooncake festival celebration that I could not reenact those romantic moments. So, I can only thank the Goddess of Mid-Autumn (if there ever is one) that despite all this, I could still be with the ones I love next, which is my family and relatives, basking under the bright moonrays, savouring the sweet elixir of lotus seed paste in the mooncakes and relishing the dim light emanating from the candles in the lanterns.

How did the Mooncake festival come by? It is said that during the Sung dynasty (A.D. 960-1280), the Chinese people were unhappy being under the control of Mongolia, and thus were intent in orchestrating a surprise rebellion. With the Moon Festival approaching, the leaders of the rebellion took hold of this opportunity and ordered the making of special cakes that were going to function as a secret message conveyor. Messages were scribbled onto tiny pieces of paper and hidden within these cakes and then passed onto others, on the pretext of being a season gift. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels succeeded in their mission and overthrew the government. Moon cakes are thus eaten in commemoration of this awe-inspiring event after.

Thus, I have come up with a message to be inscribed of my mooncake if I was to make one. This would be it: "In the final analysis of our lives, when the 2-do-lists are no more, when the frenzy is finished, when our mailboxes are empty; the only thing that will have any lasting value is whether we've loved others & whether they've loved us."