Shakespeare in the Park – Twelfth Night
Part of the Audi Classics 2012
Presented by Transtec
Produced by Singapore Repertory Theatre
25 Apr – 20 May 2012
Fort Canning Park

With an entrance that enchants, Shakespeare In The Park by the Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) already had a perfect set up for romance. Aside from romance the timing was also spot on – We were watching the very last night of Twelfth Night, as I had heard whispers about this “rambunctious romantic comedy” and rushed in a few from my troops to get together with some food and for some laughter.

We got in quite quickly through the fast moving queue, hurrying through to fight for a good picnic place near the stage. Couples were cosying up and making out everywhere, but the group of us were undeterred as we plonked our picnic baskets down right next to them.

“Excuse us.”

Victory! We had awkwardly weaved through the web of PDA and now we weren’t too far from the theatre’s stage.

We staked our spot on a still-sunny patch of grass, laid out a massive blanket and kicked our shoes off. I made some introductions and conversations started around me in scatters, and I sat down with a smile. My insides sheened with slight pride as I looked at the beginning blossoms of the outing I had organized. Silently, I took a back seat to take in the brilliantly designed set and fortunate perfect weather.

The stage, in all of it’s grand glory, twinkled in the setting sun and we gushed with an ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ at the shore, ship and a bar – all so realistic that we were tempted to walk up and try to get a drink.

Guess we have to make do with our own… Hitesh cracked open a can of beer and the girls poured out some wine. Some of us checked out what was on the DIY menu:
Fajitas, pasta funghi, sushi, salads, fried chicken, Korean food, sandwiches, strawberries, champagne, cookies, snacks

We take our picnics very seriously…
We also brought enough food for 15 people and chips for an entire army!

The lights went off and the characters burst on. It was showtime. Throughout it all, I felt that there was not enough of Duke Orsino but that is merely the biased opinion of a hungry female hoping for more Shane eye candy. Lady Olivia looked stunning from afar, her clothes not only draped her but made her and I especially couldn’t stop thinking about the one purple dress she wore a lot in the later half of the scenes. Her father, the drunk, behaved a very good drunk.

Pictures or recording during the show were not allowed – the above were taken from already publicized photo footage.

Besides a slight noise from a nearby concert (live show at Timbre) and a more than slight disconnection with old school literature, we otherwise enjoyed the Shakespeare in the Park experience. Even an ex-literature student like me had forgotten most of the plot and our group heavily relied on our smart phone’s Google to keep up with the story of Twelfth Night. I love plays and musicals but a monthly dose of Shakespearean language might be a bit too much for those who only know of the phrase, “to be or not to be?”.

What really saved the Shakespeare in our opinion was the standout performance by Fester ‘the fool’ – his silly antics and undisputed humor added a sharp and somewhat local touch to the otherwise Old English evening.

For 2.5 hours, I was definitely happy to be lost at sea in balmy and green Fort Canning.
All in all, this would be a great outing for students, romantics, Shakespeare fans and expats looking for something fresh to do. Did you know in 200++ Shakespeare in the Park nights, it has not rained once?!

Twelfth Night under/with the stars featured…
Cast: Jon Cancio, Daniel Jenkins, Keagan Kang, Gavin Low, Shane Mardjuki, Neil McCaul,Adrian Pang, Seong Hui Xuan, Rebecca Spykerman, Tan Shou Chen, Andy Tear and Vicky Williamson.

Creative…
Director: Bruce Guthrie
Production Designer: Robin Don
Lighting Designer: Rick Fisher
Sound Designer: Mike Walker
Composer and Music Arranger: Ruth Ling
Choreographer: Filomar Tariao
Projection Designer: Andrzej Goulding
Hair Designer: Ashley Lim

I interviewed our troop for a short review of what we liked. The answer was obvious – Adrian Pang and the crazy yellow stockings!

Hong Kong’s event:

The Singapore event:
Jayley and Hayley the cutest twin bloggers/sisters (and future Singaporean sensations) trying on the products.

My favourite beauty bloggers Sarah Chaudhry and Sophie Wales were also spotted.

Up and coming singer Cheryl Wee took some time out of promoting her first album to… promote her first album at the event! Double fun for us, I would say


I’ve been following Jeanine’s blog Bamboopandalove for a while and decided to invite her along to the partay. It was the first time we’ve met!

Drinking fruity cocktails, munching on tasty truffle fries and other snacks, playing with new and improved beauty products while snapping pictures galore at one of the nicest rooftop bars in Singapore sounded like not too shabby a way to spend a weekday evening.

My take on the CC Cream and CC Powder – new packaging, enhanced formula:

I usually am not a huge fan of the BB Cream, but the CC Cream boasts premium multi-tasking qualities that anti-aging, brightening, moisturizing, waterproof, collagen enriched, and most importantly for me, non-comedogenic (meaning that it won’t block the pores in my acne-prone skin). Both are made in Korea.

