Mel

Inspiration

2011-11-07T02:04:00.000-08:00

Hello there,

Just to kickstart things off - here's a sample of the new album from my favourite band of all time: Coldplay.

What's in the bag since the reconstruction of the blog?

Then you'd have to wait around for me to let the cat out of the bag. I have chosen Coldplay to start things off to reiterate the importance of inspiration. Personally, inspiration is very important to me. And just look at Coldplay's new album! Meanwhile, do enjoy Coldplay's new album sample here.

Overhaul

2011-09-27T21:31:00.001-07:00

Blog under construction.

Overhaul.

Museums

2011-08-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

Museums have this power to make you feel like a little girl again, no matter how old you are.

I never did understand contemporary art, but I had quite a whale of a time at the Tate Modern last year.

I love museums for their ability to silence you, and your thoughts, while you go through that of others.

Graceful women

2011-07-30T08:55:00.000-07:00

There are different kinds of women in this world. Loud and trashy, regal and sophisticated, dumb and impressionable, so on and so forth.

More than anything else, a woman with grace is always charming. Narrow-minded skeptics frown over them - always thinking that women do that to please men. But most women are more intellectual and sophisticated than that. They operate on a far higher plane than these fundamental skeptics do

Sunday Playlist

2011-07-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

Playlist for a fine Sunday afternoon.

Ballet

2011-07-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

I used to learn ballerina when I was young.

I didn't continue.

Between ballet and gymnastics, I left the latter for the former. The former, more sophisticated and regal than the latter, was my teacher's convincing point. It was, and is, true.

Then I left ballet. The leotard, soft leather shoes and thick slabs of hair gels - I left them all.

I've passed the age where I could face the mirror or any wall, and just split my legs like that, literally. Or practice my back-bends around the house. Hands up, head backwards, waist bent and knees bent slowly. First positions, third positions and fifth positions.

Ballet still captures my heart till today.

A Dance For One. from LOVER® on Vimeo.

Strangers

2011-07-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

Meet someone new today.

Internet Intellectualism

2011-07-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

Trainspotting

2011-06-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

I love train rides. More than any other form of transportation.

They transport you, body and mind.

I suppose it's its capacity for reflective journeys. Short or long - but long ones are the best.

I love, too, the waiting time. I contemplate on faraway journeys and hidden thoughts - pleasant ones and unpleasant ones. For that few hours on the train, these thoughts are my companions. And once the train stops at my destination, they know they must flee.

To the next time that I meet them again - in another train ride.

Weekend Mornings

2011-06-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

Mossy green, flaky tree barks and first gleams of the weekend's sun. Bliss.

Weekend is here!

2011-06-11T15:00:00.000-07:00

This reminds me of someone I know.

Saturday Playlist 1

2011-06-04T15:00:00.000-07:00

Music for a Saturday afternoon. Enjoy.

Kirsten Dunst in Bulgari

2011-06-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

I walked past this giant print ad yesterday and couldn't help taking a second look, a third look, a fourth look...and then I just stood entranced there. Also because I was waiting for Mom who was taking forever in Zara : D

The chromium-like film quality enthralled me. The use of digital and extrapolated onto film qualities.

And the metal-tones in the make up.

Concert

2011-05-29T04:48:00.000-07:00

Now I know, it isn't easy organising a concert for 4,000 people. And to think that that wasn't even out original numbers expected. But we did, thank God. A rain-soaked outdoor concert is my first and for many of the audience as well but oh, it was good fun! I won't bore you with the details of the preparations, so here are just some pictures taken on the day itself - rehearsal & actual concert.

Guess who's that. Clue: Here

Our stage!

Our backdrop. It's like a "Where's Wally?" backdrop - find as many music instruments as you can that were incorporated into this design.

View from the back. The umbrellas and little silver drops are telling signs of the heavy rain that day. But despite that, awesome crowd!

Rain and mud-soaked shoes.

My committee and helpers. They rock.

A satisfying conclusion to our big night!

Home

2011-04-24T09:21:00.000-07:00

"This parlour is for my own particular use. Oh Lizzie it's such a pleasure to run my own home!"

(Pride and Prejudice, 2005)

Fashionista

2011-04-11T00:23:00.000-07:00

Sometimes people take fashion a tad too seriously. I like clothes too but am caught sometimes between frivolity and frugality. Check out what 24Herbs has to say about this. Here's Fashionista.

ps: I loved the eating buimin (cup noodles) till your next salary + wear a scarf even though it's 36 degrees cuz you're a fashionista phrase. Tongue in cheek.

The Gap of 99 and 300

2011-03-30T09:39:00.000-07:00

What I feel like doing these days:

Instead, this is what I've been caught up with:

But it's alright. I'm looking forward to the fruit of my labour. A big fat cheesy pizza wouldn't hurt either.

