Count Your Blessings

Last week, I attended the wake of a colleague from NYP. I have not met him before as he was already on medical leave when I joined NYP. But through brief sessions MSN few months ago, I talked to him and found out that he contracted 3rd stage stomach cancer, at the age of 33. He also had the whole of his stomach removed and will be undergoing chemotherapy. I remembered that I told him about my mum's condition and encouraged him to stay positive and strong.

Cancer, is a terrible disease. If one is lucky, you may discover it at early stage and one can be completely cured without going through tedious and costly chemotherapy. But cancer can be hereditary and some cancers are virtually symptom-less until they reached late stages and there are simply no medical checkups that can detect them early such as brain or liver cancer. Even for stomach and colon cancer, they can be easily mistaken as day to day illnesses like gastric and indigestion unless one goes for endoscopy or colonscopy.

Although I have not seen this colleague face to face, I was really very sad to see him go so suddenly. He has two very young kids less than 3 years old and it must be very difficult for his family to cope with his departure.

To all...Eat healthy, exercise regularly and relieve yourself from everyday stresses. Stress and cancer has a very strong correlation. Encourage your parents for colonscopy as colon cancer is the LEADING cancer killer in Singapore. Do cherish the ones you love and count your blessings everyday. In any case, we are very lucky to be healthy and well today.

Scrapbook Galore

The term break for polytechnic is finally ending.. and I have had a fulfilling week shopping, cleaning up the house and ... SCRAPBOOKING! It has been so long since I indulge in it that i lost control. Anyway I feel that every single scrap I make, I learn something new on how to improve it...hope one day my skills will get really polished..Here are my proud creations.

Plans are to give some to my sister and the rest will be hanging them on my cupboard in school. When the kids stressed me out, I really need something to look on and relax =P

Ways to Tie a Survivor Buff

After the season #17 of Survivor: Gabon ended last Friday, I was left not only amazed by Bob's magical immunity challenge wins, it was also interesting to see how individuals use their creativity to use the Survivor buff.

The most common way is probably to use it as a head or chest bandera which can double up as a sweat band or a tube. But good old Bob, the Physics Teacher became the first in Survivor history used it as a bow tie for almost the entire 39 days on Gabon. Maybe that is how he created a respectable and gentlemanly image for himself on the show. And he really did have these traits and hence why so many fans, including me, love his fatherly image!

If I am a Survivor? I will make it into a long scarf over my neck and create a fashion statement on CBS TV. And then, I will probably die of extreme heat stroke first before winning anything. Haha...!

Go West

Calling all westerners! Listen up!

The new Jurong Point is now open! When I first visited there last week, there is only one word that can describe the new shopping mall. SCARY! There are like tons of streaming people, the new JP2 is as big as JP1 (yes!), which means it is now double the size of the original JP. What's more exciting is that westerners no longer have to put up with the poor selection of shops in the old JP.

We are now having alfresco restaurants like New York New York, Dian Xiao Er, Ding Tai Feng, Ji De Chi Deserts, Fig & Olive, BK, Bakerzin etc etc which we can only used to dream of in the west. And my favourite? Lai Lai Niu Rou Mee which can only be found in Liang Seah Street for the past ten years!

I really cannot say enough of the variety of shops there, from fashion to accessories to beauty salons, the selection is really gorgeous. There is even a NTUC Xtra which is 24hours, like the one in AMK Hub. You will have to go there and experience yourself..With the atrouciously packed public transport nowadays, it really make sense now to do all my shopping in JP than in town. Horray!

I can still remember my excitement when JP1 opens when I was 14. That is 14 years ago. Yet, it is still the same excitement I am feeling now, no less than the past =)

Heaven on Earth

3 months after my rest from scraps, I am finally back.

This time I have decided to follow through my design process and all the way up to completion. Not a fresh design though, but clean job using all of my old materials. And new photos too, those took at Henderson Waves.. like those photos a lot.

This is going to replace the scrap that is currently in my office, which I do think is rather poorly done. Yeah a new art piece at my desk!

Sugar Baby!

For the first time this pin up model looked so angelic to me.

Sugar, the unlikely winner of Survivor: Gabon, was always being looked down upon in the group of survivors. She went to Exile island 5 record times, was always not picked as tribe member, and has never won a reward nor immunity challenge. Yes. That's how physically and mentally weak she is.

Yet, in the 13th episode last night, she revealed her kind-hearted soul and admiration for Matt and Bob, whom she thinks are worthy of winning this game. She is totally different from the Sugar we know on the first day. She cried in front of Matt and Bob (yeah, a typical style of a pin up model) to ask them to vote against the "rascals" of the game - Crystal and Kenny, and GAVE UP her immunity idol for Matty even though she knows he is one of the biggest threat of the game! She wanted the good guys to win and not just go with the flow to vote the strong members out.

Well she is now in the final 5, it could just her strategy. But she sure does touch my heart.

Run My Own Race

Just 10 hours ago, I completed my third 10km run in my life. This year, there were many differences from SCSM 2007:

(1) Due to the construction of Marina Integrated Resort and completion of Marina Barrage, the original route which is covered with raintrees at Marina Bay was changed to an alternative route along AYE. My god, that is a real killer not only because of the glaring sun, the noise from the construction sites, the path was uphill most of the time.

(2) Due to economic crisis (I suspect!) the drinking stations were downgraded. There used to be many stations proving ice cold 100 plus but today most of the stalls supplied only "Ice Mountain" mineral water.

(3) I had ample warm up before the race, as Desmond was participating in the earlier race which starts at 730am. As we were late, we ran all the way from Peninsula Plaza to Esplanade and that gave me a good kick-start.

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this year's run. Some of the runners have really motivational messages on why they are running, pinned to the back of their jerseys. And some of them really touched me with their determinations:

(1) We are running for XXX. He is now fighting cancer.

(2) I am 50 this year. It is now or never.

(3) I feel good with men chasing me.

I was initially worried about my knees aching during the run, but it was my upper thighs which gave me the most problems today, despite having warmed up reasonably well =(. My main focus was to continue running and not let the surrounding runners and cramping thighs demoralise me.

And of course, you are my inspiration and motivation to complete the race =)

Everlasting Destinee

A Lee Hwa Jewellery Brochure, a green table mat, old flowers and a glass mug. What does that give you? 14 stalks of everlasting tulips!

This is the first time I made artificial flowers, and the idea came from a colleague's desk in school. Using recycled material, I improvised on the scrap material I can find at home plus some supplements from bookshops --> and there you have it! All for less than $10.

I really like the lace details and crystal embellishment at the Bear's lace, they seem to give the vase a touch of class and elegance =)

Hope you like it, because you are my Everlasting DEStinee =)