For admiring every now and then...

The large lion statues outside the Art Institute of Chicago Museum.

~

So a friend of mine just got accepted into the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for his Masters in film. Extremely thrilled and happy I was for him at his accomplishment, but I would be lying through my teeth if I said I did not feel any other less chivalrous emotion. Yes, I'm not afraid to say that the green eyed monster possessed me for a while there, all because I once tried, though not as valiantly, to pursue a path not too divergent from his.

Getting into a good art & design school is in itself a gargantuan achievement, but the thing that I admire and respect most is the dedication and perseverance in hanging on to the passion and the dream that spurred it all.

I had applied to Rhode Island School of Design once, right after my A levels, thinking that I might want to pursue a career in industrial design. However, given that I only tried applying to one school and that my portfolio was haphazardly put together in 2 weeks, the decision to pursue design overseas was made when I was informed that "there are(were) many talented applicants like you(me) but we (they) only have(had) places for a few". So I set my sights on the rather reputable industrial design course in NUS but that too was relegated to the back seat when I thought, 'why not pursue it as a Minor while I pursue a more practical Business finance degree?'. After all, I did enjoy economics and I imagined myself leaving Business faculty for the School of Design & Environment if I could not cope.

Well, we all know how that turned out - inertia is one helluva force to deal with.

Maybe I was stupid to apply only to one school, maybe there were too many applications, or maybe I lack the talent to see me through the gates of a design school - there are a multitude of reasons for me not having entered the design and art arena. However, one reason has bugged me the most - maybe I was too flippant to want it as much as my friend does. I love design, I love aesthetics, and www.core77.com is read right after bbcnews.com and bloomberg (sometimes before). However, at that time, I remember being half hearted in my application: 'design can wait, I just need to get a high paying job first' was something I often repeated to myself. Well, yes LY. Design will wait. It will wait till you're 80 with one foot in the grave.

I have a problem with making important decisions and that constant state of wavering, I'm sure, might just force me to fold up my dreams (and now, I don't only mean pursuing design), wrap it in 3 feet thick of excuses, and hide it somewhere far in the crevices of my mind. My friend's perseverence is something I admire greatly and I am sure he will have no trouble answering to himself in the future. It is one thing to have a calling or a dream, and another to pursue it. That is something I need to keep close to my heart if not, I will find my future self constantly taking those dusty old dreams, unwrapping them and admiring them only every now and then.

I wish my friend all the best, and I'm sure he will have a whole lot of fun. A whole. lot. of. fun. =)

Convo.

Me: Goh, I don't want to grow up anymore.

GZY: nvm its ok. u look like a childish old man. so you have your wish.

Me: wtf.


I <3 my friends.

Tropical thunderstorms & train delays.

Today I got stranded twice:

1) Tropical thunderstorms.

Tropical thunderstorms are always a sight to behold. I love them to bits, especially so when they're in the mornings - the sound & smell of rain always does funny happy things to me.

Anyways, so yes. It decided to rain today just as I had to go to work! So there I was, stranded at Tanjong Pagar MRT station without an umbrella to cross the road. It was so freaking heavy that even people with umbrellas decided to camp in the shelter of the MRT station. Stepping out with a flimsy foldable umbrella meant immediate drenching. So I was stuck there for about 45 mins and even as I left, the rain had only eased very slightly.

That was stranding incident 1.

2) Train Delays.

My utmost faith in the MRT system took a heavy blow today when surprise, surprise, I experienced the first MRT delay in my lifetime!!!!

I had left office at 6:30pm for Tanjong Pagar MRT station where as usual, I'd get on the train that comes by once every 2 mins towards Pasir Ris and Changi. So when I entered the station, everything was as per-normal - people were messing around with their ipods or busily thumbing on their blackberries as they waited for the train. Yes, they were waiting and so, I joined them in the waiting.

We waited.


and waited.


and waited.


The electronic signs that displayed the arrival times kept updating themselves.

"Arriving in 3 mins".

After 3 mins...