And then there's the trip in June to look forward to.

"You once said you have room to breathe when your goal is to reach 99 but it's entirely different when you add 1 onto it.

Lee: I used to tell myself that I would be happy with 99. But people who will be content with reaching 99 seem to have a mindset so different from those who want to reach 100 that the gap is closer to 200 or 300"

The danger of Facebook is…

2011-03-01T08:22:00.001-08:00

that one talks too quickly and listens too rarely.

The eagerness of sharing anything and everything under the sun, the hastiness in hitting the Comment or Like button…

Wouldn’t it create a generation of talkers instead of listeners?

A generation of attention-seekers instead of meekness?

A generation of fools instead of intelligence in restraint.

Perhaps I conclude too quickly, for this is a hasty post as well. But time will tell. Facebook is the definition of our generation.

A microscope into the the present community.

A study in ethnography. A revelation of personality. An invitation to judgment of it.

Behold the wonders of Facebook.

100 billion Won

2011-02-11T07:11:00.001-08:00

I couldn't believe my eyes when I read the line.

I knew he was big, but 100 billion Won from shooting commercials alone? That's 500 million MYR!

Everything I admire about work ethics is in this guy. Hardworking, humble and media-savvy. And my age - beat that.

A Pictorial Post

2011-01-30T03:35:00.001-08:00

Of little things that made my month.

Early Christmas Present

2010-12-08T05:51:00.001-08:00

To be forgiven feels good.

The troubled heart that followed me all day had finally gone.

Both of us had our pride(s), and it’s not a battle intended for any to win in the first place. With both of knowing that it was clearly no misunderstanding on both our part – we just held on to our pride. “How dare you” was the gist of it.

I remembered the last time this happened was almost a decade ago. It was also over another trivial thing. Funny, how one memory triggers another in the wake of things like these. And funnier still, that although both of us knew we should apologise to each other and make up, none of us really bothered to…that is, until, a third party had to step in.

“Come on…you guys have been friends for so long. Why over this petty matter now?”. And she was right.

So, I, being the younger one, apologised. It was the same 8 years ago and it is the same again today. Not that it matters – who apologises or who makes the first move.

One can chew on their pride all day long. But it’s only once you’ve released your pride, that you’d know how glorious and free the feeling is that apology brings.

“I apologise for ___ Have you got any time tonight? Let’s meet up over a drink. My treat”. The words that I’ve carved over and over again in my heart – but pride is a strong barricade and a strong doorguard. Words that should have been let out – pride will see to it that they do not go out.

“Hey, no worries. Apologies accepted. No hard feelings”

I still have a lot to learn about the immaturities of mine. God willing, I’ll take it one step at a time. But today, I feel that in banishing my pride, I’ve grown up a little bit. Perhaps it’s an early Christmas present from Him.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Starstruck

2010-11-16T21:11:00.001-08:00

It’s been about half a year since I started in this new line of work. It was chance and God has been very gracious to let me meet the right people at the right time.

With each person that I meet along the way, each interview session that I conduct, I never cease to be amazed by what unfolds through it.

Their life stories, their philosophies, what makes them tick…just pure talking to them and listening to the stories that proceed from their lips – it just opens my mind a little more, each time.

When people ask me who have I interviewed (it’s part of your portfolio), the names that I rattle off may not be that big. “Who?” they ask. And then I name-drop some notable achievements – Korean star, Grammy nominee etc. But that’s for them.

For me, I’m beginning to see these interviewees past their facades, past their names – and see themselves for who they are. As “big” (or not so “big) as they are, having talked to them, I now remember them by say, who’s in his speed dial, her treasured memories growing up with her grandma in the barren lands, how his father taught him integrity through example, why she seemed so sad even though she insisted it was a happy interview etc. Things like that. You notice things like that. And that’s when that magic moment comes for me – the realization that, they are just normal human beings.

Nevertheless, in the first place, these people must be newsworthy to be able to score an interview. But despite their newsworthiness, I’m beginning to realize that they are all just normal persons, like me, under all their facade.

I don’t know, but I suspect that when they are not donning their biggest Gucci shades, or attending the biggest parties of the year, that they are just normal people who like to lounge in their couch in their pyjamas, catching the rerun of a soap opera, with some comfort soup in both hands. Yeah, that’s how I imagine them to be.

Award-winning actor? Pop idols? Music mavericks? Nation’s hottie? They are just normal people, with a story to tell. And it’s amazing how much a world can open up before you in less than half an hour.

I listen to them about why they do what they do – it’s great.

I still get star-struck sometimes and that’s when I give myself a kick under the table, figuratively speaking.

