His Decadence

This is Chicago

2011-10-02T21:45:00.000+08:00

It took me 42 days to post a blog entry ever since I stepped foot onto American soil. This pretty much tell you how busy I am with College and the moved into the apartment with my boyfriend, David. The apartment we are at is pretty spacious and after two months it's starting to feel like home.

School has been good to me, manage to take two marketing related classes (Introduction to Public Relations and Introduction to Advertising), one writing class and one Japanese language & Culture class. And I have to count my lucky star that I have gotten myself really good Professors for each of my class, never thought that I would be so attentive and participate in class discussions, because I'm usually rather quiet in big groups and tend to listen more than to utter a word thinking that I might say something wrong, but I guess that's not the case when you have Professors who are so open to your ideas and take notices to each and everyone of their students.

My first two weeks in Chicago, I made a couple of new friends! Funny thing is they are both asians and here I thought that coming to America I would know more American friends, not that it matter just thought it was worth sharing about. I met Mitsuki during the first meet up with the International Students of Columbia College Chicago, we had a few things in common like video games, anime, the best part was he's japanese and I was into japanese language he was one of the first who hung out with me!

The other was Tomoyo who I met during an orientation for international students. She accompanied me during Casino Royale, an event that was held during orientation week where students were asked to dress to impress and given chips to gamble for prizes.

Apart from classroom stuff and new friends I have made, I am also very involve with clubs like the Muggles Association of Columbia as an E-Board member and PRSSA E-Board member as their National Liaison. I am really excited about being accepted in my new roles with the clubs and can't wait to get started and show them what I can do!

Despite being homesick for the first few days, I'm doing pretty okay here in Chicago and there so much more I would like to share with you guys about during my stay here, so do stay tune..

Our First Night in Osaka

2011-08-05T02:45:00.000+08:00

I am sure some of you are wondering, why am I blogging about Osaka and not my trip to Chicago and Orlando, Florida. Well It's like this, I blog when the feeling comes to me, and I just had a nice warm bath, followed by a cup of hot Japanese roast tea while typing this to you guys. So I did say it's a good mood to be sharing about my first night experiencing Osaka, Japan.

We were on a train from the airport to the hotel and I decided to play around with my Canon EOS 600D and it's shutter speed. I have always wanted to take pictures such as the one above, because I was inspired by one of the photographers who had his work on the magazine of Black & White Photography. I know it might not be that good of a picture, but I am pretty contented with the outcome.

Hungry we were, we headed out for dinner right after leaving our luggage in the hotel rooms. And thankfully my boyfriend knows the place quite well enough to bring us to where we can find good cheap Japanese food! And boy was the Char Siew Ramen with Shoyu base soup heavenly! Apart from the very fatty char siew meat, I must say that was a pretty darn good bowl of ramen and it beats anything you can find in Singapore at the same price of S$10. If you tell me Singapore's Ajisen I will slap you..

Now finally a picture of my 彼氏 and me outside the Ramen store we had our dinner at. Those of you who are in the customer service line and suck at it, please visit Japan and learn a thing or two. Thank you. Even though I myself have been in the customer service line before, and I did a pretty good darn job at it mind you, I still feel that I am not good enough if I were to compare myself with the people in Japan.

Lovely people, streets and country. And this is only our first night, wait until you hear from me when I come back from Universal Studios Osaka..

Pocky Gives You Muscles

2011-07-22T19:42:00.001+08:00

This might sound like a real random blog entry or to some like an entry for the sake of blogging but I tell you this. It's not because I do believe that Pocky actually does give me muscles!

Okay now I wasn't really being serious about that, I'm just suffering from a writer's block as I try to squeeze out whatever memory I had of the day when I got this box of strawberry flavored pocky.

I enjoy little meet ups with good company especially with those who are close to me. Was really glad that Hisham arranged to meet up with Clarence and me for some seafood buffet which I end up getting sick from, figured it was either food poisoning or the coconut I had. Anyway if you followed me on twitter you would have known that the strawberry pocky was a gift from Clarence who got it for me while he was shopping because he remembers that I LOVE LOVE LOVE strawberry pocky very much!

What's really the point of this blog entry you might ask? Well Some of you might not know this but the guy name Clarence Chan was the one who brought my boyfriend and together! Yes yes yes there's a word for a guy like him, MATCHMAKER!

So if it wasn't for Clarence, I don't I be where I am now in life. Both my boyfriend and I are really grateful for what he has done and for bringing us together. Yes this is the same Clarence who appears on our Jailbaitkids YouTube Channel every Thursday.

Where's Hisham? Well I haven't gotten the group picture we took with his camera, the pictures used above were all taken with my Blackberry Bold 9780 camera hence the low image quality.

His First Face-up

2011-07-02T02:48:00.000+08:00

Finally manage to find a Face-up artist for my darling Shiro Seargoth. Shiro has been without any Face-up since April 2011 and no lashes makes him seem kind of naked don't you think? Well I definitely think so, hence why I am so excited to see how he turns out after the sweet Face-up artist from Den of Angels finish working on him.

You must be wondering why I removed his head from his body yes? The reason being, it's a lot easier to transport it to the face-up artist without carrying a big box, having just the head it is easier to pack and protect in a smaller container/box.

Ball-joint-dolls (BJD) is a hobby that cost a lot of money and things like clothes, face-up, eyes and wigs don't come cheap for us not to mention the cost of a BJD like my Dream of Doll Homme Ivan is priced at US$380 just for the doll. Expensive hobby is expensive *floats arounds*

Will post and update when Shiro comes backs home from his Face-up experience!

Just Another Day

2011-06-29T02:16:00.002+08:00

What seems to be just another ordinary day turns out to be a lot more than just ordinary. The boyfriend and I made our first stop of the day at Loysel's Toy. (Loysel's Toy is located at 66 Kampong Bugis #01-01 Ture Kallang, Singapore 338987)

(credits to Bryan K. from Foursquare)

Said to be one of the hippest coffee joint in Singapore (and I am quoting this from a friend) but I doubt it's the coffee or tea because it wasn't as good as I thought it might be but mainly it's the location and ambience that made the place to be.

The boyfriend and I were introduce to the place by his close family friend Jean who I met yesterday together with Hui Wen. Before they actually got there, we were checking the place out (and looking for a place to sit) I kept getting stares from everyone...

Okay maybe they weren't actually looking at me because I was carrying Shiro around with me when we got there. This is the first time that Shiro has gone out with us after being stuck home for 2 months because his daddy (the boyfriend) forgot to include one set of clothes during his date of make. Well can't really blame the daddy though because he got Shiro for me as a surprise gift that was shipped all the way from Korea just for me!

You know something, every time before meeting one my boyfriend's friends for the first time, I get a little nervous inside. I don't really show it but I would have all kinds of thoughts in my head like if I would get judged or something, but thankfully Jean and Hui Wen was pretty awesome to boot! I enjoyed talking to the both of them (or listening to their conversation, either way it was fun). Had a few good laughs talking about the boyfriend's bad habits and our travel experience in Chicago.

After all was said and done, Jean was nice enough to drop us at our next destination NAFA Campus 1 to check our my dear friend Jayden Tan's short film, Alien/Citizen.

Kudos to Jayden for the effort and hardwork that he put in for his final year project. The film even though had a simple and straight to the point storyline (I found the story rather interesting) had scenes where Jayden made artistic angles/close-ups just to capture that right moment. Brilliantly done I must say.

Do try and make time to check out the film and his other works today (29th June 2011) at NAFA Campus 1, Gallery 1 & 2 from 11am - 5pm.
It's the last day for the showcase so try not to miss it!
(*image on the left taken from Alien/Citizen Facebok page)

The day went as per normal with dinner followed by some time at home with the boyfriend and our two kids Snowball and Russell.

Hope to be able to throw out more entries before school start, because I know by then this blog will end up collecting zero visitors. (*keeping fingers crossed*)

A Final Fantasy Story

2011-06-08T03:00:00.001+08:00

Oh bummer, looks like I haven't been cleaning the dust off my blog and I wonder if I should be sharing about my trip to Chicago and Orlando Florida at all. Got to start making time for blogging or I won't know where to throw my thoughts into and might end up exploding!

Anyway the past few weeks, the boyfriend and I have been very into our virtual characters in Final Fantasy 14. It all started off with him introducing Final Fantasy 11 and how here tried to guide me through the storyline of the quest and get me caught up to the end game stuff. To be honest I couldn't connect with the game very much because of how lost I feel with the controls, spells and my class, not to mention the graphics for it wasn't very impressive what kept me playing was because the boyfriend really love the game and how cute the Tarutarus are!

On and off the boyfriend would log into FFXIV and mess around with his character for a bit, and I noticed how the game was so much better looking compared to FFXI and somehow the boyfriend found a reason to get an extra copy of the game for me and it got me hooked! Oh yes how I hate to admit that I am an addict to a game, but I can't help it with such nice graphics it is sure to eat me up for life!

Lalafells are what our character race are called and I decided to play a magic class with the focus on healing and support type in groups while my boyfriend is the "Jack of all Trades" since he's leveling each and every single class in the game.

(From Left to Right : Ekkusu, Magdalene, Alfred, Spenser, Shirei and Kyrael)

As we progress in the game, we decide to take screenshots of our little adventures together and upload it up on facebook for all to see. And because of our screenshots it got our friend Alfred who decided to get the game and join us! My boyfriend decided to ask my brother along with our little party adventure and get him the game as well as two other close friends of ours Holly and Juin Yan who were both long time gaming friends from Granado Espada, Everquest 2 and World of Warcraft.

Hoping to get more a few more friends to join our hunting party though but our current setup is pretty good to do most of the 5 stars Guild Leves that are a few tiers higher than our level.

Our current setup consist of Ekkusu Messatsu is our Gladiator, Magdalene Weinz our Direct Damage Conjurer, Alfred Strike our Archer, Spenser Sasuke the Lancer, Shirei Seargoth (me) the Healing/Support Conjurer and Kyrael Fantome our Pugilist Tank.

Will try my best to update more about our little adventure in Eorzea.

What now brown cow?

2011-04-21T23:08:00.000+08:00

My brother came up to me recently asking "kor how come you haven't been updating your blog liao?" And just like that I was stunned for like five seconds (firstly because I didn't even know my brother read my blog, secondly I was trying to figure out why myself) than I told that I have been trying to finish up on all my reading. (And trust me it's a lot of reading...my boyfriend and I are huge graphic novel fans.)

Even though I have been digging myself in pages of graphic novels, I do still keep tabs on twitter and other social media platforms to keep myself up to date (Like there's much to be updated with...) Okay honestly speaking, apart from the bitiching and bragging from people there's still the whole natural disaster issue in Japan and water shortage in Haiti that I have been checking up to see how much we can help.

Oh another thing I would like to add before I forget or lose the words in my head like how I forgot what I wanted to write about Chicago after thinking about it when I was in the bathroom and when I walked out I end up doing something else and nothing came back after that. It's freaking annoying and maybe I thought I should just blog in the toilet in future when I'm taking a bath. Ok, ok I know that's not smart but I got to figure a way how not to lose my words, like how Audi Khalid does on his iPhone.

Any-oh-how the boyfriend is waiting for me to log onto Everquest 2 and grind some levels! Hopefully I can get my first entry about my trip to Chicago during the weekend!

Beneath the Stars we help Japan

2011-04-04T12:06:00.000+08:00

Anyone of you folks out there looking for a gift for that special someone? Or thinking about pampering yourself with something shiny? But at the same time you as a person would also like to use that money to help the victims that are suffering in Japan after the tsunami disaster?

Well there's something pretty nifty you could do!

Local Jewelry Company Beneath the Stars and founder Yang Lay is collaborating with Singapore Red Cross Society to help raise funds to aid Japan whereby 50% of all proceeds of sales will be donated to this cause.

Beneath the Stars sells designer jewelry which includes necklaces, rings, earrings, pendants, bangles, bracelets and even bookmarks!

Being an avid reader I must say that this bookmarks are highly tempting, especially the Dragonfly design. Oh and if you're wondering, this blog entry isn't an advertorial. It's to help a good cause and to create an awareness that we can do our part too.

By shopping at Beneath the Stars not only do we get something pretty and nice, we are also doing our part to aid the people in Japan.

So do drop by their online shop and check out what they have to offer!

Oh and one more thing! Quote "JAPAN TSUNAMI(BLOGS)" when you make your purchase!

Let us all do our part in helping Japan!

(disclaimer : Images taken from "Beneath the Stars" website)

That Journey Together

2011-02-10T23:56:00.002+08:00

"Would you like to travel to Chicago with me?" he said.....and of cos I said YES! Soon after I was planning on what I need to bring a long with me but of cos with his help, wasn't sure what I need to bring especially when it's now winter in Chicago. On another note, this would give me a chance to check out the school I want to apply to!

The journey from Singapore to Chicago was a long and tiring one I must say. I don't fly that often and even I did, It's usually less then a 4 hour flight *cough* Bangkok/Hong Kong *cough*

Thankfully there's a transit at Tokyo Narita International Airport, so I manage to stretch my legs and checked out the shops they had in the Airport.

While I was using the little boys room, my boyfriend decided to secretly sneak out to one of the shops and bought me....

A Pikachu plushie and a Nekobasu plushie! What a way to escape from me grumbling about the fact he suddenly left me alone in the little boys room in a foreign country!

So I just want to say it's going to be my first time seeing real snow falling from the sky. It's going to be my second time in the USA but childhood stuff usually don't count, so I would consider this my first time in the USA.

More to come guys about my trip here in Chicago! Do check out my facebook albums for more interesting pictures!

Chicken what OUT?!

2011-01-22T15:21:00.002+08:00

So so so hello everyone! A few days ago I was invited to Burger King and boy was I in for a treat! I have always been a fan of their Mexican Drumlets but this time I got to try something a lot more kick ass than that.

The Black Pepper Basil Drumlets has a hint of aromatic basil flavour and is sure going keep you wanting for more! (Not for the Tomato sauce people to try)

Another interesting piece of information I learned when I was there, was that Burger King has a total of 8 Chicken Varieties to choose from! Out of the 8, 7 of which have been around for quite some time now but honestly speaking we hardly notice the sheer amount of chicken burgers they have because of how good their burgers taste like!

Well I won't want to bored you with stuff you already know, do I now? What you really want to try is their Mushroom Swiss Tendergrill Chicken. It's flame-grilled 100% premium chicken thigh meat that is juicy and tender, topped with the all-time favorite mushroom sauteed sauce, and melted Swiss cheese on a water spilt corn-dusted bun.

Would like to thank the people from Burger King and the friends from Word Of Mouth Communication for the wonderful invite.

Movie Talk : Burlesque

2011-01-13T17:41:00.001+08:00

It was early November when I caught the first trailer of Burlesque..the preview of the different songs Christina performed during the trailer kept me to my seat and my ears focused to the sound of voice whenever she sang or spoke.

Today the film is finally out and I caught it with D. I wasn't expecting much but I was amazed by the brilliant performance that both Cher and Christina put out, with that said this is Christina's first leading role on the big screen and she sure as hell nailed it.

