What Do You Need to Make You Complete?

With a really heavy heart, I am saying farewell to one of my favourite TV show that I used to "mock" when my friend introduced it to me - Desperate Housewives. I am glad I didn't dismiss it just because of my ignorance. Surprisingly, this show has supplied me with tons of quotes and wisdom. I love the prologue and epilogue by Mary Alice - always, always, my favourite parts of the show. But like all good things, like most things, they all come to an end. I have to accept it.

The last episodes seem to be pretty rushed and forced at times, but what I enjoy the most are always the lessons they are trying to impart. One of the theme they brought up was Lynette's constant search of happiness and fulfillment. Being a strong woman who knows she is more than just a stay at home mom, she's a capable career woman who sacrificed for her family. She carried this discontent in her through her controlling nature. Even with a husband who truly loves her, and whom she loves too, she just never feels contented.

As usual, when the storms finally subside, when her love life and family are settled, drama has to spring out somewhere. She has a job offer which requires her to move away from the lane. As she is contemplating and justifying her decisions to Tom (her husband), he said the following:

"Lynette, I would do anything. I would go anywhere in the world if I believe it would finally make you happy. But as long as I've known you, you've always thought you needed something else to make you complete. And I'm starting to realize, nothing ever will." - Tom Scavo (Desperate Housewives - S08E23)

How many of you can relate with those phrases? I believe many of us do. Because, the number of people who think they are/have enough around us, I believe they belong to the minority. We are always seeking. We are always looking for the next thing to fill the gap. When our job is fine, we think we can improve in the relationship department. Then when we have that perfect relationship, we think we can do better financially. Then we have career, finance and relationship covered, we think we can do better spiritually. We always discover more and more holes to be filled. Will it ever stop? When will it be enough?

I was one of those people. When I was young, without realizing, I always thought I was not good enough. Then I grew up (not in height), I became more aware that I still think I am not good enough. Being in a very typical Chinese family doesn't help at times, because you were constantly being compared with others. When you were young and unsure about yourself, then others compared you, of course you will think,"Geez, they are better. I am not.".  Then the search for the next best thing continued. Never enough. I kept seeing flaws everywhere.

After remembering and finally living my mom's advice, I realized I am enough. Oh, kidding me. I'm not only enough. I am awesome, like all of you are too. I love myself. I love life and life simply loves me. With such realization, all those noises on insufficiencies stopped pretty instantaneously. We all were born unique and perfect despite whatever humanly flaws we think we have, we are simply perfect spiritual beings. We forgot about that by feeding ourselves with beliefs that were passed down by others. We forgot how complete we already are.

Then we thought of seeking completeness through others, through our partners, through our possessions ... but completion doesn't come from outside. It comes from the inside and it spreads out. Not the other way round.

"...it's the day you realized that I finally have the things I need to be happy, and then you forget. So, then what happens is, instead of waking up every morning and shouting - somebody loves me - you start looking around and thinking - what do I want now? what's the next thing I need to be happy? So, you look and you look and you keep thinking you found it but nothing works and the reason why nothing works is because that hole in your heart that you try to fill is already filled. You just forgot. 

Don't ever forget. Always remember how much you wanted to be loved and how much you are loved. And I think if you can do that, and it isn't easy, you will stop looking and realized you already are happy." - Lynette Scavo (Desperate Housewives - S08E23)

What a beautiful realization.An A-Ha moment that everybody should experience at least once (Once is enough to create a big impact in your life). If you think she can say that because in the fictitious land, Lynette has a husband who truly loves her. Then you are wrong, all along her husband has loved her but she forgot and couldn't see it. (And of course it's a TV shows that lasted for 8 years, they needed more dramas).

What if you don't have that special others like Tom Scavo, don't forget, you have yourself. Don't ever forget that you should love yourself first and that you should be the first and last person who loves YOU when no one else will. When you do that, completion will fall into place. Life will make sense. Relationships will flourish. The universe will love you more and bless you with more. How do I know? I am living and breathing it. I only really start loving myself completely for less than 2 months and already my life is unfolding in its magical and mystical way. (Before that I was having, as Facebook puts it as "it's complicated" kinda relationship with myself.)

To end the post, the conversation between Tom and Lynette from the last episode of Desperate Housewives summed it really well. I hope you get the message. I hope you see that what you really need to make you complete is simply to embrace the here and the now as they are. You are already complete.Nothing more. Nothing less.

Lynette: "I'm happy right here right now."

Tom: "I bet someone like that, could be happy anywhere."

The Big C

Finally, the TV industry produced a heart-warming and thought provoking drama with well chosen actors - The Big C.

