Looking back…

                                                                    …it was such a blast.

Here’s when I say thank you for the good times!

Organisers – Tommy, Ser Yee, Shan, Doug, Dave: You guys were extremely professional in the entire process. Kudos for the patience with us! The pep talks, reminder SMSes and emails, and encouragement in all shapes and forms… Super thanks!

Coaches and stylist – Linda, Suzenne, Sharon: The thick brows wouldn’t have gone without you Seriously, appreciate your time in giving us the extra oomph we needed for the competition.

More heroes behind the scene – Alvin, Yupeng, Chloe, Reanne(?), Mosses, Xiaobin, Joy, Shihui, Kenny, Zhiyang + more photogs and folks I didn’t get the chance to get your names: You never go unnoticed! And especially to Alvin – the extra walk was all for you! Haa…

To the rest of the 19 of us: It wouldn’t have been this good without you.   

Heaps of thanks also to you for the votes and support!

For my last post, i wanna post some pictures of my younger days. Some ppl requested to see more of the cute nicolas:)

Good luck to all the 19 contestants. Hope we all win and may the best executive wins!!! anyway, i had made a lot of new frens. wish that this camaderie continue after the contest

Love you and miss you papi, mami and titi laura. how i wish you were tonight to attend the finals:(

Au revoir…

Prior to my PR career, I traveled to Germany and Belgium with the Singapore delegation of journalists to write feature articles about issues surrounding the European Union. I chose to write about the controversial topic on Turkey’s progress in joining the E.U. – It’s really, really interesting and I would love to go into details… unfortunately, I don’t have much time (gah!)

European Parliament – there are 23 official EU languages and there are 2 translators for each language in every session.

I walked into a protest on my way to the European commission off Berlaymont in Brussels. Imagine the incredulous looks on the police officers’ faces when the fellow Singaporeans and I ran to the frontline with our cameras (garang style sans bulletproof vests / masks).  

Little red riding hood scouting for Belgian waffles

I walked into a church housing refugees who went on hunger strike in a bid to get their visas

0.75 euros for beer or 2 euros for evian /coke?

I came home with a beer belly.

Patriotic girls outside the Singapore embassy in Berlin!

I’ve been in two places at one time ! East and West Berlin

Attended graduate journalism class guest lectured by Mr. Duffy.

Topic: Singapore Press Freedom

Panel discussion on Singapore’s media landscape with German journalists

I want to walk the cobbled streets of Leipzig again….

 Happy        Sad       Anguished
          Anxious     Suprised
                    Excited

I am excited about the big day and will look forward to put into action the weeks of preparation that we have been put through! It promises to be a great event that will keep the audience entertained and cheering for their favourite contestants.

I have only one goal this Friday night – To give it my best shot.

This is the last blog before our finals! Feeling a bit nostalgic already..*sniffs* A whole month of classes and rehearsals have passed us by and tomorrow, all of us will be standing in front of 1,000 people, under the glare of the spotlight!

This is OUR MOMENT. For some of us stage virgins, it will be a nerve wrecking experience. But nevertheless, I am determined to make this a fun event (despite the tremours that will betray me)!

I will miss all the fun we had during our classes, there were moments where I felt that i could develop abs from all that laughing..haha..if only it’s so easy ah! I would like to say thanks to Suzenne (yes I’ll keep my legs closed and don’t be so chor lor), Auntie Linda (yes, i’ll grip the mike like a man’s you-know-what), and to the entire SPH MyPaper division (Ser Yee, Shan, Tommy etc etc) for organising this event. Yes, I know it sounds so corny, but it has been an exhilarating experience for me.

And of course, my loyal supporters – my mom, dad and fiance. My mom is so painfully honest with me (Quote from her: Your face looks like a pau ah), my dad is supporting me in his usual quiet manner (he texted me upon seeing me in the papers and asked his friend for an extra copy of My Paper on the day that I appeared and nonchalantly passed them to me afterwards), and my fiance is my loyal chauffeur (hehe). My close friends, whom I met for dinner last night, Siling, Sin Hui, Biying, thanks for the words of encouragement. Hehe..to my colleagues and boss, Aishah, Edna and Mr Haja. They have said that our showroom will close for one hour so that everyone can support me. Double hehe. To everyone who voted for me, thanks for giving me your vote! I hope you will get to win the attractive prizes!

