Google Doodle - Interactive With Brothers Grimm's Fairy Tale

Today, when you are using the Google Search Engine, you will be pleasantly surprised with the new Google Doodle in celebrating the Brothers Grimm's 200 anniversary of the first edition of Grimm's Fairy Tales, a collection of European folk tales first published in 1812 by German brothers Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm and Wilhelm Carl Grimm.

Head over to the Google Homepage and click on the arrow arrow on the right to begin your doodle experience of scroll-able comic strip of a famous fairy tale. If you want to save time in clicking, check out the series of the comic strip extracted for you below.... Make a guess, what is this fairy tale?

Enjoy...

SPECIAL - The Sun, The Sea And The Beaches - The Dream Place

Imagine this : Every morning, when you wake up, what faces you are the sound of the waves gently hitting on the shore, the sea breathe with music and the bird's chirping beautifully... I am not sure about you but this is the kind of dream place for my retirement. 

I've been searching around the internet and chanced upon a site which fit the definition of my future dream land! Yes, I know it is a Luxury Real Estate site but who cares? The key is it fit my bill of finding the important resources pertaining to the seaside properties in US. Example of links that I find interesting are : Luxury oceanfront condos in Key Biscayne, Florida and condos in Bal Harbour.

Besides, they do maintain a professional blog with regular updates. Check it out at  Luxury oceanfront condominiums in Key Biscayne, Florida

Cheers!

Maiden Twilight Saga Movie Experience At Golden Village City Square

Courtesy of omy.sg and Golden Village, I managed to complete 2 maiden movie experience on Saturday. One being watching the The Twilight Saga - Breaking Dawn (Part 2) blockbuster in cinema (Yes! this is the first Twilight movie franchise that I've watched in cinema) and second being the first movie experience at the newly opened Golden Village-City Square multiplex. 

Golden Village City Square multiplex is not the biggest movie chain outlet in town but with its optimal  location (at the heart of the city, above the Farrer Park MRT Station), this 6-cinemas outlet will be the new entertainment hub for the movie fans. 

How Important To Take A Break From Your Desk? [INFOGRAPHIC]

Nowadays, many of us are spending a fair share of our active hours sitting in front of the monitor (PC or laptop) and "staring" at the screen for a long period of time. Do you aware of the risks involved if we didn't take frequent break in between?

LearnStuff.com has generated a colourful Infographic on why it is critical to take a break or else it's killing you just because you are sitting on your chair too long! Some of the highlights of the findings are:

1. On Average, we are spending 8 hours staring on screen, 2 more hours than spending on sleeping
2. People normally blink about 18 times per minute, while at computer, we blink only 7 times per minute.
3. Because of (2), people will experience blurry vision, headache etc...

Singapore Is The World's Most Emotionless Society? Seriously?

Recently, Gallup, US-based Pollster released the result of a Poll from 152 countries to analyse how people feel about their lives. And you know what? Singapore (the little red dot that I am currently staying) deemed to be the most emotionless in the world! Seriously?

Hmmm... come and think of it, I kind of agree with result as most Singaporean are perceived to be more serious, more deserved and more conservative in nature. Having said that, on second thought, just like any other poll, such findings is not conclusive and I am pretty sure that I've chanced upon a fair share of locals here who are full of emotion and expression! ;-)

Are You Eat To Live OR Live To Eat?

We all need to eat, the question is what is your eating principle i.e. are you a "Eat To Live" or "Live To Eat" kind of people? For those who knew me personally would know that I fall under the former category! Or at least that's what I always told them when they asked : "If there is an invention of a super pill that can fight hunger without eating regularly, I will be their first customer!" Get my point? ;-)

Basically, for those of us who fall under the "Eat To Live" camp simply pay minimal attention to what kind of food we are putting inside our mouth and also not very particular on the ways or materials used in preparing them. As compared to the "Live To Eat" camp, they will rigorously searching around the town, city or overseas to find new and exotic delicacies. To them, every food tasting is a brand new experience! Also, they will be very good in elaborating the exact taste and texture of the food. Whereas for the other camp, this is a tall challenge!

