Personalities

Believe that you can

Hannah Tan - 9 March 2010 - 8:47am

In between work and on the train, I try to squeeze in time to do some reading and the book I’m currently on right now is this one by Jentezen Franklin entitled, “Believe That You Can”. It’s a very inspiring and eye-opening book about dreams – having one, striving for it no matter what the circumstances may be, and using the achievement of a dream to make the difference in other people’s lives too. And this week, I have learnt one valuable lesson – there is 1 thing that can make one person succeed where another fails. One thing that can take you from mediocrity to excellence. One thing that can infuse your life with power and purpose. One thing that sets “great” leaders apart from “average” leaders. It’s passion. I reckon that in whatever we strive to do or achieve, if the passion is lost, the drive and the enthusiasm goes down with it too, so let’s try to make a conscious effort to fuel the fire for a burning passion and not give up no matter what the circumstances may be. *smile* Remember, never settle for 2nd best but instead strive for excellence. All the time. *smile* Have a great week guys and thank you for keeping me in your prayers. Mwah!!!

Categories: Personalities

Leo’s Twitter Updates For The Week Of 2010-03-07

Leo Laporte - 7 March 2010 - 11:00pm

RT @dsilverman: reminder: i'm a guest today on TWiT, 5-630p CST at live.twit.tv. also joining @leolaporte is @brettlarson. # Live now: This Week In Google 31 with Jeff Jarvis and Gina Trapani. http://live.twit.tv. [pic] http://j.mp/cVHpE5 # Futures in Biotech54: The Personal Genome Project with Marc Pelletier and George Church of http://pe [pic] http://j.mp/affsAq # Live now: This Week [...]

Categories: Personalities

100%

Hannah Tan - 6 March 2010 - 6:43am

It’s a miracle!!!! *grin* For the first time since I started the course, I have a perfect score for my main general achievement test!!!! Thank you so so much for praying for me (mum and dad, that includes you tooo!!!!! Hehe). It definitely made all the difference and God is so gracious. I’m so so sooooooo thrilled!! *grin* It was the best news I heard all day… *laugh* because at school I found out that we had to do a 3rd test for diction and pronunciation right after we finished our 2nd test for the day. So we started off with our first kanji test followed by the weekly achievement test and the additional diction test. Tough day but it definitely ended on a good note for me. Hehe. Not sure about today’s test tho…*laugh* It was tough and 100% doesn’t come all the time. *laugh* Anyways I’m glad the weekend has finally arrived. It’s my favourite time of the week and as always, I look forward to working in my pyjamas tomorrow. Yay! Hehe. Hope you guys will have a good one at your end too. It was a beautiful but hot day today. It’s about 13 degrees right now but no complaints because it's perfect for me! Hehe. I’m gonna work on some new compositions this weekend. Being in a relaxed state of mind is always good for creativity and since my weekend has already started on a happy note, I think I'll have a few tunes to pen down now… *grin* Time to let the creative juices flow! Haha. Sorry I can't stop smiling. Hehe. Thanks again for praying for me and for being so supportive. I love you most! *smile* Mwahhhhh! Oh ya... this was out in the local Malaysian Star newspaper but for those out of Malaysia, you can view the article online too at http://star-ecentral.com/news/story.asp?file=/2010/3/5/music/5781617 sec=music (http:// http://star-ecentral.com/news/story.asp?file=/2010/3/5/music/5781617 sec=music) *smile*

Categories: Personalities

Katakana final test results and a hybrid lemon haha

Hannah Tan - 3 March 2010 - 1:29am

My final test results are out and I thank God for yet another miracle! *grin* Thank you so much for praying for me and for all your encouragement through the week. Big hugs!!!! MWahhhh~ Didn't expect full marks but no complaints tho!!! Haha. We started our first lesson of Kanji this week and I keep reminding myself that once it's all in my head, it won't be such a nightmare anymore. *laugh* Just gotta sharpen this rusty brain of mine first la... Hahaha. Meantime, check this out – an orange-lemon hybrid! Hahaha. It has the colour and smell of an orange but it looks and tastes like a lemon. Hehe. 3 of these alone cost ¥315 (slightly over RM10) so it’s not a cheap lemon mind you! *laugh* Interesting to know tho ay? Haha. Was talking to mum and dad last night over skype, planning what to do when they're here next next week. I'm sooooo excited! Can hardly wait! Hehe. But y'know what? Out of all the places, guess where my folks wanna visit in Japan for their 1st trip? Guess, guess, guess??? They wanna go to Disneyland. BOTH!!! Haha. So cute. They said that as long as they get to spend 2 days in both Disneyland and Disney Sea, they're happy. *laugh* So I guess I'll have more pics for you from Disneyland in another few weeks ya. Haha. You can never have too much of Disneyland and the company is what matters most so no complaints!!! Really looking forward to it with my folks. Yay!!!!

