Please Cast Your Votes

Alright people! Now is the time to show your support for my brother!!!

The Finals for Star Search 2007 will be on this Sunday, 4th Nov for 3 hrs from 19:00hrs (GMT +8). And the phone lines for “Most Popular Award -最具人气新秀奖” are now open!

Call 1900-112-5003 to vote for S3 Jackson Tan 陈侠中

OR

SMS “S3” to 71199 to vote for S3 Jackson Tan 陈侠中

Phone lines will be closed: 4th Nov 07/ 21:00hrs

Thank U! Thank U! Thank U!!!
谢谢！谢谢！谢谢！

弟弟！要努力哦！！！加油！加油！加油！

*哼哼哈兮*

Commencement of 2007 Freshmen Training Camp

I’ve been a little occupied at the trainings lately and haven’t been able to blog about this till now.

Well, 21st Oct 07 marks the kick-off to this year’s Freshmen Training Camp. This year, the freshmen intake was increased by a whooping 200% from the previous year’s training camp which was held in Casablanca.

For the 2007 Freshmen Training Camp, the company has gathered a total of 120 freshies from our distributors & dealers in Algeria, Egypt, Syria, China, Japan, Morocco and Sudan to attend the one month training camp here in Algiers.

As one of the instructors for our regional training academy, I have to train all 120 freshmen in 4 groups of 25-30, for 2 days of training each session.

Although I’ve had the opportunity to train a handful of freshmen in Dec 06, this whole experience is still very new and somewhat intimidating for me.
1) The class is A LOT bigger than the Dec 06 batch
2) I don’t exactly appear to look a lot older than most of the freshies
3) I tend to speak really fast when I’m nervous so I’m afraid I’ll complete the lecture before the intended time

To date, I’ve completed the training for 2 groups of freshmen. And you know what; it’s really not as nerve-racking as I thought it would be. Unlike the general Singaporean students, both classes were very participative and responsive. They were not afraid to voice out any queries and were definitely not embarrassed to make mistakes.

I guess this training camp is probably one of the more fulfilling stuffs I’ve accomplished since I started working in the Middle East (Lebanon)/ North Africa (Algeria & Morocco).

Oh, if you’re interested to read about some of the more outrageous or surreal stuffs about the living conditions @ the campsite in Hotel El Bahir (like WTF's going on in the picture below), visit SOMETHING's post here.

Send Me Pictures Postcards From Whereever U 'R'

What can I say; the babes back home are the sweetest.

After being away from Algeria for a month, I returned to the office on 20th October only to find that I have 2 mails!!! One from India, & another from Sydney.

Elaine sent me this postcard from Dharamsala, India while she was on a spiritual trip back in Sep.

And Alicia sent me this lovely card just to say I’m fondly thought of… *aww*
You girls are the sweetest! LUV YA!!!

Round 3: CLEAR!!!

CONGRATS JACKSON!!!
You've made it to the Finals!!!!! Woo OOOOo HOOOoooOOOOoooo~

Something to smile about indeed! Way to go, Didi!!!

Well, I wasn't able to watch the competition live as usual, due to weak connection. Once again, thanks KK for sending me updates and screenshots of the competition.

Okay, since I didn't get to watch the competition live, can someone please tell me if my Bro can sing?! *hahahaha* I've always told him he sings like a duck *QUACK QUACK*... =p

For those of you who had doubts my little shiny one will enter the finals... I've only got one thing to say to you...

"还不快叫星姐！*哈哈哈*”

A Year Wiser Than The Day Before

Guess who turned a year wiser yesterday?

C'était MOI !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wanna thank all those who remembered and gave me their best wishes - Papa, Dajie, Didi, Baby, Wah Wah, Jo, KK, Elaine, Alicia, Aunty Sally, Freesia, Mink, Keng, Pablo, Bora, Lynn . . . I LUV U ALL!!! =))

KK even posted something on her blog JUST FOR ME . . . this & this. Thanks babe!

P.S. I have no idea why she wrote Happy Sweet 16th (I am definitely a lot wiser than a 16 yr old)... *scratch head*... maybe becos this is the 16th birthday since we've known each other? *hee hee*

It was great to be able to spend my birthday in Beirut with SOMETHING by my side. Thou there wasn't any particular celebration, but it is definitely far better than being stuck in Algeria. So I'm happy! =))

Since we've gotta travel (back to Algeria) the next day and gotta pack, we decided to keep the celebration simple. Together with our dear Colombian colleague Pablo, we headed to an Irish Pub & Eatery- Molly Malone's along Gemayzeh street after work for a cosy dinner.


I really like the ambience @ Molly Malone's. Very laid back, very cosy, very relaxing...


There wasn't much of a crowd when we got there (@ ard 19:00hrs). Which also explains why we were able to take these pictures at the bar. But the place began to get a little more packed after 21:00hrs.


No birthday cake for me this year... instead, I was treated to a yummilicious plate of birthday beef! *hee hee*

SOMETHING had the beef stewed w/ Guinness & I had the steak w/ Whiskey sauce which was absolute HEAVEN! No kidding! U've gotta try it if you get a chance.

