经济不景气的受害者

it's such an irony that i just did this news feature on the job market for graduates, and now i'm facing more or less the same situation as them. (listen to feature here.)

somehow i feel i've never been so vexed before. 困っている、悩んでいる。maybe i've been too blessed my whole life.

on a lighter note, pictures from East Coast Park outing yesterday.

bicycle learning and kite flying. one tiny step closer to learning to bike. maybe with a little bit more practice, i would be able to bike liao.. yeah!



my tiny kite which had been complained to be hard to fly, made it into the sky without much effort at all. what an easy kite flying experience. but while keeping the kite, it actually fell into the sea. oops! picture: my kite flying companion and bike instructor, Xin Pei.

the double bike that brought us to Bedok Jetty. Can't ride in my own yet LAH.


This weird old man paddling his way around the jetty on a makeshift raft. And i heard someone saying "Eh see Mas Selamat". Actually that was my first tot too. Haha!

One of the numerous ppl netting fishes out of the sea there. Wonder what they can catch?


Some white tiny fish called Gekgek. Dunno how to spell but it sounds like 假假 in Hokkien. Ha if you know what i mean. The tiny ones will be thrown back into the sea. They will only keep and eat the larger ones. Hmmm...

the many updates to be made...

my last post was about going overseas.. and I've been back for almost a month from the trip! OMG time seriously flies. That means that life have been busy and occupied for me. that's good.

Taiwan trip was great! So nice to be back in Taiwan again after my exchange stint 3 years ago. Things did not seem to have changed much. Meeting my Taiwanese frens was the best part of the trip.

TRIP HIGHLIGHTS

The reason why we were in Taiwan in the first place. Youth Film Festival of Taiwan.

Before heading to Kaohsiung, a stopover at Taichung 逢甲夜市 to try their famous 大肠包小肠。in picture, the delicacy from 2 rival stalls located right opposite each other but each still had long queues and their own set of supporters.

Next stop: Sunny Kenting for some water games. Not foregetting to get sunburnt in the process.

After an activity packed, adrenaline rushing afternoon, it's off to 关山 to admire the sunset.

Back in Kaohsiung, we decided to find out what 槟榔 taste like. Verdict: Taste raw and makes my mouth numb and red. Not very nice but it's acceptable taste.

Finally back in Taipei. Gathering with my Taiwanese friends!

Going back to 政大 for the breakfast I missed so much! 古早味的蛋饼、萝卜糕加蛋、饭团和红茶豆浆！Yum yum!

And since we were back in 政大，a little tour of the place for Shunyi and a little walk down memory lane for myself.

And what else did we do in Taipei? Shop and go 夜市 of course! Above is 公馆夜市。We also were at 师大夜市、饶河夜市 and 士林夜市。4 夜市 in 3 nights. haha!

***

Little thing to share. After being shown at IDFA, New Zealand Human Rights Film Fest and the Youth Film Festival in Kaohsiung, H.O.P.E. will be shown in Mexico at the Monterrey Film Fest in August and also in Greece at the Kos Health Film Festival in September! Yeah! Tho I won't be able to make it to either fest, but it's still a happy occasion.

台湾我来也！

又要出国了！

上次出国好像是两个多月以前到槟城。所以觉得是又要出国了。

这次到台湾，参加影展，当然少不了顺便旅游加探访朋友。

这次回去的心情应该会很不一样，跨别了3年时间再回到台湾，尤其台北，会是怎样的感觉? 好像有好多地方想重游，很多朋友想见，但是时间却是那么的短。

还真不巧，有朋友从香港来新玩，但我却要在同一天到台湾去。可惜没办法招待她。

又到了做最后准备的时候。我想我是越来越熟练了。

母亲的心声

昨天是母亲节，你怎么和妈妈庆祝呢？

朋友在facebook上po了这么一段文章，觉得很有意义，和大家分享一下。疼惜母亲、爱惜母亲，不应该只限于5月份的第二个星期天，而是应该时时刻刻记住要做的事。这点，我也必须提醒自己。