"Arriving in 4 mins". So on and so forth.

The platform was getting really crowded , the most crowded I had EVER seen it :
so obviously, people were getting frustrated and impatient and just as some were leaving, a very strong singlish-accented announcement was made regarding the delay:

"Train slurvees will be slidely delayed. We applaulegize for inconvenience caused. Tdankew"

The professionalism of the announcement, just like the delay, was a far cry from the usual 'Train approaching, please mind the gap' tape recordings that people are so familiar with. Well... truth be told, at that point I think most people were just so thankful to have been updated with something that the accent hardly mattered! Disclaimer: I LOVE the singlish accent. I speak it , I practise it, I preach it. Just that, well, a corporate image IS a corporate image! ok. so im being an ass here. hahaha. ok la, it WASN'T that bad. sheesh! Im just picky!

Well, so after about 30 mins, the train arrived and my gosh, it was the most crowded ever.

Ok , so THAT was stranding incident 2. I'm wondering what happened. Someone jumped onto the tracks? A train had a malfunction? hmmm. wondering if I'll see it on the news tomorrow....

HA.

ok..now just some random photos from my time in Singapore so far:

Zheyi and gang at Orchard Central. New malls are popping up EVERYWHERE in Singapore.
We should just be ONE BIG MALL.
Singapore mall.

The beginning of the 400 or so balloon sculptures that we had to make for the kids that came for my bank's 'Bring your kids to work' day event. ha.

Kids are cute. But some are cuter than others.

So this was a while back. My room still looks just as messy.
Do you see Mount Yuanmess in the middle?

Alright, so one day after gym in Seletar with Zheyi, we went to a hawker centre and lo and behold, this nice lady was having lunch with her parrot!

Guess how old he is. He's 21 years old. Older than me, older than you.
Must be some SKII .

Ok. Im becoming lame.
Going to sleep now!

BYEEEEEEE.

In preparation.

I feel like I need to inform the 10 or so people who read my blog daily about the perils of choosing a career solely for the monetary benefits. I don't mean to say that money is not important in choosing a job - it has its obvious pros (think fully-paid-for-house, flash-car, leather-shoes, don't ask me why I'm going in reverse order of value ) - but puh-lease, NEVER CHOOSE A JOB ONLY FOR THE MONEY. NEVER. NEV-AHHHHHHHHHH.

WHY?

COS THIS IS HOW YOUR AWESOME DAY WILL LOOK LIKE:

7:00 am - Wake up and be really grouchy cos you only slept 6 hours.

7:45 am - Squeeze onto bloody irritating crowded MRT with a thousand other zombies. Some zombies actually smell nice. hmmm.

8:00am - 12 pm : Count down to lunch. Literally. COUNT DOWN TO LUNCH.

12 pm- 2pm : HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY! Lunch with so and so at XXX restaurant/hawker center.

2pm - 630 pm or later: COUNT DOWN TO GOING HOME, again, literally.

630pm or later: HIGHLIGHT 2 OF THE DAY! going home or meet friends to chillax, SURF FACEBOOK.

Gosh, do you guys spot anything nice about the workday? Yup! 12 pm - 2 pm : Lunch! and 630 pm or later - going home to chillax/surf facebook! [ because today facebook had site maintenance, my highlight 2 was sadly not a highlight at all! :( ]

Wow ! What an amazing day you say. When you're 30+ and you have your fully-paid-for-house/flash-car/leather-shoes, and your child asks you, "Daddy/Mommy, did you enjoy your youth" (ok, Like they will ask such a retard question, but these are insightful kids), you be ready to say with conviction, "YES! I had XXXX lunches and XXXX chillax sessions! And look! I now have a fully-paid-for-house/flash-car/leather-shoes! I totally enjoyed my youth!".

When the people around you say, "Do what you like and you will excel", THEY ARE NOT LYING. Gosh, there's so much sense in that but somehow, I have no idea why I did not heed the advice of all those people. Those people know who they are and they probably are thinking, "I told you so." and yes, I know you told me so. Hmph. In all defense, it's not like I TOTALLY hate what I'm learning/studying/doing- there's some interest in it okay!

