of happiness, wisdom and the days of our lives.

it's been a long time since i went to work for a full week of 5 days. i miss the holidays, where for 3 weeks consecutively, we had holidays and half-days. but amazingly i didn't feel as drained or tired as i expected to be. no doubt the sleepiness hits when my alarm sounds and i press the snooze button 5 times before i wake up. and one cup of coffee in the morning and one cup of teh-o in the afternoon gets me through the day. but my soul is refreshed everytime i read God's word. and THAT gets me through everything.

***

i opened the yahoo homepage on my firefox just now and saw in the headlines, a featured video where singapore was named the happiest place in asia. at first i was quite shocked to see that. i didn't think that singapore would come out tops considering how big asia is.

then i clicked on the link that brought me to a video. it's 20/20, a program produced by ABC news in USA. i know the program from the days of downloading clay aiken clips and also my 6-month stay in US. and as an intro, the host asks a series of rhetoric questions for her audience.

"Picture this: A country where you have no choice on who to vote for. No jury of your peers deciding your fate in a courtroom. And chewing gum is banned. So how could it be that a place with the most rigid and unbending rules is the happiest country of the continent?"
- ABC news, Jan 9 2008, source

well you know i can't exactly blame the americans for asking such questions. it just goes to show again how different and yet similar 2 countries can be. and how singapore, no matter how we try to be westernized, we can never escape our cultures and values, and even personality. of course the narrator lists all the big bad things about singapore first (like no press freedom, no jury proceedings, drug users are executed etc. etc.). then the video goes on to explain (with interviews of the normal singaporean uncle in a hawker center and mark zee, of all people) why are singaporeans happy when we are a "fine" city?

well americans cannot understand because they have a country which was built on freedom many many years ago. and they are paying a price for that freedom. singapore took a different approach, one that is radically different. we restrict freedom so we and our children don't have to pay the price. and in exchange, as the video reiterates, we get peace, stability, corruption-free, booming economy and a stable government run by smart people. i'm not saying one way is better than the other, and i'm not an expert at anything, but both ways are working. not perfectly. but the 2 models have produced top-notch nations and citizens and are top players in the global market and leaders of the world. so maybe america can be a little less critical about how other people run their governments. that's just my 2 cents worth.

do watch the video. the link is found at the end of the quote.

***

anyway this week has been a good week in lab. my RNA probes are working very well and the signal in my zebrafish embryos are strong and in the correct places of the brain. which made my supervisor and i so happy. (: i've got some pretty pictures of the expression of this gene called YAP1, which has been linked to cancer in humans and other mammals. so now i just got to mimick the conditions in human cancer and overexpress this gene in the embryos and see what happens.

and also prayer meeting was a good time of reflecting upon the Lord's word and praying and fellowshipping with shannie and praying with her. there was also a meetup with the girls from my tj class, where we spent 4 hours at waraku talking about the good old days and the people we knew in tj. we talked about so many and it was nice catching up with catrina and caiqun.

today i had lunch with tr. chen kee at biopolis and i really thank God for her wisdom and guidance. she has been able to help me see things from other perspectives and to turn my focus back onto the Lord. and it was also very nice catching up with her 'cos she's always busy in church. we got to talking about boyfriends and growing up at my age in the early 20s and how unstable this period is for us. and the uncertainty of our future can be very daunting. and i'm thankful that i have one less burden because my near-future has been made certain by MOE. but i know my friends are going through that phase of not knowing what the future may hold and what life may throw at them in the coming months.

but even then, i have my fair share of doubt and uncertainty. will i make it through NIE? will i be a good teacher? what happens after my bond is up? will i be in education forever? am i cut out for other sectors of work? when will i get a boyfriend?

hahaha. but she shared with me how trusting and being secure in the Lord helped her through her years of growing up. trusting in God's plan for us. and if a boy comes, he comes. but if not, really it doesn't matter. i need the Lord more than i need a boyfriend. (:

it's amazing how much wisdom God gives to get us through our lives. that's what tr. chen kee said. and as she said it i got reminded of the song Be Thou My Vision, a song that i heard on my phone on the way home yesterday. and i remember pondering over the lyrics and appreciating how meaning they are all over again. and in an amazing God-driven coincidence, tr. chen kee mentions that same song over lunch.

