Picture perfect ,
Saturday, December 6, 2014 | 12:13 PM
Is that yours truly? Yeah I couldn’t quite believe it myself that I can also take tumblr-worthy photos like this. Ultimate credit goes to the photographer Wern Toh. Hahahah I realize I’ve been mentioning Wern quite often in my last few blog posts but it can’t be helped, I’ve been pestering and hovering around her these past few days quite a bit, so much so that I think she has become my only friend. LOL.
Anyways, this photo (and the ones that will follow in this post) was taken when I went out with her to town on 02122014 for some retail therapy. ... Okay I was kidding about the “therapy” part, it was just shopping actually. LOL. It’s quite funny how every time Shirley wants to buy something, I will just go, “Eh didn’t you have that already?” and she will be like “Nooooo I don’t haveeee”. And half the time I was just trying to stop her from stimulating the economy. LOL. ... I was only partially successful if you’re wondering.
Met her in the morning and we went to the legendary Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple in Bugis. Of all the Chinese temples in Singapore, this particular temple is well known for its divination activities which are believed to be very accurate. And thus, yours truly went there with the objective to seek answers and clarity about the road ahead. I wouldn’t talk about my findings because I believe it would jinx my blessings if I were to spread it around but I’m reassured about the direction that I should be heading now, and I guess I’m getting ready to turn my humble dreams into a reality.
Anyways, since I’m on the topic of Chinese temples, it reminded me of my CID in year 4. CID is a course in RV to prepare students for A Levels H1 Project Work in Year 5 (i.e. JC1), this is one of the perks of being an IP school (Integrated-Program, whereby students are spared of O Levels and pursue the JC path right after secondary school education). Anyways, my CID course in year was called NMA (National Monuments Ambassador) which is about the preservation of National Monuments in Singapore. My year-long project was entitled “A Street of Many Worlds”, revolving around the monuments in Telok Ayer Street.
It’s not a random picture out of nowhere okay! Hahaha. Slotting in this picture to give le readers’ eyes a break from the many words and since I was on the topic of research and project, I think it’s a good chance to showcase the pretty libraries we have in Singapore (this particular one is Orchard Library) and the abundant amount of resources that we are blessed to have which is easily within reach.
Truth be told, I’ve never heard of Telok Ayer Street until this CID and after all of the research I’ve done on it, I’m entirely convinced by myself what a beautiful place it is. The many culture blends together like a perfect Apple-Beet Root-Carrot mix. I can still recall that upon coming out of the MRT station, we are greeted with the sight of a beautiful Church with Hokkien roots. Walking down the street, there is a Mosque in between modern shop-houses. Further down, there is a vibrant Chinese temple right beside an elaborated-looking Indian Temple. It’s really all the cultures of Singapore along ONE SINGLE street. Yes the number of site recces we have done, have imprinted the layout of that place in my brain clear as crystal.
Anyways, I’ve sidetracked to talk about my previous project because it was from that project that I learnt more about the meaning of Chinese Temples, which I will now share with le readers. Oh man, you blessed people. Hahaha. For most Chinese Temples, there is a main entrance and a side entrance. The main entrance is called the 龙门 (direct translation: Dragon Door) and the side entrance is called the 虎门 (direct translation: Tiger Door).
One enters the temple through the龙门 because the evil spirits that follow you to the temple will not be able to pass the dragon, a holy animal. The spirits will wait for you at the龙门 while you carry out your activities in the temple and when you leave through the虎门, they are still waiting at the 龙门.That’s how one is cleanse upon visiting the temple according to beliefs of devotees. It is also common for Chinese to have vibrant colours, mainly red, yellow and green.
Red symbolizes happiness, yellow is highly respected for Buddhist because it symbolizes freedom of soul and green is well-liked by Taoists because it is the colour of the earth. Just some simple and interesting facts because I don’t want to make my blog posts too informative and there are areas where I definitely stands to be corrected. Anyways, speaking of the CID NMA, Shirley was in the same course too! But she was in a different group so we didn’t know each other well then. Funny (and lovely) how fate brought us together. Hahaha
Anyways, I can’t really remember where we went after going to the temple but we were wandering around Bugis Street where the shops slowly begin to open one by one. Yeah we were so early that many of the shops were closed when we arrived. LOL. We went around buying clothes and accessories (okay maybe not “we” cause she was the one who’s mostly making the purchasing LOL) She had her nails done too, at $53. It sound quite expensive but personally I think it's quite worth it (given that you are willing to spend in the first place) because the design that she did was so pretty!! Perks of being a girl heehee.
I had my eyebrows trimmed (my brows were so thick they can be compared to Crayon Shin Chan, who is by far my favourite cartoon character with his perverted but cute and hilarious antics) at this mall not far from the temple (I was trying to find the building name using google map – street view but I was getting lost along the roads. LOL definitely a new low already ... At home also can get lost). Considering that they didn’t have any brand name, they were quite professional and it was damn cheap at only 5 bucks.
They looked dubious at first, actually all the shops there look dubious according to Shirley hahah, but it turns out to be quite value-for-money (VFM). According to BusinessDictionary, VFM is based not only on the minimum purchase price (economy) but also on the maximum efficiency and effectiveness of the purchase. Man, these terms reminds me of H2 Economics which I’ve really enjoyed studying. Anyways, despite claiming that this place looks dubious, there was a particular shop there where Shirley has brought many of her watches from which is TOTALLY VFM. And for those who know Shirley, her watch collection is like damn nice la!
After “Dubious (on the outside) Mall”, we went to Orchard in search of pretty places, one of which is Orchard Library cause yours truly wanted to borrow books. Yes I really need to do something about my terrible English. Le Readers are unaware of how many times I got stuck while blogging recently because I lost touch with the English language upon the end of all A Levels paper and am now having a hard time trying to phrase what I wanna say (many a times, I cheated and use thesaurus and google translate when I only remember how to say it in Chinese). And I still manage to churn out such a long post! Hahaha
Going down to IKEA later and I’m having trouble thinking about what I should wear. Not sure why I’m taking it so seriously when it’s only IKEA and I’m just going with my family. LOL. Prom is over but the vainness has remained. Well actually it has always been there. Hahahaha. But definitely no heels for me because my dad’s big stride makes it hard for me to keep up even in sport shoes.
A girl’s obsessions with shoes should not be undermined. A matching pair of shoes not only completes the appearance but it is also where the entire mood of the outfit is built upon. My sneakers make me feel more lively and loud. When I wear sneakers, I tend to bounce more when I walk. My heels make me feel more lady-like and sexier, my arse sways more subconsciously when I sashay in my heels. My slippers make me feel more casual and laid-back, and I’d be more careless with my steps. I never used to understand why does a woman need so many shoes when one only has two feet but now I realize that a girl’s obsessions with shoes should not be undermined.
Anyways, if le readers had looked closely at the photos taken, le readers would’ve realized that I changed shoes midway. LOL. I really adore the heels (and I’ll wear them any chance that I can get) but there were truly “killer heels”. #PunIntended My heels for prom were about 5cm higher in comparison but it was painless in comparison. (FYI my heels for prom was about 15cm. LOL check out the difference of my height without those heels and with those heels ... I became taller than Amy when I’m actually shorter than her. LOL) Anyways, platform heels wins hands down for comfort (as though there's such thing as "comfort" when one wear heels) but personally I prefer stilettos cause I think it's much sexier in comparison.
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