Dear Elle Fanning....

I wish I had your fashion sense when I was 12...
I know I didn't.  Not even close!

Countdown to the exams!

In less than a week I will be taking my first two exams in graduate school.  Although there are numerous sample exams in our library, I still can't help but be scared of the unknown.  What would the exam cover?  What if it's the topic I forgot to review?  What if they grade exams differently here in Singapore?  How many more cups of Starbucks can I afford? Yes, Indocafe just doesn't do it!  Besides, my friend's sister passed the medical board exam in one try because she reviewed in a nearby Starbucks.  I am still convinced it is the magnificent brew that helped her :P.  Oh well, I guess one can only study, pray, and gulp coffee as much...

INVICTUS

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

-William Ernest Henley

I have been to...

The Southernmost point of Continental Asia.....

Sentosa Island, Singapore

( or so the sign says!)

I saw the beach..

a German baby left out in the sand...

pink dolphins...

a pirate!

more beach...

exotic birds...

and what's a beach without a life guard!

Quotable quotes...

"The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings."

-Okakura Kakuzo

Margarito vs. Pacquiao

On Antonio Margarito's trunks: TORNADO

On Manny Pacquiao's trunks: CAFE PURO.  
(Cant get any stronger than that :P)

Quotable quotes...

"It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do; we hired smart people so they could tell us what to do." 
- Steve Jobs, talking about Apple Computer during its most creative years.

Eat Pray Love (2010)

The movie Eat Pray Love based on the book of the same title by Elizabeth Gilbert is the story of the writer (Gilbert herself) who after the chaos of a divorce and the abruptness of a next romance traveled to three countries around the world to "find her balance."

Her first destination was the beautiful Italy where she stayed in Rome for the most part, learned the language, savored Italian food and wine everyday, and made wonderful new friends. She left the country feeling refreshed and revitalized, thinking that she's ready to face life head on.

Her second destination was India, where she went to find the guru that was introduced to her by her yogi boyfriend back in New York. She didn't actually meet her in NY and when she set out to India, she was told that she couldn't meet her either because, well, the guru is in NY! However, she lived in India with the other devotees of the guru where she learned to chant, scrub floors, and meditate regularly amidst the harshest of conditions. Eventually, she found peace by letting go of people and things she clung to in the past, and learned to forgive herself for the things she thought she did wrong.

Last stop is Bali in Indonesia where she had been before at the beginning of the movie. There she came back to meet a toothless medicine man that goes by the name of "Ketut." (He is adorbs!)  A year before that, he foretold her future and said that she would find her way back to Bali and teach him English. He then promised that if she did that, he would tell her everything he knew.

I will not tell the rest of the story so as  not to spoil it for those who still plan to watch it or maybe read the book. What I liked about the movie most is its ability to take you to these places. Watching it, I felt the warmth and color of India; I smelled the breeze of Bali beach at sundown; and when they went to Naples-- oh boy, I could almost smell and taste that pizza!

While the story of a woman "trying to find herself" is probably as-old-as-cliche as say, unrequited love, I ask the question, how does one, man or woman, lose one's self? And if you lost it here, would you find it by going somewhere else --like halfway across the globe? Shouldn't you be looking where you've lost it?

This reminds me of an old Filipino joke. "Why are you looking for your earrings here? I thought you lost it in your room? The girl answers, "because the light is brighter here!" :)  To this I say, you can eat, pray, and definitely love, right where you are!

This is what I do...

Mount Royal University Continuing Education instructor, Warren Clendining
Video from youtube.com

I've been to...

Batam, Indonesia

That Social Network movie

I don't do Facebook.  But I don't wanna explain why.  That would probably be another post or perhaps I'll never tell you the real reason because that would be exposing so much of me, which I don't like doing, which is one of the reasons why I don't do FB in the first place :)  It is also possible that one day out of peer pressure I would start doing it.  But then again I was never the type to get pressured by peers.  OK I'm just blabbing here.  This post is not about me.  This post is about that Facebook movie.

Am I wrong to say that Justin Timberlake looks more like the real Mark Zuckerberg than Jesse Eisenberg?  I think he got picked to play him only because of his curly tops which would be a pathetic casting criteria. "OK curly tops, check!  You're hired!" Or is it because their names both end in "berg"? :P

I would say I liked the movie.  It is well done, the script is well-written, I don't even care if it's accurate or not.  I  heard that Mark Z himself never talked to the author of the book where this movie was based.  I heard the only source of the story was Eduado Saverin (who last we heard lives here in Singapore!), which probably explains why Mark was portrayed as a one-dimensional almost robot-like creature who only cared about his keyboard and monitor. For me, the movie is well-worth watching because it is a piece of history.  It is the story of one of the greatest innovations of our time.  Yes, even if I don't use it, I recognize that it is a great invention :)  One thing I still can't get over with? That that Justin Timberlake dude is now an actor.

Dear Jennifer Garner...

Today I saw your picture on the Internet.  You are again with one of your adorable daughters, this time with the younger one Serafina.  As usual you look great.  Not Hollywood beautiful great, but happy comfortable beautiful great.  Most of the time, the paparrazi's would snap pictures of you with your daughters--picking them up from school, playing soccer with them, or simply spending an afternoon in the park.  You always dress simply and comfortably.  You are always in your sneakers and that's adorable. You don't look like Sydney Bristow at all but I know you can still kick ass if you wanted to.  When your daughters are around you, they always look cheerful and happy, smiling with those lovely dimples they got from you.  I wish I could be like you.  A good  mom to  your children and still be beautiful and successful in your own career.  Or even just be a good mom if not all three can be achieved.  You are an inspiration to me.

Sincerely,
Me

Time in my hands

You know how people always complain about not having enough time to do things?  I am one of those people...  or should I say I was.  Now I suddenly find myself with a lot of time in my hands and I don't know what to do with it. Not that there's nothing to do. In fact, there's tons of things I should be doing!  However, this new found luxury seems to take a lot of getting used to.  I know this won't be for long and soon I will be back out there, clocking in, clocking out soon.  But for now, I will let the wind and my whims take me wherever.  Of course, I could always just stay home and catch up with sleep :)