Recently, I’ve caught several END OF THE WORLD/ARMAGEDDON type movies. Like “The Knowing”, and “The Day the Earth Stood Still”.
The vein of these movies always seem to be the same or have similar traits at least.
The end of the world, arrives because of man’s excesses of greed, avarice, and general badness. Entire cities topple, our defences are all futile, and well, good riddance to bad rubbish (In particular New York, which always seems to get blown away first).
And then somewhere, somehow, the goodness of human kind surfaces. A mother’s love for a child, a protagonists’s selfless sacrifice, and either we are saved, or the world ends anyway, but we ain’t that bad.
These kinds of movies make me think. They make me think, firstly, that hey, we are pretty excessive, we take what we want, being at the top of the food chain without thinking or caring, and yeah, perhaps, one day that in itself will bite us in the ass.
The second thing it makes me think about however is, is the part about our reedeeming factors also true? Are we worth redeeming? Is mankind AS A WHOLE good? When you net it off, is our goodness greater than our badness?
To me of course, the question is merely rhetorical. I am a firm believer in the good of people. Yes, we may have our weaknesses, but when push comes to shove, we also witness defining moments of courage, selflessness, and generousity that inspire faith.
Recently my faith in the goodness of human kind has been strengthened.
It must have been about 2 months ago now, that a friend of mine darren, IM-d me, and sent me a link. He asked me if I knew about this blog, as he had seen a Nuffnang Ad on it.
I had a look at it, and this was my introduction to Charmaine.
I found out that Charmaine’s blog was in fact being maintained by her mother’s (Cynthia), friend Jolene.
The crux of this story is that Charmaine is a 4 year old girl, but is having to contend with a battle against cancer, specifically, a condition known as Neuroblastoma.
In Charmaine’s case, with local treatment, her chances of survival are just 10-20 percent. There is a treatment in the US however, at one specific hospital in New York, that ups her chances to 40-50%.
I read through other little details, about the family’s life, which I will leave you to discover for yourself, was sincerely touched, and decided to see how I could help her.
The first thing I needed to do of course was visit Cynthia and Charmaine. I needed to do some basic due diligence to ensure the story’s accuracy. I owed this much at least to the people I was going to seek help from.
We entered Cynthia and Charmaine’s home, and whilst modest, I could see from the toys strewn around that the kids make up a big part of this family’s life.
Elaine, myself and huiwen met Cynthia and Charmaine herself. I asked Cynthia, how much money she needed? She answered $500K USD as an initial deposit. I then asked her how much money she had collected up to that point. It was then I saw Cynthia’s brave front collapse. It was almost as if hope deserted her, as she told me, she had collected 60,000 SGD up till then. She started crying.
I wasn’t sure what to do. Honestly I kinda felt like crying myself. I dismissed that thought immediately though, steeled myself, and looked cynthia in the eye. I said this to her, believing every word. “Cynthia, I know it is very difficult for you. But god always has a way. This I know. And I know something else, I know that there are many good people out there, and they will help you.”
I knew the first part was true, and I believed the second, but as we drove back that day, it was as if Cynthia’s heavy load, had been cast on our shoulders too.
What happened after that meeting with Cynthia was nothing short of extraordinary. Her story got immense coverage on many forms of media, and so many fundraising initiatives took place, on so many levels, that within a month, they had raised the funds needed for the initial deposit.
Score 1 for the goodness of people. But thats not the crux of this blog post.
The Nuffnang community in Singapore is an immense one. We have 40,000 bloggers and these blogs reach out to an additional 700,000 readers on a daily basis! I’ve said often and Tim shares my belief, that as a community, besides the ability to have fun and enjoy great parties/movie screenings together, we must also be a force for good, and help those less fortunate than ourselves. Only then can we truly call ourselves a community.
Therefore it was with this belief, that we launched Nuffnang’s drive to raise funds for Charmaine. By the time we had launched, in July, Charmaine had already hit 500,000 USD and was preparing to go to the USA. But knowing that this is just the start of the battle, we decided to plough on. Medical costs do not stop at a deposit, I’ve myself witnessed how medical costs and bills can rack up quickly, and there are many other considerations to take account of, including what happens after recovery? In any case, we are trying to create a situation in which money is the least of their worries during this difficult time.
