Dear 2008,
You have been a good year. You could have been better.
You gave me an opportunity to finally know what I want, the kind that I want. But you also told me what I want is unreachable. You told me that it is not possible.
You have been a good year where you gave me opportunities to learn and to see people for who they are. You showed me I am not as ideal as I think I am, and aside from people who made me sad, you also made me realize the people that made me happy.
Oh, how funny you have been you big round eight, you made me spend such great time with friends this year that I neglected my family. And then you showed me how fun spending time with my own can be that I in turn spend less time with friends. Okay, I get your drift.
But you have not been spectacular. There is nothing in you that I can specially note of. Nothing in you that can make me say, a year well lived. You are a year without achievement. But then again, jolly old you have been a whole load of fun!
You passed faster than the other twenty. With you, I turned into an adult legally. With you, I finally realized how foolish I once was trying so hard to grow up. I should have taken my time for there's really nothing in adulthood once you are there.
You will go and a whole new you will come. A new you called 2009. I don't know what is lying in store, but I intend for it to be a great year indeed.
Resolutions? I will leave it for next year. You? You're the past now and I will be looking forward to the future.
So long, old you,
Quin.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
A Post To Cover It All
There was so much that I did since the last post, though nothing at all of the plan I hatched before the sem break.
Family Outings
My whole family and I went for the Penang Star Walk. A fifteen kilometres walking experience with four kids and the rest of the adults. I think this was the fourth time that I have participated. Maybe it's due to experience, the walk didn't seem as far as before. Of all the kids, Yiyi was the only one who really walked. The rest just sat in the two strollers we bought, eating biscuits and drinking Milo along the way. It was tiring that day and we didn't complete the walk within the given time but at least we FINISHED it with four kids and two strollers in tow!
We went for another outing to Genting Highlands right before the Christmas week. It was a completely different thing compared to going with friends. WhenI went there the last time with friends, it was all about us; going for rides and getting good food. Basically just enjoying ourselves on a time away from home. But going with the families, we have to be concerned about where everyone was and for everything fifteen minutes or so, I had to do a head count just to make sure none of the kids was lost. Looking for a lost kid in Genting will be like searching for needle in a stack of needles (quote courtesy of Garcia of Criminal Minds).
It was so enjoyable going with the kids. Except for Yiyi and Danielle, the rest were there for the first time. However, Yiyi was only two, maybe, at that time and Danielle still a baby, and they both couldn't really recall anything. Everything was new and exciting for them. They never really had cotton candy and been to a theme park. They didn't know what roller coasters really were except that people died sitting on it (courtesy of Final Destination 3).
I made a promise with Yiyi to sit on her first roller coaster ride together. She was afraid but looking forward to it at the same time. Alas, she was not tall enough. Short of another fifteen centimetres, I think. She got disapointed but I think underlaying that pout was a tiny smile of relieve, ahahha... She promised that she will get taller soon so that we could go on the ride together the next time. I told her not to get big so fast and she said, "Then I will grow taller slower." Kids. They are so heart wrenching sometimes.
The best part about this Genting trip was going to the games booth with the kids. I played something like throwing a ball into holes of varying sizes. When I threw one into a big hole, I won Yiyi a notebook. The cheapest of all the prizes. But she threw her arms around my waist, thanking me with a huge smile as if I have won her the jack pot prize. She made me feel very much like a champion.
Mamma Mia...
.. here I go again, my my, how can I resist ya?
Ooo, I went for the stage production of this popular Broadway show.
It. Was. The. Best. Thing. I. Have. Ever. Watched.
It was so freaking good!! The music were so much better than the one in the movie and I already thought highly of the big screen production. Where Pierce Brosnan couldn't sing to save his life, the guy who played Sam Carmichael of the stage production sang to impress. In the show, the other two possibl dads, Bill and Harry, played little roles. But in the real thing, each of them had a scene of their own. This way, their characters carried a meaning of their own instead of being abandoned like they were in the movie.
I was only maybe six rows away from the stage? One very significant difference between the stage show and the movie is my point of view. In the movie, I see everything depending where the camera rolled. In the stage show, I see only one point. Take for example when Donna sang "The Winner Takes It All", she stood on one spot and sang the whole thing with all her heart. From the movie, the camera moved in different directions and took in all the different angles of the one scene. But for the stage show, Donna just stood on that one spot for the period in which she performed that song. It was kinda static for me and it didn't help that I happen to think that song was the least of my favourites. My mom loved that song though.
Ah, I regretted not getting the soundtrack CD from the selling booth. A hint for a belated Christmas present, anyone?? *wink wink*
Of Selling And Dying
I worked solely for Canon during this break. For them, during PC fair, I missed my mom's birthday dinner. I worked for them once more during Christmas for three days. It was truly an experience worth taking.
