My very fun and disastrous round of GOLF!

I haven't golfed in absolutely ages so I forgot I even had golf clubs! When I decided to golf at Awana with friends, I had to call my ex flatmates to check if they had my golf bag. Lucky they still had it though it was collecting dust in their store room. So here I was at the Awana hoping no onlookers would be around on the first tee coz it would have been embarrassing if I couldn't get past the first ditch! haha ;) Well, I got past it but now the trouble was getting to the hole in a straight line on this very challenging course.

After a bad shot, I found it hard NOT to swear even if only the crickets heard me (and my friends depending on how far away they were standing!). you know things like, "what the f**!" OMG, not again!!! FML, WTF? I'm in the Xmas trees again? Sh*t!" hahahahaa

My score was like 9 on the first hole and then I stopped counting my strokes part way through the game. Not worth it, I figured. It was so crap! lol

Hannah decided to be the official photographer so that her friend Chris from England would have a memory of the trip. She said she would not be playing since she's not a golfer (fair enough but neither were we! haha) I'm no expert obviously but Chris was asking if you should keep your left hand straight on the swing and I was trying to explain it best I could (in video below). Michael (red shirt) who directed Project Alpha had difficulty directing his own shots that day, excuse the pun haha. We lost so many balls that day, I tell you. Hope we didn't kill any unsuspecting fish in the lake!

It started raining like mad after the 4th hole so we found a deserted rest stop which luckily had a table and a few chairs so we were chatting there for a couple of hours. It was cold (well for me at least but not the rest of them coz Michael, Hannah and Chris are ALL from England!) but it was really nice being out of the city for a change. It doesn't feel like KL up there especially on the scenic course. The lakes and sprawling greens made it very peaceful and I was telling Hannah how odd it was to see real pine trees in Malaysia!


We got Hannah to try to hit a few balls for fun. Not bad really...she managed to get the ball off the ground and was quite excited about it. Sorry we have no footage of this but she thinks she should just stick to kick boxing ;)

I may wanna golf again not so much for golf in itself (coz I'm pretty bad at it) but for the experience of just spending the day out with friends in the outdoors. It was really fun and it helped me to disconnect from work and the city just for those few hours :)

Poem about the Sea...

As I was looking out to sea from Uluwatu temple in Bali, I was struck by how beautiful it was up there. It took my breath away just peering over the edge. I started thinking about this poem I wrote about the ocean...there's something wild and mysterious about the sea. You know I almost drowned once when I was caught in a rip current in a remote region in Australia. Every attempt I made to swim back to the shore seemed to be sending me even further out. It was really frightening. If it wasn't for the fact a surfer swam out to get me, I'm not sure whether I would be here today. Naturally, I have a mixture of respect and awe for the sea. Water can be as harmless and still as a lake or the powerful force that carved out the Grand Canyon. Here's the poem I wrote...

A vision to behold

solely in my mind

Let me take you deep in slumber

lost in sleep

Ocean dreams

on wings of fancy

Journey through my eyes...

Moonlit figures

holding hands

with footsteps light,

lapping waves beckoning

like liquid crystal I'd never seen

Virgin waters

emerald green

hug the coast

rippling sight

like possessive fingers

foamy white

in endless circles

timeless patterns

How beautiful you are...

My twin sister?

Twins are fascinating. I interviewed a pair of twins once on Pillow Talk some time back and there was this one incident which stuck out in my memory. One of them had food poisoning in one country and called up her Mum to say she had fallen sick. Simultaneously, the other twin who was modelling in another country had pizza with a group of friends. Everyone SHARED the same pizza and everyone was fine but the twin fell sick, just like her sister (even though they were in different parts of the world)

I was just thinking how handy it would be to send my twin off to appear at functions I'm too lazy to go to hehe :) I've heard that some Hollywood actors have doubles to deflect the paparazzi. If you resemble a star who's liked, you'll probably be ok. For eg, there was a guy who owned a cafe and looked like Leonardo Di Caprio to a point people would ask for his autograph on the street. Well, straight after the Titanic was voted best film, his restaurant business boomed. Now, imagine if you looked like a world leader or WANTED person. It would be a hazard to your safety. You would have to keep your head down! ;)

Express yourself!

Call me bias but I find my pugs so amusing. They have such expressive faces. All those wrinkles they're born with make them look super concerned all the time :)

Pickle (on left) turns over onto her back when I'm leaving the house because she knows it's time to be put back into the garden. She also makes her body very limp so it's hard to pick her up and carry her out. I'm not supposed to tolerate this behaviour as a dog owner but it's just sooo funny how she plays dead n tries to look all innocent *chuckle* and then I get these "poor thing" looks once they're outside waiting to be let back in *eyes rolling* Like naughty kids!
Live The Moment
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The "other" pair of eyes

Do you ever feel like someone's watching you? For eg, you get that "feeling" someone's eyes are on you and when you turn around, the person quickly looks away? You know there were science experiments conducted on this to prove that humans can "see" "know" and "sense" things without physical sight which defies logical explanation (when u think about it).

