The "Starry" Canopy

An intoxicating morrocan lamp is a must have stand-out piece in my home. Light beams through the intricate cutwork patterns (sometimes thru colored glass) hand-hammered by a master artisan in Marrakesh. An erotic, fiery glow created by the unique lamp provides special ambience to any room. Coming in all shapes, sizes and colors, I'm still searching for the perfect one.

The Idealist speaks.

I am being told by many people to pursue what I really want and am good at. If the suggestion was water, I would have probably taken a few sips and sloshed it around in my mouth. I have realised that it had taken me 10 years to get back to what i had always wanted to do at the initial stages of my growing up years. I do not have regrets as I am the person I am because of my experiences. But I have also wondered ( ... and very often these days) what it would be like now if I had followed my heart. (Right:)Portrait of a woman we were supposed to do in a basic- portrait drawing class. I was kicked out after 2 wks 'cos I was better than the instructor. haha! *just kidding* "If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good." ~ Thomas J Watson

What do u really want?

Here's some help: http://www.princetonreview.com/cte/quiz Anita's Interest Color: Blue People with blue Interests like job responsibilities and occupations that involve creative, humanistic, thoughtful, and quiet types of activities. Blue Interests include abstracting, theorizing, designing, writing, reflecting, and originating, which often lead to work in editing, teaching(N-O), composing, inventing, mediating, clergy(!), and writing. Anita's Usual Style is: Blue People with blue styles prefer to perform their job responsibilities in a manner that is supportive and helpful to others with a minimum of confrontation. They prefer to work where they have time to think things through before acting. People with blue style tend to be insightful, reflective, selectively sociable, creative, thoughtful, emotional, imaginative, and sensitive. Usually they thrive in a cutting edge, informally paced, future-oriented environment. You will want to choose a work environment or career path in which your style is welcomed and produces results.

The wet spell gave way to sunshine-y days!

Colorful display of Gelato in Valencia, Spain: DIG IN!!!

"The link between my experience as an entrepreneur and that of a politician is all in one word: freedom" Silvio Berlusconi

I'm sure. Do you know that in Japan, journalists are assigned to individual politicians? Some journalists are even personal with them to the extent that they will be having breakfast in the politician's kitchen even before they are up. The honesty in their Canons of Journalism could be brought into question, which states that "..... the mission lies in the pursuit of truth." Hm ... The new year gave way to a busy week which explains my light blogging. We began another intensive module on Asian Media and Global Communication. This is one of the more interesting modules, very extensive. Certainly looking forward to a similar one sometime in Nov, Contemporary Pop Culture conducted by the same course coordinator. (Left): One of our presentation slides on Japanese Pop Culture One down, 2 more to go. A 1000 word video review essay on Media Regulations in China, due on 20 Jan and A major essay on Indian Media (Bollywood! *shake booty*) which is due on 1 Feb. Due to time constraints, I'm still debating as to whether i should just stick to Japanese Pop Culture for the major essay 'cos at least i know something bout it after the presentation or read up on something which i have totally no clue on (No I think I DO know Arjun Rampal): Bollywood. Well! After spending ungodly hrs in King Albert Park's mac-ers, 2hrs of sleep and taxi fare of 20 bucks to SIM, we got ready to present our slides on How Japanese is Japanese Pop Culture this morning. My indifference to most things (Read: MOST *keepin in mind the Canon Ixus I-Zoom) Japanese, as opposed to most people here, didn't help. My team mates actually thought that we got the coolest topic and i was like yeah whatever. I never knew the term gunguro till i started reading up on Japanese fashion. These Japanese girls who're into Gunguro fashion are inspired by the Californian surfer look, especially the tanned skin. Some of them go a little OTT though, appearing with DARK faces and bleached blond hair. Many people just don't seem comfortable with their own identities. I wonder if this is a form of Globalisation? Westernisation? Westernisation is an ongoing process of Globalisation. oh gawd. u know, if those lecturers talk abt Asian values in lectures again, i'm gonna bang my head against a wall. i think i've had enough of that. Especially after burying my head in you-know-i-know-who('s) memoirs.

Frozen Smiles

... yes, we were freezin our a**es off. (Jan '05 Manhattan, NYC)