Chinese Take Away

This is what happens when two Chinese restaurant wrong workers collide!

Self-Portrait

Tracing from a mirror using a felt pen

This was such a hoot! I felt like a little kid again, drawing a caricature of myself. There is another one of me, but I am more self-conscious of myself in the other self-portrait because I was posing in front of the mirror with my chin down.

You could try it at home in front of the bathroom mirror too. Just get a non-permanent felt pen and trace yourself in the mirror. Then, trace again over with a tracing paper with your felt pen. You would get a 2D picture of yourself. Neat, huh?

Dad Makes Prom Dress

... out of condoms. Yes, a pretty original safe sex dress.

P.S. I got this in an email forward. It's too funny not to share.

Artwork

I love art. Contrary to what people think on this silly Facebook application Compare, I think I'm quite artistic; whether I'm good or not, it doesn't really matter because art is a mere hobby. When you're dealing with art, you're learning to take risks; you're always experimenting with different kinds of media. At the same time, you're solving problems; figuring out how to draw or create an object. Like Music, Art is very therapeutic for me; it exercises my right brain.

I have discovered that I love using India ink. I do the wash first, then I use a calligraphy pen, different brushes and paper towel (believe it or not) to further add details. You could also use a straw or even a toothbrush if you desire some cool effects with ink.

Above: Study of drapery -- a scarf.

Above: a daunting still life study -- the way as I interpreted it; it was not close to the real potted plant at all, but it was all I could see from my angle.

And here is a still-life study piece I did with conte. I am currently still refining my landscape of headlands in Cornwall, England, which is also done with conte. When I'm done, I will upload that here as well.

A Cynful Review: The Ivory Club and Ebony Lounge

I was in for a treat on Thursday evening after I got off work. My boyfriend picked me up and both of us were in for a royal treat. I have always wanted to go to the Ivory Club, but it is not very accessible by public transportation. In retrospect, it is probably a good thing because it keeps the teeny boppers away from such a sophisticated and genuine place.

Honestly, I did not know what to expect from a "piano duel". I thought it would be something like this:

Well, of course not exactly like that, but I thought it would be more of a match of some sort. Nonetheless, the whole show was 100% on-request. Here is a tip to those who haven't gone to this club yet: you should tip the pianists when you request for songs; it's only polite. $5 is the minimum. The more you tip, the sooner it will be played.

The food was amazing! We had a giant plate of nachos and asian spring rolls to start with; some sort of grilled pork dish for an entree. Hi-balls were half off that night. I didn't take any pictures of the food because I didn't plan to bring my camera. The pork fell right off the bone; very well seasoned that you don't even have to ask for salt nor pepper; it had some sort of cooked sliced apples as a side. I give the food two happy thumbs up!

Seriously, there is nothing more romantic than live acoustic music. I was melting the entire night; the food, the drinks, the music. As I was saying earlier, both my boy and I were treated royally. Well, I know my boy probably won't like me bragging, but he helped fix a lot of the equipment the club has at his job, including the white baby grand piano. Hence, the royal treatment from the club owner himself. I requested Van Morrison's Moondance and it was well played by the owner. I also requested Elvis Presley's Hound Dog and it was played pretty darn good by the sound guy. Wow, even the sound guy knows how to play! Hmm, how could you not dance to/swoon over any of these two songs that I've just requested?

Nothing beats live music. I love this club.

Has Alberta really got a Plan?

Maybe Ralph Klein wasn't that bad as an Albertan premier after all. In 2002, Alberta's Ralph Klein was halfway through his first term, riding a 20% spending cut roughshod toward the $2.5-billion deficit he had resolved to eliminate. (source: http://www.ontariotenants.ca/electricity/articles/2002/ch-02c29.phtml) Now, Alberta has a surplus. The question of HOW the province is going to spend/invest its surplus is a difficult one to answer. So, what is Ed Stelmach going to do?

Well, let's see how the Tories are doing under Ed's leadership in the public opinion poll first, shall we?

(source: http://www.nodice.ca/elections/alberta/polls.php)

It dropped from 58 to 32 from Jan 13th to Jan 24th 2008. That is a significant drop; but why? Is it because people are not so confident about Ed's leadership? Or is it due to voter apathy?

Challenged to think about what the top 5 issues in Alberta are in my Public Policy Administration lectures, following the news critically has been actually quite entertaining. My group came to a unanimous decision that housing (or the lack of) in Alberta is a major unsolved non-market issue. It is a farce really when the economy is in such a boom and it is getting more expensive to live in the province. Where and when does the provincial government draw the line when it comes to putting a ceiling to rent prices?

The NO PLAN propaganda:

On the contrary, the Tories have just recently unveiled an annual $6B spending plan that will run for 20 years. A 20-year plan? That is ambitious. The 100-page long plan (that I might actually have to end up reading as a class project), however, is short on specifics for longer-range schemes. (source: January 30, 2008. Edmonton Journal; Capital Plan; page A3) Well, that is actually quite understandable since politicians can't really predict the future as precisely as economists do.

To read more about the 20-year plan, click here.

When Hometown folks all get together

"The more we get together, the merrier it'd be."

Yes, there are very few of us Bruneian folks studying overseas in Canada. It's actually kind of ironic. You leave your small little town to across the other side of the world; some of the friends you grew up with whom were really close to you drifted apart as time and distance grew. You make new acquaintances, both hometown and the newly local, as you are adapting to your new environment.

Recently, I've just met up with two hometown friends. We had bubble tea together; despite it being brief since one of us had to wake up early the next day, it was a lot of fun! It's comforting in a sense that there are people that you can talk to who can relate with similar cultural identity, backgrounds, and especially what you're going through. All of us could not believe with the increase in the prices in food and drinks. $0.30 increase for a plate of noodles is considered quite steep in my hometown. That is 30 cents less change when you pay with two $1 Bruneian dollars.

I don't know if there is such thing as a communication barrier, but it seems that there is not much common ground to talk about with the hometown folks who have never left home. I may be wrong, but it seems a little challenging to make them understand why you're not exactly wanting to go back to your home country to make a living. Some people seem puzzled why I would be hesitant to go back to Brunei after graduation since Bruneian residents do not pay income taxes. They say that there are a lot of jobs available in Brunei, but then why are a handful of University of Brunei Darussalam graduates unemployed or underemployed?

Well, the next time I will get together with any of my hometown folks is when I'm visiting home. It's actually kinda nice that a few hometown friends/classmates (all whom I haven't seen in years!!) have told me to give them a ring. There is a lot to catch up. It's somewhat comforting in a sense that... even though the hometown friends whom you grew up with seems to have drifted apart, you could always make some old friends new. Also, it's also comforting to know that you can always catch up on where you last left off.

"And your friend is my friend.. and our friend is your friend...." The more we get together, the merrier it'll be.