Despite feeling under appreciated during the Christmas camera fair in Gurney Plaza, it was worth it all to see how those people from Canon worked. There were not the most efficient of people but from them I got some insights on how people can be. There's this manager of some sort that governed us promoters, imagine this. Under this manager are his minions, who go around giving orders from him. If we did anything wrong like talking at work, the devil of a manager will scold his minions whom will in turn come back and warn us.
After standing outside the booth for more than twelve hours, we had to stay back for briefing about the day's performance. I could see everyone shuffling their feet in discomfort while the trusty minions get to lean on the booth while the devil of a manager got to sit on a chair. The manager will ask each of us about the problems that we faced, the kind of customers that come to us and any problems in the competitors' aspect.
However badly I might have portrayed the manager, I do have a certain degree of respect for him in the way he handled the situation. When he gave suggestions on the problem that we faced, he will look at you in the eye and gave it all with such intensity, it was as if he was scolding you. It's not that at all. It's just the way he is that made him good at his work.
But for his minions, that's another thing. They copied the way he speaks. When the leader for this fair briefed us on our performance, the tough and businesslike image he tried to portray was completely spoilt by his constant fiddling of the pen in his hand. A give away of nervousness. And when he spoke, he didn't know how to control his voice for effect. The suggestion he gave back to a simple question sounded as though he was scolding us.
Overall a pretty good experience. I learned a lot on how the more we talk to customers, the more obstacles we will encounter. And the more obstacles, the more solution we will know in tackling it. A workable philosophy in life.
Graphic Works
Nada.
To End It All With A Blast
During Christmas Eve, I got an invitation to a party by both Eve and Hooi Fong. The party was hosted by this group of exchange students whom the both of them interacted with in uni through International Office/Buddies or something.
Anyway, Rui, Chia Li, Chia Yinn and I sort of crashed their parties coz we don't know the host at all. A bit muka tebal of us to go, but yet, it was one interesting celebration to Christmas.
Oooolala~~ plenty of European guys to goggle over. After the party, all us went over whom we talked to and about what. We exchanged opinions on who we think is the best looking and Hooi fong divulged on some info we didn't know.
Yep! Interesting indeed. Haha~~
Family Outings
My whole family and I went for the Penang Star Walk. A fifteen kilometres walking experience with four kids and the rest of the adults. I think this was the fourth time that I have participated. Maybe it's due to experience, the walk didn't seem as far as before. Of all the kids, Yiyi was the only one who really walked. The rest just sat in the two strollers we bought, eating biscuits and drinking Milo along the way. It was tiring that day and we didn't complete the walk within the given time but at least we FINISHED it with four kids and two strollers in tow!
We went for another outing to Genting Highlands right before the Christmas week. It was a completely different thing compared to going with friends. WhenI went there the last time with friends, it was all about us; going for rides and getting good food. Basically just enjoying ourselves on a time away from home. But going with the families, we have to be concerned about where everyone was and for everything fifteen minutes or so, I had to do a head count just to make sure none of the kids was lost. Looking for a lost kid in Genting will be like searching for needle in a stack of needles (quote courtesy of Garcia of Criminal Minds).
It was so enjoyable going with the kids. Except for Yiyi and Danielle, the rest were there for the first time. However, Yiyi was only two, maybe, at that time and Danielle still a baby, and they both couldn't really recall anything. Everything was new and exciting for them. They never really had cotton candy and been to a theme park. They didn't know what roller coasters really were except that people died sitting on it (courtesy of Final Destination 3).
I made a promise with Yiyi to sit on her first roller coaster ride together. She was afraid but looking forward to it at the same time. Alas, she was not tall enough. Short of another fifteen centimetres, I think. She got disapointed but I think underlaying that pout was a tiny smile of relieve, ahahha... She promised that she will get taller soon so that we could go on the ride together the next time. I told her not to get big so fast and she said, "Then I will grow taller slower." Kids. They are so heart wrenching sometimes.
The best part about this Genting trip was going to the games booth with the kids. I played something like throwing a ball into holes of varying sizes. When I threw one into a big hole, I won Yiyi a notebook. The cheapest of all the prizes. But she threw her arms around my waist, thanking me with a huge smile as if I have won her the jack pot prize. She made me feel very much like a champion.
Mamma Mia...
.. here I go again, my my, how can I resist ya?
Ooo, I went for the stage production of this popular Broadway show.
It. Was. The. Best. Thing. I. Have. Ever. Watched.
It was so freaking good!! The music were so much better than the one in the movie and I already thought highly of the big screen production. Where Pierce Brosnan couldn't sing to save his life, the guy who played Sam Carmichael of the stage production sang to impress. In the show, the other two possibl dads, Bill and Harry, played little roles. But in the real thing, each of them had a scene of their own. This way, their characters carried a meaning of their own instead of being abandoned like they were in the movie.