The experiments failed to prove we have eyes at the back of our heads coz it was really challenging to have proper controls. For instance, if you knew you were part of the experiment, your heart rate might be higher because you're waiting in anticipation etc so the results weren't accurate.

So in conclusion, science can't prove we know people are staring at us when they do but soooo many of us have experienced it so I say we have a sixth sense. Well, if I stare at YOUR back from across the room at a party and you turn around, I'll be thinking of this blog post! And I'll have one of those ah-ha! moments :)

Create "me" time

When you're constantly surrounded by people whether it's your colleagues at work, your own family members or strangers you're passing on a busy street, it's important to set some "me" time aside. It could be anything from a good book to a self indulgent massage. Or the basic luxury of sleeping in on the weekend. Hmmm....glorious ;) If you've been working too hard every night, go see that movie you've been meaning to watch coz you may return to your work desk in a better space. 

Sounds like common sense but how many of us listen to our bodies? If you're tired, get more rest. If you're dehydrated and weak all the time, drink more water coz it will give you more energy. Just think about one thing you wanted to do this week but never got round to doing it? For myself, it was exercise and I'm not going to make excuses that I didn't have enough time coz I know it's an excuse. I've gotta make the time! The only exercise I got all week were my fingers typing out emails ;)

My pugs on shoot! :)

The Making of the SPCA Calendar

I received a call from Amber asking if I would be interested to do a shoot with my pugs to raise funds for the SPCA and MNAWF. She was collaborating with the publisher of Pets Lover Magazine on this project. Well, anything to do with animals interests me as a pet owner and treating them with respect and care so of course, I was delighted to be a part of this calendar! 

It brought a smile to my face just thinking of the mayhem they would cause in a studio. Incredibly, I managed to get them to sit still on each step for the first shot. I was amazed they didn't jump off. The photographer commented on what good models they were *ahem...dog Mummy glowing with pride*

Harley is a bit afraid of heights (just look at his face) so he remained on the steps even when I walked away from him hehe. I had to carry him off.

It was so cool to be in a make up chair and have my dogs running around. They've never been in a studio before. They were so curious about everything. I was enjoying having them around while I worked :)

True to their nature, this is how attentive they are around a biscuit, no matter how small. They are so greedy, I tell you! ;)

The moment I laid down on the sofa "prop", I think they assumed I was watching TV. They all jumped on to me and got into position looking straight ahead. Perrrrfect!

The single chair was much tougher. Their eyeline was all over the place. Shooting with any dog, let alone 3 is really challenging coz you need to them look straight, not run off all of a sudden and you don't wanna be looking like a mess yourself during the shots. There were so many blur ones but we managed to get them to look straight when my maid stood behind the cameraman and called them.

At the press conference for the calendar launch

I was quite embarrassed that Pickle barked her small head off when she saw Angel Wong's dog (about 4 times her size). What terrible manners!

It was another first for me attending a press con with my pugs!  Amber really liked Harley. She kept saying "Oh my God. He's so fat! He's so fat!" Before I could defend poor Harley, she chirps "I like fat dogs. Ooooh, I wanna bring him home"

Harley looked interested in the idea when she was holding his head (you traitor Harley! He's like that round biscuits and pretty girls, gets all starry eyed) but then he eventually made his way back to his Mummy, especially when he saw me enthusiastically patting Amber's golden retriever! haha *wink* 

Dogs are like little people. They have feelings and they can get jealous too. If you have a dog at home, love them with all your heart because that's what they do with you. You are their world! 

We all have masks!

We don't just wear masks on special occasions like Halloween. We wear them almost every day. When you greet your boss at work, you have a smile firmly planted on your face (even though you just had an argument with your partner) but you chirp "good morning" smoothly and efficiently even though there's nothing "good" about your morning.

courtesy of my sexy girlfriend Desiree

There are so many situations to "mask" one's real intentions. Imagine how in business negotiations, sometimes you have one partner nodding politely and smiling at his partner while he plots how to back stab him or her.

Then there's the average girl who covers the shadows under her eyes with concealer so that you wouldn't see how tired she really is. Make up is like a weapon when she's wearing it and sometimes a weakness when she takes it off, worried to leave the house or be seen without her "mask"

But there are some things not worth trying to hide when you're in a relationship and it's your true face and real nature. If you try to be someone you're not, it catches up with you. If your partner is eventually going to find out what you're really like, may as well start by being yourself right?

For instance, when a guy puts his best foot forward when he's trying to impress a girl, he might try TOO HARD. Problem with that is over time, it becomes unnatural and difficult to maintain this front.

I actually know a couple of guys who do the opposite (using lesser cars on first dates and playing things down) so that a girl would hopefully like them just for them. Takes a certain amount of security to do that.

Considering we often wear "masks" at work (for me it might be smiling non stop for an ad till your jaw hurts but it's work so you grin and bear it ;) it's important to come home and be YOU or to have friends who you can be yourself around because they keep it real and tell you off if you step out of line.

Well, all this talk about masks makes me wanna wear my honey and oatmeal one! :) Those are the only masks I wear at home okay? *chuckle* and if you don't believe me, ask my pugs!! They really know ME ;)