I guess she is no longer just a singer/model but now also an actress. I hope to see more of her in the future on the big screen..

As for Cher, I have never listen to any of her songs and being it my first time watching her on the big screen singing..I must say I can't wait to listen what other songs she sang before.

Burlesque is a lovely movie with two really talented actresses accompanied by many amazing cast like Kristen Bill, Eric Dane (Grey's Anatomy) and Cam Gigandet...Watch out for the Famous Amos cookie box..heh!

Ultimate WHAT?

2011-01-05T00:36:00.004+08:00

Mnet Ultimate Live in Asia was anything but boring. And it's all thanks to the lovely people from HTC! Yes the same people who kindly loan me a review set of their HTC Wildfire and now, I am a believer.

(My review - Daddy, what's a Wildfire?)

I am now a proud user of my very own HTC Wildfire (White).

With that said, I was invited to attend my very first Korean pop concert and it was right after my birthday! I was telling the people from The Right Spin how it was the perfect birthday gift.

Ok here's the good part before the concert, we were given a chance to meet and greet one of the Kpop group that was performing, and lucky for us (not forgetting Jiaqi who exchange passes with us) we got to meet miss A! If you don't remember who they are or don't know them at all.....

Hope that refreshes your memory. I love both dance moves from "Breathe" and "Good Girl, Bad Girl", and the ladies from miss A look so much more unique in terms of appearance wise compared to the other female Kpop groups.

The highlight of my night during the Mnet concert was when BEAST (B2ST) finally appeared on stage and performed my favorite track "Beautiful" And I can't help but notice how their outfits were one of the most eye catching ones. Okay I'm being bias here but the yellow and black look just work so well.

So you must be wondering who I like from B2ST? Well it has to be Yang Yoseob! I love how he's like the most engaging one out the group and how he can be so bubbly! I would scream KAWAII! if I could..

No I didn't scream like the rest of the crazy fangirls who were standing around us. I'm not like that, and you will never catch me doing that ever! And yes when I say crazy fangirls, I really mean crazy fangirls!

Throughout the whole concert Jordan Tong and I were both trying very hard not to fall over, especially when the groups walk closer to us it gets real bad!

Alright alright, there were other groups that performed like 2AM, 2PM and MBLAQ but I rather share with you guys about the groups I'm rooting for then to bore you with stuff that I don't know about.

Do check out Jordan Tong's entry about his Mnet concert experience here : MNET!

The NOH8 Project..

2010-12-30T16:41:00.002+08:00

Inspired by celebrity photographer Adam Bouska and Jeff Parshley, my brothers and I decided to show our support in the NOH8 Campaign.

The shots were all taken in my bedroom, it was kind of a last minute thing to do even though we have planned to work on it a few weeks back but didn't manage to set a date. Hence the missing duct tape, but I wanted to see how it would turn out since everyone was there already.

The NOH8 Campaign is a direct direct response to the passage of Proposition 8. To learn more about what this campaign is about visit their site at : http://www.noh8campaign.com/article/about

Hafidz Tong, my little brother who is such a natural in front of the camera, at first I thought he would be camera shy, seeing how it was my first time taking pictures of him but I was wrong, he was always camera ready even when he's not looking and there is only one word to describe such a person, photogenic. And the hair, it was done by me. I used Gatsby moving-rubber (spike edge) and Gatsby clay for his hairdo.

Model : Hafidz Tong
Outfit : VOL.TA
Hair, Photograph, Paint : Sidney Reuben
Camera : Canon EoS 550D

Jordan Tong, the little brother who has been best friends with the camera ever since he was a baby. I think it's safe to say he's the king of camera frenzy (camwhoring). The face painted "NOH8" was done by Hafidz, it looks a lot better then the one I did for Hafidz. Jordan's hairdo was always done by me using Gatsby moving-rubber (wild shake).

Model : Jordan Tong
Outfit : VOL.TA
Hair and Photograph : Sidney Reuben
Paint : Hafidz Tong
Camera : Canon EoS 550D

More photographs on my Facebook album

Christmas is about..

2010-12-24T14:52:00.001+08:00

love and how you share that love with the people around you...

It can be in any shape or form...

like just three words...

Merry Christmas everyone!

Run around we did in Hong Kong the 4th day

2010-12-23T00:14:00.000+08:00

Time flies when you're having fun. It was our fourth day in Hong Kong and we have pretty much visit much of the shopping malls around Nathan Road.

The whole stretch is called Nathan Road. And it's a pretty long stretch that goes from Jordan MTR station all the way to Mong Kok MTR station..

I'm know I might be trying too hard, but I just wanted to see if I would fit in well with the local teenagers by following their style. The hair needs work though.

Met this lovely lady who was from China and currently living with her husband in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. She was introducing the different healthy nuts my mum and aunt should purchase. And can you believe that's she's 3 month pregnant?

My new love for Chocoolate...

My mum made another new friend when she was trying to use me to get the aunty to sell us the ang baos at a cheaper price. Mum was telling the aunty how I want to buy for her the red packets but only had HK$100 and the red packets cost HK$150.

They call this the BIG BOWL Wanton Noodles located at Temple Street. No it's a lot, it might not seem like it but all of us couldn't finish it, that and because it was way too salty for our liking.

Trying to squeeze everything into my tiny luggage. End up having to throw the shoes I wore there to make room.

I just wished it didn't have to end so soon, but then again part of me miss the friends I have in Singapore and the people I miss talking to.

More pictures in my Facebook Album.

Have you read my previous blog entry about my 1st and 2nd day in Hong Kong?
Day 1 - Hello to my first day in Hong Kong
Day 2 - Living it up in Hong Kong Day 2

Day 3 - The Meet up in Hong Kong day 3

The Meet up in Hong Kong day 3

2010-12-18T14:45:00.001+08:00

Five months ago we met on Dailybooth and now I finally met you in person. The initial feeling was rather awkward, I was just so shy and many a times was lost for words.

Was so glad that Claudia could join us, because she made feel a lot comfortable, maybe it's just me but I love smiles like hers where it put one at ease. And yes that's Geoffrey Kwan aka Threecorneredstars on Dailybooth and StarsCirclesTriangle on YouTube.

Anyway, thanks to Geoffrey I got to shop at H&M and visited the Grand Central Place which is somewhere near Mong Kok.

One very interesting conversation I had with Geoffrey was about how the students from his school don't like to be associated with the local students, in terms of dressing style. The students including Geoffrey himself have their own style and avoid looking like the typical Hong Kong student there.

How odd I must say, and there I was telling how much I love the fashion of the Hong Kong people and wanted to look like them just to fit in.

Sadly I didn't get to spend a lot time with the crazy two. They had to head back early because December was still a school month for them and Claudia had exams coming up while Geoffrey had homework to finish up.

We did manage to camera-whore and take sticky pictures before going our separate ways. heh!

Met up with my family after, and went for a little shopping spree around the street markets.

Boy it sure was packed with people, but at least the crowd in Hong Kong knew how to actually move unlike the crowd here in Singapore. What my ah jie Holly told me was that in Hong Kong if you were to just random stop and block the way because you wanted to SMS or talk you will told off by the locals unlike here in Singapore where people are just too nice and we are taken for granted for our kindness. /end rant*

Jacky was saying how he would never ask me to work on photography or editing pictures and would rather ask Benjamin Ang to do it and also mentioned that I should get Benjamin Ang to edit my pictures too.

To be honest I'm happy working on the pictures myself, I believe in trial and error, learning from one's mistakes to better oneself.

And of cos Benjamin Ang would fair better, I'm not into photography but he is. So there's really a big difference, can't really compare.

Spotted this random cute guy when my mum was about to check out what the lady was selling. Hong Kong sure has a lot of cute nerdy looking guys. *grins*

Have you read my previous blog entry about my 1st and 2nd day in Hong Kong?
Day 1 - Hello to my first day in Hong Kong
Day 2 - Living it up in Hong Kong Day 2

Living it up in Hong Kong day 2

2010-12-14T23:38:00.001+08:00

Capturing this memory I suddenly recall seeing a glimpse of it in my mind, and was wondering where have I seen it before. After much thought, I guess it must have been a postcard I saw when I was walking around Chinatown, Singapore.

Day 2 in Hong Kong we did less shopping and more sightseeing. And one of my favorite place to be was at Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong.

Is it just me or don't you think it's pretty awesome to have a place named "Avenue of Stars"? I think it's kinda cool..wonder do we have anything similar back in Singapore.

Needless to say, it has one of the most breathtaking views in the whole of Hong Kong. And with it being winter season in Hong Kong, you could just stand by the railing and admire the beauty of it all day long. At least now I know I don't have to travel all the way to Europe just to get inspiration, I can just visit Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong to get inspired.

And yes, that's my dearest mummy, who paid for this trip for me as my birthday present! Love you mummy and thank you for everything you have done for me and didi.

On our way to the ferry terminal, there were a few local art students sketching the London Tower.

I couldn't help but admire their hard work and determination. They were all sitting on the ground under the sun sketching on a friday afternoon. If it was me? I did rather just roll around in bed.

It's either my mum was being bias or trying to hook me up with a Hong Kong girl, but she only asked the girl who's sitting next to me for her facebook email address so that I could add her when I get the chance. Funny mum..real funny..

After a 7 minute ferry ride followed by what seems like forever (roughly about an hour) bus ride, we finally made it to The Peak, where the famous wax museum is.

First thought that came into my mind was. "MUST HAVE FOOD!" Ever since day one in Hong Kong, I have been eating a lot more then usual. So with that said, may I present you my lunch at The Peak.

Cream of Mushroom Soup. I love the texture of the soup, and it wasn't too creamy. And I love the sun and good lighting that afternoon. Hence the lovely picture.

And hello main course the Mince Beef Meat Sauce with egg yolk with rice cooked in some stone. I love it when the yolk is served in this manner.

After lunch was done, we were walking around the mall and I spotted this really cool wallpaper! At first sight, I actually thought that the apartments were really so close to the mall, but after I got a little closer I notice it was just a wallpaper. Gosh it look so real.

You really have to give it to Hong Kong for having so many stalls/shops so close to each other. You will never run out of options on to what buy or eat ever.

Spoiled for choices much?

This is another shot I love that was taken at Mong Kok, Hong Kong. And even though it's so dark, it's only 7pm when this was taken.

Oh and guess what you guys! There's VitaminWater in Hong Kong....

SOGO supermarket has VitaminWater! And they have the orange flavored one that I haven't tried yet too.

And to end off day two entry, I am going help fulfill my aunt's request to rant about how my she got fleece.

Seriously, fish ball soup for HK$58? And a bowl of rice for HK$15?!? LOL She kept complaining how that was the most expensive fish ball soup she ever had at normal street stall...HK$58 = S$9.80 and HK$15 = S$3

So was that a ripped off or what?!

If you haven't seen my entry about my first day in Hong Kong you can check it out here :

Hello to my first day in Hong Kong

Do check back again for my third day in Hong Kong!

Hello to my first day in Hong Kong

2010-12-13T07:11:00.004+08:00

It has been about 10 years ago since I last visited Hong Kong.

And it's a lot different when you're not a kid anymore. You tend to see things differently and have a different perspective of the meaning entertainment.

When I was just a little boy in Hong Kong, all I ever care about were the theme parks, toys and video games.

Now, being in Hong Kong, I notice or should I say pay attention to more then just what money can buy. Every time I walk pass the locals I would listen to their conversations and would giggle to myself how cute their accents were. I love the fact that cantonese is their first language. I enjoy watching how everyone were dressed to kill, unlike what we have in Singapore, where everyone just wear anything that they pull out of the closet.

Another thing that shocked my mum and aunt was, I didn't grumble when we found out that the place we were staying was a tiny service apartment with little to no room for walking, tiny toilet and a wireless access that seems close to nonexistent.

I know I might have been spoiled since young but that doesn't mean I will be spoiled forever. That and the fact I actually love the tiny service apartment was because it made me feel like I'm really living like how the rest of the locals were living in and I have a very nice view of the busy streets of Hong Kong from my room window.

And I must say that Hong Kong is a really good place to put your photography skills to the test. There's lots of things that with the right angle and lighting you can make beautiful memories.

Oh and all those talks about street food being bad? Rubbish! I love street food! Especially there was this one stall that sold waffles with butter, honey and nuts!

If you leave me in Hong Kong for one year, I tell you I won't want to leave. Just one day of people watching I learned how to eye on nicer stuff and got myself this two lovely pairs of shoes.

Limited Edition High Cut Nike Shoes for days when I feel cool and comfortable.

New Vans design for days when I'm all high and daring.

More pictures on my Facebook Album and do look out for Hong Kong Day 2 entry.

Thanks for reading yall.

On A Journey We Go

2010-12-09T03:24:00.000+08:00

It happen on one random day before my birthday, my mum and I had a conversation about going overseas and it went like this

Mum : "Ah boy ah, want to go Hong Kong bo?"
Siddy : "No moola"
Mum : "Aiyo always no money, aiya I paying lar for your birthday ok?"
Siddy : "OMGOSHWTHBBQSAUCE! OKAY!"

Which explains the following images...

I packed 3 t-shirts, 1 polo-tee, and 2 singlet/under-shirt/vest (for sleeping), 2 pairs of Jeans, 1 pair shorts, 5 boxer shorts. I do hope it's enough to last me for about a week. My mum said if I don't have enough clothes, I can always buy when I'm in Hong Kong, but I did prefer to be prepared just in case I don't find any nice clothes there. (but what the hell, it's Hong Kong, most of the designer t-shirts we find in Singapore are from Hong Kong anyways...)

And then we have the facial and hair products. I am afraid that they might not let me take the hair spray in, since it's flammable. And that's one hair wax, and one hair clay.

Of cos I will have my camera with me, and I be bringing my Macbook (Iwamori) with me too, so that I can upload my pictures and blog about my visit when I'm there.

Am going to miss Singapore food. I am still craving for the food at Ichi Tei restaurant located at Sunshine Plaza, and the pretty lady who was taking my order too. She has such a nice smile (ok random much?)

Chat with yall again once I'm in Hong Kong and with wireless access (keeping fingers crossed)

My December Crush : Jordan Tong

2010-12-08T17:32:00.001+08:00

It was the 5th of December 2009, I was at a Christmas party that was organized by the members of the Singapore Hamster Shelter Club.

I remember grumbling to my friend about how there was not a single good looking guy and how I wished that there were more male members in the club, when suddenly Jordan Tong appears through the door and my heart melted instantly.

Walked in with his straight face wearing a dark blue Polo t-shirt and Jeans. He was spotting a nice tanned back then which went nicely with that sweet smile he has.

I can still recall how I would save every little conversations we had during the month of december and when I miss talking to him I would just open up the files and read it all over again.

I really admire how frank he is, and we could just talk about anything and everything, it was quite a shocker when I found out that we both enjoyed similar films. Especially the one titled "Sophie Schooll, The Final Days" about the true story of Germany's most famous anti-Nazi heroine. To be honest with you guys, back then none of my friends would want to watch/talk about Foreign flims or Indie Films, because everyone was into what's mainstream.