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best thought, by day or by night
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light

Be thou my wisdom, and Thou my true word
I ever with thee and, Thou with me Lord
Thou my great Father and, I Thy true son
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise
Thou mine inheritance, now and always
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art

High King of heaven, my victory won
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heav'ns Son!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall
Still be my vision, O ruler of all.

one of my all-time favorite verses, which incidentally was first shared with me by tr. chen kee. (:

"But as it is written:
“ Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”"
- 1 Corinthians 2:9

confessions of a movie/tv junkie in LA.

i'm thinking back on 2007 more often than i should be. which is something i wish i did less. to look back. but being a sentimental girl, it's hard to not think about good times in the past.

anyway this is day 3 in sunny los angeles. i love the LA weather when i was there. mid-june. it was sunny and breezy and the nights were nice and cool.

day 3 was our private warner brothers studio tour which we paid for. i can still remember i bought the tickets online at the las vegas airport because LAS had free wireless access. and i also checked my spring quarter results and i thought i did SO badly for my human resource management module that i panicked like crazy. my prof emailed me to tell me she forgot to key in my exam marks.

anyway we booked a super early slot. 8.45am. it's good also 'cos we can spend the rest of the day doing something else. which we already planned. it was a sleepy morning and we had breakfast at the motel before heading up the bus to bring us to burbank, calif. we registered and got personalized nametags. so cool right. and hung around the lobby to wait for 8.45am to come.

then we were ushered into a small auditorium to watch a video of those famous movies and tv shows that are shot by warner brothers. and a history of the company. i recognized many of my favorite movies so that got me really excited. then we got introduced to our guide who is this movie-&-tv buff, obviously. we got into a small tram-like vehicle similar to those on golf courses and off we go onto the warner brothers lot.

production offices that double up as buildings for shoot. bicycles belong to production staff who cycle around the huge compound. and it was pretty funny when we met this production assistant working on a new tv show "the chronicles of sarah connor" now showing in the US. and he was complaining about his boss to us, a group of strange-looking visitors. well i understand. since PAs are sai-gang warriors in the film industry.

and we go past many houses on the lot used for shoots. and those sprawling mountains of burbank are usually digitally-removed in post-production.

seems ordinary right. but it's a frequently used set that i recognized on the west wing! it shows itself in several seasons, as a california mexican cafe place where bartlet and his daughter were eating lunch, as a place where a group of activists were rallying against the government during the big block of cheese day, as a hospital where the chief justice was admitted and matthew perry went to visit him. (:

this is sookie's house on gilmore girls! but it's empty inside. a typical facade.

this house, on the outside, is lane's house (also gilmore girls). and i learnt that some facades have working interiors like this one. except the 2nd floor is partically non-existent 'cos they have to hang lights and mikes. this is for shots where the director wants a long, continuous shot from outside to inside the house. so they gotta put up decor in this house and it changes from show to show.

this is the famous town gazebo of stars hollow in gilmore girls. the entire stars hollow town is left as it is, and it was actually a set of a very old film, reused in gilmore girls. and now even as the series has stopped completely, the set still remains. so you can tell i was SO excited when i was there. like i was really in stars hollow. where lorelai and rory were.

this is luke's diner (gilmore girls). with the decor taken off of course.

this looks like chicago at first glance, the very distinct subway tracks. but we're still on the set. this is used, obviously, for stuff that needs to look like it is in chicago.

and because chicago is known for its winds and rain, these lines high above the ground are known as rain-makers. or a water-sprinkler system, if you like. and tey would just drape a huge piece of black cloth above the rainmaker and use lights to create a rainy day.


this is the doors that open to the emergency room of cook county hospital in ER. the show that reigned way before grey's anatomy even was created in shonda rhimes's head. and yes george clooney looks young and cute.