《当我老了的时候》

当我老了,不再是原来的我。请理解我，对我有一点耐心。
当我把菜汤洒到自己衣服上时，当我忘记怎样系鞋带时，请想一想当初我是如何手把手地教你。
当我一遍又一遍地重复你早已听腻的话语，请你耐心地听我说，不要打断我。你小的时候，我不得不重复那个讲过千万遍的故事，直到你进入梦想。
当我需要你帮我洗澡时，请不要责备我。还记得小时侯我千方百计哄你洗澡的情形吗？
当我对新科技和新事物不知所措时，请不要嘲笑我。想一想当初我怎样耐心地回答你的每一个“为什么”。
当我由于双腿疲劳而无法行走时，请你伸出你年轻有力的手搀扶我。就象你小时侯学习走路时，我扶你那样。
当我突然忘记我们谈话的主题，请给我些时间让我回想。其实，对我来说，谈论什么并不重要，只要你能够在一旁听我说，我就很满足。
当你看着老去的我，请不要悲伤。理解我，支持我，就象你刚开始学习如何生活时我对你那样。当初我引导你走上人生路，如今请陪伴我走完最后的路。给我你的爱和耐心，我会报以感激的微笑，这微笑中凝结着我对你无限的爱。

[原文载自墨西哥《数字家庭》]

其实这也不知限用于妈妈，我想对待爸爸也一样。

天冷就回来

既然上次评了《猫》，现在就来谈一谈《天冷》观后感吧！我不是什么影评人，但身为消费者，觉得钱花的值得，就会有总满足感，所至少看了《天冷》有这样的满足感。


前天看了《天冷》，是颇让我满意的。虽然称不上什么惊喜，因为两年前的我也看过了，但是戏应该是细了一点，而且主要演员的表现也较上一次好一些。当然表现包含歌唱技巧和演技，所以最大的不同应该是“小静”一角。石欣卉唱功当然不赖，所以就比上次的“小静”突出。不过有同事说，上次的小静形象比较适合角色，属于比较柔弱，想让人保护的那种，而在石欣卉身上就找不到这种感觉。但对第一次出演舞台剧的石欣卉来说，我觉得是不错的。至少觉得她最关键的一幕，看着阿乐终于能放手和Rose牵着手离开，那种欣慰中又带非常大的不舍的感觉，那种内心的挣扎，我感觉到了。

当然，让我再次观看《天冷》的推动力莫过于主要演员田伟鸿和董姿彦。他们的确没有让我失望，因而让我觉得或许新加坡的中文音乐剧有了新希望。能歌扇舞已经很不赖，还得会演，又要演得自然，演得不夸张。田伟鸿就符合了以上所有条件。董姿彦音色独特，声音很有穿透力，不过稍嫌演技有那么一点夸张。

还有饰演阿强的刘俊葳。其实两年前看《天冷》是冲着那些歌曲和当时饰演阿强的陈瑞彪去的，因为他是主要演员中我唯一比较熟悉的。可是过后对陈瑞彪有些许失望，因为他的中文有点变扭，让我看了也有点变扭，但我却深深对田伟鸿和董姿彦刮目相看。这次刘俊葳的演出，我认为是比陈瑞彪出色的。他的演唱功力的确很棒，中文也出奇的标准，外形和肢体也比较符合角色。

唯一缺憾应该是阿强的男朋友一角。相比上次的出演的郑展伦，彭达文就输了一大半。彭是英语戏剧出身，其实他在普通对戏时的中文是不赖的，但是到唱歌时，就总觉得有点口齿不清，更加上我觉得他的唱歌技巧还不太到家，所以就逊掉了。而且我觉得他整个造型有点怪。怎么要穿着上班族的衣裳，有点刻意而且有格格不入的感觉。最重要的是，觉得他和阿强拥抱的关键戏，没有上次的有震撼力。（或许是应为我已经知道他们要拥抱了吧？）

除了演技，还要说一下幕后的东西。因为是剧场出身，所以看戏时总会有职业病。之前对《猫》的不满，在于它没有更换布景，也没有现场伴乐。《天冷》两者都有，所以又多打了两个勾。现场伴乐是不赖，但觉得有些地方音乐声量大了点，切入点有点突兀，抢了戏。
（sidenote：乐团的主要小提琴手竟然叫林卉，跟我同姓同名也，还是第一次遇见）

