According to the numerous tweets in my twitter timeline, most people take just ONE weekend to finish all three books. But I’m not most people, so I took a bit longer. But it’s still the fastest I’ve ever read (slow reader here!).

Let’s get down to book 1:

The Hunger Games

First of all, you need to understand that The Hunger Games is not an eating contest.

It is actually an annual sadistic event in the city of Panem where each district has to “offer” two tributes (one boy and one girl) to the Capital. These 24 tributes will be thrown in a controlled environment where they have to do whatever they can to survive and be the last one standing. Yes, it’s a kill or be killed kind of situation.

Our protagonist is Katniss Everdeen, a fiesty little hunter, who doesn’t give a shit about rules. She has a best friend named Gale and a sister, Prim who is just 12.

The story starts when Prim’s name got picked to be the female tribute for that year’s Hunger Games. Thinking and knowing that her sister was way too young to be in such a harsh competition, Katniss volunteered to be tribute – even if it means a certain death. Together with her, the male tribute is the baker’s son Peeta set off to be trained for the Arena.

These are the 4 main characters that you will care about and cry over as the series goes on.

What’s interesting was how things were like in the Arena during the Hunger Games. A high level of survival skills, quick wit and street smarts are essential. There’s plenty of deaths, some twist and turns in this book.

Are you intrigued yet?

Believe me, this book will get you hooked! It is my personal favourite of the series, as most first-books-of-a-series are (mainly because they set the standard for the next book).

With the movie coming out in March, there’s still time for you to catch up on the hype! I am a firm believer that the book will always be better than the movie, and thus I always read the book first if there’s a movie coming out. But that’s me.

Here’s a trailer of The Hunger Games movie. It stars Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss), Josh Hutcherson (Peeta) and Liam Hemsworth (Gale)

Can’t hardly wait! I’ve never really imagine how Katniss looks like when I read the books but somehow I imagined what Peeta and Gale look like. And what I had in mind was so different than what’s in the trailer! I pictured Peeta as a goody two shoes boy, earnest looking and most sincere. I also imagined him to have an Irish accent for some reason. And Gale to have long dark hair (perhaps shoulder length), with a tough exterior because he’s had such a hard life – in a sexy and broody kind of way.

But oh well, my imagination makes up its own mind sometimes! Anyway, not gonna give away the plot for book 2 until after the movie is out! I have a strict no-spoiler policy. So look out for that post in March!

1) Do you like your things to be personalized and have some sort of novelty?
2) Would you like the flexibility in the personalization/novelty factor?
3) Would you like to have a credit card worth showing off?

If you, like me, answered yes to all of the above – then the Frank Card by OCBC is for you!

Although I’ve had several credit cards before, I didn’t feel an attachment to them simply because I hadn’t earned them. They were supplementary cards, so they were really not counted. Plus, I seldom use them (I’m a debit card kind of girl, I like to play it safe).

But in the past few months, the need for at least 1 credit card surfaced (not because I’m a big spender, but it should be more like a “backup”). And of course, I’m finally more than financially stable to have a credit card. So, like everything else in my life, I did my research.

I wanted something snazzy. A credit card with all the perks and hype. This and that. And then I chanced upon Frank credit cards. The big draw to it was the fact that you can choose out of the many, many designs for your card!

My eyes dilated when I saw the choices that lay before me. I could hardly choose, seriously. But then, I found out that you can actually change the designs as and when you like if you get sick of your chosen design. That’s equivalent to 10,000 brownie points to me because I can’t deal with having one design of something for ever. I have short attention span.

But still I made my choice wisely and ended up with THIS:

It was between this retro boombox design or the cassette tape one. But the boombox won. Please understand that I am in my “old school is cool beans” phase.

I’ve been happy with my card despite the initial annoyance with the customer service and call center staff. But I shall not get into that. One of the things I’ve enjoyed in the past 2 months since I had the card was that it gave me a discount when I viewed the Titanic Exhibition at the Arts Science Museum (only for OCBC cards)!

And so this has been the blog post about the first ever credit card that I’ve earned. Another milestone.

Before I end, a couple of disclaimers:
1) This is not an advertorial, I’m blogging about this because it is an interesting card.
2) All images used in this post were taken from the Frank by OCBC website. You can’t expect me to be posting up photos of my own credit card.

Okay, that’s all.

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My box of cards look just as happy and excited to see me, hahaha

Believe it or not, I got these 50 Facebook namecards for FREE! Moo.com is offering them for free for a limited time only. All you need to pay is the shipping charges, which amounts up to only S$6!

Being a fan of all things novel and narcissistic, I wasted no time in getting mine.

Check these out:

Basically, these namecards will pull information from your current Facebook Timeline profile page.

So this is how my Timeline looks like. If you’ve had more than 1 cover photo, they will print them in equal amounts (more or less). But since I only have one cover, this is all I have.