this is the carriage that brad pitt rode in the movie Troy. then he proceeded to kill eric bana and drag his body behind this carriage. it was a super cry-worthy moment.

the flying car from harry potter and the chamber of secrets. (:

and after harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban, the whomping willow left its mark.

this is the couch that 6 famous people have sat on. the couch at central perk in Friends. left in its original state even after Friends wrapped production. in a special corner designed to pay tribute to the only show in history that raked in profits for warner brothers in its first season.

so just an iconic place what must you do. take picture! (: yes i was also very excited to be here.

inside central perk.

outside. filming in progress. the streets have no street lamps if you noticed. that's 'cos it enables the movie people to shoot whatever period of history they want. just pop in the correct type of street lamps and decor correctly and make sure the cars and the clothes people are wearing are of the correct era and voila. you can get anywhere between the 1800s and today.

we saw many many others things in the studio tour and many places where movies were shot. and i was sad that the tour came to an end and i didn't spot any stars. all on vacation i suppose. but i'm glad i went for the tour.

after that we were supposed to wait for the car rental company people to pick us up from warner brothers. so we hung around, take picture, buy souvenirs etc. we rented a car for 3 days over the weekend 'cos enterprise, the company, had this special discount for weekend rentals and it was only US$14 a day! so we did.

on the way to the rental place. we saw NBC studios. where many people are picketing and striking right now. when is it gonna end?!?! burbank is home to many production companies and their backlots. oh yes. rental companies in US pick you up from any nearby place and bring you to the company. so good right. great service.

so after we collected the car, we managed to get ourselves on the freeway and drive back to downtown LA. i was quite freaked at first because the last time i drove, i had my sisters with me and i was much more familiar with seattle roads. now it's all foreign and we don't have a map! but we managed without getting lost. but LA traffic is horrible. even at off-peak hours.

so we got to downtown LA and we searched for a grocery store to buy maps and finally spotted a safeway. yayyy. linda went to buy a map while i scrutinized the car. then we decided to drive around LA and explore the city. which's a really good idea 'cos we would never be able to do it on foot 'cos LA's too big. so here, the pic above, we started at downtown LA.

we parked along the road. learnt how to feed the parking meter. then walked around. (: these were sights around the walt disney concert hall.



this is for the very discreet rainbow peering out from the water. (: so pretty.

this is walt disney concert hall. very very nice design. quite avant-garde and nicer than esplanade. we took a short walk inside and in the shop. very very nice. too bad no time or money to catch a performance there.

p.s. this outdoor place of the concert hall, with the fountains, was where robert mccallister proposed to kitty walker in brothers & sisters. (:

the sky scrapers of downtown LA. oh this is where kevin walker of brothers & sisters works.



the concert hall from across the street.

after exploring downtown LA (and just walking past a nice museum), we drove out of downtown LA and headed for beverley hills and rodeo drive.

this is rodeo drive. and it looks more quaint and prettier than i expected. the building in front is bvlgari. and this intersection is really weird.

anyway rodeo drive is really the most upmarket, 5th ave of manhattan type of shopping. but it has that typical LA vibe to it. rows of short buildings. palm trees. the sun. tons of sports cars and cute cars. and cute guys.

this street, i can still remember, leads to a pretty 3-storey shophouse housing tiffany & co.

this is a car-less rodeo drive, or hollywood drive, the parallel street.



after some shopping. yeah right. i only bought a skirt from anthropologie, on sale. we drove towards the coast to santa monica. and i love this town!

first up, we drove right to the beach. at this time it was approaching dusk and it was starting to get cold. either that or it was the cold pacific ocean wind. we spotted this huskies van at the beach carpark, and judging by its washington state licence plate, it is indeed a university of washington van. haha must be some of my ex-collegemates who had taken a drive all the way from seattle to LA.

the beach!

the fine fine sand and the beautiful ocean. i haven't seen it in awhile. no oceans in NYC or las vegas.

