Just another AWESOME day (16-Mar-2019)

I love everything about today. So I thought I'll just blog about it on what a perfect day for me would be like. The photo above says it all, a wonderful Saturday morning sitting at the bay just watching the clouds roll by. Couldn't ask for anything more. And the best part is, everything is free, except for the trip downtown in the early morning. It still amaze me how I could always get a sit here at such a beautiful spot every time I go there. This has got to be one of my favourite spot in the city of Singapore. I went there this morning with my hubby. Since it wasn't so hot and there were some breeze around, he didn't complaint much, so I got to sit there till 917am. Lovely looking up at the blue blue sky. My kind of day.

Look at all those empty deck chair just beside us. What a shame people don't come and enjoy this. Oh well, more sits for me! I gotta come here more often! 

Since I have reloaded my contact lenses, I wore them and my shades today. This is my favourite sunglasses, brand-less and cheap. I have a branded one but I've never wore those before. Maybe one day I should really try them on. But for now, these are my favourite pair. I had them for years! Probably since I started wearing contacts. I love wearing them and walking in the sun. There is just a holiday vibe whenever I put them on.

After the walk, hubby took me for a nice breakfast. It was our first time here, and the coffee was so good that I cleaned my whole room by hand in the afternoon? The place is call Tachihara Coffee at Millennium Walk.They say they roast the coffee in house. I ordered a cafe mocha as a top up to our breakfast set which cost SGD9 + SGD3 for the coffee. 

Needless to say, I think the breakfast set was expensive, but the French Toast was amazingly soft and fluffy. The bacon was yummy, as was the sausages and potato salad with ham in it. Everything about breakfast was awesome! Even the creative tray!

After breakfast we walked around Marina Square. I wanted to buy some cotton clothes from Muji but nothing seems to fit, so I settled for a 50% matcha pound cake instead. Gonna have these for tea on Sunday afternoon pairing it with my Houjicha! These cost me SGD3.45 for 5 slices. So that's about SGD0.70 per piece. Not too bad. I could only afford these treat when they are on sale.

I also decided to get these collection of UCC drip coffee, consisting of all the famous coffee of each city in Japan. I remember I first bought UCC coffee last year in November. It was supposed to be a one off thing, but by the time I finished the last pack, I was pretty hooked on them! These 12 variety pack cost around SGD12+. So almost SGD1 per serving. I hope they are as nice as the ones I got last year, smooth and soothing. I don't really spend much on coffee outside unless I am socialising, so these are a treat for me. It makes my weekend more special and relaxing, and coffee is good for pro-longing your life!

Yes! It was an awesome day! I had 3 awesome meal, and I bought things that I love, and did things that I love. I want to live more of such moment in my life. Simple life. Simple joy. 

Brazil Afro Museum - Arts

We will end our Brazil Afro Museum post and Biz Trip with something more positive. Arts! This post is about the art section in the museum, to erase some of the nightmare of the previous post! Haha. Above a very typical african piece near the scary dolls exhibit actually. But I love the strong dark blue backdrop and the simple art style of this piece.

There was one whole room of art made of recycled things. And it kinda tells the story of Africa, war, migration of people to Brazil? It was one whole room and you can walk around it and get closed. So here are some of the photo I took from it. Above the map of what I assumed to be Africa? 

Soldiers going to war made out of recycled materials. Look at all the yogurt bottle going into war!

Rows and rows of them! Tooth paste tub and call.

There were ships going into war, or slave ships I couldn't really tell.

Here's a better view of everything from the front. Kinda reminds me of Pirates of the Caribbean. 

There was a section of photo frames of scenes of Brazil with political messages as well. I only took one of the photo as most of the things looked alike but with just different motto. They look like street scenes of Brazil, or Africa. Can't really tell at this point since it was just  my 2nd day in Brazil and I haven't been out much. 

There were childlike looking clay art of scenes of Brazil/Africa as well. Not too impressive close up, but the colour and the detail was impressive enough. 

And lastly was one of my favourite part of the museum, media hall at the ground floor. I am not sure if it's a permanent exhibit, but it shows record and magazine cover. I really like the art and colour scheme of the media shown as well. I took just two photo of this section, mainly things that would be considered racist in America I guess. 

I always thought Negro was a taboo word. Or was it Nigga? But I did like the art piece design. And what was so special about this hall was, they were playing music from Africa/Brazil (can't tell). And the music was so soothing that I stood there for a long time pretending to look at the exhibit, but actually it was the music that made me linger. Soothing, jazz like music echoing thru the halls of museum echoing through the space is one of the most beautiful thing to experience. It was so calming. 

And so I'll just end here all the post on my trip to Brazil. It was my first trip there for business. I have a souvenir shot I took at the front of my office, but because it has the name of my company on it, I will not be posting it here in the public domain. I am not sure if I will get a chance to go back again, but I can say I don't mind going back. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. For all I know, the places I visit to like Rome or London may actually be more dangerous than Sao Paulo. I still feel scared here, but I keep reminding myself that we can't always live in fear and not venture out. That is not what live is about. Stay true to yourself! Explore!

