Purple and red lights upon me
I see nobody but my own shadow
I crave for the embrace of a partner
To swirl and move together
But I am alone
In an empty dance hall filled with my hollow echo

*****************************************************************************

This picture was taken at the Upper Club where 2LeftFeet presented its maiden performance and was snapped by my salsa partner with his cellphone camera... not bad huh? Got artistic feel huh?
Although it looked kinda sad and lonesome isnt it?
Actually the whole of performance team was just practising the routine in front of me!! Out of range of the camera of course...

Performance at Upper Club

My salsa dance school, Two Left Feet organized one of the biggest salsa event on last Sunday, 30 Jul 2006 at Upper Club, CHIJMES.

And what a blast!

Firstly, the tickets were all sold out – all 314 of them! In fact, the school had to turn down many people as the club simply could not contain any more people.

Secondly, Two Left Feet showcased its dance routine, which was performed at the L.A West Coast Salsa Congress, earlier this year in May05. And I was one of the performers too!

All in all, I think our dance team did a great job as we received much appreciation from the audience. As for me, I did not screw up any dance steps and put up my “performance face” through out the whole dance.

*phew*…

Previously, I was rather stressed out as I did not train as hard ever since I was back from L.A, and my instructors had commented that I was very rusty and not in sync with the rest of the girls. In fact, I was thinking of pulling out from the performance on Sat night, as I was rather discouraged.

After months of training, sweat and tears… the performance only lasted 4 minutes. And the best part is that I did not even perform the whole routine! (only did the 2nd half)

Nonetheless, I am glad that I did it. Even it was only 2 minutes and 34 seconds. Haha.

Private bankers vs Personal bankers

I just want to put things straight to those personal bankers out there. Stop calling yourselves “private bankers” when you are not.

Unless each of your clients invest at least 1 million USD with you (and that is the barest of the bare minimum for most private banks), you are NOT a private banker.

Makes me sick every time when someone self declare that he/she is a private banker when apparently he/she is not.

I have nothing against personal bankers… in fact; I believe most of them are making more money than me. But I simply cannot tolerate it when people pretend to be someone whom they are not.

I am just being a little anal today.

Yeah, just a little.

Superman Returns and Shux’s Wedding!

Caught the show last weekend and my, oh my… Isn’t Superman supercute, or wat? It has been a long time since I went ga-ga over a movie star (the last was Brad Pitt from Fight Club) and I am now ogling at the picture of Superman like I am 15 years old again.

*fun*

Although I do get pangs of sadness as the new Superman really reminds me of the original Superman and what he had to go thru in the later stages of his life. Reeves was so handsome when he was the superman and the freak accident robbed him of his life and his fame…

Sigh. Even a movie star is venerable.

O yah, someone commented that Lois Lane in Superman Returns not being pretty enough but I beg to differ. I think that her beauty is not the “stunning” kind, but the “grow-on-you” kind. By the end of the show, I am totally convinced that Lois Lane is a hot mama man!

By the way, I wana congratulate my friend, Shux… she just got married! And she held her solemnization … believe it or not, at the Canadian Rockies!!! Next to a river and among the mountains… the scenery was so beautiful…

O, I forgot to mention that her husband is CANADIAN lah.

Anyway, I wana wish the newly wed couple eternal bliss and happiness! And I look forward to hugging their beautiful Eurasian kids!

I noticed that I have not blogged for quite a while and decided to steal away from work and write a tiny entry.

*beam*

As mentioned earlier in my previous blog, I’m supposed to talk about my San Frans trip. However, after thinking about it, I don’t think it’s very nice of me to write nasty things about fellow salsa team-mates, so I’ve decided to keep my mouth shut.

p/s: you can still always ask me how was my trip when you meet me in person and I can then get it off my chest! ;p

Yeah… ok, this is supposed to be a tiny entry. So, I must stop here.

p.p/s: Get a flu jab… I have just recovered from the worst case of flu EVER. I thought I was going to die… But I recovered!!! *cough cough* Life is good without body aches, sore throat and painful lungs! Heh.

