I chanced upon a few pictures from a couple weeks ago.

Went ECP with Sindy, Melvyn and Boo.
It was Boo’s first time at a beach!
And her worst nightmare – WAVES.
Every time the waves come near her, she’d bark like crazy.

To all those who are concerned about Boo and I,
we’re doing well!
Maliboo is getting a little too barkish though.
And I wonder if there are anyone of you who has solutions for it.
She barks when people walk pass my door.
Barks when someone slams the door.
Barks at the slightest noise.
And it’s really annoying at times
(especially in the mornings when I’m still asleep!)
PLEASE – tell me how I can help make her less excited and barkish.

Other than that, I love her to bits.
She’s a little terror but I know she loves me.
:)

I’ve got two new posters -
one with Marilyn Monroe, the other with Audrey Hepburn.
And my room is really becoming like a Marilyn Monroe temple.
LOL.

I love the posters to bits though.
So pretty! :)

Chinese New Year is just round the corner.
But honestly, I’m not feeling the mood at all.
In fact, I just feel like staying home with Maliboo tomorrow.
Even reunion dinner sounds boring to me. Sigh.
Doesn’t make it better when I’m like having a horrible breakout now.
Bleah. This really sucks.
But oh well, Happy New Year to you guys anyway.

Happy Holidays.

Another week to the Chinese New Year.

Aren’t you girls excited?

A new excuse to shop for clothes,

and have new stuff to wear everyday (for that 3 days at least)!

Check out TROOOPS for their new dresses.

In rich hues like purple and red,

and even black that will make you look totally glamarous this New Year,

this collection is not to be missed!

Hit on this link to start a virtual shopping spree now!
TROOOPS

I went to the photo exhibition “Days with My Father” few days ago.
I love the pictures, and the story behind them too of course.

:)

My mum died suddenly on September 4th, 2006.

After she died, I realised how much she’d been shielding me from my father’s mental state.
He doesn’t have alzheimers, but he has no short-term memory, and is often lost.

I took him to my mother’s funeral, and to the burial,
but when we got home, he’d ask me every 15-20 minutes where my mother was.
I’d explain carefully that she had died, and we’ve been to her funeral.

This was shocking news to him.

Why had no one told him?
Why hadn’t I taken him to the funeral?
Why hadn’t he visited her in the hospital?

He had no memory of these events.

After a while, I realised I couldn’t keep telling him that his wife had died.
He didn’t remember and it was killing both of us,
to re-live her death constantly.

I decided to tell him she’s gone to Paris, to take care of her brother, who was sick.

And that’s where she is now.
This exhibition is part of a journal.
An ongoing record of my father, and of our relationship.
For whatever days we have left together.

I asked my father to look in the mirror, while I took his photograph.

Now, the things you have to realise about my dad is that
he was a very handsome man when he was young.
When people talk about ‘film star handsome’, well, that was my dad.
In fact, he WAS a film star (of sorts), in Hollywood, during the 1930′s.

So when he looks in the mirror, he sees a man ravaged,
a man no longer beautiful,
and that upsets him deeply.

You see, he’s still vain at 98.
In fact, his vanity can be quite extraordinary.

I tried to take him to the doctor a few months ago, but on the way out,
he caught a glimpse of himself in the hall mirror.

He was so horrified wit his appearance, that he refuse to leave the house until
I found a ‘black pencil’ to dye his white hair with..

I find these scraps of writing all over the house…
they are a glimpse into his mind,
the disquiet he tries to hide from me.

Where is everyone.

What’s going on.

How lost he feels.

My dad spends enormous amounts of time in the toilet.

Because he has no short term memory, he can be in there for 2-3 hours at a time.

It’s both heartbreaking, and infuriating.

He’ll do his business, then stand up, and as he’s putting on his pants,
say, “Wait a second – I have to go”

If you try and reason wit him, and explain that he’s just gone,
he’ll look at you as if you’re an idiot…

Eating is often a miserable experience.

I realise now why my mother cooked the same meals over and over,
towards the end of her life.

They were the only things my father would eat.

The ONLY thing he’ll eat with any regularity is eggs.
Scrambled eggs, egg salad, egg-drop soup from the local chinese.
He eats insane amounts of eggs.

And yet, when I took him to the doctor recently, his cholesterol was down!

Maybe there are health benefits to an all-eggs diet!

Because my parents had me so late,
my dad was essentially retired when I was growing up.

But for my ambitious, driven father, he wasn’t retired at all,
just working on his next career.

Being an artist.

I have so many memories of him listening to opera, sketching, painting, sculpting.

Although he doesn’t paint anymore, he still sees.
He still has the artistic impulse.

He was admiring the sunset, saying that he could make a ‘whole series’ of paintings
around those wonderful colours…

The urge is still there, even if the physical ability is not..

This sums up everything about my father.

It’s who he is, and it’s what’s left.
Ambition.

As a child, I grew up on stories of my father’s daring in the business world.

For him, everything was always possible.

A few months ago, we were reading the paper together.
He was engrossed in the novelist Sidney Sheldon’s obituary,
and it mentioned that he’d record books into a tape recorder,
producing work at a prolific rate.

