Angelina Jolie just undergone a surgery to remove both her breasts. Wow. That was shocking. Initially I thought “what was she thinking?!??!”, then as I read the news articiles, I really admire her courage and beauty.

“The 37-year-old American actress wrote in an opinion piece entitled “My Medical Choice” in The New York Times that she had chosen the procedure because she carries a faulty gene that increases her risk of both breast and ovarian cancer. Jolie, one of Hollywood’s best-known faces and the partner of actor Brad Pitt, said that because of this gene, known as BRCA1, her doctors estimated she had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer.

Jolie said her chances of developing breast cancer are now down to five percent. Jolie and Pitt have three adopted and three biological children. “I can tell my children they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer,” Jolie said.”
taken from http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2013/05/201351493044776503.html

I really admire her courage to undergo an operation that could potentially be live changing. The boobs, to many, are the most visible human anatomy that one can discern between a man and a woman. I think many women would be really scared and go through some femininty identity crisis with their breasts removed. Not to mention breast cancer patients and how devastating it must be for them. Angelina Jolie is known for her unique facial features and a really hot body, for such a high profile celebrity to make such a decision – where how much you earn is how good you look (socially acceptably beautiful) – I think it takes a lot more courage.

It is a pity that there aren’t a better cure for her genetic disorder, and of course breast cancer.

The next time you’re making your way around a public vehicle or bus stop seat, be sure to examine the seats carefully before planting your butt on it, it might be a pain in the ass, quite literally.

There have been a couple of reported cases where unknowing commuters get their ass burnt by acid in the trains and bus stop seats. The first of such cases started March 24 last year (2012), a 27-year-old Malaysian woman suffered a burn wound on her buttocks in a similar incident involving a wet seat. On April 17 2013, a teenage boy suffered second-degree burns on his right thigh after sitting on a pool of oily liquid on a bus stop seat in Bukit Batok East Avenue 3. The latest incident happened to a nurse who suffered 3 per cent burns after sitting on an unknown corrosive substance on the train.

I suspect that the authorities aren’t releasing the names of chemicals used in these attacks for fear of copy cats. This Butt Burner reminds me of the massive acid attack in Hong Kong a few years back. It’s massive relative to this Butt Burner, there were 20-50 injured each time the attacker strike. This Butt Burner have some kind of perverse public transport sadistic fetish, I wouldn’t be surprised if the culprit lurks around the carriage and watches his victims get their ass burnt. I decided to dub him the “Butt Burner” cause it matches the lameness level of the act.

You can read the news article from AsiaOne.

It was a crazy weekend at Le Noir! A bunch of friends (led by Sabrina of course) threw a party at Le Noir with Angels & Devils theme! It was really fun and tiring to throw a party because even though the party only gets happening after 10pm, we had to be there way earlier for preparation work.

The preparation started a few days ago, between running around looking for awesome props to wear and giveaway, prizes, arranging of venue and drinks etc., I had to get my hair done! My bestest hairdresser Huifen from Salon de Choix coloured and cut my hair last week Btw, there are 3 shops of party props along Queens Street, just beside Bugis+, we got all our party stuff there

The girls all decided to be devils for the night, so I matched a nice red dress I got from a M)phosis sale, with a chunky black necklace, black shiny wedges and black stockings The best hair stylist in the whole wide world, Teo Hui Fen from Salon de Choix helped design my hair for the night! I was slightly worried whether I could pull off the temporary perms, but everyone commented that my hair looked awesome that night!

You can locate my favourite number 1 hair stylist in Singapore Ms Teo Huifen at:
Salon de Choix
Address: 3 Killiney Road #01-06 Winsland House 1, Singapore, Singapore s239519
Telephone number: 6836 2959
Opening hours: Mon – Sun: 10:30 am – 8:30 pm
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Salon-De-Choix/434265756617522

I’ve had many people around me telling me that they have sleeping issues due to stress. Sleep is very important to human beings because that is the time where our body rests and refreshes our brains and minds. Thus, it is important that we learn to relax in this fast-paced stressful society. Besides being happy and having a positive mind, we can also relax by using some techniques listed below.

