Art Exhibition: Oh! Open House

Went to an art exhibition on Saturaday night: Oh! Open House at Wilkie Edge. Admission was free. You could also purchase a $12 tour ticket whereby you go house-hoping along Niven Road to view different artists' works. There are pre-war shop houses along both sides of Niven Road.

Some of the house owners had agreed to let the work pieces of the artists to be placed at their homes. Its an interesting concept. Imagine you hop from one house to another to view art and at the same time, view the decor of the homes; plus its cheap. The $12 ticket comes with a free beer. If you don't drink you could redeem three small badges that have artists' work printed on them. I, a non-drinker, naturally chose the badges.

I had forgotten to bring a camera (didn't know they allow photo taking). Hence I could only use my mobile phone (resolution isn't that good) to take some of the interesting art pieces.

More pics @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/45366345@N05/

How to watch movies for free?

How much does a movie ticket cost nowadays? Ten bucks. The amount can buy me four bowls of fishball noodles at $2.50 in a coffee shop (the one near my place is selling at $2.50).

If your neighbourhood shopping mall does not have a cinema, that means you need to travel to another shopping mall with a cinema to watch the movie you want. That includes transportation fares (mrt or bus or taxi). If you drive, then you incur parking fees too. Then time is also spent on getting dressed. I know guys are simpler, a t-shirt, bermudas and sneakers, and off they go. Well, girls (most girls) are more particular. We would want to look presentable in public places. So we usually spend a bit of time finding the right outfit, putting a bit of make up, and checking ourselves in front of the mirror at least three times before we can step out of the house. Hence the cost of watching a movie is $10+++.

Nowadays, I've turned to the internet to watch movies. And its free! Yes, members of some web sites would upload the movies and you don't even need to download to watch; just watch online.

Here are the advantages of watching movies online:

1) You don't need to queue for a ticket
2) You can be in your most comfortable outfit (even in your pyjamas)
3) You can pause the movie to go make a cup of coffee or go to the washroom and you won't miss any parts
4) You could even watch some good movies that didn't make it to the local cinemas
5) If the movie is no good, you won't feel you've wasted the money, just your time
6) If you have time, you could watch a few movies without leaving your house
7) You can connect your laptop to your tv if you want to watch with your family

Of course there are advantages of watching movies in cinemas. The screen is so much bigger and the embience is rather good (provided other patrons have turned their mobile phones to silent mode). Some may want to shop around or eat after the movie. So going to the cinema is a better option.

For those who just want to watch alone, spend less money and are too lazy to step out of the house, watching online may be a better choice.

GM of Food Outlet Responded

The General Manager of the food outlet has responded to my complaint of 'sharp object found in mee siam'. To be fair to them, the Facility Manager of the outlet did reply to my email the next day (as I did not leave my contact number for them). He explained upon receiving my email, they had inspected their kitchen but could not determine where and how the plastic could have mixed with the food.

He also assured me that they will continue to review their food handling process to ensure their food safety and would like to compensate me for this unpleasant experience. Hence he would like me to contact him for further clarification. I left my contact number to the manager via email.

The next day, the GM called me personally (to my surprise). He apologised for the unpleasant experience that I had gone through. He also told me that he has inspected the kitchen and reviewed their food handling process by checking with the packing staff and even their supplier who supplied the containers. However he still could not find out how the plastic had gotten into the food. He ensured me that they will be more careful to prevent similiar occurrence and would like to make up to me in the form of compensation.

I explained to him since I was not hurt by the incident, my feedback was not to ask for compensation but merely wanting them to improve on their food hygiene and safety. The GM insisted saying that my feedback was very important to the company for improvement. He asked me to give him some time to arrange for the cash vouchers so that he could hand them to me personally.

Today, he came and handed me the cash vouchers personally. I never expect a GM to handle this case personally, let alone meeting me in person. I would expect the company manager to handle it and probably mail the vouchers to me. I must say throughout my conversation with him (via phone and face to face), he has been very sincere.

Would I continue to patronise this food outlet (they have outlets island wide)? Yes I would. Afterall, it is a local brand that comes a long way..