布景方面，不铺张，简单朴实，相当适合剧情，而至少在换布景和道具时我认为他们有下心思。不过，还是有点不够熟练的感觉，尤其是那种隔着帘子，在后边搬动大型道具的后台人员。总可以看到微光从帘子中透过，还可以听到他们搬动的声音。还有灯光整体来说稍嫌太暗，一直以为是不是自己近视加深了。尤其是打在彭达文上的灯光，直到中场我都不能确定是他出演。

《天冷》胜在朗朗上口、耳熟能详的歌曲和非常棒的演员班底。音乐的确能让人感动，而有故事性的音乐的感动度就提升了10倍。这也是我喜欢看音乐剧的原因。而且我知道他们是现场表演，有实力与否，马上就听得出，比起录音或电影，舞台演员的要求更高。

《猫》在我心中就输在故事性不强，而且我也听不清楚他们歌词中要表达的意思，以致我对整体故事更加不了解，也就找不到感动度和满足感。

要成就一部好的音乐舞台剧还真难。好的剧本、好的歌曲、好的演员、好的呈现方式。

《天冷》再次呈现与本地舞台，让我再次能回味与这些歌曲，让我相当开心。不过，我更希望看到不断的有新的，好的中文音乐舞台剧在本地出现，总不能每两年就拿《天冷》来重演吧。

看了《天冷》让我有冲动想要回到剧场，找回那种参与其中的感动。

失望

It's been a very arty-farty 2 weeks. Caught some films at SIFF, went to WKWSCI's FYP screening (albeit only for 1 day) and just gone to CATS.

I've been looking forward to catching CATS, and to think that I actually decided to spend over $100 to catch it (cos usu I go for restricted view seats which cost abt half that price), and I was actually quite disappointed by it.

When I watch a musical, I usually expect a good plot, good sets and of course good songs and music plus good singing. And in CATS, I find that there was the lack of a strong plot (ok despite it been running for like eons, I've nv known what's the plot so I went in to watch with a fresh mind), no change of sets whatsoever and the thing that irks me most, there was NO LIVE ORCHESTRA!

I guess I've come to expect a good live orchestra after watching Phantom and Forbidden City of which I enjoyed both really much.

So really, I don't know what makes CATS like so popular. Maybe the plot got lost in me cos I can't quite catch what most of the lyrics were. The dance were supposed to be good. They were pretty good, but then I find it repetitive after a while. Getting up close to 1 of the cat was pretty exciting. At least I found a redeeming factor - the detailed makeup and exquisite costume. There were those that could sing well, but sadly I can't say that ALL of them could. And I almost fell asleep in the first Act.

The funny thing was, while queuing for the toilet during interval, the lady in front of me was busy going onto Wiki using her iphone to find out what CATS was all about. Kinda my sentiments at that point. Then the lady in front of her asked the lady on iphone if it was her first time catching the show and commented that the previous time she caught the show, it was much better and it had a live orchestra and that she was pretty disappointed with this show. Hmm... initially I tot I was just too critical. But turns out I wasn't.

Then second Act was definitely more engaging than the first, but I still was disppointed as a whole. I think I put my expectations too high, thinking that a long running Broadway and Westend Musical MUST be something good.

I like to watch shows that evoke a certain feeling in me, I like to laugh and cry along with the characters and feel what they feel. But I felt nothing. Because there was no clear plot, no clear theme, except that it was about cats - different kinds of cats. My brother whom I watched the show with gave the explanation that maybe it's meant to be a lighter kind of musical, something purely entertaining.

Will be catching 天冷就回来 next week. This I already know the plot cos I caught it on its previous run 2 years ago. I'm looking forward to be touched by the songs. Hope it does not disappoint.

Life can't get better than this!

Life can't get better than this. Shopping for free, and ahead of others... at Uniqlo Singapore!

Ha. This must have been the best perk of being a reporter so far. Voucher to spend at media preview of the Uniqlo store at the new Tampines 1 Mall. The even better part? I don't need to file report. Wahaha!

Cheers to Uniqlo!

So here's a little peek to the store. (Shall do my little part in publicizing it since I've spent their voucher :P)


















Actually I've only been to a Uniqlo store once in Japan. Several diff stores at different locations in Tokyo la but still that was my first encounter. Still I'm pretty excited that they are bringing in the label. Like their basics and they are at pretty affordable prices here. Think Giordano, Baleno but with more funky designs and new designs once each one runs out. Store in Tampines 1 is pretty spacious. Not too bad a variety but no denim skirts yet.