Personally, I like the smaller travel-friendly size and have been using it a lot on the go. Now with a choice between 2 CC Creams, I found that the pink tube (“Neutral”) suited my skin tone better than the CC cream in the black tube (“Original”).

Don’t break the beauty rules – using the wrong BB cream or CC cream can sometimes make your face too whitish. I find that most BB creams don’t suit my slightly tanner skin, and so now with the promises of the pink tube (CC Cream for users with yellow undertones on their skin), I can bake in the sun and get my tan on without looking stupid with a pale face.

Don’t break the bank – Selling for $29.90, it also doesn’t cost much. I’ve been using this for a month now and I’m pretty happy with it! I especially like the compact, it takes me 5 seconds to pat on the pressed powder before a day till night of work.

Besides being endorsed by a bunch of celebrities and beauty queens, I was drawn more to the fact that this product applies 10 BENEFITS with ONE CC cream formula.

10 benefits!!?!! Here is what they say about Rachel K CC Cream and Pressed Powder products.

1. INSTANTLY BRIGHTENS
(Yeah, not bad.)

2. PROMOTES FAIRNESS
(Don’t really try very hard to be fair, so I haven’t noticed this.)
3. SPF 35 PA++
(I’m in the sun a lot so thank God for SPF protection!)

4. CONTROLS SHINE
(I have combination skin and an oily face. Maybe I have an oily personality.)
5. HYDRATES
(I can feel that my skin is quite hydrated with use of this.)

6. MATTIFIES
7. EVENS SKIN TONES
8. CONCEAL YOUR FLAWS

9. LONG LASTING
(Tried and tested… Lasts all night! I mean morning. I mean night!)

10. WATERPROOF
(Got to always be prepared for rainy or wet circumstances!)

The new and improved CC cream is now available and selling exclusively at selected Watsons around Singapore for $29.90 each.

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Try it for yourself! I have 3 Rachel K goodie bags to giveaway, each filled with not one but TWO of these improved CC creams (black tube and pink tube). The choice is yours.

CC CREAM CONTEST GIVEAWAY: Answer this question – which country is the CC Cream made in?

Post your ANSWER on the Rachel K Cosmetics Facebook Page HERE, with a LINK to this post by FRIDAY 1ST JUNE, and I will pick 3 winners from the wall posts on the RK FB page.

Go on… spill the beauty queens’ makeup secrets!

One day I decided to quit.
I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality.
I wanted to quit my life.
I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.

‘God’, I asked, ‘Can you give me one good reason not to quit?’
His answer surprised me…
‘Look around’, He said. ‘Do you see the fern and the bamboo?’
‘Yes’, I replied.
‘When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds,
I took very good care of them.
I gave them light.
I gave them water.
The fern quickly grew from the earth.
Its brilliant green covered the floor.
Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed.
But I did not quit on the bamboo.

In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful.
And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed.
But I did not quit on the bamboo’, He said.

‘In year three, there was still nothing from the bamboo seed.
But I would not quit.

In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed.
I WOULD NOT QUIT.’ He said.

‘Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern, it was seemingly small and insignificant…

But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall.
It had spent the five years growing roots.
Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive.
‘I WOULD NOT GIVE ANY OF MY CREATIONS A CHALLENGE THAT IT COULD NOT HANDLE.’

He asked me.
‘Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots’.

‘I would not quit on the bamboo.
I will never quit on you.
Don’t compare yourself to others.’
He said.

‘The bamboo had a different Purpose than the fern.
Yet they both make the forest beautiful.’
‘Your time will come’,
God said to me.
‘You will rise high.’

‘How high should I rise?’ I asked.
‘How high will the bamboo rise?’ He asked in return.
‘As high as it can?’ I questioned.
‘Yes.’
He said,
‘Give me glory by rising as high as you can.’

I left the forest and brought back this story.
I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on you.

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP ON YOURSELF.

Prayer is not an option but an opportunity -
Don’t tell the Lord how big the problem is,
tell the problem how Great the Lord is!

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…Is my Mom trying to tell me that I’m a bamboo????

I’ve been hearing Gotye’s “Somebody that I used to know” song everywhere, and most of them have been parodies or very varied versions of the original. Here are some that I dig!

WalkOffTheEarth’s famous 5-people-play-a-guitar version:

A parody of this parody by the awesome The Key Of Awesome:

Oldies can do goldies. They are also a pretty powerful choir in the Netherlands.

My absolute favourite one… Arty farty, mustache madness! The man in the middle is so smooth.

And if you don’t know the song, here’s the original. It’s really like a musical conversation.

*****

Do you like this song?

Has the universe exploded with all these parallels yet?

Is my favourite video YOUR favourite video too?

“My mom is awesome.

