Bloggers in Big Shoes ~ Project Baby Love

25th July, 2010 ~ Sunday morning bright & beautiful, feeling great, I went to Sports Planet at East Coast Park for a mission.

Sport Planet @East Coast Park


Upon arrival, I was given special equipments for the task...

A pair of BIG pink clown shoes! xD


Tried them on & do I look silly, cute or what? =P

Hamster in Big Shoes! xD


And what are those clown shoes for?

Big Shoes Soccer Star! xD


Ok, here's the whole plan. With a number of bloggers, I was participating in Project Baby Love, a charity event organized by Bloggers in Big Shoes for Sanctuary House. Canon Singapore had generously stepped in as the main sponsor. Donations collected are for babies and infants who desperately need foster care and medical attention. These babies have been either physically-abused or abandoned. Poor darlings. =(
The event called for us, Bloggers in Big Shoes, to play a match of mini-soccer. The objective is to rise fund & gain more awareness for Sanctuary House.

Bloggers in Big Shoes Soccer Team with organizer, Dedrick Koh


Our action team consisted of Alfie, Fabian, Jeremy, Eileen, Delcie & me. There are also numerous reserve players standing by of whom, I beg their pardon, I didn't get all of their names. We are to play the match of mini-soccer(played with 6 players on each team on a mini football pitch) against SAF Football Club which players had generously contributed their time & effort... OMG! They are pros & they should be the ones wearing those big clown shoes, not us noobs! xD

Bloggers in Big Shoes(in whites) vs SAF Football Club(in blue) with referee(in green)


With those big clown shoes hindering me & due to my grandma passing away only a few days ago before the event, I didn't attend the training session & without any knowledge of how to play soccer, I felt so noobish, but I'm game. Let's get on with it!

First, the prep talk & game plan


We have to use every method available to us to stand against those pros! The game plan called for 3 of us girls to be the strikers using our feminine charm to sway our opponents aside & distract the goalkeeper. Failing that, we can always scream & charge, which might work cos those pros are not used to such girlie tactic. LOL! xD

Referee briefing: No touching the girls! =P


The game started with frenzy actions...

Noobs vs Pros!


Give way, guys or feel the wrath of women! =P

Charge!


And I discovered a new way of controlling the ball...

Hop like a Kangaroo! xD


GOAL! Seems like our tactics worked. Delcie scored the first goal!

GOAL!


Subsequently, there were quite a numbers of goals scored by both sides with me scoring 1 for our team.

The Hamster Scored! xD


When the whistle blew & the match ended, the final score were ~ Bloggers in Big Shoes: 9, SAFFC: 5. But seriously, the guys of SAFFC are really gentlemen, giving away the match to us. If they were to really play, we will be totally trashed. =P

Game Scores


After the match, there were presentation of tokens of appreciation to various sponsors & supporters.

Tokens of appreciation


And the event concluded with a cake-cutting ceremony to commemorate the success of this event. The cake were specially customized made & sponsored by Delcie who operates a cake shop. 2 thumbs up for Delcie! Your cake was delicious!

Noel Tan, Program Director of Sanctuary House & Dedrick Koh, organizer of Bloggers in Big Shoes cutting the cake


I was briefly interviewed by the press during this event, but I botched the whole thing cos I was too tensed up, nervous & incoherent. I hate myself! I can never face a video camera especially when speech is required. No such problem with still cam.

Botched Interview


It was a fun-filled, very rewarding & satisfying experience for me. Except running around & sweating a lot, can't say I had contributed much to this project/event. The credit of the success of this event/project should goes out to Dedrick Koh of Bloggers In Big Shoes & his dedicated team. To promote this fund-raising program & generate more awareness, they had managed to grab media attention resulting in blogs of the Bloggers in Big Shoes were briefly shown on Channel 8 & Channel U News. Credit also goes to Canon Singapore, the main sponsor, SAF Football Club, Sports Planet, various sponsors & supporters.