Brazil Afro Museum - Dolls

This post is all about dolls, but just a word of caution, it may not be all cuddly and cute kinda of doll. In face, this first photo is probably as cute as it is ever gonna get. So you have been warned! Read on!

The only reason I like the above doll was probably because of the super cotton clothes it was wearing. I just wanna hug it. But the love ends here, everything else below seems to be made of nightmare! Or to be more politically correct, vastly different from what I thought children toys should look like.

Above are figurines taken on my way to the toilet. There were many of them, but many were like child-made. I don't know, there was just this very rough feel to the things that were made. As if really childlike and not refine. Am I judging the whole culture? No. I just don't understand why they don't make it softer, smoother, less clay like. Perhaps that is why I got the whole voodoo vibe while looking at these things. They all look like clay like voodoo dolls, or golem. 

And then you see things like that hanging on the wall at the art section. If you have kids, what would they think??? Scared for life maybe? I'm not saying I'm against it. I'm just saying, you better not let your kids run around in this museums if you don't want them to have nightmares later! Haha. But to be frank, I am fascinated by it. Maybe there is just something dark inside my soul that is drawn to all these things. I am the type that is fascinated by the catacombs and cemetery. 

There was also a wall full of doll head. But that was not the scary part either. 

It's the nail thru one of the doll head. It kinda give you a hint of the sickness of the human brain doesn't it?

Or this one photo of an innocent looking doll head. Surely every girl has a doll like this when they were younger? Maybe not just the head, but a full bodied doll where the eyes open and closed as you move it? Nightmare. 

A collection of golliwog dolls were kinda cute and cuddly. There was something very British about these, probably from my childhood of reading Enid Blyton. 

And then next to it, another set of doll all scary again, especially the one with the white gown. Not sure if its a bride of a child. Either way, it's not OK for me. Nightmare! And before you think I am racist or bias, it's not the colour of the skin of the doll that is freaking me out, it's the gown. 

I initially thought that the above photo was ok. Two old people sitting by the window side. Almost cute. Then you see this tool behind with it's broken neck or torso! AH! hahahahaha. Nightmare. The Afro Museum is a super creepy museum to visit! But I'm not saying don't go. GO! It is different, it is interesting. No regrets visiting this place. Exposed yourself to the different things in the world! Stop staying in your own comfortable cocoon! 

Brazil Afro Museum - Religion

This post is about the religion section of the Afro Museum. Perhaps it is because I am an Atheist, I am fascinated by religion. Probably because it was something I find it hard to understand. Was it not similar to a celebrity or super hero crush gone horribly out of scale? I could never understand. But I do like it. And it has never occured to me that Christianity was the main featured religion of an Afro Museum. Those missionaries do awesome work spreading the word of Christ!

They have walls and walls of Christian related exhibit in the museums, both on the first floor and second floor. Either as expression of art or worship, it was everywhere!

Above was a gigantic cross made of wooden carving. It looked again, kinda scary with all the sharped edges, but at the same time impressive. This was more of an art piece as it was located at the art section. Kinda resembles a fiery cross. 

Above I would also assumed it is an art installation. Four wise men all lighted up? Hahaha. Enlightened! I find it rather pretty really. Very catholic.

And then there was a section that I wasn't sure what kinda of religion it was, or maybe a crossed of different religion all blend in? Like the photo above, looks kinda Indian or Thai to me with all the flowers. Maybe it was just a celebration piece?

There were a few that reminded me of the Pope. But the cray or ceramic figurine looked so erm, for a lack of better word, childlike. It started to get me wondering what impression do other people have when they visit Asia and see the things that we pray to or worship? For example the Chinese spirits which the tongue hanging out and face all black that clearly looked like a demon but is worshipped in some temple. Or the horse face and bull face hell guardian.... Let us not judge each other too harshly!

And then there were walls that was clearly Christian looking, but screamed voodoo to me inside my head. For a moment, I was quite lost as to how to feel about all this. It reminded very much about those voodoo episode of X-files or tv series that I have seen before. But I keep reminding myself that maybe other people just worship the same god differently, adorning them with their own expression?

So like the above photo, why do they cover up the cross with accessories that make it look so eerie like? Maybe its all the clash in colour? Maybe I just don't like colours and clutter? It's just all so disturbing to me. 

Or this gigantic cross with a wall of heads next to it. What is it trying to imply???

I could never understand religion... sigh. But I can related to the last photo here. A priest on a hammock reading a book. Yeah, if I have a house big enough, I'll have a feature like this just for me to read in. Or a hammock hanging over a pool which I've seen in some of the condominium in Singapore. Ah, a relaxing thought, that should be the last impression I leave you with, before we go on another scary nightmare journey about dolls in the Afro Museum! Stay tune!

Brazil Afro Museum - Spirit of Africa

This is a rewrite of the same article, cause for some reason, my original post was deleted. What would you expected to see in an African museum? African cultural pieces, hunting tools, war tools, accessories and head gears of course! And that was exactly what I saw at the section call spirit of Africa.

I didn't really pay much attention to this section as I have already know what to expect from my research online about the museums. It was your typical African exhibit.