And they do bring in the Japanese style of service, especially evident at the Fitting Rooms. They will unbuckle and unbuttons ur garments for you before you try them on. And u have to take off your shoes in the fitting rooms and no matter how to take them off, they will be placed neatly, in the right direction for you to slip your feet right in when you come out of the fitting room.

If Tampines 1 is too far for you, they'll be having another one at Orchard Ion by the second half of the year and another 6 outlets by 2012.

Yeah Uniqlo!

once a month

I think posting an entry a month has become a habit.

Cos I'm just plain LAZY. In the mood today, so shall share some stuff.

First up, my short getaway to Penang. It's my little resolution to explore more of Malaysia from now on. When we think of holidays, it used to always be somewhere far like Japan, HK, Taiwan, US, Australia. Why not Malaysia. It's near, it's relatively cheap and there's really lots to explore as I've realised after some simple research. So Malaysia here I come!

Ever wanted to try Fish Spa in Singapore but think it's expensive? Ha just as we were thinking about it on our first day in Penang, we chanced upon a place called "Happy Feet". There, it costs just RM 25 for 30 mins of Fish Therapy. (We got it for RM 15 cos we posed as students, ha!) How does it feel like? I-T-C-H-Y! As you can see, I can even hold still to get a clear shot. But u do get used to it after a while. And the fish are huge with big teeth. There's another pond with smaller fish but they are lazier so to get our money worth, we decided to let the big teeth do more work.

The famous Kek Lok Si in Penang. Somehow it does feel very zen there. At least I felt quite zen. But only after u get pass the rows of shops trying to sell u souvenirs and what nots on the way up.

1,2,3,4... cows. Haha. The travel companions. (of cos excluding the stone cow)

When it comes to Penang, food is definitely No1 on our itnerary. But we were most excited to see A&W! All the childhood memories coming back... And how could u resist not having a rootbeer float when u see A&W?

Next up, I actually hope to raft in Malaysia or maybe go learn diving. So exciting.

That's the fun stuff.

On a more serious note, can't help but marvel at how my FYP topic can pop up again and again.

MOH has passed the Amendment Bill on HOTA, to allow compensated organ donation in Singapore.

Here's my take to the issue, reposted from Capital 958 website. (Caution: It's in Chinese.) Maybe u can tell me what's ur take too.

天打雷劈、骇人听闻

当我还在对象征我国的鱼尾狮被“天打雷劈”的事感觉不可思议时，却出现另一个震惊全国的大事。

在我母校，离我过去4年上学不远处的地方，竟然有学生拿刀子刺伤教授后，割脉跳楼、自杀身亡。

这世界怎么了？新加坡怎么了？

据闻他可能是因为教授督导他的FYP方面起冲突导致命案。虽然我们大致上都很在意FYP, 但是也不至于会到为它去杀人或自杀的地步吧。为情所困、为爱杀人倒是曾经请闻，但是为了功课作出这些事业太不值得。一直以来成绩优越，在面对挫折时就崩溃了吗？懂得面对失败也是一种学问。

后来想想，庆幸自己的FYP是一组人一起做的。所以不管遇到什么问题、什么困难、什么不顺心的事，都有人一起分担，坐下来发一下牢骚后，仍然可以并肩作战、重新出发。

在新闻室工作，每天除了股市跌幅、哪间公司裁员、哪家金融机构出现亏损的负面新闻外，到了本地还是负面新闻。

post CNY

CNY seemed to have passed so quickly this year. before I realised it and am done with my new year visiting, it's already over. maybe cos I started working from 1st day of CNY, so it passed extremely fast and without fuss.

Just finished re-exploring Singapore the past weekend. It's TIRING as usual, bringing people around and having to plan everything nicely. Physically and mentally tiring. But I still truly enjoy the Singapore River Cruise. Altho it's prob the 3rd time I'm taking it in tha past 5 years. Whoever had not taken it before should go ride it!

I strongly feel that STB should give concessions to Singaporeans who are bringing their foreign frens on those over priced attraction entrance fees man. After all we are doing our bit to promote tourism in Singapore. But it's going to blow a hole in my pocket soon.