Jealousy And Envy Are Anti-happiness! How To Fight Them Head On?

We all know that we can't be happy when we are in the state of jealousy or envy. These two qualities simply cannot co-exists together. Thus, in order to enjoy true happiness (which is one of the propaganda of this blog), we need to get rid of the jealousy or envy as much and as fast as possible.

I know it is easier said than done and jealousy do attack when we least expected it i.e. when we are vulnerable to the external environment or happening. At times, we just felt helpless when sinking into such abyss of negative state of mind. The good news is, there is always way(s) to overcome every problem/difficulty we might encountered.

Recently, I have chanced upon a blog post on the tips to overcome jealousy and envy. It was written by Dawn of Mummy Edition and I find that it is very close to the topic that I want to share today. In this valuable post, you will learn the following 4 tips which will help you overcome the sudden attack of jealousy or envy:

1. Love Yourself
2. Face Your Jealousy And Let It Pass Through You
3. Write It Out
4. Let Them Be Your Inspiration

Go on, read the tips in detail as I am pretty sure that they will come in handy when you least expected it!

How do you usually fight against the strike of jealousy or envy? Feel free to share your experience in the comment section.  

Cheers!

OBAMA Won The 2012 US Presidential Election!

The wait and tense moment is over! Obama has been officially re-elected as US President!

 

As at the time of my writing, the committee is still counting the votes but the final count is no longer relevant as Obama has won 303 electoral votes over Mitt Romney's 203! Only 270 electoral votes required for the victory.

 

Congratulations to Mr Obama and Americans!

SPECIAL - FREE Scheduling Software For Spa And Salons

If you are in spa or salons business and find that scheduling of  appointments is a chore, you are not alone and this post is totally meant for you.

Recently, I've chanced upon a cool website that providing salon software for free. Actually, this free software is designed with the salons and spa industry in mind but it can be used for other industries as well (as long as online booking/scheduling is required). The name of the website is Xandaro and their cool software for spa and salons comes with the following features:

1. It's FREE - Can you ask for more?
2. Online Booking - It allows your customers to make or change appointments as and when required. You can view the up-to-date schedule/appointment information.
3. Calendar - You can easily see the schedule in a variety of views and make changes instantly and effortlessly.
4. Simple To User - The sleek User Interface allows you to manage the appointments, staff scheduling etc.. with just few clicks.

If you need more details, feel free to check their blog at good salon software. So, if you have limited budget and need some productivity tool to help you schedule the appointments, go no further and give Xandaro a try. You have nothing to lose, anyway! ;-)

Cheers! 

Amazing Google Doodle - Tribute to Winsor McCay

Did you notice something difference when accessing Google Search Home Page today? The magical Google Doodle amazed me once again! As a tribute to Winsor McCay, Google has generated an animated Google Doodle (adapted from "Little Nemo in Slumberland") that will sure to grab your attention (especially for kids).

"Winsor McCoy (26 Sep 1869 to 26 Jul 1934) was an American cartoonist and animator, best known for the comic strip Little Nemo and the animated cartoon Gertie the Dinosaur. For legal reasons, he worked under the pen name Silas on the comic strip Dream of the Rarebit Fiend"

(source : Wikipedia)

What made this Google Doodle special is its extending nature of the animation, by clicking on the indicated section of the Doodle, you will see the character and story developed/expanded downward, just keep clicking and get ready to be wow-ed by it!

Portrait Of Winsor McCoy

So, get amazed and enjoy this special treats from Google while it lasts!

By the way, do you find such sharing interesting? If yes, I will cover more of this topic (Google Doodle) in the future. Do share your view in the comment section.

Cheers!

Creativity The Ditology Way!

Creativity can start from anywhere, at times, it just at your finger tips, literally. Today, I am going to share an amazing creativity that literally done with the finger tips. 

The site is called Ditology. Ditology is an expansion from the word "Dito" which means finger in Italian. The founder of Ditology is a 33-year-old Italian art director and what he did is creating portraits of famous people on finger tips. Yes, you read that right. 

