January | 2012 | A Winsome Life

Monthly Archives: January 2012

Happy Chinese [Dragon] New Year 2012! Huat AH!

Hello Everyone, today’s the first day of the Chinese New Year and here’s wishing all of you a Happy Prosperous Chinese New Year!

I just had an awesome reunion dinner with my family members and also with Baby’s family the day before. Truly, I would always look forward to Chinese New Year because more than just having wonderful food and goodies to eat, more than just receiving hongbaos [otherwise also known as red packets], it is also a time where the entire family can reunite. Now why does reunion dinner means so much to us and why does most businesses usually close for a week or two during this season? Well, you see, in the past and even till now, many Chinese have to travel miles [be it taking the train, bus, airplane, or ship] just to be home to reunite with family members for reunion dinner. This is especially a common thing especially for students whom are studying overseas, businessmen whom are frequently travelling around the world, and married couples whom are not staying near their parents.

So, enjoy yourselves during this long weekend and bask yourselves in the festivities of this season! Huat ah!

1st Reunion Dinner

From Reunion Dinner 2012 with Jac’s Mum

2nd Reunion Dinner

From Reunion Dinner 2012 with Jac’s Dad

3rd Reunion Dinner

From Reunion Dinner 2012 with Family

ps. With so much good food, it is no surprise that I am putting on alot of weight! hahas =P

8 Degrees Taiwanese Bistro [????] @ Yio Chu Kang Road

Hello Everyone,

this is one long overdue post about 8 Degrees Taiwanese Bistro which is situated along Yio Chu Kang Road. My very first entry about 8 Degrees Taiwanese Bistro can be found here http://awinsomelife.org/2011/09/03/8-degrees-taiwanese-bistro-%E5%85%AB%E5%BA%A6%E7%A9%BA%E9%97%B4/

So this time round, Baby and I decided to introduce this place to Alvin and offer him a treat!

No GST and Service Charge for their food but I believe that it has already been factored into the listed price.

From 8 Degrees

The Utensils

From 8 Degrees

The Ambience of the Bistro

From 8 Degrees

The Drinks that We Ordered. From Left to Right: Passionfruit Tea, Iced Tea, Honey Green Tea

From 8 Degrees

Alvin and I with Our Drinks

From 8 Degrees

Taiwanese Sausage with Mayonnaise Sauce. Nothing really special about this dish. Pretty simple and easy to prepare. Order only if you have spare cash.

From 8 Degrees

Duck Breast Meat with Mango Salsa. Nothing really special about this dish because its really simple and easy to prepare. However, I must say that the mango salsa was fantastic.

From 8 Degrees

Oyster Egg Omelette [also known as Au Jian]. Honestly, I would rather order this dish from Chomp Chomp as it is better tasting. The sauce is extremely starchy and too sweet for our taste buds. We don’t recommend this dish.

From 8 Degrees

Fried Spicy Chee Cheong Fun. The Chee Cheong Fun was tough and the taste was just bland. We don’t recommend this dish.

From 8 Degrees

Deep Fried Chicken Cutlet. Seriously, I think ordering this from the Shilin Taiwanese Street Stall is much better as they are more flavourful. This dish was just not up to our expectations. We don’t recommend this dish.

From 8 Degrees

Crystal Shrimp Fried Rice. This is the best tasting dish out of the rest of the dishes that we ordered. The fried rice was fragrant and flavourful. However, the crystal shrimp has abit of a raw taste.

From 8 Degrees

Well, as it was the 2nd time that we dined there, we obviously had higher expectations and was hoping that there could be improvements in the quality of food and service. However, the quality of the food was just not up to our standards and we probably would not dine there again as it is not worth the money. Though food quality was below average, there was a slight improvement in their service. Overall, we would generally recommend you to try out this Bistro if you want to explore something new. However, if you are looking for a Bistro that serves quality food, then this place might not be suitable for you.

By the way, parking there can be a challenge as there are limited parking lots available. However, fret not because there is a valet parking service which charges $4 per vehicle. If you spend more than $48.00 at 8 Degrees Taiwanese Bistro, the valet parking fee will be waived!

Chinese New Year 2012 in 6 Days Time~!

