Friday, November 28, 2008 7:57 PM
Ive been away from work for two days, preparing for my trip to Turkey. It's exhausting. I was out from 11-7PM looking for things I need and buying them.
A week ago, my sister and I went for the briefing and we found out a lot of things on what to wear, what to bring and what to do over there. My sister and I bought some dry food like biscuits, cereals, 3-in-1 milk tea and some cup noodles (just in case). We went to my aunt's place to get some words of advice coz she went to Istanbul before. So we talked, together with my cousin and they share their experience with us. We borrowed some coats from them and also a small electric kettle coz apparently most of the hotels do not have electric kettles and I need my daily dose of hot water before I sleep.
After that we went to Sheng Siong to get all the food and we were basically carrying lots of things with only 2 pairs of hands. We took the bus and I should have rented a car.
We went home to deposit all the stuff and went out to Tampines Mall to get watever else we need and at Isetan they have some month-end sale going on and I have been wanting this decorative thing you hang on the handphone for so long and I finally bought for myself one. Here it is:
I love the fact that there's a soccer ball and my name are in girlish colours of sky blue and pink and the alphabets are all "wearing" crowns! The soccer ball just adds an edge to the girlish-ness.
So today we continue on our "expedition" of getting all the extra winter clothings that we need by going to Winter Time at Eastpoint. I spent a lot!!! Just thinking about it makes me sad. So maybe I should put aside those thoughts and look forward to the trip instead.
Sunday, November 23, 2008 8:55 PM
Just 12 more days and I will be out of Singapore. The thought just excites me. I can't wait.
My sister and I went for the briefing today and we learnt a lot of things. Like how we have to pay to use the toilet. Makes you appreciate Singapore huh? And the fact that we have to drink only mineral water as tap water is not safe for consumption just irritates me because I will spending a lot of money on bottles and bottles of water.
Money...is still a little teeny weeny problem. I really have to work this one out.
Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:46 PM
The last time the recession came to Singapore, I was still in school. I can't exactly remember when but it was probably when I was in the first year of poly. I was not thinking about how in deep trouble the economy was and what was retrenchment and yada-yada.
But now that I am working, the fear starts to creep in. There's no such things as 'safe', and 'trust'.
I'm not sure if it is a good move however I have been looking for a job. At this moment, my heart can't take a banking job. It's stressful. It seemed like everyone is out to get you. Furthermore, I really really need to move on...for myself, not for anyone else.
I'm not happy anymore and am not enjoying my job. I have been feeling this way for at least 4 months.
I hope Allah will answer my prayers and give me a job that I will be happy doing. Something I look forward to and happy waking up to. I long for that.
Sunday, November 16, 2008 10:42 PM
I kinda forced myself to go to South Beach today knowing that I should take the opportunity of making full use of my $10 ticket.
Cheo, Chai Hiang
Teh Tarik (Courting After School 1950s Style)
The texts in this art by Chai Hiang are from Singapore Cultural Medallion winner Yeng Pway Ngon’s
Little Incidents: Between Me and Myself, a Chinese Singaporean novel about they shy thoughts of a young boy and a girl as they make their way back home from school in the 1950s. The installation in itself has possible substantive meanings. Language, dialogue, translation, loss, poetry and inter-culturalism in Singapore can figure in the work depending on one’s perspective.
Heman Chong
Teardrop
Cobangbang, Lena
Terrible Landscapes
Cobangbang recreates newspaper photographs of disaster into detailed maquettes using left over food. She then photographs and blows them up to a size that appropriates landscape photography. Spoiled food and left overs are the primary source of material of Lena Cobangbang’s maquettes of disaster.
I certainly did not realise that her pieces were made of food.
Hair Salon
Erlich, Leandro
This installation by Erlich is devised so that when you look into the mirror on the wall it appears as if the room is reflected in the mirror, but in fact, there is an identical room that has been created symmetrically behind the mirror. The mirror is used as a trick, a devise to surprise people and to pose an interesting question about reality and illusion. It shows us what one thinks is an illusion is actually real and that there is only a fine line between them.