No, nothing bad happen between us, it's just that my crush for him slowly faded away and we became really good friends. More like brothers in fact.

We share our clothes, he likes to make random bets with me which I always end up losing and have to treat him to meals, I enjoy teasing him how he's aging faster then ever, we also enjoy shopping together and love keeping each other company on our Blackberry Messenger (BBM).

Last Sunday on the 5th of December 2010, marks our 1 year friendship together.

We are not just gamers

2010-12-02T23:35:00.000+08:00

I love dinner parties, and I remember how Mathew Davis (Matias - Paladin) was sharing with me about his family and the many dinner parties they always have. That's when I wanted to have one myself and I invited all my friends from my guild in World of Warcraft.

This would be the very first entry where I share about my family in World of Warcraft. And there will be more to come about my experience and how a MMORPG can bring people together.

Meet my family, The Death Rulers. We have Ilexia our Mage, Ekkusu our Paladin, Khim our Rogue, Spenserx the Hunter, Sergeifei our silly Warlock and Shanak our Death Knight. Well I'm called Shireii in the game and I play a Shaman.

Ilexia and Ekkusu were the ones who got us into World of Warcraft, but before World of Warcraft we were playing a few other MMORPGs like Everquest 2 and Granado Espada.

Apart from Ilexia and Ekkusu, the rest of us have been playing World of Warcraft for about 2 months now, and I must say we have really grown, from a 5 man guild, we manage to pull friends over and now we have a total of 13 members. Enough to do our own 10 man raid (Just waiting for a few level 70+ members to hit 80 heh.)

I must say that I was really please with how it all turn out. The food was good, we had good company that brought lots of laughs, and we manage to do a lot of catching up with each other. Spenserx and Ekkusu meeting for first time found out that they have a lot in common which I don't bore you with the details. Ilexia, Khim and I having out little "sister time" with Summer in the room talking about life and such. Shanak and Segerfei busy battling out with each other on the Playstation 3.

And Khim don't really play the game, it's just that Spenserx created a Rogue named after her in hope that one day she might decide to just us in ranks.

Note to self : Guild members don't like to eat noodles and meat balls.

My Shutterbug experience

2010-11-29T04:19:00.003+08:00

I always love the idea how one can express oneself just by taking pictures to show/say how one is feeling during that certain moment when that picture was being photographed.

Thanks to Glenn Koh and Wong Renhao from Ogilvy and the lovely people from Canon for inviting me down to their Pre-Deepavali Party, I had the experience of a lifetime trying out their Canon Powershot G12.

Always wanted to get my hands on one but never had the chance to try one out long enough before. But after playing around with the G12 I am kinda considering trading off my camera for one if it's possible *cough* hint *cough*

On the Hippo bus we go with a camera each on our hands and our fingers on the trigger.

I was just like a little boy with a new toy excited to take it around with me and play with it.

You know how photographer always claims that the person holding the camera don't usually have a chance to take pictures of themselves.

Well I would like to say with the G12 that shouldn't be a problem because the G12 like the G11 has a 2.8-inch vari-angle LCD screen. I guess there's bounce to be a lot of "camera-whoring" to the max with this baby.

While we were on the Hippo bus, I manage to capture a shot I have came to love. I even have a title for it. "The unclear future" At that very moment I was thinking about the relationship I was in and was trying really hard to see pass the barrier I had blocking my mind. Gosh I bet you guys must be thinking I'm silly or something. meh.

After the Hippo bus ride and the filling dinner we had. We were allowed to walk around the area to play with the cameras we had some more. And this was photographed, like the image itself I call it "Losing Focus" Just like me, I tend to lose my sense of focus when I'm working on something, I usually end up getting rather distracted by the random happenings around me. I guess in life we all need to find a focus point to aid us along the way as we grow.

That's the lovely Wu Huishan (@clauds) also known as my "twin sister" walking towards the other side. And the title of the picture has got nothing to do with her. "The Life of being lonely" This is how I always see myself. Even though I know that I have many REAL LOVING FRIENDS, yes I do have real friends, many of them who look out for me, care for me, and love me more then just a friend even. But sometimes when you're at home under the covers, you wish you had someone closer then a friend, someone to grow old with you right there beside you and when you don't it gets rather lonely.

All pictures were taken with the Canon Powershot G12 and for "Losing Focus" and "The Life of being lonely" I set it to "nostalgia" settings. More pictures can be found on my Facebook Album.

That Claytastic Day

2010-11-23T23:55:00.008+08:00

Did you know you can do animation with just plasticine? Well I didn't know, never did until I attended the Workshop with the people from N.E.Mation.

Before I go on about what we did during the workshop I did like to point out a few things that I spotted, not that it has anything to do with the whole program but just play along with me.

Notice how Muzzy don't have a fixed name? Sometimes it's "Mus", "Musx" or "Muzzsessessodiasdjoawdaa" no really and if you don't know who's he? He's Musxzart and he was my teammate during the workshop where we put our boy-power to the test!

Oh if you're wondering, I thought it be kinda cute to have people read his name off the side of his leg. heh yes I pasted that on Muzzy :3

When Trixy finally reached the first thing that caught my eye was her Fred Perry bag! And yes I know you can get it by purchasing the magazine from the major bookstores but I doubt it's something I can carry off well.

All I could do is envy, and just wish there for something similar for boys like me. I love how simple it looks but yet make one feels so good just carrying it. I guess it's the label that stands out, like carrying an Prada bag.

This is Joshua. Our animator trainer during the workshop. Notice that hairdo of his? Would you believe me if I told you this hairdo never change one bit since the first N.E.mation started? I might get it wrong but as he was showing us the pictures of the places the travelled with the winners, the only thing that caught my attention was the fact he manage to maintain the very same hairdo for so many years.

Ok, ok, I know totally out of context but still something to ponder about no? heh.

So that's me with my claytastic worm that both Muzzy and me made during the workship. I have never gotten my hands so dirty before and I must say it really brought back a lot of childhood memories.

The process of making the worm was hard, but I am glad that Muzzy was better at molding it then I was. While we were working on the finishing touches for mister green worm with a little hat, we came up with another idea which we used for our video.

Like I said I was never one who can make stuff but I can sure destroy stuff! Well I said we came up with an idea to work into our video yea?

We wanted our worm to devolve and transform into a wormifly! (no not butterfly but wormifly, I mean worms can't turn into butterflies can they now?)

At first we want to film the current worm with have and then smash it into little pieces..blah blah blah

Long story short, the ladies from Animagine helped us mold another worm out that looks like ours for us to break it down to little pieces.

Later they taught us how we can capture it in Stop-Motion and have it play it backwards instead to make it look as if it transform out from the smashed up clay-thing-a-ma-gee.

And with a lot of handiwork, love, care and magic dust, may I present you our work of art in 8 seconds!

Now does that look fun or what? I say it was a lot of fun being able to make my very own animation, and learned that it's no easy job too, especially those bigger scale ones for the N.E.mation contest that those students are taking part in.

So what WE can do to help? Well I am sure almost everyone by now should have Facebook, so do check out their Facebook page CLICK HERE and check out the TOP 10 teams and take a look out for their upcoming entries!

I will update you guys once again when you can help cast your votes to help this kids make their dream come true.

Oh WAIT! yes yes, wondering where's the group picture eh? What's an event/workshop like that without a group picture. Not to worry We did take a group picture together, but I decided to cut it into halves. It was just way too small to see our faces.

Can you spot anything wrong with the two halves? heh. Thanks for reading and I hope you guys enjoyed the post.

The QUNECH XT3 meets ME

2010-11-13T04:17:00.001+08:00

The holiday season is around the corner, and if you are looking for something to spoil yourself with, might I suggest maybe a new smartphone? Well.....

On the 13th August 2010 the Motorola Quench XT3 came in the mail for me and boy was I saw excited to get my hands on my first Motorola Android phone!

Compared to most of the other smartphones I had, this is by far the slimmest model I ever held in my hand! Sizing at 56.8 x 114.9 x 12.6 and with a display size at 480 by 320 HVGA, I did say this is one bloody brilliant design that I have ever come across.

Like I always believe when it comes to gadgets most of the technical stuff are pretty much similar and unlike the techie bloggers, I prefer to cut to chase and point out what I like most about using something.

So here are the few key features I find most fond of while playing with the Motorola QUNECH XT3.

My mama always says "It's always good to keep track of past conversations so that you won't forget" And I agree with her, with the Threaded SMS function that comes with the Motorola QUENCH XT3 I will never have to worry about forgetting about what was said in previous conversations.

Just wish my current smartphone has it's own function like that..*pouts*

I love it when a smartphone displays a fully functional Facebook page.

Maybe it's just my luck that the past few phones I had wasn't meant for "Facebooking" but with the QUENCH XT3 I had no problems checking up on what my friends are up to, looking through photo albums and even searching for friends! And with that huge screen it easy on the eyes too when you're reading stuff off the browser.

"40 results for holyshirei" Did you see that?! I can even search for my own YouTube videos and it would even give me a full detail of each video, stating the title, when was it uploaded, duration of the video and how many views too! What's not to love about the Motorola QUNECH XT3!

Compared to the current smartphone I'm using, watching YouTube videos on the Motorola QUENCH XT3 makes everything looks so clear and did I mention that with such a huge screen it's easy on the eyes too?

And now for the coolest part for the Motorola QUENCH XT3 is it's ability/functionality to swap to different keyboard styles.

There's the default QWERTY keyboard settings, which I for one normally use.

Then we have something rather unique, it has two characters on one button something I have never seen before, played around with it for awhile but wasn't very too keen on the idea maybe the rest of you might like it.

Finally we have the old school three characters to one key. I was having fun on this settings, it reminds me of my very first Motorola V6 cell phone that I had. I remember how I would always share out my "speed texting" skills. Oh the old days...

I would like to give a BIG shout out and thank you to Bernadette Yuen from Fleishman-Hillard and Motorola for giving this amazing opportunity to review my very first Motorola Android phone.

I had a wonderful experience playing around with the QUENCH XT3 and am sure as hell going to miss it after having it with my for almost 4 months.

Now maybe I can just add this to my birthday wish-list *grins*

And That's A Wrap

2010-10-22T11:30:00.005+08:00

"There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life. Is bound in shallows and in miseries." - William Shakespeare from the play Julius Caesar

This is it, all that hard work put in, all the effort to maintain good oral health has paid off. My last visit to the dentist at Q&M did nothing else but put a smile on my face when I was walking out. Doctor Ng had praised me for the big improvement in my gums.

Check out the video to find out more about it.

You can also help me by REPOSTINGThis blog entry link on Facebook,Twitter (if you are tweeting add this to your tweet! #listerineTC and add this link http://bit.ly/dxst7Z ) or on you Blog too! I get 5 points for Facebook/Blog, 1 point for Tweets! Do let me know by tweeting (@sidneyreuben) or email me at sidneyreuben@gmail.com if you have done the above so I can thank you guys!

And if you leave a comment of more then 20 characters, I get 2 points for that too!

But before that, CLICK HERE to read my little disclaimer about my LISTERINE® Bloggers Dare and what is this all about. (if you haven't already)

WAIT! Would love if you guys could spare me 5 minutes to fill up this survey for me! Please? "YES I WOULD LOVE TO FILL IN A SURVEY" / "MAYBE LATER? I WANT TO VOTE FIRST" (click one of the underlined text)

My October Crush : Mario Maurer

2010-10-21T05:43:00.004+08:00

My obsession for Thai culture and the language all started with him and the movie "The Love of Siam". Ever since then all I could think about is to visit Bangkok and purchase every single Thai movie/magazine/news article with him in it.

This mixed blooded young man has one of the cutest thai accent, and I can't help but melt when he speaks. His bod aside, Mario Maurer has really nice features, his eyes alone will just send shockwaves throughout your body and if you think that's all he does, wait til you watch him smile, I bet you will crumble and wish he could steal you away with him.

Apart from the movie "The Love of Siam", Mario had started in movies worth watching like "Friendship", "4 Romance" and a Korean/Thai drama serial "Autumn Destiny". I don't think it's available locally but if you ever visit Bangkok, check out "MBK" on the 3rd or 4th level, there's a wide range of DvD selection.

And here's a piece of good news for those who don't know yet. Mario Maurer has a new movie coming up and he looks so dreamy in it.

Here's the movie trailer of his new movie. Enjoy.

(Note: The picture above of Mario Maurer doesn't not belong to me, the credit goes to whoever that awesome Photographer was that took it. )

The Surprise "Attack"

2010-10-15T11:52:00.002+08:00

I always believe that when you make someone else happy, it will also make you happy. Doing that is also a way to make a positive difference in their lives.

This week Listerine Bloggers Dare is all about making someone special to us, smile. I actually thought really hard about this, I mean there's a lot of people that I really want to put a smile on their face, for example my friends who are studying and stressing over their exam papers, friends that are tired out by the work load they have at their job, my brother who's stressed about his career path.

After putting much thought about it I decided to pay a special someone a surprise visit with something really sinful for the tummy.

(Note : No one was really hurt during the take of this video)

Meet, greet and a bottle of purple liquid

2010-10-08T18:32:00.001+08:00

Time sure flies when you're having fun. The Listerine Bloggers Dare experience has sure got me doing things I never thought I would ever do and everything is a learning experience in this competition.

It's Week 4 and this week we were asked to look for 10 random people who have not try Listerine Total Care before, and ask them one QUIRKY ORAL HEALTH question to bring home a sample of Listerine Total Care.

The Quirky oral health facts

Who do you think smiles the most in a day?
It's been said that children bring joy into our lives, and they certainly smile a lot - an average of 400 times a day! Women smile about 62 times a day while men only smile 8 times a day on average. Great teeth and great smiles can be achieved with regular brushing, flossing and rinsing with mouthwash, so start flashing those pearly whites.

What did people use to think were the cause of toothaches?
Did you know that before the 1960s, Americans used to think that tooth worms caused toothaches? If you had a painful tooth, it meant that the worm was thrashing vigorously inside your tooth, but if the pain stopped, the worm was at rest. Even though we now know there are no worms in our teeth, it's still important to take proper care of them so we don't get toothaches. So that means brushing, flossing and using mouthwash regularly.

Can you guess what's the first facial feature people notice?
Your eyes are the window to your soul, but it seems that most people are not into soul-gazing. 50% of people say the first facial feature they notice is the smile, so perhaps you should be paying a little more attention to your oral health before that important first date.

And to the people who were so kind and gave me their time to feature them on my video. This is for you guys! Thanks again!

The Morning Monster

2010-10-01T15:46:00.003+08:00

When I was little, I never like brushing my teeth because I felt it was too much of a hassle. My mom knew about it and she sure knows how to freak a little boy out. She used to say

"Ah boy ah if you don't brush before breakfast, the food you eat will mix together with all the germs inside your mouth and go into your tummy and an alien will spawn bursting out from your tummy like the ones in the movie"

For our Listerine Bloggers Dare Week 3 entry, we are to share our favourite tip that health us achieve good oral health in a form of a comic strip! Even though I'm a lot older now, I still have images or "little creatures" running around in my mouth which forced me to have this habit to brush my teeth as soon as I get up in the morning.

