Why do I not feel Christmassy? (if there's such a word)
Maybe because I haven't heard much carolling ... or maybe I'm just not in the mood.
The weather outside is still frightful (with its downpours and gloomy skies)
And thank goodness there are no fires to delight fools.
Just a pity Singapore's way too hot
To let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
Not that snowing is going to make me feel in the mood.
Perhaps going for the annual Christmas Eve Dinner at my 3rd Aunt's place might put me in the mood.
Perhaps peeling the ever-popular Francyn's Quail Egg Delight might put me in the mood.
gah. Christmas is for kids, and its up to us adults to make sure the kids have a good time.
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Friends.
You never know how much a person is a part of your life, until there is a separation.
I've only known Seema since we both started oil painting lessons at the Tanjong Pagar Community Centre, in May 2008, so this makes it, what, one and a half years? Karen and I wanted to learn to oil paint, and decided that learning at the CC was helluva lot cheaper than learning at private classes.
So here we were, two beginners standing behind Lao Shi, who was painting a rather ugly pot with fake dusty lurid purple orchids, and lecturing us in MANDARIN on the basics of oil painting. I was already starting to go cross-eyed even though Karen was doing rapid translation into English, when we realised there was an Indian girl who was listening intently to Karen. She was new to the class too, and being Indian, we knew she was not going to be able to follow the lesson if Lao Shi was going to teach in Mandarin. That was our first meeting with Seema, our girl from India.
Amelia too, was new to class, and it was her canvas that Lao Shi was painting on. While Karen was doing translation, Amelia was nodding her head and making appropriate noises. The four of us naturally gravitated towards each other, being the newbies of the class and being forced to paint Really Ugly Orchids.
When class was over at 5.30pm, as we were packing up, we asked Seema and Amelia if they would like to have dinner with us. We didn't know where to eat, so we'd be exploring too. That was the start of a beautiful friendship, women of different ages, different characters and outlooks in life.
A rather odd quartet but bonded in friendship by our love for painting.
And now it looks like our quartet will become a trio. *sigh sadly*
I've only known Seema since we both started oil painting lessons at the Tanjong Pagar Community Centre, in May 2008, so this makes it, what, one and a half years? Karen and I wanted to learn to oil paint, and decided that learning at the CC was helluva lot cheaper than learning at private classes.
So here we were, two beginners standing behind Lao Shi, who was painting a rather ugly pot with fake dusty lurid purple orchids, and lecturing us in MANDARIN on the basics of oil painting. I was already starting to go cross-eyed even though Karen was doing rapid translation into English, when we realised there was an Indian girl who was listening intently to Karen. She was new to the class too, and being Indian, we knew she was not going to be able to follow the lesson if Lao Shi was going to teach in Mandarin. That was our first meeting with Seema, our girl from India.
Amelia too, was new to class, and it was her canvas that Lao Shi was painting on. While Karen was doing translation, Amelia was nodding her head and making appropriate noises. The four of us naturally gravitated towards each other, being the newbies of the class and being forced to paint Really Ugly Orchids.
When class was over at 5.30pm, as we were packing up, we asked Seema and Amelia if they would like to have dinner with us. We didn't know where to eat, so we'd be exploring too. That was the start of a beautiful friendship, women of different ages, different characters and outlooks in life.
A rather odd quartet but bonded in friendship by our love for painting.
And now it looks like our quartet will become a trio. *sigh sadly*
Christmas Memories
We had an early Christmas Party at Seema's pad yesterday evening, all 4 of us Oil Painting Musketeers (Amelia, Karen, Seema and I)
We were supposed to have dinner at Swensons' but changed our mind and decided it was more cosy to buy dinner in and relax at Seema's. Seema bought sushi - Karen consented to have cooked prawn sushi with no seaweed, surprise, surprise (she hates the smell of seaweed) - then we went over to Burger King's to get packed meals.
After dinner, we got down to opening our presents. Seema would be going back to India to celebrate Christmas with her parents, so we thought, what the hey, we would open our gifts early, to see each other's reactions to the presents we had selected for them.