This is the installation that I was looking forward to. I was surprised when I peered in the “mirror” and saw a girl walk into the room. I looked behind and she was not there and then I realised that she was on the other side of the room.
Beauty and the Beast
Rashid, Layla Juma A.
Beauty and the Beast are a series of photographs of images of sculptures made of chewing gum. Knowing its property (gum when chewed and softened, turns into a very flexible material), Layla has transformed ‘chewing gum’, usually considered useless and discarded after being chewed, into something of value through her means of artistic expression.
If you ask me, I’d say it’s pretty disgusting.
The Dancer
Tan, Truong
The Dancer is an enormous installation with enough girth and vibrancy to eclipse the entire corner of a room. Despite the imposing mass of the piece, Tan’s interweaving lines of multicoloured cord stretch the eponymous dancer’s body across all directions. One can imagine The Dancer morphing into a variety of other objects, adding to its potential, outside of its obvious form.
Private Moon
Tishkov, Leonid
Private Moon is a visual poem about a moon that has descended from the sky and is living a peaceful existence with a man (the artist himself). The idea of a moon as a pet (or a lover) is humorous fantasy and it could be read as a joke, a romantic reverie, or perhaps a phantasmagoria (means a shifting series of phantasm, illusions, or deceptive appearances, as in a dream or as created by the imagination. definition from dictionary.com).
Swing
Tse, Su-Mei
Saturday, November 15, 2008 11:50 PM
We were walking down the road where two months ago, the sound of the F1 cars would deafen our ears. But instead tonight was quiet, almost peaceful. I kept on looking at the road, not sure of what I was looking at. I think I was probably imagining how it was like two months ago.
We took some pictures and Nur gladly post for one. Because of my unwillingness to resize the photos before uploading, I made it into a mini scrapbook with very dark photos from my camera phone...
Friday, November 14, 2008 10:03 PM
It was my first Biennale and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I've heard of how the last Biennale in 2006 was a huge success and was maybe expecting too much. Yanping jio me so I thought 'why not?'
I've captured some photos on the interesting ones...and those that I could understand:
Operation Supermarket
Moshiri, Farhad & Aliabadi, Shirin
Operation Supermarket is a series of photographs of common daily products and food sold in Iranian supermarkets, that through digital manipulation have been given critical meanings. In both positive and negative ways, these products are symbols of our affluent and comfortable society. The meaning varies depending on the environment of the viewer.
It's up to you on how you look at it.
Teratoma II: Digmaan ng mga Mundo (Teratoma II: War of the Worlds)
New, Leeroy
Much like a science fiction writer who imagines utopias or dystopias, New's future world is full of alien beings arriving on earty , a retro nightmare of the 20th century, that allows his imagery to straddle both the past and the future, while still being caught in the concerns of the present.
It's really amzing how he installed this piece where the top of the Supreme Court shows...its like part of the installation. I believed Yanping as soon as she told me this but then she told me that she was just kidding.
Maggots
Pham, Ngoc Duong
Pham likens looking at the giant maggots as to when one peers through a microscope and sees that millimetre-sized creatures have grown in size. Under a magnifying glass, we see things for what they are: translucent, milky white creatures, each section crawling, curling, rising, and lowering with its mouth hooks piercing and tearing into tissue. Breeding in flesh, the presence of maggots signals the rotting of their host's body. This mataphor for corruption within a system is characterstic of Pham's work.
Singapore
Pimkanchanapong, Wit
Layers and layers of stickers made it so difficult for Yanping and me to locate SP. We thought we could make our mark there. Serves us right for only making our way there so late into the festival. The map of Singapore is 90% covered...so we decided that we should stick to Changi Airport.
I Wonder Why?
Prasad, Srinivasa
The room was filed with scooters, urns, benches and various sculptures and it was dark and kinda eerie. I wanted to get out of there was fast as I could. Images of fire are projected on the four surrounding walls so that it looks as if the room is a place enclosed in flames.
