Something for all who love travelling (Yes James I'm looking at you!).



create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

It's actually not very accurate in the sense that it shades the entire country you set foot on, rather than the actual city or state... so it does seem more impressive than it really is. Oh well, space constraints I guess. I also just noticed that I've got Southeast Asia pretty much covered (proximity, perhaps?). Will do Vietnam and Cambodia when I have the time (and money).

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Eleven days ago while I was enjoying my last vacation days in SG, I was at TPY Central when Channel U stopped me and asked if they could do an on-the-spot street interview for this program called "有话直说". (!!!!!!!!)

I immediately uttered an "Uh..." and before I could continue, the ladies supposedly doing the interview dragged my by my arm and said in Mandarin, "Just a few minutes lah, very simple!" SIGH. So there my soft spot got to work and I relented (after much hee hee haw haw), wondering why the hell I agreed when I am so reluctant to even contribute opinions in class and here I am giving my two cent's worth on national TV?!? Not to mention that because I was on my way to Ang Mo Kio to visit Dad, I was glamourously clad in a worn-out polo and berms. FINE.

Before I knew it, this group of cameramen with lights and all (which included a massive microphone O_o) came in front of me like I was Tay Ping Hui (sorry, I just had to use him as my example ;p) and I had to start talking. It turned out that they were doing the topic on the NKF saga (*yawn*... ;p) so they were like asking if I'd be more careful with my donations in future, what should be done to regain public confidence yada yada. The questions were pretty straightforward and already had "model answers" to them (somewhat), so all in all it wasn't thaaaaat difficult, BUT being there and then with that little time to process the question and come up with a genius answer almost in a heartbeat was quite a challenge for me, in my opinion. Also, I was super under pressure not to fall into the trap of inserting random English words into my 100% Mandarin answers as though I were having a random conversation, particularly when this was national TV we're talking about here, and also for those of you who know what my Mom does... ;p

The interview seemed to take ages, and when it finally ended I was so so relieved, like I had just stepped out of an exam. I received really good feedback on my responses ;) - "You are more than perfect already lah!" (though maybe they were just trying to be polite) So when I asked when will that segment be broadcast on TV, the producer said "明天!" (....) Okay, tomorrow night? Will try to get Mom to record it :p

Turned out that my interview was never broadcast on TV. Not that it was a bad thing, 'cos really, I didn't want anyone to catch me in that state anyway. I guess in the end the discussion among the hosts and guests (for those of you who know how the program is run) ran overtime and they did not have time to air the street interviews, or maybe in retrospect they thought I was so bad that editing won't even help. Oh well, at least it was an experience to remember before I left SG ;)

Speaking of TV appearances, it's been a good 14 years since I'd first (and also my last time) been on TV. Don't bother asking me what, it was a silly, just-for-fun acting experience :p Thanks Mom -_-

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If everything in this world can be bought with money and if I had all the money in the world, I'll buy the voice of Jason Mraz.