Some tips to relax:

1. Do relaxing stuff. DUH! Find out what helps you relax your body and your mind. For me, I like to pamper myself by going for massages, haircuts and doing some self-reflection. For some, it might be eating desserts like chocolates (increases dopamine), shopping (otherwise known as retail therapy), doing sports (increases your adrenaline), sleeping, having sex, travelling, chilling by the beach, watching TV etc.

Desert with my friend Jerry at Antoinette

2. Listen to calm music when you feel stressed. I highly recommend to listen music without lyrics as I feel that songs with words makes you think and able to induce a certain state of mind (be it happy or sad). Don’t listen to emo and depressing songs! Try classical music like Chopin, contemporary instrumental artists like Maksim or Vanessa Mae, or even those zen nature music. There have been studies that happy music actually helps with your memory too!

3. Get in touch with nature. Go for nature walks in the jungle, reservoir, plantations etc. Looking at green stuff apparently helps with your eyesight too. If you are the type of person that don’t like to sweat so much, then consider doing in-door nature stuff such as a visit to the aquarium, sitting by a cafe in the Botanical Gardens, or even a coffee chain by the beach.

4. Train your mind to switch off thinking about stressful stuff for a while. It is important while you are doing relaxing things to be able to free your mind from other stressful things in your life. Otherwise, what is the point? This technique is also used in many other ways such as anger management and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. [ Read the rest of this entry » ]

I watched two really awesome Sci-fi movies over the past week. Warm Bodies is a zombie apocalyptic teenage romance comedy, while The Host is a not so typical alien invasion film. The awesome thing about these two films is they don’t follow traditional plots of their respective zombie and alien genre.

When I read the synopsis of Warm Bodies, I thought it sounded very incredulous. Zombies falling in love? Zombies coming back to life, because of love? Doesn’t seem to make much sense eh? Without looking too much into how or why zombies got infected in that show, the movie was very well filmed! I’d say perhaps most movie goers got a surprise that a movie with a seemingly silly plot can be so entertaining, it was rated a 7.4 on imdb.com. This movie is like modern Romeo and Juliet meet Romero zombies! The references to R&J were really obvious throughout the movie and I think the director meant it that way. Kudos to Warm Bodies for making zombies more likable (that’s not going to be helpful though when a real zombie apocalypse happens, don’t be fooled!).

I went to watch The Host (courtesy of Golden Village) last night and it was surprisingly good! It touches on some teenage romance, exploring self-identity and soul, and what it is to be human. I think it’s really interesting that the aliens in this movie aren’t those scary violent ones you usually get in the cinemas. I’m not sure why this movie only got a 6.2 rating on IMDB but I would definitely rate it at least a 7 out of 10. Perhaps humans, I meant movie-goers, aren’t used the idea of friend aliens. I thought the plot was well played out, the narratives were slightly on the childish side but reflects accurately the conflicted mind of a young woman. The movie is based on the novel of the same title by Stephanie Meyer, and honestly IT’S BETTER THAN TWILIGHT!!! (seems like a lot of people are comparing it to Twilight). If you want to get more friendly-alien action, do watch Doctor Who (BBC tv series), it’s TEH AWESOME.

I saw the trailer for The Great Gatsby, starring Leonardo Di Caprio, and it looked amazing. The movie set and the styles of the era were beautiful. I must start and finish the damn book before the movie releases in May 2013!

This is a really strange article by PETA. http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/2013/03/11/peta-starcraft-zerglings-have-feelings-too.aspx

“StarCraft players gearing up for the launch of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm will be getting a new perspective on the game’s arthropodal extraterrestrials, the Zerg.

PETA—or, as we are renaming ourselves in honor of the expansion pack’s launch, “Terrans for the Ethical Treatment of Zerglings”—will attend tonight’s launch event in Irvine, California, and distribute copies of our new “Zerglings Have Feelings, Too” leaflets as a reminder that gamers and nongamers alike should have compassion for all beings—even those who are very different from us.”

