She did it :)

Ms Goh SY did it, after 9 months... out came JW Tan Junior.

26th March-11.55am-3.04kg-49cm

Welcome to the world sweetie, you will have alot of aunts to dote on you! :)



Updated with this adorable photo of JW Junior in his Superman Pose! This baby is meant for great things :)

drained

the past weeks have been emotionally and mentally draining...

The year of the Dog sux for relationships or rather MEN SUX. They sux for treating my gfs badly. Many a times you think what you are hearing seems right out from a movie script, the girl stays besotted to the guy and what did the guy do? Act like a heartless cad. And you would think things have changed,with our womenfolk becoming more independent, raising higher in power be it business or politics, women are still made of water. Sigh.

Think I should write in or form a WatchDog Group over Heartless Cads, and put restraining orders or house arrests on silly females before they fly like a moth to a burning flame. Actions speak louder than words, when in some cases, words dont work anymore.

One needs FRIENDS to get married

Other than the groom of course :P

Here's wishing Alfred and Shelyn a life of happiness and joy together!
"To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness."

So happy to see pple in love getting married.It was like Awwwww when they had the solemnisation ceremony just before the wedding dinner and they were pronounced man and wife right in front of the all the guests. Happy Sigh :)

Its not like your parents where you hardly see the romantic l-u-r-v-e anymore, or rather it is now replaced by cute banter, instead as their expression of love for each other. :) Okok love comes in different forms, some more widely accepted.

A learning that I extracted from being a part of the Bride's entourage is that to get married, other than the partner, you need FRIENDS. From 7am in the morning, we went to the Bride's place to help her get ready with the gate-crashing of the groom, moved on the gatecrashing, photo taking, then to the groom's place for tea ceremony then back to their new apartment and then back to the bride's home for another tea ceremony, that took the whole morning till afternoon.


Afterthat, if you are lucky to catch a shuteye of an hr like me, off we went to the wedding dinner location to help out with the registeration at the dinner and for me, panicked with the idea of facing 600 guests, wailing children and oldies, to speak in good decent ENGRISH, when my other Chinese emcee partner is apparently a Chinese radio station djay ( ok i tot i was good in Chinese, i was wrong, he was better :P). But viola, things went smoothly for the night. :)

No, i did not trip on my newly tailormade Ao-Dai Vietnamese costume from Vietnam, did not say stupid things on the stage, did not forget any major stuff ( other than not announcing that the f&b mgmt have something interesting in store- DANCING waiters and waitresses with the 1st dish haha). We turned out to be quite professional as pple said:- ego-inflate :D, so if any of you want to get married soon, tried and tested, you can consider me for your emcee. :-)

Hitler: The Rise of Evil

Hitler: The Rise of Evil ,a gripping TV series which was shown in 2003. Some critics have said that its not an entirely true reflection or rather this series was meant to humanise Hitler profiling his life as a child and his rise through the ranks of the National German Workers' Party prior to World War II.

For myself, it was an entertaining way to know more about history and to get a feel of the political tension back then, brought by the superb acting skills of Robert Carlyle and the entire brillant cast. Of course the scary soundtrack helped heaps to add in the suspense! :)

The last few scenes of the series, reminded me of the ever so familiar "History of AIESEC" ppt, gritty facts, recording of inhumane atrocities, white words against black background slides, haunting photos, and thought provoking sentences. Of which this is my favourite:

"The only thing necessary for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke

What did i know?

Should have taken this test from Tee's blog even before any job searching at all, darn, all these trouble for nothing! hehehe

Ying YIng, based on your responses, your top career area is Merchandising

Careers in the area of merchandising require not only people skills but also powers in the art of persuasion as well. Most likely, you are naturally attuned to what people want. You're probably a strong communicator and skilled at presenting your point of view in a convincing manner.

Join in the bandwagon and take the Career Interest Test too :)

So many tests these days, its equivalent to the overload of reality tv shows on virtual space.

sleepless+motherhood

couldnt sleep though i was pretty tired today, went for an interview, even though i was prepared for it, " nothing is as what it seems", this world is full of surprises. :)And shopping of course and bought 2 pairs of shoes, my luck with shoes is changing!

Sleepless me made myself a cup of milo and came online and chatted with AWL who is gog to BKK before back to Sg for hols. Then came the 3-way chat with Rx and XY who is expecting soon in Dubai, and we talked about delivery of the baby, breastfeeding issues, and how I am going to be JW Tan Junior's fairy god mother and RX to be the evil one. :D Ahhhh cant wait to have a reunion soon! Missed these gals.

Smuack!

Love my st nicks network! Especially if its at 11pm at night and I need to look for last wed's classifieds, I know who to call!Shows another downside of having friends who dont order newspapers, not very intellectual pple i hang out with ha! :P

Requiem for an egg-tart

Yes I can go without eating normal carbs for 1mth, but somehow it is just plain wrong to say NO to a cute, yellow, creamie, egg tart staring at you with those oh so adorable eyes. Did I say eyes?:) Plain and simple:You just can't say "No" to an egg tart.

