Marina’s Bloggariffic

Last week’s episode of America’s Next Top Model has completely inspired me to do this :

Lipschtick from rinaz on Vimeo

If you enjoyed this video, you might also enjoy :

• How to be pretty (or at least try to be)

Recently, my family and I went to the Ayer Rajah Food center for some local food delights. One of the food that we ordered was the Sop Tulang - cow bone marrow cooked in savoury sweet tomato sauce.

Its not the healthiest thing to eat, and you risk having your mouth stained in red sauce, but its oh so good to eat!

Eating Tulang from rinaz on Vimeo

Have you ever eaten Tulang before? How was your experience like?

Related link :

• Sup Tulang demystified

Sidenote : This is what my new namecard would look like. What do you think?

On my trip to the Bike Asia a while back, I took a copy of the Freewheeling Magazine and while flipping through, I noticed a small article inviting all lady vespa riders for a day of fish spa.

Having already been to the fish farm about a month ago and thoroughly enjoying myself with the Vesporeans, I was definitely interested in attending this convoy. Plus, it is always nice to meet new people :-)

I reached the Piaggio Showroom pretty early and watched the people streaming in one by one. I saw familliar faces like Leonids and Moon_Star from the Vespa Club as well as many other new faces.

I’m actually a little surprised at how naturally easy it was for us to bond with each other even though many of us are meeting each other for the first time.

One of the first ladies that I met was Azizah, whom I admired the embelishments on her ET8 Scooter. It looked so royale!

Azizah tells me that it was a handmade job where she bought the stickers at DIY shop and sticked the embellishments herself.

I also met Glynis, whom was one of the winners for the Coke contest. The flowery decoration on her blue LX scooter was quite recognizable.

We headed in the showroom for the registration of the event and I looked around the area with all the Vespa related items.

After registration, we got a free goodie bag! It was pretty nice loot, considering that we only paid $10 for the fish spa admission alone.

Free perfume vials! Free Vespa notebook! Spa voucher! Awesome Vespa Tshirt! Woot! I couldnt wait to change into it :D

The organizer of the event, Sera, later briefed to all of the participants on the itenerary following a short message on the procedures of the convoy.

And soonafter we were off! It was such a beautiful morning, blue skies and fluffy clouds made the journey lovely.

For some reason, we were also accompanied by the media crew of Asia One which made me feel as if we were part of a reality series.

Not sure if you can see it, but the dude on the right is carring a humongous video camera

I couldnt help but notice them whizzing along crazily on the road. Slowing down at one point and then speeding up. Good thing there is no traffic police working on the day :P

In any case, in no time at all, we reached the Qian Hu fish farm:D

This is what happen when ladies get together. We take pictures!

We did not explore much of the fish farm area due to time constraints. Instead, we proceeded immediately to the fish spa area and waited for our turn to use the facilities.

As it was a public holiday, the area was more crowded than usual, with families spending time together. I saw dads trying to catch little fishes in the pond, children looking at the turtle pond and even more people at the fish spa area.

We dipped our feet in.

For some reason, the ticklish feeling was not as strong as the first time that I was here, even with the larger nibble fishes. Maybe I’m used to the sensation already?

Regardless, I did not even hear anyone screaming, which made it anticlimatic :P

After the fish spa, we proceeded to convoy to the Bollywood Veggies Farm where we were welcomed by the owner, Mrs Ivy Singh-Lim. What a treat!

She was larger than life with her crododile dundee outfit, complete with a huge hunting knife. It was scary! She joked that she was the reason as to why Mas Selamat would not dare to hide in her farm.

We were treated to such a sumptious lunch. I’m not sure whose treat it was, but thank you so much! There were so much food that my eyes boggled at the sight of everything

I felt so stuffed at the end of it and we were still given desserts after that.

It was a mix of various types of cakes. One of my noted favourites was the Banana Cake as well as the Jackfruit Cake. They were both so rich and flavourful. You could tell that it was homemade.

Lucinda immediately bought 3 loaves of Banana cake for herself!

After lunch, a couple of us proceeded to enter the farm area to take a look around. I’ve never been inside here before, so I was most excited to explore the place.

There were plentiful of different types of plants and crops around. The area was divided into different plots of crop. There were many signs showing the names of the plants.

There was even a eco-toilet. But I dont recommend that you enter the place. Its a little … ehm …

As we explored, we stumbled upon plentiful of props there that we had so much sillyness and fun with!

Rinaz, Glynis, Deanna and Azizah salutes Bollywood Veggies

Meichun and Azizah playing on the mini-tractor

In the end, we were just chilling around and enjoying the scenery.

I think that it was a most tranquil place. Even with the sun shining harshly at us, the surroundings still looked serene and peaceful.

I bet this place would look gorgeous when the cooler season comes and the red lillies bloom.

It was such a spectacular day. I find myself bonding with the others as we spent the day together that we were sorry to leave each other at the end of the event.