Yes I’m going to be a farm girl when I retire. Since I didn’t put my work information on my Facebook page, I replaced it with my blog address for the purposes of making these cards.

So the back of the card, is other information from your Facebook profile. This is probably my favourite part of the card, because my utmost favourite quote by William Blake is there – for all the world to see:

One more photo of both the back and front:

The cheeky people at Moo.com also added in this Buzzword bingo, for pure entertainment at the next big client meeting or industry seminar.

Anyone keen on having a Facebook namecard exchange?

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So I got a few animal ones, so let’s start with this orange bear in cute green shorts!

This kit comes with templates and all the required materials. What you’d need to get on the side is some craft glue, pins and a needle.

Of course the most important part of this DIY pack is the set of instructions. Even though it’s in Japanese, it’s pictorial enough for you to understand without a hint of the language.

So let’s get down to it!

The first thing you’d need to do is cut out the shapes provided in the template.

After which, you can cut out the felt, based on the templated shapes. Remember that you’d need to cut 2 pieces for some parts. This was not stated clearly in the pictorial set of instruction.

Start by sewing the two pieces for the head together, leaving a slot for you to insert the wool in.

Next, sew the “nose” and “mouth” on the white felt and use the craft glue to stick it. Then,paste the provided stickers for the eyes and rosy cheeks. Lastly, paste the pair of ears to the back of the head. And there you have it – a ready head!

Next we work on his torso, followed by his cute shorts. This is the cutest part of this project because these are actual “shorts”! As in you’d need to put his legs through the leg holes kind of actual!

HOW CUTE IS THAT?? Very, very cute

So next, finish up with the arms (sew the pieces together to make 2 arms, and stuff with wool) and then you’d have this:

What you gotta do now is sew them all together. The torso goes to the back of the head. You can use craft glue if you want it to be more secure, but I didn’t. I just made a few extra stitches to hold it together. Same goes with the arms. I improvised a little with the left arm, lol.

So here’s the finished product:

Hope you’ve enjoyed this mini tutorial, and have fun with your very own felt bear!

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It’s been 10 days since I got it. I guess it should be blogged about because it is kind of a personal milestone – my first branded wallet!

Well it was actually a gift from someone who’d like to remain anonymous to the rest of you. Truth be told, I had wanted to get it as a present for myself (because I love myself), but I guess someone loves me more.

When I was younger, a wallet has always meant something very personal to me. It was where precious photos and mementos (tickets, stickers and other odds and other odds and ends) were housed. Personal artifacts, memories. That has always been how important a wallet is to me. And I always take ages to find a new wallet, and will hold on to the old one that was practically tearing up at the seams – until I found the perfect wallet.

That was the way it was until I lost my wallet in 2006. Instantly, a part of me was gone just like that. The things I lost in it were irreplaceable and I’m not talking about identification cards and credit/debit cards. I was quite crushed after, and then tried to pick myself up again – with another wallet which lasted me another 4 years. And then it got really worn out, then I switched to another – which was off-white in colour and got dirty and ugly pretty quickly.

And then soon after the bond just disappeared and I stopped using wallets altogether. Those who have seen/known me in the past year (up till 10 years ago) would have wondered why I am using a Harrods coin purse that was getting dirtier by the day, and instead of being filled by mementos it was overflowing with coins, folded notes and a mountain of receipts. It was unsightly, and it was a travesty. I guess everyone was too polite to ask.

And now, I have this very, very pretty wallet – in a colour that somehow has defined me. I’m not sure how the journey will be for the two of us but I hope that it will last us both years of precious memories.

Thank you once again to YOU

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For the longest time, I’ve asked for nothing more than to be happy. Life experiences have attempted to rob me off my perfect bubble of “happiness”, and many a time, it did work. I’ve tried my best to not feel jaded and for years, all I’ve ever wished for was to be happy. But what does being happy really mean?

In this book by Francois Lelord, a psychiatrist by the name of Hector explores the world to know the true meaning of happiness. In his travels, he met people from all walks of life who have stories to tell. From these stories, and his own personal travel experiences, he comes up with a list of what makes people happy / what can ruin happiness

And the list is as below. I’m sure we’ve all been guilty of some of the things listed. Up till last year, I was making comparisons of my life to that of others (point number 1). How they’ve reach life’s milestones that are still somewhat out of my reach. And it made me very, very unhappy. But I managed to shake the feeling off last year, and focused on the here and now (point number 3) of my own life. Honestly, I’ve been happier since – because my life despite all the imperfections isn’t so bad after all.

