Count to Ten! Asian Culture adventure!

On the 15th of June 2012, which falls on a Friday, my best friend and I visited the Asian Civilisation Museum to participate in the Count to Ten! activity as part of my assignment. It is like killing two birds with a stone as I had always love visiting museums and at the same time, I'm doing my assignment on the activity or past time  that I loved! 

So? What is Count to Ten? 


Count to Ten is a programme created by Asian Civilisation Museum (ACM) as part of their list of activities and events. It can be considered as part of cultural and arts as well as educational tourism as the activities for the said event concentrate on their permanent exhibitions that are of Asian influences. It is held at the Asian Civilisation Museum which is located at 1 Empress Place. The museum itself sits on the bank of the Singapore River and it is only a five minutes walk from Raffles Place Station. The programme kick-started on the 18^th May 2012 to 30^th June 2012 and it is operational during the museum’s opening hours. The purpose of the activity is to instil and revitalise lost knowledge on the Asian culture and through ACM’s website, it is obvious that they are targeting families with children to come over to the museum and participate in the activity. Moreover, the admission fees for local and Permanent Residents students with a valid local pass are waived and accompanying regular adults pay a minimal sum for the admission fees. 


Addition to that, Count to Ten is a drop-in type of activity whereby patrons of the museum can pick up a trail sheet and a pencil and then be on their way to discover fun facts about 10 amazing objects as well as learning Asian culture through their permanent galleries on an adventure trail. Not only that, the programme also stimulates the senses with varying activities in the hands-on gallery whereby the patrons are able to explore Asia through many different types of games and puzzles. It requires the participants to walk around the entire museum and have the experience to know each and every one of the galleries better as the trail seamlessly connects one artefact to another. One thing that is good about this activity is that you’re able to learn more than what you had first expected. As such, for this specific activity, there is no guided tour available as the activity is based solely on the participant’s discretion and pace. Nevertheless, guided tours are available for free at specific timings for the general patrons of the museum who wish to gain greater insights regarding the different galleries and exhibits. 


The trail was indeed fun as I went through mazes of galleries and exhibits and finding myself drowning to all of the artefacts that were being displayed. Some of the pictures below are better at illustrating on how engrossed I was during the trail itself.

A hands-on challenge to pick up the fake rice balls with a pair of chopsticks!

That's me, looking at gold coins through the magnifier

Admiring the beautiful set-up of the nomad's tent.

Thus, all in all, I had fun! The galleries and exhibits were very much interesting and I had enjoyed looking and finding each one of them in the museum. It made me feel proud of my Asian roots and had me feeling enriched about my own culture. To end things off, events like the Count to Ten! Activity is essential to have as it helps to revitalise lost tradition and culture and thus create greater awareness of one’s roots and culture especially in the younger generations where the minds and mentality are being influenced too much on the westerner’s point of view. This will be a good way to reinstall the Asian culture in them especially when they are young as it is much easier to develop and nurture them as Asian beings.

On the 4th of December, I have *finally* gotten myself a new digital camera from the Electronics Fair at Suntec City. Courtesy of my beloved parents, of course. He he he. I've been doing a lot of follow-up research on different digital still cameras prior to the day of purchase as I wanted to make sure that the product I've bought is a worthy investment and something that I wouldn't regret using!

Let me show you the list of cameras that I had in mind:
Be warned that this entry may be loaded with bimbotic and superficial comments.
(I'm no pro but I judged based on what I've read on reviews and feedback from different gadgets sites, forums, Youtube and so on and so forth!)

1. Panasonic Lumix GF 3

Okay, I shall be honest. I fell in love with this camera at first sight due to it's striking red colour body. I think it adds a little bit of interesting factor as most cameras I've seen in public are either white, grey or black. Boohoo. The camera is available in a variety of colours but the red one have left the biggest impression on me. But, the deal breaker was for this camera is that you need different types of lens to achieve different photo effects. As simple as a zoom function requires a zoom lens in order for you to snap a close up of your subject. I'm only a happy and clueless point-and-shooter not an amateur photographer. 

2. Olympus XZ-1

I liked this camera for the fact that it has a very polished look and at the same time, quirky. As for the features and specs, it's a very good camera as what I've presumed based on the sources and reviews that I've read. Deal breaker: It has no tilt-swivel screen and I can't camwhore and take self-portraits! But it's cute.

3. Panasonic Lumix LX 5

Somewhat similar to XZ-1. LX 5 is another great compact camera and I saw different beautiful pictures taken from different photo galleries on the web. Many professionals owns this camera as a complementary gadget to their DSLRs! Deal breaker: and again, no tilt-swivel screen. boohoo. 

**After researching on the above-mentioned cameras, I was utterly demised for the fact (my assumption) that good cameras doesn't have any tilt-swivel screen for self-portraits until I came across on Tammy's Ohsofickle blog and her Canon G12. And so, right after, did an intensive research on the G12 and I was so elated that it has an in-built swivel screen. 

