Are you secretly afraid of being independent?

Once upon a time, there lived a Princess who did nothing but sat there and sang of the day her Prince Charming would arrive in style and sweep her off her feet. Up till then, nothing went right for her. Her life sucked and her family, comprising of one stepmother and a couple of stepsisters (there might be more but she didn’t bother to count) made it their life mission to make her life miserable.

All this Princess ever wanted, was a man who could take care of everything and allow her to be a tai-tai. Sounds familiar? LOL. That’s probably coz such a thought had possibly crossed your mind at some point. Of course I won’t deny that I haven’t thought of that but the thing is I’ll probably get bored of sitting around and tai-tai-ing all day long. =x

Colette Dowling called this the Cinderella Complex in her book, The Cinderella Complex: Women’s Hidden Fear of Independence. In her book, Colette described how women tend to victimise themselves because they are secretly afraid of being independent and confronting this fear head-on. True, there are women who are very gung-ho and fiercely independent. But they might be secretly quivering inside for all we know. The moment they get a man, they immediately give up this fierce front and relegate themselves to the subordinate role of a wife. NOT that I’m saying wives are supposed to be subservient and all but traditionally, is that not what has been prescribed for the women?

This book was published back in 1981 so you might probably feel that such a concept is outdated and probably doesn’t apply to you. But in truth, there are still many educated women out there who harbour this secret desire to be taken care of and well-protected. This is probably linked to women being unable to step out of the comfort zone that had been bred into them since the Caveman Age. You know, when the women stayed at home to take care of the cave and kids while the hairy men went out to hunt.

If you’re a female reading this right now, did you ever have the secret desire to be taken care of by a man? It’s ok to admit you wanna to be taken care of by a man but sometimes, it helps to stand on your two pedicured feet too. =)

Otherwise, you’ll be asking “Who moved my cheese?” the next time a problem crops up.

Before I sign off, let me leave you with this rather amusing short from an anime called Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt. =x

Yes, I know it looks perverted and it might probably offend the very religious but watch it with a pinch of salt. Maybe a truckload full. =x

Amazing voices

For creative people, Youtube is certainly a wonderful platform. In fact, I’ve lost count of people who were ‘discovered’ through the power of Youtube. LOL. One person who comes to mind is the young lad Justin Bieber who shot to fame with one of his 2007 videos when Scooter Braun was just searching for videos of a different singer. Goes to show, if you don’t put yourself out there, you won’t know if you’ll make it or not. =3

Another singer whom I think is pretty good is this young lady, who was ONLY eleven when she performed this song. It’s like wahhhhh….a young Mariah Carey!

And another! This time, it’s a pair of twins. =3 They seem to be pretty popular too! This vid below is a personal favourite of mine as well.

Enjoy!

Take your life in your hands

A shiok life is a must-try for every person!

Thanks to a recent acquaintance I met, I picked up this book titled “The 4-Hour Workweek” by Timothy Ferriss. It’s about how you can reduce your working hours to a mere FOUR hours a week by delegating work and knowing what to prioritize. Items on that particular list would be things like emails and setting up meetings with colleagues or friends. Sometimes these things take up 80% of our time and we can’t even get half on our to-do list done. =x

It certainly is an attractive notion to work much less, enjoy life more but still possess the same earning power. Hehe…I think I shall make it MY goal to enjoy life in a more efficient way like Timothy. =3 Hopefully I can get to travel the world or even stay in another country like him for a few weeks too! Heh.

Another good knowledge resource I wanna recommend is this blog by the acquaintance I mentioned above. =3

Her name is Karen Leong and she’s a relationship mastery coach. She primarily does seminars for women who are looking to move ahead in their careers and personal pursuits. Check out her blog for tips on how to network and take control of your life. =3

Also caught Air Doll over the weekend…quite cute, although kinda random at parts. I guess this movie was really trying to illustrate how we tend to pass people by and not give them a second glance. If you didn’t catch the trailer I posted the last time, here it is again:

Oh and before I sign off, a food blogger who thinks he can get away with FREE FOOD? Either a publicity stunt or sheer arrogance, but utterly tasteless in my opinion. >.<

Image: Michal Marcol / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Fantastical designer

I love fantasy. And I love costumes. I remember pretending to be a swashbuckling heroine on my bed when I was much younger, draping my blanket over my shoulders like some form of mantle. =3

That’s why cosplay was one of my things to do. Now that I’ve tried cosplaying at local events, I must say that it really takes discipline to actually make a costume and go around sourcing for materials. Just like planning a wedding, ya? Haha…

Anyways, I came across this website of a costume designer from LA, California and I absolutely love her designs. Especially this set of costumes from her masquerade fairies theme… Gorgeous, right?