Recap: 8th Annual West Coast Salsa Congress in L.A

As I have mentioned earlier, I went to the U.S for 12 days where, out of that, 7 days were spent in L.A for the 8th Annual West Coast Salsa Congress. So, a group of 12 people (me, included!) from Singapore, 2 Left Feet Salsa School set off on the 23 May 2006, ready to wow our audience with our dance routine.

Our performance was on the opening night, Thursday, 25th May, and despite being the “Opening Night”, there wasn’t much of a crowd. (However, it was full house on Friday, Sat and Sun) In fact, to my utter disappointment, we performed to a half-full audience. And to my dismay, the crowd was awfully quiet and boring during our performance, no cheers nor whistles during the ladies’ shines and men’s shines. So, after the performance, I was relieved that it was all over and yet, I was disappointed at the same time.

O well… I guess our performance was not striking enough to create any uproar from the audience, although personally, I do think that our routine is rather clean and elegant. If I were the instructor, I will definitely ponder upon that and worked towards a more exciting choreography in the future.

Anyway, after the performance, I was free to attend the workshops in the mornings and afternoons (from Fri to Sun), which were conducted by world renowned salsa dancers and instructors. One brother-sister couple particularly caught my attention, “Junior and Emily”. They are from San Francisco and specialized in dancing”on2”, and the incredulous part is that Junior is only 21 years old and Emily is only 16 years old!

They are a good looking pair, really exotic looking as they are Eurasians and have some Asian blood. Not only that, they have tremendous stage presence and great chemistry as a couple. They are definitely the star couple, at least in my opinion lah… You can check out their website if you are interested:

http://www.juniorandemily.com/index1.html

After nights of dancing salsa, as well as being stepped, elbowed and punched during the process of salsa-ing, the West Coast Salsa congress was over and we flew over to San Francisco for a short 5 days trip.

Will blog about that another time… as it was a rather interesting trip…

Yosemite Nationl Park was so beautiful that all I could do was to stand there and stare. Why can't we have something like that instead of Bukit Timah?!

New Job, New life… and more stress!

I’m back from the Salsa Congress trip! Not only that, I have also just started on my new job… pretty crazy with the jet lag AND a steep and scary learning curve.

Will talk about more in details about the congress, but all in all, I had a BLAST! To watch all those world class performances, as well as to dance with some of the really good dancers, in addition to those excellent workshops… WOW! The L.A West Coast congress definitely brought another dimension to my perception of “salsa passion”.

Really glad that I went for the trip, will look forward to another congress… maybe Japan Salsa Congress will be cool… ;p

As for my new job, one word: DEMANDING.

Partly because I do not have much relevant experience in hard core finance, and I just have so MANY things to learn and pick up… so much so that, I am kinda overwhelmed. Thankfully that both of my bosses seem rather nice and patient… *phew*

So currently, my new focus in life will be my new job… and to sit for a CFA exam.

*fun*

Will definitely try to update more about the congress trip once I have the time!

General Election 2006

The election is over, but unfortunately for Gomez and the WP, it seems that the nightmare has begun. Gomez was denied exit from the country and his passport was being detained by the police…

This general election 2006 is deemed as the Gomez-incidence election as the saga of “why-did-you-say-you-have-submitted-the-form-when-you-did-not-submit-the-form” was more widely discussed than pressing issues such as rising health costs, increasing public transport and generally increasing cost of living.

The way that the issue was being pounded by the PAP really disgusted me. So much for a first world government and a first world election process huh? Nonetheless, Gomez is a real blur-c**k to screw this up…

This election is my very first election and for the first time, I followed the news/blogs closely regarding to this election. I am deeply aware that my vote will indicate to my beloved government what I think of them and hopefully, the govt will reflect upon that in a constructive way.

In fact, my mum and I went for the Workers’ Party rally on Friday, 5 May 2006 and I must say that I am overwhelmed by the crowd, by the passion of the speakers and I have never been more proud when I recited the Pledge that day, under the lead of Mr. Low Thia Khiang.