Here's lil'korn and me presenting to you "The Morning Monster" (no animals were hurt during the making of this comic strip)

With the habit of brushing my teeth twice a day ever since what happen, and with my new habit of using Listerine Total Care and flossing my teeth, I have gain new confidence in myself. It has been close to a month now since my visit to the dentist. I can see and feel improvement with my gums and teeth now.

If you enjoyed the lil'comic strip I made and want to help me score bonus points that would help with my total score at the end of this Listerine Bloggers Dare contest. You can RE-POST the comic strip (comic strip url : http://bit.ly/bUjs8M ) on your Facebook/Blog/Dailybooth and leave a comment or tweet at @sidneyreuben so that I can take note! (be sure to redirect it to this entry)

Little Steps, Big Changes

2010-09-24T18:46:00.002+08:00

"Have you ever had a dream that seem so real, when you woke up, you didn't know what to believe? What would you do if what you thought was true, wasn't? And what you thought wasn't true, was? With the hope of finding a more perfect reality? Sometimes, life is stranger than a dream and the only way to wake up is to face what lies hidden in your soul. And you can only hope that in those moments of dark reflection, that you are not alone." - One Tree Hill, Lucas Scott. (quoted from the TV series One Tree Hill Season 4 episode 11.)

After making my decision on what positive change I want to make in my life, I had to decide on the little steps I need to take to get me there.

For Week 2, we were given S$100 in cash to help us work on the little steps that is needed to get us rolling to the right path. This was our Listerine "Road to Change" Fund.

And because MDIS's school of Media & Communication requires students to sit for a TOEFL entrance examination, I decide that I should get books that would prefer me for what to expect for it.

I made my way down to Kinokuniya at Takashimaya to start hunting for the need books. I was asking around for directions on where I could look for TOEFL related books or papers because the place was way too big for me to slowly find it on me own.

After two hours of deciding and making of phones calls to friends for advice on which would be a better book to get, I finally decided on this two books....

Cracking the TOEFL iBT by The Princeton Review - It comes with a Full-length simulated TOEFL iBT with accompanying audio sections on an MP3 CD, strategies and practice drills for speaking, listening, reading and writing sections which would really come in handy to get myself prepared.

McGraw-Hill's 400 MUST-HAVE WORDS for the TOEFL - With 400 words in key categories, including food, computers, society history, finance, politics, friendship etc..There's also lots of activisties and exercises that comes with this book too. Easy to carry to bring along with me, so I could still study when I'm not at home.

The total damage! S$88.76 and with S$11.25 to spare! Now to make this books worth the money spent.

This week's Bloggers Dare we were also asked to get at least one friend who has not tried Listerine before to try it with us, and my dearest friend Audi was the only one I knew who hasn't try it.

I decided to ask him to drop by my place and got him to give it a go while I take a video of his reaction and expression during his first time trying Listerine Total Care.

That Substitute Boother

2010-09-21T04:56:00.000+08:00

At first I was figuring out what should I label this entry as? Photography? Style me up? or both? Honestly speaking I think it's a little of both no? Why label under Photography? well it is a picture that was taken with a camera even though it's not all Artsy but it's part of Dailybooth so that's got to count. Style me up cos I took time to style my hair up.

Dailybooth has been a big part in my life. Not only do I get to see pictures of eye candies, I always make new friends and friends who have become like a family to me. Friends who's willing to let you Booth for them when they are busy or away. The picture you see is the picture I used for Jake Asher's Booth, the thing about Dailybooth it isn't just a place for people to show their pretty faces, it's a place where bonds of friendship are made, sometimes if you're lucky you might find your other half there.

Anyhow, I used Gatsby Moving Rubber Power Spikes to get this hairdo done. It's usually best to wax your hair up when it's completely dry.

The chair, the lights and my set of little whites

2010-09-17T19:50:00.007+08:00

"When was the last time I stepped into a dental clinic", I asked myself as I made my way to Q&M Dental Surgery at Novena Square.

This is an account of my visit to the dentist after two years. The last time I remember sitting on a dental chair with that same orange light beaming in my face, I was in a rush to head out and was only there because I wanted my set of little whites to look good for an event I was attending the day after.

As I made my way into the dental clinic, I was greeted with a nice warm smile by Linda Wong, filled out an application form about my particulars and waited before I was called into the doctor's room.

Even though I was late for my appointment, Linda was very patient with me when she was asking about my medical history as I was trying to remember if there were any medical problems I have that were worth mentioning.

The doctor was finally ready to see me, as I entered the doctor's room I noticed that everything is pretty much the same in every dentist room, one dental chair, counter with drawers a rolling stood for the doc and a nurse to aid the doctor.

Dr. Ng Cheng Huat was the one who was attending to me, we had a few small talks about my last visit to the dentist and about my medical history before going into detail about what he was about to do.

He was going to be checking on my gums if there's any sign of gingivitis, which is GUM problems or infection the signs to look out for are :
-Red gum
-Swollen gum
-Gum bleed easily
-Tender gum

It was my first experience on how one checks for gingivitis infection, and I must say it was a rather painful first time. Dr. Ng had to slowly press against my gums when checking for signs of gingivitis, and I think I'm just not use to that feeling, but I learned that 59.4% of my gums are infected with gingivitis but assured me that it's reversible through good oral care habits.

Dr. Ng later then handed me a bag from Listerine, with the needed essential to help aid me in improving my oral health.

The first item in the bag is a toothbrush, it's best to pick a toothbrush which is ultra soft/soft, like the one I got in the bag, because a lot of people tend to brush really hard, so this is to assure gentle cleaning without irritating unhealthy tissue.

Next item that was in the bag was a dental floss, it's helped to scraped the sides of the teeth, which is usually one of the hard areas to reach when using a toothbrush, so this is where the dental floss comes in.

The third item in the bag was a Listerine Total Care, antibacterial mouthwash. Mouthwash or some people call it mouth rinse are used to help enhance/improve one's oral health.

This might sound really silly, but I asked Dr. Ng if there's any particular way I should use the three different items that was given to me in the bag, and how often should I use the floss and mouthwash, because I can get pretty lazy when I'm really tired and end up just brushing my teeth instead of doing the whole other two process.

Dr. Ng came closer and said that it's best that I do the whole process if I want to attaint good oral health, and also for my gums to recover from gingivitis. He decided to go into detail on how should I go about using the given items with three simple steps!

Make sure you get/use a soft toothbrush. Because there are normally three different types of toothbrush Soft/Medium/Hard. It's recommended to brush at least two times a day. When brushing, brush gently and slowly for about 2-3 minutes so as to effectively clean your teeth.

Flossing, not many people find it a need to floss, but flossing helps clear off particles that are stuck in between the teeth and near the gum areas. It's recommended to at least floss once a day.

Using of Listerine Total Care, antibacterial mouthwash, which helps to kill germs, reduce plaque, protect healthy gums, freshen breath up to 24 hours. To be rinse with at least twice a day after brushing and flossing. It's stated on Listerine Total Care for best results, rinse with Listerine 20ml undiluted twice a day for 30 seconds and then expel the liquid. Do not swallow the rinse! Remember that!

The experience at the dentist with Dr. Ng Cheng Huat was truthfully an enlightening experience. Never would I thought that flossing and using of a mouthwash would help so much in one's oral health, but of cos a visit to the dentist at least two times every year is important too.

"Never take oral health too lightly, because you will never know what's going on inside your mouth before it's too late"

Status Update : I have been following the whole process for 4 days now, and I can already feel the difference in my mouth. My teeth used to have really bad tea stains, but after keeping up with the oral health habit, I don't seem to face the same problem. And my gums don't bleed as much this time round too.

I'm sure you guys are wondering what are the 6 in 1 benefits that Listerine Total Care has to offer. Well here's someone who is more then excited to share with you guys about it...

Listerine Total Care Mouthwash with 6 in 1 benefits.

The 4 Essential Oils: Menthol, Thymol, Methyl Salicylate and Eucalyptol - This 4 Essential Oils helps:
- Kill germs
- Reduce Plaque
- Protect Healthy gums
- Freshen breath up to 24 hours.

Zinc Chloride - Prevent tartar build up to keep teeth naturally white.

Sodium Fluoride - Strengthen teeth against cavities.

For more information about Listerine Total Care visit :
http://www.listerine.com.sg
http://www.listerine.com
http://www.thisisyourmouth.com

Now I would love if you peeps would VOTE for me by clicking on the Blogger's Badge on the left. (it will take you to the mircosite)
And don't forget to leave a COMMENT here while you're at it.
(Note: Each reader can vote once a day, so do vote for me daily ya?!)

You can also help me by REPOSTING This blog entry link on Facebook, Twitter (if you are tweeting add this to your tweet! #listerineTC) or on you Blog too! I get points for that! Do let me know by tweeting (@sidneyreuben) if you have done the above so I can thank you guys!

And if you leave a comment of more then 20 characters, I get points for that too!

But before that, CLICK HERE to read my little disclaimer about my LISTERINE® Bloggers Dare and what is this all about. (if you haven't already)

Daddy, what's a wildfire?

2010-09-16T07:57:00.000+08:00

Thanks to the darlings at HTC and The Right Spin, I got to play around with the baby of all HTC smartphones, the HTC Wildfire!

I know I was complaining about how I wasn't used to touch screen smartphone but now I think I miss playing with the HTC Wildfire.

The HTC Wildfire runs on Android 2.1 with a 3.2 inch capacitive touch screen with I must say a pinch-to-zoom capability LCD touchscreen (Resolution: 240 x 320 QVGA)

The body of the HTC Wildfire was build for people like me, who likes something small, and goes well with anything I hold in my hand. It's real light, weighting at 118 grams with the battery of cos. And I feel really comfortable texting on the HTC Wildfire.

I know I know it sounds all too amazing to be true but trust me, I held one and it's so true. Anyway instead of boring you with the blah blah blahs, I am going to point out to you my favorite key features of the smartphone.

This is one of the coolest SMS widget I have seen by far! I love the fact I can view my text messages on the main window, so I don't have to go in a different inner section of the phone just to view my text messages.

I like how I can easily flip to different messages send by my friends and it not only has their name but their picture attached to it too. And yes of cos you can press a button that will bring up another window for you to reply to your text message.

I was so in love with this function/widget that came with HTC Wildfire. It's something that I think every blogger, not only the foodies or the travel bloggers but every blogger should have on their smartphone. The "Footprints" program, it's like a diary that records the places you have visited!

This program will record your location via GPRS and you can snap a picture of how you want to remember the place, add a name to it and "ta da" you have your favorite location stored away in your phone, and if you ever need to introduce a place to someone you can just take out your phone and share it with your friends and family.

Don't you find it annoying that you have to open different social media programs just to be up to date with what's going on? Because if you don't I do! And with Friend Stream it made my life a lot easier because I can not only check twitter, facebook and flickr updates under one screen, I can also share a piece of my mind or shout out what I have to say and it will connect to all the 3 platforms, how cool is that!?

No more flooding of text messages from the same friend coming in one by one on a different view. For HTC Wildfire, it's all Threaded View now baby. It's a lot easier to refer back to older messages and looks a lot more organize. And I am totally loving the interface for it too, it looks just like an instant messenger with the whole display picture and all going on there.

If you're wondering, the HTC Wildfire does come in four different colours, Red, White, Black and Silver. And I would so love to get myself the White HTC Wildfire, it would go well with every IT garget I have.

Thanks again you guys from HTC and The Right Spin for giving me to opportunity to try out the HTC Wildfire.

My September Crush : Audi Khalid

2010-09-01T07:04:00.001+08:00

My crush for JGL is long over but that doesn't mean I don't find him cute, it's just that I recently found someone more realistic to look up to.

Black leather jacket from Zara with Jeans, plain t-shirt, and a cigarette in one hand. I was at PLAY with my friends when I first saw him.

A photographer and skillful videographer who has worked along side with bloggers like Jayden Tan and Benjamin Toh, has really made a name for himself in the local media scene. I first knew about him when Jayden and him directed and took part in the Nuffnang Pringles Its Krrunch Time, Get Playful! video competition.

Audi Khalid who's a pretty down to earth kind of guy, is married to his work and camera, was recently casted in Singapore's local film "Haunted Changi" which opens in cinemas (Golden Village, Cathay, Eng Wah and Filmgarde) this Thursday 2nd September 2010.

After two whole weeks of hanging out with Audi, I have learned a lot from him about life. At only 22 years old, he sure has a lot going for him and I'm amazed with how is able to juggle his work, play and social life without going bonkers.

You might think he's all tough and manly, but this good looker has a soft spot for classical music and anything John Lennon. He has made me hook onto listening to Whisperings:Solo Piano Radio and it has been my source for motivation ever since.

Don't be fooled when he tells you that you're insane to follow him on twitter, because at times the things he shares can be rather inspirational. Follow him on twitter - @audikhalid

(Disclaimer : Image taken from http://www.facebook.com/audikhalid)

My little disclaimer : LISTERINE® Bloggers Dare

2010-08-27T04:17:00.054+08:00

Hi to all my dearest readers, this entry is to inform you guys that I'm will be taking part in a competition kind of thing, known as the LISTERINE® Bloggers Dare.

It's a 6 weeks challenge and each week, I will be putting up a blog post to share my experience and the little steps I take to help improve my oral health and how the little things you do in life can make a big difference in the long run.

I will be competing with 5 other bloggers in this challenge. There will be two rewards given to the blogger who garners the most points and votes. One would be during the challenges in week three and week four and another at the end of the sixth week to the blogger who accumulates the most points and votes during the six weeks of the campaign.

The winning blogger will receive prizes in forms of vouchers or products to help to achieve the desired positive change in one's self.

Prizes is not exchangeable for cash.

I will promise that during this challenge, I will give each blog entry my all. I don't want you guys to vote for me because you feel like you need to, but because you know I have put in the effort and you like what you see.

Here's how you guys can help me stand a better chance for a better change in life (you will find out in my week 2 blog entry on whats the change I want in life if I win.) :

Firstly you can re-post a partial or full re-post of any content (Pictures/Videos) from my blog entires regarding Listerine's Bloggers Dare on any social media platform (Facebook/Dailybooth/YouTube/Blog) - This is worth 5 points

If you post it on Facebook/Dailybooth/YouTube/Blog you can tweet @sidneyreuben or email at sidneyreuben@gmail.com with the links and I can thank you guys properly and take a screenshot as proof.

If you wanna tweet it? Add this Hash Tag - #listerineTC and this link so that they can track it. (http://bit.ly/dxst7Z ) - This is considered 1 point

Secondly you can leave a comment on any of the Listerine Bloggers Dare entries with more then 20 characters. - I will get 2 points for this.

Thirdly, by clicking the BIG Purple Badge that says "Listerine Total Care Bloggers Dare for Better Oral Health Click Here" - That will give me 1 point.