Our stated aim was 80,000. An ambitious aim for sure, but I thought to myself, just 2 dollars from every single blogger, and we would have hit that. Personally I donated $2,000 and Nuffnang Pte Ltd, put in $3,000. To kick start the fundraising. So how are we doing now?
Well honestly, we are a LONG LONG way off from our stated target. In fact, we have only raised $6000 + so far, which is a little dissapointing. But then again, and this is the best part. Raine used to collect all our mail, but nowadays, I pip her to it. The reason why is that we’ve been receiving little packets of generousity in the mailbox daily now.
They look like these.
And inside?
One thing I’ve noticed is that even though we have a policy of transparency, and will list every single donor, the large majority of these letters than come in actually request anonymity.
You would think that most people would want to claim credit for a good deed. If you think this way, you would be wrong.
What is nice as well, is that very often, these packages also come with little notes …. ….
Or full blown letters like this!
My favourite though? Was a letter from CHIJ Katong Convent. When I got that envelope, I really wondered what it was.
I opened it to find this letter.
“Dear Sir,
We are a group of pupils from Secondary 202, CHIJ Katong Secondary, who did a bake sale of raisin scones, cakes and sandwiches last week in support of Charmaine’s medical treatment.
One of our literature stories mentions these food items and we thought that it would be a good idea for us to not only research and test the recipes, but also sell them to our schoolmates at recess for a worthwhile cause. Please accept our humble donation of $74.
Yours Faitfully,
Noor Azlynawati bte Jasmani (Ms)
Literature Representative
Secondary 202″
This letter and the many other notes I have read, have shown me the goodness and kindness of people.
It has renewed my faith. I hope it does the same for Cynthia and Charmaine. FIGHT ON, AND DO NOT GIVE UP, because there are sooo many people behind you.
Including one particular group of secondary 2 students in CHIJ Katong Convent!
And to all the doomsayers, and aliens who want to take this world down, read this blog post! Strangers caring for strangers, this in itself is worth letting mankind prevail. I guess there is a reason why they call it MAN-KIND.
p.s. ALL, please give what you can for Charmaine. Every little helps! Click here for details!
If you have not already noticed, Nuffnang.com now sports a revamped look! It was officially “lived” on 9th August 2009 (Singapore’s National Day), exactly 2 years from the date we revealed our new logo!
It is pretty amazing, that in the short two and a half years we have been online, Nuffnang.com, has gone through 4 revamps.
It is testament to tim and my beliefs that as a technology company, we cannot be standing still, we must be continually evolving, and seeking improvement. I love the new look, and is actually a result of a public tender, which included an evaluation of several external vendors, and our own design team.
The winner, is none other than Lionel from Ripplewerkz Pte Ltd, who narrowly beat our internal team’s design! Firdauz, you’re still the bomb!
Anyway, here it is!
My favourite part is the footer, which incorporates an image of the individual countrie’s skylines.
From 7AM in the morning to 7pm at night, this is what you see!
As the sun sets over Singapore , so does the sun over our skyline!
We believe this revamp will serve the Nuffnang community well, highlighting the myriad of activities we have secured for our blogosphere!
I love doing business. It’s in my blood, and anybody who knows me well knows this.
I fancy myself a serial entrepreneur, and honestly would not feel content limiting myself to just one business. I need to be continually innovating, constantly evolving. I relish new challenges, and love creating new things.
Therefore, it was a while back that I noticed the trend of twitter taking off.
It started first on the Nuffnang Australian roadshow at the start of the year. The Aussies I had met then, were all on twitter, and very passionate about it. I did not understand why, as if anybody remembers, twitter, was actually in Singapore and Malaysia, but it enjoyed a short phase of interest before quickly dying out.
I kept my eye on this trend, but did not think much of it, expecting it would die out soon, and not hit Asia again.
I was wrong about that! A wave of interest swept through the USA, the trendsetter in all things social media.
This time instead of being limited to the first movers, it was pop culture or the pop icons I feel, who reinvigorated twitter. People like Ashton Kutcher who popularly challenged CNN to a twitter contest (and won!). Today he has 3 million followers!
Ellen degeneres who set an ambitious aim of reaching 1 million followers in a day and uses her twitter regularly on her show after being introduced to it by Puff Daddy.
And hugh jackman who decided which charity to donate 100K to, by asking his followers via twitter!