There were many face mask and head gear probably used for religious or cultural events. They were mainly made out of natural ingredients like wood or roots etc. 

There was a whole red hall of hunting weapons or war weapons, whatever helps. Again, didn't pay much attention to those although I do like the colour scheme of the room. 

We also have scary looking costume like the one featured here. I have no idea what they are for, but if I see one jumping towards me in the middle of the night or even during day time, I am getting out of here! There was some TV nearby showing how people use this costume, but again, it was in Portuguese so I can't understand a thing about it. 

There was a whole wall of mask that was rather impressive. But they were hung above head level and you can't really see the details of it, which is a pity...

Most of the art pieces were rather scary looking to me. 

But I did like this one here. Probably because of his smiley face that makes him seems much more approachable. I also like the furry thing he is sitting on, and the rope that kinda resemble his super long penis? 

Brazil Afro Museum - Intro

While in Sao Paulo, the only touristy place that I've actually visited was the Brazil Afro Museum located at Ibirapuera Park. I was thinking of all the places nearby where I might be interested in, and this was the only museum that really caught my attention. The fact that I just flew in from Ethiopia helped me stir my interest there as well. So on the Sunday after I have arrived, I took an Uber to the place after a nice breakfast at the hotel. It was only a 30mins walk from my hotel, but I wasn't gonna take any chances walking there! 

The museum was easy enough to find, and cost 6Real (around 2SGD) to go in. There are two storeys of quite a large floor space, with clean toilet and water cooler at the second floor. I spend about 1.5hours there. Although I did enjoyed the exhibit as this was like my very first encounter with African culture, at the back of my mind I was worried about how I was gonna find my way back since I don't have any WiFi or internet, and I wasn't sure how safe it was to walk back.... But again, it was a nice enough museum. So do visit it if you are there. Note that everything is in Portuguese, so yeah.... get a guide or just look and feel the spirit of Africa!

I will further divide this post into 4 different section, mainly:

• Africa
• Religion
• Dolls
• Art

While I was there, there was a comic exhibition by an african artist as well, and although I can't really understand the comic, I though the color themed of the section was really uplighting and nice. I especially like the barking dog that greeted you as you walked into the section. There were a lot of fierce dogs featured in the comic for some reason. I am not too sure the relationship between dogs and African yet. I just really like the color of the section. 

And as I've mentioned at the start of the post, the museum is situated in Ibirapuera Park. Above is the only picture I have of the park, and it is of the famous structure by Neyman, a famous Brazilian Architect. I was kinda paranoid about taking out my phone while in the park and taking photos even though I saw many people taking selfies and all. To me, safety first! I don't really regret much of the photos that I don't take, prioritising instead of the experience that I get. 

So next 4 post will all be about the Afro Museum's exhibit. Stay tune!

February 2019

2nd month of using my beautiful Moomin schedule book. February saw me doing nothing for 5 days during the Chinese New Year except cooking good food at home. My mother in law cooked her usual mee-sue during 1st day of Chinese New Year, and for some reason, she decided to use ginger oil this year. After eating it, I was bloated the whole day and hence got the excuse to not go out further for Chinese New Year visiting and socialising. But it was the weekend after Chinese New Year that was the highlight of my February.

As you may have already known if you follow my blog, I went on a Business Trip to Sao Paulo Brazil. And since it was such a long way, I got to flew Business Class, which was awesome. Not only that, the transit at Ethiopia was also one of the highlight. I guess you can read all about Brazil at this link here. It was an unforgettable trip!

Since I was also keeping track of my daily budget, there was no excuse to stop just because I was away on business trip. I diligently tracked my personal expenses in Brazil as well. In total, I spend only SGD130 on myself. Round it up with the 12USD I spend on Ethiopian coffee, its around SGD150 for a one week trip. The jet leg helped a lot in terms of cutting down on my food expenses. I was more eager to sleep than to eat. It also helps that there was a grocery shop just next door to the hotel I was staying at that supplied me with all the fruits and snacks that I need. I mainly survived on hotel breakfast and free canteen lunch at the workplace. 

After tracking my first month's expenses, some lesson learned was, I needed a new category to track celebration money which ends up to be quite a huge amount. These includes Chinese New Year Ang Pow, Wedding Ang Pow, House Warming gifts, Bday. Basically socialising and having friends and family is expensive :P

As for gym usage wise, I only managed to go for 6 hours. I could have stretch it to 8 hours if it weren't for the jet leg I had when I came back as well. But overall, I did exercise much with walks at East Coast Park (1.5hours), and a 5 hour walk alone in Sao Paula exploring their parks, museums, getting lost finding my way home, and exploring the malls nearby. I did managed to lose weight while I was working in Brazil due to the awesome diet there of mainly 100g of meat a day and vegetables and protein(eggs) all the way. But once I was back in Singapore, I kinda loaded up on the carbo again and boom! Weight is back to usual :(   

Although the next news is more appropriate for March's post, my Zumba instructor called me up one day and ask me to join his backup dancer for a dance party at Orchard Road. So I will be doing a few intensive dance session before the actual event. I am pretty sure that is gonna be one of the highlight of my March, so stay tune!