Supporters of Project Baby Love


Project Baby Love raises money for babies and infants who desperately need foster care & medical attention. These babies have been either physically-abused or abandoned. Sanctuary House currently cares for 50 babies & children. They need your help to survive. We need to raise money to give them the food & medical attention they desperately needed. They are starving. Many of these babies do not have a home. Some are unwanted babies that nobody wants to adopt because they have medical complications. Others require life-saving medical care. Some of these babies are so sick that they couldn't drink milk using a bottle. They require feeding through tubes. Your help could save a baby's life. If you believe that all babies deserve love, please click on the following link to donate: Project Baby Love

Please Support Project Baby Love! =)


And here's a chance for you to win a Canon IXUS 300HS digital camera sponsored by Canon Singapore. To participate is easy. Just vote for your favorite Bloggers in Big Shoes. One randomly selected person who voted will win the Canon IXUS 300HS. Contest ends on 31st August.
I'm in Photo D. So what are you waiting for? Click on the following link to vote: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KHGGVGD

Information:
Fund-raising event & Favorite Bloggers in Big Shoes competition is sponsored by Canon Singapore: http://www.canon.com.sg/home
Sanctuary House: http://www.give.sg/
Project Baby Love: http://www.give.sg/TeamGIVE/Sanctuary-Campaigners/causathon
Official site of Bloggers in Big Shoes: http://bloggersinbigshoes.com/
SAF Football Club: http://www.safwarriors.com.sg/home/
Sports Planet: http://www.ubersports.com.sg/index.html

Personal Message to my readers: I will be very happy & smile for you if you can kindly donate to Project Baby Love: http://www.give.sg/TeamGIVE/Sanctuary-Campaigners/causathon


Latest Update:
This charity project is featured in The Newpaper on 9th August 2010.

Yeah! I'm in the news. XD

*click on pic to enlarge

A Tribute to My Grandma

19th ~ 22nd July, 2010 ~ This entry & the photo of a double rainbow(the 2nd rainbow is very fade, just above the lamp pole) is dedicated in memory to my beloved grandma.

Double Blessing


The significant of this photo is not in its quality which is poor as it was taken by my cellphone camera. Instead, it has a very important impact in my life. The pic was taken while traveling in my dad's pick-up truck after he picked me up from work. On the way home, we saw this stunningly beautiful double rainbow. This is the 1st time I'd seen a double rainbow & more importantly, I saw it on the anniversary of the passing of my grandpa. And beside that, about a week after this sighting, slightly more then a year after grandpa left us, my beloved grandma followed him to heaven. My grandma is 98 years old.
The wake lasted 3 days with the final ritual of scattering my grandma ashes at sea which was what she had requested, same as my grandpa. Till now, I'm still in a confused, distress & depressed mood. I cried a lot. I miss my grandma very very much. She looked after me during my younger years. I was quite a handful to handle, hyperactive, playful & mischievous. But the dragon lady who is my grandma could handle me very well. She had never beaten me, but she is firm & tolerates no nonsense. And she has a soft heart which sometime yield when I used the crying tactic. Even when I'm grown up & she got old & weak, I'm still in awe of & a little afraid of her. I couldn't use the crying method anymore. LOL! xD
Those were one of the happiest period of my life while staying with my grandparents, running around in their big house, playing hide-and-seek, kung-fu fighting with my younger brother & breaking things... oops... my grandma always playfully reminded me of those whenever the family recalled our memories. I don't think I will be able to pay for all those antiques I'd destroyed. LOL! =P
My grandma is one tough lady & a very intelligent one too. As an only child, strong-will & no nonsense, with very little help, she migrated from China to here, alone, all by her own. Not an easy task for an Asian woman of those period, just before the Second World War. She married my grandpa, a local Chinese & set up a small business, ran it so well that she could afford to purchase a private property. She achieved all her success in an era without Women Rights, of very conservative Asian traditional views when almost all women were not allowed to be in-charge of or had no say in anything & were usually treated as ornaments, babies factories & housewives. My grandma overcame all those difficulties, fought for a place, a standing in a harsh world & won with glory. Quite a feat for a woman of her time. A Dragon Lady she is! Yet, despite of her toughness, she has a kind heart, always willing to help whenever she could.
During the last few years, as my grandparents got old, weak & fragile, my dad & his youngest sister took turns looking after, caring for the old folks. I visited as & when I could, but regretfully, it was not as much as I had wanted/wished to. Slightly a year after my grandpa passed away(8th July, 2009), on Monday 19th of July, 2010, my grandma joined him in heaven. A very loving couple were my grandparents & they are together now, like the double rainbow, happily forever in heaven.
Here's to a tough, but kind-hearted Grand Dragon Lady, my Dearest Beloved Grandma, age 98 ~ R.I.P.
"Grandma, I love you a lot & miss you very very much." ~ Your mischievous granddaughter, Niki.