The post-65 voters (meaning voters who are born after 1965) want to see a government, who will show more empathy towards its people, more openness in the media and a more level playing field during the elections. Well, at least I do hope that I can see my country progress towards that direction.

I want to thank the opposition parties for contesting against the PAP and give me the opportunity to vote. I want to salute the new candidates of the opposition parties for standing up against the old guards and make them work. Kudos to all of you!

Performance at Velvet, 28th May 2006

Last night, 2leftfeet put up a GREAT performance at Velvet!

It was our virgin performance as this routine was meant for the West Coast Salsa Congress in L.A in this coming May.

Thus, currently we will be doing some free performances to gain some exposure. Last night everyone put in their best and we had really good reviews about our performance!

After so much sweat, time, effort and tears... finally, 2leftfeet performance team is rocking the world!

Career Switch

I am quitting soon.

Currently, I am working in an American based MNC, and have been with this job for the past 1 year and 2 months, working as a Financial Analyst, doing corporate accounting. After months of consideration, I have decided to switch career and return to the cold, hard world of Finance to work my ass off (for a better bonus, I hope!)

So, in about a month’s time, I will say good-bye to my fabulous boss and to my fellow colleagues.

I was really lucky to get the new job, as I was just leisurely looking through Recruit and spotted this rather small ad, looking for investment assistant as a newly set Hedge Fund is looking for an assistant to support the fund managers. During that time, I was deciding to quit corporate accounting as I’ve always wanted to try Finance again…

I was previously a Trading Analyst when I 1st graduated from NTU… working for an Oil trading company, supporting the oil traders and seeing how much money they trade in a day. (Losing 25 million USD per trader per day is very common!) Work was rather exciting as I had to watch the market rather closely…

Anyway, back to the story of finding this new job, I saw the ad, I applied for it, and I got a phone call later, went for the interview (without any expectation as I do not have much relevant experience) and got an offer within the same day of the interview!

That was a lot of change within a few weeks! Nonetheless, I am really excited about my new job… It will be tough, but at least, I will be doing something more exciting! Yippe!

I passed my driving test!

Yup! I did it! I finally did it! I can finally drive legally in Singapore! Yeah Yeah!

After some calculation, I spent close to Sing $3K to get my driving license. Ouch… so bloody expensive isn’t it?!

Nonetheless, I am so pleased with myself!

I took the test on last Friday, 7 April 2006 and I passed! ;P

So, am I going to buy a car? Of course… NOT. I cannot afford it…. Sigh, so expensive to own a car here in Singapore. I’ll just make do with my mum’s Nissan March and zip around during the weekends.

If I am loaded… I’ll buy my dream car! The Mini Cooper S! Too bad, I cannot afford it. One brand new Mini Cooper S will cost around $150K Sing dollars (inclusive of COE). Even a 2nd hand Mini (less than 5 years old) cost around 100K!

Anybody wana buy me the miniature of the mini? I prefer red, PINK or orange color…

I’m going diving again!

After days and days of salsa dancing, salsa trainings, salsa music and salsa partners, I am just about to bish (means punch) anyone who mention the word “salsa” to me…

Especially after the recent weekend’s training, sad to say, the current morale of our team was really low and I was just so tired on Sun’s practice as I had a late night on sat and had to wake up really early on Sun due to Ching Ming Jie, where I went to pay respects to my late grandfather.

Back to the morale issue of the performance team: we need MORE guys! Currently, there are twice as many girls than guys in the team, and to make matters worse, some of the guys are rather weak in their dancing and since salsa rely on BOTH the guy and the girl to look good, it can be really frustrating when the guy is not making much effort to buck up.

Sigh… and the performance in L.A is only less than 2 months away!

Anyway… some of my hall friends are organizing a diving trip to Pulau Aur (Malaysia) in August and I am just so excited!

Although, Pulau Aur itself is not a great diving site… in fact, there isn’t much to see at all, except for some sea cucumbers, rocks and occasional fishes. Nonetheless, it will be great to dive again, to breathe the crisp and dry air from the oxygen tank, to enjoy the peace and silence that the ocean offers and to do something else besides salsa!

