pause. & serendipity.

Sunday’s List

lavendermirage — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 11:01:02 +0000

I love Sundays even though Monday is always just a few hours away. Every Sunday, I will feel a pang of longing like how I wish I have finished that book; how I wish I have edited those photos and the list is always the same. The same list in my mind keeps playing and playing over and over again.

Yet I have never regretted how I spent my Sundays; whether it was roaming in the exhibition with my fellow art-loving friend, or whether it was spending the entire day in a cafe, sketching our future, talking about what-ifs with my friends, encouraging one another to bring the feeling of unabashed, almost impulsive verve that we developed in unfamiliar environments back into our comfort zone.

“Bring the exchange attitude back!” I chimed.

We laughed. That is the way to live; to be fearless and sure even if we are surrounded by uncertainties. I knew it wasn’t a mistake because an exchange friend whom I met because I bravely went along for a trip with a group of familiar strangers liked my post on Facebook.

She must have felt the same too.

The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become./blockquote>
– Charles du Bos

The Waitress

lavendermirage — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 13:19:45 +0000

Perhaps it is time for a change. I have a new toy. Its back has been engraved with my favourite words still ringing with sheer truth even though they have been quoted by me ever since my live journal days.

It is a hope-and-a-half:
Too much and too little at once.

Rilke is one of my favourite poets. I have been introduced to him by a teacher in the choral scene. The poem, ‘The Wait’ was then used as a prologue to a short film that I wrote and co-produced with a group of friends. It made several appearances in my blogs – a familiar stranger that seems to sum up the resignation perfectly after an episode of disappointment and make up an excuse for the state of limbo one lapses into now and then. I smiled when my dear friends found solace in these words that spell really nothing but ambivalence. S momo quoted once before in her blog and J momo has it plastered as a facade on her blog and have a tumblr that is named after one of the lines in the poem. Named after. I’m really worshipping this, am I not?

I wonder whether it has slowly defined me – the Waitress.

Living under a Rock.

lavendermirage — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 20:34:51 +0000

How long have I not updated this space of mine! Has my already puny brain gone stale?

I found this extremely true about my predicament now:

Knowing where to find out stuff is key. However much time pressure is brought to bear on your working day, you should always make time to feed your heads.

When I was a student (f, I miss school), I was able to leech onto the entire community of ideas and nonsense (nonsense are the chrysalis of great ideas) and be inspired by that. I have brilliant friends. I have great professors. I read voraciously. So I told my friend who has the same aspirations as me that no, we can’t fall into the trap of just making things done, although it is primarily our job to do so. We need to make time to discover and to mine for things to ponder over. We need to keep writing. I need to keep writing.

I was catching up with the rest of the outside world tonight; virtually. I love lazy Saturday nights. I was kind of glad that I did not make the decision to plod out of house to Zouk. A glass of great wine, my laptop, a notebook and a pen makes the night.

And tonight, Jonathan’s Card caught my attention. I have been fascinated with the “Gifting Galore” ever since reading it on trend-watching. I’ll love for a brand to help facilitate gift-giving in a non-stand-offish way. Jonathan’s Card takes it to another level – it is a test for our altruistic nature. Sam Odio challenged it ( (Labelling it as “Yuppies buying each other coffee” is an overt underestimation of this experiment) and then the experiment was called off.

Jonathan Stark said, “So, tonight we lose our barcode. But of course, we never needed it in the first place.”

I don’t know, but I am somehow skeptical. We don’t need it for sure, for the world to go on. At a scan, the barcode offers convenience for us to do good and be good. Step out of the subway station, pop by Starbucks joint, and scan. It has become… social currency.

Energy.

lavendermirage — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 15:42:29 +0000

It is a little worrying that friends around me are getting tired very easily.

“Not everyone has so much energy like you, ok!” my friend retorted when I was throwing ideas about what we could do.

Is that what we’re all going to be?