Sharp Object Found in Mee Siam

I bought mee siam from a well known food stall this morning for breakfast. While I was enjoying it at home, suddening I felt something sharp poking at my tongue. Immediately I stopped chewing and spat out the object. It turned out to be a hard plastic with sharp edges at both ends. It measures about 2.5cm long. I checked the plastic container and its cover. They were intact; so it was not chipped from the container.

I decided to take a picture of it with the receipt and emailed the company for an explanation. That was this morning. Till now I have not heard from them. Should I raise it to the relevant authority, NEA? It gives me shivers when I think about children or old folks or anyone who happens to bite on it and it causes bleeding from the gum or tongue or worse, swallow it and it cuts through the esophagus?

Beauty Pageant: My Experience

The recent news of our Miss Singapore World 2009 has reminded me that I had participated in a beauty pageant before. Yes, me, someone who kept a low profile back in school days; who didn't run for student counsel or made as many friends as possible in school, had dared to join a beauty contest.

Memories of those days came back to me now. Well, I was young then and super slim. I don't remember the exact reason of me wanting to join. Perhaps I wanted some sort of an 'achievement' (since I didn't pass my exams in flying colours but I did pass though) and to gain experience from such events. So I sent my picture and the form to the contest organiser and very soon I got a call from them telling me that I was selected. I was to prepare my own dress and do my own make up for the selection round.

Umm..here's the problem. I was freshed out from school and really didn't know how to prepare for it. So I called a friend, Louis (who was then working for a local designer) for advice. He told me I should get a cocktail dress and offered to design one and got it tailored for me free of charge. How sweet of him. He actually paid for the expensive French velvet and organza and got a tailor with superb workmanship to work on the dress. The dress was indeed beautiful: black velvet with orangey organza trimings; sexy and classy.

What about my hair and make up? A friend was a trainee in a hair salon and got his boss to style my hair and my make up was done by his friend who was working at a cosmetic counter. All free of charge!

On the day of the contest, we had some time to do our last minute touch up in the powder room. Try guessing what was the topic some of them were discussing? The sizes of their boobs. One of the girls even asked me:"Do you think my boobs are bigger or yours' bigger"? Well, I assured her, hers were bigger (as if I care). She then let out a satisfactory grin. Sigh..So shallow minded..

Each of us had to parade ourselves for the judges. When my name was called, I did my 'cat walk' as told. At the end of it, I realised I'd made a huge mistake. Guess again? No, I'd zipped up my dress properly and my dress didn't fall off. I had forgotten to smile!! That was a beauty contest and I did not smile! And so you would have guessed, I wasn't chosen for the semi finals.

Was I disappointed? No I wasn't. I had experienced the process of participating in the contest and had also seen how my friends helped me to get there and those who came and supported me.

Did I join other beauty pageants after that? No I did not. I felt that I don't need to join beauty contests to feel pretty or confident. I would feel more confident with more knowledge I gained; be it academic or work experience. I wanted an experience and I had that. In fact, I went back to my daily routine of going to school (which I'd enrolled) and working part time for my school fees.

What's the name of the contest? I really don't remember. But I still keep that dress in my wardrobe. Just the other day I took a look at it and wondered: how did I fit into that dress before? (It was really small). And I realised I had grown so much (wider). lol

Serving Expired Food

A friend of mine has recently left a pre-and-after school care centre in the east. Apart from many other reasons that had caused my friend to resign, one of the main and intolerable reason was that expired food was offered to the children for tea break.

A left over birthday cake (that was kept for nine days) was given to the children as snack during tea break. While my friend had reminded the bosses to buy fresh snacks for the children and not to serve the cake, they insisted on doing so.

Did we not learn from the Geylang Serai market mass food poisoning incident in April 2009? How could people be so unethical and irresponsible?

I like to know if you parents out there would offer cakes that are kept more than a week to your children. I had asked a sales person in a bakery shop how long can I keep a cake. She told me to consume within three days and must be kept in the freezer compartment of a fridge.