Hmmm… I will need to get a wet suit. I do not want to go through the agony of squeezing into a wet suit that is too small!

I can’t wait to dive again! ;p

For those who MSN me... will know that this is the portrait of myself.

I just love this picture so much! One of my cats really look like that... fat, yellow, cute and a little stoned.

Hey... she may be fat, but she is NOT clumsy. Jumping from one cabinet to another cabinet is her favourite hobby.

I have a fat, flying cat. ;)

The lucky boy in white is the Birthday Boy!
Happy Birthday!
And all the sexy, gorgeous girls in black are, of course, the girls from the performance team!
And the fairest of them all... is of course ME!
Haha... literally.. "fairest"... ;p

Horror of all horror

I was at Union Square (Singapore one and only salsa bar) last night, and to my horror, I realized that I truly sucked at social dancing!

It has been a while since I last social dance as I have been busy with the performance training for the L.A congress. However, I got to learn the hard way that being a good stage performer doesn’t equate to being a good social dancer! (I’m sure many guys got to experience that 1st hand last night)

I was soooo S-L-O-W in reacting to the guys’ lead, and not only that, my rhythm was in a mess. Basically, if anyone knew that I am going to perform in L.A, he or she will most probably go “yah… rite.”

Sigh… I am so upset.

Time to pull up my socks and get my ass to Union Square every week to social dance!

Cool Salsa Video

Came across this salsa video and I am all motivated again! This video showcases how dips can be done with style and grace, and currently, my performance routine seems to be focusing more on lifts, rather than dips. Although my instructor did mention that there will be a difficult dip in our routine (Can’t wait!)

So, for those who are curious to what salsa dips are (hrmm… not those with nachos), check out the link!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5061062132646680465&q=salsa

Meanwhile, a quick update about my life:

Work. Dance. Eat. Sleep. Work. Dance. Eat. Sleep. Work. Dance. Eat. Sleep.

Yup, that’s my life right now. Although I am perpetually tired most of the time, there is a sense of purpose in me: to learn the salsa moves and execute with excellence, so as to “wow” my audience.

There is a part of me that gets all excited (yet stressed!) when I perform as I see performances as a kind of “exam”. After invested so much time, effort and money into salsa, I’ll like to test myself whether I have put my time to good use. Plus the fact that I really do like to perform lah… haha.

Meanwhile, for those who are curious about my cats, my mum is still keeping all of them. HDB has kinda given up on us… and actually told my mum to be as discreet as possible with the cats. Hrm, how to be discreet when you have 7 cats???

So much for the “HDB vs my tubby cats” Saga.

And just for you, Chio, I am enjoying your book “Riding towards the sunrise”. Will blog about it next time!

I am sooooo stressed!

Life is so stressful for me nowadays; in fact, it has been like a mad rush since the beginning of 2006.

Most of the stress is work related, as I have been rotated to a new role with more responsibilities! (My pay is still the same though…)

And currently, I am also training for a salsa performance, which will take place in late May. During the weekends, I’ll spend up to 8 hours on both Saturdays and Sundays on training… it can be really tiring. Going forward, there will be at least 3 to 4 trainings per week… how fun.

Nonetheless, this is something that I really want to do since this performance will take place at the prestigious L.A Congress. Yeah, that’s right! I will be performing with all the salsa experts from all over the world, how cool is that!?!

However, all these stress from work and salsa is taking a toll on my mood… I can be really cranky and grumpy. So, if I snap at any of you, most probably I do not mean it.

Meanwhile, I will continue to update on the “Saga of the HDB cats”.

p/s: If you can’t fight them…. Find their loophole. This is how I am dealing with the HDB now.

Dear Mr Ang,

Thank you for responding to my letter, however, I would like to bring up a few points:

As quoted from you:

2 "We wish to explain that cats are not allowed to be kept in HDB flatsas they are nomadic in nature and are difficult to be confined within theflats. Due to this, cats can cause nuisances, such as shedding of fur,defecating/urinating in public areas, noise disturbance etc, which affectthe environment and neighbourliness in our housing estates."

