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Uu

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If you along Orchard Road and a little bored with the usual shopping, drop by Scotts Square and check out an exhibition by Kinetic Singapore.  It’s also a pop up store of sorts to get a miniature replica of yourself done.

3D scanning is all the rage nowadays but few have the ability to deliver the quality that I saw at the exhibition.  Ok ok ok, I may be a little bias because the organisers are dear friends.  That said, go check it out for yourself and I’m happy to be corrected.  Though my hunch is that you’ll agree that the likeness is better than most 3D scanners out there.

So it’s no surprise, my besties and I had a blast inspecting the miniatures, especially the Lims, which were my favourite.  I was so very tempted to get one of myself.  I can just imagine displaying mini me with my Ultimate Bumblebee.  In in the meantime, here’s my favourite picture from the day, regular us while we contemplate about getting mini us.

Not So Little Saffy

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Today a little friend of mine turns 10 and I still remember going to her first month celebrations.  It’s amazing how fast time flies and how quickly the little ones in our lives grow.  Due to her family and friends being everywhere around the world today, we all got together a little earlier to celebrate in style with the birthday girl.

The neon theme party threw me for a slight loop till I remembered my very bright neon yellow sandals my sister bought me for Christmas.  I also forgot I actually have a neon pink top somewhere in my closet.  Oh well, there I was decked out in black with my neon sandals with my munchkins who will miss Saffy when she moves to New York.  They had a whale of a time.  For my nephew in particular, he usually finds himself in the minority with more girls than boys.  This time, he played rough, didn’t have to watch out for anyone because he was one of the boys and they were in the majority.

My niece had fun too and enjoyed hanging out with girls and of course, Renn.  It’s so nice to watch them grow up together.  Maybe they’ll stay friends and maybe they won’t but I do hope they get as lucky as I’ve been with friends.  It wasn’t always this way and in the past, I’ve had a couple of toxic friends myself.  Learnt the hard way and while they aren’t bad people themselves, I now know I can choose not to allow people to treat me badly.  Here’s 3 women, sans Lynn who we miss dearly (thank goodness for Whatsapp and FaceTime) and living it up in Maui.  So it’s actually 4 women who have showed me what real friendships mean.

In some ways we’re so different and yet in others so very similar.  I don’t know if they realise how much they’ve each inspire me to be better and that’s what real friendship means.  Supporting you when you need it most and being genuinely happy at your successes.  They’ve done it for me so often and for each other, showing that it is possible to put people who you aren’t related to before yourself. I’m so thankful for our seemingly inane conversations to quiet times when we lean on each other for strength.  Each time they make the difficult but right choices in life, they give me the courage to make the same hard choices in mine.  Our friendship always makes me think of this Dad’s advice to his children “Never ever let a friend down. I would bury bodies for my friends, if they asked me to . . . which is why I have chosen them carefully.”

So today on your 10th birthday dearest Saffy, I wish you a lifetime of wonderful friendships.  Happy Birthday angel!!

Initiated Into Auntie-dom

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A month ago today, one of my dear friends made a trip back to Singapore, she hasn’t been back in 7 years!!  That’s like a whole lifetime … literally for my niece :p  Anyway, besides eating her fill of local delights, she wanted to play MAHJONG!!

I am friends with some of the best mahjong players around and my own aunts are very well acquainted with the tiles but I have actually never played the game.  Not until a couple of weeks ago, that is 🙂

We all trooped to All Hail Mahjong Queen Cherry’s place and I was taught to identify tiles, what ‘pong’ meant and no, it has nothing to do with smells, how to game and I even won money 🙂   I have to say, it is an interesting game and I can understand why older people all over the world play it.  I suspect if Cherry lived closer, I’d be playing more often 🙂

Meanwhile, I’ll look forward to our next game, which is probably when Mia comes back … in another 7 years.  Don’t wait too long for your next visit!!!  For now, all I can say is thank goodness for whatsapp, skype and email.

TGIF!!