She also does commissions so if you’re thinking of getting a unique gown for your wedding (instead of patronising boutiques that carry designs that all look the same after a while), you can get in touch with her! Just click contact on the top navi-bar. =3

Oh and if you’re wondering where to go this coming Saturday, do check out the Natsu Matsuri 2010. It’s a traditional Japanese festival held at the Japanese Primary School at Changi. Check out the details here. Do note that the yukatas that will be on rental will probably be gone by the time you manage to get into the school. The best option is to rent at The WearHouse or purchase your own set at shops like The Haru House (convieniently located at Far East Plaza and *Scape). You can read all about my experience last year here.

Me? I’ll be heading for the Japanese Film Festival to watch the OMGSOLDOUT Air Doll. Hurhur. Lucky my fingers were quick enough to book tickets. Keke…

Here’s a youtube trailer of the movie. Quite cute.

Yes, it looks hentai-ish but it looks quite interesting, no?

When there’s nothing to eat

Have you ever been in a situation when nothing selling near your house appeals to you anymore? The food sucks, the price sucks even more and the worse thing is you can’t even exert the strength to go further somewhere else to buy food they say is delicious and worth every cent.

So what to do? Me, I just see what I have in the kitchen and throw together a mixture of whatever ingredients I have. For example, if I have instant noodles and a can of Campbell soup, I’ll just heat up the soup and cook the noodles (without the msg), then mix them together to make a nice piping hot bowl of Campbell soup noodles. Sometimes I’ll even throw an egg into the soup so it’ll have an eggy taste. =x

AND it seems that Super Cook has the same idea as me. All you have to do is enter whatever ingredients you currently have and voila! You have the recipe to make food you probably haven’t tried before.

Go ahead and give it a try. I’m sure your mother would appreciate the additional recipes as well! =3

A spot of pampering

So I finally got myself an appointment with Polished Divas after purchasing the $10 for Manicure and Drink from Beeconomic. I went with my bf and we were pretty excited coz this would be our first experience in getting our nails done! Yes, I don’t really get my nails done coz for one, my daily life requires me to do stuff that are not really conducive to manicures so really no point in getting one but a nail pampering once in a while sounds really inviting. As for my bf, he was the only guy at the place but the ladies seemed unperturbed. =x

To add to his not so macho image, he even asked for an episode of Gossip Girls to put on the dvd player. LOL. Luckily the lady attending to us didn’t seem to be very disturbed. Maybe guys regularly come in to get their nails done and watch girly shows to boot. HAHA.

But anyways, we BOTH enjoyed the experience. It was a wonderful addition to my birthday too. =3 I should really go for more of such deals and I hope they put up more fun stuff that both myself and my bf can try! Keke…

The $10,000 Dream Wedding

Weddings…ah…the very thought of it brings to mind the image of a blushing bride marrying the love of her life at a gorgeous venue, with bouquet in hand and perhaps a few doves flying over their heads. That is until the bills drop down upon the happily married couple like the splat of bird shit. =x

Okies, that wasn’t the most glamorous of descriptions but you get what I mean. Weddings in Singapore are expensive and overpriced to boot. There are always a million things to pay for and top up just to have that once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I’m all for a unique and unforgettable wedding myself. But not when it comes with an even more unforgettable price tag. Yes, I know people are willing to splurge on a good location, a beautiful wedding gown, a top-of-the-line photographer etc but really…I believe with a little research and shopping around, you can actually get what you want for a fraction of what you’ll usually pay. =D

I found this book that claims to reveal secrets to creating your dream wedding, all without breaking your piggy bank and going into debt after the wedding. Apparently you can spend under $10,000 and still get to have a great wedding! The book may be written for the American bride in mind but I think Singaporean brides can actually pick up a tip or two on money-saving tips from this book. It’s called “The $10,000 Dream Wedding“. It comes with a money-back guarantee anyways so if you bought and liked it, tell me all about it! =D