Thank you so much organizers and thank you everyone! I’m definitely looking forward to our next convoy! :-)

Have you been to the Qian Hu Fish Farm and Bollywood Veggies before? What do you think of it?

Related links :

• More pictures in the gallery
• My first time at the Fish Farm and Bollywood Veggies
• Qian Hu Fish Farm Website
• Bollywood Veggies Website
• Vespa Club Website

Other convoys joined :

• Roadtrip to Pengerang
• TAA Charity Ride 2007
• Roadtrip to Malacca
• Big Bike Fest 2006

Updated : The web-video on the ride is up on Asia One :-)

According to Statistics Singapore, the number of divorce rates has been on an increase. There was a stage when 1 out of 3 marriages will end up in a divorce.

This trend was a concern for the Muslim organization bodies in Singapore such that for the past 15 years or so, they implemented a compulsory marriage preparatory course for all Muslim marriages in Singapore to prepare and educate future marriages for the prevention of divorces.

Recently, I’ve attended and completed the marriage preparatory course at the Assyakirin Mosque. Prior to this, I did not realise that it was mandatory till only recently. I assumed that that the course was for knowledge for keeping a happy marriage. Thus, I did not have much expectations.

When I attended my first lesson, early Sunday morning, I was greeted by the staff-helpers at the mosque and was handed a schedule, a bridal magazine as well as the course textbook. I flipped through the textbook and though it was not thick, it looked comprehensive with the different modules laid out.

In my book, there were 8 modules altogether which was presented and discussed in depth by our various coaches from Kasih Sejati.

1. Personality analysis
2. Knowing the in-laws, money matters and wedding plans
3. Understanding solemnization and responsibilities of a wife and husband
4. The meaning of love, sex and intimacy
5. Challenges during marriage
6. Preparing for a family
7. Communication and the language of love
8. Conflict and resolution

I thought that the lessons were interesting and I realised at how unprepared I was before. I learnt a fair bit of information which I think will be useful in preparing myself for my future.

The entire course ended with each of us writing a love letter for our partners with words of affection, hopes and encouragement for our future. I thought that was very sweet.

I found out later that it was a requirement for all Muslim Marriages to be certified with a marriage preparatory course certification regardless of what nationality they are. Hence Cart arrives here in Singapore in December, we’ll be taking it together before our solemnization.

I think it will be a learning experience for the both of us.

Have you heard of the marriage preparatory course before? What do you think of it?

Related links :

• Steps in appying for a Muslim Marriage in Singapore
• Kasih Sejati training center
• Find statistical data regarding Singapore
• Assyakirin Mosque website

On Friday, the 18th April and for the first time ever, I was at a press conference thanks to the awesome Brian and Tania of Ogilyv for remembering how much I love Canon products. Many of the pictures and videos in this blog itself are captured with the Ixus and 350D.

It was a classy event from the start at the regal Asian Civilisations Museum, being ushered in by the smartly dressed security guard to going up the charmingly vintage staircase. And then being greeted by a bevvy of pretty ladies in red dresses.

Soon-after, I reached the hall where the event was held. There were already a number of people mingling around.

It was kind of a strange experience and somewhat daunting being surrounded by editors of credible magazines and newspapers. Whereas I was representing the bloggers. Nevertheless, I tried to be as sociable as I could be and just smiled at the people that I saw.

I spotted out Tania who was sitting down - she was very recognizable with her short spiky hair. Lynette, whom I met earlier, swooped in and introduced me to her.

Tania was friendly and really cool we chatted briefly till the emcee stood up on the platform and announced the start of the event.

It was glitzy! It started off with Mr Andrew Koh, the director of Canon Singapore explaining about the features of the new camcorders. AND THEN there were 5 extremely tall catwalk models strutting around with the different camcorders. They were so tall that I had to crane my neck trying to look at them.

But the cherry on top of the cake was when Andrew announced the ambassador for their camcorder was what made me nearly gasp out loud. It was Wong Li Lin! I was so floored to see her. In front of me was an acclaimed actress! I throughly enjoyed her performance in Leap Years.

Unfortunately, she slipped out of the event pretty quickly that I don’t think that anyone had a chance to interact with her.

At the end of the event, the guests were invited to try out the new camcorders. I had a ball of a time, having a hands on session with the 5 different camcorders - The HF 10, HF 100, FS 11, FS 10 and FS 100.

Personally, I thought that it was rather impressive. All five of the models were lightweight and small. I can seriously stuff all the five models in my handbag and run away with it but my sense of propriety and conscience says no :P

It took me about 15 mins of fiddling to get used to the interface but after that, it was relatively easy to use. It uses a mini joystick rather than a touch screen which would probably make it preferable for people who do not like to smudge their screens.

Having been used to working with camcorders using mini-DV tapes, I liked how it uses internal built in memory which makes it faster to transfer to the computer as well as to a SD-card directly. Cool beans!