Fakie and Surface 180

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It’s been 4 months since I first started to seriously wake board.  I’ve got my own board and a vest too!!  Both very wonderful hand-me-downs from Charles, my friend and Charlie, my sister 🙂  I hit the water about once a month.  That’s not a lot but enough to be pretty steady behind the boat.  I’ve tried going out on my heel side.  My toe side needs way more work and last week I did a fakie and surface 180.

A fakie is when you ride on your less dominant leg.  In my case I ride with my right leg forward so when I do a fakie, it’s my left leg that is forward.  Seems like such a simple thing but by golly, it feels very very weird like writing with your left hand if you’re right handed.  Whatever the case may be, I can do it now 🙂  Not perfect but I can stand!!

Thanks to the kind people on Youtube, here’s what a Surface 180 looks like:-

BTW, the video is of a six year old doing the “stunt”.  I’m not quite as smooth as him but I definitely crash as soon as I’m done with my 180, like he does in the video :p  Again, he’s only 6 and I’m not.

My sister and cousins are jumping and getting to be quite the pros.  It’s really fun to watch them and have their progress egg me on but seriously, I’m very happy just standing behind the boat and enjoying the view :p  Like with most things in my life, I’ll just take each ride as it comes along.

Take it from me though, if you want to learn how to wake board in Singapore, the guy to call is Jim Chua aka Jimboh.  He’s patient, attentive and knows exactly what you need from the water.  Couldn’t ask more more than that in a wake boarding instructor … and trust me, I’ve had ones I don’t want to think about anymore.

Next on my wake boarding list stunts, to hold on with one hand!!  Stay tune for my updates 🙂

37 and Wake Boarding

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I hope I can still say that when I’m 47.  The next 10 years are going to be quite revealing but for now, I’m relishing the present and today, I’m just glad that I got up early hung out with family and a sweet friend for a bout of wake boarding.

I wasn’t breezing through it, it’s not tomorrow yet and I’m starting to feel the aches.  I did have a swell time though!!  Enough to want to do it again 🙂  Maybe we can do this every 2 weeks!!

Let’s see what this 37 year old body says tomorrow.

Meanwhile, this video was done entirely on my iPhone.

Not bad, huh?  The world our children are growing up in is so different from ours.  I’m looking forward to the iphone 5 🙂

Sunday at the Birdpark

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If it wasn’t for my munchkins, I would NEVER go to the bird park.  One, I’m not crazy about birds.  Other than penguins, birds really do nothing for me.  In fact, some are so hideous that I can’t help but think they are out for my blood.  Two, I have some issues about zoos and enclosing wild animals in a somewhat domestic situation so it was a little heartbreaking seeing birds static in a small spot and not soaring through the sky 😦

However, with my munchkins and the Tays, I did manage to have a good time at the bird park yesterday 🙂  Like I always say, it really isn’t where, it’s whom you share it with that’s important.

My nephew does not share my disinterest in birds.  In fact, he loves them!!  So much so when his tooth fell out, he wasn’t too frazzled about it, which says quite a bit about my nephew and the the ability of birds to distract him :p

Watching the three of them wander around the water park amazed me and made me think about how fast they’ve grown.  When they first met, my niece, Mabes and Jonah were still in diapers and barely spoke, much less to each other.  They are all fond of each other and like all friends, they get into fights every now and then.  They also make up and have really fun days like today, which makes it especially nice to watch them grow up and hang out with each other 🙂

So if they asked to go to the bird park again, I’d say yes!!  Also, beside penguins, I have to say the owls are pretty cute too.  I just might be brave enough to watch Legend of Guardians now.

Jeremy Lin

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Who’s that?  If you’re asking, basketball is not your game.  He’s the first Asian American in the NBA and BTW, he is also a Harvard graduate … apparently no one  from Haravrd has been in the NBA for 60 years!!  Linsanity is what is taking the NBA world by storm.  I’m just relishing the fact that when all this was happening, I remember a YouTube celebrity that I watch from time to time, Kevjumba.  In truth, his Dad is the one that seriously cracks me up but to me, here’s why the Linsanity is even better.