I walked by the empty stage at Vivo today, trying to visualise the crowd, the hype, the spotlights, everyone will be looking at us! This is IT. It has come, the MyPaper Executive Look  2009 winner will be crowned tomorrow.

AHHHHHH! Good luck to my fellow finalists!! I’ll see you all tonight!!!

I started with travel blog, so i thought i should end with a travel blog too.

The competitition journey has been an interesting one, I must say it had been hard to cope between the contest and other parts of my life. But there had been some self discoveries which i like to share.

I am the one with the most blog entries, but I am probably the lousiest one in writing,reading and even talking ! Because designers are “draw-ers”….(my coworkers will laugh at this ).

Most importantly, I learnt again that family always comes first and whenever I am happy, they are. I know they will be very happy to see me on stage on 3rd April.  

Thanks to all who had supported and voted for me, especially my family, my best friend Alfred and his wife, all my good friends and their friends,my pretty niece and their friends, friends of my family, my happy candy: Waifong, Blackraisins staffs,and not forgeting, my perfect partner in Hawaii ! I will always remember the Ohana spirit and will miss all of you in Shanghai. And I know my sister in heaven will be watching over me.

And thanks to all the crews who had been professional and really nice especially Shan who never fails to answer my needs.

Its almost like a soul-searching journey for the past 2 months, so I shall end with my last travel blog…..Soul, Seoul.

Hi everyone,

So sorry it took a while to put up this blog entry.. been really busy at work, busy too with the Executive Look classes and had to squeeze in a couple of biz trips.. so my apologies for taking so long with this… also apologies for my fragmented, unedited typing as well, long day with deadlines to meet, even after this blog entry…

So first up, a couple of thanks to give:

1. All you lovely ppl from DBS, ABN AMRO now RBS, UGA Bulldogs, USC Trojans and many more, u know who u r.. who dug, unearthed and gods_know_where_you_found_these and donated these pics of me to me. I’m historically a lousy pic librarian, without u ppl this blog wldnt have happened..

2. Winston, the pic expert, who reorged and resized the pics into bloggable format for me…

3. Jane who planned the ‘story line’ and ensured political correctness… sorry if some precious pics dint make the final cut, they’re probably deemed too ’interesting’ for a nice blog like this we’ll keep those for another time ok…

Also thanks for your votes, if u did vote any! Hope they won’t go to waste and that you’ll win some prizes!

Last but not least, thanks to my fellow contestants, you guys have been superb.. Sorry I had to be away for a few classes but nonetheless you guys really make everything so much easier with your willingness to share and help… all the best to each and every one of you.. We’ll enjoy the finals together I’m sure!

(OK btw it starts from college days coz i cant find any digital pics before that era…)

“ All alone in a foreign country, i bought myself an inspirational poster to make myself feel cool…”

“and before i know it, i met my best friends in college Haley and Alisha…”

“and also soon_to_be_Dr Henrik, whom i became very good at losing tennis to…”

“and at a dental checkup, i was advised to put on braces and so i did - webcaming home my gaps…”

“and i joined my first student organization the Malaysian Singaporean Student Association (MSSA)… before long i had my first fund-raiser effort for the SPCA as ‘ahem’ *President of the MSSA in UGA, “

*Everyone was drunk at the election, on the Tiger beer i bribed them with ;)

“and we brought Singapore films to an international audience…  ermm ok more accurately, to students packed in a small auditorium to watch a foreign language film they don’t understand, just for extra class credits…” 

l

“and i was a proud to be flying the Singapore flag in school…”

“but of corz, i also leveraged on my Korean-sounding surname to make friends ”

” and webcaming home e proudest day of my life – UGA Board of Regents Scholarship recipient!” 80% tuition fee waiver! woohoo!! 

