Saturday, April 26, 2008

林夕的似是故人来

因为王菲的歌曲, 我接触了林夕写的词. 他也是我最喜欢的写词人. 总觉得他的词对感情有一份执著和任性, 对感情有一份期待,无奈和一丝的悲伤...

似是故人来是梅艳芳的一首歌曲, 曲是罗大佑写的, 林夕的词. 它是也是我最喜欢的一首词.

似是故人来

同是過路 同造個夢 本應是一對
人在少年 夢中不覺 醒後要歸去
三餐一宿 也共一雙 到底會是誰
但凡未得到 但凡是過去 總是最登對

台下你望 台上我做 你想做的戲
前事故人 忘憂的你 可曾記得起
歡喜傷悲 老病生死 說不上傳奇
恨台上卿卿 或台下我我 不是我跟你

俗塵渺渺 天意茫茫 將你共我分開
斷腸字點點 風雨聲連連 似是故人來

何日再在 何地再聚 說今夜真暖
無份有緣 回憶不斷 生命卻苦短
一種相思 兩段苦戀 半生說沒完
在年月深淵 望明月遠遠 想像你憂怨

留下你或 留下我在 世間上終老
離別以前 未知相對 當日那麼好
執子之手 卻又分手 愛得有還無
十年後雙雙 萬年後對對 只恨看不到

十年後雙雙 萬年後對對 只恨看不到

Korean BBQ

I had my first taste of "Korean food" at Tiong Bahru food court when I was still in Primary School. Honestly, the food wasn't authentic and I thought Kimchi tasted very bad then. Over the years, I tried on various Korean rice set at different food courts. The best one that I ever had was at Marina Square foodcourt (before they renovated). It was quite authentic as the stall was operated by a Korean lady boss and god, their Kimchi was very good. I also learnt how to overcome the weird taste of Kimchi and starts to appreciate it because her's.

Few years ago, I wanted to taste real Korean food at a real korean restuarant. I surf the net and found one at Pek Seah St. There are a lot of such resturants there but the one I picked one called New Seoul. I had went there with my Poly Friend and it was a quite an unique experience for us.

When having Korean meal, they usually accompanied by lots of small appetisers and there are a lot of types of Kimchi. We did not know then that the cost are already factored into the main course, so my friend and I were worried about the bill. After that, we realised how silly we were as customers can request refilling of those dishes as many times as you like if you can finished them. Another surprise was that the grill meat was not like what we have in foodcourt - spicy and red. They have different varieties and common ones are marinated in soya sauce etc. To eat, customers can often dipped into sesame seed oil and sugar mixture. After meal, restuarant will served up a sweet gingery flavoured tea - it was decorated with a little bit of pine nuts floating in it and we were told it will aid digestion.

I had Korean food recently with colleagues at the Korean Shopping Mall. Food was common and they wasn't as generous in refilling their small appetisers as like other restaurants. The place looked posh, but a pity that meal was eaten in a very rush manner. However, I have to say their spicy chicken was not bad - sweet but it wasn't spicy enough for me.

They served up a lot of small appetisers. However when we requested for refill, they took orders, but didn't serve them.

State of the art retractable exhaution vacuum to suck up the greasy smoke. Look cute, but noisy.


The not bad spicy chicken. We had thought they were going to grill it, but it turn out to be stew like with a lot of vegetables. Not bad, but I think it can be done better.

What is this you asked? It is suppose to be a soya milk based soup. When they had served us, it was boiling and almost overflowing. When cool, it looked like this. We have not even scooped out any yet. Taste like toufu bits in some salty liquid and there is nothing else in it. Guess how much it cost? $15 dollars... I couldn't understand why they can serve this.

Verdict- Pricy and food is common. There are more worthy restaurants to experience authentic korean cusine than this one.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Ikea - You don't have to be rich to be clever!

I watched too much “Restaurant makeover” on Asia Food Channel and began to think that I can actually revamp my room on my own. Yes, it may sound silly, but I am not thinking of knocking down walls or even to re-tile the floors. I have planned simple work – clean the room, painting the walls (hardest), throw away some old stuffs etc.