Image courtesy of www.imdb.com

Not only each and every aspects of the movies is perfectly put, the message that it invokes at the end of every episode, makes you question about life (and death) in a more interesting way. The theme song is so cute (as you can hear in the trailer below) and started the show with a light bubbly tone. But as the characters and stories develop, the show carries deeper meaning and makes us ponder upon life's more complicated circumstances.

The main character of the show - Cathy Jamison (Laura Linney) found out that she has cancer and most probably won't live much longer, started to live her life to the fullest while also preparing herself for her final days without telling anybody about it, not even her family members.

The most recent episode #13 - Taking the Plunge has one of the best ending that wrenched your heart in a touching manner.

*Warning! Spoilers ahead ... please read at your own risk! And after typing so much about the scene, I found the video on youtube, so you may skip what I wrote and go straight to the video below.*

Cathy's son - Adam, a typical teenager who simply can't be bothered with many things. In this episode, he has been seen to keep asking money from his mom and dad and both of them to refuse to give as he seriously has been asking too much. When his parents are not around and his mom has accidentally left her purse at home, he opened up her wallet and took some money but he also found an envelope that wrote "Don't open until I'm gone". He opened it and found a key to a self storage unit. He rode his bicycle and opened up the storage door and saw a sports car, a bicycle and hundreds and hundreds of nicely wrapped presents. Plus at the center of the storage room a photo of his mom and him. Puzzled, he started to approach the gifts and realized there's a card attached to all the presents.

"Happy 30th Birthday, Adam." (On the sports car)

"Dear Adam, Happy 19th Birthday. Love Mom." (On the bicycle)

"For Adam, Happy 26th Birthday. Love, Mom."

"2012. Merry Christmas, Adam. I love you, Mom."

"2015. Merry Christmas, Adam! XX Mom")

"Congratulations to my high school graduate. XX Mom"

"For Adam on your college graduation. Love Mom."

He knew by then that his mom doesn't have much time to live. He took a look at the photo on the wall and cried.

Life is precious. Who doesn't know that?

Death is inevitable. But many tends to forget.

What you do in between is your choice. You can be pushed around by others. Living by their standards, or you can simply reclaim it and make it your own. Taking a plunge in life means getting your feet wet and immersed yourself in it. Like Cathy, she sets her own standard. She wants a pool at her backyard, she gets it, even though people think she's crazy. Heck, her days are numbered!

Life is too short. Be the master of your own life and make your own choices. So one day when you are near your death bed and look back, you can tell your self,"Yes, that's exactly how I want it to be. My birth. My life. My death." If you decide to be pathetic, then be proud of your pathetic choices. Don't blame others. There is no fixed rule that say "you must live a happy life". Set your own standard. Tweak it along the way and be proud of it. Start to own your life that is given to you before it's being taken away.

And Finally I Know How To ......

TIE A TIE!

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally I don't need to rely to someone to do that!
Yes, I know I don't wear it every time but still ... to finally be in control of a tie feels liberating.

All thanks to my new found love - DEXTER! A fictional serial killer + blood splatter analyst from a TV Series haha! How no life can I be, eh? Heck, finally, anyone can learn how to tie a tie by using this simple steps and storyline. It works wonder :D

Thank you, Dexter!

Voila ... the story line for tying a tie is as follow and of course, the video. Enjoy!

- Rabbit hops over the log
- Rabbit crosses under the log
- Rabbit runs around the log
- One more time because it's trying to outsmart the fox
- The rabbit dives through its rabbit hole
- Safe and sound!

You Should Never Be Too Impressed By People With Good Manners

I have stopped watching Desperate Housewives and most of the TV shows since I came back from Europe. Today, I got bored and decided to watch it again. I am again being reminded what a great TV series Desperate Housewives is. It is not the drama between the ladies that I am realized I miss but there are only 2 things I fall in love all over again with what the great writers behind have done. The beginning and the ending. The soul of each and every episode has been written in such a profound manner by the writers. And in this week's episode, the ending simply hit such a high note with me that I couldn't help to share it with all of you. Its wisdom is so profound that sometimes we need to be reminded of what we tend to forget.

"You should never be too impressed by people with good manners, they are the ones who will give a friendly wave even if they've stolen from you. They're the type who sweetly welcome you even as they tried to uncover your secrets. They are the kind to offer you coffee, even as they report you to the police. And don't be too offended by someone who's openly rude, because they may be that way for the nicest of reasons." - Desperate Housewives

Have you found yourself in such situation? Where you are impressed with someone good manners and behind it all, a samurai has been waiting to slice you up in pieces? Ah well, I have. Though my experience was definitely not as dramatic as those you watch on TV but well, the surprise was shocking enough to make you realize a few atoms of your lives have simply be stolen from you.