I generally like animals and living creatures…. But ZERGS? SERIOUSLY DUDE? I find them disgusting, irritating and just plain gross. I usually play Protoss in Starcraft 2 and Zergs are the worst enemies to play against, these creepy crawlies keeps multiplying themselves and they look damn gross In my opinion, Zergs are one of the most powerful class to play in Starcraft 2, however, I just cannot stand looking at these ugly roaches. If you are going to consider Zerg’s feelings during the game, you’re going to be making a big big mistake. They will invade your base in no time, killing 1 of them spawns another 10, they won’t go away! It’s like a bad case of bed bugs invasion. Yucks.

Life behind the glass windows
tic-tic-tic tap-tap-tap
Churning out words and numbers
That don’t really mean crap

Caught in the wheel of fortune
Creak-creak-crooks
Where men are obsessed
and lives are dancing around their chairs

Buildings cascading from the sky
Pitter-patter pitter-patter
The stress turns into cries
but naught clouds in sight

We’re drones stuck to our desks
…— — —…
Only allowed to speak what’s real
Where reality is just a pack of lies.

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world today Sabrina gave me a big surprise by sending a bouquet of flowers to my office!!!! <333

The card reads “To my dearest BFF Priss, 13 years and counting, Happy Valentines Day! Love, Your Princess Sab”

I got her a present too (picture will be inserted into this post later tonight because it’s suppose to be a surprise), but now I feel my present is so small and sad compared to her bouquet of red roses!

Well anyway, we’ll be celebrating our Valentines Day together – at this Singles Valentines Day party at Club Lava tonight!!! Quote “Princessa Sabrina” for $10 discount!

http://insurgence.sg/vday/ for more information

Date: Thursday 14 February 2013
Time: 7pm till late
Venue: Club Lava (CHIJMES)

3 Years and running! Singapore’s no. 1 Valentine’s Day singles party is back for another sizzling night. All those single and ready to mingle are cordially invited to this ultimate Valentine’s experience over clinking glasses, tantalising nibbles, exciting games and hot conversations.

Best kiss wins a grand juicy prize! Take part in the signature social games and stand to win $10,000 worth of prizes!

Win a 3D2N stay at Banyan Tree Resorts Phuket, Blackberry phones, a Blackberry Playbook and more just by winning the games while you meet other singles on this special date.

TICKETS & TABLES

Single Ladies ($35 nett)
• Incl 1st Drink
• Games
• Entry for 1 Lady

Single Men ($45 nett)
• Incl 1st Drink
• Games
• Entry for 1 Man

Couples Table ($188 nett)
• 1 Btl G.H. Mumm Champagne (75cl)
• 1 Single Meat Platter
• Games
• Entry for 2 pax

VIP Table ($348 nett)
• 1 Btl Absolut Elyx Vodka (75cl) or Chivas Regal 12 Year Old Whisky (70cl)
• 1 Double Meat Platter
• Games
• Entry for 4 pax

UOB Card Holders enjoy 15% off tickets & tables

Email vday@insurgence.sg with details (name, mobile, email, gender) to get your tickets NOW! Quote ‘Princessa’ for an additional $10 off!

Singapore’s prime minister announced a few days ago that Singapore might be hitting 6.9 million population by 2030. You can download The Whitepaper on Population here from http://www.population.sg/

You can also read about it at Channelnewsasia. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1250894/1/.html

Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan said: “Hong Kong in terms of density is much higher, and we must never try to reach that area — whether in terms of household size, or in terms of crowdedness, or in terms of lacking in greenery and of course the other aspects of population, etc. I think we are far away from that and I think we have to keep it that way. I think whatever we do we are quite clear, keep quality of living high.”

However, if you take a look at this Wikipedia page, Singapore is listed 3rd highest population density in the world, above Hong Kong, which is currently at 4th. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_by_population_density

If you haven’t been to Hong Kong or you know nothing about Hong Kong, well I can tell you that its crowded EVERYWHERE. Take a look at the public housing conditions in Hong Kong (100 sq ft flats!)

Singapore is my home. I’m a first generation Singaporean from Hong Kong, my family migrated here when I was very young. My parents believed that Singapore was an ideal place for a family, with beautiful greenery and nature, world class education, stable government etc. I used to believe that too.