I think many people have fallen into the same trap as me and some discover it too late in life to change, and I don't mean to be horrid/sarcastic really, but at the very least, they can seek solace in their fully-paid-for-house/flash-car/leather-shoes! I hope they are sane at the end of it all though! (Disclaimer: again, I mean it SINCERELY OKAY!)

Then again I can't speak for everyone. Obviously, people exist in different circumstances so yea...whatever floats your boat I say! Just, just, please make sure at the end of it all you're happy. I'm very sure people know in their gut what makes them happy- the thing is, it just takes quite a bit (Ok maybe ALOT ALOT) of courage to actually do it.

At a cafe near the office where I'm working at is this several meter poster that spans the entire length of the inside of the floor-to-ceiling glass wall. It reads on it in a scrawly hand written font: "HAVE THE COURAGE TO LIVE A CRAZY LIFE!"

Yup. Go forth my little blog readers and be happy! I shall live vicariously through all of you. =)

(I will take a pic of that poster and put it on my blog soon ! )

For the sake of my cousins...

... I shall blog... Yi & En, I haven't seen you guys in so long I think I've forgotten how you all look like. heh.

Work: to exert oneself for a purpose or out of necessity.

What happens if you're exerting yourself for neither purpose nor necessity? What do we make out of that? Well, it simply means you're just wasting your time. *ho ho ho hum, ho ho ho hum, hoo ho, ho hum (in the tune of the Chim Chiminey song)*. And time is precious for we have not many years on this planet. Even the tortoises have more years than us - they can work for 40 years and still have a 100 more for retirement. We will NEVER have such luxury.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124450268338295907.html

Go read it now.

I feel happy for those people above and yet I worry for them. Their hearts and minds will be stuffed with fulfillment, probably even overflowing with that highly coveted feeling, but their pockets will almost certainly always be half full. Over-flowing hearts & minds and half full pockets, or over-flowing pockets and helf empty hearts & minds? *ho ho ho hum, ho ho ho hum, ho ho, ho hum* Then again, our pockets are ALWAYS half empty.

I don't think my excerpt above made sense, but yea, that's what work does to you. It mushes your brain and leaves you with nothing.

On another note, I brought Steph kHoo on a gastronomic tour of Singapore's hawker fare. That girl's size is so not proportionate to her appetite. Like Napoleon Bornaparte, she conquered her food swiftly and efficiently:

Hor fun with lard pieces
Ok so the photos are not the actual ones, but they look sorta the same la. Just that the ones we ate were SO MUCH MORE AWESOME.

Fried chicken (including ALL THE SKIN! =O )

Prata bomb

and Milo godzilla.

Enough calories/energy to keep a town lighted for 5 years. Glad she satisfied her craving for hawker fare while in Singapore. Martin/Pascal/Choeun/Ben/Dave/whoever who reads this, if ever you come to Singapore I will definitely bring you to all those places to eat and you will have to beat Steph's record.

Below is the route we took to get to the area where all the food were:

So yes, I just dropped her off at the airport and now she's probably somewhere over the sea on her way back to Ozzy land.

Steph in rain boots. WHY you ask.
Well, cos they were too heavy to be in her already bursting-at-the-zipper luggages.

Bye Steph! Hope you had funnnn..

SEE YOU SOON!

:)

Paris on a Segway...

.. is gorgeous, efficient and exhilarating!!! It would probably make some people's blood boil to know that I had signed up for the Paris City Segway Tour mostly for the Segway than the city. Yes, I'm that type of tourist so yea, my priorities are plebeian and purely experiential. but who cares its SO DAMN FUN. I'm telling you, the Segway has to be the funnest human transporter ever. Serious. Try one if you can. Also, when you're on a Segway, you automatically become a celebrity. People look at you and gawk. HA! OK, so maybe they gawk at the Segway and not you, but by association, they're also gawking at you! :)

Take a look at the pics and the videos

This was on the way to the Eiffel (the start point). Saw this old-ass Porsche. I think it's so cute. soooo cute horrrr. like a Mini.