And everytime I play host to foreign frens, I marvel at how STB managed to do such a good job in creating all the icons that is a must-see and must do for tourists, keeping them happy and coming back. Merlion, Night Safari, Sentosa, Flyer. All man-made, yet uniquely Singapore.

we just have to take a picture with Mr Merlion. (act I'm not sure if it's a Mr)

the beautiful Singapore night view. my fren says the lights on the flyer reminds her of octopus tentacles.

View from the River Cruise. I think the just added the lights on the Cavenagh Bridge. And it changes colour. I'd rather they din.

At the Night Safari. It's a chair I'm posing on.

Next time you are tired of shopping along Orchard, can get into the Vistor Centre for free foot massage using the Osim massager.

the day dark clouds hovered...

I walked into office with a letter from the HR addressed to me sitting on my desk.

"Strictly private and confidential. To be opened by addressee only." It stamped in red.

My colleagues looked wearily at me, with slight worried looks in their faces.

"We're all going to get a pay cut," one said, "look." And she handed me a printout of the email that was sent out just that afternoon from the CEO.

I took a glance. It was 2 whole pages long with a 4 page attachment of FAQs to the new measures in place.

"Quick open the envelope and tell us what's in it," another colleague said.

I took a closer look at the envelope and my heart sank slightly. I opened it and took out the letter carefully.

It read, "This is to certify that Lin Hui is employed in the company as a part time broadcast journalist..."

*WHEW*

It was the employment certification letter I requested from the HR for my brother's university financial application. NOT the dreaded "goodbye" letter.

Upon realizing that, I could feel the tension ease around me.

"Chey! We thought your letter was part of the cost cutting measures the company is undertaking! Since you are a contract staff... "

Yeah, you guys made me worried for a while too. But then, I feel loved. That everyone cares about my presence. Hah.

I've just past the 6 month mark on the job, and the fear of losing my job already hovered. What an eventful start of my career.

But well, I'm still employed, tho there'll be approx 10% pay cut with corresponding less work days. It's going to be a 5-4-5-4 work day month. I'm going to have much more days off, forced leave days and more long weekends.

So do ask me out more often. But please restrict to asking me out for cheap activities and budget meals as I'm gonna be earning less! *yikes* (not like I'm earning a lot now)

How about teaching me to ride a bike for a start?

《小娘惹》疯

虽然来的有点晚，但我还是决定转贴。

原发布与958网站的新闻室日记栏目

***



娘惹疯席卷本地，势不可挡。

最近同身边亲朋戚友聊天，总是离不开《小娘惹》话题。要是你没追看，不知道剧情发展，就很可能被冷落啦。

一）谈身边有多少人中了“娘惹毒”

本地电视剧一向不受太大好评。嫌编剧没新意、演员阵容大同小异、演员演技不突出是最常听闻的批评。但这次却发现，平时不看本地剧集的一些朋友，如今却要天天追看《小娘惹》。而“中毒”程度也有所不同。为了确保能追看，一集也不错过，一些人在这期间的生活规划便围绕着《小娘惹》的播映时间。出门一定要在8、9点以前回到家，吃饭不要去太远的地方或干脆只在周末出街。另一些则特地去买了硬碟录影机，把时间预设好，天天把戏录下来，就不必担心错过任何一集精彩剧情。更有一些人干脆买下有电视功能的手机，就可以无时无刻，不论身在何处，在干什么，一到播出时间就能第一时间看到《小娘惹》。

二）谈剧情、人物

宣传打得如此响亮，而越令人期待，人们就越看得仔细，剧情中的破绽与不合理性便成了大家茶余饭后的话题。在承认自己有追看这部剧后，接着总会先数落剧情一番，但最后还是不得不同意自己仍然会追看下去。而《小娘惹》剧中人物众多，“坏人”令人恨之入骨，“好人”让你从心坎里怜惜，因此成就了不少经典人物。投选“最令人讨厌人物”更成为一项不错的活动。

