Interesting | Maestoso Amore | Music | Life

Some childhood memories of toys – Sewing Machine

7 July, 2019 No Comments

I have a few drafts in my dashboard, but oftentimes I want them to be perfect. Which takes a lot of time and then I give up writing and editing. Which explains my MIA from here for more than a year. 🙁

When doing prayers, sometimes some little snippets from my childhood come to me and I feel emotions from then. This is when I feel it’s probably time for me to offload it here.

At the moment I have a dress which zipper is rather loose, causing it to be difficult to zip up. I’d fixed it once by sewing but the threads came off again.

I suddenly got to the memory where I once (maybe 10 years ago?) felt and thought that each household should have a sewing machine. And that memory of a small white sewing machine flashed into my head, and then a small pink one that I once owned for a few hours or days.

My dad was the only person working in the past, which made growing up not so fun for us as we were always told to study hard so that we can earn more money in future.

As a kid, we couldn’t understand this and was upset when we saw our friends or other kids owning various toys.

Well, one toy that somehow caught my attention was this miniature sewing machine.

I can’t remember the brand now, and the exact name of it, but I recalled that it had lights, and it functions like a real sewing machine.

As a kid, I saw my mum sew and use her sewing machine and I wanted to sew as well. It so happened that this sewing machine was advertised to be fun for little girls so I really wanted one badly.

I can’t remember how much it was then. Was it like $20? It was a huge sum of money for us then (and for my poor parents who had to send us to school and also survive) but I somehow managed to make noise about it and convinced them to get one for me.

Guess what though? We didn’t know how to use it, and my mum tried by reading the instructions and still couldn’t get it to function.

I remembered being so confused – disappointed, angry, upset about the whole situation. I got what I wanted, but it was faulty, and wasted my parents money. That was the worst feeling ever for a little kid.

I was so upset then about myself and my stupid decision in wanting a fake sewing machine that I took whatever decision my mum made about it – to return it back to the store.

That was the end of me owning my sewing machine.

I somehow recalled looking at it for a the next few days before my mum returned it and still hoping that someday I will own a real one instead.

But now that I am here and able to afford a real one, I don’t see a need for it anymore, and prefer sewing with a needle instead.

Think I might continue with this series of little stories. 😊

Interesting, Workshop

A Better Florist: Flower Arrangement Workshop Review

19 November, 2017 No Comments

The workshop I attended was provided by A Better Florist.

Who doesn’t love flowers?

I love them but have never felt that I was “artsy” enough to arrange a bouquet. The closest thing I did was the bridesmaid bouquet for Audrey’s wedding last year but even so, I had no idea what I was doing (we only used baby’s breath).

When I heard about the opportunity to attend A Better Florist‘s Flower Arrangement Workshop on 11 Nov, I jumped at the chance to learn something new. My mum had attended quite a few flower arrangement courses and came back with many beautiful flowers arranged so nicely.

The workshop was conducted by Shirleen, a very nice and bubbly girl. After a round of introductions, we learnt about the flowers and leaves that we were going to use for the day. We were introduced to Forget-me-nots, Eustomas as filler flowers (flowers that fill up the space) as well as some leaves to make up a bouquet. The focal flowers that we were using were roses and carnations.

A Better Florist workshop

The style that we were taught was a nice layered style that is the trend now for Instagram or photography (I never really thought of the difference when I saw bouquets).

After demonstrating the first few steps, Shirleen left us to picking our own flowers and arranging them. I won’t go into too much details (do sign up for the workshop to learn!), but I really had fun picking my own flowers and arranging them! Shirleen walked around assisting us and giving us tips when she noticed anything that we should take note of. One thing I learnt was also that tape is a florist’s best friend!

A whole lot of flowers to pick and design your own bouquet!

Once the basic arrangement was done, we were taught how to keep the flowers alive and to wrap them up nicely with a burlap to give it a nice rustic feel and for a finished product!

Very proud of my completed bouquet here!

All in all, I had a great 2 hours learning how to arrange a bouquet of flowers and the technical stuff behind it. Everything was simplified in a way that would make you want to go out and buy a bunch of flowers to arrange them again! I can’t believe that I’d arranged a bouquet of flowers within 2 hours and will definitely be something that I would want to do again.

