Did you hear me on the radio? Did I sound like a toad?

I was had a little conversation on air with HotFM 91.3′s bubbly Charmaine Yee on Monday!

Thanks to those who Facebooked, Tweeted or messaged me about it. Haha. I hope i didn’t sound like a toad! They introduced me as a celeb blogger (how nice, does that mean someone is going to start paying me ‘celebrity’ monies now?!:D). I spoke about the YouTube fan fest event I was attending, along with the song I wrote/played/sang (see my embarrassing video in previous post) about delightful YouTube boy David Choi. Through that, I got to meet him and hang out. It was all quite amusing!

It’s nice to hear that I sounded quite natural. The truth is, the official on-air discussion lasted about 5min and I wasn’t in the studio, so it literally felt like I was just picking up my phone and chatting with a telemarketer.

Except that Charmaine Yee wasn’t selling me anything.

If she ever does, I’ll probably buy it.

Listen to her sexy voice on 91.3FM in Singapore!

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PS/IMPORTANT: Thanks to everyone who’s been so supportive of my blogging journey. My Dad asked me when I was like 11 years old/young, “if there’s one thing in life you want to do, and you wouldn’t get paid a single cent, what would you do?”

Of course at that age, I had no idea what blogging was but I replied, “I think I like to write. And make people laugh.”

He laughed. And said, “Well, then you really probably won’t get paid a cent then. But go ahead and do it!”

And so I did. Thanks Dad! ^_^

How to be a BAD boy with a GOOD heart

A girl told me recently that while my brother was in ACSI and RJC, there were a number girls who thought he was hot. Of course, as an older sister who cannot fathom my brother in any sexy way, I find this extremely funny. Girls were digging his bad boy rep on the outside, but alas, no one seemed to be onto his squishy soft good-naturedness on the inside. Well, I’m about to pop the bad-boy-bubble RIGHT NOW and announce that my dearest little brother, who I love very much, is indeed a bad boy with a good heart.

He will be done with his studies soon in London, and to celebrate the excitement of having him back in my physical life, here’s a list of how (and why) my brother is a bad boy with a good heart. Feel free to take a tip or two.

PS: My brother hates me Facebooking/blogging/posting about him, and he really hates attention. (I know, so unlike me right? They don’t make them any more opposite than this!)

So, for the sake of your entertainment (and I will probably be scolded for this), I hope you like this post!

BAD BOY TIP #1:
Have piercings. On your eyebrow, nose, ears, tongue, or really just anywhere.

GOOD HEART TIP #1:
Don’t be afraid to love and cuddle animals.

BAD BOY TIP #2:
Take up bad habits like clubbing.

GOOD HEART TIP #2:
But you should only really enjoy it when you’re with your sister.

BAD BOY TIP #3:
Make a fuss everytime you have to be seen with your sister. Say that she embarrasses you.

GOOD HEART TIP #3:
But really, you love your sister. Cook for your sister, and do her laundry even.

BAD BOY TIP #4:
Hang out in a wolf pack with the coolest boys.

GOOD HEART TIP #4:
Occasionally allow your sister to borrow your boys for her blog advertorials.

BAD BOY TIP #5:
Always look moody. Even in the presence of stunning scenery.

GOOD HEART TIP #5:
Smile in the presence of special occasions, such as when you come across good coffee or whisky. Especially when you’re with your sister.

BAD BOY TIP #6:
Wrestle with the biggest fishes and win the battle.

GOOD HEART TIP #6:
Eat them for protein. Fish is literally, good for the heart.

BAD BOY TIP #7:
Work out.

GOOD HEART TIP #7:
Put those muscles to good use. Like helping your sister to carry her stuff.

BAD BOY TIP #8:
Look like a bad boy vagabond.

GOOD HEART TIP #8:
Actually is a very decent homely and family boy.

LAST BAD BOY TIP:
Wear a leather jacket, of course.

(Bad boys shop at Zara, apparently.)