And ultimately what was the best feature of the camera was the video and audio quality. I did a quick test and recorded on my SD card. It was so clear that you could see every pores on my face. Oh my!

Screenshot from video. No photoshop edit apart from resize and additional text

I’m amazed why many the other journalists did not grope the camera models as much. They were like just touching it, flipping it around and thats it. I guess that was great cos I had ALL the time to examine and grope the equipment in close detail. I was most excited.

Here is a quick video clip of the event :

Canon Press Conference from rinaz on Vimeo

And my final conclusion?

I love it! I want one! It makes the video from my camera seem so dinky now. Canihascanoncamcorder? Please?

*stares at you with big eyes*

Related links

• More details in the Canon website
• Review of the camcorder by CES

About two weeks ago, I was quite surprised to check my statcounter to find out that someone from the local newspaper surfing through my site. Soon-after, I received an email from a Ms Sandra Davie for a face to face interview.

I wasn’t sure if I should meet her because sometimes some journalists tend to skew the article to fit their own point of view. But in the end, I thought to myself, why not? And last Wednesday, I made an appointment with her at Geek Terminal and met her for the first time.

And I was so glad to find out that she was very nice. I had a casual and relaxed interview that before we knew it, two hours had passed by.

And this is what materialised out of the interview :

Cool!

Its interesting to note that the article is very romanticised to the point of mushyness. And I’m not 31! She made me older than I actually am. Eeek!

Regardless, I’m totally going to laminate this. I wonder how my family and friends would think :-)

Related links :

• Read the article online
• What started it all - Video of Cart and Rinaz SL home
• An Italian Vacation
• The Engagement
• Rinaz in the papers 2007

Updated : It was really funny to see Mum’s reaction at her first view of the article. The next day at work, a number of colleagues and even the heads were asking about the article. One student even came up to me and told me that the article was being passed around during assembly period. Oh my! :P

It was one of the most uplifting art gallery that I’ve ever been to. There were so many gorgeous paintings of cats, that it just made me feel so happy.

Last evening, I was out with Juzzy Wuzzy, Weiren and Check in Chinatown to visit the Catopia - Oasis of Calm exhibition at the Forth Gallery.. After walking for a while, Juzzy just stopped and said that we’ve reached the place. But I did not see anything remotely gallery-ish about the area. It was very nondescript, being hidden behind this!

Nevertheless, we went up the stairs to the second floor and we were transported to a new world altogether. There were a number of people already there, admiring the different paintings being displayed.

And immediately, I was taken in by the beautiful cat paintings. There were two artists being featured there - Gwen Lim and Ng Ling Tze and it being opening night, both of the artists were there! I was fortunate enough to bugger meet them.

Below is Gwen Lim and me posing next to this incredible piece called, “Haven”

I asked Gwen, how long it took for her to paint this piece and was amazed to find out that it took her only a week to complete this. The leaves, she added, took her one morning to do.

Gwen Lim’s pieces were very expressive and focuses on the subject. I asked her, what inspires her to paint in the style that she does and she replied that she was a calm and easy-going person that takes things nice and slow, thus it reflects in her paintings, in soft, muted colours.

I love her paintings. It was very easy on the eye and for some reason, it induced calm and serenity when looking at it. It was just beautiful.

There was another artist called Ng Ling Tze and she’d done this amazing piece called, “Sweet Revenge”

Her pieces had more intense colours and it was more surrealistic - one of the genres that I love. This piece in particular, is a take on cats judging back humans who were cruel to them in real life.

Ling Tze tells me that her works were inspired by what she sees and her perception of what the cats were thinking. There were a number of cats that were living in the area that she lived and she observes them to have inspiration.

I loved this piece, “Day Dreaming”. It makes me feel as if I were lying down in a field of flowers, looking up at the sky and getting ready to float in the air any time soon. Gorgeousness!

This piece was pretty trippy! I loved how the fishes are flying out of the elevator. This piece is called, “Lift Watching” and it describes how Ling Tze would observe a group of cats, living near the lift. And every morning at about 9.30, they would always be transfixed, looking at the elevator, moving up and down.

It was an amazing evening and I enjoyed every bit of it. Its not every day that you get to a beautiful gallery such as this as well as meeting the fantastic artist behind them! If you are a cat lover, I’d urge you to go as seeing the pictures in this blog-post really doesn’t do justice to seeing the real thing.

Thank you Juzzywuzzy! If it weren’t for you, I would not even know of this gallery!  And thank you Justin and Eva for kindly allowing me to use these beautiful scans :)

P.s These would be great as a wedding present! *hint hint nudge nudge*

Forth Gallery
69A Pagoda Street (2nd level)
Singapore 059228

Links :

• Forth Gallery Website
• Ng Ling Tze online portfolio

You may also be interested in :

• Singapore Art Museum
• Museum of Shanghai Toys

Sidenote : Do check out the Sunday Times tomorrow. Amanda has a sneak peek!