Thank you A Better Florist!

If you would like to attend A Better Florist‘s workshop, do keep a lookout at their workshop page here.

Interesting, Life, Music

Evelyn Glennie in Singapore 2015

6 September, 2015 No Comments

Three years ago I watched Evelyn Glennie in Singapore. Back then, I’d only played with a Symphonic Band/Orchestra (just every Sunday, non-professionally).

Fast forward 3 years on, I’m taking a break from my Symphonic Band practice, and I’ve explored and played with different people and bands the past year; I’d auditioned and failed in about 3 bands, but also had the opportunity to play in different bands for their performances. Still, I lack self-confidence most of the time, and struggle regularly on whether I should continue playing or give it up, as I know that as compared to professionals, I can be nowhere as good as them.

I envy professional musicians – they get to hone their skills everyday and do what I wish I was good at. Some of my friends (both professionals and non-professionals) know that I’m going through this and they told me not to compare this way.

When Parvin told us that she was able to meet Evelyn Glennie and ask her questions if any, the first question that I had was again the above – What would she advice a non-professional percussionist who knows that she isn’t as good as a professional even though she does her best to work on her skills as best that she can?
Evelyn’s answer (as conveyed by Parvin) was this: There’s no such thing as non-professional percussionists. We are all the same and equal whether we are professionals or not. The most important thing is that we need to explore and understand people’s feelings and try to understand what life is all about. We are here to share our beautiful stories of life through our performances to the audience. Even the audience has some stories to share.

I think this was the best answer that I’d received. I was reminded previously about how we should connect with the audience through our performance but this was the best reminder. I’m really thankful for Parvin to ask my question too! 🙂

This time, I attended Evelyn’s performance with Carol and Parvin – 2 brilliant percussionists that I get to play with. It was Carol’s first time watching the SCO (my 2nd time) and just like my first time watching them previously, she was in awe. There were 2 other soloists – Yu Hong Mei who plays the Er Hu (her music accolades are really amazing), and Han Lei who plays the Guan Zi. I’m intrigued by the sound of the Guan Zi – the lower one with elements that makes it sound like the clarinet, and the higher one which sounds a little like the saxophone.
Pretty much was a good reminder to myself about music.

And we finally finally got a picture with Evelyn Glennie herself!!!
She’s really really nice 🙂

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Thank you for inspiring all musicians as always!

I really really love playing music. This is why I haven’t given up yet.

Interesting, Thoughts

SG Postcard Project 2015 – First Shoot

1 February, 2015 No Comments

So… I got into the Singapore Postcard Project 2015! Wow! Quite happy about it though I was a little upset at first because of the way certain communications were handled. The NLB staff was nice about it after I provided some feedback..

The group was really nice. The girls were all younger than me. We had a walk at Scape yesterday and took a few pics. It’s honestly quite tough to think out of the box and compose properly since the last time I took pictures were at a show. I need more practice honestly >.< Okay will post one of my favourite picture:

Really hope to learn a lot from this! 🙂

Interesting, Life, Teeth, Thoughts

Aligners: Week 7-9

19 October, 2014 No Comments

It’s the beginning of week 9 now!

Nothing much to update actually as I’d already predicted what will happen at each set of aligners (e.g. where are the rough edges to file, where to put the wax, etc) and it’s very comfortable whenever I put them on. It’s only the soreness of the teeth when it moves that makes it uncomfortable but it’s usually gone after the 3rd day and everything falls in place.

The 5th set of aligners (week 9-10) is also really comfortable except when I put on and it hits my gum at the back. But after that, it’s okay too.

I’ll be travelling next month, so I did some research on what to do and bring. Will be buying some “portable/individual” flosses and thinking of getting a small bottle of mouthwash. I’ll of course be able to brush at the apartment that we are staying at, but throughout the day I hope those will suffice.

It’s busy next few months. =/

Interesting, Omy

[omy.sg treat] Singapore’s Alive Museum (3D visual illusion museum)

9 August, 2014 No Comments

2 years ago, I went to a 3D visual illusion museum when I was in Korea with my family. We had tons of fun and didn’t have enough time to finish all the exhibits before we had to leave (with a tour group). So when I heard that Singapore was going to get 2 3D visual illusion museums, I was quite excited. It’s obviously much nearer than flying to Korea (lol) and I can bring Eugene. heh.