Disclaimer: I hope you are mature enough to know that this is just a tongue in cheek post for fun, and not to be taken seriously. Bad boys are only cool if they have a good heart. Stay in school and study hard like my brother does.
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Countdown to the month of his return! *JUNE 2013*

A video of a song I wrote + me singing + playing the piano + talking + making faces

My video entry for Charmaine Yee’s #HotFMDateMeDavid contest. YouTube singing sensation David Choi is in Singapore lah. I’m not so much a singer, nor a sensation, so I decided to hack a new song from the first line of his first song…

PS: This is my FIRST time writing a song. And singing it. And recording it. All at the same time. Don’t laugh all at once!
(I guess Rome was built in a day after all)

OOTD – My everyday Singapore street fashion style

If art is a crime, may God forgive me.

UNICORN SKIRT: Mono, Japan
BASIC SINGLET: Supre, Australia
BAG: Altrose, Japan
CUFFS: Assorted frm Bugis
SHOES: Jimmy Choo
BRIGHT LIPS: Sleek Makeup
HAIR: Hairloom Singapore

#ootd #fashion #art #qotd #sg #iphonesia #instacool #sgig #blogger #sgblogger

OCBC Money Insights advice: E-banking = EASY banking

Read my first post HERE to find out why my handbag has no receipts anymore.

If you don’t want to crowd your handbag with ugly stacks of receipts, or manually track your expenses with excel or an iPhone app, then OCBC’s new Money In$ights banking tool is super valuable. Best of all, it’s free! (But of course.)

<strong>Why is this a good tool? </strong> Probably because it’s the small things that matter. When you add little expenditures together, you might get a shock at how much money has wafted out of your pocket, just like this cartoon guy in the video. (Poor, poor guy. Literally.)

I don’t know about you, but my guilty pleasure is taking taxis. Late here, lazy there. $10 here, $15 there… Before I know it, I have $200 missing from my bank account that month. (Taxis are getting so expensive lah.) There is power in knowing how much you’re spending and how much you’re saving. I don’t know about you, but I feel pretty powerless right now.

What OCBC Money Insights does is keep track of where you’re spending your money, so you can start deciding how to save your money.

You can view your spending by bright and appetizing pie-charts too, if you like that sort of thing.

The data in the system also offers you a median explanation of how other people like you are spending their money. Are they earning more than you? Maybe. Are they saving more than you? Likely.

Don’t cry for me Argentina.

Set individual budgets for each category to help you stay on track with your finances. The system even sends you kind reminders through SMS and email alerts when you’re coming close to blowing the budget.

The full step by step E-BANKING EASY-BANKING guide is available through OCBC’s website.

Ladyxtel, Melissa Celestine and I are all smiles now – knowing how to turn our spendings into savings. If this rich new service and cute pictures doesn’t convince you to become an OCBC customer, I don’t know what will.

I have to figure out which bank gives me maximum return % on my savings, but other than that, I am seriously considering using OCBC now for my personal spending account. What do you think?

Bang for your buck: New banking tool OCBC Money Insights kicks banking butt

There was once in Secondary school (I went to Temasek Sec), my teacher actually put my name into a math question – probably to get my maximum attention. I still got the answer wrong. Nothing has changed and I am still currently quite lousy at math. Let’s test YOURS!

If you have a $5 pizza slice for lunch on Monday, a $9.50 salad from SaladStop on Tuesday, went out for dinner with a friend after work at Sushi Tei which costs $22.30, had more lunches on the rest of the week, went for a few drinks and took a bunch of taxi rides (Robertson Quay and Dempsey Hill isn’t so near an MRT lah), how much would you have spent that week?

Can’t remember?

Multiply that by 4 weeks in a month.

4 x No idea!

At the end of the month, I usually know I spent my money – but I can’t quite remember how I spent it exactly.