the famous santa monica beach theme park. it's very distinctly santa monica. and this ferris wheel and theme park is always in the sweeping aerial shot in private practice. and santa monica is where addison and sam lives.

this is the 3rd st promenade. where it's a lovely lovely shopping street filled with big brands and big but affordable brands and small cute shops. people are busking and there are many little cafes and restaurants with al fresco dining, to soak in the nice weather and bustling crowd and talented buskers. i even took a video of this acoustic duo who sang beautifully. that's why i love santa monica. (:


well that was the end of day 3. we did more shopping at various shops, esp. forever21. had a late dinner at california pizza kitchen (how apt right) and began my long drive back to west hollywood.

no escaping from it.

happy belated new year.

it's 2008 and it promises more exciting movies, the opening of our own ferris wheel, a new american president and streaming towards bu*sh's end of term, the end of the hollywood writer's strike (they can't possibly drag the strike on till 2009 right, right?), convocation and finally it's my term to wear that gown and get that certificate and a trip to finland and neighboring countries and SO much more.

i've been semi-following the US presidential elections'08 for quite some time now. most of which from yahoo news, google news, the wires and ST. and just early this morning, i rejoiced with the obam*a campaign at their win at the Iowa caucus. i've been quite undecided about oba*ma and hilla*ry. like many americans, i presume. but now i'm beginning to lean towards ob*ama for a number of reasons. which i would think if strange 'cos wouldn't i, as a woman, support the first woman-president of the US's election bid? and i'm wondering about the countless women of Iowa who voted for all the other men, whether democrats or republicans.

well oba*ma now wins my vote because he's tough on foreign policy, albeit inexperienced (unlike hill*ary, or so she claims), he's also very much against the iraq war right from the start, he's african-american, he's from a humble background who worked his as* off to get to where he is today, he is young, fresh and so passionate about the work and i believe can inject a fresh new start to change america and shape it to be a better world, taking over the ruins that b*ush left him. he loves his family, he's a man of God, he is that "bridging gap between the college campus and the retirement homes", as said by kitty walker in brothers and sisters.

and i had the opportunity to hear oba*ma speak at a rally in early june (i think) in seattle, but i wasn't sure if they'll let me in, me being a non-american, not registered to vote and i have no washington state driver's license. so i didn't in the end. it's a pity. the rally was FULL by the way, packed to the brim in the huge 15,000 or so stadium.

anyway, my ideal president is personified by jed bartlet, the president in the west wing, written by aaron sorkin and protrayed by martin sheen. (: in real life, obama is probably him, with the exception of age and experience.

anyway i was going to say, there's really no escaping from politics. it's everywhere. there's national politics, relationships politics, office politics etc. i never really understood or bothered to care about politics when i was younger. but as i grew older, i began to comprehend just how important politics are and how intricately it's related to change. and bitchiness of course.

claudia jean from the west wing once said in a 'rock the vote' opening speech,
"Think government isn't about you? How many of you have student loans to pay? How many have credit card debt? How many want clean air and clean water and civil liberties? How many want jobs? How many want kids? How many want their kids to go to good schools and walk on safe streets? Decisions are made by those who show up. You gotta rock the vote!"

you know we live in singapore where everything is handed to us in a silver platter. there's schools to go to, financial aid if you need it, loans and CPF, medisave, clean air, clean water, more jobs are created, there's financial reward for having kids, our streets are safe, free from guns explosives and nuclear weapons. so there isn't much for political debate on a national level, and as i did in my younger days, why bother?

but things are changing now. and i find it hard to not bother sometimes. oil prices are up to US$100 a barrel. ir*an, north ko*rea may have nuclear weapons, the middle east is too unstable, so is south east asia, our closest neighbors. terrorism, global warming, the economy, rising food prices, electricity prices, genocides, famine, H5N1 influenza, AIDS and the list goes on.

so just how is a normal human being supposed to react to all these? by showing up i guess. in singapore we can rest a little easier 'cos we've got a good government to tackle big issues. it's just the smaller domestic issues that we find fault with.