Anyways, omy.sg kindly gave a treat for bloggers to go to the Alive Museum and I got to go!
This museum was definitely different than the one where I went to at Korea, and hence it’s a new experience for me. This was different in the sense that it has more object art and sculptures (kinda like the science center actually).

Anyway I brought my prime lens which was a huge mistake and in the end I used my phone which had a more wider lens. 😡

All pictures taken with SAMSUNG S4.

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Eugene wasn’t feeling too well at first, but somehow midway he recovered.

Now, the only few things that could be improved on was the lighting and so many of the exhibits that I saw on their website (that I wanted to take with) were under maintenance 🙁

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This for example 🙁

Space constraints are something that can’t be helped, but we opened a few doors to realise that it was too packed to be opened because there are people behind taking pictures. And it was on a weekday where there was already lesser people :/

Anyway, Alive Museum will update approximately 30% of their exhibits from time to time every 12-18 months and they’ll be doing a Singapore 50 Project as well in future! Do check them out!

Lastly, when you get your ticket, remember to check out the promotions that are offered here: http://alivemuseum.sg/news-events/promotions/. You can get a free BK meal if you flash your Alive Singapore Museum ticket!

Location: Suntec City Mall #03-372 (Between Towers 3 and 4)

Ticket Prices: $25 (Adults), $20 (Children 3-12 yrs)
Operating Hours: 10am – 10pm Daily (Last Admission at 9pm)

Tickets currently bought online are on a 20% discount!

Disclaimer: Tickets are courtesy of Alive Museum Singapore via Omy.

Food, Interesting

Making our own Ramen Burger

11 November, 2013 No Comments

So a few weeks ago, I saw lots of celebrities post Ramen Burger photos on Twitter, and to be honest, it looked really delicious!

Googled a bit and found out that it’s actually quite easy to make (see recipe at Mashable here: http://mashable.com/2013/09/22/ramen-burger/)

So yesterday, we tried a bit but with our own variation (and saladdd).

Got the ingredients above. For the burger itself, we got Muji Ramen (SGD$1.90 for a pack of 4 small ones), lettuce pack from NTUC, and some beef patties (pack of 10).

Note that the pack of 4 Muji Ramen is enough for 2 burgers. We made like 8 packets which was an overkill, enough for about 4-6 people.

The recipe’s easy to follow and takes about 2.5 hours (for about 5 people in our case).

The whole dish including mushroom salad.

We didn’t put spring onions as per the recipe (because Eugene doesn’t like them), but I reckon it would have been nicer with it 😛

Interesting, Life, Music

Baybeats 2013 (Review + Photographs)

13 July, 2013 No Comments

So, for the past many years, I would happen to stumble by Baybeats while walking by Esplanade.

This year was the first time that I had made arrangements just to go down and watch.

Eugene’s band wyd:syd went for the auditions too but unfortunately didn’t get in (they went on to win the SIM-UOL MusicFest, and got into Noise TMM). I still remember how when we first knew each other, he didn’t expect me to know what Baybeats was.

Sadly, the few months before Baybeats, I noticed that at the line-up, GSE wasn’t included. I really wanted to watch them live.

Nevertheless, went down on Day 1 to check out Force Vomit, where Eugene’s mentor for Noise is in it.
I didn’t know what sort of genre they play, but they reminds me of Indonesia Pop music.

Do note that all my music perspective are from a very generic symphonic band perspective.

But before that, we checked out this post-rock band withyouathome. Very awesome band with very very good band spirit.

We went down on the 3rd day with my camera so that I could try and learn taking some music related/performance shots. And also check out the bands of course.

Esther Lowless (and her acoustic band)

Read so much about her recently online as well as on the papers. Didn’t really hear how she sounds like until at Baybeats itself. Pretty interesting mix of genres for her different songs. Her drummer for the acoustic line-up is the same as the Tall Mountains drummer if not wrong. Pretty excited to see a cello in the arrangement.