我曾出席一个国际纪录片影展，而一位影展筹划人说，他到影展去不只为了看戏，而更主要的是谈戏。有越多人谈论、越有争议性的影片，对他来说就是一部好片。

新颖的娘惹题材、漂亮的戏服、浩大的演员阵容加上大力的宣传让《小娘惹》的收视率节节攀升，还成为新传媒15年来收视率最高的剧集。在当下的经济低迷环境中，当各大媒体都只有负面新闻时，能让人抽离现实，投身进入一个好坏分明的世界中的机会异常深得人心。与其谈生活如何艰苦，倒不如把《小娘惹》评头论足一番来的痛快。

新的一年=新的开始？

热烈欢迎... 2009年的到来。

不因为今年将有什么重大事件发生，而只因为它来了，就欢迎一下吧。

又是回顾过去、展望未来的时候，而我想2008年对我来说应该是我人生当中最“重大”的一年了吧。

完成毕业制作、从大学毕业、到日本毕业旅行、动手术矫正鼻子内部结构、进入社会工作、到阿姆斯特丹参加纪录片影展 - 每一项都是大事。经历了这么多，真不敢相信全都在08年这一年内发生。似乎把一年当3年用了。

正式开始到新闻室工作，是兴奋的。它让我的08年过的格外充实、精彩。08年对全世界来说都是“重大”的一年。全球多个国家举行大选或总统选举，政治轮替一个接一个发生。国际和本地的重大事件，都让我犹如置身其境。振奋人心的北京奥运会和本地F1一级方程式车赛；令人悲痛的四川大地震、中国毒奶事件、孟买恐怖袭击、全球经济风暴 - 这些都让我在半年内对世界改观不少。加上自己制作的菲律宾肾脏买卖纪录片，真的是让我看尽人性，感受到自己的渺小。

面子 让北京奥运会不惜代价、寻求完美 （F1 也一样吧）
贪婪与自私 让婴儿受罪、经济体系垮台、损人利己的事不胜枚举
怨恨与不平 让更多人无辜受害

这世界总有那么多的不完美，但却因为如此，凸显出完美的可贵。08年结束之际，制作了个温馨的节目，体会到拥有善心的人还是存在的。

09年起步艰巨，我期待“改变”。

Let the pictures do the talking...

It's been more than a week since I've back from Amsterdam and there's still no updates.. Well, everyone's been asking how was Amsterdam and I must say I did not spend a lot of time exploring the place. I guess our primary objective was IDFA, and secondary being touring the place so that was what we ended up doing.. I'll just let pictures do the rest of the talking...

(I'm still missing lots of pictures of myself cos they are mostly in Shun's camera, since she'll be the one taking photos of me.. haha..)



Do click into the album where u can read captions...

it snowed!

IT SNOWED IN AMSTERDAM!!

i'm freezing.

days in Amsterdam

I'm in cold, COLD Amsterdam.

It's been a pretty cool 2 days in Amsterdam, literally and figuratively.

I'm doing nothing much but watching Docu films all day long. Awed by some, touched by others and getting angry too. That's documentaries.

And we also made time to visit the Van Gogh musuem. and I actually sneaked some photos which I later realised I'm not supposed to be taking. haha

Our film will be premiering tomorrow morning! So excited...

And it does seems like it would snow in Amsterdam soon. It's been drizzling and hailing quite a bit today. And the wind is making my hair messy all the time.

Will explore more of the city soon. But I do miss eating soupy stuff esp cos it's so cold here... cos all I'm havng here is bread, bread and more bread.

pre departure jitters

it's the all so familiar feeling of pre-departure jitters.

where you feel like there's still so much to do
and yet you don't really know what is not being done

there seem to be so many things to take care of
and so much you still do not know about the place you are going to

when you feel like you need more time to prepare
and you kind of dread leaving altho you've been looking forward to it

and this time it's even more so cos there IS really a lot to do before I leave
like picking up the postcards, and burning the DVDs, and shopping and P-A-C-K-I-N-G

and cos I've been working really hard recently, all I feel like doing at night is sleep or laze in front of the TV set, so I've not been reading up much on my upcoming destination..

and cos I've nv experience sub-10 temp, I'm not sure if what I bring is warm enough, or would it be too warm.

plus all the nitty gritty details like how much memory should I prepare so I can snap happily away, which bag should I bring along..

there's always so much to do...

still it's coming true.. it's going to happen.. I'll be on my way to AMSTERDAM in less than 24 hrs and soon I'll be sitting in a packed theatre (hopefully) and watching my docu with so many others who may laugh and cry and cringe as the characters in the docu do.