Hello Everyone,

Chinese New Year is coming soon and this Sunday itself, we will be having our traditional Chinese reunion dinner! In the last few days, I have been really busy with spring cleaning my room and thanks to my dearest mummy and baby, I was able to do my spring cleaning with much ease. So, my room is now finally all tidied up and organised, and I have donated two big bags of clothings to the Salvation Army.

To be honest, I am really excited about this coming Chinese New Year because more than just the significance of starting a new year, it is also a great time of celebration and family get-together. In fact, I am more excited about the Chinese New Year than the Normal New Year because the Chinese New Year celebrations brings with it many meaningful symbolisms and traditions.

Not just that, Baby and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary last Saturday and we really look forward to a greater new year of blessings and breakthroughs. Here are just some pictures of what Baby bought for me for our 1 year anniversary so that I could use them during Chinese New Year!

A Braun Buffel Lapel Series Wallet

From Anniversary & New Year 2012

A FX Creations Leather Belt

From Anniversary & New Year 2012

And because Chinese New Year is coming, Baby suggested that we fix my car remote system as it was not really working properly.

2-in-1 Car Remote System by Soxxi Master

From Anniversary & New Year 2012

It’s really kinda cool now that I only have to carry one item instead of two separate items.

And yes, I also bought an extremely expensive Polo Ralph Lauren Polo T-Shirt for the first time in my life. This cost me $180, eh, well, not exactly me but my parents. =X

From Anniversary & New Year 2012

Well, I feel really blessed this coming Chinese New Year and I want to thank God for all these wonderful blessings!

Also, I have put together some suggestions for you to start this Chinese New Year right.

1). Forgive Those Whom Have Hurt You and Let Bygones Be Bygones

To forgive someone whom have hurt you deeply is really tough. But the Bible says that we ought to forgive one another just as Christ have already forgiven us for our sins. Well, let those past hurts be put down and let bygones be bygones. No matter how tough it may be, seek God for His grace and let Him give you the peace in your heart to forgive those whom have hurt you.

Colossians 3:13 [New International Version (NIV)]
13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

1 John 1:9 [New International Version (NIV)]
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

2) Clear All Your Outstanding Bills

This is really important if you want to be financially free from debts. In fact, don’t procrastinate in paying your bills but pay them all in full! And once you have paid all your bills, try not to accumulate them anymore and spend within your means. This way, you won’t be burdened with outstanding bills to pay and you can then set aside some money for your personal savings.

Romans 13:8 [New International Version (NIV)]
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.

3) Honour & Love Your Parents and Elders

No matter how our parents may have treated us in the past, they are still our parents and we should honour them and love them because it is God’s commandment! If you have been rebellious to your parents in the past, make a commitment this Chinese New Year to obey them and to honour them. Parents may sometimes be naggy but they always and yes, absolutely always, have our interests at heart.

Exodus 20:12 [New International Version (NIV)]
12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

Well, that is all for this blog entry and I hope you have been blessed! Stay tuned for more updates!

Oh, and here’s a video of the song, “My God Reigns” which was played by City Harvest Church. Hope it will bless you!

Contraband (2012) Movie

Hello Everyone,

I had the privilege to catch the preview screening of the movie, “Contraband” today all thanks to omy.sg for the tickets!

Synopsis of the Movie:

Mark Wahlberg leads the cast of Contraband, a fast-paced thriller about a man trying to stay out of a world he worked so hard to leave behind and the family he’ll do anything to protect. Set in New Orleans, the film explores the cut-throat underground world of international smuggling—full of desperate criminals and corrupt officials, high-stakes and big payoffs—where loyalty rarely exists and death is one wrong turn away.

Chris Farraday (Wahlberg) long ago abandoned his life of crime, but after his brother-in-law, Andy (Caleb Landry Jones), botches a drug deal for his ruthless boss, Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi), Chris is forced back into doing what he does best—running contraband—to settle Andy’s debt. Chris is a legendary smuggler and quickly assembles a crew with the help of his best friend, Sebastian (Ben Foster), to head to Panama and return with millions in counterfeit bills.

Things quickly fall apart and with only hours to reach the cash, Chris must use his rusty skills to successfully navigate a treacherous criminal network of brutal drug lords, cops and hit men before his wife, Kate (Kate Beckinsale), and sons become their target.