A note on this. The web 1.0 age was defined by a limited number of people being able to publish information on the internet, and the masses accessing it. The web 2.0 age is defined by user generated content, which encompasses technology that allows the masses to participate online. The web 3.0 age, some have cited as involving artificial intelligence. I think the web 3.0 age will instead be defined by the interaction of online actions with offline participation. In mass.
To cut the long story short, the wave soon started sweeping the world over.
I don’t think twitter has reached anywhere near critical mass yet in Asia, I think it’s far from the peak that blogging itself reached. But its rate of growth is undeniable.
With some chatter in the industry coming about, I spoke to Tim about this, and we decided to keep it in view for a while. It was not long before we decided to act on our instincts. And so, a twitter advertising network, and Asia’s first (once again!), was born! ChurpChurp.com!
To get back to the title subject (sorry I always deviate), just like writing a composition, every business plan has a start, the middle, and the end. It is essential that the start is perfect, as it is your first impression.
In business terms, the start is your company NAME and LOGO.
As usual, this task fell to both me and timothy, and we set about thinking about it.
As an internet company, this is no mean feat, as virtually ALL domains which make any sense have been bought up by cyber squatters. I mean just think of two coherent words, match them together, its gone! I promise you!
In any case, I’ve never like straight laced names. Like I would never go for “shoppingmall.com” or something like that, even if it was available (OK lah, never say never, but probably not if I had to pay good money for it). To me, it’s alot harder to build a brand name with coherent and familiar words like that. People’s first associations will fall onto the things they related that word to, instead of the product you are trying to build.
We were honestly dry out of ideas for a long time. Until, I was in the office, and heard this chirping sound. It was raine’s phone, and her alert that new tweets were available. It was then that it hit me! Chirp Chirp! Not available! Of course! I tried ChurpChurp.com and it was! I tried to reconcile my product with the name, and once again, it fit like a snug glove on a cold winters night.
The U creates a little bit of fun and extends the pronunciation of the word. At the same time, I think people will be able to see the direct linkage to twitter. I spoke to Tim about the name, and having convinced the better half, it was done!
Next, we tasked Vernice to come out with some logo designs. We did not give her much direction, and I wanted in fact to get some direction myself, by having some options.
These were the first options! You’ll never see this anywhere else!
Tell me what you think? And I’ll give you some insight into how the partnership finds consensus!
So first round, honestly, I thought was horrid. I really did not like any of then. For some strange reason though, tim liked the penguin looking bird on number 3. I was like, lets try again!
On to the second round. vast improvements had been made. Tim liked bird number 1 (Dunno why! I think it looks like its got a belly loh this one!), and he liked the font on number 5. I thought, number 5 was the nicest font too, and the bird was kinda cute, but it had no linkage to the activity of twittering itself!
Therefore with some additional guidance, we sent vernice back to work!
On to batch number 3!
Vernice, after 2 rejections, cautiously asked, “How about these three? If we still don’t have a winner, i will come out with more.”
But the search was over! I wanted that birddddd!!!!! I was in! This is the cutest bird out there! I proclaimed to myself!
I tried to contain my excitement (if you are over enthusiastic with something, sometimes it has the opposite effect of making people feel underwhelmed), and referred to timothy. He immediately chose the same bird as me! (We both need to choose same bird, otherwise no pakeh leh!)
And WOOHOOO!!!!! We were in business! With a few minor changes of course!
Vernice ! Muacks! Great job! You are da bomb, for finding the bird of my life! (For that your face gets a red halo!
You know what the best part of this logo is? Vernice hand drew it herself. An original work of art! Picasso would be proud!
I’ve attended quite a number of weddings in my life.
But I think, you know you’ve gotten old, when people who really matter to you start getting married!
This year has been a crazy year for marriages like this! In the month of July alone, I’ve got 4 dates. In August, 1 in washington In june, 1, that I missed! In Iran nonetheless.
A note about this, sorry Makan, I really wanted to come, but a very important work commitment came up (Namely, the Singapore River Festival campaign), and with a young team at the helm, I needed to stay. I wish I had been in Iran. Despite the post election turmoil, a wedding only comes once; but I will see you in Iran or Singapore soon I hope!
PIERRE & LAY SEE’S WEDDING
Moving on, the 2 weddings I have attended so far in July are those of Pierre/Laysee & Daniel/Lera.
