Chinese New Year Celebrations.

This year's Chinese New Year celebrations was not as happening compared to the past few years. The mood wasn't there. Some relatives were absent, some weren't even close. But I guess it's also a time for us to take a look and catching up with one another, probably talking about grades or work.

Speaking of which, I think one of my cousins scored 9As for her 'O' levels this year. She's pretty and smart. Talk about beauty and brains! Sometimes, I just feel so inferior compared to them. I guess life's like that, especially when your family are educated-driven people. You start to put stress on yourselves and you just feel inferior. But then again I should look on the bright side and be happy for her.

Yeah, that's right. Be merry in Chinese New Year!

Had my reunion dinner with the relatives, and we celebrated it at my paternal grandmother's house. I love and respect her a lot. She's like the matriarch of the family, taking care of everything despite her age.

My dialect group is Hakka, so most of the time we have to eat traditional dishes like the Abacus Beads, which is sliced yam cooked with minced pork and other stuff:

Just in case you're wondering, the reason why it is named Abacus beads is because the Hakka believes that it will bring in more money, just like how you count your money with abacus in the olden days!

On the first day of Chinese New Year was rather boring, except to collect red packets from relatives.

Just some pictures...

My eldest cousin in the middle, with my younger brother.

Yes, my brother is TALLER than me. But it seems to be the case for my family line!

My brother again...

With my eldest cousin, Jace again.

She's actually 26, and I'm going to be the first to join the ranks of the decade of 20s after her!

Another of my beloved cousin, Ningning..

On the second day of Chinese New Year,

went to my maternal grandparents' house for lunch..

Steamboat!

My favourite food: Breaded prawns!

And I finally get to see my beloved little girl.. Kayley!

She loves watching Barney.

When I sang: I love you, you love me, we are one big family.......... and she will give me very cute hand gestures!

I like it how every single one of us garnered our attention for the little one, observing each and every move of hers and get amused easily.

My grandparents and Kayley..

When I saw my grandparents laughed and smiled at the actions of Kayley, I felt touched and my heart felt happy. Perhaps it's because they went through a lot of hardships and I rarely see them smile.

Ahh, and they commented my hair looked like it was being blown by some huge winds or something.

I can't help but agree:

I just look weird in this photo, probably because of the fringes that are missing.

And of course, I resumed my bingeing on Chinese New Year goodies. I suddenly find it so ironic that I hate pineapples as fruits, but I simply adore pineapple tarts in Chinese New Year. And contrary to the belief, I don't really eat much of barbequeued pork in Chinese New Year.

I shall end it here, and with around 3 weeks or so before holidays begin, I have A LOT of projects in hand!

Hope you guys have fun during your Chinese New Year and for those who doesn't, hope you had great holidays too!

Happy Lunar New Year!

Happy Lunar New Year to all, and I hope everything goes smoothly for everyone in the Year of Ox!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

Faithful readers will know that this picture was created for last year's Chinese New Year. I didn't have time to do one and busy for other stuff, so I'm using this.

Have fun for your Lunar New Year, and get immersed into the mood in welcoming the new year.

Now I gotta get MOOOOOOOOOOOOving!

There will be an eclipse this coming Monday.

Be prepared, as there will be a solar eclipse this coming Monday in Singapore, which is 26 January, the first day of Chinese New Year.

An eclipse is a phenomenon whereby the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth so that the Sun is being blocked.

This will probably be what you see.

Yes, it's something like turning day into night..

According to islamicevents.sg:

Eclipse begins at 4:30 p.m.

Maximum Eclipse at 5:49 p.m.

Eclipse ends at 6:58 p.m

However, I've received information that the eclipse will begin at 9am too. I'm not sure about this information though.

Anyway, do watch out, because it is really awesome!

NOTE: YOU CAN ONLY SEE A PARTIAL ECLIPSE IN SINGAPORE.

Days With My Father..

I've been really busy, especially with schoolwork with under around 9 projects in hand. With Chinese New Year around the corner, I've got so much stuff to do! I'll blog soon.

Just in case if anyone's interested in for a light read, you can visit http://www.dayswithmyfather.com .

It is actually a photojournal about the days this guy Phillip Toledano spent with his ageing father. The photography isn't really that fantastic, but the photos somehow manage to capture the emotions really well. With heartfelt words, this should something that everyone can relate to. It's really awesome and a must-read!

Phillip Toledano's works are also featured in the Esplanade, where you can see it from the underground passageway from Citylink to Esplanade.

It's another gentle reminder to treasure your loved ones I guess. I'm thankful for what I have, and the peace around us. It's 2009 and you still have wars like the Gaza War happening right now. 