I started the planning weeks ago. I had wanted a small table so that I can do some writing and computing. My old computer table looked like it is going to collapse soon, so went shopping at Ikea to get some stuff for my room. That shopping trip was one of my happiest days in months. I really love it there, simple design furniture at cheap price. I can go there every week and will not get bored. :)

I think Ikea is really one of those businesses in the world who cares and not only focuses on making money. I read in a book about Ikea and it fascinated me. The boss started out as a mail to order furniture supplier in Sweden. They would send catalogue to people by mail and thus save cost on advertising which is still being done now. Because of its humble beginning, it has always come up with ideas to save cost, so that they could provide affordable furniture to consumers. Now they are also environmental conscious – Singapore’s outlet charge for plastic bag and in a way encourage shoppers to bring their own bag. I also remember reading that the boss still travels in economic class despite his fortune.

What I like about Ikea is how user-friendly their shop and product is. They always try to make things easier for you. The lack of saleperson is also a plus point. I don’t people to bother me while I shop. I will look for them if I have questions.

I have to tell you all about this software that Ikea develops and provided on their website - Home Planner. Users can download for free and use it on their computer. It helps them to plan what to buy without having to step into the store. The software first requires users to key in the size of their room, then user can just drag and drop real items which was sold in their stores into the plan, so that they can conceptualise how their room will looked like with Ikea furniture in scaled down real life proportion.

User can chose to view the room in 2D and even in 3D view~~!! User can rotate the room in different directions, judge whether Ikea's items will fits into their room decor and most importantly how much those items will cost etc.

How cool is that~!!!

Friday, April 18, 2008

It never rains but pours...

So how low can one's luck goes? Try fall sick while you are on leave...

I took leave for a short break in hope to settle down my thoughts and concentrate on my room revamp project. 可惜人算不如天算, 计划永远赶不上变化。I fell sick after first day of cleaning.

The room revamp project only managed to sustain for one day. I throw out an old computer table and an ancient looking cabinet on Monday. As my nose is very sensitive to dust, I even wear a mask while clearing things. Guess the precaution wasn’t enough as immediately I took out the mask, I sneezed and non-stop. The next day, I was sick – down with flu. On Wednesday, the flu evolved into fever. Then on Thursday and today, the fever subsides, but the rashes moved in. My chest all covered with red itchy patches.

How suay can I be… I have yet to clear my clothing and bookshelf. Guess we have postpone the project further.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

The Naked Face

One Sunday morning, I was online surfing net. My best friend MSNed me. She wanted to show me some earrings which she has made for her online shop – check out Minikazari Earrings , thus suggested that we switched on the webcam. We didn’t realise or thought at the point in time that we are still in our pyjamas, messy hair and naked face. When the camera was switched on, both of us looked at each other and laugh…

It has been years that we have not seen each other’s naked face. Mind you, the last time she didn’t put on any make-up was when she was still in secondary school and the last time I didn’t have any make-up on my face was when I was in poly year 2. We have got so used to each other’s painted face that we have almost forgotten how we looked like previously.

Both of us looked so “different” from our usual image. I thought she looked gray (immediately she claimed that she is sick…) and she thought I looked like a butch (I had just cut my hair short…). Of course that entire conversation are said jokingly (with some truth), but it just make me realised how dependent we are on make-up and how we have got so used to the image projected by each other.

Then recently, I was revamping my room. I happened to find some old photos which were taken during my secondary school days. If only I could post them here and all of you who know me probably could not even recognise me. Ok, I am never photogenic, but those photos were horrible. No amount of photoshop could save them. I looked hideous then. Thank god for putting me through the “ordeal” which changed my life. I just cannot imagine where I would be if I still looked like that now.

I believe a lot of women out there probably faces this kind of problem too – being very dependent on make-up as it creates the familiar image which outsiders are so used to. I mean how many of us dare to show others your naked face? How many of us dare to go out without any make-up on the face? I have to admit – I can’t. I have to get my brow defined and concealer applied onto my eyes lid at the very least before I can step out of that door.

A lot of people would just rebut that looks are not really that important, what matters most are inner beauty, confidence, intelligence etc. I never quite buy that theory as I believed first impression is important which people judge mainly by looks. I, myself, have seen different reaction and attitude from people who treated me differently before and after my image change. No doubt, I am still very big, but people treat me differently depending on how I looked. I have never dare to go out with a shabby image ever since.