Lets talk about Pierre/Laysee first. Truth is, I have not known Pierre for very long. In fact, we only met end of last year! But, already we feel like we are like the best of friends. It’s like that song “closer than most”. Take out all the mushy bits that are about a guy who has hots for this girl (I’m not gay), and you get that one line that says:
“Well, it may take many years to forge a friendship, It may take a lifetime to get close, but we took all the shortcuts, used our hearts as a map, and we still got closer than most!”
I think the reason why me and pierre get along so well, is because our “wavelengths” just match. Our values and what we stand for in life agree with one another.
For one, Pierre is a deeply loyal person. Just looking at him and how he treats his friends, you know, in an instant, that if you become his friend, and you lose that friendship for whatever reason, you have just lost something of great impact. And you probably deserve it. As a friend, he puts everything in. Trusts you implicitly, and demands little back.
As a person, he is very enthusiastic about life, very singular in his focus to achieving more. For somebody who has everything in life, this is no mean feat. Pierre could probably sit back, and still afford a great life, but he does not. He is a go getter, he wants to succeed. His mind does not sit still for one moment, when he is excited about his newest idea. He can’t help but talk about only that.
These are the same qualities in a number of my friends, and in fact also my business partner Tim (We met in similar circumstances), but it is for these reasons, and a number more, that I feel as though I’ve been friends with pierre for years and not months.
Anyway, Pierre told me about his wedding on th 18th of July a while back. And I was all ready to go for that. In fact, I was rather excited, but being the dodo I was, it clashed with another one of my friend’s wedding. In Moscow! Lucky for me then that Pierre’s affair was not a one weekend affair, but two! 100 tables, 1000 guests, and 2 saturdays!
So thank god that Lay See had a spot for me at her dinner, on the 11th of July. I counted the days down, reminded Estee several times, and my entire staff (From KL and SG), planned a side trip to coincide with the date.
So it was on a friday night, that we were la la he he-ing together at my house, when all of a sudden it hit me!!! I got up and sweared, numerous times, when I realised. MY PASSPORT AND ESTEE’s was at the RUSSIAN EMBASSY, since we had submitted it for Visa application.
A wave of despair hit me. These are the kinds of mistakes I chide other people for making, and I had just made it myself. I tried to reconcile myself with it, and called Pierre up, with the news, all hope had vanished.
Then, came Kaizhi to the rescue. I was treating the Nuffies to a realllyyy expensive sukiyaki meal as a farewell party for Eugene, Elaine and Meiyan, and Kaizhi, decided to be a lightbulb and join us! He came in to the living room, sensed the sombre mood, and when I told everyone the reason, he looked at me with his nonchalant, and trademark blank stare, and said, “Oh no problem, go down to the ICA, and apply for a temporary passport!”
THANK GODDDDD KAIZHI CAME! THANK GOODDDDD for the ICA, THANK GOD FOR OUR GAHMENNN, I LOVE YOU MUACKSSS!!!!
Saturday, morning. 3 hours, 2 passport photos, 1 interview, and 1 tao huey drink later, we both had a piece of paper that assured us safe passage to Malaysia. To all detractors, I mean, try getting a temporary passport ANYWHERE ELSE in the world. I doubt it would be so straightforward. I love our gahmen!
The stunning view from our hotel.
Meleka truly has a place in my heart. My best friend’s family, the Chee’s live here. And I make it a point to come down at least twice a year to visit and say hi. I never fail to get bombarded by curry powder, pineapple tarts and fruits from their plantation when I do.
I love the TLC.
Rooms had been arranged for us at the Holiday Inn (Thanks lay see), where the wedding was to be held. The 2 best hotels in Meleka are the Holiday Inn and Renassaince, but I really liked the holiday inn, and you should stay there, if you are in the area.
Its very modern, and the rooms are well appointed. After having lunch with the Nuffies, we retired to the hotel, had a short nap, and were up at 5pm to doll up and get ready.
Estee took forever to curl her hair, and I was having a go at her, as the invitation said 630PM cocktails, 7PM SHARP, dinner. It was 7. I hate being late.
It seems Melekans dun mind though, and when we rushed down, they were still chilling out at the lounge.
The dress code too was decidedly casual, and we felt overdressed. I saw one guy in jeans and polo t shirt for gods sake!
Get yourself a suit! Be a man! Do the right thing!
The ballroom was a grand one, with no pillars, and filled to the brim with 50 t ables.
