Monday, June 22

#1 time to vote


For my very last photo for Project 365, I had my heart set on a dragon.


Not just any dragon, but the dragon playground of my childhood. I made my dad drive me bright and early around Ang Mo Kio on a dragon hunt.


Through the eye of the dragon.


Down the slide.


Into the belly of the dragon.

Now I need your help. I like all the five photos I took, but none of them particularly. Which should I pick for Project 365?

Sunday, June 21

seoul late

To my horror, I discovered a folder of snaps from Seoul that I'd yet to upload. Without further ado, they are.


Spider sculpture by an artist whose name eludes me at a museum which I can't recall the name of either.


On the grounds of a 15th century palace. (I'm keeping it vague because I can't be arsed to check its name.)


Krispy Kreme. 'Nuff said.


No cherry blossoms.


Midnight run to the supermarket which was filled with people.


Drink and drive.


Transformer: More than meets the eye.


Royal banquet. I still can't get enough of the Korean beef. But hold the kimchi please.

Friday, June 19

#2

After almost five months of ploughing through the stacks of books beside my bed, I can finally buy new books.

I wouldn't want to bore you with my plebian book reviews, but suffice to say that all those classics I never read were left unread all those years for a reason -- I am too much of a philistine to appreciate them.

Anna Karenina was a yawn (especially since I already knew how it would all go down), Vanity Fair enjoyable but long-winded, and I hated The Age Of Innocence so much the first time I read it that I blanked it out from my memory and thought it was an unread book on my list (when I starting reading it again, it all came back to me and I tossed the book aside with an "argh!")

The last of the 20 or so books I read -- in one insomniac fit a couple of nights ago -- was The Pianist (unsentimental, sparse and quite brilliant). For some reason, I had a movie tie-in book for a film I'd never even watched. Wouldn't mind watching it now, just because I enjoyed it so much.

Also on the list was Rabbit-Proof Fence (another book which was made into a movie I never saw), possibly the worst book I'd ever read. The story about the escape of two Aboriginal girls across the Australian outback should have been gripping, especially since it was a true tale. Unfortunately, the writing was so patchy and completely lacking in any form of coherence that it was a good thing that it was (a) thin enough to be done with in a day, (b) had an ending which was given away in the foreword, and (c) was on my list and thus I had to read it to its bitter end.

Notable mentions on the list include:
-- My Lover's Lover by Maggie O'Farrell: Not chick lit, but a suspense-love story which reminded me of Rebecca and had my stomach in knots (in a good way).
-- The Food Of Love: Chick lit with a culinary twist (surprisingly good though predictable, as all chick lit is).
-- You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers: The guy has a way with words.

But enough of my lousy book reviews.

Incidentally, there is this 15 book list circulating on Facebook, which I hardly dare to participate in. After all, my friends are casually dropping names like Goethe, Proust and Edward Said, and throwing in a couple of Judy Blumes or Lord Of The Rings so that they are not marked as literary snobs.

My list, on the other hand, would include The Faraway Tree, Adrian Mole, Haruki Murakami -- very fashionable these days to profess a love of Murakami, but I've gone off him, to be honest, him and his talking cats and men who love jazz and earlobes -- and, as such, isn't very impressive.

P.S. After completing this entry, I suddenly realised I had one more unread book on the list: Zadie Smith's Autograph Man. Ooops. I'll get cracking on it pronto.

Friday, June 5

#14


Paula Begoun - You Dont Need an Eye Cream - The best video clips are here

I've stopped using eye cream for close to a month now (after watching the above Paula Begoun vid) and I honestly do not see or feel any difference from using just my usual moisturiser.

Not only do I save money (average of two tubs a year at $80 each), I also shaved off precious seconds off my beauty routine (by not having to dig through my drawer for the eye cream, unscrew the lid, lift off that redundant plastic cover, etc).

Come back in five years' time and I'll let you know if my crow's feet have become super prominent due to my little experiment.

#15 update

prehistoric

Rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated -- acute bronchitis failed to do me in, although for a good 15 minutes there, I thought my lungs were going to be coughed right up together with my dinner.

My plans to add my own drawings to an old painting (inspired by the above, photo taken at Hansel's studio) have so far been thwarted by the exorbitant prices Salvation Army slaps on these unwanted pieces of art.



I came across yet another example today, this one a happy accident that occurred when the frame was being repainted white.

To help me tick off #15 on my list, please donate any old painting you have that you no longer want. I promise to deface it with lots of TLC.