Then, have you been to the other extreme? Where what or who's deemed to be dangerous turned out to be the best thing that may ever happened in your life? Oh, tell me about it ...

Life is so full of mystery, isn't it? It's so not straightforward especially when it contains billions of people with billions of possibilities in personalities. We can only trust our guts, prepare for the worst and expect for the best. And watch out for life advices at the most unexpected places. For me, this time, it's from Desperate Houswives Season 5 Episode 16 titled - Crime Doesn't Pay.

The TV Junkie

Image courtesy of http://www.pastdeadline.com

Don't be surprised. The title is referring to yours truly. Yes. I am a TV shows addict and I'm proud of it. (Oopps... shameless me). But seriously, I love all of them. From drama to comedy. From reality TV to talk show. You name it, I love it. :p ... Geez ... I know, it sounds quite pathetic and you may be thinking it's such a time and life consuming activity but somehow, I found a different life in it. Go figure.

I wouldn't want to list down what I'm watching as that would be too scary but I think I'd better jot down what I am discovering that's worth sharing from those that I've watched. And at 3AM I'm so eager to share about what I just finished watching - The Apprentice (UK). This show is modeled from the successful American version by Donald Trump (the real estate mogul) where people are fighting for "the" job to be his apprentice and throughout the "interviewing" process, they'll be given projects to manage. The winning team/candidate will be rewarded and the loser will be FIRED.


Image courtesy of http://newyork.corante.com

I love the US version from the start because I thought every projects will be interesting despite of the drama-rama between the contestants, there're always things to be learned. I guess NBC agreed with their fans and created a section in its website that says - Lessons Learned, even Trump University is part of this. How smart The Donald is. :p

So, when I stumbled upon The Apprentice (UK), I was quite apprehensive as the general notion of British show is either boring or have some different taste of joke. But, being a GREAT TV junkie, I kept on watching. Though there were times I cringed at the way they deliberated soooooooo much, as if they were required to write a 100 pages essay for every question they are asked. URGH.

As I watched more and more, I realize, I actually love the UK version more now, why? Not because I need to write 100 pages worth of essay now, but because the challenges given by Sir Alan Sugar (The UK version of Donald Trump) were actually much more interesting and challenging than the US version. They normally will require the contestants to get their hands really dirty into the process of the business, inside out, outside in. If the US version requires the team to sell as much ice cream as possible in a period of time, the UK version will make the team to go to the dairy farm, make their own ice cream, create their own original flavour, let the locals taste the ice cream, and then sell as much ice cream as possible. Not only the project has the intention to grill the teams involved, it also has the sincere intention to help the local dairy farm to expand their business to London. I just love that idea so much. It's a win-win-win-win situations:
1. Contestants had a challenging task to be closer to the prize
2. Dairy farms had more exposure
3. New customers had the chance to be pioneers with those unique flavours (imagine avocado + chili)
4. It made great TV
and another win
5. DD, the TV junkie is happy and learning something at the same time

The losing team this week was really a surprising one for me. The leader was doing quite a great job and they managed to secure larger deals compared to the other team. They had 6 appointments made the day before compared to the other team only had 2 appointments. The difference between their sales was approximately £200, but that small amount was brutal enough to get someone fired.

The losing team members were actually doing quite a great job and I was perplexed how the project manager was able to pull through this and actually chose 2 members to be brought to the boardroom with her. As more mouths spoken up, it's easier to see where things went wrong and here was the scenario:

• There were 6 members. 3 were in the production house, making ice cream. 3 were focusing on sales and setting up appointment for the next day.
• The sales team (consists of Lindi, Jennifer & Raef) was really doing quite well but they got a little bit cocky. From the sales team, Lindi was chosen to be the second-in-command.
• They managed to clinch 2 quite big deal - cinema chain and pub chain.
• Jennifer took the initiative to give an exclusive deal to the cinema chain. Which means the unique flavour of the ice cream will not be allowed to sell in other cinemas. This decision was taken by her without first consulting her sales manager (Lindi) or worse, the owner of the ice cream - the dairy farm!!
• Lindi on the other hand also gave a 3-month-exclusive deal to the pub chain without consulting the dairy farm.

Both decisions pertaining the exclusivity of the flavour had made Sir Alan so mad that if he had known this earlier, he would void the sales which will make the difference between the winning and losing team to be more than just £200.