Aha! The grand dame.

So this was my Segway - the Seginator. Ok, they had lamer and funnier names like :

Segosaurus.
Segs on the beach.
and the best...
...
..
Nicholas Segcozy!

Everyone trying out their personal Segways.



This was me trying to film my reflection. Hmmmmm.






So off we went! That lady is not wearing some fashionable outterwear, its just a rain coat. Quite funky actually, seeing it billowing in the wind.

At les invalides.From wiki: Les Invalides in Paris, France, is a complex of buildings in the city's 7th arrondissement containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building's original purpose.





Ok , i think this was the view as we approached les invalides. Not too sure, but yea. I'm trying very hard to keep the photos and the videos in chronological order.



This is in front of Les Invalides.

The procession as we left the invalids.



This was when we were travelling to the Pont Alexander III bridge. From Wiki: Pont Alexandre III is an arch bridge that spans the Seine, connecting the Champs-Élysées quarter and the Invalides and Eiffel Tower quarter, widely regarded as the most ornate, extravagant bridge in Paris^{[1] [2]}.

This is the tour guide! Billy from the States. He studied in Texas so he has like a rather thick Texan Drawl. He has such an enthusiastic and warm personality, really fun guy. Like the way he simplifies all his explanations too. hehe.

'Yallllll' according to him is efficient - 'You all' is just too long.

Also, in Billy's words: "the Pont Alexandre is just France's way of telling the whole world that if they bomb russia, they're bombing France." Yea... hokayyyyyyy. LOL.

Do you see the photoshoot in the distance? ahhhh it was really gorgeous. The model and the photographers and all.

So next, we headed to place de la concorde:


That place was the site of many executions during the French revolution. As the tour guide said in his texan drawl: "Like many people were slaughtered here ya know, and like for months after, the horses and cows refused to enter because of the smell of blood. Ya know, the animals, they geddit, they geddit. " Hmmmm. yeaaaa, they geddit. I geddit too. We all geddit. Anyways, so I have learnt MUCH about the French revolution while I was here, and well... it was a tragic past I guess.

So next, we went to the tuileries gardens. From wiki: The Tuileries Garden covers about 63 acres (25 hectares) and still closely follows a design laid out by landscape architect Andre Le Notre in 1664. His spacious formal garden plan drew out the perspective from the reflecting pools one to the other in an unbroken vista along a central axis from the west façade, which has been extended as the Axe historique.

Gorgeous garden, very relaxed, laid back, BUT ! we had to push our segways through it because that place does not allow bicycle riding or any riding thing. I realised after that the Segways are actually quite heavy.

Had a little Parisian break while we were there. This lady, upon seeing the huge ass sandwiches that were served, commented, " Everything in France is so fancy. But I'm still looking out for the small portions!". I haven't seen any either but that's only probably seen in fine french dining and given that I'm not exactly a fan of fine dining, well, I don't think I'll be seeing any small portions any time soon!

Just before leaving the tuileries. Still pushing, still pushing.

This fat pigeon was sunning itself in the middle of a busy path way. Pigeons really are stupid. They look stupid and act stupid. Stupid pigeons.





This was us leaving the tuileries. On the left is the Louvre. Went back there the next day and had my brains smushed from all the information. I will blog about that soon, but not now, cos this is a looongggg looonggggg post.

So after the Louvre, we sort of made a beeline back to the shop. Was great cos we got to go FAST on the segway. And i mean fast. Lovely. If you have played the vids, you'd notice that the segway makes a nice whirrrr whirrrr sound. Quite therepeutic.

On one of the bridges on the way back.








Views of the Seine on the way back.





