Xtreme Makeover: Room Edition Day 1

Finally got down to my room makeover.

I've got the general concept in my head and it WILL turn out good!

Day 1: Got all the paint and equipment. Colours for now - Cosy Orange & Rose White. Hopefully I don't change my mind.

Day One

Cost of paint and brushes: $50 odd

Hours taken to get the room prepared for paint: One

Time to paint half of all four walls: Six dreadful hours

There's a reason PAINting is spelt that way.

Symbols

Four years ago, I had to pick up bulks of diving magazines from this office. I was the Bismag (Ewww) and those were part of the goodie bags.

Fast forward to today. I saw the papers with an ad for a trip to Redang. Why not check it out before I confirm bookings at another agency (By the way, I strongly recommend Konsortium over 5 Star).

Made my way to Lavender MRT station. The directionally-challenged me had to find the way to French Road (Wonder if it's because of nationality of people there, or stuff being done there).

Located the road and headed to the block 809. Took the lift and reached the fourth floor. And at some corner, walked through a door into this office.

Strangely familiar.

"Was this previously some magazine's office?" I thought out loud.

"Yeah, we used to sublet the place to them," said Alex the curly-haired Aussie.



Isn't it weird how some things out of nowhere transport us to a part of our life from the past?

It's not all about 'A's

As much as I like to diss the education system (or at least before some changes were made) in Singapore, I think education is a given here.

I caught Oprah (my most beautiful black woman ever) earlier and the show discussed the failing education in US. It didn't matter if schools were from inner city or suburban areas, well-facilitated or dilapidating, youths are not valuing education as much as they should.

Time magazine termed US a "Dropout Nation" in one of their April issues. Thirty percent of their high school students leave without graduating. I'm sure there're tonnes of reasons but on Oprah, it seemed like many were dying to reach the age of 16 to voluntarily drop out.

And like time would have it, those who leave school often end up with regrets and struggles in life.

Here're my top five reasons why I survived my 16-year cycle of learning process:

5. Our system instills upon me the need to constantly fight to be in the main stream.

4. There've been really inspiring teachers along the way. You just know when you see a teacher who's genuinely interested in educating. Those are the people who provided me with opportunities beyond academics and extended friendships that're always vital in teacher-student relationships.

3. Blangah Rise Primary School. That was my safe haven. Loved every second there. My friends from that school are still some of my most treasured ones. The entire combination in my years there was just magical. There was simplicity, innocence, genuine emotions, and an awful awful lot of bittersweet memories.

2. My parents. This set are probably the best parents I can ask for. And I guess how I fared in school has a whole lot to do with them. From little things like my mum putting on my socks as I munched away on my breakfast (Eww I hated to eat in the mornings!), my dad driving me to the gates just in time (I did try to be early ok), to my mum making me write every single chinese character in the textbook (Cane always omnipresent) and my dad visiting my principal when I failed my common tests in junior college (Let's not remember that)... They held on to the reins when they needed to but every so often let them loose for me to learn to be on my own. I owe them big time.

1. And the number one reason I survived... Not everyone ends up as Zoe Tay or Gurmit Singh without a degree. Haa... Let's just hope that I can continue to host and act as a hobby.

So there, I guess US is now called a "Dropout Nation" because they don't have EM3 streams, teachers like Sim Chor Khiang, Tan Aik Ling and Rita Wong, BRPS, and Sunny & Audrey Yeo. But they do have tonnes of Zoes & Gurmits. Haaa...

In any case, I hope at least my nephew will receive a decent education and make the best of it. Here's to you, Asher.

When you're a child,

You don't learn how to be happy,

You just laugh.

When you're a child,

You don't learn about sadness,

You just cry.

And when you're a child,

You don't learn how to trust people,

You just do.

Picks & Puis

As a media student, I can't help but be sensitive to what I watch on TV.

It was a pure coincidence. Two commercials that irked me, or maybe set me questioning their creative processes were selling local brands.

One was promoting TV Mobile. The TVC involved two very pugilistic guys in an action-packed chase sequence that ends inside a cab that has TV Mobile. The big idea was to showcase how anyone could be watching TV Mobile. Who's to say it's not so? They even added the tagline, "It's everywhere."

At first glance, the stunts probably stole the show. But if you think about it, why in the world would anyone be in such long runs, high jumps and dangerous flips just to reach a taxi with TV Mobile?

Isn't it supposed to be "everywhere" ?