He’s a regular kid whose dreams are coming true.  Did it happen overnight?  No, like most other successes in the world … nothing, despite what the newspaper say, happens over night.  Hard work and opportunity kinda have to happen for success to explode.  When it all clicks together, it’s hard to remember that someone/something way bigger than us makes it possible and keeps it real.  Jeremy seems to have remembered and that to me makes him more inspirational than the regular Joe making the best of an opportunity.  Humility is rare in the 21st century and even more rare for a young man in his 20s.  For that, move over Kobe and the Lakers, I’m a Knicks convert now 🙂  Go Jeremy!!

Siri Compatible

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That’s me 🙂

This is yet another overdue post due to the lack in focus to blog, distraction from the very subject of this post and life in general.

On Oct 28, along with a couple of thousands of other people in Singapore I got aquatinted with SIRI.

It’s been three weeks now and all I have to say is that I love love love my iPhone 4S.  Bear in mind that I upgraded it from the iPhone 3GS so it is quite the improvement for me.  Siri?  Well … I’m not crazy about her and trust me, I have a hunch the feeling is mutal.  When I asked her if she loves me, she answered that she respects me O_o

I suspect we’ll grow on each other.  She seems to understand me more and my need to put on an accent lessens each day.

The iPhone is another example why I reckon Steve Jobs rocks.  It’s made both my parents download apps, play games, whatsapp … maybe they would have done it with an android (err … we all know where the android came from) but definitely not with the ease that they’ve taken to the iPhone.  The sci-fi world that I conjured up in my head, inspired by the TV, films and books that I was expose to as a child is slowly but surely becoming my reality.

I use to think that it was a shame I didn’t live during the industrial revolution where so many amazing technologies were achieved.  I take it all back, the digital revolution is mind blowing and I wouldn’t change for the world.  I’m right smack on the cusp of the non-digital and digital age.  Old enough to be able to understand and not take for granted the things that the younger generation deem as normal yet young enough for the concepts to be completely intuitive.

In my lifetime, I’ll be able to talk to my car, read or watch the news on the same device that may be as simple as a transparent sheet.  The world is changing and some days I forget how fast and how lucky I am to be a part of it all.

iPhone 5, I have my eye on you 😉

Post Phuket

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Yet another overdue post that was written but was waiting for the pictures :p

I’m no longer a Phuket virgin and the first time was a little surreal, like most other first times, I guess.  Didn’t really feel like I was in Thailand because I didn’t get to eat my mango and sticky rice!!  Yes, tell me about it!!  Who goes to Thailand and doesn’t get to eat mango with sticky rice?  Me over the last weekend (Oct 15-16).

Other than that, I had no complaints.  We were at a lovely resort and barely left it.  It was great company and I’m looking forward to what we decide to do next year 🙂

So I can’t really comment on Phuket.  I think I’m still more inclined to Bali only because we’re more familiar with it.  The thing I always find strange about Thailand is this, for a land of Buddhist people, vegetarianism isn’t as common place as you would expect it.  Nonetheless, I don’t have any problems.  Actually being vegetarian nowadays really is quite easy and no one bats an eyelid any longer 🙂

I’m really lucky when it comes to friends.  People who try their darnest to be good people.  They aren’t many and those who are, are my friends 🙂  And that’s exactly what you need for a good getaway, good company.  Everything else pretty much falls into place.

Till next year!!

Phuket, Here I Come!!!

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Someone was really surprised that as a Singaporean I’ve never been to Phuket.  Well, neither has my parents, so there :p  All that changes in a couple of days though coz come this weekend I’ll be off to Phuket, Thailand!!  Nope, my husband isn’t back and it isn’t a romantic getaway.  It’s with my beach bum crew – Zack, Miss Chan and Resh!! That just means it’ll be a very decadent weekend of eating, chillling, massages and a whole load of FUN FUN FUN!!

And if the water is as blue as this picture I got from the web, I’ll be a happy camper 🙂  Can’t wait to update from there.  It’s been slightly over a year since our last getaway in Bali so we’re so due for another beach getaway.

Well, at least I am coz my beach bum crew had a Bali getaway that I couldn’t be a part off in May >.<

In case you’re wondering, we’ll be putting up at the Westin Siran Bay Resort and Spa.  Did I mention there will be massages?  Oh yah baby, I’m so looking forward to this weekend 🙂