Bunny's Birthday 2008

Another birthday! I wasn't allowed to do much this year because I'm supposed to be mourning over my grandma and Bunny is pretty superstitious about me celebrating her birthday for her, so instead of doing anything elaborate, we decided to go to the luge at Sentosa. We initially wanted to go for a massage after that but weren't able to find any good deals, so we didn't end up having our muscles kneaded.

Guess it's memorable for her this year because she had to attend an interview today. So while she was at the interview, I was at the clinic cooking up some excuse to skip work today. After that, I even had time to window shop at Vivocity and my oh my, there are so many things I want to get! But the thought of having to pay more than $50 for an item simply made me change my mind. Why is shopping so expensive these days? It seems like everything has went up!

So when she was finally done with her interview, we had a late lunch first before proceeding to Sentosa:

Looking cool and suave on her birthday


On our way to Sentosa. She changed out of her interview attire.
Our only destination in Sentosa - the Luge.

Instead of riding the luge and then taking the skytrain up, we did it in the reverse order - ride up and then take the luge down.

The coastlines look pretty gross. Container ships, green water...we even saw an oil rig nearby!

Preparing for the ride.

The ride was pretty fun, as it always is. We were zooming past people but at certain parts of the route, some stupid slowpokes were blocking our way and we ended up having this picture taken of us:

We're the tiny idiots behind. The camera didn't manage to capture us!



"Faster la!"

Bunny seemed like she enjoyed the luge quite a bit so we've decided to ride it again next time with her sister...and the dog. That's if we're able to.

There was nothing much to do in Sentosa because it started to drizzle so we just sat and chilled at Coffee Bean.

S = So
E = Expensive
N = Nothing
TO = To
S = See
A = Anyway

We were deciding where to have dinner. I wanted steak and so did the birthday girl but she was lazy to change out of her casual wear so instead of dining at some restaurant, we bought stuff to cook at her place, which was a good idea eventually because it started to rain and I get to eat her sumptuous steak as well!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Studio shoot

I don't know WHAT possessed Angela and me to agree to my colleague's suggestion on "modelling" for him so that he can practice some studio photography skills. We're the most unnatural models one could ever think of looking for.

See for yourself:

Test shot

Ok, a proper one first.


Angela made me do this.

And I don't know what in the world is she doing!

*poke*

She made me do this again.



I burst out laughing because I saw a paw creeping over from the corner of my eye.



Our failed attempt at doing the Charlie's Angels pose.


"Ouch!"


Emo shot - how awkward.


"Hurry up la!"


"What in the world are you asking me to do again?"


"No way am I gonna do that! Hmph!"


An artistic shot


A commercial shot, perhaps?

And then I suggested we do a series of emotions. Here's mine:

Elated (I sure was because I just tendered about an hour ago on that day)!


Crying


Psychotic


Angry


Murderous


Sexy - or so I thought it would be. Hmm.


Bitchy


This was funny. Both Angela and I opened our mouths at the exact time. How spontaneous!

Proper shots now:

And back to being silly:

What the hell? I had no idea what was she trying to do with her leg.


*squeeze*

Battle of the "crossiest" cross-eyed chick.

And then we found a prop...to prop ourselves on:

I look.....long. Like a hot dog.

Emo again.


I can never be serious when taking emo shots.


And end up getting told off.


Doesn't this look like a wedding picture?


Trying to emulate a fashion shoot.


I'm DA BOSS!


Ok, I'm beat. Let's finish the shoot.

After going through these pictures...I realised one thing:

I NEED A FREAKING HAIRCUT!

I nailed it!!!

I can now officially blog that:

I'VE RESIGNED...

and have taken up the offer at SPH as a Journalist with AsiaOne. Woohoooo!!! My last day will be 19 September. The timing was SO accurate! I serve one month's notice here and then I leave for Europe on the 20th, return on the 4th and start work on the 6th of October.

It seemed like everything just fell into place. Might not be a bed of roses there but at least it's an actual career path I can possibly start on and it's in a different industry, something I have more interest in than consumer electronics.

Everyone's exceptionally happy for me and I must say that I'm pretty excited myself! But first things first, I need to hand in my second assignment.

Hmmm....

Homosexuality and Buddhism

Just as I was getting curious about Theravada Buddhism, Bunny sent me this article:

Homosexuality is the tendency to be sexually attracted to persons of the same rather than the opposite gender. According to the ancient Indian understanding, homosexuals were thought of simply as being `the third nature' (trtiya prakti), rather than as perverted, deviant or sick. With its emphasis on psychology and cause and effect, Buddhism judges acts, including sexual acts, primarily by the intention (cetana) behind them and the effect they have. A sexual act motivated
by love, mutuality and the desire to give and share would be judged positive no matter what the gender of the two persons involved. Therefore, homosexuality as such is not considered immoral in Buddhism or against the third Precept, although this is not always understood in traditional Buddhist countries. If a homosexual avoids the sensuality and licence of the so-called `gay scene' and enters into a loving relationship with another person, there is no reason why he or she cannot be a sincere practising Buddhist and enjoy all the blessings of the Buddhist life.