What has happened to dreams and ideals and fun?

lavendermirage — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 18:10:07 +0000

‎”Become like a sheet of blotting paper and soak it all in. Later on you can figure out what to keep and what to unload.” — Haruki Murakami

That is the state of my what-used-to-be blank canvas.

Utterly soaked and inundated with again, many questions and uncertainties and the ever-compounding “what-ifs”. I always thought it will be a nice picture, at the very least, but now I realise it is never going to be this way, which is good, because when it has been reduced to that state, even if it exists in that figment of your imagination, you will stop pushing; stop learning and just stop.

Nevertheless I dream of my next holiday destination. The last one in Bali was not that bad.

Bali with Cais and the gang

I still wish I can spend more time in cafes, dreaming, chatting and people-watching.

: My feeble attempt at food photography

Catching up with Globetrotter before she zips away to another faraway land

Or holding birthday surprise parties for people who matter.

greengirl's 23rd birthday. she felt like a princess

FRANKLY speaking…

lavendermirage — Tue, 31 May 2011 16:47:08 +0000

not too long ago, a friend of mine mentioned that only the older generation uses OCBC cards. I didn’t know there was such a perception. Well, even if there was, I think OCBC would have managed to quash that perception with FRANK.

Gen-Y has baffled not only parents, educators, employers but also marketers. We’re a whole new ball game to them. I’ve been asked several times what I think of this generation during interviews. They are not identical though across geographical borders. Subtle differences exist. Maybe we shall explore that, another day?

The brand strategy behind this is indeed very solid, backed up with crowdsourcing and in-depth groundwork. The way the strategy has been executed, be it through the 100 card designs and the interactive retail store concept is very strongly tied to its brand values – honest, sincere
reliable, smart and stylish. I have been wondering why the branch in SMU was suddenly closed for renovation. It was completely boarded up, so no one could tell what was going on.

I like how OCBC has launched a sub-brand just for us, the Gen-Y. Yes, we like to feel special.

I like how the cards were displayed so tantalizingly – the conventional routine that you have to do for your banking needs have been transformed into a retail experience.

The only issue I have is that I think the images used for the print advertisements could really be edgier. They remind me of advertisements from this particular telecommunications company.

FRANKly, this is a good piece of work.

lavendermirage — Wed, 11 May 2011 17:23:43 +0000

I last blogged on April 14. How is that even possible? Nothing much has happened except that I came back from Bali with many scars (damn those mosquitos and bugs!) I have also found myself more connected to the Singapore politics than some of my Singaporean friends (I think acting in Animal Farm plays a huge role in my political awakening) and at times, when caught in the feverish enthusiasm, I will pause and wonder, why do I even care?

I am not Singaporean!

Well, I once naively believed the fairytale and defended the system. I remember the astonishment my American roommate had towards how our political system works. She came home from one of her law classes and asked me, “My professor said that human rights are lacking in Singapore… You said Singapore is a cosmopolitan city. How do you reconcile that? I don’t know Singapore very well. Can you tell me more please?”

“Er… I think our ruling party will probably not change in another 50 years.”

“What?!?!”

I randomly plucked out an arbitrary number and found myself stuttering.

I thought then, how am I going to put this across without sounding like we are oppressed beings.

Early and possibly long day tomorrow. Here is a beautiful picture to end the night.

Beautiful, wintery bokeh by Jackie Rueda.

I want to know your writing style

lavendermirage — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:34:32 +0000

Read a great blog just now. I’m glad I have many friends around me brandishing that mighty sword. Each of them has his or her own unique style that I admire.

I was recently asked, during one of the “chit-chats” that I attended to you know, fill up my blank canvas with colours, (For the uninitiated, my blank canvas=damn exciting, romanticised future)

“What do you write?”
“What’s your writing style?”