CosFest 2010 @Downtown East

Sunday, 4th July, 2010 ~ CosFest, an annual cos-play event & Singapore biggest was here again last weekend. As before, the event was held at DownTown East & this year, it featured the launch of a new Predator movie ~ Predator Femme Fatale.

Predator Femme Fatale


Hahahaa... I am only joking. xD
The fact is, I went to CosFest 2010 in a new costume, cos-playing as Machiko, a female character from the comic series of Aliens Versus Predator published by Dark Horse Comics. At CosFest, I was asked many times what character I was cos-playing. Here are some info about Machiko, the She Predator. Machiko Noguchi is a 22nd century human female who lived & hunted as an honorary member of the Predator species. She became a She Predator after befriending & helps a Predator elder, Broken Tusk in fighting a horde of Aliens. In the ensuring battle, she gains the respect & admiration of Broken Tusk who 'bloods' her with the mark of his clan. Thereafter, Machiko was accepted as a member of a Predator clan, hunting alongside them for several years. Very skilled & deadly to both Xeromorph & Predator alike, Machiko later returns to settle among humans.

She Predator Machiko


Some of the geeks & nerds who are into the sub-culture of Predator will remark that my costume is not accurate. But who cares about accuracy in a non-exsitence subject anyway? With some imagination, I applied artistic license & came up with my own version of Machiko.

Hengbok version of Machiko, the She Predator


She Predator arrived at CosFest about 2 pm accompanied by a few tough characters & security team from Movie Mania. No one will dare mess with you when you have friends like these. xD

My tough companions

My security team of SWAT & Marines


What do you do at a cos-play event? Have fun taking lots of pics with other friendly cos-players of course!

With the Star Wars team & a Golden Palm Tree?

Cute boy & girl with macho men.

Ghost Buster Team & Female Ninja


And my favorite of them all is of course a member of my clan, a baby Predator! Isn't he cute? LOL! xD

Baby Predator & Hamster Predator xD


As we hunted other cos-players for pics, there are many other hunters stalking us. At such event, there are usually more predators than preys. Semi-circles of camera-carrying, photo-capturing predators surrounding a helpless cos-playing prey are typical scene.

Surrounded by Predatory Clickers


We were so busy taking pics with other cos-players & posing for photographers that I didn't noticed much going-on at the event. I'd been to past CosFest a few times & this year's was no different. The usual lines of booths selling all sort of anime merchandise were there & so was the annual cos-play competition too.

Cos-play competition & the Winners

Stage display of cos-players


We had fun at CosFest 2010 & left at around 6.30 pm. Looking forward to attend the next one. What will I be cos-playing then? Tune in next year for the answer! xD

How about a MacNinja? =P


Acknowledgment:
My sincere thanks goes to Reno, founder of Movie Mania for providing the materials & the loan of the Predator helmet, gauntlets & shoulder armor. Also thanks to Movie Mania team of Tim, Edwin & Sam for providing assistance in the production of the props. Special gratitude goes to my soulmate for doing such a superb job of making & painting those awesome props.

Notice:
More & bigger pics will be up in my Flickr album.