I didn’t really expect her music to be how it was to be. As all the articles and interviews of her seemed pretty, erm, emo. But her music doesn’t feel emo at all. In fact, I think it’s something most people would enjoy listening to, whether on the drive home, or some good music you hear when sitting at cafes.

Electrico
We caught Electrico as well. Didn’t take any pictures because I was sitting from a pretty awkward view. Too many people! I think there were at least 500 people who turned up to watch them. Most of their songs were new songs, and it was quite obvious that they’re heading in a new direction with regards to their music. Can’t wait to hear more of their new stuff!

Sloppy Joe (JP)

We caught the last band at the Arena. Sloppy Joe. They’re a 5 person band from Japan, playing 1980s British kind of music. Happy sort of music. They were pretty good, but just that after a while, everything sounds kind of similar. But well, most of the bands I listen to gives me such a feeling. Sloppy Joe makes you feel happy though. And their drummer, wow. He looks happy most of the time, enjoying himself at his throne. haha. I wish I could play happy too 🙂

That wraps up my short post on Baybeats 2013. Hopefully more good bands next year! And maybe wyd:syd too 🙂

Family, Holidays, Interesting, Travel

4th trip in 2012: Bangkok 2012! (22-25 June 2012)

10 August, 2012 No Comments

Have you ever attended a Thai wedding?

Neither did I until in June. My cousin Danny’s now wife, Peung is a Thai, and we went over to Bangkok for a Thailand wedding.

It’s my sister and my first trip to Thailand, and we were pretty excited then. Though to be honest, after hearing a story about my cousin’s godsis’s friend, we are kinda scared. But I still like shopping in Thailand.

Those of us who went were: Si Ku, Si Kim, Sa Yi, Donny (his GF arrived later), Joey (Don’s god sis), Mon (Joey’s friend), Jack and his wife (Dan’s friend), Dua Kim, my sis and I.

Anyways, my cousin Danny booked a bus for us and upon arrival, he picked us up at the airport.

We stayed at Golden Tulip Soverign Hotel. So far the most atas hotel that I stayed in.

FIrst time got black label.

Bathroom has a shower thingy and bath tub. Size of bathroom is like 3/4 my bedroom in SG.

Went to Platinum first for shopping. 2 hours weren’t enough. Heck, one day wasn’t enough too.

We walked to MBK for dinner. Walked because my cousin said it’s near but yea we forgot that their “near” and SG is different haha.

100 Baht lol.

Mango Sticky rice (my sis’s)

Hahaha. A funny episode happened here. I took out the chicken skin coz it was wayy too oily for my liking (and tasteless too). Dan and Don were like “why did you not eat the skin?!?!” Hahahaha

I think during this trip, our relatives realised that we are very healthy.

Day 2 – 23 June

Day 2 saw us vising Chatuchak (aka JJ Market). Sis and I followed Joey and Mon around as all are girls.
They brought us to the animals section and also clothes section.

Saw lots of animals including those flying squirrels and rats! Unfortunately they don’t allow photos for some.

Spot the kitty

Got a cat collar for Midnight coz his was almost falling apart.

We had lunch at one of the stalls, that Joey said was the cleanest amongst the rest.
Food was absolutely delicious.

We had some coconut ice cream and drink. Treat by Joey. Yums!

We went back to Platinum, where we got a lot more clothes again. muahaha.
Sis and I got the timing wrong. So we ended up waiting for Joey and Mon and while waiting we had some ice cream thingy from Ice Monster.

Continued shopping, and by the time we came out, there was a brilliant sunset outside Platinum. A lot of people stopped to take pics.

Joey wanted to bring us to this place to eat King Prawns. But she couldn’t find it, so we stopped to eat at this really cosy place owned by a Granny. Food was damn good. Pity I didn’t get the name 🙁

Milk baked pork. Damn good. Gravy was awesome!

Tom Yum soup.

Fish cake!

Lala! (Clams)

Morning Glory aka Kang Kong! Wah I didn’t know that!

Thai Curry!

The lady will take a picture of you using her digital cam. Do spot me if you’re there! They have pictures on their walls!

Then we took a tuk tuk and met with Donny and his gf Viviana.
That was when we heard the scary story >.< Basically it was about one of their friend's gf being taken away just suddenly. Lost for a few months now 🙁 WE went to eat some Fish Porridge at a roadside stall.