How he did it? He simply takes a picture of his finger and creates portraits of celebrities, historical figures or fictional characters with the help of Photoshop. Following are small samples of his amazing creativity. For the complete collection of his Ditos, check out his site at Ditology.

Mao Tze Tung

Dalai Lama

Mozart

Mr T.

Steve Jobs

I am pretty sure you can recognize most if not all of them without even looking at the caption! ;-) Do share this out in your social networks if you think his creativity warrants your friends' attention. 

Cheers! 

TaiChi 0 - An extraordinary And Refreshing Kungfu Movie

Warning: TaiChi 0 (TaiChi Zero) is not your usual rigid and serious kind of kungfu movie. It’s a kungfu movie with lots of fresh elements incorporated into it. Just like what the director, Stephen Fung, said, it will be a brand new kind of kungfu movie that is light-hearted, entertaining and suitable for the whole family.

Courtesy of omy.sg and Golden Village, am lucky to attend the Gala Premiere of TaiChi 0 in VivoCity (Singapore) on 1st Oct 2012. Besides able to catch a glimpse of the superstars from the movie (Stephen Fung, Tony Leung Kar-Fai and Yuan XiaoChao), I am able to attest to what the director has mentioned, TaiChi 0 is a new kungfu genre which is perfect  for family entertainment and will appeal especially to the young.

It comprises of elements like comic, gravity-defying kungfu fighting sequence and the steampunk style (as defined in Wikipedia, Steampunk is a genre that incorporates elements of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, horror, and speculative fiction. It involves a setting where steam power is widely used). It is refreshing and after the show, you will be asking yourself “Oh! Kungfu movie can also be shot in this way too!?”   

TaiChi 0 will be released in Singapore on 4th Oct 2012. So, if you want to experience a refreshing kung-fu ride, go catch it in cinema near you (it's in 3D too). By the way, TaiChi 0 is only the first part of a trilogy, the second part of TaiChi will be released in Singapore on 25th Oct 2012.

Also, do stay back after the credits as there will be preview of the second installment after the credits! ;-)

Brief synopsis of Tai-Chi 0:
“As an uncommonly gifted child, Yang Luchan had a fleshly abnormality that holds tremendous power growing on his forehead. However being teased as the town fool, Yang’s mother spurs him to practice martial arts, and following her wishes, Yang travels the distance to come Chen Village to learn TAI CHI and the story unfold from there…”

Casts : Yuan XiaoChao, Angelababy, Tony Leung Kar-Fai

Running Time: 95 minutes

Trailer of TaiChi 0:

Movie Posters of TaiChi 0:

Cheers!

Awesome! How Can You Not Share These Awesomeness?

How do you define awesomeness? For me, it's very simple, awesomeness is something or someone that touches my senses and made me go "WOW!". Today, I am going to share some of the awesome findings (over the internet) that have successfully earned my "WOW!".

Of course, I must admit that some of these stuffs might not WOW you as they WOW-ed me but no harm for me to share it forward! If you find these stuffs awesome too, do share them forward! ;-)

Enjoy!

"The awesome art pieces of nature"

"The awesome Talent  (Jeffrey Adam Gutt from Project X)" 

"The awesome movie plot (The Looper, forthcoming sci-fi)" 

Do you have any awesomeness to share? Do share the link in the comment section.

Cheers!

My First iOS 6 Panoramic Photo And How To Display It As Adjustable Panorama Photo

Apple has just released it's latest iOS 6 this morning, the upgrade through WIFI is seamless and took me just about 15 minutes to complete the upgrade (I am currently using iPhone 4S). Without wasting much time, my first personal "assignment" is to take a panoramic photo to see how it turn out. 

The panorama feature is logically placed in the "Options" button of the camera. Once you tap on the "Options", you will see the new "Panorama" button (refer to the first photo on the left). Tap on the "Panorama" and you will see a progress bar appearing at the centre of the screen with simple text guide underneath it. Move your phone slowly from left to right in a straight line alignment until the progress bar hit the end (refer to the second photo on the left). You can actually end the shooting earlier by tapping on the camera button at the bottom. By the way, if you move your phone too fast, there will be a message alert you to slow down! I must say that taking panoramic photo via iOS 6 is intuitive and seamless.