My dad turned to me, and said, “We could do that!”

He always pushed me to do better, to work harder.

It actually made me a little crazy.

And now, it’s the one question he always asks me.

What am I doing in my career? How am I furthering myself?

Nothing cheers up my dad, like stories of my success.
So if he’s down, or obsessing about something,
I’ll immediately conjure up a blossoming career.

I’m shooting for The New York Times. The New Yorker.
Multi-million dollar advertising campaigns.

Sometimes it’s true, sometimes not.

But it doesn’t matter.

The important thing is to fill him with as much joy as I can.

His face bursts with happiness.

He’ll say “I have to tell ALL my friends, my son is famous!”

I found one of my dad’s films.

It’s a Charlie Chan detective story, shot in the 30′s.

We watched it together this afternoon.
(That’s him on the right)

I don’t think he’d seen it since it was made.

He told me that he was too young to grow the required pencil mustache,
so he had to have it ‘glued on’.

It’s amazing to see my dad, not as my father,
but as a young man.

Vigorous, lucid, filled with life.

Me, my mother, our lives together,
all shrouded in the vast unknown before him…

Sometimes, when we’re talking,

my dad will stop, and sigh,
and close his eyes.

It’s then that I know, that he knows.

About my mum.

About everything.

Okay, that was quite a good workout for my fat fingers.

I hope you guys enjoy the photos and the story.

Goodnight world.

Good day, folks.
How has the day been for you guys?

This week has been full or ups and downs for me.
Subject matters aren’t really settled in school yet.
And they are really driving me nuts.

You know I really hate doing all the administrative stuff -
paying bills, making official calls or whatever so.
I just don’t like doing them at all.
Thankfully, I got the help from my mentor in school.
He has been a great help, and great motivation too.

I think I need to motivate myself more, especially towards school.
Very often, we’re really just all alone in this world.
Just gotta learn to deal with things alone, whether we like it or not.
Am I right?

There is a new exhibition in town.
Museum of Broken Relationships.
And I visited it a couple days ago.

Museum of Broken Relationships

“The museum has everything from romantic and touching letters
to different gifts given to lovers like teddy bears and photos,
but also such unusual examples as leg prothesis
donated by a war veteran who fell in love with his physiotherapist
or a gall stone.
Every single object on display is anonymous,
and has a short description of the item
related to the relationship that was behind.

That’s why it could be therapeutic for those with newly broken hearts.”

I really enjoyed myself at the exhibition.
I read about stories of broken marriages,
and those who lost their loved ones to death.
It is painful to know, that all that remained from these relationships
are just these momentos of love.
And to try to imagine the intense emotions of these people breaking up.
It made me believe that there are really worse things compared to
these break ups people like us go through.
Others are dealing with life and death,
and putting an end to relationships that had lasted decades.
Therapeutical, indeed.

If you just had your heart broken, then you should really check it out.

The exhibition ends tomorrow.
18 January 2009.
It is at Jendela (Visual Arts Studio) in the Esplanade.
Opens until 8.30pm daily.

Oh well, since we’re already on this topic,
I chanced upon this adorable website.

Ex Boyfriend Jewelry

This one allows you to sell or exchange anything your ex boyfriend gave you.
Those that you don’t want to keep, and there’s no way he’s gonna get it back.
Hahaha! Oh man, this is so cute.
I wonder which angry mademoiselle came up with this one :)
Interesting.

I caught a couple of really good shows too!
“Before Sunrise” by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy on DVD.
I’ve gotten “Before Sunset” but has yet to watch it.
This show is super nice.
It shows nothing but the magical connection that could take place
between two complete strangers.
The courage and blind faith to go on an adventure almost unknown to you.
Doing something you’d normally never do
and to know for sure what will happen,
rather than to live your life guessing what might have been.

I watched “Milk” by Sean Penn too.
I have to admit that it makes me somewhat uncomfortable to see
James Franco kissing Sean Penn.
But it becomes easier on the eye as the show proceeds after I’ve gotten used to it.
Haha!
It is a great show though – depicting the life of Harvey Milk and his struggles.

My life seems so boring, isn’t it? Haha.
Going to school and exhibitions.
Checking out websites to see
what other boyfriends have been giving their girlfriends.
Couching all day to watch DVDs.
And like now, it’s a fine Saturday afternoon.
But I’m all alone at home with my dog,
blogging away while having my cold ham and beer for lunch.
Pathetic.

Seems like this entry has been way way overdue!

I hope Year 2009 has been treating you guys well.

:)

Here are some of the pretty clothes at BonitoChico,

they will surely be able to keep you grinning from ear to ear!

Remember to start stocking up your wardrobes for the Lunar New Year.

I’ve been fine.
School just started last week, and I’m already in week 2 of the new semester.
Oh well, school is as boring and dreadful as usual,
but I hope I’ll stay as true to my new year resolutions as possible.
Year 2009 doesn’t really seem very exciting afterall.

Everyone is just seeking temporary escapes,

for short-term happiness.

For this coming year, I hope all the people around me find joy.

Peace within themselves.

And love.

There are a couple blogshops featured on my blog selling apparels,

now here’s one to showcase handmade and exclusive accesories!

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