I need rooms, rooms and more rooms!!!!!

Picture taken with a Sony T100, London, October 2010

No one seems to believe me when I complained that I needed more room and space for myself - physically, mentally and intelluctually.

I have tons and tons of notes, handouts, articles, magazines, journals and so much more reading materials that I believe I needed a room to accommodate all my materials. And on top of that, I still have music scores and books and textbooks to take care of... ... (HELP!!!) Even after discarding all my primary, secondary and junior college notes and handouts, I still have loads of reading materials to clear. I shall really check if there are still notes of more than 10 years still "lurking" around in my cupboards.

And of course, I need either a room or a decent racks for all my albums - the CDs, VCDs, DVDs... ... And if I get to have a room for all these, perhaps I can include a hifi-set?

And I obviously need a room just to cater to the ever-growing scrapbooking stash!!! I know, my friends are also asking me just how much stash do I need. Do I need stash for a lifetime? Hmmm, tough to answer that. Maybe other girls should also ask themselves just how much clothes, bags, accessories, shoes do they need, perhaps? ;) Thank goodness I have an alright collection of clothes for work, fun and formal functions. Talking about clothes, I should also pick and discard those I cannot fit anymore or donate away those which can still be worn. Hmmm... ...

Who do not need a room for themselves? I mean, to be all by yourself to reflect and to think about the future, for themselves or the future generations. Or perhaps, a room for yourself just to allow your mind to go blank after a stressful and busy week, month or even years of hard work. Or a room, just to find out which are the areas one will want to improve or better?

Or even a room for inspiration, a room for mojo?

I need rooms, more rooms, just more rooms please!!!

(Sorry for the random blaberring , must be the hot weather. Gosh, is so warm, humid. Time for another quenching.)



A look at the Pictures of UK, Germany and Russia

And so, there I was, went to UK and Russia in October 2010 to catch some real Barclay Premier League (BPL) and Champions League football action. And also off to Munich, Germany to check out that magnificent Allianz Arena Football Stadium.

Of the slightly more than 5000 pictures taken, it is definitely not easy to sieve out the pictures to share on Facebook. And it is only while selecting the pictures that I realised that I should have taken EVEN more interesting pictures. I know it sounds crazy, but I have taken quite a number of blurred pictures out of the 5000 plus pictures. Or pictures which were just not well taken. I suppose there were probably 3000 plus pictures, which I deemed are alright to share with friends online. But then again, will anyone want to see all 3000plus pictures of mine? (The last time I posted nearly all the pictures of my Taiwan trip on Facebook, I got complains from friends. Is true, unfortunately.)

Well, perhaps this will give me an excuse to go back to Europe again.

Munich - I have not have enough of Munich!!!!!

UK - So much to offer!!!!

I do not think I will travel to Russia in the near future. While there are loads I will like to see and do in Russia but the transportation and the language is posing quite a problem. And having used to travelling free and easy, going to Russia again with a tour group is not a likely option.

Hmmm, perhaps is time to do a layout on one of the venue.

Hope I will be able to upload a layout soon.

Happy Vesak Day!

The Voters of Aljunied GRC - Saviour or Villan?

Aljunied GRC is now officially, together with Hougang, under the wings of Worker's Party.

And so, the voters of the Aljunied GRC have been cheered for bringing more opposition members into the Parliament, in hope of bringing the voices of the people across.

With Aljunied GRC under the Worker's Party, two very capable Ministers and a versatile and talented Senior Minister could no longer hold ministerial positions in the Parliament.

And so, the voters of the Aljuied GRC have been jeered for causing the loss of worthy leaders.

So, are the voters of Aljunied GRC Saviour or Villain?

This is perhaps one of the most difficult question to answer. However, I believe the majority of the voters who voted aggressively for the opposition, did not vote for the opposition just for the sake of opposing, but, it was after thorough analysis of the various current policies being implemented. Even the Mr Prime Minister had told the media that this year's election will have to be carefully analyzed and to hear the voices of the people.

The one other important lesson learnt from the election is that Singaporeans are not as subdued as many pictured to be. Unlike other nations, where the people will strike and stage riots, Singaporeans have decided that the best way to put their voices through, is to practice their voting rights. Only then, will the ruling parties and the opposition parties know what are the people's thoughts and worries.

Only when there are happy citizens, will there be a happy country.