I think either the tagline goes or the storyboard changes to better complement the entire concept. Imagine this: An astronaut walks on the moon, finds Gan Cheong Kin on a TV Mobile screen and sheds a sentimental tear. Or Nemo's dad bumping into a TV Mobile screen in the sea and watches Nemo's adventure in the city. Just some off my head thoughts.

The next TVC that irked me more was selling NUS Business School's image. Just caught this one tonight. And the irks have nothing at all to do with me graduating from NTU.

It showed a caucasian girl in a western home setting. She receives a letter from NUS Business School and shares her extreme joy with her mother after learning that she has been admitted to the course. They discuss the school and the mother says something along the line of "I hear the boys there are cute".

I'm sure there are cute guys there but there's not my complaint. I think it exploits viewers' perception of how western recognition and acceptance equate to prestige and excellence. If they think someone/thing of local breed is good, he/she/it has to be good. Is that really necessary? I admit that such a trend is prevalent but surely a top varsity like NUS does not need to perpetuate such misperceptions to get its point across? It is after all a local institution.

On the other hand, I saw a TVC that used its localism to very good effect. Ironically, it received flak for that.

"Where the bloody hell are you?" Sounds familiar? I felt that the tourism board from Australia did well to inject its unique (Singaporeans love this word, don't we) quality into the TVC that promoted Australia's history, nature and culture. Set me thinking, maybe if Singapore used some Singlish in our tourism TVCs, more people may realise how unique we really are.

Of course, it helped that a friendly bikini-clad lady said that line with a big smile in the Australian TVC. Imagine a boorish native saying that... kinda different effect?

And finally, just to maintain morals, it's not always right to see bikini babes on our black boxes. Case in point: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search that premiered on Channel 5 tonight. Well, the title says it all about the content.

In Pink's latest hit, Stupid Girls, current worrying trends are reflected. Young teenage girls obsessed with celebrity looks, disregarding sex as a popularity exchange, weight/health problems, acting dumb to look good... it goes on. And I think these are REAL problems. Watching just half hour of SISMS was enough proof. Attractive, slim young women fear THE CAKE; told that they have love handles, wrong hair, teeth, ass...

Think about what this does to an impressionable young girl watching the show. It does not tell where her physical appearance has flaws. It creates these flaws in her mind.

I've always believed that TV is really for entertainment. But there is always the line. The line that shouldn't be crossed.

Damn. Post-school syndrome starting up...

Coffee, Powder or Drink?

Just to be sure we're clear, I'm no vegan, no vegetarian, no herbivore.

Tonight I made dinner again. The main highlight was Coffee Ribs.

Dinner Menu:

Baked Potatoes with Cheese

Coffee Ribs

Long Bean Omelette

Belacan Beans, Beancurd & Mushrooms

Now, you're asking. Where're the ribs? Good question. They turned out pretty bad. Not that they were burnt or anything. They looked burnt. Why? Well, the marinating part kinda took a bad turn.

So I followed the recipe religiously from Eat magazine. It read, one cup of coffee, one-third cup of shaoxing wine and this and that. So there, my dad drinks coffee every single day. My mum joins in the cuppa session sometimes. I definitely have loads of coffee powder available. Right? Right!

I had the ribs marinated yesterday to prepare for tonight's dinner. Poured one cup of coffee powder to the ribs along with the other ingredients. Took the pack of marinated ribs out today, started frying them and realised, Gee they're so black I can't tell if they're cooked. I don't recall at which point of time, Ms Brain Renee asked Mr Brawn Aaron if the excess marinate should be washed off. Then the punchline came.

"How come the powder didn't dissolve?" asked Ms Brain.

"But there's nothing to dissolve the powder." It still didn't hit Mr Brawn.

Oil sizzles.

It struck. Wait. No.

"Oh shit. Oh shit."

In the words, or rather, word of Meredith Grey, SERIOUSLY?

Now let me turn it to you. Would you have added one cup of coffee, the Drink, or one cup of coffee, the Powder?

Right.

Who beat up Eganaden?

Kudos to the production team of Singapore Idol 2006 and the sporting spirit of fellow countrymen!

I managed to catch the repeat telecast of SI's first episode tonight. Laughed out loud.

No doubt, credit goes to a lot of editing and small segments that resulted in an overall entertaining episode. Only thing that bugged me was the different outfits the judges and hosts wore even though the cuts tried to make it look like everything happened in the same session of auditions.

The contestants were mostly game for the show. I think some knowingly hammed it up for the cameras and a few obviously went along with the producers' requests to perform what-seemed-normal-at-that-point-in-time acts. Ahh... Editing creates regrets. Haa...

