Is It Too Late?

Well, I've been asking myself that question for quite some time now. The reason behind it has actually got to do with making a career shift at such a late stage of my life. I'm not sure if it is possible, whether or not I'm too selfish for even thinking about it, whether or not I have the time to dive into something totally new (which means that I'll need to take a course, train and somehow get my portfolio up and running to score jobs!) Ultimately, the ability to find work in this newfound career will tell me that the decision has been worth it.

Okay, so what's this new interest all about? Well, actually it is not a new interest, since I've been passionate about it ever since I could remember, going back into my teenage years! It is, in fact, make-up. Some of you who know that I've always been in the journalism industry for most of my post-university life might think, "whoa, this is totally unrelated." And they are right! For most of my work life, I've never really written about beauty so much, more in the music, trade, travel and a little bit of fashion. I can't blame people for thinking that this would be such a silly, and very risky move, if I decide to pursue it.

This thought to dive into the make-up artistry industry started swirling in my mind vehemently since last year and I've not been able to put it out. I'm not sure if this is telling me something. I've been obsessed with anything Urban Decay, MAC and other beauty products, like OPI, Benefit or Bliss. In fact, when I finally managed to grab hold of Urban Decay's star product, the Naked palette, I was beyond ecstatic that the Chubby Hubby thought I had gone cuckoo.

And I think he has also noticed my infinite obsession with make-up and beauty products. I seem to always be on youtube to look out for tutorials, and find it amazing that such a simple thing as your make-up can give the appearance of a changed facial dimensions and shapes, beautifying everything and everybody, no matter what they look like with a naked face. This is one of the reasons, however shallow it may sound, that I love, love, love make-up so much.

So, this has led me to browsing online for places that offer make-up courses around the island. And the Chubby Hubby has even kindly offered to pay for my lessons, should I feel that this was what I wanted to do. Since he's in the film industry, he's even said that I could follow him on shoots whenever there's a need for a make-up artist. So, woohoo to that as it would definitely be great to build up my portfolio.

But, no surprises here, I feel like I'm too scared to follow through. Not only will this be a major career change, I'm not sure if people will like what I do to their faces, whether or not I am cut out to be a make-up artist. "What if I suck?" is a thought that wanders in my mind constantly. My heart is in it, but I don't know if my head is telling me that this is the right thing for me. I think it might be my age talking. The older I get, the less risks I seem to be willing to take as I develop more fear for the "unknown".

I guess until I am able to overcome this fear, I will never be able to make the right decision. But then again, what is deemed as the right decision? All that should matter is the passion you have for whatever it is you are pursuing, as this will form the foundation of your happiness, right?

When I am sure of the path to take, I will no doubt update you again. In the meantime, I have some soul searching and ass-kicking to do before I can come to a decision.

Hop Hop Hoppity Hop

In case any of you are wondering, the title is in reference to the new year according to the Chinese calendar, which happens to be the Year of the Rabbit. So, before the year ends, let me wish those who celebrate a hopping year full of joy, prosperity, wealth, love and all the other good stuff.

And here's a picture of my gorgeous princess in what looks like a cheong sam to complement my Chinese New Year wish for you guys!

But there is one thing that I dislike about the CNY season, and that's the fact that for those who don't celebrate it, like myself, it gets to be rather boring. With no relatives to visit, besides the mother-in-law, who seems to be the only one in the family that gets in on all the festivities, there's pretty much not much to do. All the good Chinese food stalls are closed and the supermarkets tend to run out of every basic necessities, like bread!!! I can't believe that when the Chubby Hubby ran out to do my groceries over the weekend, he couldn't even find red onions (which are usually in abundance at any other time of the year) and oranges (which are supposed to be in abundance during Chinese New Year!!!). So for the former, he had to resort to buying organic red onions, setting him back $12/pack, and Japanese oranges, which cost him $10/pack. Ridiculous!

But one good thing came out of the past CNY and that was probably my kaastengels (cheese sticks).

My cheese sticks, which I used to make lots of for Christmas, are always a hit at parties. Be warned though that they are addictive and would probably not make for a good companion when you're trying to keep in shape! It is so addictive that I've seen friends gobbling down a whole container without them realising it...ha ha ha!

But today, my normal routine begins again. After the lull preceding the CNY, the corporate wheels are now starting to turn again. It feels strangely like I've just experienced the turn of two new years simultaneously and it is reminding me of my work deadlines *bites nails*.

Adios! I'd better get cracking on my work before the deadlines get up to my eyeballs...

The Power of Skin-to-Skin Contact

So, I've been assigned a story to do for one of the parenting magazines in Singapore on Kangaroo Care. The topic sounds cute enough, but when I accepted the job, little did I know of the power of such a practise. In fact, this skin-to-skin contact that is usually practised on premature babies, is not only beneficial for the preemie's growth and development, it has also revived a clinically dead premature baby. In Australia last year, there were reports of the Ogg family who gave birth to a dead baby boy. One of a set of twins - his sister was born safely - Jamie Ogg was pronounced clinically dead upon birth. Maybe reacting on a mother's instincts, Kate Ogg then placed the dead baby on her bare chest, and she held him and talked to him for almost two hours, during which he showed signs of life. So when he started gripping on his father's finger and opened his eyes, shocking the doctor and other medical professionals present, this miraculous incident could only be credited to one thing; and that is Kangaroo Care.

