Guess who are my favourite men this Movember? Please help me to check out these 10 cuties and decide who I should pick!

Did you know?? The M word stands for many delicious, wonderful things.

Muscle.

Macoroni.

MacDonalds.

Maldives.

Men.

And this month, what ‘M’ means to me is – Movember.

(And again, MEN.)

Quite honestly, a MUSTACHE on a man isn’t as much of a turn on for me as MUSCLES, but my heart goes out to all the good guys out there who are growing a Mo’ this November (= MOvember) for a good cause.

About Movember:
Men all around the world are invited this month to participate in a Movember campaign, where they (try) to grow mustaches with the aim of raising vital funds and awareness for men’s health issues. Movember moustaches were first grown in Australia back in 2003 (I remember actually remember this from when I was in college!) but now it is a global trend. In Singapore, all proceeds that you donate to a Mo Bro go to the Singapore Cancer Society.

I love to support a good cause, and so here are 10 of my fave Mustachy men around Asia, from my Facebook account. These cool dudes are growing a Mo specially to raise funds through their pages on Singapore’s MOvember website. The only problem is that I can’t pick my favourite!?

***Please tell me which one is YOUR favourite (leave your vote in the comment box below), and the first Mo Bro to get 10 supporters will “win”. By win, I mean win my love. By win my love, I mean that I will donate $50 of my own money to his pledge.***

Let the MO SHOW begin!

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Michael Gooch – Ah, Goochy gooch! He’s already received SGD $1,415 in donations and is at present, ranked #60 among thousands of other Mustachy men based in Singapore. What a popular guy!

MICHAEL’S MOTIVATION
“To raise money for anyone I know who has been affected by cancer.”

Donate to MICHAEL GOOCH on his MOspace here!

Maxime Lenik – Most memorable for his charm in the August Man 2012 competition, and making memories as a DJ at Avalon and other clubs. He’s a producer and host at the same time, and also half French half Vietnamese.

MAXIME’S MOTIVATION
“Last year I almost lost my fatherto prostate cancer. He was lucky to survive as for many men, it’s usually too late… This year, I’m starting the fight. Join my battle and help me promote awareness and raise money.”

Donate to MAXIME LENIK on his MOspace here!

Julien Gattaciecca – Julien is a friend who lives and works in HK, and is taking part in the HK edition of Movember. He is also captain of his own Mo Bro team, SunriseMoBros. See you at ZoukOut, Julien!

JULIEN’S MOTIVATION
“is to change the face of men’s health.”

Donate to JULIEN GATTACIECCA on his MOspace here!

Mark Tay – Vote for him not only because he’s one of the coolest guys I know out and about Singapore, but being the Editor for Esquire Singapore, he’s responsible for the funny things you’ll read in that men’s magazine. It also tickles me slightly to see a Singaporean grow a mustache, maybe I’m not really used to it! He says something similar in his MOspace bio.

MARK’S MOTIVATION
“Because we at Esquire Singapore believe in real men talking about real issues in men’s health and nothing starts a conversation quite as effectively as an Asian brother attempting to grow some facial fuzz.”

Donate to MARK TAY on his MOspace here!

Josiah Mizukami – This guy works hard and parties hard! We’ve gone for some really fun parties in KL. Josiah is an actor based in KL, but you can occasionally catch him in Singapore… when DIVA Universal screens the sexy show ‘Hot Guys Who Cook’. Smokin’! I can’t seem to find an official MOvember page or MOspace, so I’ll just cut and paste what he wrote on his Facebook profile.

JOSIAH SAYS
“I’m doing my part for Esquire Malaysia’s Movember charity drive, the global initiative that sees men grow moustaches for male cancer research. Have some fun and grow your facial hair for a good cause and contribute the most to the National Cancer Society Malaysia’s Male Cancer Prevention Project throughout November through pledges (ask friends and family to contribute as you grow your hair all this month).”

Donate to JOSIAH MIZUKAMI somehow… through this link here!

Michael Martin – Michael lives in Melbourne, where we went to school together. Since then we have both grown up, but not too much apart! In his spare time, he does fun things like ice climbing and chewing on brown paper.

MICHAEL’S MOTIVATION
“To change the face of men’s health.”

Donate to MICHAEL MARTIN on his MOspace here!

Matt Brady – Banker with a big smile, big heart, and all round nice guy. He must have other banker friends too, because he’s already ranked #25 highest in Singapore with SGD $2,467 of donations collected! Oh crap! PS: A close friend of mine with a sharp British accent.

MATT’S MOTIVATION
“To see how good I really look with a tash……and to raise money for charity, of course!”

Donate to MATT BRADY on his MOspace here!