I was only maybe six rows away from the stage? One very significant difference between the stage show and the movie is my point of view. In the movie, I see everything depending where the camera rolled. In the stage show, I see only one point. Take for example when Donna sang "The Winner Takes It All", she stood on one spot and sang the whole thing with all her heart. From the movie, the camera moved in different directions and took in all the different angles of the one scene. But for the stage show, Donna just stood on that one spot for the period in which she performed that song. It was kinda static for me and it didn't help that I happen to think that song was the least of my favourites. My mom loved that song though.
Ah, I regretted not getting the soundtrack CD from the selling booth. A hint for a belated Christmas present, anyone?? *wink wink*
Of Selling And Dying
I worked solely for Canon during this break. For them, during PC fair, I missed my mom's birthday dinner. I worked for them once more during Christmas for three days. It was truly an experience worth taking.
Despite feeling under appreciated during the Christmas camera fair in Gurney Plaza, it was worth it all to see how those people from Canon worked. There were not the most efficient of people but from them I got some insights on how people can be. There's this manager of some sort that governed us promoters, imagine this. Under this manager are his minions, who go around giving orders from him. If we did anything wrong like talking at work, the devil of a manager will scold his minions whom will in turn come back and warn us.
After standing outside the booth for more than twelve hours, we had to stay back for briefing about the day's performance. I could see everyone shuffling their feet in discomfort while the trusty minions get to lean on the booth while the devil of a manager got to sit on a chair. The manager will ask each of us about the problems that we faced, the kind of customers that come to us and any problems in the competitors' aspect.
However badly I might have portrayed the manager, I do have a certain degree of respect for him in the way he handled the situation. When he gave suggestions on the problem that we faced, he will look at you in the eye and gave it all with such intensity, it was as if he was scolding you. It's not that at all. It's just the way he is that made him good at his work.
But for his minions, that's another thing. They copied the way he speaks. When the leader for this fair briefed us on our performance, the tough and businesslike image he tried to portray was completely spoilt by his constant fiddling of the pen in his hand. A give away of nervousness. And when he spoke, he didn't know how to control his voice for effect. The suggestion he gave back to a simple question sounded as though he was scolding us.
Overall a pretty good experience. I learned a lot on how the more we talk to customers, the more obstacles we will encounter. And the more obstacles, the more solution we will know in tackling it. A workable philosophy in life.
Graphic Works
Nada.
To End It All With A Blast
During Christmas Eve, I got an invitation to a party by both Eve and Hooi Fong. The party was hosted by this group of exchange students whom the both of them interacted with in uni through International Office/Buddies or something.
Anyway, Rui, Chia Li, Chia Yinn and I sort of crashed their parties coz we don't know the host at all. A bit muka tebal of us to go, but yet, it was one interesting celebration to Christmas.
Oooolala~~ plenty of European guys to goggle over. After the party, all us went over whom we talked to and about what. We exchanged opinions on who we think is the best looking and Hooi fong divulged on some info we didn't know.
Yep! Interesting indeed. Haha~~
Friday, December 05, 2008
Puffhh!
Alone. At home in front of the computer. Everyone's out. I am not happy. I missed my mom's birthday dinner.
Ah, the guilt.
Ah, the guilt.
HUGO Create
This is my attempt at an on-going HUGO competition. The aim is to mix and match everything I like about this world and create my own universe. Go figure.. I thought that this is a pretty run off the mill design. Anyhow, am happy that I learn how to create the light beam effect. Wish me luck for this!!
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
For Mom
This was what I planned to do when I thought I couldn't make it to my mom's dinner. It appears that the time does not clash that much, and I thought this will make a pretty good present for her. I have sort of promised her to do this for a long time. She haven't seen this. Consider yourself lucky to be seeing this first. Haha.. it's just that I was so excited after finishing this portrait that I can't wait to blog about it. It has been ages since I have last touched charcoal. So am feeling pretty good right now.I did this in four hours. It's my mom and dad. Referenced this from a very old picture. But I loved it coz I thought their smiles were beautiful in this. Did this on canvas. I began this by using pencils but it proved to be a mistake. Pencils and canvasses don't go together. Remember. Finished it with a charcoal stick. Love it.
I thought it looked kinda lopsided. I hope there's a little resemblance there to my parents. Not perfect, could be better, and yet I still love it.
I began by sketching the outlines first.
Then filling the shades in step by step.
The ravages of war! :D
The reference picture!ps: I missed blogging in the wee hours of morning. Guess what. I still can't sleep early. Not yet.
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