1. Making comparisons can spoil your happiness

2. Happiness often comes when least expected

3. Many people only see happiness in their future

4. Many people think happiness comes from having more power or more money

5. Sometimes happiness is not knowing the whole story

Points number 7 and 10 are are also poignant to me. I guess all those years I’ve wanted to be happy without knowing what or how I was going to achieve it – and that brought on more unhappiness. As for point number 10, I’ve always believed that if you love your job, it isn’t really a job, it just become a part of your life – almost like a hobby where you get paid. And years back when I was on the hunt for my first job, I told myself that my happiness comes first – that I need to be happy where I work, and with what I do. Money shouldn’t ever compromise that.

And today, after grasping that belief over the years, I’ve finally found a job that fits both criteria.

6. Happiness is a long walk in beautiful, unfamiliar mountains

7. It’s a mistake to think that happiness is the goal

8. Happiness is being with the people you love; unhappiness is being separated from the people you love

9. Happiness is knowing that your family lacks for nothing

10. Happiness is doing a job you love

Not too sure what it feels like having my own house and my own garden, but I can definitely relate to being loved for exactly who I am. And let me tell you, it’s the best feeling ever. In a society where perfection is key (actually that applies in my own head too), it’s almost a heaven-sent gift when you’re loved as you are – turning your mere imperfections into the ultimate perfection.

Ditto on point number 15, new experiences (be it on travels or on an everyday basis) makes you feel so glad to be alive.

11. Happiness is having a home and a garden of your own

12. It’s harder to be happy in a country run by bad people

13. Happiness is feeling useful to others

14. Happiness is to be loved for exactly who you are (People are kinder to a child who smiles)

15. Happiness comes when you feel truly alive

Truly agree with point number 18. I’ve always gone against societal conventions and as long as I know that it is not illegal nor harming anyone else, why shouldn’t go ahead with how I live my life?

16. Happiness is knowing how to celebrate

17. Happiness is caring about the happiness of those you love

18. Happiness is not attaching too much importance to what other people think

19. The sun and the sea make everybody happy

Point number 20: a case of thinking if the glass is half-full or half empty. Sometimes a different perspective changes a lot of how we feel about things. Also, a little healthy competition is always good, but too much of it can poison everything.

20. Happiness is a certain way of seeing things

21. Rivalry poisons happiness

22. Women care more than men about making others happy

23. Happiness means making sure that those around you are happy

In a nutshell, Hector and the Search of Happiness is a very short, lighthearted book that could easily be a casual read. The tone is almost childlike, with vague details at some points where you’d need to think of what exactly the author is referring to in the present time and age. It is truly a cross between The Little Prince and The Alchemist. A delightful, almost magical read.

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As I’ve mentioned briefly in my previous post, I watched Wicked last weekend! I’ve been so excited to catch it since the announcement of the musical coming to town in November last year, and have been bugging the mister ever since. The last Broadway musical we watched was Cats way back in 2009, so it was high time we caught another.

Plus it’s Wicked. You don’t miss out on Wicked – you watch it.

So we finally did. And it was spectacular. Loved everything about it – the set, the songs (Defying Gravity is a personal favourite, Not That Girl comes second) and of course the costumes.

I think the costumes that really blew me away were those of the Emerald City citizens. I mean really, I’ve never quite liked green, especially on clothes – but the costumes in One Short Day made it into and eccentric mix of high fashion and vintage chic. Here are two of the costumes on display at Marina Bay Sands:

I think I like the one above more simply because it comes with boots. So fabulous. But then again, the one below has ruffles. Who doesn’t like ruffles?!

For a better understanding of my obsession of the Emerald City costumes, take a peek at this video – and then tell me they aren’t awesome when worn on stage.

So of course when one watches a musical, one would get any relevant merchandise. So these are our haul of Wicked merchandise:

I got myself The Grimmerie and a witch’s hat keychain. In the show, The Grimmerie is this book of powerful spells that started the manifestation of the flying monkeys. But in real life, it is a book that stores all the behind-the-scenes details of the musical. I love how they included sections of the original cast in great detail.

Speaking of flying monkeys, FP requested I got him the Chistery monkey plush because he thought it was very cute. It seems he is the only one who thinks it is cute. The rest of us think it’s just creepy.

BUT during the curtain call, the actor playing Chistery took off his head gear and revealed himself in all his handsome glory. FP and I actually gasped when we saw what was hiding behind that mask throughout the entire show! He should have been Fiyero!

(wanted to find out the actor’s name but he is not listed in the principal cast list in the Wicked Singapore website!)

Sorry there’s no photos of the set and backdrop pre-show because it seems that the rule of “strictly no photography” was seriously enforced. Before the show started, they had staff looking out for, and stopping people from trying to take photos (even of themselves). During the show, these same staff stood by the walls of the grand theater.

No idea why this is so, because for the past few musicals I’ve seen it wasn’t like this.

Oh well, it still doesn’t make Wicked any less watchable. If you haven’t caught it, then you should! They have extended the show till March 2012!