Lastly to VOTE for me, visit the microsite or you can click on the Blogger's Badge below. (Each reader can Vote once a day, so if you have the time vote for me daily okay?!)

You can navigate to search for all entries regarding the LISTERINE® Bloggers Dare, by clicking the label "Blogger's Dare" under "His Directory" on the side menu on your right.

Six Week Dare Entries
- Week 1 : The chair, the lights and my set of little whites
- Week 2 : Little steps, Big changes

Smartphones that speaks fashion

2010-08-18T19:28:00.001+08:00

Lately, there seems to be an increase number of people using smartphones. The Blackberry Bold and iPhones 3Gs is currently the more commonly used smartphone here, or so what I have notice while walking around town, train rides or at media events.

Majority of the gay men in Singapore are APPLE lovers (I don't know about the straight men but you guys have enough coverage in this world), which pretty much makes it pretty pointless for me to talk about men and smartphone fashion. Well for the ladies on the other-hand, sure know how to work their look. Maybe it's because of movies like "Sex and the City" where the different characters with different style carries different kinds of smartphones.

Take Carrie Bradshaw for example, she's a writer, published books, loves her Manolo Blahnik, don't really agree all of her dress but still love her and her style, a woman who believes that love exist and she's a Blackberry Bold 9000 user.

While Samantha Jones is an independent business women, with a career in public relations and the ability to get almost any guy she wants, uses an iPhone 3Gs to keep her in check of what's hot and what's not in her line of business.

And it seems that this two leading ladies from the big screen has made an impact on Singapore's working ladies and smartphone fashion. But the question today is, which has a better look?!

Well I took this opportunity to have a look for myself to see which has a better fashion appeal. With the help of my friend Yiqin (@qinatthedisco) as the model, a Bally Messenger Leather Bag, a Louis Vuitton Damier Canvas Leather wallet and the two different smartphones (Blackberry Bold and iPhone 3Gs).

First up, The Blackberry Bold 9000

I might be biases here because I'm a Blackberry Bold user myself, but I feel that the Blackberry bold has this classy feeling to it, where it gives the user a sophisticated look when carrying it. I believe the qwerty keypad on the Blackberry Bold is a nice touch to the design of the phone and in my opinion it goes pretty well with the Louis Vuitton Damier Canvas leather wallet.

When you talk about confidence, I believe that the Blackberry Bold gives that image of confidence to one's fashion appearance.

Next we have, The iPhone 3Gs

I know that there are like a billion and one designs/covers/cases/skins and what not for the iPhone 3Gs but we are here to see what the iPhone 3Gs has to offer by itself without all those sparkling accessories. For me the little details are everything that makes something appealing, I mean sure the iPhone 3Gs has all sorts of applications, an awesome user interface, but it's a little plain without all that "smartphone makeover" don't you think? Maybe what the iPhone 3Gs can give is that look of fun to a person's appearance.

I most certainly can't picture the iPhone 3Gs to match anything and look good without its layer of masking and shells.

Well with all that said, I did love to hear a different opinion, and if possible a picture to go with it.

Disclaimer: credit goes to http://old.boxwish.com/ and http://tvrecappersanonymous.wordpress.com/ for the pictures of Carrie Bradshaw and Samantha Jones. Other pictures found in this entry were photographed by me.

Oh darling, your skin will never lie.

2010-08-13T17:05:00.002+08:00

Hello my dearest readers,

On the 12th July 2010, I was invited to witness Japan's best kept beauty secret which was Dr. Ci:Labo.

Yes that's the name of the product and was founded in 1998 by Yoshinori Shirono, a medical doctor who specialist in cosmetology. To be honest, that's my first time hearing of such a term, but it just means that he deals with cosmetic treatment of the skin, hair and nails.

Well Mister Yoshinori Shirono's objective was, and I quote "Bringing relief to everyone who suffers from problem skin" and "finding out what true skincare is".

Through his clinical treatment data of over 20,000 cases, with more than 3,000 monitoring efforts for advancement, he arrived at a conclusion for an ideal product :

- To remove elements that strain the skin and focus solely on aministering the essential nourishment

- To enhance the natural healing abilities of the skin, restoring its inherent firmness and lustre

Sounds very promising doesn't it? Well I was about to find out when I was at the event , Ryoko Tada introduced and explained the different products that Dr. Ci:Labo has to offer. If you guys had follow me on twitter or subscribed to my YouTube channel, you would have known that I was given a skincare package from Dr. Ci:Labo to take home and try it for 30 days.

So I made a video introducing the different facial product that was given to me to try out, and also interviewed two people asking them about their opinion on facial appearances.

My 30 days are now up and it's time for the verdict. I started using Dr. Ci:Labo on the 13th July 2010 and my 30th day was two days ago. I will be introducing the use of the product and share my take on it during the 30 days duration.

Before I continue, I would to thank Pat Law (@patlaw) for inviting me, and the people from Dr. Ci:Labo for giving me this opportunity. Thank you.

The Super Washing Foam EX

The Super washing foam EX is one of the basic series from Dr. Ci:Labo.

It has micro-rich bubbles which gently remove dirt and oils from your skin. Plant-derived cleansers in the form of minute, highly dense bubbles envelope and lift away the dead skin and the dirt inside pores which cause rough, dull skin.

Three major moisturizing ingredients and five vitamins for healthy skin. Super washing Foam EX is the first face-wash in Japan to include a combination of three major moisturizing ingredients (marine collagen, hyaluronan, ceramide) good for helping keep your face moist and vibrant after washing. Five kinds of vitamins (H, P, E B6, and C) are also combined into a vitamin complex, making a gentle cleanser on delicate skin that leaves you with trouble-free, healthy skin.

A reduced burden on your skin. Super Washing Foam EX contains no perfumes, no coloring and no mineral oils. A combination of amino acids which are gentle on your skin is used.

Okay I have to be honest here, for a guy I have change at least 5 different brands of facial wash because of my picky skin. It's either my skin end up feeling really dry like it's cracking, or I get really bad rash from it. But 30 days of washing with the Super Washing Foam EX, my face seem to be rather comfortable with it and I love the tingly feeling of freshness after washing if off my face.

If you're wondering, if you have really sensitive skin, they have a different washing foam just for Super Sensitive skin types so don't you worry a thing, they got it all covered.

Aqua-in-Derm DN-Essence

Most skincare products in the market fail to penetrate the skin when applied on the exterior. However, through breaking the barrier that prevents the product from working its magic within the skin, the full potential of the product can be attained.

Dr. Ci:labo's Aqua-in-Derm DN-Essence is the solution, facilitating the osmosis process that aids absorption. It comprises of "Ultra-Pure Water" that is free from all impurities, which maximizes the effectiveness of skincare products. Combined with the "e-Moment System", a process where positive and negative ions are created, causes "repelling" and "drawing" forces to form a route for the diffusion of ingredients.

The "In-Derm Force System" further loosens and softens dead skin to temporarily relax the skin to prepare for the osmosis process. It involves four types of original complex - lactic-acid bacillus, grape juice fermentation fluid, lysolecithin and terahydropiperine that works on the keratin layer to protect the skin from external stimulation, allowing for easy penetration.

Pardon the awful picture of myself, but yes I couldn't believe at first that there was such a product to help your skin absorb whatever skincare you apply on next faster. They did a test on the day itself, where they apply on one hand with the Aqua-in-Derm DN-Essence and one without, and apply a drop of liquid formula on both hands to see which one was to absorb faster. And of cos, the one with the application of the Aqua-in-Derm DN-Essence absorb everything while the one without was still wobbling on the back of my hand.

I did say it's something worth getting and you won't regret getting it after you have tried it on yourself, I don't know if it applies to the rest of the people who uses facial products daily but I put a lot of things on my face to maintain my youthful appearance and flawless skin, and the Aqua-in-Derm DN-Essence not only helps me skin adsorb better but also helps speed up the process when applying which facial products.

Super White 377

With age come dark spots, which increases in number and get darker and larger over time. When the skin is affected by environmental irritants as well as internal factors such as aging and hormonal changes, the tyrosinase enzyme produced in melanocytes in activated, which causes dark spots. Simply put, dark spots occur when melanin pigment cannot be eliminated with the shedding of dead skin cells in the normal turnover cycle due to excessive production and build up in the epidermis.

To combat this problem, Dr. Ci:Labo created Super White 377, Japan's first serum formulated with "White 377", a new brightening agent. Proving 2,100 times the effectiveness of hydroquinone, a whitening product prescribed by cosmetic dermatologists, to inhibit tyrosinase activity, it barely irritates the skin.

Each ingredient included in the Super White 377 serves an individual purpose to wage a relentless right against the challenges of dark spots and dull skin:

White 377 (polyphenol)
- Anti-oxidant
- Inhibit tyrosinase activity

Resveratrol (French grape exract)
- Anti-oxidant
- Anti-aging
- Anti-inflammatory

Pycnogenol (French maritime pine tree extract)
- Anti-oxidant
- Promote collagen production
- Suppress collagenase and tyrosinase activity

Astaxanthin
- Anti-oxidant
- Suppress melanin production
- Increase resilience and elasticity

Vitamin Force
- Condition the skin

Complex of Vitamin K mimics
-Promote blood circulation

Glucosyl Hesperidin (Vitamin P)
- Anti-inflammatory
- Whitening

Ok, okay, I know that was a lot to read but it's really good information about the product no? I mean I am sure you would want to know what you will be putting on your face. Anyway, Ryoko Tada did a skin analysis for me and said that my skin is flawless and I don't really have to use the Super White 377. I end up giving it to my mom to try and she says that she notice that there's a difference, or that's what she claims, but who know's she might be pulling my leg right? then I noticed it, my suddenly seem to have a lot more confidence about her looks and smiles a lot more. For those who met my mom in before knows how grumpy and fierce she is, so those people can be my witness if they ever see my mom now. Yes one's facial appearance can affect one's mood.

Aqua Collagen Gel Super Moisture

"So what is it that my skin need needs to be beautiful", you would often ask.

The answer is MOISTURE. It is the most vital factor to achieving healthy and flawless skin. If the moisture level of the skin is maintained, an appropriate amount of sebum will secrete naturally, thus eliminating problems of oily or dry skin. Given ideal conditions, the skin has the ability to heal itself.

Thus, Dr. Ci:Labo formulated a 5-in-1 product, Aqua Collagen Gel, that accomplishes just that.

Based on Japanese state-of-the-art medicine, the Aqua Collagen Gel combines the effectiveness of five products - toner, milky lotion, essence, whitening essence and makeup base. Its naturally derived gel combined with organic ingredients serves to moisturise the skin for an extended period of time through sealing moisture in the gel membrane.

The effects of the ingredients:

- Natural Gel - Absorb and retain large amounts of water
- Micro Ocean Collagen - Penetrate the skin to provide moisture and promotes firmness
- Amber Ocean extracted from seaweed - Preserve the skin's elasticity
- 19 Amino Acids that is found in our body - Increases the skin's ability to retain moisture

With just a single application, your daily skincare regime is completed.

This is one of my favorite product from the whole package! Never have I felt so good after applying moisturer on my face. Usually ends up feeling all sticky and takes awhile to adsorb into the face, but with the Aqua Collagen Gel Super Moisture, I don't face that problem anymore! This is a MUST HAVE for all you narcissistic people out there (including myself of cos).

That wraps up all the difference products used during the 30 days duration. I do hope you guys find the information and my review for each product useful, and do feel free to ask my anything about the product or how it has helped my skin by leaving a comment below.

By leaving a comment, you guys are also helping me to stand a chance to win myself 1 year supply of Dr. Ci:Labo products. So be darling for me and ask me something will ya?

Love
Siddy xoxo

My SINGFEST 2010 Experience

2010-08-11T07:26:00.002+08:00

To think it was just going to be an ordinary thursday evening with my bag of chips while watching cartoons on Cartoon Network. But I got a text message from Benjamin Tan (@benvoda) and he asked if I would like to attend SINGFEST 2010 with him, and before replying his text message I was jumping everywhere, I mean everywhere in my room.

With all that excitement I replied with a big "YES" and thank him for asking me along. I have never attend a concert like SINGFEST before, nothing of that scale where you enjoy long hours of non-stop performance from different bands on stage, oh yes it was going to be a first for me.

It's the 5th of August 2010, and SINGFEST 2010 was held at Fort Canning Park. And I had the ever so sweet Benjamin Tan by my side while we wait for the performance to start. But before we actually got to the place, we received a phone call from the people at SINGFEST, informing us that we will be having a Meet and Greet session with "The Vines!!!" My favorite all time track from them was "Ride" and I still have it on my iTunes!

While waiting for our Meet and Greet session with "The Vines", we were entertain by our very own local band "The Great Spy Experiment". For someone who enjoy the local music scene, I'm ashamed to say that I have never listen to a track from "The Great Spy Experiment" before, but after their performance at SINGFEST 2010, I have to get my hands on their album!

So the time has finally come for us to meet "The Vines", we got the call and made our way to the backstage area. I was nervous to what I have to do, because I never been to a "meet and greet" session before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Maybe take some pictures and get autographs?

When we were finally inside, they brought us up to the platform, and suddenly I find myself standing right next to the band! I was freaking speechless, I looked puzzled and suddenly I just say that first thing that came into my mind "How do you guys find Singapore so far?" and followed by lots of hand shakes and introduction of ours names to them! They were really friendly and mention about how they were going to hit the casinos after the event.

Now that's all done, I could swore that I was dreaming when I was up on that platform with them, but no it was no dream I SHOOK HANDS WITH THE VINES! Hell yea! that was an experience to remember!

Next up was "Hail the Villain" a band from Canada, and my oh my Bryan Crouch the lead vocalist sure know how to work the crowd! He was so full of energy, or should I say he was BURSTING with energy, interacting with the crowd below, making everyone get up to their feet and jam with the music.

I must say, canadians sure know how to rock a rock concert! Bryan has amazing stage presence, and he has awesome vocals to match that too!

The sun has set, the lights are out and we see flashes right before our eyes. The backstage crew are setting up the stage for the next act.

I know some of you are going to kill me for saying this but I think Fort Canning Park is a rather good location. It has a nice sitting area and a cool breeze every now and then.

Ian Brown, is one funny english guy, doing weird poses as he was singing. His music was rather new and unique to me but I could tell many people around me were really into his music, because when he came on stage, everyone started to get up to their feet and went towards the huge crowd that was staging in front of the stage.

Finally The Vines were up next, after the long wait! I love how Brad Heald looks, and his outfit! I am so going to give that look a try for my next LookBook project! So it's pretty late, and the crowd looks a lot bigger then before, we could hardly make our way to the stage with so many people standing and dancing/jumping to the music.

Okay I am only going to say this once in this entry of mine. Thirty Seconds to Mars were freaking awesome! The rocked the place and Jared Leto's new look is hellishly HOT! It's just upsetting that I wasn't close enough to get a good shot of him.

