Shhh! Secret Life of a Princess

Random, provoking thoughts from a self-confessed princess :: with focus on motivational learnings from the media. I hope to inspire everyone to be the best they can be

Sunday, November 18, 2007

An Escape to the Stars



Starlight, starbright,

The first star I see tonight,
I wish I may I wish I might,
Grant the wish I wish tonight.

And my wish was granted; a simple wish to catch Stardust on the big screen has been fulfilled (may I add for free, courtesy of Digi's movie coupons :). Having heard of the author Neil Gaiman but not knowing what I am in for, I did not realise that whole movie is about a star acted by my favorite actress, Claire Danes (of course, I grew up on My So Called Life). Have u ever wondered if the stars you see at night are actually real? Have you thought that maybe, just maybe that while you are staring at the stars, the stars are also staring back at you?

This movie does a great job in allowing you to escape into a fantasy world of fairies, witches, star angels, unicorns and flying pirate ships (isn’t that what movies are supposed to do?). By watching Stardust, I escaped to an enchanted world, so magnificent I did not expect a whole movie could revolve around a fallen star and its adventure on Earth. The star took the form of a beautiful girl names Yvaine. The most memorable part of the movie is when Claire Danes quoted this when she confessed her love to Tristan, the guy that was with her throughout her adventure on Earth.

'You might think I do not understand true love but I do. I watched it for years, centuries even. It makes watching all the wars and hatreds on Earth bearable. Love is unconditional. Love is so powerful it verges on loathe. But most of all love is selfless, it's when you feel that your heart does not belong to you anymore and you would not mind giving it to the person you love'.

Yep, I do think love is the most powerful weapon of all, with it, there be no wars and hatred. Beautifully spoken from the lips on a star. And I am not the only one who thought the movie rocks! :)

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Danga Bay in Johor Bahru




If there is one place that has a vast difference between night and day, it would have to be Danga Bay, a little reclusive area in the corner of Johor Bahru. While at daylight, the whole place is like a ghost town, at night, it transforms into a fun fair of activities with neon lights adorning the whole place. It was teeming not only with people but with singers at every corner of the place. There were Malay singers in the Malay pubs and Chinese singers (who sings Chinese and English songs beautifully) in 2 more pubs.





One of the most beautiful restaurant I have seen in Malaysia is also here. It is a beautifully lighted up cruise ship, so beautiful a bride was taking photos next to it. On closer look by the beach, I saw the water was so dirty and realised the reason why. There was a drain leeking dirty water into the sea.

I commend the effort the Malaysia government took in creating such a beautiful hangout place for the people of Johor. Perhaps this is part of the Iskandar Development Region (IDR) efforts which will convert Johor into a busy commercial area for Malaysians and Singaporeans due to its geographic locaiton. I thought it would have been a great hangout place for Singaporeans seeking a different escape (considering how small the island is) with cheaper food & beverage (after conversion to RM). All they needed to do is to prepare a ship to the area from Sentosa Island to that area and they might get many more high spending people there. However, with the number of local visitors there, I doubt the govt will do anything just yet.


Finally, a little sundial was built in the vicinity which was showing 12.20pm when I arrived at 2.30pm. Haha!

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Friday, November 09, 2007

How to Save a Life



Great piano work there but as I do not know how to play any musical instruments, I do what I can do. The poem below is penned by yours truly with inspirations from a magnificent song from The Fray ;)

Had I known how to save a life,
I would stay with you
Just for one more night

Had I known how to save a life,
I would buy you the chocolate
That brought twinkle to your eye

Had I known how to save a life,
I would not have let the sun set
At least just for one more day

Had I known how to save a life,
I would have made that sandwich with extra mayonnaise
Just so that you can taste it one more time

Had I known how to save a life,
I would make the world accept you the way you are
Just so that you feel special just or one more day

Had I known how to save a life,
I would listen to the story of your life
Just to lighten that burden just one more time.


The moral of the story. The best moments in life happen only once. Don't wait till it's too late. True love will never come back.

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Thursday, November 08, 2007

Wish Upon a Facebook



I never thought you can tell someone's personality through image selection. Guess I was wrong. This test called Wishabi which I found through a friend's invite in Facebook (what is not on Facebook nowadays) requires you to select from quite an exhaustive list of photos, the ones that you like and strikes you best. I chose what appealed to me most and those that I wish I can see in real life (this is wish test after all) and walla, the results really revealed my wish/personality trait. I tend to like images of sceneries and colors, reason why I am excited by new things, the potential and promises they bring from friends to relationships to places. When I travel, I enjoy seeing sights and sounds, not shopping, reason why I rather go holidaying with guys. Thus, I am the kind of person who gets uncomfortable being too comfortable, hehe, such irony. well, life is too short to try something too many times. There are many fishes in the sea and birds in the sky. Hehe.