So who do you think will be fired?
- The project manager who were being cornered by her team member
- Jennifer who had given away the exclusivity to the cinema chain without permission
- Lindi who was also given away the exclusivity to the pub chain though it's only for 3 months


Image courtesy of Wikipedia

The female candidates from Series Four in the boardroom.
Back row left to right: Lucinda, Shazia, Sara, Jenny.
Front row left to right: Claire, Helene, Lindi, Jennifer.

At this point, I was really thinking that Miss "Exclusive" Jennifer will be sent home. She made one of the major mistake for making her own decision just to secure the deal without thinking on behalf of the dairy farm, who'll eventually continue and delivery the business after the challenge. To my surprise, it was the second-in-command cum sales-manager Lindi that got the boot from Sir Alan. Reason, she was the sales manager. She should have stopped Jennifer from making the big mistake and shouldn't even have made the mistake herself. She was a very creative sales person out of all the candidates but because of this mistake, she was fired. :( I was quite sad and shocked to see her go but well, she did make the mistake.

I love how Sir Alan put it when it selling, even though bringing in money to the company is important and at times you may need to do whatever it takes to secure a deal. But, it doesn't mean you need to sell your company in order to clinch the deal. If the deal is bad, walk away. I guess this theory doesn't just apply to business, but in life you just have to say no when you know you are selling yourself short.

Sir Alan, you definitely got my eyes hooked on your version of Apprentice.


Image courtesy of http://www.telegraph.co.uk

When Everything is Stripped Away …

Image courtesy of Creative Alley Productions.

I just watched the most interesting episode of Cold Case ever - The Road aired on 6th April 2008. It’s so thought provoking that I can’t help to blog about it.

For those of you who are not familiar about this TV show, Cold Case is about a team of law enforcers who focuses on cases that are unsolved (and hence it’s given the term “cold”). Based on current leads and clues, they’ll try to reopen the case and by any means, solving it.

The latest episode is about a woman, Brenda, who was found missing (and believed was dead based on the evidence found) on the day of her engagement party. You can’t describe how devastated her fiancé was. What other state of mind can he be in anyway? After almost a year, he still couldn’t move on.

Then, they found the suspect and their purpose is hopefully to recover the body of Brenda. So, 2 police officers were trying their best in interrogating him in the hope to find more clues to find where Brenda’s body will be.

What I enjoy the most from the “interrogation” part is that the suspect was proposing such thought provoking questions that were even able to shake up the detectives' minds. Some questions make them think and reflect about their own lives, some agitated one of the detective to actually be more physical towards the suspect.

Anyway, to sum up the story (BEWARE, spoilers ahead), the villain is a home-video editor. He’s one of the best employees any company has ever had. He has been selecting his victims based on the home-videos he edited. The common thread that he chose from the victims is when he spotted that the victim had one thing to live for . For example,there's a choir girl whose life purpose is to serve God. Then there's a mother who adores her new-born daughter so much. And Brenda, who loved her fiancé so much that she proposed to him instead.

They all live for something, and the question that the villain asked that was really important was - what keeps you going? What makes you get off your bed every morning? When everything is stripped away, when what matters most of you are taken away from you, who will you be? Will you give up on life?

That's what he's curious about from all of his victims. There's not once he laid hands to his victims, he just locked all of them in a "dungeon" and observe how long they take to give up when everything is stripped away. He mentioned, the choir girl was the first one to give up on her life after wondering how can God did such cruel thing upon her and why God left her and didn't even exist in that dungeon.

How about the mother, you think? She had the passion to live especially when the villain was playing the video of her new-born baby again and again but when the monitor was taken away from her, that's when she lost it. She gave up on life completely. Even though the door was easily opened if she tried and he (the villain) will not even do anything to them, none of these girls bothered to try to "live" and escape anymore. How interesting can that be?

This episode really makes me think, what am I living for? "I don't know"

When everything is really stripped away from me ... will I give up on life? "I don't know"

Who am I beneath the job I'm holding, the possessions I'm having and the knowledge I'm acquiring? "I don't know"

But for sure, I believe anybody who's reading this are more than what you think you are. You are not your job. You are not your spouse. You are not your religion. You are not you family. You are not your mom. You are not your dad. You are not your siblings. You are not what you eat. You are not what other people say about you. You are not your career. You are not your car. You are not your house. You are not your knowledge. You are not your aspirations. You are not your wealth. You are not your bank account. You are not your fashion statement. You are not the people you are hanging out with. You are not where you live. You are not what you say. You are not your opinion. You are not ________ .... and ultimately, you are not any labels you or other people are imposing on you.

You are more than that.

When everything is stripped away and you realize you are not giving up on life yet, that's when you know you are bigger than life itself.

