Oh no!  The retailers at the Concourse have been given notice to vacate by February 2008.  The Concourse at Beach Road is a very popular place in Singapore to shop for Christmas decorations, trees, trimmings and party goods. One last Christmas and come 1st March 2008, most of them will relocate their businesses to Tekka Mall and some to ICB Building.  It is so sad, to see a marketplace with such a unique flavor disintegrate after ten years of establishment.  One last Christmas at The Concourse. 

When my daughter asked me to send her to Geylang Lorong 23, I gasped! 
Geylang is a famous red light district in Singapore.  It is definitely not safe for a girl to go there at night.  She reassured me that her project team had done their research, and all 9 of them will take all precautions, stay close together and watch over each other.

For the first time, I come to know about the HighPoint Halfway House and the good work that was done for ex-offenders to help them reintegrate back into society.  Male ex-offenders who have completed their addiction treatment can apply to join a residential rehabilitation program to undergo counseling and on-the-job-training.

As most of the residents were working in the day,  the 3-session workshop was conducted at night. The workshop theme was to help build self esteem.  Not only the residents benefited from this project, I believe these young volunteers also learned a great deal on  teamwork and leadership skills.

My daughter is ready to go to Sweden on Overseas Student Exchange soon. I will feel the emptiness around the house and miss her a lot.

Ironically I encouraged her to go. It is a great opportunity for her to see the world and become really independent living away from home. How exciting! It’s “Hello Mummy, I’m calling from Sweden.”

I should join her at the end of her six month program. She can show me around in Sweden and tour Europe together. I just got to wait for my turn to make travel arrangements. Shop around for airtickets, lodging and find out what I can do with bed and breakfast gift certificate, should we chose to holiday in US instead.

My daughter really wished she could keep a puppy when she was little.  We thought it was too much of a responsibility for her.   So we allowed her to rear small pets like guppies, guinea pigs, hamsters and rabbits.  Even little chicks.  Hah?  Not all at the same time.In fact, we really love dogs.  But not unless we have the time to raise it like our own kid, and lavish it with all our love and attention.  Provide proper training and dog supplies.

So it is also the same wish, that someday, we are ready to keep a Schnauzer as our pet.

Tis’ the Season to be Jolly! Fa la la la, la la, la la.

Ho ho ho, Its Christmas and I bet Santa Claus had a tough time doing his shoppping. 

I had to crack my head over what I should get for my kid, my nieces and nephews.  When they were toddlers, I looked for child safe toys. Then, there was a wave of battery operated mechanical toys and Barbie dolls.  And later we have to shop for toys to stimulate the development of these young minds.

As my child grew up, I don’t need to crack my head, just crack the budget. Hints will be dropped and she waits for her wishes to come true. Something like, Mummy, xbox 360  is fantastic.

The rest of you, just email your wish list, Santa Claus is glad he can do online shopping.

My siblings and I grew up together in a shophouse just above a furniture maker. Those were the days when our parents were too busy with their work to look after us. So, we took care of each other playing together in the neighbourhood. We loved to visit the furniture maker’s workshop. There long benches, wrenches, saws, wood planks, half finished furniture around place.

The smell of wood, varnish and glue filled the air! The unmistakeable smell which we were so accustomed to. I can still remember that pot of glue which was always set on a glowing stove. Innocent as we were, once in a while we would playfully stir it and use the glue to stick things together. The craftsmen were nice as though it didn’t bothered them.

When I entered high school, we moved to a new neighbourhood. The air was ooh! So refreshing. Thinking back.. Why? What dreadful stuff we have been sniffing everyday!
Help, rehabs! I really believed that kind of air pollution has made us dull in our early years of development. In contrast, my four younger siblings were much brighter students than my eldest sister and I.

I have always been plagued by sensitive and blotchy skin.  I thought it is homonal imbalance which will adjust itself when I get older.  I got older, much older, then older. What the heck, my skin just don’t get any better.

So I just stick to my skin care routine to control the flare ups.  Faithfully, I would use my cleanser, toner, moisturer, facials and the works.  Even stopped using makeup which could be the likely cause.  When that didn’t work, I tried a different brand of skin care. Noticeably, a very marked improvement followed.  But the problem returned in less than a year. It was so ridiculous.  I have to rotate different brands.  If I am lucky, some lasted longer.

What now?  Next month, my karaoke class is holding a mini graduation concert.  My teacher, who is a very enthusiastic trainer, wants the whole class to put up its best performance for a DVD video shoot. Huh?  Oh me, oh my! No makeup?  My friend was so spontaneous at reminding me to put on makeup for the show.  Yea, maybe I need Jane Iredale.

Traffic Mastery is a totally whole new Concept of Marketing to me.  I was quite relieved when the complexity was all explained in simple terms by the Trainer at a recent workshop.  And nothing beats the hands-on-training and mentoring dished out to all participants.

Two months have passed, after a 3-day workshop and 3 reviews, and I begin to see the fruits of my labor.  I am still very thrilled to find Alvin and his team so committed in imparting all their knowledge to help the students set up their blogs and make money through Internet Marketing.  I am very sure that at the end of 6 months of mentorship, I will be getting more than my financial outlay and expectation.  Most of all, it was such a valuable learning experience.  With mentoring, I was put on a fast track.  I need not follow the path of many who did a full circle before succeeding to go this far.

My Marketing Goals are becoming more realistic.  I have a product to sell and now somebody is looking at it!  At this moment, even though Success cannot be measured solely in absolute terms of time and money, it would be interesting to find an alternative benchmark somewhere.  I came across something interesting.  Here is the link.  Check it out at  ==>  “What is the Value of Your Website“.  Just have some fun and go for a free valuation.  My new blog is worth US$210.  What is yours?
Make it grow.