In that split of a second, I thought for a while that those questions were a little too personal. Maybe it is that defensive mechanism arising out of a way to preserve the self esteem of a half-baked writer. Or perhaps it was the guilt that has been lurking forever in the nooks of my subconsciousness that I have probably never taken this (writing) seriously enough. Whatever it was, alarm bells went off in my head.

“I blog. And…” I started only with the slightest bit of sheepishness and then grew in confidence after the word, “blog”. On hindsight, I may have appeared neurotic.

One of them seemed to truly understand. I really contemplated about the second question. Another one chuckled, “oh just give her something, hemmingway or something.”

I couldn’t spin a lie. I tell the truth. When I finally replied with that discerning note of certainty, the woman smiled knowingly (or I perceived it to be a knowing smile).

I know she is a writer too. That shared empathy is hard to miss.

What is your style then? Are you able to articulate?

The Man – a combination of traits found in friend’s

lavendermirage — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:02:12 +0000

Lying on my bed, stricken with guilt about my progress or lack thereof with my revision of my last exam (yes, the last one after 20 years of formal education) yet, tonight I know I will have happy dreams, I will be delightfully and carefully conjuring another world where my monstrous combination of the Man exists.

Wish me luck.

hm, let me see, my Singapore is…

lavendermirage — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 19:30:40 +0000

Tapping on the country-of-origin effects is a tricky affair especially if you don’t have a strong “provenance” to boot for. Look at how many well-known Singaporean brands we have?

Provenance, from the French provenir, “to come from”, means the origin, or the source of something, or the history of the ownership or location of an object.

It is not the name of the place or the hardware visible to the naked eye. Capturing the spirit and the values of the place are pertinent… and the number 1. rule, the values must be famous.

And where do you see provenance marketing most?

National brand identities! (duh)

Once upon a time, I envisioned to be in the branding team of Singapore Tourism Board. (Hear, hear, I am not even Singaporean!) Knowing me, I’d probably “leverage” on the ugly assumptions that people have of Singapore. (; We’ll make a comparison later.

Here is Peru’s:

The typography used in the new brand identity of Peru is making me feel so bright and zippy! Check these out. I love the vitality depicted by the colours and the curves and non-conventional choice of sans serif typeface.

Source: http://www.underconsideration.com

and then here is Singapore’s:

To give this more credibility, here is the “living logo” :

They call this, “It is an experience to call your own.”

Yeah, it seems like we are exasperated. We cannot decide anymore what we are now; or what kind of destination we are. You know what, why don’t you decide? (insert encouraging smile) Don’t consumers want to have the power of choice? (insert winsome smile)

“We are not just a business hub, we are/want to be a hub of everything!” I remember saying that in my “Business Study Mission to Scandinavia” class, coming across a little too strongly, and to my slight chagrin, my course instructor responded that we have to do that to survive as a small nation.

True, true. Does that mean though we have to transfer the imprints of our policy-making into our destination branding?

So in that Business Study Mission, we had a glimpse into how Sweden, Denmark, etc. brand themselves. Swedish brands do a great job of squeezing every bit of its provenance and then drenching themselves in it, unapologetically.

Since we’re on that, here is what I’ve found via Facebook (Thanks momo!) on a Swedish cider:

In short, Rekorderlig is Swedish Cider.

What a proud and straightforward claim. It is like by just being Swedish, people will naturally flock to you…

Well, I think it does. I’m sold. I’m a fan of cider and furthermore, they get fashion blogger, Caroline to endorse the cider. Caroline is Swedish and we all know Swedish fashion, don’t we? Chic, Contemporary and Creative.

So, bundling both brands together gives you one powerful and easily recognisable Swedish brand. They even started a Beautifully Swedish blog - it tries to capture everything inspired by Sweden.

(Could we have one for Singapore as well? I hope it won’t be flooded with angry, angsty posts. Sometimes I think we may have this really, really… dry sense of humour and … a lot of dissatisfaction. eh, we’re a hub of everything ok, can we be content?! haha.)

Now, I just need a drink.