How Happy Are You?

So, how happy are you? Can you guess which of these people are the happiest? I got it right (one of them only), let's try it yourself.

The information and image below are taken from www.oprah.com.

Peggy is a 44-year-old married mother of two teenage boys who works as the bookkeeper of the family business. Last year, both her father and her sister died, and her mother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Noreen is a 52-year-old divorced mother of two college kids. She's an avid swimmer and works in the operations department of a major airline.

Lachelle is 27 years old, married and has no children. She works two jobs and has two dogs. Last year, four of her friends and two of her family members died within six months of each other.

David is 53 years old, and he's been a funeral director for 30 years. He is married and has two sons.

Lorrie has been married for 15 years and has six children. She works in retail and also serves as the vice president of her PTA (Parent-Teacher Association).

So, have you made your pick? Which one did you guess? But first of all, what kind of benchmark are they using in finding out who's the happiest? You can take the test too and I'm going to lay all the questions here. (Also courtesy of www.oprah.com)

Satisfaction with Life Scale
How satisfied are you? To find out, read the following five statements. Then, use the 1–7 scale to rate your level of agreement and add your answers together.

1 = Not at all true
4 = Moderately True
7 = Absolutely True

1. In most ways, my life is close to ideal.
   1 2 3 4 5 6 7


2. The conditions of my life are excellent.
   1 2 3 4 5 6 7


3. I am satisfied with my life.
   1 2 3 4 5 6 7


4. So far I have gotten the important things I want in life.
   1 2 3 4 5 6 7


5. If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.
   1 2 3 4 5 6 7

So, what did you get? Mine was 26. (Yeah, honest). How about the people we were supposed to guess earlier on? Who do you think get the highest score? My guess was #4 - David (the funeral director), because I thought by seeing dead people everyday, he definitely must have captured the meaning of life well and he must have lived his life to the best. And I was right. But there are 2 other souls that are happy with their lives too and they are #1 - Peggy and #3 - Lachelle. Why? Check the next one out.

Peggy, David and Lachelle scored the highest on the satisfaction scale, while Noreen and Lorrie scored the lowest.

Satisfaction for Peggy is achieved by surrounding herself with happiness. The most important thing? Her husband. "He is there for me. He doesn't only love me, he appreciates me and makes me feel good," Peggy says. Happiness doesn't depend on money, she says. It's about enjoying the simple things. "Every morning I have a ritual. After the boys have left, [my husband and I] get in the hot tub, and it's our time. We talk about what is going on for the rest of the day. It is just our quality time just to stay connected."

David, the funeral director, says he's developed phrases that help him keep a positive outlook. "I will say, 'It's a marvelous Monday. It's a terrific Tuesday,'" he says. Although he deals with death daily, David says his job is anything but depressing. "Most people look upon funeral service as a sad profession. I look upon it as a profession where I'm helping people at a very difficult time in their lives," he says. "Being successful in life is not what really matters. Being significant in life is really the core root of what matters."

Lachelle says she lives by the philosophy, "Negative out, positive in." She says she believes happiness is a conscious effort. "It's about claiming what's yours. If you want a positive life, you need to think positively and act positively," she says. "I do my best not to compare myself with others. I've always felt that what one person has may not be destined for me." - Courtesy of www.oprah.com

If you pay attention to the stories above, happiness is not something external. It's not about what you do, what you have, who you are with, etc. It's about a choice and something internal. You can have thousands of bad day and still be happy with your life or you can have everything in this world and yet depressed over what you've not accomplished. It's a choice. Heck what others say, heck what others do, ultimately, happiness is for you to uncover and let it blossom.

To sum it, I'll let the expert on the subject of happiness to wrap up this segment.

Dr. Holden says the key to being happy is overcoming "destination addiction," which he defines as "living in the not-now." "It's always about tomorrow, so you're chasing 'more,' 'next' and 'there,'" he says. "You promise yourself that when you get there, you'll be happy. And I promise you, you won't, because you'll always set another destination to go for."

Instead, Dr. Holden says if you are unhappy with your life or looking to improve your score on the satisfaction test, there are two things you can do. "We have to learn to let go of our past, we have to give up all hopes for a perfect past. Let the past go, it's gone." After that, he says, "Take a vow of kindness. Be kinder to yourself and to others. "It's never too late to be happy," he says.

Image and text source: www.oprah.com

Scars and Wounds

Some great quotes from my FAVOURITE TV Show at the moment - Grey's Anatomy. When I saw it, I can't help but to share it here.