Simon Barnett – Very respected for his effective skills in the online advertising world, this is one smart (and also single!) guy. A real softie on the inside, with a gingery tasche on the outside.

SIMON’S MOTIVATION
“is to create awareness about Man’s cancers and get us men more in tune with our health. You never know, this can affect any of us guys.”

Donate to SIMON BARNETT on his MOspace here!

Ken Yuktasevi – OK, this one is a little different. He’s a church friend of mine and everyone knows him as one of the funniest guys… ever! He’s a lot of fun and he’s doing things the other way around. He has had a mustache and a goatee for a long time, and promises to shave it all off and post pictures on his Facebook event page called The Bald Faced Monkey, if he can raise at least $250.

The proceeds go to FLUK FLUK RUN PROJECT which supports:

1. Water : FRANK WATER
2. Education : BAREFOOT COLLEGE
3. Play : TOYBANK
4. Nature : THE ELEPHANT CORRIDOR

Click the link above to donate! He and his friends hope to hit SGD$35,000 by January 2013. How can you not want to help? What’s wrong with you, don’t you want to see a bald faced monkey?

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Last year, I threw a small mini-mustasche dinner party at home for MOvember –

I bought mini-mustaches for all the girls, since we can’t grow a real one.

***SO QUICK! Help to leave a comment below mentioning your favourite MO BRO (please pick one of the above), by Friday 30 November 2012. The first man who hits 10 comments mentioning his name, will get a $50 donation from me instantly.***

Stay strong, and stay healthy!

How much do you love your boobs? (This one is for the ladies)

Since secondary school, I’ve been told many times that I’ve been quite genetically blessed with natural B-cups (but when I eat too much fried chicken or hokkien mee, they sometimes go up to a C-cup.)

(“How is that possible?!” “It just happens, don’t ask me!”)

I’m pretty content with what I have, and most women cherish their bosoms… THIS MUCH. Possibly even more.

A female’s chest is often directly tied to her opinion of her own body image and self esteem. It is one of her most significant signs of femininity, and as important as it is to you and me, imagine if someone had theirs taken away from them with cancer?

“Your mammogram is suspicious for breast cancer.” These are probably the most terrifying words one could ever hear from a doctor, and closing my eyes for a minute, I imagined these words were said to me. I thought of death, hospitals, chemo, multiple steps and money spent for recovery, surgery, and friends and family crying over me. My life would never be the same again.

I have a family friend who just got diagnosed with breast cancer last month. She is a super sweet 20-something year old, is one of the most beautiful girls I know (half-Japanese), comes from a great family and was studying medicine in a top University. She was one of those perfect-kids that everyone wanted to be (or have), and she had everything going for her in life. From what I had been told, she noticed a small lump near her chest one day and upon getting it checked out, the doctor broke the terrible news that it was already breast cancer at stage 3.

Everyone is devastated and her life is completely upside down. She is my inspiration, and as hard as her situation is, when I check on her Facebook profile from time to time, she seems to be staying so incredibly strong. We are praying for her everyday. She has done NOTHING to deserve such a situation, but cancer is something that just happens. Something that could happen to even to the best or the most beautiful – much worse when it is to the young and the innocent.

I would never wish for something like this to happen to you and me, or even to my worst enemy.

Breast cancer symptoms vary widely, and can include dimpling, puckering, bulging of the skin, a change in the nipple position, redness, a rash, or swelling. Some breast cancers have no obvious symptoms at all.

Picture credit from Health Library’s Symptoms of Inflammatory Breast Cancer

If you’re a woman, it doesn’t matter how old or young you are – knowing what to look out for can change the outcome of any diagnosis, treatment and survival rates.

I encourage you to do your own self-examination once monthly, and come down for this Saturday’s event PULLING FOR A CAUSE, in honour of Breast Cancer Awareness. On 6th Oct this Saturday, Rupini’s will offer free eye-brow shaping/threading all day at *Scape Playspace on Orchard Road from 10AM till 6PM. In return, do give a donation (of any amount) to the Singapore Cancer Society.

Participants will walk away with a goodie bag, a certificate of gratitude and a voucher for a subsidized mammogram at their nearest polyclinic.

This will be a celebration of strength and sisterhood. Expect to join in this good cause along with food, drinks, dancing and an amazing show with guest performances by Sylvester Sim and Jill-Marie Thomas. Celebrity ambassadors Paul Foster, Bobby Tonelli, Keegan Kang, Linda Black, Oli Pettigrew, Kumar, Anita Kapoor and more will be there to “pull for the cause” too. More details are on the Pulling for a Cause Facebook Page.

Hope you will make it down to support the cause, and it’s survivors and sufferers – because after all, how much do you love your boobs?