Obama is the man!

The duel has ended and OBAMA had emerged victorious!

It had indeed been an exciting race to the White House, with history made either way. And it is the race the WORLD is watching and I'm amazed at how emotionally involved I got in it, and also how Obama had got the world behind him. I'm not biased.

Which other US president had Indonesia, Kenya and a town called Obama all the way in Japan backing him with his race to the White House?

Kenya even declared that tomorrow shall be a public holiday so that the nation can celebrate for this man, whose father was from Kenya, and still had relatives there.

In true democratic spirit, the world had witnessed the first Black US President. It moves me just seeing how people reacted with tears of relief and true jubilation at their newly elected President. But of course there is the other camp that had reacted dismally at the lost of whom they support. But it is the intensity of the emotions, either way, that struck me.

Would we ever get to see this in Singapore? Would Singaporeans get passionate about politics?

Then and again, the intensity of the emotions came from pent up frustration from the previous administration's failed governance. Just look at other countries in the region which had similar predicament recently and we have no lack of examples - Taiwan, Thailand and to a lesser extent Malaysia.

Does it always take failed leadership for the people to stand up for change and to feel passionate about the country? Would I rather live under a stable, steady and capable government's rule and never know what it is like to feel passionate?

Would you?

making my day

It was an activity filled Saturday with me shuttling between 3-4 places and meeting many, and I mean MANY ppl cos I was covering the Singapore Hit Awards. BUT the saddest thing is I did not manage to take any photo at all cos while the artistes were in the Media Centre, my main concern is getting soundbites from them and I had no extra pair of hands to be taking photos.

And I did not even get to watch any of the performances by the singers, except the opening performance, cos we were all stuck in at backstage, in the Media Centre, afraid that we might miss out when any of the singers pop by.

While my first reaction when I knew that I was going to cover SHA was "yeah!".. now I'd rather be in the audience seat, enjoying the performances and not worrying about what to be filing back to the station from the backstage. Luckily there were journalist frens that I met which made the wait backstage a lot less boring and also gave me a peace of mind cos at least I know someone else will be helping me keep a lookout, or giving me a helping hand while I'm busy running in and out.

Still, there was something that made my day that day. It had nothing to do with SHA. It was my contact lenses purchasing experience. All about good service.

It started out with me having some discount coupons to buy contact lenses at specific optical outlets. And cos the coupons were going to expire soon, I decided to make my way to the Suntec outlet and expected an ordinary contact lens buying trip.

But the moment I stepped into the store, the staff greeted me with a great smile and asked what I wanted. After I expressed my wish to buy contact lenses, she immediately ushered me to the machine and offer to test my eyes for me. (I remember previous buying trips only asking me what lens I want to buy and did not offer eye testing service unless you ask for it).

And I thought that was it, and she was going to sell me lenses already, but no, she ushered me into the room for more accurate consultation on my eyesight, to determine if I need astig corrective contact lenses since I'm not currently using them altho I do have astig.

After consultation, she told me I'm doing fine without having to wear lenses with astig and proceeded to sell me lenses. She even told me something no one ever told me before - that due to the curvature of my eyeballs, I'm more suited to use smaller lenses, but they do not stock them, so I'll have to wait for them to make the order, which of cos I said ok. (Wow.. I've been wearing and buying contact lenses for 4 years now and no optician had told me that before!)

And cos I decided to change the brand of contact lenses I'm currently using, she decided to throw in a trial pair, which also made me quite happy. (I think they were all supposed to do that when u change brands but not all opticians I go to voluntarily gives me that)

I know it does not seem like anything out of the ordinary or great but it just felt like a really good shopping experience for me. I felt the sincerity in her service attitude and it's been a looong time since I encountered that in shops in Singapore.

IDFA!!!!!

Still can't believe I'm going to be heading to Amsterdam in a month. Well that is if everything goes as planned.

Still can't believe our documentary got accepted in IDFA. It's the best World Premiere we could hope for.

Sooo looking forward to attending the festival. It's really a huge thing for me, for us all.

Happy, excited, disbelief.

Now there's still a lot of planning to do.

Amsterdam beckons...