I never thought in my entire life would I be able to watch Thirty Seconds to Mars perform live! And they perform three of my favorite tracks, "Attack", "Beautiful Lie" and "This is War". You got to love Jared's attitude on stage, the people LOVED him. It was an amazing experience, MIND BLOWING in fact.

Sadly it was getting pretty late, and we couldn't stay for Smashing Pumpkins, but I heard they were awesome on stage, but before we left, I managed to interviewed two people, because I wanted to hear what they have to say about their SINGFEST 2010 experience.

This whole rocking experience was possible because of HTC, so a big thank you to you guys for giving us the opportunity to attend our very first SINGFEST concert!

Well before I finish this off, I would like to share you guys a little something that HTC is doing to help the Society for the Physically Disabled (SPD).

HTC is putting up authographed HTC Wildfire by Katy Perry, Kanye West and Tokio Hotel for auction, and all proceeds from the auction will go to the Society for the Physically Disabled.

For more details check out the image below.

Don't forget you guys got until this coming Friday, 13th August 2010 at 11.59pm. So if you want to be one of the few to own one of the three limited edition HTC Wildfire, send in your bids with the autographed phone of your to htcsingfest@gmail.com

Forgot Something?

2010-08-09T03:38:00.000+08:00

Well don't worry my lovely readers, I'm here to remind you guys, that there's a special giveaway contest at Sparkle Thots (Sugar and Spice, and Everything Nice). Join the "Celebrate the Special moment" contest and stand a chance to take home the exquisitely beautiful "Don't Forget" Ribbon Ring!

Well I never heard of Sparkle Thots until yesterday when I was reading Dorothy Tan's Blog (@DottieTan) about the contest that they were having.

I can't help but be amazed by how such a simple design can look so lovely yet do so much for one's appeal with fashion. This is something that I won't mind wearing, not only would it remind me to "Not forget" but it will also be a way of reminding me about how I should cherish the simple things in life.

Ruth Chan a mother of two is the maker and crafter of Sparkle Thots, and brought us the Ribbon Ring you see in the picture above you. If you share the same sentiments for her works like I do, visit her Etsy Shop and check out the rest of her stuff!

And who says a guy can't love jewelry...

The LookBook Project : Ultraman Zero

2010-08-05T04:15:00.002+08:00

Hello my lovely sweet readers,

Today I'm going to share with you my first ever fashion photo-shoot for my LookBook Project with my Ultraman Zero inspired look.

For those of you crave-dwellers Ultraman Zero is a character from the Ultraman series, he is the son of Ultra Seven who's one of the six Ultra brothers. Ultraman Zero was introduce in the "Mega Monster Battle - Ultra Galaxy Legends" Ultraman series.

I used to be a huge fan of Ultra Seven, but after introducing Ultraman Zero, I had to jump ship and join the Ultraman Zero fan club instead. I love the design of his suit and head-gear especially. And since I can't really get the actual outfit I decided to follow the colour scheme used for his outfit.

Most of the stuff you will see are stuff I already have, apart from the Fred Perry Jacket with I got while shopping around with Welna before the shoot took place, which I thought would really go well with my outfit.

The theme for the shoot was "The Traffic and Me", Traffic can be people walking passed or having cars drive passed as the back drop, or just the traffic light and me.

Would like to give a big thank you to Welna Yeo (@yeowelna) for her time and lovely photography skills, also for being such a sport to join me in such short notice.

With all that said, this is my Ultraman Zero inspired look (Hype it if you think it's cool and I will send you kisses) :

What I'm wearing :
1. MacBook white S$1400
2. Paul Frank Skullcandy Headphones S$110
3. Fred Perry twin Tape Jacket S$169
4. Vol.ta Basic Raglan Tee White S$18
5. Rip Curl Slim cut jeans S$129
6. Nike Sneakers S$119
7. Crumpler Famous Wine Bar S$122

Disclaimer: Ultraman Zero image was taken from (http://www.carigold.com/portal/forums/), all other photographs were taken by Welna Yeo. Location Orchard Road, in between Orchard Cineleisure and Hereen.

Speaking of Orchard road, did you guys know that there was a breeze of street magic during the iPhone 4 launch? Well it's ok if you missed it, because it was all recorded down and uploaded on YouTube (not by me) but yea do check the video out below :

Hello MacBook White

2010-08-02T17:28:00.003+08:00

Hello again my dearest lovelies,

I was looking through my entries and noticed that I didn't introduce Iwamori my MacBook White to you guys. Yes I'm officially a Mac user, and I gave away my PC to my brother, who is more then happy to shift it into his room when I told him about the "good news".

What can I say, I never regretted switching to a Mac, and ever since I got it, I couldn't stop working on it, and I love the idea of being able to carry it around with me where ever I go. And let me warn you, I'm pretty anal about my stuff, so if anyone of you hangs out with me and were to use it, be sure that your hands are clean or be prepared to be yelled at!

And if you guys are wondering, the picture above is my workspace at home, looks a little untidy I know but, It will have to make do for now I guess until I figure out a way to block out all the wires from being seen.

Sorry that this is a short post but I got to get ready for a briefing, so I talk to you ladies and gents soon.

Love
Siddy xoxo

My New Crush : Joseph Gordon-Levitt

2010-07-27T13:23:00.001+08:00

Yes I have finally manage to caught the move Inception on the big screen, and I have to say it was an eye opener, to think that there would be so much depth in one's mind.

Ok, I am not going to talk about the movie, because I am sure there are a lot of better movie reviewers out there who have already said how great the movie is.

My post today is a new topic which was inspired by Euince (@missyeley) who blogs about her crushes, and asked me to share about mine, so here it is.

For those who don't know who Joseph Gordon-Levitt is...STOP HIDING IN CAVES! *clears throat* Well this young man sure knows how to act, with his dashing good looks and lovely facial features, he is my new crush.

I remember saying how cute he was when I first saw him in "(500) days of summer" and I was telling this to a straight friend who thinks he looks "ok" and because of that, I slowly forgot about him, but after watching Inception last night, and when he appeared in the opening scene of it, I was like "gosh he looks awfully familiar", throughout the movie I kept wondering where have I seen him from, and then it hit me halfway through that he was in "(500) days of summer" as Tom Hansen.

There's no denying that he is a brilliant actor, even though he was working along side with Hollywood's biggest star, Leonardo Dicaprio, Mister Joseph Gordon-Levitt still stands out with all that fighting action he gets too, makes him all so sexy.

His eyes are just killer. it's as if he's smiling with his eyes. Melts my heart away.

(Disclaimer Note : A bloody brilliant job whoever photographed the picture above, no it wasn't taken by me duh! But I found it on google. So credits to whoever shot this. )

My Samsung Galaxy S and Super Junior Experience

2010-06-29T17:46:00.000+08:00

Remember my short blog entry about my invitation to Samsung's Galaxy S media conference and the Super Junior showcase? [click here to view]

You remember the lady in the picture below?

She goes by the name of Patricia Law and she's my idol. Not only did she recently start her own company GOODSTUPH, she is also going to be the next big thing in the Social Media industry with her many unique ideas and views of how Social Media is suppose to be. [click here to read the entry I wrote passionately about her]

All thanks to Pat who invited me to the Samsung Galaxy S media conference and Super Junior Showcase where to meet new/old friends, and also get a feel of what Samsung has install for us with their new baby, not forgetting that I was also able to meet the boys from Super Junior! (OMGWTHBBQSAUCE Donghae and Wookie).

Behold the Samsung Galaxy S, said to be the slimmest and ultra-responsive SUPER AMOLED screen for clearest and bright viewing of high definition videos at all angles, even in the sun!

Running on OS Android 2.1, Samsung believes that the Android-powered Galaxy S will set a new standard for smartphones. "The Galaxy S, with its best-of-class technology and features, will appeal to the growing number of Singaporeans who are increasingly connected and demand more from their mobile phones" said Mr Sung-Hyun Moon, Managing Director, Samsung Asia Pte Ltd. "The Galaxy S is the perfect device for people who want that extra edge in both their personal and professional lives.

Has, a 5.0 mega-pixel Camera + VGA Video Telephony Camera, Auto focus, continuous shot, self shot, action shot...the list just goes on. It's just amazing what the Galaxy S has to offer. Other specifications to look forward to is the HD video playing & recording (1280 x 720) up to 30fps! With up to 13hours talktime!

What more can you ask from a smartphone eh?

The launching of the Samsung Galaxy S phone.

Here are the boys from Super Junior!

The long wait has ended, they have finally appeared and I'm all hyper about it that I went a little too trigger happy. [click here for more pictures]

Please click the images for a large view of the picture. The boys were so entertaining even before they perform, We had a Q&A session with them and a preview of what's installed for us at the showcase with one of them dancing for us to their new single.

Wonder who's my favorite Super Junior? Well I have two and they are...

Wookie - He is someone who make me believe that being skinny doesn't mean you cannot look good and dance.

Donghae - Just because he's cute, cute and did I say kawaii?

Next up, the Super Junior Showcase. I remember when I first watched Super Junior perform on YouTube, I was like dang, how I wished I could attend one of their concerts. But I thought to myself, chances that they will pop by Singapore would be rather slim. I was so wrong and Pat made my wish come true! <3 Pat Law! And thanks to her I was able to share this experience with a good friend from work Joel Tan who's also an amazing photographer. [Click here to check out the pictures the both of us took during the showcase]

The crazy fan girls, who screams were so loud that almost made me deaf. Luckily Joel and I manage to move a little further away from the mad screaming girls...

The host for the night. Local TV stars.

OMG. It's Donghae and the boys performing~

Yes more Donghae <3 *grins*

Cake for the birthday boy? Guess which boy!

The boys ended the night with their famous more loved single "Sorry Sorry"

And that's Joel and Me :)

Do check out my other blog entry that was posted today:

Siddy's Thoughts - I share my thoughts and views about my life.

Write the future #EndAIDS

2010-06-25T02:32:00.003+08:00

Remember the brand Product Red? Well let me refresh your memory a little, it's a brand that collaborates with partner companies to help raise money for Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Well this time round Product Red and Nike have got together to help yet again to raise money for the same cause!

You can find out more about it at Pat Law's blog : http://blankanvas.bypatlaw.com/features/write-the-future-end-aids/2010/06/20/

Siddy writes..

2010-06-19T16:58:00.003+08:00

Hello to all my dearest readers,

It has been awhile since I last did a blog entry, and I have still a few more blog post to put up (eg. My full detailed SuJu experience thanks to Pat, My first PC Show Experience thanks to Nadia.) but I have been really hooked on to the whole idea of vlogging. Don't get me wrong, I still love blogging/writing hence this entry.

Recently I have been through a lot of change, change within me. And all this change was because of the stories people shared over the internet, stories and experience of their life for being who they are. They got a lot of feed back and responses from their readers/viewers and was often thank for sharing because it help changed their lives.

I am one person that I feel that because of this people, they changed my life and inspired me, I have different goals in life now and watching/reading their stories makes me feel better about myself and who I really am. That's how making videos came about, I wanted to be connected with my friends/viewers who watch my Vlogs, I want to share with them my life's experience and how I deal with it. It's easier to connect with people when you expressing yourself with actions on a video and being able to speak verbally to your views will give them a better understanding of the whole situation.

I must confess, I'm not very used to making videos and I tend to have a shy sort of tone in my voice when I am addressing to the camera. But I believe with more experience and videos to come it will just come naturally.

Another thing that has been bothering me, is that my videos are viewed by so many people but I don't get much comments or feed backs about it. Which make me ponder sometimes, if vlogging isn't that accepted in Singapore or are my videos just don't cut it that people get bored after watching it for the first 5 seconds?

I can handle critics and advice. I'm willing to learn and improve myself. But I can't if no one bothers to tell me where I went wrong or how well did I do, how if they are enjoying what they see. I think a lot of vloggers, make videos because of the viewers respond too, I mean yes we enjoy making videos be it if anyone watches it or not but it be nice to know that it's being viewed by human beings and not aliens from another planet (aka bots).

I shall end it off here

Don't change for nobody, Be yourself, Be happy
and wish everyone an enjoyable weekend.

Love
Siddy Lim

SuJu is love

2010-06-08T04:32:00.000+08:00

For those of you who don't know this, Pat can be really cute at times! Yes my idol can be cute when she wants to!

Thanks to Pat who invited me to the press conference of the new Samsung Galaxy S, the boys from Super Junior (SuJu) also made an appearance during the conference!

(Clauds and Me: Credits to Clauds for the picture)

Clauds and I waiting for the conference to start, we look like kids! heh

(Credits to Joel Tan for the awesome shot)

Pat also got my friend and I invites to watch the Super Junior Showcase at Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Center!

I never expect I ever get a chance to meet them, and being able to do so just blow my mind away! There still so much I want to say and lots of pictures to share but it's getting really late, so do check back for a much longer post. And expect lots of pictures of Donghae...While looking through the pictures taken Donghae had the most shoots taken...*faints*

Good night peeps!

My Visit To Watami Japanese Restaurant

2010-06-04T05:39:00.003+08:00

Hello everybody! The month of May had been great but lets welcome the month of June! And I did with open arms! And this is what it leads me to...

Thanks to Lionel Kor kor who suggested the place and Jerry kor kor who brought us to the outlet at ION and because of that I tweeted about it to Jing, which was spotted by the people from Watami and was invited to a food tasting session! Yippee!

When I got there, I was given a few list of sets to picked from, and I must say it was hard to choose because I couldn't decide which I wanted more!

I finally decided to go for Set 7 because it had most of my favorite dishes.

Oh before I go on, they have pretty lights! *grins*

Our first dish Mentai Cheese Baked Potato - S$6.80
A mix of cheese, potato and bacon with broccoli. Every little kid's favorite food. I loved the overall taste but felt it was a little dry. I must say the greens does add a nice touch to its presentation.

Second dish Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Tempura - S$7.80
I did like to first state, I'm not a huge fan of tempura because I always feel its way too oily. So I won't totally say it would be fair if I were to comment on it's taste because it has been at least 5 years since I last had one til now. But I managed to finish most of it, so I guess it was rather tasteful.

Third dish Beef Gukbap - S$8.80
This was one of my favorite, it was rice mixed with beef, some spices in a hot bowl of soup. The smell itself was alluring, we had to scoop it up to a smaller bowl and after my first bowl I had to have more! A must try if you guys ever get the chance to go down. The portion is enough for about two-three people, very filling if you have it together with the Mentai Cheese Baked Potato.

Fourth dish Salmon Splendor - S$14.80
No explanation needed, if your salmons are fresh you won't have to worry if it would taste bad. Not much for presentation, pretty simple but the fresh salmon made up for the lack of a better presentation I say. *nods*

Credits goes to Hisham for helping out with the nicely taken pictures. If you're interested in getting to know who he is and what he do? Follow him on twitter : http://www.twitter.com/mhisham

Firth dish Unagi Nama Harumaki - S$7.80
Okay, I always say there's a first for everything and my gosh after my first bite on one of this kawaii looking food, I fell in love with it! I never really like unagi but if they are going to taste like this everytime, I am going to have unagi everytime I come to Watami for meals. I like the presentation for this, at first from a far I thought it kinda look like what you might see in a Japanese kid's lunch box. Something you must try if you drop by the restaurant.