Licence 2 Play

Yes, I know I haven't update my blog for way too long, about a month to date. My life had been way too hectic lately. Packing, getting rid of unwanted stuffs & moving home. Unpacking, tidy up & systematizing my room. I couldn't imagine how much stuffs I'd accumulated over the years. Threw away about 50 big trash bags of nonsense. I'm a junk collector! LOL! =P
At the same time, I got a new job with different tasks to learn. And in-between all that, was engaged for events, participated in training & rehearses for upcoming events. Here's one of those events...

29th/30th May, 2010 ~ For 2 days, with fellow costumers, I was with Movie Mania which had a booth at the Licence 2 Play(L2P) exhibition which was held at Singapore Expo. The exhibition was mainly meant for games & toys, but half of the booths were of electronic companies selling computer stuffs.

Me@L2P


As usual, online gaming & computer thingies always draws crowd or it might be due to the immensely popular Food Fair which was held at the same time just a few halls away. Nation of geeks/nerds & food lovers we had become. xD

Crowd @L2P

Toys, Games & Gaming Competition


At Movie Mania booth, we had more than our fair share of attention from the crowd whose cameras were clicking non-stop & also when we took a walkabout. Weirdoes always draw attention & weirdoes in fancy costume are top in anyone awareness. Crave for some attention? Join Movie Mania, wear a fancy costume & you got it! LOL! =P

Non-stop cameras clicking @Movie Mania


And you will definitely gets more exposure when you goes on-stage like what some of the Movie Mania members did @L2P.

Theme Terminator by Movie Mania ~ Saturday, 29th May

Street Fighters staged by Movie Mania ~ Sunday, 30th May


As the theory goes, camhogs like me are always attracted to the center of attention or perhaps it's the other way around that I'm a magnet which attract cameras making them goes auto non-stop clicking? That can be say of many members of Movie Mania too. LOL! =P

Below are proofs of me camhogging with fellow costumers... xD

From left to right, top to bottom: T-600(Reno), T-600(Patrick), Clone Trooper, Wolverine(Rocky)

From left to right, top to bottom: 1st pic ~ Resistance Fighter(Howie), T-600(Patrick), Red Army(Rocky). 2nd pic ~ HALO warriors Edwin & Tim. 3rd pic ~ A Family of Bats. 4th pic ~ Chinese General(Rocky)

From top to bottom: Wolverine(Rocky) & Freddy Krueger(Howie). An Army of 2(Tim & Roy). Warcraft & Predators.


And the Femme Fatales of Movie Mania...

From left to right: Sue(Resistance Fighter & Chun Li) & Janice(Sakura)


Beside the camhogging, we have our hilarious moments too. We should have done an epic movie, a parody. xD

Mania Epic Movies ~ Freddy Krueger Goes to College. Guns & Claws. Kitty Vendetta. Spiderman vs Terminator. Sex Laws of HALO.


Went camhogging with other vendors as well. Showgirls & mascots are definitely camhoggers or they won't be in this line of work! xD

Angel Bear, Roller Blade Angel, Starcraft Girls & Darth Vader


I had a funny moment with Elaine Yuki, a Starcraft promo girl from Blizzard. When we first saw each other, we had the same thought. We walked towards one another, point at & simultaneously saying exactly the same words to each other... "Can I take a photo with you?" We both paused & replied the same reply: "I asked you first!" And we had a little friendly argument of who asked who first & laughed at ourselves for speaking like bimbo clones. xD

Elaine(left), Me & another Starcraft promo girl


She's so cute & pretty ain't she? Well, they all are, but in my opinion, Elaine is the cutest & prettiest among them. Those Starcraft promo girls at the Blizzard booth were very popular with the crowd, especially with guys. All hoping for a pic with them to show off to their fellow geeks/nerds at the first opportunity & no doubt, loves the envious looks from their peers. LOL! xD
And Movie Mania members were not immune to the charm of those Starcraft promo girls too.

Starcraft Movie Mania


(OMG! That reminded me of something! I'm supposed to email those pics to Elaine & a month had past already! ARRRH! She's gonna kill me! I hope she's not mad at me for being so late in giving her the pics...)

Anyway, we had lots of fun at the event. In closing, 2 group pics of the cast of Movie Mania @L2P.

Movie Mania@L2P