Categories: Personalities

Tokyo Disney Sea

Hannah Tan - 1 March 2010 - 12:23am

Guys y’know what? The older I get by the day the more absent-minded I become! *laugh* Teruk la… haha. I’m sorry I totally overlooked the Disney Sea pics from the recent visit. Sowie sowie… but here they are. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I present you… Tokyo Disney Sea! Hehe arrival at the Yamanote line Maihama train station *grin* taking the internal Disney train line to get to Disney Sea *smile* the experience begins here! Hehe. Check out the train man... haha all set to gate-crash the park. Woohooo!!!!! I literally felt like a little girl again, exploding with so much excitement and enthusiasm. It was great! *grin* And despite the fact I wasn’t feeling too well that day (which is why I didn’t stay long), I still had a ball. *smile* Disney Sea at about 4.45pm... My favourite was the Magic Lamp Theatre. 3-D effects and an interesting experience altogether with the genie…hehe, although it’s totally different from the adrenalin-pumping roller-coaster rides. Haha. Oh and BTW, you can also find many types of popcorn flavours at the park – from the conventional caramel popcorn to black pepper, chocolate and curry flavour!! Haha. They’re not very generous with the flavouring tho, so if you’re a person who likes it in full flavour, you may end up being quite disappointed since they don’t taste as good as they smell. *laugh* I HAD to try this... *laugh* Smells better than it tastes tho... hehe There was 1 ride which I was too chicken to go on at the park – the Tower of Terror. I was told it’s a ride up to the top with an elevator drop of approximately 199 feet just right after the doors open to reveal the entire park view from the top. Hahaha. Nerve wrecking!!!!! Haha. the ride I never went on... *laugh* Disney Sea was fun and my only advice for you if you do plan to visit the park in the future is that you get the FAST PASS!!!!! Haha. You can sometimes end up waiting for a ride for almost an hour during peak times. So if waiting is not your ‘thang’ then the FAST PASS is the only way to go! Haha.

Categories: Personalities

Leo’s Twitter Updates For The Week Of 2010-02-28

Leo Laporte - 28 February 2010 - 11:00pm

Live now: This Week In Google with Jeff Jarvis, Gina Trapani, Anil Dash, and Matt Cutts. http://live.twit.tv. # "The morning after the night before is a bitch." Did Winston Churchill say that? # @Volkai I don't usually retweet stuff about me. It seems self-serving. But thanks to you for retweeting it! in reply to Volkai # RT @mashable [...]

Categories: Personalities

Washi

Hannah Tan - 27 February 2010 - 8:40am

My Japanese language school organized a field trip for us to the washi factory recently and I had the opportunity of experiencing the traditional way of making paper! Hehe. I have a video for you too but before that, perhaps it would be good to give you an introduction to what washi is all about. *wink* the noisy bunch! haha. Also probably the best classmates I could ever have. *smile* briefing by the experts themselves *smile* my classmate Manu San caught me taking a pic of the whole briefing...hehe Basically, washi, also known as wagami, is traditionally a handmade Japanese paper commonly made using fibers from the bark of the gampi tree, the mitsumata shrub, or the mulberry tree. According to wikipedia, washi comes from the words ‘wa’ meaning Japanese and ‘shi’ meaning paper, and the term is used to describe paper made by hand in the traditional manner. Washi is generally tougher than ordinary paper made from wood pulp, and is used in many traditional arts like origami, as well as to make various everyday goods like clothes, household goods, and toys as well as vestments and ritual objects for Shinto priests. In traditional Japanese homes, the paper screens or 'shoji' (folding screen, like what you see in the pic below) is also made from washi. *wink* Interestingly enough, washi was even used to make wreaths that were given to winners in the 1998 Winter Paralympics. *smile* picture from http://www.infomapjapan.com/hstore/200806-infospecial.phtml Washi is produced in a way similar to that of ordinary paper, but with less chemicals. It involves a long and intricate process that is often undertaken in the cold weather of winter, since pure, cold running water is essential to the production of washi. Since the cold inhibits bacteria and thus prevents the decomposition of the fibres, it is traditionally the winter work of farmers in Japan. Basically the process of making washi starts from boiling the branches and stripping them of their outer bark before being dried. Then the fibers are boiled with lye to remove the starch, fat and tannin before being subsequently placed in running water to remove the lye. The fibers are then bleached and any remaining impurities in the fibers are picked out by hand. Wet balls of pulp are then mixed in a vat and a traditional method of paper making is then employed. It looks like this…hehe. I’m no expert but I guess this is a good start ay? Hehe. At least if I ever run out of a job in Japan then I know where to head to…!!! *laugh* It’s the weekend and as always, my favourite time of the week! Hehe. No need to shoot this weekend so I will have time to catch up on the rest of my task list and work in my pyjamas. Yay! *grin* Hope you’ll have a good one at your end too. BTW, thank you guys for praying for me. My last test results came back as 96.2%. Miraculously! Hehe. God is good. *big-grin* Have a fantabulous weekend ya, and big panda hugs!!!!! Mwahhhh~ with my classmate from Hong Kong Denise San and my teacher Komiya Sensee *smile*

Categories: Personalities