***

speaking of politics, the creator of brothers and sisters the tv show, jon robin baitz, has left the show after getting into a disagreement with network execs and some colleagues. and i'm dismayed that it turned out this way. i can never understand hollywood backstage politics. but as a fan of the show, i'm afraid the show will go downhill from here.

like what happened with the west wing when aaron sorkin, the creator, left the show after season 4. seasons 5-7 were just dismal. especially that dreadful season 5. the show had no longer a sense of direction and was just merely floating from week to week, settling for any storyline that was interesting and could captivate the audience for 1 hour each week and that's all. it was disappointing.

and there's uncanny coincidences with regards to the 2 show creators. they are actually good friends in real life, aaron got robbie baitz to write an episode of the west wing, they both started out as playwrights, with very successful plays on broadway, and there's rob lowe to tie the 2 shows together.

i was reading robbie baitz's very emotional and lengthy essay on his departure from the show and LA, and how he describe the direction of each character on brothers and sisters he would have taken if he didn't leave the show. and i mourn the fact that i would probably not see those story arcs happening on the show. part of his departure was due to the disagreements of story arcs that robbie baitz and the network execs wanted to take. the former was more stage-play-like, more emotional, more smart, more intricate and complicated while the latter wants to appeal to the mass market. hence more silly, funny, drama rama type stories, less serious and political commentator-ish.

sigh. so sad. the west wing is now gone. they canceled studio 60 on the sunset strip (also politics. and ratings.). robbie baitz left brothers and sisters. smart, witty, fast-paced dialogue with great acting and a great script that delves into issues like aging, sexuality, social behavior, politics, war, religion etc.

there's no escaping from politics.

city of angels.

i know it's almost the end of 2007 and i'm still halfway through my travelogue of my fantastic summer vacation across the united states. yes. procrastinator, i am. ironically, these last few days of the year, i've been surprisingly free. the past 3 weeks of madness FYP and church and christmas events left me tired but happy. so now i'm grateful for free time to catch up on sleep, nurse my cold, and reminisce about the good ol' times of 2007. i can hardly believe that 1 year ago i was starting my new life in seattle. battling the cold winds and washing my own clothes.

good times.

anyway the first shot of los angeles. i felt quite disoriented on the way to my motel. LAX is a good 40-50 minutes away from where i stayed, west hollywood on sunset blvd. and traffic in LA was BAD. and coupled with the lack of sleep from the night before, i wasn't feeling chirpy. but finally my mini-van arrived at the more happening towns of hollywood and i quickly perked up, hoping to see some big star in a big black limo. haha.

anyway LA is a big city with many many people, and a good proportion of them are immigrants from mexico. so spanish is not unheard of. and LA is also literally very big and covers many many towns and their major roads, like sunset blvd, runs for miles and miles through the city. connecting the inland towns to the beach-side towns! and i would only know these trivia because i scruntinized the map while figuring our way in our rented car and driving around the city.

so after checking in and settling down to our modest motel, (p.s already a rung up from our measly hostel in NYC), we ventured out and explored west hollywood on foot. this has almost become my habit when travelling. first day after check-in, if nothing planned, walk around the vincinity of the hotel and explore on foot. with a map of course. and lonely planet/tourist guides.

so where else to go but the famous hollywood walk of fame? just 5 minutes by foot away from my motel.

so the entire sidewalk, on both sides, of hollywood blvd here, is covered with stars. with names on it, honoring the past and present stars, both local and abroad.


one of the first we saw was tom cruise. and since i used to like him a lot when i was younger, so i took a picture with his star.

along the street we saw kodak theatre, one of the majoy huge theatres used by major award shows like the academy awards/oscars. and when that time comes in march, the entire street is filled with limos and lined with red carpet and endless paparrazzi. nice to see it now, like a normal theatre, without the glitz. beside it is the famous chinese theatre.