On that same note, I have to say that a lot of people were very sporting! And had a lot of time to spare to be that sporting considering all the dreadful queue times. Actually, come to think of it, it was the editing that milked more laughter from me. The awful performances mainly drew cringes from me. But the sad part is really seeing genuine dream chasers breaking into tears after outright rejections.

I should know. Not that I cried at any rejection. Haa.. First there was top 100 in Star Search. Didn't make the final cut. Then there was DJ Hunt. Went through the first round. Didn't make the final cut. And then there was top 40 in Super Host. Didn't make the final cut. That's probably my last stab at a performing job. It's tough to get that close only to be slammed again. But hey, that's life.

So to all the corny people who dared to show up in front of the cameras for SI, *BIG APPLAUSE* for risking the chance to be part of cruel editing that made them the mickeys.

In the spirit of being corny, I came up with a lame riddle watching the show. Answer this if you have the brains. Q: Who beat up Eganaden?

Hey, I thought I was quite smart to come up with that ok.

And finally, the final touch of being corny, here's to all unfulfilled dreams.

What Dreams May Come...

Whose life is it anyway?

I read on ST today about a 100, 000 people-march in Jakarta supporting an anti-porn Bill.

Firstly, this post is nothing against their religion. So ISD dearies, don't start associating me with any Act... especially the seditious kind.

In the article, it was reported that "it would also make organising erotic dancing punishable by up to 10 years in prison and public kissing on the mouth punishable by five years or a fine".

This set me thinking. If I lived in a country that banned me from kissing on the mouth in public, what else can't I be banned from doing?

I learnt about cultural norms in school. It was really engaging because what was perfectly acceptable in one country would be tremendously wrong in another. Something in my readings three or four years ago had a similar illustration - A law states that taking someone else's belongings without his/her permission is wrong and this act is punishable. But if that chunk of law were never written, it is still ok to punish the doer? Then, will it be almost unlikely that anyone can say it is wrong?

Can we say the moon is pink when no one has ever seen one like that?

Sometimes, we do get very influenced by our environment. Government, society, people, education, technology and what not. In fact, our mind is shaped by and, how coincidentally, mimics what it sees in the environment. It's a vicious cycle.

Almost losing any genes of individuality in the process.

I remember my formative years. My choices were always to ensure I was in the system. Whichever kind, as long as it belonged to the main stream. I expected my parents to expect me to choose this. I expected my friends to think that would be a good choice. I expected.. wait... who really was i expecting to expect any thing I decided on? Me?

I expected myself to expect me to prefer one choice over the other.

Ok this is getting too convoluted.

One big decision I remember making was choosing to go to CS over NUS's BisAd. Remember it to be an extremely difficult choice. Entering top schools previously was seemingly paving my way to better jobs. Naturally, BisAd was a convenient choice. Business = Show me the money. Plus BisAd had already admitted me, why bother going through turmoil to change what has been fixed? Only, it wasn't that fixed in my mind. I knew from what I've always enjoyed that CS seemed to be somewhere that I could actually enjoy education. And the result of making the switch back then is immensely rewarding.

Whose life was I leading? By making that switcharoo, mine.

Sign

Today I signed it.

Been thinking, praying and basically, mulling over it for a week. Ok, maybe I didn't pray for a week.

My first real job as a PR practitioner. Scary. It's always the cross junctions in life that're scary, isn't it? On the roads too for me... it's a sign I shouldn't drive. Yet.

Anyway, I left the office feeling pretty excited about the deal and was heading to town. I'd taken buses from that bus stop a millions times now, maybe 377,481 times from there to town.

I ended up taking the wrong bus.

It's a sign. Damn.

The bus had its sign stating, from top to bottom, TEMASEK BOULEVARD, ORCHARD RD, SOMERSET ROAD!

I just checked SBS's webbie:

I blame the bus driver for not swapping the directions plate around before I boarded.

Or maybe it's a sign.

Watching too much LOST. On that sidenote, I'd rather the frat boys win the Amazing Race than the hippies. Same thing in life: Who deserves the prize? The consistent result-showing one or the occasional blunderer who achieves the amazing result at the right time?

Aaron's Favourite Moments 1

What I took away from my Hong Kong trip...

What I took away from my lovely education in CS...

Never once did I regret choosing CS.

It led me to amazing people, good times and great trips.

I need to start recording more of Aaron's Favourite Times.

... to be continued

Reconstruction theory

Today I saw what people want and what people need.