And finally our desert Warabi Mochi with Black Sesame Soy Beans - S$2.80
This was also another first for me, the taste wasn't too strong neither was it too filling, it was a good way to end our meal something light towards the end.

So thank you Watami and Fitria for the awesome invite to your food tasting session at your outlet at "The Central".

Visit Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant (Central)

6 Eu Tong Sen Street, The Central

#03-82/83/85/102/108/109

Singapore 059817

Shirei makes another appearance

2010-05-19T00:25:00.001+08:00

I caught Shirei listening to "SNSD - Run Devil Run" instead of sleeping! "Bad boy Shirei!" Dwarf hamsters this days, getting from bad to worst. First he tries to destroy his "Skywheel", and now he don't even want to sleep because he wants to enjoy SNSD's music. *face palm*

And what's with that "wink"? Who is he winking at? Sunny? I knew it you like Sunny from SNSD! I blame Joel Tan for getting Shirei all in love with a korean singer....

Anyways apart from Shirei, my 2nd video is up on YouTube! Do check it out and don't forget to vote! Thanks.
Link here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPVfmid5rio

The end of my nightmares

2010-05-15T02:14:00.001+08:00

The passed few nights have been rather dreadful, because of my problem with having a good night rest. And yes I did mention about wanting to pay to good doctor a visit, but I have been holding it out because I wanted to figure what was the cause of it, which I finally did last night.

The solution to my sleepless nights. The Salt Crystal Lamp, used to be placed in my room for the passed 2 years for my hamsters to help neutralize the air for them to breathe better. I moved to the living room because I thought that it be better there for everyone and that it could be also use as a night lamp.

That is when I started having troubles sleeping, which only occur to me last night after placing it back in my room. I had a good night sleep and woke up feeling so much fresher.

How Do Rock Salt Lamps Work?

The heat from a lighted salt lamp attracts moisture. The evaporation of water through salt emits negative ions. How many negative ions a salt lamp or salt candle holder can release depends on its size and how warm a match-lit candle or electric light bulb makes it. A night-light sized salt lamp would be effective for an office cubicle. Naturally, the larger an area means a larger lamp is needed so that more more negative ions will be emitted.(taken from http://healing.about.com/od/saltrocks/a/salt-lamps.htm)

And guess who else is enjoying this little wonder...

It's non other then Shirei the White-Face Roborovski. Poor Shirei he must have been suffering like how I have been suffering without having the Salt Crystal Lamp around. I promise never ever to move it again! <3

My New Addiction

2010-05-13T22:27:00.004+08:00

Lately I have been pretty bored when I'm at home. After deciding to take a break from Everquest 2, I somewhat found my daily lifestyle rather empty, apart from listening to my mum talking to Shana my brother's Syrian (she plays the peek-a-boo game with Shana) or watching replays of "Friends" on DvD.

I had happened to come across one of my brother's Playstation 3 game "Naruto Ultimate Ninja STORM" and it caught my eye. I have been an avid fan ever of both the anime and manga series, so to be given the pleasure to submerge myself in the gaming franchise of the series basically set me high on fire.

I totally adore how the graphics of the game is in tune to it's anime counterpart. While playing as Naruto, I feel as though I'm living the game with the Leaf Village layout, intrinsically brought to life as it brought back the old memories and feelings I had when I was watching the anime.

As the story goes, there are multiple missions for you to embark, some of which are relevant to the actual storyline. Check out my Playtime, 15hours in one night! I'm aiming for 20hours to complete an S-Rank mission scroll.

Within 15hours, I have completed 41% of the missions given to me. I wonder if that's a lot, because when I asked my brother how long it took him otherwise, he said 20 hours of game play, which means I still have 5 hours to grind away for the other 59%! That's really a strain!

There's a VS. system too, where you can fight against an A.I or get a friend to battle with you. The storyline of the game follows up till the part where you have to chase down Sasuke Uchiha, so the characters you get to choose are limited within that arc.

After confirming your main character, you can choose up to two different support characters to aid you in battle. One of my favorite support characters would be Anko, I just wish she had more screen time in the anime.

Once you're done with your selection, you can customize which ninjutsu and ultimate jutsu to use in combat. for certain jutsu you would have to complete missions to unlock it or purchase it with the money you have earned in-game.

The Jutsu that you perform while in combat is faithfully similar to what you see in the anime, you get to throw shurikens, papers bombs and do summoning jutsu (Kakashi gets to summon his Nin-dogs).

That aside, there is also a collection mode (something like a side quest) for you to complete, you need to purchase certain figurines and jutsu movies plus the music to complete a diorama set. This will enable you to access famous cutscenes from the anime.

Right now, I am wondering if I should organize a Naruto Ultimate Ninja battle smackdown at my place. It should be helluva thrill to gather the Naruto fans together and kickstart this party!

Game Genre : Beat em' up

Rating : 3.5/5 In my opinion, it has good game replay value and it something that you can bring out and play when you have friends coming over.

Look out for the part 2 of Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 coming out soon, you can watch the trailer here.

In A Nutshell

2010-05-12T03:23:00.002+08:00

Hello my dear readers, sorry for the long absence. I have been busy with finding a job, since school won't start til July. But of cos I did a few changes to my blog, if you noticed, I have labeled my entries and categorize them. In this entry I will explain in detail what the different category means. (its going to be a tad wordy)

Blog Category: Spoiled for Choice

Abstract: To combat the numerous varieties one can offer via reviews of sub categories which consists of majorly entertainment, fashion, music, hobbies and interests alike. Life has so many to offer, you don't remain at a particular favourite forever and move on whenever something else catches your eye, indeed, we're spoiled for choice.

Example:

i) Explaining the demographics of fashion, how fashion actually challenge our mathematical knowledge of permutations and combinations.
ii) Subjective review about a title which separates itself distinctly between the novel and the movie, note the observations and the possibly unnecessary spices the movie may add to thrill the what might be mundane of a scene from the novel, aimed widely more towards the individuals with less than vivid attention spans.

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Blog Category: Set & Go!

Abstract: A simple yet an understatement for describing the context and essence of contests, bridging the link between self, host and participants. Of course, while dateline isn't always the main priority, one would like to entice people with infectious enthusiasm. Certainly another way of putting "what drives you?", compelling the participant or self to join a contest, despite the prizes may not be of an incentive. Purely a vote can also garner anticipation and massive participation, learning everyone's choices and the eventual result. Let's get set, and go!

Example:

i) My own contest entries
ii) My own contests (doesn't always require a prize)
iii) Free n' Easy polling

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Blog Category: The Fanboy

Abstract: Pretty much self explanatory here, simply the understatement. To glorify the favourite artistes, singers, actors/actresses, entertainers~

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Blog Category: The World Blueprint

Abstract: For those that trek over the world, we may want to record, certify and share our journeys. Each country has it's own culture and history to tell us a story, whether can we learn from it or simply to enjoy it's riches. Drafting a "blueprint" is ideal as we get to relate and mark our own life journeys along the way as well.

Example:

Visiting a country, exploring it's culture, lots of pictures, hotspots, souvenirs - the works. Soak up the style, kick back and relax, or pick a lesson or two from my journey, relate to back home - of course, remember to say farewell when I leave for home eventually.

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Blog Category: Uptown Jive

Abstract: Oh exciting night & social parties, jazz and rev with it up with all the high profile VIPs...let yourself loose and dance on to the thrilling sights and sounds of the sophisticated city skyline.

Example: Well, self explanatory, as long I keep getting invitation, this category lives. (*grins*)

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Blog Category: Foodtography

Abstract: Its anything related to Food places that I have visited and taste good.

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Blog Category: Photography

Abstract: Pictures that I randomly take on a random time and day, when I share my feelings towards the taken image.

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Blog Category: Hamsters

Abstract: Everything and anything about my hamsters.

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Blog Category: Sidtique

Abstract: Its my very own word for critique. And under this category I have entries about everything else that does go with the rest of the above category.

Well there you have it. So in future you can just refer to the navigation menu on your right and look for the sub-header "His Directory" to find what you need.

Sleepless Nights

2010-05-01T04:36:00.000+08:00

It has been pretty bad, I would be awake for hours til the sun comes up. At times I would try to count sheep and I always end up having images of this sheep fighting with me in my mind then suddenly I have this ability to control the wind element and just blow them away.

Yes I know the first thing that also came into my mind was, I watched way too much TV shows and Movies. Friends said I should see a doctor about it, but I never like seeing a doctor because that means my parents would find out about it and I hate it when they do. First they would grumble about how weak I am then how its a waste of money. I just hope I could fix this myself without the need of a doctor, and I did try Nick Pan's suggestion to just close my eyes and imagine the whole screen-saver deal, but I would end up having images of Freddy from Nightmare of Elm Street (Because I recently saw the trailer and it scares me).

Instead of fighting my mind to sleep, I found out that I actually have a good view out of my window, I get to watch the moon while laying down my bed. To be honest it's a pretty side, everything's so quiet and peaceful.

Oh well, hope I can get some sleep before I meet up with Amanda later in the morning. Off to bed now *waves*

Who's the boy behind that computer screen part 3

2010-04-29T22:31:00.002+08:00

I always have this habit of dragging my friends to a nearby photo sticker machine also known as Purikura to take pictures together, without delay, complaints and unrelenting whines will be brought up about how they would rather spend the money on something else. So I would have to resort saying that I would pay for it if they would pay for my drink later (being a student back then I don't get much pocket money).

I love keeping my photo stickers in a tin box, every now and then I would take it all out and once again immerse myself into the memories gone by, the people I've met. Unforgettable memories...

This shot was first taken while I was studying at YMCA doing my O levels, she was the first girl I ever laid eyes to (I had 'girlfriends' before that, but I considered them puppy love). We weren't in the same class but I chanced upon a meeting when the school's band was looking for a back-up singer for me, in which she volunteered. We grew closer as we practiced for our school's prom night, and before I even realized it, she had become my prom date. We didn't win prom king and queen but I had my first dance with her (FYI I can't dance, she was the one who guided me).

After prom night, while everyone headed home bound, Xing Jie (the band lead guitarist and my geography classmate) and I headed to my favorite hangout down at Paya Lebar to meet up with my buddies for some games. Suddenly Xing Jie received a call via his cellphone, after which I realized it was her. After that I learned that she had feelings for me and would want to be more then friends. Sure, I freaked out a bit, never occurred to me that I would be given a love confession, but of course I agreed.

Hilarity ensued on the day I personally asked her to be my girlfriend. I took her to the water-steps located at Paya Lebar Post Office basement 1 and this is what happened...
Siddy : *holds her both hands* Will you be my girlfriend?
Faith : *shy smile* Of cos I will!
Siddy : *looks at her shyly* Do you think I can kiss you?
Faith : *gives a confuse look* O.o
Siddy : I mean a kiss on your cheek!
Faith : *blush* Sure, but there are people looking at us..
Siddy : *kisses her* Oops.

I know there's some kind of unspoken rule to never fall for your friend's ex-girlfriends. But I couldn't help it when I first laid eyes on her. She was like the girl I had always dreamed to be with, but they were always either attached or batted for the other team. I developed a huge crush on her, but I guess I was way too kiddish for her back then (probably even as of today). Luckily, we still remain good friends and she eventually patched things up with her ex-boyfriend and the rest is history.

This was taken when I was still serving my National Service. I met up with my classmates from Macpherson ITE, and it's been a while since any of us has seen each other. That shot was the last time I ever remembered hanging out with them, after that, my hectic schedule just simply didn't allow me to join them up for many outings they've organizing. I really wonder how's everyone doing...

There are some pictures of people that I still keep till this very day even though we're no longer in contact due to certain misunderstandings that had happened along the way.

You and I had been the best of friends for 12 years, sometimes I wish could reverse time and undo all the bad blood that has happened between the both of us. I'd still remember your birthday without fail, silently wishing you whenever I look up towards your window as I walked towards our block. Ash, you have been sorely missed.

This picture was recently taken and its also undeniable proof that I still drag my friends off to a photo sticker machine whenever I can. It's sad that however there are only a few places with a decent photo sticker machine these days. I have exclusively limited myself to one located at Cineleisure..

Memories come and go, but they continue to stay with me in the present as long I don't toss my memorabilia away, or if my memory doesn't fails me yet - either way. Humans presently don't have the technology for time machines, oddly though, I feel otherwise whenever I look through these rifts of time. It's certainly a blast from the past whenever I decide to flip through each and every one of them whenever I feel like it.

If you haven't read...
- Who's the boy behind that computer screen part 2
- Who's the boy behind that computer screen part 1
- How much do you know...

Who's the boy behind that computer screen part 2

2010-04-28T17:19:00.003+08:00

When I was about the age of 13 years old, I was a huge fan of the Pokemon series. Got myself hooked on the gameboy game for it and the trading card game (TCG).

My addiction to Pokemon TCG started when I bump into a guy named Freddie while playing my Pokemon blue version and there he was sitting outside Bishan MRT playing with his Pokemon Red. He spotted me and suddenly asked if I would like to do battle with him.

I was pretty shy back then (still am) and I was surprise that some stranger came up and talk to me, but he looked like he was my age so I felt comfortable talking to him. Everyday after school I would head down to Bishan MRT station to meet up with Freddie just to talk about Pokemon and update each other on our game.

One day Freddie introduced me to Pokemon TCG and he knew a few friends who were traders and really good players themselves. That's when I got myself acquainted with Kelvin, Ah Yao, Jing Feng and Ming Qi.

Kelvin was like the leader of the group who knew everything about the game and has almost every card of the Pokemon TCG series in his collection. He was also like an elder brother to the a few of us, who taught us how to be street smart and someone who changed my life. Without him, I think I would still be living in my own little world afraid of whats out there in the real world.

Ah Yao, wasn't really close to Ah Yao but all I knew was he was always around Kelvin, he usually helps Kelvin carry his stuff and helps Kelvin trade for cards they needed in the collection. He doesn't really play the game much, he's more of a collector than a player.

Ming Qi was Kelvin's best student who's one of the better players I've met in the game, he's usually one of the players who would be found in the top ranked tables during a tournament. Other then that he's pretty quiet, doesn't really talk much and keep things to himself.

Jing Feng was another really good player that Kelvin was training to be the next "Ming Qi", but sometimes his ego gets the better of him and that would cost him the game but if he gets his mind to it there's no stopping him. Jing Feng, Freddie and I always hang out together when the rest of the guys aren't around, you can find us playing at J8 arcade or trying to find Pokemon opponents at Bishan MRT station. We are the loudest in the group well maybe because we were also the youngest.

Freddie was my closes friend in the group, when he's not around when I'm out with the guys, I get really quiet and shy. In terms of Pokemon TCG skills, Freddie and I are on par but in ranking I'm one of the weakest player among the 6 of us. We have this "Gym Leader" thing going on back then if anyone wants to take on Kelvin or Ming Qi they have to go against me first, followed by Freddie, Jing Feng, Ah Yao then Ming Qi. Usually when they get to Ming Qi they lose terribly.