So as I nibble onto the egg tart, decided to share with you the classic liners and lessons I have learnt from my 1 mth job hunting in Singa Singa Singapore, normally you have to pay me for entertaining or imparting wisdom ok. :D

Classic Lines:
1. Interviewer: So what is your ambition?
YY: To be Happy
Interviewer looks at me weirdly with raised eyebrows.
YY: Well its true...Oh ok you mean career ambition, not life long ambition alrite...yadayadayada

2. Interviewer: Basically I need someone to clean my sh*t. (in a candid tone )
Yes he did say that and he is currently the marketing director, brand manager for 3 brands

3. Interviewer: ok now before you leave the room, tell me in ONE sentence, why should we select you on top of the other candidates I have heard things like hardworking, perseverant etc. And decide that yes XXX are the one and call you back for the 2nd round and meet the regional director?

Lessons Learnt:
1. As the S- Guru says so correctly " Its a numbers game"
You have to send, send and send again to companies that you would like for, even they are not hiring now, companies that advertised and job agencies.

2. Revamp and Rewrite
Its a continueing process to revamp and rewrite your CV and cover letter over and over again, and it would be well worth the effort to actually study the company and write something intelligent before you send it over, and for it not to sound like a copy and paste thing that you do with every company.

3. Smile until it Hurts
Even though you are sick of going for interviews and "selling" yourself, you have to put on a BRIGHT smile and act that its your 1st. Smile, eye contact and dress to impress! Oh yeah the Makeup too, hate that part.

4. Network works
I could be a slow starter at this, however I can vouch that it is indeed very useful, it may not guarantee to get you the job but it will definately get you the interview and then its up to you.

Think I will have to be on this track for some more time to get my "dream job", so feel free to share with me your findings too if you would like. :)

And the egg tart stopped smiling.

Travelling through Singapore one Saturday

1. East to West:
Last Saturday was a day where i had the opportunity to travel around my small country. From the east where i lived, I headed to the west at Bukit Panjang ( hope this place sounds far enough for you already) where I met with my friend Shujuan and other friends to devise evil plans for her hubby-to- be and his buddies. Shujuan is getting married this saturday to Alfred, and as part of the bride's entourage, we have to plan/scheme evil embarassing stunts for the groom and his friends to partake before they can win the lovely hand of the bride. What did you think? It was going to be THAT easy hehe..Its is a Chinese fun tradition btw, we did not think of this out of the blue, on sadistic intents. :)
This is the 2nd wedding that i am attending in Singapore, 1st that i am in the entourage, but the others have already a wealth of knowledge suggestions include, pole dancing for the groom, drinking gross concoctions etc...Oh yeah at the end of the performances, we have to haggle/ negotiate for the price of angbao they are going to give us before we let them into the house. Ha that should be fun! We always find numbers with 8 auspicious,so 8888 maybe?:P Of course the groom and his buddies can think of plans to abduct the bride, getting past us and all, well honey, it ain't going to be easy.

Anyways will be emceeing for her wedding dinner, that means homework for me to do a good job,afterall its a once in a Lifetime affair, and she would probably remember for the rest of her life, depends on whether I want her to love or hate me,so yes yes writing my script.

2. West to North:


Moving on to explore the rest of my country, I went to the north at Ang Mo Kio,to visit my alma mater, St Nicholas Girls' School where there was this BIG funfair happening everywhere in the compound: carpark, school hall, school field, canteen, playarea etc..it was huge.

Was with my old classmates and we went back to our old classroom, talked about places we took places for our yearbook,posed for one again and popped in the teachers room for fun, stressing out some of our teachers when they cant remember us..haha Imagine your students from 10 years back coming up to you "Hello Ms Quek, do you rem me?"ermmm NO? haha so we spent half an hour trying to recollect their memories and naming random pple in our class so they will hopefully rem, and they played along like " Oh ya! i rem now, your face looks familiar" Poor teachers hehehe

I love my school, been to this convent school, wearing the blue pinafore, for the past 11 years, imagine. Walking down the corridors, snippets of memories wormed into my brain, from playing hop scotch/ five stones when I was 6, to drinking the ALL TIME FAVE Uncle Mobin's Ice Milo!, playing prefect when i was 15-16, where I had to "guard" the canteen access points with my LUNCH HOUR, checking on stopid kids if they were wearing the the proper attire and if they are carrying wet food into the classrooms which are not allowed, Djaying every morning to the whole sch in the morning, etc etc For the record,I was a cool prefect ok, almost everyone loved me. This school is indeed precious for me,too many growingup/puberty memories to draw from.