So, try it and see what you get. If you choose pictures of food, most definitely you enjoy eating, etc...well this test is so darn easy to guess. But guess what, by being in Facebook and being so dumb and easy to use, it might just be the type of application that can appeal to users most. The business model here is now, you have the user preference/profile and wish list of millions of Facebook users who addictively invite their friends and friends of friends to test their wish personality too. What does this mean to retailers? Targeted marketing to a guaranteed millions of users! Imagine the ability to get a whole list of emails that have selected a branded handbag as their wishlist, this already saves the retailer's trouble of finding out if the consumers want to purchase a handbag in the first place. This allows them to tailor their promotions to make the wishabi users' wishes come true. Vast potential indeed!

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Sunday, November 04, 2007

TV Cast I Adore & Virtual Shopping



She has to be my favorite cast so far, witty, intelligent with beauty to boot, I relate to her the way noone else does. (Hehe, perasan!) She is Ellen Pompeo from Grey Anatomy's fame. Everyone wants to be a star of their own show. Do you sometimes feel that when you wake up, you narate your own show? That today will be a better day and you will narrate everything that happens to you and your friends at the end of the day? That you are just an actress in life that learns as each day passes by?

Well, why do I relate to her? Cos she does what is required of her even though sometimes it is not what she want. Cos she is intelligent yet vulnerable in times that is required. Cos she is emotional and is not afraid to show it. She is compassionate when the time is right. She is weak and does not know if she should follow her heart(sleeping with McSteamy when he knows he has not divorced his wife yet) or head (sleeping ith George cos he might be the godd guy she needs in her life). And most important of all, she is just another actress in this complex thing you call life, walking through the path of life making each day counts and hoping that everyday will be a little better. :)



I am having such an amazing time playing with some Web2.0 apps like Stardolls that I used to create these amazing pictures of Ellen Pompeo. It almost feels like shopping without using any moolah. I love dressing up my favorite actresses like Alexis Biedel, Rachel Bilson, Carrie Underwood and Lucy Liu while some singer/actress has such great apparels, shoes and handbags to mix and match with like Skye Sweetnam (as shown on left) and Rachel Bilson. You can see my tastes here which is more romantic, girly and elegant, not too funky and over-the-top. My only qualm is some of the outfits do not fit the celebrities personality and some do not have matching shoes to fit their beautiful dresses (yep, shoes are real important!)but there are just too many to choose from. Websites like these are fast becoming a great platform for advertising as it attacts the right target market who loves clothes and shopping. With more than 11 Million (amazing!) registered member from all over the globe, this website is every advertisers' dreams come true.



Another website that does the same thing but using real items to dress yourself up is called Polyvore. This website depend on advertisers who will provide photos of their items to be added into the repository to be chosen by the registered members. The best part is people can comment on all your creations which you get more feedback from the whole community of users rather than just your friends when you go shopping. Imagine choosing one earrings and shoes that looks so great on the vrtual you, thus, all you need is to know what brand it is and to click on the button and start your online purchasing. 3 days later, walla, the item arrives at your home and you can now make the virtual you become real.

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Thursday, November 01, 2007

Halloween In Singapore


Tis' the day when ghouls and spirits walk the streets and are celebrated in merriment in Singapore. In muslim countries like Malaysia that do not celebrate the occasion in grandeur, with only a small minority of people acknowledging this celebration, Singapore celebrates Halloween in greater splendour. Just look at the promotions that go on during this celebration from decorating the restautants with scary images of devils and skeletons to people walking around with witch hats and devils horn, some even blinking. It was a celebration that was taken as an excuse to go out and party in Singapore given the little number of holidays they have here in this country.

I awarded myself to a nice dinner in a Halooweenish decorated restaurant called Fish & Co just to be able to try out their dessert called 'Tombstone'. Without a single clue of what the dessert will turn out to be, I entered the restaurat to be greeted with devils and angels serving me, waiting on me and serving me my food. yes, all waiters and waitresses are required in the nicest angel or devil costumes. Some customers even take the effort to dress up to get discounts on their meals with one particular notable customer who dressed up as Kolonel Sander, the creator of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) replete with walking sticks and white hair. It was such a hilarious scene.

I ordered 'tombstone' which was on offer only on Valentine's Day. It lasted for a few days but I had to try it only on the last day. The dessert is called so as it consists of a single scoop of vanilla ice-cream on cholcolate cookies, dripped with Hershey's Chocolate Syrup and Rasperry Cream. Yum yum.

So, if you want to have a great big Halloween celebration, come down to Singapore and you might befrightened by a human devil or 'The Mask'.

Till my next adventure, look at my photos.