and i arrive at the front doors of jimmy kimmel live studios! jimmy is clay aiken's good friend. but i couldn't get tickets to his show. darn.

we walked and walked somemore, until at 7.45pm, i saw a familiar name - pantages theatre. and i realize it's where wicked was playing! and on impulse i went to the box office and asked if there were last minute tickets (since curtain up is traditionally at 8pm and people were entering the theatre at said time.). turns out there were and they weren't very expensive! and since linda agreed, i was SO excited and we bought tickets and watched it then and there!

and the photo above is one that i snucked just before curtain up. strictly no photography. but i can still remember the musical and how much i loved it.

outside the theatre, where merchandise is sold.

and i bought the CD. people! it is very very good, please watch it if you get a chance. wicked is playing in new york, LA, chicago and london.

the next day, we decided to dedicate the entire day to universal studios. and off we went to universal city. very accessible by their metro system.

everyone gets the red carpet treatment, even if you're in a polo tee and berms.



we first headed for the studio tour because guide books tell me they get very crowded later in the day and its impossible to get on the tour. and its free!

so here we go. the universal studios theme park is actually built on their lot. with huge studio sets and stages. the theme park then uses the stages to incorporate roller coasters and rides. more on that later. so the studio tour takes you into their actual working sound stages where they shoot tv episodes, movies etc.

likes stage 27 is used for heroes sets. i can imagine primatech housed inside the sound stage. and also lots and lots of blue and green screens for CGI work.

out onto the lot for outdoor locations. all these buildings are fakes, or facades. they are hollow and empty, though some of them are production offices for producers and directors.



the stuido tour also takes us on a lesson on special effects in film. like exploding cars.

underwater scenes shot in big tanks. you know those titanic and poisedon scenes.

the old set of the mummy returns. whatever the script calls for, they can build it.



the real wisteria lane. actual outdoor set of desperate housewives. we were shown lynette's, susan's, edie's, bree's houses. it was pretty cool.

i'm pretty sure other shows reuse the sets since they look like the model american suburban home.

actual outdoor set built for war of the worlds. remember tom cruise and dakota fanning? where aliens could reduce everything to dust, literally. here it is. amazing really. it all looks so real.



the view of universal city. the big sound stages and smaller ones.

it's time for rides! we sat almost every ride. this jurassic park ride got me SO wet.

a view of burbank, where a lot of studios are located. where the writers are now picketing and striking. SIGH when will it end? anyway people are also striking outside universal studios.

you know i haven't sat on a scary roller coaster ride in ages. that's part of getting old. the fear of breaking your bones. but i decided to the brave afterall and went to sit the scariest ride here. it's a roller coaster, as can be deduced from the long list of warnings and not-suitable-for signs. but it's an indoor one, house in a former sound stage, where it is dark. so i had no way of knowing if there's a giant drop in altitude, 3-4 upside down turns or what not. but i did it anyway and it turned out to be SO exhilirating we went for a second time. haha. (:

who could resist a photo-op with spider man and captain america?

more rides here. terminator 2, one of my childhood movies.

fake street signs.

i quite like the movie notting hill but i cannot stand the characters sometimes. especially that line julia roberts' character says to hugh grant's. "i'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her." oh man.

production schedule. (:

animal show. a major plug for evan almighty, a universal studios movie that was going to come out.

a shopping arcade outside the theme park. quite a cool concept. the park closes at 5pm so you can hang out here till you go home. the shops are pretty interesting too.

for dinner we settled at a wolfgang puck cafe/restaurant. food was SO good.

and of course, pictures. this was our complimentary bread. so stylo and expensive-looking right.

and my rosemary roasted spring chicken with something. it was SO good. yummm.

and while waiting for the shuttle to take us back to the metro station, the sun sets. it was beautiful and getting really cold.

and that's all in a day's work my friends. don't you just love travelling? i can't wait for my graduation trip. after some research on finland, i realize i cannot pronounce ANY of the finnish words, town names, festivals etc. haha. (:

happy new year everyone. have a blessed 2008.