Sorry – Hurt Pride or Right Thing?

2010-10-15T23:55:00.001-07:00

Over a lunch conversation with some friends yesterday, the topic about saying sorry cropped up (haha you can probably tell by now that most of my blog posts inspirations come from conversations over food)

The guys were saying that saying sorry repeatedly marks a person of low-confidence and it was something to chew on over lunch.

In an age where self-help books rule, I believe that’s the general thought today.

I for one cannot agree to this.

There is nothing shameful about saying sorry. If you’ve made a mistake, saying sorry is just the right thing to do. This was where we agreed on. Everyone knows this. It may be difficult to utter the word but it’s just the right thing to do.

Does it lower someone’s ego to say sorry? Does it diminish your worth as a person? There’s nothing hideous about saying sorry over your mistake.

But saying sorry repeatedly…that was our food for thought yesterday. For the guys whom I spoke with yesterday, one sorry is enough – there’s no need to say it another time. The other person didn’t hear it? Doesn’t make that my fault then. I’ve said my part and if they didn’t catch it – too bad for them.

The more I chewed on this, the more I don’t agree to it.

(Note that I’m saying all the above, IN the event that the mistake is yours. Of course if the fault wasn’t yours to start with, there is no need to talk about this).

You know how sometimes in a conflict, the other party is just too angry to listen? Too stubborn to accept your apologies? They don’t hear you at your first ‘sorry’ because they just can’t. Who listens when they are fuming with rage inside, frustrated at a wrong done, over an ethic broken, over an upsetting revelation?

The purpose in saying sorry is manifold and I’m sure everyone knows this – to apologise, to appease, the mediate situations etc. What’s the point of saying it only once if the other party cannot hear take it in the first time round? Listen to them, wait till they are too tired to talk / complain any further and say the sorry again.

Well, then of course, how willing you are to say your apologies also determines how long you want to put up with the situation with. No one likes conflicts, for sure, but situations like these can’t be helped sometimes. If we must do it, then we simply must do it.

Relationships are at stake here. But of course, if it is of no value to you, then saying sorry, simply, would be of no importance to you.

So, again, is it so hurtful to one’s pride to say sorry when you are at fault and a relationship is at stake? I think first of all, one has to determine who fault it is, that is in in question here. And then, proceed with the 101 of being a human.

Wow, what a lunch conversation.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader 2010

2010-08-08T01:47:00.000-07:00

I SERIOUSLY CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS! MY FAVOURITE BOOK OF ALL THE SERIES!!

Only 1 gripe: Caspian was supposed to be really young, in his teens. And so are all the children. But nonetheless, this is totally rocking my December!! AT LAST - I've been waiting for them to do THIS book - it is really THE penultimatum of the Narnia series!

YT Vids to Help Us Procrastinate

2010-08-02T06:47:00.001-07:00

LOL. Don’t you just love the Koreans. Amazing people.

Here, she used the I-phone apps for the music.

And Youtube vids to help you procrastinate:

* Recently back from an overseas trip to interview this guy.

Might be of interest to you if you've been watching Boys Before Flowers and/or Personal Preference. Will be posting up the article once it's out so stay tuned :)

Void

2010-07-25T04:56:00.001-07:00

Please forgive me for the lack of updates lately. I know, this is so unethical as a blogger : S Blame it on the research papers (3!! THREE!!) to hand in this sem.

As for now, I'll just borrow the infamous line from Terminators "I'll be back". Meanwhile, let my Flickr fill in that void for me for now.

Article #2

2010-05-11T22:27:00.000-07:00

I was so pleasantly surprised by this as I thought they had rejected it already. Click here for the article if you are bored and in need of fresh clicks :-)

Hello My Readers!

2010-04-30T04:32:00.000-07:00

Ehehe, actually I'm not entirely sure if there actually are.

Just to let you know that this blog is not dead...yet :P

What's been up on my sleeves lately? Why, conquering the world of course. Just like Pinky and the Brain.

So, alright. What have I been up to?
1. Catching up on this. I SERIOUSLY recommend this to everyone.
2. Just said goodbye to my colleagues whom I have worked with for the past half-year at the office. My pocket is done good now and when my wallet is happy, I am happy too :-)
3. Just got my results for the last sem and I thank God.
4. Gonna start as 2nd year student already. 5 credits - I can do it!
5. Been busy with uni's talent scout competition preparations.
6. Just capped a local TV station's upcoming drama awards media conference and interviewed a 2008 Grammy Nominee. If the articles get approved, I'll post them up here kays?
7. Catching up on exercise through badminton with sis via the dog walks. It's been good sweating out stuff.
8. Last but not least, have had my heart fluttered by this guy.

Hope your week's been great too.