The decorations were elegant, not overdone, classy, modern oriental.
The nicest table was of course the VIP table, which was decked up
You see the “xi” character behind? Think it looks traditional? It does. But it spells “Happi” twice when you look at it sideways.
The menu, which included, Lobster, Sharks Fin, with a nice photo inside.
And finally! The main event! The arrival of the BEAUUTIFULLLL bride, and the HUMMSUPPPPP groom!
As soon as they cut the cake, boom! Fireworks!
And of course, the humsuppppp kiss!!!! Ok no lah, it was actually very nice and elegant lah. Estee took this photo. She very humsupp.
In betweeen of course, we were entertained by stories of the couple, photo slideshows, and a really nice animation from the bride’s best friend and matchmaker, Kelly.
In between my afternoon nap, I got a phone call from my best friend’s mother. She was like, “Ming, you in meleka ah? Going for the fairytale wedding huh!?” It seems everybody has been referring to this match as a fairytale match. The whole meleka (its a small place) was buzzing. And i mean the WHOLE meleka.
And the story of the couple showed me why. Pierre and Lay See met when they were 11 apparently. At Lay See’s birthday party, when Pierre took notice of her, after she had glamorously spilled spagetthi over herself. Pierre called up his cousin, Kelly, Lay See’s best friend, and after bribing her with the promise of her own prince charming hookup, he was in business!
15 years later, and boom! There you have it. Awwwww so sweet lorrrr. I honestly was teary, when I heard their speeches. It was beautiful, and I felt so touched, as I felt a part of their lives now!
Our first shot with the wedding couple!
And the beautiful people on our table!
The party is not over until the father in law sings! And boy did he sing, with pierre as the iphone flame swinging fan behind.
I was honestly so happy to have made it for the wedding. I felt a kind of satisfaction I’d never felt at previous weddings. And subconciously, I found myself, willing for this partnership to succeeed beyond their lifetime. Its one thing to say it, its another thing to really really mean it.
DANIEL & LERA’S WEDDING
The second wedding happened the weekend after, and in the romantic capital of Russia, Moscow.
We touched down, and were met by the hotel driver which was arranged by Daniel.
Daniel had very kindly put us up in the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Moscow. An extremely luxurious, and pricey hotel, overlooking the red square and kremlin.
Moscow is the MOST expensive city in the world. Forget Tokyo, forget London, forget New York, these cities are all WAY cheaper.
Our room was beautifully appointed, with a hugggeee bed, and luxurious sheets and covers, oh my god, it was soooo good sleeping on this!
Our bathroom.
We were also on the executive club floor, and had access to the Club. Breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner, and supper are on offer here 24 hours a day, so you’ll never go hungry. There is also a personal butler and concierge so all your needs are taken care off.
We arrived with a couple of spare days, so I could bring Estee around and do some sightseeing.
The kremlin walls.
St Basils Cathedral.
Arbat, the touristy shopping stretch. Where I bought all the souvenirs for the nuffies!
The metro station, all of which are highlights unto themselves, being ornately designed by the soviets with revolutionary themes.
Like this dude!
My favourittteee shopping experience in all of moscow! Verniszach market! It was rather far out, near Izmailovsky park, and we ran into a rather scary incident with the Russian police, but this place is the BEST place to shop for Russian souvenirs, like Matryoshka Dolls, which I love, becasue its all still hand painted, and really is a craft.
Finally on to the wedding and the wedding couple.
I first met Daniel, at a Halloween party in my first year in London. I remember it vividly.
I saw this dude standing around, looking a little bored. So I went up to him, introduced myself, and said, “Hi my name is ming, and I’m from Singapore.”
He replied, saying, “Hi, I’m daniel, and I stay in Singapore too, but I’m russian!”
I was intrigued, and we got to talking, before we found that besides having singapore in common, Daniel also played squash.
The rest is history. Many hours of lectures were skipped, with squash games, and long long discussions. I think all my friends have similar passions as me. Me and daniel could talk for hours and hours about our view on economics, politics, russia, singapore, and business! We would sit in Cafe Republic eating our paninis, after squash, literally for 3-4 hours, without knowing where the time was going.