Heading to a flea market behind Cineleisure, I passed a group of wheelchair-bound folks selling flags for the Handicaps Welfare Association. One of them joked to another that they should position their wheelchairs in a ba-gua formation so that more commuters have to pass them to get across.

I like this spirit they have. At a charity event that I hosted, they were the same folks who played basketball on wheelchairs. I was even part of their team against the public in one match. I swear that even if I played running on my feet, I'd still lose out to those pros. One of them, if I remember correctly, was also a student in NTU. He was the star player among them and I vaguely remember seeing him around school. Looked out for him among those selling flags today but didn't spot him.

At the flea market, I spotted Dawn Yeo. (Or Yang or whichever surname the alleged plastic surgeried blogger is using now) She was peddling her goods (real goods, not... and real authentic, not... oh well, this is hard) with her mother. Or someone who looks like an older version of her. (Let's call this person OVOH) Wait, if what everyone said about her cosmetic surgery is true, then it's just spooky that OVOH looks somewhat alike! OR should we just say that science is really advanced.

Anyway, I don't exactly care if Dawn had surgery or not. After that, it just dawned (totally not intended) on me that there are people who wished for some sort of reconstruction just to be able to lead a normal (who's to say what's normal anyway) life. And there are always those who choose to undergo reconstruction to achieve some sort of socially glorified standards of beauty. Yet, there's this disturbingly warped similarity of yearning to be accepted.

Kinda weird.

Anyway, when I was leaving town, I bumped into the NTU star player at the entrance of a toilet. He was wheeling himself out. I gave way. He said thanks.

It wasn't a toilet for handicaps.

As much as society sets unwritten norms, it all boils down to how much we think we need to conform. Sometimes, it's a necessity; and other times just deemed necessary.

I have a bedroom that's fine. I'm thinking of reconstructing it before I start work. It's a need. I'm quite sure this is a need.

Table for three

I always think grocery shopping is a kind of therapy.

Maybe that's because I usually tag along when my parents do it. It feels almost like an adult thing to do. Like wearing pants instead of jeans, taking the wheel and not the ride or being the nagger, not the naggee.

Anyway, I shopped for food today to cook my parents a meal. I actually enjoy that. Cooking. Again, it's kinda therapeutic. I think when I have the space and freedom to express my creations, be it literary, graphics, craft or food, it feels good.

I think I'm a pretty spontaneous guy. I enjoy spontaneity and it's just everywhere in my life. And sometimes, the results are just beyond expectations. I like knowing the good unknowns when they come.

Like today, I didn't plan for zucchini and asparagus. I spent probably 15 minutes walking around the vegetables section, thinking of which greens to pick. The auntie who does the weighing saw me make my rounds and probably assumed I was an amateur cook. Busted.

Dinner Menu:

Wanton Soup

Ntomatoes Yemistes

Zucchini & Asparagus

My parents loved the meal. Received rave reviews from them. Ok I added "rave" to make myself happy. :) But generally, they enjoyed the meal. My mum said it was healthy and my dad said that's the new way to cook rice.

I'm just glad they finished every grain, slice, drop, piece... Yum!

There's always a first time

I used to dislike blogs.

But I guess age changes people's thoughts. Especially mine.

Just before pursuing my mass communications degree in NTU, I remember my aspiration to be a journalist. Weirdly, that thought gradually became weaker after I started school and freelancing as a writer. But now that I'm done with four years of school, I'm writing again. I want to be able to remember my experiences and thoughts. My first blog.

Kinda weird how things turn around.

Today I read a letter from PM Lee in ST's Forum. The title was "PM grateful for input on Gomez" but the short letter was really addressing his mistake for assuming a previous writer, Chan Chee Seng, in the same column to be an ex-MP. PM Lee wrote, "I am sorry about my mistake. I had assumed that Mr Chan was the former MP when I read the letter and should have checked."

I thought that was quite funny. Wonder if anyone got sacked for that.

The day after the GE, my family was having lunch at a Teochew restaurant. That was the first time I accidentally bumped into a politician. George Yeo arrived at the same restaurant. "Arrived" is really the appropriate word because when he stepped in, there were handshakes and big smiles exchanged with surprised diners. You should have seen their faces. Including mine. I was trying to act nonchalant. Anyway, he could have been having an ordinary family lunch, like I was, but I started to hear speculation that he was there for a celebratory feast after his win the night before. He could have very much been doing that. But I thought, these politicians are celebrities! Just that, they look very much less unglam than their peers in the entertainment field.

Who knows, the politicians might go for a mass makeover and produce an album together. I guess there's always a first time for everything.