"People have scars. In all sorts of unexpected places. Like secret roadmaps of their personal histories. Diagrams of all their old wounds. Most of our wounds heal, leaving nothing behind but a scar. But some of them don't. Some wounds we carry with us everywhere and though the cut's long gone, the pain still lingers." - Meredith, Grey's Anatomy

Video of the quote ... please don't watch if you have not not and don't want any spoilers. Don't say I didn't warn you:



"What's worse, new wounds which are so horribly painful or old wounds that should've healed years ago and never did? Maybe our old wounds teach us something. They remind us where we've been and what we've overcome. They teach us lessons about what to avoid in the future. That's what we like to think. But that's not the way it is, is it? Some things we just have to learn over and over and over again."- Meredith, Grey's Anatomy

Do You LOOK?

Did any of you watch COLD CASE? It's another wonderful production by Jerry Bruckheimer, who's the same genius that brought you CSI Series, Black Hawk Down, De Javu, Pearl Harbor, etc.

Image source: www.cbs.com

Cold Case focuses on unsolved crime cases which happened really long time ago. The main character, Lily Rush, found her calling in this department and she'll go through old evidences and painstaking interviews and totally rethink the crime in order to crack the mystery.

Guess what's the wonderful tag lines ... Hope lives...because the evidence never dies.

As usual, this episode that got me jotted down the nice simple script is when this old granny came in with a piece of newspaper. She told Lily and her boss that she would like to re-investigate the death of her daughter after what she's read on the newspaper.

In 2006, Travis, who was supposed to be her late daughter dance partner, was being suspected of murdering his wife by pushing her down the stairs. The granny realized it resembled her own daughter's death. She fell down a fleet of stairs and no one knows why. Hence the case's cold. The granny pleaded and begged for the police to take a look at it again as in year 1968 no one bothers to look closer.

That's when Lily said,"It's 2006 now and we like to look."

I ponder for a moment and find it quite true ... well I'm not sure what life is in 1968 but people nowadays are more aware and look deeper than before. They don't simply being spoon fed by what others have told them. They find their own truth. They question about life and what's the purpose of their existence. Is it simply to hang out and bitch around. Is it to experience , learn and grow? Is it to be sad and happy? What is it? Well, different people may have different answer. But the key is ... do you look at your own life? Do you take charge? Do you give your own meaning to it? Do you bother to solve your own "cold cases"? Or do you go through life ignoring the evidences that are trying to speak to you? Go figure.

Can You Be Like Them?

It's the first time in my life that I've ever cried and consumed 6 tissues after watching a video. And it's not even some sad story, it's the other way round.

Some of you may have known that I'm a big fan of Oprah Winfrey. And this post is again related to one of her show - "Building a Dream: The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy". But before you turn your back around and be biased after hearing her name for whatever preconceived ideas you may have about her such as, she can do things because she's rich, she appeals only to auntie auntie's group, etc. I am begging you to just continue reading and discover that it's not really about how much she has and what she's doing with the money ... it's about 152 girls that may just change the way you look at life and most importantly, the way you look at yourself.

Brief Introduction
In 2001, Oprah told Nelson Mandela (former South Africa president), that she'd like to build a school for girl leaders. She'll commit US$10 million. And on the 6th of December 2002, she started to build her promise and that project has consumed $40 million instead on 52 acres of land. The rest is history. Out of 3000 applicants, only 152 were chosen. Their lives will never ever be the same again.

For the CNN coverage on this you can check out this link on Youtube..

Enough about her and her project. She's great. And believe most people know that.

What I'd like to touch on are a few of the girls whom have "spoken" to me and touched my heart the moment I laid my eyes on them.

Who Are The Chosen 152?

They are few of the brightest girls from South Africa who not only posses leadership potential but also great academic result. Most of them stays at very terrible neighbourhood. (That's one of the criteria to receive the scholarship to the Leadership Academy. The girls must be under privileged.)

So it'll not be surprising if you hear the following comments from them about their background:

1. There are 30 families in this neighbourhood and we only have 1 toilet
2. When I walk back from school everyday I pray to God that I will not be raped and abused in this dangerous neighbourhood
3. There's no in-house plumbing, so we have to carry big pail of water on our head every day (Oprah tried half of the pail and couldn't do it. She couldn't even fake it. She felt like she's going to break her neck!)
4. My parents are dead because of HIV/AIDS
5. I'm sharing a room with mom, dad, etc and I've to sleep on the hard cold floor

What's So Special About Them?

After understanding a bit of their background, and how they normally live their life, I'd like to invite you to what they say when they are being interviewed:

1. Lesego: The book I'm reading right now is Charles Dickens' The Great Expectations. I love that book it's really fantastic. It's got the edge to it. I love mathematics. Not knowing the answer just turns me on.
   