Bachelor - The Dual Body
Rhee, Ki-Bong
A book of philosophy floats around in this aquarium, in a closed, isolated environment. The book is made of leather so that it can endure long periods in the water The book will neither rise to the surface or sink to the bottom due to the currents of the water. His art reference the current crises of modern civilization, but he is not directy criticising the state of things. Instead, he makes perceptive allusions, using them to search for a universal sense of values that can assimilate both materialistic and spritual viewpoints.
Thursday, November 13, 2008 10:46 PM
Life seens like a series of endless questions and you have to figure one thing out before you can take the next step.
My mind is like thousand of wires trying to find the other end and I can't seem to make a decision and then do it. I keep changing my mind, thinking that it is not viable and sometimes I give up.
If only life is easier.
Monday, November 10, 2008 8:50 PM
2009 is nearing and I think that I should start making changes in my life. I'm gonna start with snipping off my hair...well more like chopping it off. I'm doing that on the weekend.
I have quite a number of plans for myself next year i don't remember being this excited about a whole new year. First off I am really going to take either French or German or Spanish class. I've been wanting to do so for I dunno how many years and Im going to make sure this happens next year.
I;m sure there are more than I want to do. The next time i log in, i prolly will have another list of "To-Dos".
Sunday, November 09, 2008 9:03 PM
At this time last week I was anticipating the F1...by sleeping and waking up two hours later so that I won't feel sleepy during the race. Today...I want to sleep and then wake up at 6AM to start another week of routine work and endless mind boggling questions on whether I should leave now or later.
I can't stand the work anymore and my patience with one of the RMs have come up to my limit and I find that I couldn't bear it anymore. I'm sick of serving customers who are unappreciative and demanding. I'm so not motivated with what is happening at work and who said that I need to do more than I should. So my team of RMs are not performing so she thinks that I could afford to support one more. What she doesn't know is the fact that one of the RMs is driving me nuts. I wish I can just tell the RM to back off. Just because you're nice to me saying sorry and all that crap, you think I'm going to give in and do all the work that you don't like to do? Serving and calling and answering phonecalls from all the customers that you find leceh and you don't like? You're the damn RM so let me tell you that they are your customers and I'm just supporting you. I report sales that I don't get some percentage from so you think that by being nice to me and I should be nice to you too?
I think it's time for me to step up my game and start telling all those RMs off. It's time to be fierce and not let them step on my head!
Saturday, November 08, 2008 8:36 PM
It was never easy for me to put across ideas that I have inside my head. It was difficult to tell the people who are so important in my life what I want and why I want it. The first thing that will always pop in my mind is that they will never want to listen to what I have to say.
I have aspirations and ambitions that I want to achieve. I want it to happen and it seems like there are numerous and constant obstacles that I have to overcome just to get my point across. Maybe I don’t have the courage that I need to tell them.
David told me that I have to be sure of what I want and that I have to tell them about it. He said that I have to prepare what I want to say and make sure I have points to fight about if they were to come out with arguments. At this moment I feel like I really need this and it would probably be so much easier if I have someone doing it with me.
I know that I have responsibilities that are unavoidable but sometimes I think that I should think about myself, think about what I want and why I want it. I have lots to think about and if I am going through with it, then there will be so many burdens on my shoulders and it will be too big for me to carry.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008 11:12 PM
I can't help it. I switch on my laptop and I have a picture of him. Switch on my handphone and there's a picture of him. And now he has join Kimi and become part of my office decor.
I can't get enough of Fernando Alonso.
And I still feel for Massa. I was reading the Straits Times today about an article on how Hamilton have it all and he doesn't have to be a pizza delivery boy in order to get into the paddock. He's young and now he's a champion and has a popstar girlfriend...are Hamilton and Sherizinger gonna be the next Posh and Becks? Only time will tell.
Well, I'll be cheering Renault and my Fernando next year...can't wait!
11:11 PM
Things at work seem to be in a down trend. Responsibilities which weren’t mine are suddenly mine now and I have no choice but to take it. Just because someone did not do a good job in whatever they were supposed to do I automatically become the person who will take on that job.
It’s frustrating, demoralising and un-motivating especially when taking on this job may affect your current job scope.
It is things like this that makes me want to just give it all up.
Monday, November 03, 2008 11:02 PM