Posted in support of Pulling for a Cause, brought to you by Insurgence, Rupini’s and Singapore Cancer Society

New Year, New Adventures

2011 has passed, but that’s no reason for me to stop thinking about it. As always, I’ve had an adventure of a year and I hope all of you have had some sort of adventure too.

Life is full of infinite experiences, and so mine will last a lifetime. In no particular order at all, here are 12 adventures in 2011 that I’ve learnt from or loved.

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#12 TAIWAN

I was invited on an all-boy’s trip to Taiwan with some old friends that I went to school with. Although I didn’t get to do much girly things (like shopping), we went hiking, running and roadtrippin’ through Taroko Gorge and breathed in the scenic air of stunning Shakadang Trail – which was so much better!

Found an amazing spot somewhere, don’t think we were allowed to swim in it… but boys will be boys, and so we did.

My Taiwanese friend claimed that it wasn’t dangerous, it’s just that most locals don’t know how to swim?!

Taking rocky risks in Taiwan

Had such a great time in Taiwan that I went back to Taipei a few months later for a party trip. It was a good friend Adam’s birthday, and a bunch of us flew up from all around the world to celebrate it with him.

I strolled the sights, checked out #Marquee, #Spark101 and #Primo, but mostly spent time with some people. I especially remember my friend’s birthday dinner where we downed goose meat and Taiwanese pi jiu at a loudy ‘n’ rowdy local joint.

I also loved Taiwanese bubble tea and learnt that dogs like Glowy were allowed (welcome) on tabletops.

#11 HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

Baring my sole and my soul for Habitat for Humanity was not enough, but it was a start. I love charity events so dragging along family and friends to do this with me was definitely a memorable stripe in my year.

#10 KIDS

Volunteered to teach 5 & 6 year-old kids as many Saturdays as I could, and quickly gained respect for teachers and mothers. Teaching them to spell and sing in between a bit of storytelling is probably some of the most tiring afternoons I’ve ever had. And I would do it all over again.

#9 SKIN AND SUN

Went a bit far with a plan to get my skin fair, but it fast failed. I always find it hard to resist a bit of warm Sunday sun at #TanjongBeachClub.

Sun tanners VS stunners at Tanjong Beach Club

#8 KEIRA-ROSE ASAD

Got to spend a bit of time with my Chindian (Indian-Chinese) niece, Keira. She is the prettiest grump in the world!

#7 EUROPE

Backpacked through bits and pieces of Europe… #Eurotrip
Braved the cold and some bad luck in Switzerland. #keepsmiling

Made friends of all cultures for coffee and conversations… It doesn’t matter what colour skin we are – if you’re a girl, you probably have had boy problems.

#6 COUNTLESS ACTIVITIES IN MY COUNTRY

When I’m not travelling (i.e. broke), I love having friends and foreigners visit me so I can show off my country. One of my best friends came to visit me from Sydney but since we’ve done everything touristy, we went to East Coast Park for a bit of double-trouble biking.

If you don’t pedal in perfect sync, the chain on the gears tend to become misplaced. Those double bikes are not so easy breezy!

More posts on things to do in Singapore on my blog and to come.

#5 HORIZON 7

Better than biking, was boating around Singapore for my birthday.

#4 PLAY HARD, ONLY IF YOU WORK HARD

Many people find it hard to believe, but yes I have (and always have had) a full-time job. I work hard, but it’s easy when you love the team you work for/with.

Working across timezones completely possible.

2 week business trip to the US

But we went to the beach too.

Ending my tenure in my last job, I took a month to sip the finer things in life in Spain, Barcelona…

Salud! ("Cheers" in Spanish)

Sauntered through the Room of Maps in Rome, Italy…

… And sat slowly and coldly on the top of the Swiss Alps.

#3 FAMILY MATTERS

I watched the Pettigrews be good parents,

#2 MY BROTHER

… And my brother lovingly do my laundry in London.

#1 REAL LOVE

Being single for more than 2 years can sometimes suck, but I learnt that the never-ending love adventure with God and my family is more than enough.

The introduction screen from a Christian seminar on Singlehood I attended... apt.

Love from Jesus and his kids at my weekly Tuesday Group

Unconditional love to my parents, because they loved me first.

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What was YOUR favourite adventure of 2011 and what do you wish for in 2012? Please share them with me, I’d love to hear them and I promise not to laugh (out loud).

You can watch the recording of my New Year wishes for 2011-2012 to Singapore which was played to the public during the Marina Bay Countdown celebration. (My part is at Clip 4 and after the first 6 minutes.)

I can’t wait to share my next (and last) post on the #MarinaBay2012 NYE countdown with you! (Fireworks included.) In the meantime, here’s to moving forward and soaring higher this new year!