2. Thando: I want to be an actress. I see myself living the life that I've always dream. I want to work hard and be the best that I can be
3. Zodwa: I wanna be a leader. I believe in girl power. I believe that girls can do whatever boys can do. I believe in myself.
   
4. Sade (12 yrs old): I want to find the cure for AIDS because most of the people in my community are affected by HIV.
   
5. Megan & Sade (sisters, whose mom was shot by their dad and then dad shot himself in front of them when they are 6 & 5 yrs old respectively). This is what they've got to say - Megan: if we get picked in, we will work hard and succeed in life. Sade: Don't say if we get picked in, I know I'm in and both of us are in. I'm not angry with father because I know God has a reason. Just remember the good times not the bad.
   

I guess I don't even need to end this story as you all should have known that those girls are among the 152. They are embarking to a world that they used to dream of and now it's their reality.

The point is this ... how can you not be amazed by their attitude towards life and especially towards themselves. What they have gone through are not even on par with what we are going through. It's tougher and more humanly unimaginable. But yet they still have high hopes. Big dreams. Unlimited gratitude and humility. Confidence and sincerity.

My wish for all of you who are reading this is to stand in front of the mirror and tell yourself that you are great and that all dreams are still possible. And nothing in this world is tough unless you label it as tough.

Videos

If you'd like to see personally the interviews of some of the chosen girls, you can go to this link. You'll meet all the girls I mentioned above plus additional - Mahlatse - the only girl that wears specs (I can relate to that when I was 3 years old) due to no electricity in the house and she loves to read with only one candle lit. (MAN!!)

If you are counting the 10 key words I've given you in the email and wondering where's keywords #9: Mariah Carey, Chris Rock & Mary J. Blige. You'll be able to see them with your own eyes on this video below.



Enjoy! And always live your greatest life every second. No compromise! Like the girls.



Image source: http://boutique.oprah.com/product/show/5830

Jennifer Hudson

Image source www.theflickchicks.com

Yay ... she won the Oscar. So happy for her ... whether her acting deserves an Oscar or not, I can't be the judge and I don't think anyone can. I must be honest secretly I'm hoping little Abigail Breslin would win though. Little Miss Sunshine has left deeper imprint than Dreamgirls but well, I was not in the panel of judges for Oscar, so, great job, Jennifer.

What impressed me most was ... bringing myself back watching her on American Idol. Just simply by hearing her voice gave me some chills. That voice was so unforgettable, though deep inside I knew then it was quite impossible for her to win American Idol ... but who can resist such voice?

Apparently, Dreamgirls producer or even the casting director must have had the same feeling too ... hence out of hundreds of applicants (including Fantasia, so I heard). When I watched the movie, honestly I was confused who's the lead actress in the show? I thought it's Jennifer Hudson. Her acting and singing talents have overshadowed Beyonce's so much that after watching the movie, I only remember Hudson. And it seems like I was listening to great divas of old time like Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, etc ... time was really turned back when I heard her opened up her mouth.

What can I learn from her? Guess Jennifer Hudson is the real Dream Girl. In her we see that dreams do come true in the most miraculous way possible. She was an American Idol reject ... has no experience in acting and yet she won the Golden Globe & now ... Academy Awards!!! If that's not some kind of miracle despite all the nasty words some people give .. then I have no idea what it is anymore.

I love what she said to Chicago Tribune - "I haven't changed," she said. "My life has." We'll see how her life will evolve further after this. :) Must be an interesting journey for her.

Academy Awards 2007 Winners

And the winner goes to ....

Best Motion Picture of the Year

Winner: The Departed (2006) - Graham King

Best Achievement in Directing

Winner: Martin Scorsese for The Departed (2006)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Winner: Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland (2006)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Winner: Helen Mirren for The Queen (2006)

Best Achievement in Editing

Winner: The Departed (2006) - Thelma Schoonmaker

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

Winner: An Inconvenient Truth (2006) - Melissa Etheridge("I Need To Wake Up")

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

Winner: Little Miss Sunshine (2006) - Michael Arndt

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

Winner: Babel (2006) - Gustavo Santaolalla

Best Documentary, Features

Winner: An Inconvenient Truth (2006) - Davis Guggenheim

Best Documentary, Short Subjects

Winner: The Blood of Yingzhou District (2006) - Ruby Yang, Thomas Lennon

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Winner: Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls (2006)

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

Winner: Leben der Anderen, Das (2006)(Germany)

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

Winner: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) - John Knoll, Hal T. Hickel, Charles Gibson, Allen Hall