I REALLY didn't want to return the Segway. Ho hum. We should ask Pa to get one for himself then we can play with it. I have a strategy: "This is really a great tool for transportation. I think it's really great on large expanses of land, like on a golf course. Wait, Pa, you golf right??! You should get one!" Good strategy, good strategy. Now I just need to ask my brother to implement it.

We ended right where we started - the Eiffel. Was a great day cos the sun was at its brightest, the weather was excellent and well, the company was fun.

ok, will be blogging about the Louvre, the Centre Pompidou & going up the Eiffel tomorrow!

By the way, I will be in London tomorrow, so see you all in London!

再见/ Au revoir!

Why is 再见 and Au revoir the same meaning, but 'Good bye' isn't? Hmmmm. Or maybe it is. Hmmm. What does 'Bye' mean anyways. hmmm ok side tracking. Ciao!

Sacré-Cœur

Sacre Coeur has to be the most beautiful place in Paris. Ok maybe that's cos I haven't really seen much of Paris, but Sacre Coeur has to be one of the top 5 at least! I didn't really look forward to going there because it involved a rather long walk and it was after all just a Cathedral (I don't intend to be blasphemous, but there are Cathedrals everywhere aren't there!). But now , after seeing that place, man am I glad I did.

Before we start, from wiki: The Sacré-Cœur Basilica Roman Catholic basilica is a popular landmark in Paris, France, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The basilica is located at the summit of the butte Montmartre, the highest point in the city.

Will just let you guys see some photos:

It's very charming how from between the alleys, you can see SacreCoeur looming up in the distance. Very majestic, very gorgeous, very awe inducing. Totally not what I had expected. I mean, I had travelled to SacreCoeur on google earth (ok some of u will slap me for saying that) so I didn't think it would be as nice as it was la! I mean, Google earth's 3d Buildings are very realistic okay.

In the alley leading up to Sacre Coeur. You can see the iconic carousal at the end of the alley.

At the base of the Cathedral

Just midway up and the view is already splendid. Of course it does help that all the buildings within Paris are made to be low. (La defense, their CBD, has high rise towers but that is not within Paris, it is in zone 3)
I like how the people just lie on the sloped lawn enjoying the gorgeous summer day. Wanted to do that myself but oh well, not in my Singaporean mentality. ^^

I felt this was a nice angled shot. haha. Wadever.

I took a shot of the Eiffel from the back of Sacre Coeur, thought it was quite nice so I edited it on photoshop. Scary how it looks old and antiquated but I like how the tree branches frame the Eiffel nicely.

The doors into Sacre Coeur which are not used. The entrace is by the side of these 2 doors.

LETS REMIX!!!! From the very top of Sacre Coeur, you can see almost the whole of Paris, all the way to La Defense.

Sacre Coeur and the masses. Ok I didn't like that there was a guy standing in the middle of all that people , singing hippie english songs on his guitar with loudspeakers. And people actually CLAPPED after each song. *puke*

I mean, it's like a French Cathedral and so people are there for the French experience. At least sing FRENCH folksy songs with an accordion la! I just came from New York, so I don't really need any more English, poppish, pseudo-emo/emo/wadever songs thank you vrai much.

AND. he also HAD to sing R.E.M.'s 'Losing my religion' with lyrics like this:

"That's me in the corner
That's me in the spotlight, I'm
Losing my religion"

I mean, it's a nice song and all and I'm not religious, but IF YOU WANT TO LOSE YOUR RELIGION, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE TO LOSE IT.
Freaking irritating.

Ok. Irritation aside. I need to think of nice things. I need to think of nice things:
WOW, LOOK AT HOW GORGEOUS THE VIEW IS:

The slopes are actually quite steep as you can see from here. But , nice to lie on! A natural recliner. heh.

The iconic carousel.

Ok so Si has been buying these little glass bottles of goodness, just wanted to let u guys see. ha. cost about 5 sing bucks each! but so very very good.

Okies. Done with Sacre Coeur.
I will continue blogging tomorrow on the SEGWAY TOUR I HAD AROUND PARIS.
The Segway has to be the FUNNEST thing EVER.

Nightey Nights.