Firstly, animals will be nomadic if the pet owners are not responsible to keep them within their premises. Dogs, cats, rabbits and birds will definitely roam beyond the flats if they are not properly caged up. Therefore, the problem lies with the pet owners and not due to the animals if they are found to be roaming in the common areas.

Furthermore, for my case, the door and windows of my flat have been specially grilled to prevent my cats from venturing out to common areas, in addition to the fact that they have been sterilized. Thus, they are extremely quiet and are all toilet trained.

Secondly, dogs will also shed fur, defecate/urinate in public areas (I have seen many dog owners who DID NOT pick up the droppings of their dogs in public area such as lifts and parks), as well as noise disturbance (dog's barks is generally louder than cat's meows).

Therefore, the above reasons which you have quoted do NOT only apply to cats, but to dogs as well. And dogs will equally affect the environment and neighbourliness in our housing estates if they have irresponsible pet owners.

Thus, once again, it is the pet owners who have to be responsible to ensure that their pets are not a nuisance to the neighbours, regardless whether it is a dog, cat or parrot.

I understand and appreciate HDB's priority to promote a pleasant living environment and good relationships for all residents in our housing estates. However, it is extremely unfair to discriminate cats because any animals will be nuisances to the environment if the owners are irresponsible. The problem lies with the owners and not the animals, by prohibiting cats to be kept as pets is just curbing the symptom and not the root of the problem.

In addition, the ruling that disallow cats to be kept as legitimate pets could be one of the reasons why the numbers of stray cats in neighbourhoods are high as cat lovers have no choice but to rear the cats in common areas. Thus, fuelling a vicious cycle where cats are causing nuisances to the public.

In fact, I suggest that HDB to issue licenses to cat owners, similar to the current policy where dogs are licensed pets.

In conclusion, I urge HDB to revise its ruling, so as to allow responsible pet owners to own pets of their choice and do their parts to reduce the numbers of the stray cats, thus reaching a win-win situation.


Yours faithfully,
Miss Lee.

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I will fight for my cats... I refuse to let them roam the streets.

I need support... ...

Responsible Pet ownership versus HDB ruling

On 4th February 2006, SPCA has once again urged the public to be responsible pet owners. However, I will like to highlight that under the HDB ruling, “Housing and Development (Animals) rules 1989”, cats are not allowed to be kept as pets in HDB flats.

Toy dogs, birds, hamsters, fishes and rabbits, which can grow to the size of a cat, are allowed to be bred as pets, but just not cats. Even though they are sterilized, and after sterilization, they are usually very quiet and tamed.

I will like to understand from the HDB why there is such discrimination towards cats.

And being cat lover myself, I have 3 cats at home. Unfortunately, due to complaints from a neighbour, I have been warned to “remove the cats” (as quoted from the letter) within 2 weeks, or else I will be slapped with a fine of two thousand to 4 thousand dollars, and upon second or subsequent convictions, I will be charged in court under the Housing and Development (Animals) rules 1989, in addition to “Environment public health act, section 44” and faced imprisonment of not exceeding 3 months.

My cats are sterilized and are kept indoors at all times. They are extremely quiet and I sincerely believe they do not pose any nuisance to my neighbours at all. I love my cats very much and pride myself being a responsible pet owner. However, with the warning from the HDB, how can I continue to be responsible towards my cats?

I hope the HDB can revise the rules and allow cats to be legitimate pets, especially since more than 80% of Singaporeans are HDB flats dwellers. If dogs and rabbits can be kept in flats, I cannot see any valid reasons why sterilized cats cannot be pets.

Currently, in my situation, I really do not wish to abandon my cats and sincerely hope that I can continue to care for them till they die of old age. It is extremely frustrating and heart breaking if I have to give up my 3 beautiful cats to the SPCA or any other shelters, just because I stay in a HDB flat.

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I am having some troubles with the Housing and Development Board of Singapore. As you have read above, I am sending my frustrations to the Straits Times Forum, to the HDB, to the Singapore Cat Welfare Society.

This is issue is causing a lot of grievances to my mother, who is extremely attached to the cats. Sigh… they are more like her children now than me.