Best Achievement in Cinematography

Winner: Laberinto del Fauno, El (2006) - Guillermo Navarro

Best Achievement in Costume Design

Winner: Marie Antoinette (2006) - Milena Canonero

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

Winner: The Departed (2006) - William Monahan

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Winner: Happy Feet (2006) - George Miller

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Winner: Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Best Achievement in Sound

Winner: Dreamgirls (2006) - Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer, Willie D. Burton

Best Achievement in Sound Editing

Winner: Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) - Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman

Best Short Film, Live Action

Winner: West Bank Story (2005) - Ari Sandel

Best Short Film, Animated

Winner: The Danish Poet (2006) - Torill Kove

Best Achievement in Makeup

Winner: Laberinto del Fauno, El (2006) - David Martí, Montse Ribé

Best Achievement in Art Direction

Winner: Laberinto del Fauno, El (2006) - Eugenio Caballero, Pilar Revuelta

Source: www.imdb.com

The Apprentice - What Do You Learn?

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

I'm quite a big fan of The Apprentice since the day it started. And just recently, my friend asked me what do I learn from it and she's curious about it since I followed it almost every week. So, I said I'll put my learnings in to my blog. :p ... It gives me ample time to think and formulate what actually I've learned from that show I've spent 1 hour of every week of my life.

Well, The Apprentice has only reached the 5th season here in Singapore but I'm glad MediaCorp is airing it and let everyone has the chance to be entertained and learn the glimpse of business world ala Mr. Trump.

So what have I learned out of the 5 seasons so far ... I really feel like saying that it's quite an advantage for being a MAN haha ... but ... I shall refrain from saying that. (How can I dismiss the point that 4 out of 5 winners are male?)

Anyway, here's what I've learned:

1. When you lose the balance between emotion and logic, you'll tend to go haywire. That's been proven from so many episodes especially when there were women involved. It's so painful to watch their own ego and pride working forgetting they have important tasks at hand.
2. Choosing the right team member when you have the chance is really crucial. Now it's the final episode in Singapore I seriously amused by the Lee's selection of his team members. Let's see how he'll pull off all his tasks. For Sean, he's really spot-on his choices. I mean, Tammy is for the obvious reason :p ... And Andrea just caught my attention since the beginning. Though she may appear stubborn at times but never once I saw her raised up her voice to others even though she's in the board room. Calm and poised lady. No wonder at the age of 31 she's already a self-made multi millionaire. :)
3. Think out of the box. Think big! So many of the tasks won are by the members who thought big. Instead of selling at $1 to 100 people, how to sell $10 to 10 people may work better. Of course, provided you get the deal done and not just mere talk talk talk talk.
4. And my favourite of all, drawn from Mr. Trump. Marketing, Marketing, Marketing! The Apprentice is not just a TV show to entertain and to learn, but it's a media to market his lines of businesses. So ... one stone ... few birds. Now, I'm stuck with his Trump Ice, Trump Tower, Trump Cologne, Mar-A-Lago Club, Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Books, and many many many many more to come. Haha.
   

For more lessons that you can draw from The Apprentice, you can visit the following links:
The Apprentice - Season 2
The Apprentice - Season 3
The Apprentice - Season 4
The Apprentice - Season 5

For more on how the candidates look like for Season 5, you can check out this video. Enjoy!

D.D. Discovers "ViVa"

For those of you who watch local TV lots, you definitely can't miss "The Dance Floor" - Singapore first reality dancing competition. Yesterday was its long awaited premier and as my friend is in it, I waited very long ... long ... long to catch her in action.

So who's my friend? She's Chen Chin Fee from VIVA. She was my ex-business partner (that's how I got to know her). Now we are good friends. Why? Because we are SCORPIO and we are proud of it. Haha ... alright ... I'm crapping. Don't you want to see her in action? Let me give you some sneak preview of what she can do. :-)



How about that, pals? I can only open mouth big big.
Not only she's a dance instructor, business owner, student, and even infant care teacher. Haha!!! And now she's taking the chance to showcase her talent. Taking the ups and downs of the reality TV industry. Hope you can support her during the voting show. :-) Oh ya have I ever mentioned when you feel hot (I mean the real temperature hot ya!!!), and you've no solution, you can look for Chin and she'll sure rescue you with her collection of fans. :p

Once again, vote for V.
V for Viva!
:-)
Hehe ... (Shucks, I sound like some cheerleader!!! -.- I'm stopping now.)



PS. Chin!!! You owe me teh-oh-peng (Iced tea in Hok Kien) ... and Hello Panda (strawberry, please) and Bistik (Dry) from Makan Place. :p ... Done deal! :p