Daniel was also very kind, and fused me in with his circle of close friends. I attended several of his birthday parties, and these were marvelous affairs. There would be tribute after tribute, toast after toast, that went something like this. “I’ve known danny for XXX years, and he’s been a XXX hell of a friend, I thank his mum and dad for XXX-ing giving birth to him. And I’d like to say, I XXX love him!” Several times, I felt like getting up and doing the same, but thought I’d end up looking like a dodo. His friends whom I came to know as the Russian mob, were ever so kind and made me feel right at home. They would translate everyting that was going on, so the clueless and only Asian, would not feel so out of place.
I can’t believe 6 years has passed. I am so happy that Daniel has found a lifetime companion in Lera. They went through several difficulties together, and I was there when it happened. They were dire difficulties, when I think both Daniel and Lera were put through the sternest of tests. I was not sure they would come out of it together, but they did. And stronger too. When you listen to a couple who are in sync with one another speak, you know they’ve got every fighting chance of being happy for the rest of their lives together. Both of them, separately told me, they feel so lucky to have found one another. It is that feeling that will keep them together, and strong.
I know I’m jumping the gun a little, but when Daniel entered the dinner hall that night, and gave his speech. A massive lump in his throat, and raw emotion coming out, I felt so happy for my friend. I did not understand a single word, but I felt all of it. His cousin, would later do the honour, and translate for me. He said, “Daniel said this. It was 5 years ago that I met Lera and decided I wanted to marry her. And it has been a long five years to finally get here.” Could he have said it any better?
So anyway, enough of the contemplative mush. What actually transpired?
Daniels wedding ceremony was held on the roof top terrace of the ritz carlton moscow. With a stunning backdrop of the Kremlin and red square. With perfect blue skys to pair, it was a setting to die for, the type you see in movies. It was an intimate affair, with just 70 guests in total, a fair number of which was his parents friends. Caviar and Dom Perignon was on free flow, as we waited for the arrival of the couple.
Beautiful chamber music filled the air, with the this 6 piece strings group. Look at THAT VIEW!
The signing of a piece of paper essentially, since they had already been officially registered.
Receiving congratulations from friends and well wishers.
The next destination? The six star French restaurant headed by Michelin Starred chef, Heinz Winkler, Jeroboam, at the Ritz. I’d come here before with daniel, but today, it was totally booked out with 7 tables for the wedding. Look at the beautiful setting. Very elegant.
The beautiful chandelier.
Instead of a photo slideshow, they had a sand artist come in to actually draw their story in sand.
With a camera above, several images were woven in sand, wiped away, and woven again, intricately to reveal the story.
The lovely meal, started with Crayfish.
Scallops.
Veal cheek
I had beef.
Estee had pigeon.
1/4 way through the dinner, I went over and spoke to a nervous looking daniel. He looked up and said, I’m super nervous, as I got this thing I need to do. I was like whats going on? He told me to wait and see!
10 minutes later, he was on the dancefloow waltzing. I thought, thats easy mah, sway left, sway right lor!
Then he broke out into a mad dance, and it was sooo much fun.
Estee later told me this idea came from youtube.
Daniel and Lera had also hired several top top russian bands to come perform.
One of which was a Russian beatles equivalent called Bravo, which had really cool music.
The other was the ultra cool rapper Timathy. Who has perfomed with the likes of snoop dog, and is a massive star in Russia apparently. He had really nice music.
I particularly liked this one. Entitled moscow never sleeps.
Since moscow never sleeps, it was off to the O2 rooftop bar, where I got the most drunk in years to celebrate my good friend’s marriage. Game over friend!
The next morning, Daniel showed us around his room, the presidentail suite of the Ritz Carlton, where just days before, President Obama has stayed.
It costs a whopping $15,000 USD per night! Dig that!
Piano Room
Hallway
Kitchen
Where all the action happened.
Study room, and Obama’s chair! DIg it! I sat on it! My ass touched it!
Dining room, with personal CCTV of the floor, so my secret service agents can take out any threats quick.
Room with a view.
PHEW!!!! Thats it then! This post took me an entire day to do up, but it had to be done, as my friends were all asking, when is it going to be up!????
There is a new benchmark that has been set, when it comes to marriage for me. And 2 of my closest friends have helped to set it. I’m extremely happy that they have taken the plunge, and I don’t even think thats the right word for it. They’ve gone to the next level. Taken it one notch higher. I am really look forward to that next step when they have kids, and I can be a godfather!