She always makes me these amazing 2 dinners – rice and soup, soup and rice.

She also gives me strange advice. Like, “you better close your window ah! If not the construction worker will climb in through the window.”

?!!?!??!?!

I love you Mom, through soup and rice, and your strange advice.”

Does your Mom give you soup and rice, and strange advice too? Mine does..
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Happy Mother’s Day! Here is some SKii to repair all the signs of stress that we rascals have caused you.

5 Facts and Feelings about my Mom:
- Will yell at you one day and love you all the same the next
- Tells you to get off the computer/Facebook and go out. Complains that you go out all the time.
- Worries herself to a sicker point than you are when you fall sick
- Has a contagious laugh
- Incredibly compassionate and sometimes superhuman

I love you Mom!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mummies out there! What’s your Mom like?

Just because you see me in a club, doesn’t mean all I want to do in life is party.

Just because you don’t see the work I do, doesn’t mean I don’t work hard.

Just because you don’t support what I do, doesn’t mean I’m stupid.

Just because you don’t know if I’m right, doesn’t mean I’m wrong.

This may not be a very Christian post (for starters, at the start, there is some swearing) so I apologize. But sometimes, I really hate people.

Sometimes, I really hate this world.

Dear God, why did you put me here?

From Asia, to the Amazon…
You, lil brother, are a wild one!

My brother Thaddy lives in London, and I am broke. So I decided the best b-day present would be to collect wishes from friends and family all over the world, and send it to him online. Everybody wins!
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Happy birthday from all of us in Singapore, New York, Vancouver, Australia!

With love, to London.

Tech notes: I haven’t made my own videos in a year and I did this in one day+night with iMovie ’11. I used the new “iMovie movie trailer” feature as a base template to start making my video, converted it into a “project”, and then cut out+added in more clips as I desired. (The iMovie templates do not seem to permit much edits, hence I prefer the flexibility when you convert it into a “project”.) Thanks to this site for helping to explain it.
It was pleasantly simple… Try it at home!

… But as we promised, here’s some silly stuff we did while filming it. Did we make a good team?

Dawn and I wore matching purple outfits… I am like the yin to her yang.

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This short bloopers video was made as a massive THANK YOU to everyone who helped vote for us during the competition. We really really love you!

Credit and big ups to MinistryOfFunny for supporting us with this creative collaboration!
Facebook page here. Other funny videos on their YouTube Channel here.

The main competition activity – Present and review 5 different pictures of a hotel, on the spot. Personality optional!
Words and phrases Dawn and I used that day – “luxe”, “disco”, “Moroccan”, “I feel like I’m in Dubai”, “almost infinity”, “what is up with the tyres? Is it a slide, or art?”

Competition filming and flirting:

Congrats to Kelly Latimer and Adam Osman for winning the competition. They sounded (and looked) like professionals to begin with! Guess we didn’t really stand a chance with the stiff competition.

Thank you Asiarooms, for the chance to be a top 10 finalist in their search for the next Social Travel Star. I think Dawn and I would make great social travel stars, but it was greater that we got to make the journey with new friends who had similar passions. May the force be with us next time!

My favourite duo/new friends – Andrea and Jemimah

Before you book your next holiday destination, check Asiarooms to see if you can get any deals on your favourite hotel rooms.

Here’s another TRAVEL TIP!
When travelling, pack all your clothes and your money.
Then, take half the clothes
And twice the money.

Till my next adventure….
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If you don’t know what this is all about, check out my blog post with memes explaining the competition:
Have you seen my Hotel 81 video with Dawn Yang yet?

My friends snort and dismiss any possibility of being depressed if I tell them I had a tough week; and when I say I’ve hit rock bottom, they say I should get over it.

People assume you have no problems if you don’t write about any, that you don’t have a care or responsibility in the world if you don’t Tweet it or have pictures to prove it.

How one sided social media can be.

Have you ever felt that way? That sometimes the sunshine is stolen from your day?

I just want to clarify and confess that as much as I can try, I’m not perfect and I indeed have more than my fair share of frequent pressures. The reason why you probably don’t hear about any of them is because I try not to bother my friends with my complaints, and I try to stay away from sharing it on social media. Everytime I’m frustrated, I pick up the phone and call my parents and unto my God, instead of logging onto Facebook.

Social media can be one-sided, but God is on our side.

Prayer solves more than Facebook statuses could, and the weak is made strong in my Saviour’s love.

Everyday I have to remember that I’ve been rescued and set free, and if there’s no other reason to be happy, then the least I have is this – Which is bigger than anything I can ask for.

Feelings change. But situations don’t.

So I sit down, take a deep breath, say a prayer, stand up and carry on. And through this, I’ve learnt to find happiness in my unhappiness.

Try it this week! Remember, if u have any problems, go to God and your family – not to Facebook.