Viola! Following is my first panoramic photo that I've taken this afternoon at National Library Of Singapore (static view):

My first panoramic photo (fixed view)

Of course, I didn't just stop here as I remember seeing someone incorporate a true panoramic photo online whereby user can dynamically adjust the view in 360 Degree. Thus, I tasked myself to  convert my first panoramic photo into dynamic view too. Through few clicks and searches, finally I managed to find a site called Dermander do just that i.e. automatically convert a panoramic photo into a dynamic view. 

Here is the outcome of my first true panoramic photo (click and drag to look around the photo or double-click to enlarge the image):

Note: If your browser is not supporting the dynamic photo embedded within the blog, click on the link here to view it at the Dermander site. 

What do you think about my very first panoramic photo? Feel free to leave your feedback in the comment section.

Cheers!

    

The Best Gift Is The One Touches The Heart!

Today, 16th Sep is exactly the 15th year since I first met my wife. As usual, we had a wonderful anniversary lunch at the same hotel that we had our wedding ceremony. Till this date, we still exchange anniversary card on this special date and I must say this small piece of paper still managed to warm my heart every time I read what was written there. To me, it is much more precious than the gift and the meals. The reason is because the best gift in the world is the one that touches the heart!

For a relationship, 15 years is not a short time but it's not that long either. We've been through high and low points of our life together, it is a blessing that so far our happier times is much more than the challenging times. Of course, no one can guarantee anything in the future (I am a realist) but I am committed to live the moment with my wife and hope to spend the next 15, 30, 45 years with her arms in mine.

Following are some photo shots from our anniversary lunch today:

Solo shot 

Solo shot with sorbet 

solo shot... again

couple shot with the complimentary cake from the hotel

Cheers!

iPhone 5 Launch Event Live Coverage - 12 Sep 2012

At this moment, iPhone fans over the world are waiting eagerly for the launch of the new iPhone (let's just name it iPhone 5 for the time being). It is exciting as this will be the first new generation of iPhone to be launched under the helm of new CEO, Tim Cook.

Many rumored concept model has been distributed rigorously and some of the anticipated enhancements like bigger screen, thinner handset and the new earphone (called Earpods) might be the real stuff, just saying.  

In any case, regardless where are you now, as long as you have internet connection, you are able to watch the live coverage here (via Youtube):

Cheers!

The Missing Piece Of Jigsaw in Work-Life Balance is YOU!

Since the National Day Rally 2012 by Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong , the topic of work-life balance has once again stirred up the public interest in a broader scale. In fact, besides trying to achieve a more balanced lifestyle of the workforce in general, the Government is trying to resolve a long standing national issue, which is the declining birth-rate. In short, the Government is hoping that with a more work-life balanced culture, it will encourage more people to at least have more time to think about the offspring.

I personally view that work-life balance policy like flexible work arrangement, longer paid maternity or paternity leaves etc.. is just one piece of the overall picture (jigsaw). Ultimately, it is the individual employee (aka YOU) that need to balance it themselves i.e. not the Government, not the employer and not even the supervisor. Why do I say so? Because only you know what you need in your personal life and what is deemed BALANCED to you. In short, it doesn't means that working lesser hour in the office compound directly translated into work-life balance culture. With the ever increasing mobile and the "always connected" workforce, we are "working" (at least mentally) practically every waking moment. 

Thus, it is really up to the individual to really segregate the "Working hours" vs "Personal Life hours" to strike a balance for themselves. No one else can do the job better than the individual (YOU). Of course, it is still important for the Government to introduce these work-life balance to "officially" facilitate the necessary arrangement that the staff deemed fit in their context.

In short, do not rely solely on the Government to strike a work-life balance for YOU, YOU need to balance it yourself as you are the missing piece of this huge jigsaw puzzle.

Cheers! 

Add Oil

For Chinese, whenever we want to express our encouragement to other whenever they are facing with some challenges like sporting event, exam or during difficult times, we will usually use the words "加油" which literally translated into "Add Oil" in English.