OCBC organized a bloggers’ event last week and they completely kicked butt with a categorise-your-receipts-in-the-fastest-amount-of-time game. Boy did I suck at it. I think at the end of 1 minute, I had only managed to sort out 4 out of my 40 or so receipts!

Things were confusing and messy.

If there was an award for the worst performer of the game, I would be presented with it.

Not only was the game difficult, but it was also horrifyingly realistic. In my world, I probably DO receive at least 40 receipts over a period of a month – IF I even collect EVERY receipt from my purchases of the month. Which I usually don’t bother to.

Who wants to walk around with a stack of paper in your wallet or handbag? So unglam, can?

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.If you don’t like carrying around a handbag full of receipts like me, click here to find out how you can get more bang for your buck. (Don’t worry, of course it’s not going to cost you money to save money lah.)

I don’t want this post to be too long, so check out my next blog post for a more detailed look at this new e-banking tool.

Yesterday, I discovered something about my Dad

If you read my blog at all, you would know that my Dad is pretty awesome. (You would know this for sure if you at least followed my Facebook/Instagram!)

Between a busy schedule of attending events, meeting up with friends and business contacts, going for drinks, travelling and editing pictures of myself, I was looking forward to a mid-week movie break with my Dad this week. Oh finally, a much deserved break! If you know anything about my Dad (and you probably don’t), the men in my family are massive DC/Marvel comic fans. One of my cousins has a room glorified dedicated to these colourful action books, and another has a room adorned with affiliated and limited-edition memorabilia.

So of course, we made plans to see the notorious Iron Man 3. Let me point out here that my Dad hates to spend money on anything fun or frivolous. Especially if it’s for himself. He is so incredibly selfless that he would wear the same shirt for 10 years so that me and my brother can have new ones. Half of his shirts are free or torn, and my brother has the nicest computers and the latest technology in our house. Anyway, I celebrated this momentous movie by trawling the internet for discounts on movie tickets.

My hands were jittery and my heart fluttered with excitement at the thought of this long-awaited date with Daddy. I couldn’t wait for the day to come, and it finally came. Being the champion that I am, I fell sick.

“Boohoo, Daddy I think I’m sick. I really want to watch Iron Man 3 with you and your friend, but I can’t last 2 hours in the theatre. I’m going to go back to bed. Are you OK to watch it with your friend?”

“Sure, you better rest.”

“I did all the research for you Daddy. Go to any Shaw theatre, and make sure you use your UOB credit card, NTUC card or Passion card for the cheapest movie rates. The best you can get on a weekday is $7.50. It will be more expensive if you watch in 3D though. I picked all the best timings and locations for you and whatsapped it to you too.”

“Ok thanks, love you, see you later!”

The door slammed on my dreams, but I soon had some of my own. I drifted off into an afternoon slumber.

(The stuff of sweet dreams.)

My Dad came home from the movie as I was pulling myself up from my afternoon siesta.

Rubbing my eyes, I said sleepily, “How was the movie Dad? Was it $7.50 at the places I picked for you?”

“It was good. Me and my friend watched it for $4.50 each. We watched at Filmgarde.”

I jerked straight up, indignant. “$4.50? Cannot be! I checked every single major movie theatre website in Singapore and went through 50 over bloody promotions to get you the best rate. (OK, I didn’t say bloody in front of my Dad but you get my drift.) How could you have gotten such a low rate? Why you watch at Filmgarde?! Got $4.50 meh?”

“Ya. We got the $4.50 senior citizen rate.”

“You’re a SENIOR CITIZEN!?!?!?”

“Haha. Yes dear I am.”

“But how come?! You’re not that old, right? How old are you?”

“58. My friend was over 55 too, categorizing us as Senior Citizens. “

“Good grief.”

I can’t believe it. My strong and awesome father is a senior citizen. Before I know it, we’re all going to be senior citizens too. Let’s all gather at the void deck, complain about the younger generation and their internet, and play chess together.

Here’s a slightly more “senior citizen”-looking photo of us.

#things are not what they used to be