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Spent a few delightful hours at TWG last weekend for tea, desserts and awesome food. It was after watching Wicked, and it was really nice and relaxing to be just be there and enjoying good food and great company.

It wasn’t my first time at TWG, but it was the first time that we stayed for a really long time and indulged in quite a portion of the menu.

My favourite tea for the day was clearly the strawberry tea (but since when don’t I ever not like anything strawberry?)

Because the three of us were way too early for our dinner date with our other friends, we ordered some cakes to tide over the hunger pangs.

This was the Chocolate Fondant. That warm chocolate cake was too decadent for words, and paired with the scoop of Vanilla Bourbon Tea ice cream – it was simply divine.

This, on the other hand, was the Normandy Apple Tart. Excellent tart indeed, that goes very well with the scoop of Singapore Breakfast Tea ice cream by the side. There seems to be some kind of spice in the ice cream. Can’t be sure if it was cinnamon or star aniseed. But it was quite the flavour.

Later on, we ordered the Bolognaise lagsane to share. Totally forgot to snap a photo though.

When all of the dinner party arrived, we started ordering our main courses and here are some of the stuff we had (with the exception of my Smoked Scottish Salmon because sometimes some dishes are not photogenic):

Wagyu Burger

Foie Gras Terrine

Lamb Stew

To end it, I had a scoop of Chocolate Earl Grey ice cream:

Pretty great way to end a pleasant evening, don’t you think?

Just wanted to share my current favourite ring, a faux gold bird ring, and my best buy of the weekend, a replica magnet of Van Gogh’s Starry, Starry Night. I love it to bits!

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We had brunch at Pita Pan yesterday, since we were at Marina Bay Sands to catch Wicked anyway. For a restaurant that specializes in vegetarian cuisine, and promising “a pocketful of health”, it sure does serve really great food. We were quite lost at what to order, so they recommended we try out the red shakshuka and the Mediterranean platter.

And so we did, with freshly squeezed apple juice by the side.

I know that this is just apple juice but let me just say that it was really good apple juice. Perhaps I’m biased because I really do like apple juice and quite particular about it.

Moving on to the main stars of the meal, this is the red shakshuka that I spoke of earlier.

It’s basically this hot plate dish that comes with a naan-like bread, and you just have to dip the bread in it. I really have no idea what was in it but it was absolutely yummy. Hard to believe that it was vegetarian!

And this was very worth the price – it was only $9.90!

The Mediterranean platter was just alright. It came with the same naan-like bread, but this time in tiny triangles and an assortment of dips/side dishes for you to pair with the bread.

Sorry didn’t manage to take the other side of the platter (because we were really starving), but it included things like falafel, peanut dips and other dips that we can’t really recognize.

Though the platter seems to offer a fair variety of this and that, I feel that the price of $24 was not really justified. Yes it’s delicious and all, but the red shakshuka stole the show, despite its price. I think it’s our personal favourite for now!

It was quite an enjoyable lunch, as the restaurant was hardly crowded in the early afternoon. Great venue for a casual date, topped with awesome food. Who says vegetarian food are not yummy?

Address:
Pita Pan (Marina Bay Sands)
The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands #01-87,
2 Bayfront Ave

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New year, new resolutions. So for 2012, I resolve to:

Keep a healthy lifestyle
This will mean a healthy diet and frequent exercising. I had a staggering headstart last year to eat healthy and start running, but it wasn’t a continuous and consistent effort. This year, all’s that gonna change. FP and I gave ourselves till end of April to see some difference in our fitness levels and weight.

Be an early riser
A complete stretch because I am definitely NOT a morning person. Have you seen me on mornings after a night of little sleep? Maybe a more realistic resolution is “do not press the snooze button”!

Join a marathon
Although I may not be the fittest person around (ever), I’ve always wanted to be in a marathon of some sort. And now that running on a regular basis in on my agenda, surviving a marathon should be quite a possibility.

Rekindle my love for craft
In 2011, I hardly crafted, barely sewed – nothing creative that’s time consuming and handmade was produced. So this year, I shall bring the crafts back to life. Hello felt projects, scrapbooking and anything else that comes my way!

Don’t sweat the small stuff
This is a repeat of a resolution I made in 2010. I do not like making mistakes being the perfectionist that I am, but sometimes I do need to let things go. And most of the time, I get annoyed by a million little things that shouldn’t even affect me. I need to take a deep breathe and tell myself that whether or not I believe it, most of the time it’s only me who is bothered by such details that aren’t worth my time.

Soak in the culture
Read more, travel more, watch more theater productions, view more exhibits at museums. These are basically the things that make me happy and that I’ve always been interested in. So why not kill two birds with one stone?

So I guess that’s it for this year. Possibly the shortest list of new year resolutions by far, but its quality vs quantity right?

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