And look what I found, we have this new St Nicholas Girls' mascot doll for sale...muhahahaha....unbelievable.


3. North to South
Turning full circle to the South, headed to Esplanade to catch Mosaic Music Festival 2006-Montreux JAZZ WORLD CLUB by Dennis Rollins Griots t'Garage,UK.

He did a great job in bringing us "through a historical musical journey inspired by the African Diaspora as far back as 16th century West Africa: inhumane slavery giving rise to soulful field-work songs leading to blues and jazz; joyous moments through samba, soul and reggae, to the funky, urban hip-hop and garage grooves of today." with very cool imagery by the artistry of Vijay artist Nick Hillel of Yeast Multimedia.

It was held instead on the very top of Esplanade, where we were entertained with drinks at the outdoors veranda which overlooks the waters. Almost purfect, other than wishing I had a seat as it was a standing performance. :P

A trip around my country, small but still can be tiring.

Yeay for feminism!

Happy International Women's day!

Need the men to do the rough chores still like hammering a nail into the wall, and fixing my photo frames etc....hard labour.:P

PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS:

Excerpts from the article:
How living in New York has illuminated for us the difference between the Singaporean Dream and the Singaporean Plan
By Colin Goh & Joyceln Woo Yen Yen

" It was then that I understood the difference between the Singaporean Dream and the Singaporean Plan. And what is the difference?I suppose the Dream has to be one of searching for peace and the liberty to conduct one's life as one sees fit."

"There is nothing inherently unique about the Singaporean Dream. The American Dream of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is substantially the same. (And especially in the upper middle class, the American Dream is fast becoming a Plan too: prep school, Ivy League, Wall Street.)"

"But what to me gives America more hope is that they still celebrate mavericks; they may never find happiness, but their liberty to pursue it is sacred.My experience in Singapore was, however, very different. There were always people telling you what and how you should do things, and imposing penalties for deviation. There were 'right' schools, 'right' professions, 'right' strategies."

"While I enjoyed writing and drawing, never for a second did I think this might be a career. Worse, I felt compelled to downgrade their importance in my life. First was money, then pleasure. It was simply un-Singaporean to think one could get pleasure without money, or that working should be pleasurable."

"But now I refuse to postpone my dreams any further, and shelve them under some misguided notion of pragmatism. How often was I told as a child by my elders, "wait till you grow up," "wait till after exams", "wait till after you graduate". I do not desire to wait until I retire. I might not make it that far. I refuse to be a walking mid-life crisis in the making."

Read more here and a movie produced by the authors is coming up soon: Singapore Dreaming

Happy Birthday to Mi Mum!

Celebrated mum's bday at a new york inspired deli last night, very nice setting, expansive wine collection. Think the place is called Corduroy & finch, along bukit timah rd( alot of cool eatries have sprung up there, definately worthwhile to check it out), co-owned by a local and an expat. Turns out 5th of March is the bdays of my 2 other relatives as well, popular date to be born.

Anyways the photo was taken when i was chewing half of my yummy tuna wasabi burger in my mouth. Pearly smile will have to wait.:D

Guess

I am certified of being a professional durian opener after cracking 10 durians for the 1st time ever tonight as my family had a durian feast.Abeit a clumsy one, using my barehands and a scissors unlike the uncles you see along Geylang who uses big choppers and finish slicing and peeling open the shells for the fruits in 3 swift motions. Ha yat!

Some pple love it, some pple (read caucasians :P) hate it.

As one of my ex Canadian trainee said before, " Durian is like Blue Cheese, its an accquired taste" Hear yee! And she loves it.:)

Parenthood and other ramblings

Will have to wait. :P

Realisation came when I was tutoring my 6 year old kid Vani, from the children's home yesterday.Figured that I would only need 1-2 hrs max for my job hunt everyday, so why not take the opportunity to spend it more meaningfully or learn new things.

Anyways, she is a cool kid, even beat me to it in UNO games and memory card games! Was trying to prep her for her Primary 1 classes which are starting soon, however her foundation is pretty weak in terms of alphabets and recognising numbers. I tried to called upon my experience as a relief teacher in a sec sch( i taught Chinese btw ha) and tuition teacher in the past, but this time is a tad different, as I had to start from the real real basics ( N is for Nuts, "what is a nut?") and sustaining the interest and attention of a 6 year old sure is a challenge :)

Takes alot of effort to educate a kid, be it school syllabus or just morals of life, you have to start from a very young age. Always thought teaching is such a noble career, as I can remember the teachers who have made an impact in my life when i was just a kid, who teaches you life lessons that stay forever.

A stark contrast I also felt was how lucky some kids are w/o knowing it, gorging their faces out in ice-creams, spaghetti and meatballs on the next table, getting expensive and the newest toys, throwing tantrums at their ever doting parents while others are just happy to see their parents once in a week.