It's going to be a hectic week because of Chinese New Year.

But I'll be back. Real soon. 

If you're interested in Nanyang Polytechnic's School Of Design..

Now that the 'O' levels are released in Singapore, many students are contemplating which course they should go to. Just in case any of you would like to go to Nanyang Polytechnic's School Of Design, do continue to read here.

Taken from: www.nyp.edu.sg/sdn/sdn.html

School Of Design is probably the smallest school in Nanyang Polytechnic, occupying only 1 and a half floors of Block R.

Despite being small, I feel that School Of Design are generally filled with fun-loving lecturers and being down-to-earth. And they are more than willing to help you should you approach them.

Being in Visual Communication for nearly 2 years, these are some of things you need to get prepared when you become a design student. Please note that these are actually points which I garnered based on my own experience and opinion, and these are unbiased views.

1. You need to be hardworking.

They say design students are the most hardworking- that is an understatement. Hardworking is important because you need to be consistent in your work for your GPA. You will probably have 6 to 8 projects in hand every time, and you need to be motivated and persevere for the semesters. 

2. You need to have good time management.

With many projects in hand, you need to have good time management. Procrastination will result in sleepless nights, especially when deadlines get closer and closer.

3. You need to have money.

Be prepared to buy lots of stuff such as sketchbooks, pencils, mounting boards, art cards, paintbrushes, markers etc. You will start to see yourself going to art material shops like Artfriend, where Artfriend is really your friend.

Taken from Artfriend.com.sg

And you will still need to print out research materials as well. Oh, do be prepared to familiarize yourself with Sunshine Plaza, Bras Basah Complex, and Peace Centre. 

You need to go to these places for quality prints for some/most of your projects. They'll be happy to make your money, as you print more: either you reprint because of some wrong settings, or you're asked to redo your work.

4. Be prepared for your polytechnic life to be ruled by deadlines and deadlines.

Lecturers will give you projects after projects, that means deadlines and deadlines. It continues from the start of the semester till to the end of the semester.

I know it sounds scary, but this is an insight to the lives of design students. These hurdles can be overcome, and it depends on how you see it. Ultimately, it boils down to one's character, attitude and discipline!

P/S: My friend Jun Ping, who scored D7 for his English in his first attempt at 'O' levels, gets a wonderful grade of B4 this time round! Congrats!

I must bounce back.

That old thinking is coming back. The thinking whereby everything feel so meaningless, and I suddenly had low self-esteem coming out from nowhere.

Simply no mood to blog, no mood to dress up, no mood to exercise and no mood to do work.


NO WAIT. I MUST BOUNCE BACK. I MUST BE PRODUCTIVE.


And I know fully well that I'm not good-looking, so I do not need your superfluous comments like: Oh, you're nothing compared to him or whatsoever.


I love being in self-denial because that's one way to help my self-esteem. So just back off will ya?

Attempting to write a typical post.

Life's been so boring, even the brightest light turned into darkness. It's either projects after projects, research after research. And to be honest, there isn't really much to blog about, so I decided to blog about something typical that you will see in a typical blog.

And I've decided to blog about what happened to me yesterday:


"I woke up at 7.30am. Later I went to brush my teeth with Darlie toothpaste. At 8.15am, I went to take Bus 159 at the bus interchange. I reach school at 9am. I walk to Block R and take lift to level 5. I tap my student card and go in school.

I see all my classmates. Than I saw my beautiful lecturer Ms Shirlynn and consulted her. After that, I went to have lunch with my friends. After that is Ms lee lesson for Spa packaging. I consulted her also. Luckily she released us at around 3pm.

After that, I take 159 home. I reach home and sleep about 3 hours. Then, I compiled my sketches for the submission of my pop-up packaging.

Ok that's all for today. Bye."


It's so difficult to write because I have to really recap what happened. But I haven't write like that for such a long time, I thought it was kinda fun!

An insightful message.

Just an exerpt from TV drama Heroes, which was spoken by Mohinder. I found this whole message so insightful and enlightening. So I decided to post it here.


"There is good and there is evil, right and wrong, heroes and villains. And if we’re blessed with wisdom, then there are glimpses between the cracks of each where light streams through.

We wait in silence for these times when sense can be made, when meaningless existence comes into focus, and our purpose presents itself.

And if we have the strength to be honest, then what we find there staring back at us is our own reflection, bearing witness to the duality of life.

That each one of us is capable of both the dark and the light, of good and evil, of either, of all. And destiny, while marching ever in our direction, can be rerouted by the choices we make, by the love we hold onto and the promises we keep."