As usual, I took photos of the four of us, using the timer on my camera. Amelia wanted to learn how to use the timer on her camera and after giving her the basics, she carefully selected the 10second timer, stood and aimed at all of us, then depressed the button to take the photo. Then she placed the camera on the table and ran to her place, TOTALLY forgetting that the angle of the photo has changed - remember she stood to take aim, then set the camera on the table. Needless to say, her photo didn't look all that great. *grin*
Seema and I laughed so hard till tears dropped from our eyes, and STILL Amelia had no clue WHY we were both laughing so hard, and she was laughing herself as she slapped at our arms asking, "WHAT? WHAT? Stop laughing lah, WHY you laugh? What's so funny?" Karen too had no idea why we were laughing, but was laughing anyway because Seema and I were. When Seema and I finally pulled ourselves together, we explained to the other two, which set off yet another round of helpless laughter.
It is a good memory to have, one that I'll keep for the rest of my life.
Perhaps we laughed so hard because this may the last Christmas Seema will celebrate with us. She's accepted a job posting to Dubai, and may move there in January.
When she told us in the afternoon, I think we were all stunned. Somehow, you always think our time with each other will last forever, but of course, we knew Seema's stay in Singapore was limited - we just didn't know she would leave us so soon. Karen said she saw Amelia wipe away some tears, while I was just stunned into silence. I think we all felt we were just punched in the chest by the news. Seema's not left Singapore yet, but we feel the loss already.
We were supposed to have dinner at Swensons' but changed our mind and decided it was more cosy to buy dinner in and relax at Seema's. Seema bought sushi - Karen consented to have cooked prawn sushi with no seaweed, surprise, surprise (she hates the smell of seaweed) - then we went over to Burger King's to get packed meals.
After dinner, we got down to opening our presents. Seema would be going back to India to celebrate Christmas with her parents, so we thought, what the hey, we would open our gifts early, to see each other's reactions to the presents we had selected for them.
As usual, I took photos of the four of us, using the timer on my camera. Amelia wanted to learn how to use the timer on her camera and after giving her the basics, she carefully selected the 10second timer, stood and aimed at all of us, then depressed the button to take the photo. Then she placed the camera on the table and ran to her place, TOTALLY forgetting that the angle of the photo has changed - remember she stood to take aim, then set the camera on the table. Needless to say, her photo didn't look all that great. *grin*
Seema and I laughed so hard till tears dropped from our eyes, and STILL Amelia had no clue WHY we were both laughing so hard, and she was laughing herself as she slapped at our arms asking, "WHAT? WHAT? Stop laughing lah, WHY you laugh? What's so funny?" Karen too had no idea why we were laughing, but was laughing anyway because Seema and I were. When Seema and I finally pulled ourselves together, we explained to the other two, which set off yet another round of helpless laughter.
It is a good memory to have, one that I'll keep for the rest of my life.
Perhaps we laughed so hard because this may the last Christmas Seema will celebrate with us. She's accepted a job posting to Dubai, and may move there in January.
When she told us in the afternoon, I think we were all stunned. Somehow, you always think our time with each other will last forever, but of course, we knew Seema's stay in Singapore was limited - we just didn't know she would leave us so soon. Karen said she saw Amelia wipe away some tears, while I was just stunned into silence. I think we all felt we were just punched in the chest by the news. Seema's not left Singapore yet, but we feel the loss already.
Friday, December 18, 2009
I must learn to be less accommodating.
What a day.
I spent the morning doing the maid's money transfer back to Indonesia, from going to the bank to withdraw the money, to going to the post office to have it sent off through Western Union. And after we did all that (I wondered at the unseemly rush) the maid tells me, oh, today is a public holiday in Indonesia, they don't work on Saturday and Sunday, so the earliest her family can access the money is on Monday.
Instead of having to run around madly, trying to complete MY errands as well as see to the maid's request, I could have pushed that money transfer to Monday, and then life would have gone on a nice, even pace.
*sigh*
I truly wonder at the Maid's Mental Capacity.
Perhaps the lesson I should take away from this is:
I am not a slave to the maid, nor to anyone else except myself.
I should see to MY needs first.
I should remember that this maid has no cow sense, and therefore I need to ASK and QUESTION thoroughly, before I plan to do any running around, and that HER stuff had better fit in with MY time, and not the other way around.
I am too obliging.
I have too many lessons to learn. *bleah*
I spent the morning doing the maid's money transfer back to Indonesia, from going to the bank to withdraw the money, to going to the post office to have it sent off through Western Union. And after we did all that (I wondered at the unseemly rush) the maid tells me, oh, today is a public holiday in Indonesia, they don't work on Saturday and Sunday, so the earliest her family can access the money is on Monday.
Instead of having to run around madly, trying to complete MY errands as well as see to the maid's request, I could have pushed that money transfer to Monday, and then life would have gone on a nice, even pace.