For the official movie site, check out http://www.contrabandmovie.net/

My Personal Review of the Movie:

Out of a rating of 5, I would give the movie a 2.5. The plot build-up was really draggy and boring and somehow, the plot is also very predictable, thus, it does not really offer an exciting heart-pounding experience. This movie is very much like the recent movie, “Tower Heist” or the well known Oceans 11/12/13 movie. If you ask me, the techniques used to smuggle illegal items in the movie were not as witty and intelligent than the Oceans movie series. And neither is this movie an action-packed kinda movie. To be honest, I will not recommend you to watch this movie unless you have some spare cash.

GCE ‘O’ Levels Results 2012

Hello Everyone,

today’s blog entry is specially dedicated to those who have received your GCE ‘O’ Levels results.

Ok, here goes, whether or not you fared well for the ‘O’ Levels, there are endless number of opportunities available for you because your future is still bright!

For those who have done well, congratulations! I always believe that the amount of effort and hardwork that you put into your studies will eventually yield results that would be closely correlated. As you embark on the next phase of your life, choose wisely what you intend to pursue because this decision will ultimately decide your future!

For those who have not done well, do not be discouraged! It is not the end of the world yet. There are still many opportunities available for you as the future is still bright.

To encourage you, let me share my experience with you. I am not academically inclined as an individual nor am I gifted in my IQ. I flunk my maths in primary school but thank God I finished my PSLE and was able to enrol into a neighbourhood secondary school. When I was in secondary school, my results were very much average and when I progressed to secondary 3, I flunk additional maths and had to drop the subject. My preliminary results in secondary 4 were not too bad but when I received my ‘O’ Levels results, I was one point short of getting admitted to a Junior College. And so, I went to Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) to pursue a Diploma in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Technology. Well, when I was in NYP, my results were extremely horrendous [my parents can vouch for me on that]. I flunk many modules and I barely scraped through each semester. Well, I dropped out of NYP and I had nowhere to go. Fear griped me and I thought all the doors were closed for me but I thank God for placing friends in my life whom were able to motivate and encourage me.

It was one fine day when a really close friend of mine, Lien Hui Ying, talked to me about what I was going through and she shared with me that she saw me as a “business” person rather than a “science/math” person. During the talk, she shared with me what she saw in me and what my strengths were. Feeling self-motivated, I decided to take control of my life and turned my life around. I heeded her advise and went to search for courses that were business-related. The turning point was when I enrolled into Shatec Institutes to pursue a Diploma in Hotel Management. I completed my training attachment with the prestigious Fullerton Hotel and I graduated from Shatec Institutes. As I did academically well for my studies in Shatec Institutes, I was awarded the Singapore Conrad Hotel Silver Award for Excellence and a book prize sponsored by Barcardi-Marini Singapore Private Limited for Excellence in Business and General Studies. Honestly, the reason why I pushed myself to do well was because of four things:

1). I want to make my parents proud of me and not waste their money.
2). I want to be God’s living testimony to the people around me.
3). I had friends [Sarah, Aldaias, Alex, Joanna and etc] whom encouraged me through friendly competition and genuine motivation.
4). I do not want to be complacent and take my future for granted.

So what am I doing now that I have graduated from Shatec Institutes? Well, I am currently pursuing my degree in Marketing Management and because I did really well for my studies, I was granted two years of exemption and I enrolled straight into the final year for my degree programme!

Who would have thought that a poly drop-out like me would be able to top the cohort and pursue a degree now!

Well if you have not fared well and you’re unsure of what to do, ask yourself these questions:

1). What are you good at doing?
2). What are you passionate about doing?
3). What are your strengths?

You know, don’t be conformed by what the world tells you to do or not to do; rather, ask your family members and friends for their advise and with wisdom, make the best decision for your life! Remember, your future and destiny is in your hands and sometimes, we may feel fearful about what the world may throw at us, but fear not, because everything that happens, happen for a reason and God will turn every disappointment into a divine appointment.

I pray that through my sharing, you will be blessed and motivated to move on to a greater purpose and destiny that God has already intended for you. Should you need any help/advise/suggestion, do feel free to drop me an email at melvinlee@awinsomelife.org and I will do my utmost to help you.

God bless!