4. Canon Powershot G12

Told ya, was SO SO SO happy that I've finally found a camera perfect for self-shots but the ultimate deal breaker: it was way too bulky to be considered a compact, in my definition, by the way. 

Which leads me to another digital camera...

5. Samsung EX-1

The research for G12 leaded me to this wonderful beauty, the Samsung EX 1. My initial thought that Samsung cameras aren't as good as others in the market as Samsung is renowned for it's startlingly clear LCD televisions and mobile phones! But, I decided to throw away my perception and assumption and boy was I glad that I did that! Based on the reviews and such, it was a good camera for casual users like me. And most importantly, it has a tilt-swivel screen. Yay. And yes, after much deliberation, my family and I chose this camera even though Yana and I have a soft spot for Canon G12 but it was too bulky to handle. He he he.

But, the deal breaker for this camera is that Samsung doesn't equipped this with a external battery charger! I hate in-camera charging. Gonna purchase an external charger soon!

A few of Raya pictures 2011 with the Ubi Boys. Have always loved joining them to celebrate the occasion because of the large number of people in the group and it gave me a sense of joy as I spent my Eid filled with happy moments and got to meet my relatives and the people who are very dear to me.

The pictures were taken on the 10th of September. That night was exceptionally fun because the group that my friends and I partied with are beyond awesome. And yes, many of you out there might think I'm an alcoholic or a smoker or both. The answer is: I'm none. I don't drink alcoholic beverages nor do I smoke. I enjoyed squeaky clean fun!

Yes, I know. I know what you might be thinking. I'm obscenely blessed with moles. And, I'm not afraid of flaunting them because after all, it is part of His creation. I used to be so embarrassed for the fact that I have moles and had to reject taking pictures with friends and family. Even if I do, I would spent an entire night using Photoshop to virtually conceal the obvious mole on my nose and where ever is visible in the picture. Fortunately, that was during my lower secondary school years, the period of time where my self-esteem was at it's lowest. I already grew out from that phase and has started embracing myself more. The moles on my face, in particular, the Mother of Pearl that is located right smack at the tip of my nose. It has become one of my distinct features as well as a form of identity. It somehow made other people remembers me better due to the unique placement of the mole. As such, never will I regarded them as flaws because it is most suited to be called, gifts.

We turn a month older every 8th of the month! Since 8th July had passed, we're officially in our 40th month in riding this helluva love roller coaster that are full of unsuspecting twists and turns. And how can we forget the countless sudden arguments we've encountered and the tears of joy and plentiful of laughter that we've wasted with each other. I want to go through this journey with you, experiencing the good as well as the bad. Besides, one can't have a rainbow without a little rain (':

***

 Partied my night away with the girls at Zirca/Rebel on a Friday night. Yes, on my freaking 3 years and 4 months anniversary. Anyway, I had tremendous fun despite experiencing minor hiccups along the way. And O-M-G, the mega club was beyond packed with clubbers, I swear! Especially Rebel, I was practically a human sandwich for about 2 hours or so. It was stuffed with party-goers as there was an event to celebrate Electric Playground's 2nd Anniversary. Entered for free cos we scored some invites! It was a blast and has always loved my party company!

                                                           


                                                            


Met this boy on the 10th of June which falls on Friday to celebrate our 3 years and 3 months anniversary mark of knowing each other! Had dinner at Arab Street. Initially, wanted to dine in at Vintage Delicafe but it was packed with customers! Should have called in earlier to make a reservation ): in the end, we settled with just Kampong Glam Cafe as we were too hungry to wait any longer. And, on that day, I requested and insisted on paying off everything such as footing the food bill, movie tickets, some light snacks and etc because he has always been the one mostly paying off our expenses whenever I went out with him. But, being the gentleman that he is, he wanted to fork out some but I didn't allow him to. Hehe. After which, headed down to Orchard to catch X-Men First Class which was by the way, awesome as hell. Our movie ended at close to 3.30am and home sweet home. I have always adored simple dates like this <3

It's been quite some time since I've last posted up an entry. From the last dated entry and up till now, many eventful things had happened. Some are good, some are bad and some are just, well, unnecessary. School has always been alright. Really love my classmates to death. The loveliest bunch and they are one of the most sincere people I've ever come across. In fact, one of the reasons I attended school every time was and still am, because of them. They just made my Polytechnic life somewhat better. Starting from tomorrow is the official start to my mid-semester exam. I really need to ace, if not all, most papers because my attendance has been failing (due to my dysfunctional biological clock which makes morning classes very difficult to wake up to!) hence directly lowering down my grades even further due to the deduction of points for punctuality and individual assessment. 

And yes, many have asked whether I am single or not. Well, my answer to that kind of questions will always be, "single but taken". The reply does makes sense but can be quite puzzling too, no?