*sigh*
I truly wonder at the Maid's Mental Capacity.
Perhaps the lesson I should take away from this is:
I am not a slave to the maid, nor to anyone else except myself.
I should see to MY needs first.
I should remember that this maid has no cow sense, and therefore I need to ASK and QUESTION thoroughly, before I plan to do any running around, and that HER stuff had better fit in with MY time, and not the other way around.
I am too obliging.
I have too many lessons to learn. *bleah*
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Framing a Painting
Yesterday I went with a close friend, Agnes, to have our paintings framed.
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She'd bought quite a few from her recent holiday in China, and she also wanted a painting of mine framed as well (she asked to have the painting of The Little Monk and I happily obliged)
I too decided I wanted ONE painting of mine framed, since it is the only one I don't cringe while looking at it. I painted 2 dogs on a door step (stoop? Front of main door, is that a stoop?), and while I was painting it, Old Master HOVERED around it, making suggestions time and again, and attempting to paint my picture to show me what he wanted me to do. Ungrateful student that I am, I know if he touches my painting, I'll never touch it again. So while the painting looks okay, the technique leaves way, way much to be desired. It isn't painted the oil-painting way, but more the water-colour way Even the framer thought it was a water colour. *sigh sadly* At that point I wondered if it was any good framing the painting. It costs S$60 to box-frame it - sort of the painting is "suspended" within a frame, and the border between the frame and painting is empty.
What do I do with the rest of my paintings? They're all rolled up and chucked into one corner.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Bashing about DOES result!
Oh JOY!
I figured out how to change the blooming date.
My posts kept showing the wrong day and date, so I figured I need to get this sorted out.
My bashing about works WONDERFULLY and I don't need to ask the RCE how to do this and that.
I can do that all by myself.
Hah!
I figured out how to change the blooming date.
My posts kept showing the wrong day and date, so I figured I need to get this sorted out.
My bashing about works WONDERFULLY and I don't need to ask the RCE how to do this and that.
I can do that all by myself.
Hah!
Morning People, Night People
I don't care what Adam Khoo says about energising yourself.
If you don't get enough sleep, you'd be EXHAUSTED and no amount of energizing is going to work if you're constantly EXHAUSTED.
There are so many things to take into account - whether you're a morning person or nocturnal (I forgot what the day people are called), whether you can catnap anywhere, anytime, anyhow (the NS Boys have got THAT down pat) whether your outlook in life is optimistic or pessimistic, or just plain bored-with-life, whether the topic interests you etc.
And different people have differing energy levels at different times of the day.
What Adam Khoo can do with his energizing is only for the short term. He conducts courses that are pretty eye-opening, but terribly exhausting (start at 9am, finish at 2am the next day, come back to class again at 9am and go back again at those Godawful Hours, for 4 days straight). After that kind of pace, I'd CRASH for the next 4 days. And I did. This old body can't take this kind of punishment no more *grin*
For the record, I'm a NIGHT person. Days are groggy and nothing creative or productive gets going. Nights, however, is PARTY time. Actually, I get pretty creative in the late evenings, which is why dinner is delicious. Lunch always sucks, I'm too zoned out still, and that's why lunch is eaten outside. *giggle*
Having said that, I'm still able to energize myself the way Adam Khoo says we should. If we have a driving holiday to Malaysia, I'm the first one up, and make sure all the things are loaded up, the house is shut properly, the kids are safely strapped in, and I'm the driver. We leave for our holiday at 4am, to beat the traffic and to get the most out of the day.
So I CAN be a morning person, if needs be. Adrenaline works. ALWAYS. *grin* But you crash and burn after.
If you don't get enough sleep, you'd be EXHAUSTED and no amount of energizing is going to work if you're constantly EXHAUSTED.
There are so many things to take into account - whether you're a morning person or nocturnal (I forgot what the day people are called), whether you can catnap anywhere, anytime, anyhow (the NS Boys have got THAT down pat) whether your outlook in life is optimistic or pessimistic, or just plain bored-with-life, whether the topic interests you etc.
And different people have differing energy levels at different times of the day.