And so, the votes have spoken

And by now, the votes have spoken. The hotly contested Aljunied GRC has been won by a very worthy opposition - The Worker's Party, taking 72165 votes while the PAP had 59732 votes from a total of 72165 votes casted. The results were very interesting as the Worker's Party won by 12433 votes!

While the Worker's Party has won seats in the next Parliment, the ruling party has also lost two ministers and a senior minister after Aljunied GRC fell into the hands of Worker's Party.

I do not think Singaporeans are childish and decided to send opposition into the Parliment at the expense of the very good leaders. All I can say is, Singaporeans today have decided to send a message across by their votes. Singaporean will like to have more say about improving the quality of their daily life, the future of their life and the children's as well as the aging population.

Like many out there, I am sad for Mr George Yeo and his group's loss while am also excited to see what the Worker's Party can do, not only for the residents of Aljunied, but perhaps, if they can deliver the voices of the people in the Parliment.

The next five years will be a test for the ruling party as well as opposition.

I believe both the ruling party and opposition are there for the best of the country, a home, which we call - Singapore.

General Election 2011

In a couple of hours' time, Singaporeans will get to vote who they want to represent them in the Parliment.

General Election 2011 has been very interesting. I think the last election which has caused so much fanfare, must be the times of our parents' and even grandparents' days. It has been a while since there have been so much talk about the general election.

A friend of mine has commented that there is a very good media coverage of the general election activities. I suppose given today's media technology, and thus, the real time updates of status and emotions felt during rallies via social network such as Facebook, Twitter and real time upload of rallies videos and any satire and parodies via youtube, the local media must be as prompt as possible in their coverage. And if the media coverage is not enough to quench the curious thirst, there are a number of bloggers out there who will generously share their views on their blogs.

Candidiates for the various parties have also utilized social network to garner support. In addition, netizens out there have also create groups on Facebook, which are either supportive of certain candidate/party or unsupportive of certain candidate/parties. Personally, I felt that all parties should not be defensive or unhappy with these support or "unsupport" groups, but to analyze the situation and perhaps, this will allow them to be better prepared for the next election to garner support.

I hope there will be interesting results for the voting later today. Like every other election, I will be with a bag or two of chippies, some coke and tea while watching the updates of results with my family.

I belonged to the hotly contested Aljunied GRC. I am sure looking forward to seeing the results and yes, I know my vote will be important. It is so much fun to be in a constituency which headlines all newspapers daily. There are people who felt that we should be contented with what we already have, and not make so much noise, but  I felt that such complacent attitude will not drive a nation forward. I believe every nation has room for improvement, like the competitors at the Olympics games, while being number 1 is the main aim, getting the gold medal and breaking either the game record or even the world record, is something sweeter. So, while Singapore enjoys peace and prosperity, we must still strive to break our very own records. Complacency will only slow down the nation's progress. We can try to slow down the pace of moving forward, but, we must still move on.

No matter who wins the Aljunied GRC, I just hope the party representing Aljunied will hear the people's voices and do something important, not just to pacify, but as a solution to the problem.

Scrapbooking for a good cause

It is nearly two months since Japan has been simultaneously hit by the monster earthquake and tsunami and the added nuclear plant meltdown and radiation alert. There have been enormous aid and donation from all over the world pouring in to help Japan to pull through one of the worst natural calamity and a nuclear crisis which is almost as bad as that of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear incident.

Just as I was about to donate a small amount of money through the Singapore's Red Cross when I saw a call for craft works  (be it scrapbooking layout, artist trading cards, cards, mini albums and so forth) from Tomoko Takahashi on one my friend's Facebook wall. Tomoko Takahashi is on the Design Team of Webster's Pages and her works are lovely. Through Facebook and her blog, Tomoko invited everyone from all over the world to send their works of art to her so that she can sell them on probably Japanese equivalent of etsy and ebay so as to raise donation funds for the Japan Red Cross.

I was very excited when I read this "call for help". Without much thinking, I told myself I would do five pieces of work and then send them to Tomoko so that she would have a variety of works to choose from for her inori. After much planning and getting the works completed. I managed to do some easy mini albums and some technically more challenging ones. Thanks to all the classes attended in the past, all five works were completed and air mailed to Tomoko.

Just saw some of the works which Tomoko is selling for the first time. My goodness, the standards are high and some of the works are by well known members of either design team or who have published prolifically in scrapbooking or  paper crafting magazines.