I am sure there was a proper allusion for such words. but I personally like to interpret it as we, human being, are just like any machine or car that require regular maintenance/booster and oil is one of the necessity to lubricate the internal parts of the machine (in the case of human being, our body and mind) so that we are not stuck with the less optimal condition due to the wear and tear. It's a way to reignite our aspiration and push forward! Do you think it make sense? 

Anyway, talking about oil, I will have to mention Schaeffer Oil, which is THE go to brand when come to specialized lubricants (for example Dexos-1 synthetic oil ). It serves across multiple industries like agriculture, manufacturing, trucking and high performance racing. Mind you, it was established since 1839. So, with 173 years of history, I am sure they have done something right!

In summary, whenever you need to express your encouragement to another party, just tell them to "add oil" and if you need the real oil/lubricants, just go to Schaeffer Oil! ;-)

Cheers! 

TED - The Naughtiest Teddy Bear I've Ever Seen! But He Is Cute

Courtesy of omy.sg, managed to catch the Premiere of TED (in Singapore), the MOST popular teddy bear in town. Directed by Seth MacFarlane whom brought us the popular Animation TV series, Family Guy, since 1999. Thus, adult-theme slapstick jokes are expected. By the way, he is also the voice of Ted.

In fact, I was so immersed in the movie and having fun-time with the character of Ted that I have almost forgotten that he is just an animated figure. How I wish I am John [by Mark Wahlberg] and having Ted as my buddy ;-).

No doubt, he is foul mouth and cheeky in the movie but hey, this is a M18 [Matured18] movie, thus, adult theme is expected. Even though he is the naughtiest teddy bear in town now but he is still LOVABLE. Can't wait for the sequel to be released next (in the pipeline)!

Brief Synopsis of TED:

"As the result of a childhood wish, John Bennett's teddy bear, Ted, came to life and has been by John's side ever since - a friendship that's tested when Lori, John's girlfriend of four years, wants more from their relationship"  

Posters/Stills of TED:

Bonus Poster: With me as a cameo :-)

Trailer of TED:

I hope you can catch it in the theatre near you (as long as you are 18 and above in Singapore) and LOL like I did!

Cheers!

The Past, The Present, The Future And The Problem

Don't worry, I am not going to write about the grammatical problem in the past tense, present tense and future tense. Following strictly to the theme of my blog, I am going to write about how we should live our life in relation to the past, the present and the future.

If you are a frequent visitor to my blog, you will know that my motto of living an happier life are:

1. We can't fully control the external factors but we can always control our reaction towards the incident/issue.

2. True believer of living in the moment as past is history and future might never come.

3. There are always 2 sides of the story, so, why don't look at the bright/positive side?

Actually, this post was inspired by one of the article I read, entitled "Living In The Here And Now" that was published in the "60something" column on Saturday's (25/08/2012) The Straits Times (Singapore) [Author : Richard Lim]. It was an interesting yet meaningful article that will set the  readers pondering on how to live a better life.

There are a number of thoughts, quotes and anecdote which are relevant to the theme of my blog and thus like to share it here (extracted from the article):

"Letting go is about no clinging - and it can be a person, an idea, an object or in the Zen context, the grasping ego"

"We are so busy reliving our yesterday and trying to live our tomorrows that we miss living today" 

Following is an anecdote that I read sometime back and I loved it, I guess the author too: 

Two monks, one a senior and the other a junior, were walking along a narrow mountain path when they came to a muddy puddle. Across the puddle was a young women who was stranded because to step across it was to have her new ankle-length clothes soiled.

'Could you help me?' she asked the monks.

The senior monk strode across the puddle, lifted the women and carried her across to the other side. After he had let her down, she thanked him and went on her way.

The two monks too went on their way. But the junior one seemed disturbed. He could not shake off what was on his mind and after walking for about a mile, he finally blurted to his senior 'I thought we monks are not supposed to touch a women's body. But you did with that woman earlier'.

The latter said 'I let her down a mile back. Why are you still carrying her?' 

The illustration of the story. Loved it!

Hope you like my sharing and let's living in the here and now!

Cheers!