What Adam Khoo can do with his energizing is only for the short term. He conducts courses that are pretty eye-opening, but terribly exhausting (start at 9am, finish at 2am the next day, come back to class again at 9am and go back again at those Godawful Hours, for 4 days straight). After that kind of pace, I'd CRASH for the next 4 days. And I did. This old body can't take this kind of punishment no more *grin*
For the record, I'm a NIGHT person. Days are groggy and nothing creative or productive gets going. Nights, however, is PARTY time. Actually, I get pretty creative in the late evenings, which is why dinner is delicious. Lunch always sucks, I'm too zoned out still, and that's why lunch is eaten outside. *giggle*
Having said that, I'm still able to energize myself the way Adam Khoo says we should. If we have a driving holiday to Malaysia, I'm the first one up, and make sure all the things are loaded up, the house is shut properly, the kids are safely strapped in, and I'm the driver. We leave for our holiday at 4am, to beat the traffic and to get the most out of the day.
So I CAN be a morning person, if needs be. Adrenaline works. ALWAYS. *grin* But you crash and burn after.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
My Time is Precious
How can I put across a point to people who are so incredibly BORING and yet be polite about it?
I'm sure you've all come across people like that - they talk in CIRCLES and Beat about the Bush and after 10 minutes of talking ad nauseum, you still have NO CLUE what they're trying to say? *shake head*
These are the people who will waste your precious time.
Not that I'm a nit-picky time keeper, but I'm at the age where I suddenly see Death as just pacing beside me (no, I'm not dying of terminal illness, touch wood, just terminal boredom) and hence my tagline : Living My Life With Arms Wide Open.
Time has become a precious commodity, and although SOME people might call it wasting time, I do like to sit at the beach and contemplate. Or just vegetate. Hey, even go-getters need time out, and believe me, being a sociable person requires a lot of energy.
Which is why I resent having to politely listen to people who cannot get to the point, and who they themselves admit they're not sure WHAT they're trying to say.
AND THESE PEOPLE STILL DON'T KNOW WHEN TO SHUT UP!
Something I learnt from watching Bambi from Disney -
If you haven't anything nice to say, don't say nothing at all.
I'm sure you've all come across people like that - they talk in CIRCLES and Beat about the Bush and after 10 minutes of talking ad nauseum, you still have NO CLUE what they're trying to say? *shake head*
These are the people who will waste your precious time.
Not that I'm a nit-picky time keeper, but I'm at the age where I suddenly see Death as just pacing beside me (no, I'm not dying of terminal illness, touch wood, just terminal boredom) and hence my tagline : Living My Life With Arms Wide Open.
Time has become a precious commodity, and although SOME people might call it wasting time, I do like to sit at the beach and contemplate. Or just vegetate. Hey, even go-getters need time out, and believe me, being a sociable person requires a lot of energy.
Which is why I resent having to politely listen to people who cannot get to the point, and who they themselves admit they're not sure WHAT they're trying to say.
AND THESE PEOPLE STILL DON'T KNOW WHEN TO SHUT UP!
Something I learnt from watching Bambi from Disney -
If you haven't anything nice to say, don't say nothing at all.
This is like a diary, and typically, I keep forgetting to write in mine.
Actually, I'm not too sure how I'm going to upload this, having quite forgotten what Joanne taught us all at Blogging Class (Yes, yes, we parents are QUITE the duh-sotongs when it comes to these techno stuff) but anyway, lets see if my usual bashing about results in something.
I'm rather inspired by my niece Eelyn and her blog - thelongsearch.blogspot - and about her travels around the world. She's a writer with Reuters, how cool is that? Getting paid to yap on whatever, whenever. *grin* Although I'm pretty sure she wouldn't quite put it like that.
Also, the husband has been going on about Internet Marketing and how blogs can be used to get started ... I'm not sure about the Internet Marketing bit, but hey, I might as well start on something that's relatively achieveable - which is to start writing in the blog. The more I practice, the more I'll be savvy ... I hope.
Actually, I'm not too sure how I'm going to upload this, having quite forgotten what Joanne taught us all at Blogging Class (Yes, yes, we parents are QUITE the duh-sotongs when it comes to these techno stuff) but anyway, lets see if my usual bashing about results in something.
I'm rather inspired by my niece Eelyn and her blog - thelongsearch.blogspot - and about her travels around the world. She's a writer with Reuters, how cool is that? Getting paid to yap on whatever, whenever. *grin* Although I'm pretty sure she wouldn't quite put it like that.
Also, the husband has been going on about Internet Marketing and how blogs can be used to get started ... I'm not sure about the Internet Marketing bit, but hey, I might as well start on something that's relatively achieveable - which is to start writing in the blog. The more I practice, the more I'll be savvy ... I hope.
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