After 5 years had passed, and when the Pokemon craze had died down, a few of us went our separate ways. Ah Yao and Ming Qi vanish, Jing Feng was too busy with his own stuff. Only Freddie and I kept in contact with Kelvin, sometimes we would meet up and have dinner with him and catch up with whats going on with our lives.

The very first picture you see in this entry is a picture of the Japanese Pokemon card called Kasumi's Tears also known as Misty's Tears (in the American version) is one of my favorite card in my collection and it's my only Pokemon card that I kept after tossing away everything else. If you're wondering, yes she's naked holding Staryu, and because of that, the US released a different version with Misty crying instead.

If you haven't read...
- Who's the boy behind that computer screen part 1.
- How much do you know..

Who's the boy behind that computer screen part 1

2010-04-26T00:14:00.002+08:00

Did you know that the last time I remember having a proper home cooked meal was 4 years ago, until yesterday? I was surprised that my mum decided to cook for dinner, even though how simple it was, it was good to not have outside for once.

Ever since I was little, we always had a maid preparing all our meals, both my parents would usually be working and my mum doesn't like to cook much. So having a home cooked meal is something really special to me, and I enjoy having my dinners at home then to go out having to decide what to eat everyday.

How much do you know...

2010-04-24T23:57:00.000+08:00

I have always wanted to ask you guys this, how much do you really know about me? Some friends think I'm someone who watch drama serial all day, some different believe me when I said I was into video games.

Back to my question, how much do you really know about me. You guys do follow my blog entries right? From those entries what does it say about me or what I do and like?

Something for you guys to think about.

What I see out my window.

2010-04-15T23:52:00.000+08:00

As the sun goes up I capture of what's outside the window right next to my computer. It might not seem much but I feel calm as I look out at the sky, the buildings.

My eye for photography isn't all that good, I have still lots to learn and years(and I mean many years) before I could truly call myself a pro. But I believe in the heart and feelings of things, which I apply when I taking shots. I go for the "siddy's feel good shot" Which might only appeal to Siddy himself.

More to come..

Introducing Satoshi Lim

2010-04-13T23:16:00.001+08:00

I am going to make Tuesday the day where I share about the stuff my kids (hamsters) like to do, and today I would like to take this chance to introduce Satoshi to you guys .

Satoshi's introduction took awhile because I was rather lazy and didn't have the right idea of how I should introduce him to you guys.

Finally after roughly 4 months had passed, here we have it the Gangster boy Satoshi Lim.

Name : Satoshi Lim.
Date of Birth : 28th October 2009.
Breeder : TheHamsterHoarder aka Justin
Parents : Nana (Mother) LH Golden Banded and Sebbie (Father) LH Sable.
Breed : Long Hair Black Banded.
Gender : Male.
Hobbies : Climbing up and down the bin, Pushing the 21cm running wheel close to the food bowls and start running to make a loud "cling cling clang".

Dry Mix Diet : Vitakraft Sunshine, Vitakraft Wellness, Vitakraft Beauty, Vitakraft Emotion, Organic Golden Flaxseed, Organic Horsetail leaf and Organic Basil leaf.

Fresh Mix Diet : Organic Salad Mix, Baby Carrots, Baby Corn, Organic Blueberry, Cherry Tomato, Bok Choy, Watercress.

Today I decided to do something special for Satoshi, I know he would still mess it up in the end, but I thought it would be rather cute. Satoshi's fresh mix diet for today...

While I was getting his fresh mix rather, there were some nose that was coming from my room so I decided to check it out.

I guess someone's getting rather impatient.

I was trying to signal him to look at the kitchen but he was too busy wondering where his food might be.

He finally gave up looking for it and started biting the carrier..

Decided to just let him be while I set up his bin. Washing his bin is way faster compared to cleaning Shirei's Habitrail Mini Cage. The bin only takes up about 30 minutes of my time, while the Cage usually takes about an 1 hour odd.

Finally after setting up his bin and placing everything neatly for him, I carried the little bugger in and he went straight for his dry mix ignoring the cute veggie mix I so nicely made for him *cries*..

If didn't get the chance to read about Satoshi's siblings click the links below.

Shana Lim - Long Hair Satin Golden
Shirei Lim - White-Face Roborovski

My Virtual Social Life As Shireii Seargoth

2010-04-12T23:18:00.001+08:00

I haven't really got a chance to talk about my game-play experience in Everquest 2 as my role-playing character. But now I'm going to take this opportunity to share with you guys my gaming experience, and how it has made an impact in my life.

Shireii Seargoth - The Seargoth family martyrdom who worked their way up to be highly feared and infamous. One of the better welll known members of the Seargoth Family was Count Namick. Namick was a renown Druid who practices the arts of a Warden (Wardens: Able to shapeshift, cure, heal and summon natural to their aid)
;which wasn't a tradition of the family generation. Every other member was either a Shaman Defiler (Defiler: Practice Curses and able to ward oneself from harm by calling forth dark spirits from another dimension), Shadow Knight, Warlock, or a Brigand.

Count Namick chances upon meeting a lady in battle during the war of the dark ages. She goes by the name of Nochesa Bladesinger. Out of the Dark One's lust and Seduction of her Matron Mother Comes forth a Daughter of Neriak Nochesa -
Blood descendant of the Elite Warrior. After war had ended, Namick and Nochesa went their separate ways, only after then did Nochesa realized that she's falling for Namick. And being a dirge makes it so much easier for her to track him down.

Namick and Nochesa started their own family but they didn't live long enough to see their kids grow up. Both of them died in an epic battle that changed the world.

Shireii Seargoth, the youngest among the four, was adopted by Meepers Guardian Ratonga and Andi Wood Elf Warden. During his stay with his adopted parents, they allowed him to pursue his studies as a Shaman Defiler and joined the Imperial Army of Lucan.

Playing Shireii, my Shaman Defiler - a class for both groups and raids; is my forte and I was credited for it everywhere. I like how the community of the server was back then in the day when people actually remember you for your skills.

My first few raids with the guild Legion of Valor from Lucan DeLere server was a little messy because I was kinda fighting for the main tank shaman spot with a Mystic (Awnya) who happen to be the Guild leader/Main Tanker's lover (Daanar).

Back when I was with Marauders under Meeper's leadership, Defilers were always placed in the Main tank's group, since they gave better group and health buffs for the Main tank. And since I was the only defiler with Marauders, I would always be placed in the Main tank's group. But with Legion of Valor, there will always be endless contest for this spot, so I had to make my point valid by beating Awnya on the heal parser. (a heal parser is a 3rd parser program which helps calculate the total number of heals and percentage heals by each Priest type character).

I know some of you might think I might be crazy taking a game so seriously, but its just me, I love to give myself goals to aim for. I don't want to be just any defiler, I want to be known in the server as one of the best damn awesome defilers you can find in the server. Such virtual achievements may not mean much to some but the gravity of it is immense to me.

The image you see above is what we call the Heal Parse. The first line with the text "Selrach Di'Zok: (10:00) 2727213". Selrach Di'Zok is the name of the monster we were fighting, (10:00) is the duration of the fight and 2727213 is the amount of health point that was healed during that fight to keep our manpower of 24 alive.

The second line onwards "Shir 571909 | 953.18". Shir (Shireii) is the name of the player healing (If the name is too long it will get shorten automatically), 571909 is the total amount of health he healed for, 953.18 is the percentage healed.

As you can see, I'm on top of the list for this fight while Awny (Awnya) is fourth. This is when I would be in the main tank group. It's almost the same as when I'm in the group, except that Yuli would top the parse instead.

Sometimes I do wonder how everyone else set their hotkeys, because mine has to be of a certain order. This might sound silly but the feeling of being at ease must exist too when I'm using my character. The hotkeys have to be arranged in a way where I feel more comfortable and find it easily accessible.

This is how I set my hotkeys. For those who never played this game before or any other MMORPG, yes you might think thats a lot of button to press. But after awhile you will get used to it.

I will explain more about my adventures in Norrath, in future entries. I hope this have given you a better insight about my virtual life.

Movie Talk : Whip It

2010-04-10T09:14:00.009+08:00

I have been spending the past few days rotting at home, mainly because I haven't been having much sleep ever since I discovered that I am crazy about "you".

At night, I would stay up to watch random drama serial which would last till morning, and that's when I finally managed to catch some sleep, but my neighbour had to decide that it would be the best time to do some drilling for the next 6 hours. And the past 4 days I have been going crazy cursing and swearing every time they start drilling. I just really hope they would finish whatever they are doing because if this continues, I might just admit myself to a mental institution.

On Tuesday evening, Vince and I decided to meet up to catch a movie together. And the only movie that seems interesting was "Whip It" which was directed by Drew Barrymore.

A mother and daughter's love for each other, with that it can make an impact in one's goal in life. That's what I felt the movie was focusing on. Yeah sure, there were other pointers too but this was something that actually touched me.

Drew Barrymore - The first time that I noticed Drew Barrymore on the big screen was her role as Dylan Sanders in the 2000 film Charlie's Angels. After watching her in Charlie's Angels, I fell in love with her acting skills (and of cos fell in love with her too) I followed a few of her other movies that she was in, "Duplex", "50 First Dates" and "He's Just Not That Into You". I love her sense of humor and how she's able to fit into any role and own it.

After being in the entertainment industry for 32 years, Drew Barrymore finally directed her first movie "Whip It", not only that but was one of the producer and also co-star in the film.

Ellen Page - This lovely 23 year old Canadian actress played the role Bliss Cavendar aka Babe Ruthless in the movie "Whip It" as this teenage girl who one day finally found her true calling.

Some of you might remember her from Juno playing as Juno MacGuff. But I remember her when she was known as Kitty Pryde from movie "X-Men: The Last Stand". The then 19 year old Ellen Page was loved by most Marvel fans, my brother and I found her rather appealing even though she didn't have much of a screen time in the movie, we couldn't forget that cute "phasing" mutant.

Brooke Cavendar (Marcia Gay Harden) is a mother who pushes her daughter to fulfill the dream she has always wished for but didn't get a chance to. But Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) a girl who feels out of place in her small town, Bodeen located in Texas had other plans. Bliss finally found her true calling during a shopping trip with her mom.

Roller Derby - Bliss had to travel to Austin but to do that she and her friend Pash lied to her parents about going to a football game.

After Bliss and Pash finally got there, they got to watch the Hurl Scouts did their moves. Bliss had a moment when she thought she could actually do this but threw idea out when he thought to herself the last she skated was years ago on her barbie skates.

She returned back to Austin to give it a shot. Met a guy while she was into while hanging out with the Hurl Scouts. Suddenly she found herself stuck in a situation, but her only way out was to get her parents and friends to accept that being a Roller Derby is who she really is even though it might be a passing phase.

Personally, I enjoyed the movie because it some parts of the movie I could actually relate to and it spoke to me. This movie has some pretty good core values that you can take home.

Ponder this, if you have to chance to do something that you always wanted but knowing that its only going to be for a brief moment; would you still want to embrace it?

I personally think that it would be a good weekend movie to watch with a close friend or a love one.

This movie was released on the 15th March 2010 in Singapore Cinemas. Cathay Cinemas are still screening the movie "Whip It" but if you miss it, you will just have to wait for the Dvds to be release.

Rating : 3.5/5

Credits to : http://www.allmoviephoto.com and http://www.impawards.com/ for the pictures.

Its Just Post-It.

2010-03-24T00:52:00.006+08:00

You know sometimes the smallest thing or just a short message from someone you care, can really make an impact on how you feel or can change your mood in an instant.

My little bro left me a post-it on my pin board before leaving my place. I didn't notice it til he bbm(blackberry message) me asking..

When I looked behind to see what it was, I was surprised and it really put a smile onto my face, made me feel that suddenly that the world is a better place after all. It gave me that warm fuzzy feeling inside, it felt magical even though how silly it might sound.

He said he would have written more but his cousin was looking at him and he didn't want Kenny to know what he was doing at that point of time. So he wrote me another post-it and took a picture of it.

After reading it, I laughed and asked myself when I was 17, did I ever do such a thing? I mean writing on post-it with little messages and telling someone I care how thankful I am to have them close to me? I don't think so, when I was 17, all I could think was games and whats the next coolest item I could get in the virtual world.

I'm really surprise that the younger generation can really express themselves, even though with technology being so advanced, you did never expect anyone to still use post-it this days.

So my question of the day is, have you told someone you care about how you feel recently? And if you haven't what would you say to him/her?

Something to ponder on.

P.S: Thanks little bro for the sweet message, it really made my day!

Tea Date With My Cousin.

2010-03-20T09:30:00.001+08:00

This entry is one month overdue, but still I would like to share about it, because I love my baby cousin.

Well a few little known facts about my cousin Phoebe.

She is from my dad side of the family and one of the few who has been blessed with the youthful looking genes; her brother Reuben and her are the only cousins that we are really close to; when we were younger, we would always look forward to the holidays (example: Chinese New Year and Christmas), because that is when Phoebe and Reuben would stay over at our place for a few days and we would play "Masak-Masak" or play video games together til the wee hours.

When my brother Spenser and I were young, we would fight to see who gets to share the bed with Phoebe, because the loser would end up sleeping next to Reuben and he was known for his loud snoring back then.

If you ever get to meet her and wonder why she can be so boyish at times, well it's because she is always surrounded by boys, she has two brothers and always mixing around with Spenser and I who would teach her how to play all those fighting video games, watch X-Men animated series, play Reuben's role-playing story games and the list just goes on.

There was even a time when we were much older, she was a Magic The Gathering player too and during Friday Night Magic the guys would come down just to see her. Well we don't get many female MTG players you know.

My brother and I love to pamper and spoil her with gifts or treats whenever we are out with her.

She's currently studying in Brisbane at University of Queensland.

This year during the usual Chinese New Year gathering, I decided to ask her out for tea before she fly back to Brisbane so that we could do some catching up.

I took her to my favorite tea lounge, its none other than Royal Copenhagen. To my surprise it was her first time there, and I always love taking people to places they never been to, it's easily to introduce stuff to them that way.

I order a pot of earl grey tea to share and she ordered "The Shooting Star"(read here to learn a little more about the dish)

While enjoying our hot cup of tea, we were sharing about our experiences the past few months that we have been through and I must say it has been a long time since I last talk to my cousin because she has been to so many places and change so much since we last met.

She tells me she was going to take up boxing and sign language, and said I should take up sign language too. I might one day, maybe when I'm finished with school and start working. We also talked about maybe going on a trip together, that would be rather exciting.

7.30pm my watch reads, we have been talking for 4 hours and 30 minutes, how times flies so fast when you are enjoying a good conversation with someone you love.

On our way back home, she tried on my glasses that I bought from VOL.TA and she looks pretty geeky with it. One of my favorite shoots taken for that month of February.

Thanks for giving me the chance to hang out with you baby cousin, can't wait to meet up with you again when you're back.