Awesome soymilk.

Aaand, we got some insects to try! Woohoo!! One off my to do list. haha
We got these. No idea what they are haha:

Haha. Joey took a video of me and Mon trying. My sis tried one too. Don didn’t dare hahaha.

Went for manicure and pedicure. 400 Baht including painting of finger nails. As we were wearing shoes, they said it will ruin painting of the nails so they would rather not do it at all.

Mine’s the one on the right.

Day 3 – 24th June
Day 3 was Danny’s wedding day!!
We woke up early for breakfast (hotel buffet), and then went for the tea ceremony.

Thailand’s tea ceremony is rather different from SG. Or maybe because this was held at a hotel? It was pretty grand and staged like a talk show. I didn’t know what was going on half the time. haha.

They hired a professional photographer for this, and had lots of lighting set up, so I had an awesome time shooting pictures. The lighting was just awesome and a dream come true.

Here are some of my photos:

My cousin Donny

Danny and his proud mum!

Waiting for the ceremony to start!

SG people who went

Then we had the wedding lunch.. The culture’s really different from SG, in which, if you’re late, you don’t get to eat the food that was served earlier that’s all.

We found out how Danny and Peung met!

Danny got a bit emotional. Aww!

Anyway, in the afternoon, we followed Uncle Alex and Aunt Lilian to a shopping centre, walked around and had “dirt cheap” Swenson’s!

And some awesome dinner afterwards:

At night, we went to the skybar to chill and drink the free drinks that were given to us by the hotel.

Day 4 – 25th June
Last Day! We went to Chinatown for a walk. Nothing much there but really cheap items to buy wholesale.
Had a great lunch, and bought some really cheap stuff to sell.

They had some miniature exhibition thing there at Grand China Princess Hotel.

Lunch

Went back to the hotel lobby to chill.

Had a great experience, and I think it’s just awesome to be able to travel with family! We bonded closer, despite some unhappiness, but I kinda like how I feel comfortable just chatting and hanging out with everyone. 🙂

Would love to have another family trip again!

Band, Interesting, Life

Singapore International Band Fest (SIBF 2012) – Guest played

22 July, 2012 No Comments

From Yiang Shan’s instagram

About 3 weeks ago, Yiang Shan messaged me to ask if I would be interested to help out in SIBF 2012. For some reason, I thought for about 1 minute, and asked myself “Why not?” and agreed. I were to help out X-Winds (Xinmin Sec alumni band). It was my first time guest playing.

To be honest, I didn’t know where I got that courage from, as I’m usually quite an introvert. But the new me definitely would have agreed.

As I only know Yiang Shan, and for the next 2 immediate practices she wouldn’t be around, I could skip if I want to.

At first, I was a bit worried, as I have never participated in any competitions before, or even guest played. And I don’t think Yiang Shan has ever heard me play so for all that she (and I know), I don’t have any percussion skills at all.

Nevertheless, I went for the final 3 practices.

I would say the practices are all really nice. Everyone treated me well, and the people there are really awesome! Though I have always been in situations where I don’t know anyone, the feeling there was different. In fact, I would say that I felt comfortable being myself and standing at the back of the room with the rest.

The competition happened yesterday, and Daniel (conductor) warned us about the acoustics of RP Cultural Centre, so we played softer and more controlled. A conductor told them that we were the softest amongst all the bands, and we weren’t sure if we were good or bad. Plus the fact that the acoustics made us not able to hear others play properly really gave me an internal sort of panic.

We were able to watch the last band perform, and gosh, the reflections of the sound were just scary. It made everything sound noisy, and I think if I were the adjudicators, I would have a headache.

Anyway, when all was done, and the results came out, X-Winds got Silver! It was a pleasant surprise as Daniel kept saying that they were of SYF Silver standard (which means a Bronze in SIBF).
Well overall, it was a great experience, and it really made me improve as a noob musician. Hanging out with the suspended cymbals also gave me an opportunity to understand it better and the reason of having it around.

It would be a waste if I came out of this with nothing, but yea, glad I did! 🙂

I would like to thank Yiang Shan, Daniel and X-Winds for giving me this opportunity despite my lack of experience, and the so many treats.
Thank you all!!

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