I’d like to be clear that I love Singapore. We want to blog and discuss about these topics because it means so much to us. We want Singapore to be a happy place for Singaporeans, a place we can be proud of which we call Home. It is definitely not because I’m anti-PAP or that I enjoy complaining about Singapore. I just hope that our country will not follow the path of many dysfunctional first world countries.

You can see more of such flats here: http://www.coolhunting.com/culture/michael-wolf-10.php

For once, Singapore should not aim to be Number 1, please don’t let us become the world’s most dense country.

Singapore’s political scene has been few decades behind other first world countries in terms of growth, inclusivity and power play. Up until the last general elections in 2011, most Singaporeans I know showed indifference towards politics, or simply put, we just didn’t give a damn.

Singapore is a very young country – only 47 years old, and it has been ruled by PAP since the start. There has not been much real competition in the political scene since our independence because many opposition leaders don’t want to or didn’t know how to play by the rules (set by the ruling party PAP) and end up getting, and there wasn’t enough (good) people wanting for a change in government. Coming into the 21st century, a century where first world countries have a much higher standard quality of life, people are not as easily satisfied with their government simply because they have a job and have food to eat – we want more. This phenomena can be seen in many different countries including the United States of America where Obama was the poster child for “Change” a few years ago.

The importance of these changes in the 21st century, including the boom of the internet, means that politicians now have to play the game on a completely different platform. Remember how John F Kennedy won his presidential election? He won because it was the time where television became popular and Kennedy looked good on camera. In the same way, politicians have to learn to appeal to the masses using internet technologies such as social media.

The internet is tricky business, because now they have less control over what information is made available to the public, and any bad (and good) things they say will be spread like wild fire. However, Lee Hsien Loong and PAP has showed it’s adaptability by implementing some online strategies after the 2011 General Elections. They underestimated the influence of Internet in that election and they sure won’t make the same mistakes again next election (I hope for their sake). I must give credits to PAP’s efforts by placing more emphasis in marketing themselves online with Twitter, Facebook and other outlets.

However, if they really want to win over the future generations of voters, these are some ways I would suggest to them (and opposition parties):

1. Avoid a PR nightmare by putting in someone that is not likable. Tin Pei Ling. She was really the joke of 2011 GE, in fact, she was such an embarrassment to the PAP that people naturally compared her ‘selling point’ of being a young women partaking in politics to Nicole Seah. Nicole Seah has a much more likable star quality and personality which created a lot of buzz for the opposition. If it weren’t for Tin Pei Ling, Nicole Seah wouldn’t have that much limelight.

Remember that the Internet is merciless. Running for politics is also a war of fame – people want to vote for the person that they like regardless of their merits.

2. When creating a Facebook account for a high profile politician be as personable as you can. I’m not addressing this sentence to the political figures alone because my guess is that most politician have a PR person handling their account. So the PR person has to be careful what they post online because they can accidentally shoot their politician in the foot. By posting generic brainwashing messages also won’t cut it because the new generation of voters are not as gullible. We don’t want to be pacified by lip service, we want real substance.

3. Start campaigns that will create hype for your candidate in a positive light. Campaigning online doesn’t mean just setting up a Facebook account. As most social media experts will tell you, using “social media” will require integrating various Social Media tools to achieve a complimenting effect. Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, blog, website, and even things like Foursquare and Instagram can be streamlined into a successful campaign if done properly. Of course, your online tools have to be synced with your traditional media ones. For example, including your Facebook fan page in your printed newsletters, tweet about your latest HDB walkabouts, including quotes from your online tools in your traditional media interviews etc.

4. Creating online celebrities out of politicians. This point some people might argue that it removes the focus on the politics from the individual. But as I mentioned earlier, I think that people will vote for the person most relatable to them and the person that they like. Having a likable candidate online would definitely translate into voting numbers. Look at Yam Ah Mee the announcer of the General Elections results. He became so popular that many comic strips and comedic songs were written for him. It’s not surprising that during the elections, his name was trending online. PAP should consider asking him to run for office next election.

Ok, I must admit that I’m no social media genius or expert here. But I feel that there are many ways that both PAP and opposition parties can improve on their social media warfare.