Even Kate believed that it was the Kangaroo Care method that revived Jamie, and according to doctors, the skin-to-skin contact acts as an incubator for the baby to keep them warm and helps them to adjust to the physical and physiological surroundings of the new world. After reading the Ogg story, I am still amazed at the powerful impact of such a simple act as holding a baby on your bare body and just simply, as Kate said, "loving them". This was definitely beyond my understanding prior to becoming a mother eight years ago. How wonderful it is as parents to give life to a new being and how our love can transform them physically, physiologically and emotionally. I call this one of the miracles of life and I will never be able to fathom it, nor will I try to.

The bottom line is I'm just amazed at life everyday and stories like this just makes me appreciate life's little wonders even more.

For those who would like to read about the Kate Ogg story, click here.

Where's the Sun?

I am so not loving the monsoon season this year. It feels like forever that I've seen the sun and the windy weather has been oh-so-cold! For the past four days, it's just been gloomy, cloudy and everything ugly in weather terms. I don't think I've remembered Singapore ever being this cold before. We are definitely feeling the impact of years of neglect on Mother Earth. And yeah I know, we have nobody to blame but ourselves. Sometimes I forget that Singapore is located on the Equator and is a tropical country. I even wait for the winter season to come to our usually sunny island. So can you imagine how ridiculously cold the weather's been here?

Anyway, there's been nothing much to talk about here besides the weather then. So i'll just end with something yummy that I had yesterday for brunch. For some reason, blame it on the cold weather, I woke up with a growling tummy yesterday morning. So, I made myself a huge bowl of Froot Loops, which I gulped down before taking my daughter to her ballet lesson. And the Chubby Hubby decided that we should walk to Katong after dropping Deziree off, as we needed to get something framed up for the house. And once there, this is what we stumbled upon:

The Chubby Hubby claimed that this was one of the best roast and BBQ pork stall in the area and he was right! The stall is in the corner of Lor Stangee and East Coast Road at Carlton Restaurant. Although I was still full from the cereal, yet I couldn't resist ordering a plate too. The BBQ pork was so juicy and the roast pork was the way I like it, tender meat topped with crispy skin (*drool*). The whole thing cost $12, which included some wantan soup and two plates of rice. Needless to say, after that, I didn't eat again until dinner time. Having two breakfasts in a day is probably not going to be a regular thing for me.

Hello World!

The year 2010 flew by like a dream. I still can't believe that we are now into another year, in another decade. Where did all the time go? Well, a lot has happened in the last year alone, which probably explains my complete absence from blogging. To sum it up, I quit my job at the beginning of 2010, went back to being a full-time mum and full-time freelancer, got into a bit of a family drama and now, thank goodness, all is back to normal!

The most memorable of last year, I must say, was the Japan trip that the chubby hubby, Deziree and I took with my parents and brother. It was so good to be out and about in another country, experiencing life in a different culture and pigging out on all the delicious Japanese food. We were there for almost two weeks, and it was a blast zipping in and out from Tokyo to Echigo Yuzawa, Atami and Kyoto. Free and easy travel is definitely the way to go!

Just look how gorgeous that is. This photo was taken by the lovely Chubby Hubby, photographer extraodinaire, at Echigo Yuzawa, where the people were friendly, the snow was abundant and the weather was beautiful! I could never have been able to conjure up such a beautiful image in my mind. This is only about two hours away by the Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo, yet the scenery changed completely from a cosmopolitan hustle of a city to a rejuvenating and scenic countryside. Mind you, taking the Shinkansen gives you different views of Japan every few minutes anyway, as the country is so vastly different from one location to the next. So, the train journeys there are very colourful and exciting, like nothing you would ever see in any other countries in the world.

Kyoto was spent in a dizzying hurry, as you could say. Because of communication problems we had with the front office staff at our Atami hotel, we could only spend 4 hours at Kyoto. Having been told that it was only 45 minutes away, which we found a little bit strange but didn't enquire further, we left Atami for Kyoto by the JR at around 10 am. But when we purchased the ticket, and upon settling in the train, we found out that it would be close to a three and a half hour-journey. So there was no turning back and off we went to Kyoto.

Boy, are we glad that we did. Kyoto was so much fun! Although all of the time was spent inside the Aeon Mall, the shopping was excellent! We got pretty much everything we wanted to buy for our friends and families back home from this gigantic place. I loved it! Pity that we had to, literally, ran back to the station by about 6 pm to catch the last train back to Atami, which was due at 7 pm. It was definitely an experience to remember, and running all over the Kyoto station with shopping bags dangling on both your arms, with a seven-year-old in tow, was no joke either!

Most of the Japan trip was spent in Tokyo 'tho, so we could see a lot more of this city, from the effervescent Ginza to the tech-savvy Akihabara, the hip Shinjuku, Roponggi and the family-friendly Disney Sea and Disneyland. My main gripe about Japan was that, for such a clean country, it was bloody difficult to find a rubbish bin! But, I do salute the Japanese for their highly civilised mentality, their policies on recycling and generally, for their way of life.

So, that was the highlight of my life last year. Just being able to spend time with the loved ones away from the daily grind of Singapore life was a blessing. And to enjoy all that we did, it was just a bonus. This year, I will be taking on more projects on the career front, and hopefully be able to bring to fruition a couple of ideas that I've had for a while. Can't wait to see what 2011 will bring for all of us. But I'll definitely keep you posted!

Until then, xoxo and have a fantabulous year!!