My works are rather simpler in style and techniques.

Nevertheless, do hope that my works would be able to sell well so that money can be raised for Japan Red Cross.

May Peace be with Japan and also everyone from all over the World.

Paint, Canvas and Brushes

Who would have guessed that by doing scrapbooking, it will lead to mixed-medium art works?

I have always thought that scrapbooking is all about paper and glue and embellishments of all sorts but by now, scrapbooking involves much more techniques than just knowing the placement of the photographs, knowing the colour combination and patterned paper to use. Today, scrapbooking has been taken to another level by the introduction of other craft techniques and even techniques usually used in fine arts.

After attending the Creative Escape 2011, I have been wanting to apply what I have learn into another project, this time, on a primed canvas. Have been thinking about it for a while but am now just too tired to set to work. Just too tired. Perhaps will try out what I have in mind comes Friday or Saturday.

How has your day been? Hope it has been good.

Creative Escape 2011



One of the bigger name in the scrapbooking industry in Singapore - Laine's Papeterie and sister company - Papermarket, once again, organised the very fun-filled, informative and interesting class (nearly boot-camp style) with celebrity mixed-medium artist Donna Downey. This is Donna's third Creative Escape in Singapore and if I remembered correctly, this is her only Asian class to date. According to Donna, the scrapbookers in US, Canada and even in parts of Europe where she has previously taught, were amazed that scrapbooking is quite popular in Singapore. Donna also told us her students were impressed that she could teach the Asian students without an interpreter or translator. Well, fortunately or not, English is the main language spoken and written and its importance has even supersede our very own mother tongue of all races in Singapore!

This year's class began with appreciation of the finer acrylic paints. There are many types/brands of acrylic paints in the industry but the wonders of the more expensive and finer ones are so much easier to work with and the effects were much better on canvas without priming with gesso. In using slightly inferior acrylic paints, the use of good gesso is probably a MUST so that the paint will stay and look better on canvas.

The second class was built on what we had learnt from the first class and most of us became better with the second project we were working on and before anyone know it, everyone was helping everyone out with lesser aid from the sweet instructors-turn-helpers. And the final class was the one which everyone had been waiting for - Inspired Journal. This is Donna's signature class and while everyone taught it was going to be a tough class, this turned out to be the MOST DIFFICULT CLASS!!! Just kidding. Inspired Journal was the one class which allowed each and everyone in class to use the various techniques taught and then to be further explored in any way each and everyone wanted to.

Having attended last year's class, I will try to incorporate last year's techniques and this year's to see what I can do to my Journal. I shall post some pictures when I am done. Just give me about 6 more months. Not much mojo lately.

Have a good week ahead!

Is all about memories, I guess

Many of my friends are finding it difficult to understand why I am so infatuated with scrapbooking. To them,scrapbooking is just another expensive and impractical hobby, at least in Singapore. For some of my shopaholic friends, they find shopping for clothes a better excuse to splurge their money on as clothes are "more essential" than spending so much money on craft.

Well, I suppose the one thing which really attracts me scrapbooking, on top of the lovely, interesting array of products available for all paper crafters, scrapbooking is one hobby which complements my other hobbies perfectly. For a decent scrapbook layout, in addition to all the materials needed, photographs are another important "must have". I love photography and after graduating from Melbourne Uni 10 years ago, I have been looking for a perfect "journal" to document the memories of my undergraduate days. I saw my fellow American hostel mate having a very interesting "journal" and had been hunting high and low for one when I came back to Singapore in 2002. I did not realise that the journal which my American hostel mate was holding, was, in fact, a scrapbook album.

I enjoy reading and writing and now, blogging. Scrapbooking incorporates "journalling", and I find that this makes scrapbooking more meaningful because together with photographs, this will make the memories more vivid than ever.

And before I log off, here's a cheap alternative for fellow scrapbooking hobbyists in Singapore or anyone else out there who live in countries or cities where the Japanese Daiso is available. Daiso sells foundation/make-up sponges which are good for distressing. They are much cheaper and makes distressing easier, especially if you are new to scrapbooking or are unwilling to part some money for those foam applicator. These cheaper alternatives work just as good and are able to endure the Singapore's weather slightly better. Unless you want really clean fingers while working with your projects, try these cheaper alternatives.

So, do check out those sponges when you can.