“and i brought my baby on a road trip to Daytona Beach Florida… and she’s the greatest car deal u’ll ever hear.. USD$1.5k depreciation per year!! ”  

“and after UGA, i went to USC for grad sch and became a Lakers fan…”

“and 1 month into grad sch,  i decided i’m quite done with studying.. and i packed up to go to tokyo with Rich and Dan before coming home…”

“back home, i decided to run for office….. only during Halloween at Zouk of corz… “

“and with hardly any $$$ in my pocket, i wasn’t convienced i was an eligible bachelor…”

“but still i found love …” (love u baby! mmmmuack!)

” and we love to spa…”

“and at work, i love my colleagues… even when we were Bengs and Lians at D&D…”

“and i also love to travel for work to meet my clients… ppl like one of my fav clients Mr Park in Dubai”

“and once in a while, you get to have your loved ones with you …”

“and have dinner at the amazing Burj Al Ara… and be ready to remain broke for the rest of the year… “ 

 Okie that’s about it of my fav n impt pics of my life since college… hope to add lots more in the coming years… Thank you for taking the time to check out these precious moments of my life.. Wishing you all the very best too!! Take care and cya soon!!! 

The Great wall of China is definitely a must see place in Beijing. I was really impressed by the hard work of our ancestors !

Also saw some exotic food along the streets …heres the pics ! 

In the blink of an eye, we have come to the end of March and are just slightly over 48 hours to the Grand Finals of Executive Look 2009.

Unfortunately, my body has been wracked with the cold and I haven’t been in top form the last few days. I am still savouring every last moment of this competition and storing them in my “Look back and Smile” bank of memories. So my dear fellow Executive Look 2009 contestants, I am not simply being all silent and sullen in my little corner, smelling organically of coffee (haha!) – I am really just taking everything in since I can’t actually be fully with you at this point.

In the last week or so, I have been talking to myself and attempting to convince myself that “It Will Be Great.” because the truth of it all is that it really is hard to be COMPLETELY confident and COMPLETELY at ease with the reality of the impending Grand Finals because you will, after all, be up on stage, under all those spotlights and in front of unimaginably many MANY pairs of eyes. If you were one to never really give two hoots about what people think about you, you would start caring right about….. THEN.

Thankfully, we have lots of great advice and pieces of encouragement coming from each and every corner of our lives which is truly comforting and nerve-soothing… So before I forget to thank you (in the midst of my anxiety), here it is – T-H-A-N-K-Y-O-U to Suzenne, Tommy, Ser Yee, Shan, Auntie Linda, Dave, Douglas, Alvin, Sharon, Chloe, Olsen, the Bobbi Brown team… It has been a wonderful experience but no where as great if not for everything that each of you have done to contribute to this past month.

I will save my individual Thank you notes for a more private moment =P

I also want to thank all of my friends and family for their own sound advice on staying true to myself and to only be MYSELF. As my beautiful brooding friend D put it so succinctly in his own words, “no award is big enough if u cant be yourself”. We laugh and we are clowns in our very own right but when it comes down to the crunch of it, we only have love for each other. And no matter how grumpy I get, I promise to be nothing less than ME. I will live as I have always lived; love as I have always loved; and give as I have always given.

* * * * * * * * * *

I end off with a “Happy Birthday” to my little 4 year old princess =) You’ll be a big girl soon. Will Aunty Trina still be cool then?

xoxo

I dedicate today’s blog to the Lovely People who make up my existence, define who I’m and Whom Rock my Boat completely. =) A heartfelt THANK YOU !!! for your Love and Support to my Family, Relatives, Bf, Colleagues & Friends; Longtime friends, Dance friends, Race marshal friends, VS friends, Una friends, International friends, Friends in this great competition, Organisers from SPH, events company and all whom I have not mentioned.
Without your love, support and encouragement, I would not be the Wei Yin you know and whom you make fun of from time to time. Cheers!!! This is to YOU! =)