And finally, to end off the day, SOMETHING & I enjoyed a nice cool bottle of beer & breezer at the comfort of our cosy little hotel room. Cheers! To a more fulfilling life in time to come! ;)

Super Long Weekend

Thanks to the Eid Hollies, I enjoyed a super long weekend all the way from 12th Oct Friday till 15th Oct Monday here in Beirut. *Woo Hooo*

Lotsa movies, Lotsa partying (in fact, I'm still a little hangover from last night) & Lotsa pictures to share!!! Are you ready? Here it goes!

12th Oct (Friday)
We went to a fellow colleague’s home for BBQ. The Chef for the day was none other than their cute 6 year old – Yun chan! =))

Oops! She caught me snapping away while she was busy barbequing the wings! =p

SOMETHING wasn't feeling well that day, and couldn't really enjoy the yummy chicken wings. Poor thing...~

13th Oct (Saturday)
First it was movie at our usual Cineplex in ABC Ashrafieh. We caught a pretty serious movie this time – The Kingdom. I think I was able to appreciate the movie more than I would have because I’m working in this region. The unnecessary or sometimes make believe beauracy, the desperate attempt to appear like they know it all… all these are things I can really relate to since I started working in the Middle East & North Africa a year ago.

Movie No. 7 - *Check!*

After the movie, we had a quick dinner at Hardee's (aka Carl's Jr) then we headed off to Monot Street (A popular street in Beirut filled with clubs, bars & pubs) cos the boys wanted to catch the live telecast of the Rugby World Cup semi-finals (England vs France).

After scouting around for a suitable pub to catch the game, we finally settled in an Irish pub called The Celtic, along Avenue 109 in Monot Street.

Avenue 109

Inside The Celtic

I know hoots about rugby, but the enthusiasm and high spirits of the French & English supporters in the pub plus booze, sure made the evening a lot more interesting.

One of the bartender considered taking sides . . .

... but eventually caved in to the pressure from the French supporters

...but his hunch was right all along, the English won!

Our night didn't stop after the game ended @ ard midnight. We con't partying at yet another pub named Hole In The Wall. Great music + Generous bartender! What's there not to like! >.<

Hole In The Wall

Cheers to the long weekend my friends!

14th Oct (Sunday)

I was hooked on Facebook the entire day. Spent the whole of Sunday afternoon @ Costa Coffee, surfing the web. On that faithful day, I became a NINJA! *hahahaha*

15th Oct (Monday)

I started this day thinking it'll just be a simple movie & dinner outing with my friends. No intention of staying out too late cos the next day is a working day. But boy was I wrong.

Pablo, SOMETHING & I headed off to Holiday Inn @ Verdun to catch a movie. We caught No Reservations, a romantic comedy starring Catherine Zeta-Jones & Aaron Eckhart. What can I say, a movie about good food and romance, what's there not to like! >.<

Movie No. 8 - *Check!*

At 7pm, the 3 of us met up with Bora at Hard Rock Cafe for the All You Can Eat Wings & Beer night! Only 25000LP and you've got yourself endless flow of Heineken beer & chicken wings that comes in 3 yummy flavours (barbeque/ spicy/ extra spicy).

Inside Hard Rock Cafe

I think Hard Rock Cafe looks the same everywhere in the world

The night started pretty subtle...

until we started drinking, and drinking, and drinking . . .

then we started to feel really really happy . . .

(I love the pic on the right, with SOMETHING licking the top of Pablo's head *hahaha*)

we drank, danced and partied with anyone we could grab hold of . . .

and became really good friends with the Armenian guys sitting at the table beside us. . .

finally & relectantly, we ended the party a little past midnight... but not before we took a final picture with the really chic pink Harley at the main entrance >.<
Oh! SOMETHING got me a little something from the Rock Shop. It was a Shakira Signature Series Tee. The design was created by Shakira, featuring a vivid pink guitar, bearing a set of angel wings on the base that forms into a glowing pink heart with the neck of the guitar wrapped in flowers. Partial of the sales will be donated to the homeless children in Colombia. (I should ask Pablo to contribute to partial of the purchase since it's going to his country... hahahaha).

Black and shocking pink! My favourite colour combi!

Thank you Baby! I love it!!!

The Rivals of Barbara Millicent Roberts

I bet many of you didn’t know Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. Bet you also didn’t know Barbie & Ken split up in Feb 2004 but were back together since Feb 2006. Well, at least I didn’t. I was well over Barbie by the time I turned 11.

Was reading the headlines on the web this morning and came across this article, “Barbie inspires modest, Muslim alternative”. Apparently, an Indonesian has come up with a “Muslim Barbie Doll” called Salma (the Arabic word for peace) which she hopes will inspire virtue in Muslim girls.

Salma

This article caught my interest and got me looking up on related topics. It was then that I realised that there were more than one version of the “Muslim Barbie Doll”.

It appears that in Sep 2003, Barbie was banned in Saudi Arabia because she did not conform to the ideals of Islam, with her revealing clothes and provocative postures. Fulla (which represented a fragrant jasmine flower found only in the Middle East) was then created as an alternative for Barbie to reflect Muslim values.

Fulla

Other Muslim dolls that were created with a hijab (headscarf) include Razanne, the Moroccan Bride, and now Salma.

Razanne

Moroccan Bride

Mummy, I also want a Muslim Barbie Doll can?