None of the legal codes of traditional Buddhist countries criminalized homosexuality per se, although of course there were penalties against homosexual rape and homosexual acts with minors just as there were for similar offences committed by heterosexuals. In most Buddhist
countries today, homosexuality is usually considered strange and laughable although not wicked or evil. Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Mongolia, Japan and South Korea have no laws against homosexuality between consenting adults. Homosexuality is illegal in Burma and Sri Lanka mainly because their legal codes were in part drawn up during the colonial era. Recently in Sri Lanka, the penalty for homosexuality was increased in an ill-considered response to the
growing problem of sex tourism in the country.

This is an excerpt from http://sdhammika.blogspot.com/2008/08/homosexuality.html (which I think I came across while researching on homosexuality and Buddhism).

It went on to talk about Dalai Lama and homosexuality:
At a press conference in 1997 the Dalai Lama said; `From a Buddhist point of view (lesbian and gay sex)...is generally considered sexual misconduct.' He very soon found that he had stumbled into a pink minefield when some Western Buddhists, a significant number of who are
gay, loudly expressed their outrage....

Ahh, "pink minefield". I like that term already. The article's quite long and more of it can be read from the link above.

There are always two schools of thought when it comes to homosexuality and religion, occasionally with the country's and people's culture taking precedence over the religion's actual teachings and perceptions of homosexuality. To many, homosexuality is a perversion and hence should be condemned in religious books. Religion is also used as a form of political power and so it's easy to say, "It's a sin in the (insert title of religious book), hence it's illegal by law too." In a warped way, religion equates to the law.

Well, I'm at work now so I can't write one whole essay on my musings of sexuality and religion but just to conclude, thank goodness I'm an atheist or else I'll have a difficult time coming to terms with my "sins".

First round interview at SPH

The interview at SPH was ironically and painstakingly....easy!

So much so that I literally struggled at the simple questions because I was so prepared for grueling, intense questions such as: "What do you think of the current state of journalism in SG?" and "What qualities should a journalist possess?" Instead, I was asked very general questions and what made things worse was that I wasn't even given a chance to speak! For a good 15 mins out of a total of 25 mins, the editor was speaking non-stop about the different portals, la-di-da...like I don't know already! I did my research you know.

This is bad because I wasn't given much time to sell myself and when I did, I started stuttering and my nerves took over. God damn it. I was taken aback by their lackadaisical approach to interviewing candidates because the two candidates before me only took about 15 mins each. And halfway through the interview, one of the editors even walked out to pick up a call. Not only did he do that, he was restless throughout the entire 25 minutes and his body language told me he couldn't wait for it to end. Yes, I guess for interactive journalists, they don't require one to be so formal and serious about it but I didn't expect such a laissez-faire attitude either. They didn't even ask me what my strengths and weaknesses are. :( I feel undervalued!

Anyway, I'm not sure when they'll get back to me because after asking them some questions and from the feedback they gave, they don't seem to value this position or regard it highly as the candidates do. So I'll just wait to see if they'll call me or if they'll mail me the dreaded letter instead.

Never-ending Agony

Oh the pain of wanting to get into SPH as a multimedia journalist! After applying for the job, I had to sit for a written test meant for journalists and that was bloody scary. It took 3 weeks before HR called to tell me that I've passed the test.

But that wasn't the end of it...

She then informed me that there are no vacancies in RazorTV and asked if I was interested in the other SPH Interactive portals, in which I replied, "Yes". It then took ANOTHER 1 month before she finally called me back today to tell me that they've schedule an interview this Thursday afternoon.

Freaking finally!

But it's not over...yet. This interview will determine whether I'm suitable for the job. It's also for the editors to see where they can place me - ST, AsiaOne or Stomp (yucks!). I'm sick to the stomach from nervousness and I feel queasy each time I think of the interview on Thursday. It almost feels like it'll be the end of the world if I don't nail it.

The unending agony goes on.

On another note, I spent almost the entire day in the National Library doing more background research and writing my essay. I've now almost completed it but will have to re-think whether the entire structure is ok. Well, I guess I can leave that till the weekend, before I start work on it again.

I must say that the library is rather conducive, especially Level 7, where the natural light lights up the entire level and the air-conditioning isn't too cold. It's quiet, the tables are huge enough to contain paper war zones and you've got all the material you ever need to assist you in your research. You don't get too distracted with the Internet, although you do have Wireless@SG and you have no choice but to do your work because when you look at how hardworking everybody around you are, you automatically feel that you need to get your work done! Funny, isn't it?

I guess I'm beginning to get in touch with my "arts roots" once again because writing the essay and doing the research was a breeeeze. It's more of a mental challenge than anything else because one really needs to think in a well-structured and organised manner before attempting any writing. Well I hope what I've written is good enough.

Once I've submitted that, I'll need to start on the next one which I need to hand in before I leave for Europe. This assignment will require me to have already established a research topic, which I have yet to do because I've got about, hmm, 10 topics on my mind?!

Will deliberate about that in another post.