From the bottom of my heart, I wish you Pierre/Laysee, and Daniel/Lera the happiest of lives together. May we also share many more happy times together! I love you both in a very ungay way.
Honestly 2 days in, and I’m still pretty sad that Michael Jackson has passed on.
As a kid, I was always influenced by the brilliance of his music and his moves. He is the undeniable king of pop.
Its not like I’m heartbroken or anything like that, it’s just this feeling somewhere deep inside, that the world has just lost a little something. Somebody who made an impact on millions of peoples of lives, but more importantly on my own.
His songs, were always ahead of the times, and reached out to our humanity, and the very reasons for which we live. From “Black or White”, to “Heal the world”, to “Earth Song”, they meant something.
I believe MJ has gone on to a better place, but that will not make us miss him less. I hope one day, in whatever capacity possible, I would have touched as many lives as I possibly can, as he did, in such a big big way.
This song sums it all up. He sang it for a young victim of Aids, he brefriended. A measure of the man. Back at you MJ, back at you.
“Gone Too Soon”
Like A Comet
Blazing ‘Cross The Evening Sky
Gone Too Soon
Like A Rainbow
Fading In The Twinkling Of An Eye
Gone Too Soon
Shiny And Sparkly
And Splendidly Bright
Here One Day
Gone One Night
Like The Loss Of Sunlight
On A Cloudy Afternoon
Gone Too Soon
Like A Castle
Built Upon A Sandy Beach
Gone Too Soon
Like A Perfect Flower
That Is Just Beyond Your Reach
Gone Too Soon
Born To Amuse, To Inspire, To Delight
Here One Day
Gone One Night
Like A Sunset
Dying With The Rising Of The Moon
Gone Too Soon
Sometime in April, I received an email from our MP, Mrs Josephine Teo.
It was as all her emails are, crisp and to the point.
She asked me if I would like to attend the “Opening of the Second Session of the 11th Parliament”, as her guest.
To be perfectly honest, I had no idea what this event was about, and that piqued my curiosity, so I agreed, and penned it down on my Iphone schedule, locking down a date, almost a month away!
About 2 weeks before the event, I received my invitation, hand delivered by a courier. As usual, it was tastefully appointed, and with all government events, it had a hint of grandness and tradition about it.
Ok this update is long overdue, and as it is 1AM in the morning, its going to be very heavily photo reliant!
After last year’s Glorious Champions League Victory, I thought to myself, my team is great, but no way Man Utd are getting into the final again this year.
I was wrong, and this time, the finals presented an unprecedented opportunity to watch two of the best attacking football teams in the world playing for the top prize in World Football, next to the world cup of course!
So it was to be at 5AM on a Wednesday Morning I believe, that I sent out a text message to all my contacts to ask them to source for tickets. I wasn’t as desperate as last year, and took a “Que Sera Sera” kind of approach to things.
All the way until, I got a phone call from my friend/client, Patricia, from Nike, who said simple, “We are going to Rommmeeee!!!!”
All I heard was a “click” sound in that brain of mine, and I was off to work booking our flights and accomodation. With the flights directly to Rome, being as expensive, as us flying to London first, and then laying off to Rome, that was the option I chose. After all, I would get to visit my favourite city in the world (next to Singapore), good friends, and pat was well excited too, having not been before.
So on Friday morning, the 22nd of May, we were off on SQ319! So anyway, this is where the photos start.
I was the impromptu tour guide for Pat, and took all these photos along the “guided sight seeing tour” using my trusty “BEAST”, the Nikon D700, ohhhh I love u.
Here is the world famous big ben, and the houses of parliament, honestly a sight to behold, at 7Am in the morning! We were jetlagged and got up at 5!
A BMX-er in a skate park, near the Royal Festival Hall.
Pat’s living room set, was a tad oversized.
The guy down the road resorted to building his own set, out of sand, and got some dosh out of me for his efforts! You see all kinds of things in london.
I love love love absoloutely love love love Borough Market, and we had such an amazing, sausage and bacon bap at 930 in the morning. Glorious.
The fish mongers in London are exactly the same as in Singapore. See what see? Take photo? Buy lah!
Nuttttsssss, and this cheeky english flirter, who was having a good time with his female customers.
Moving on to my second favourite market, Portobello in notting hill!
Popularized by Hugh Grand and his house with the blue door.
Paella for lunch!
Pat! I know you had a good time! But dun shag the poor lion already!