Make-up can brighten a dull face, give a rosy and robust look for someone who looked sickly and even creates a dynamic face for a face that is originally flat. Make-up is very much an art and is not like you put on blue eye shadow and think that it. There are a lot of skills and techniques that can transformed a person’s looks with a dash of colour.

I remember telling my mum one morning while I was “painting” my face that I feel like an opera singer preparing to sing on stage soon. I feel there is some truth in it. Make-up acts as a confidence booster and as a shield for me. It also creates that mask for the character which I played every day at work. Sometimes, I feel that without it, I cannot do the things that I have done. I also wonder whether people will still take me as seriously without the “mask”.

My naked face is sadly listless and uninteresting. People do not recognise me if I didn’t put on make-up and that had happened a few times despite the unusual body size. I can even blend and disappear into the background if there are no colours on my face. Come to think of it, it is very sad that people will only get to know the image and not the person beneath it. Then again, do you really want to know the real person?

I wonder…

57签

几年前, 不知所措的我到观音庙求签, 请菩萨指点迷津. 我听取了她的意见,等到了希望. 如今一样迷惘, 我又回到了观音庙,请她提点. 如果我应该那么做的话,请给我上签, 可是不应该的话, 就给我下签.

我诚心的渴求, 得到了57签 - 上签. 签文写道:

说是说非风过耳
好衣好食自然丰
君莫记取当年事
汝意还全我同意

此签要怎么解?

Tools of Yesterday Years

While I was at the National Dental Centre, I saw this exhibition - "Tools of the Yesterday Years". I am so glad that I was born in modern time. I cannot imagine people going to dentist in the past. The tools are huge and sinister-looking. Perhaps that why they didn't want to go.

A lot of hammer looking tools... Why do they need so many hammers? Gulp... I don't think I want my dentist to poke these tools into my mouth....



Brace yourself ~!!! The circled tool is for root canal. Dentist will first drill a hole into the tooth, then use the small small picker like tool to poke into the hole to dug out the nerves... It hurts a lot. I know cause my mum done it before. I hope I don't have to do it, please...

See below, do you know what is it? A safe! Hmmm... Why is there a safe displaying at exhibition you asked? Well, remember some of the old old people have special teeth, so dentist need it to guard the precious material. Don't know? Gold! Nowadays, we seldom find old old people with gold teeth liao, but when I was young, there are a lot of old people who have it.

I guess modern dentist also need a safe. Not to store gold since it is so cliche, but for diamonds instead. Hee Hee, I would want a diamond encrusted at my front tooth. It will be so cool ! :P


Hey, I saw that see-saw thing before when I was in primary school. The school dental nurse has one of this thing in the clinic. It was for measuring the gray fillings. Come to think of it, I always hang out at the dental clinic after school. Strangly, a lot of kids would avoid going there, but I like it because the nurse is a very lady and would tell us nice stories.

Those were the days...

Monday, April 14, 2008

痛的边缘

I nervously took a seat.

“Lie down first…” ordered the Doctor. “I will give you some anesthetic shots so that you will not feel the pain later on.

“Yup, I know. I have done this before. “

I lay down. The assistance turned on the flood lights and adjusted it to shine directly over my face. Silently, the sense of nervously crept over me and I feel scare.

I thought to myself: Don’t panic. I have done this before. I knew what going to come. Just relax…

The doctor applied some anesthetic cream over the area before injection. The cream taste bitter and the applied area feel warm and swollen. It was numbed.

I can see the needle in her hand and heard her saying:” Don’t be scare, just concentrate on your breathing ~ Count them ~”

“Breath in and breath out~ “ I counted them obediently as the needle came closer and closer.

I felt a short pain and it was gone before I can confirm it. I can only feel the area become more and more swollen as more anesthetic solution was pumped into the area. Just as I thought the ordeal was over, I let out a soft cry. The doctor injected into another area and it hurts. Worst, she has to poke the needle deep into my flesh for that area.

After the anesthesia, I was a bit shaken. My nose, my chin, my mouth and my lips were all numbed. She ordered me to rinse my mouth and funnily I could not gargle at all, because my numb lips cannot hold back the water at all. After the mental laughs, I thought it was scary...

The doctor waited for a few more seconds before starting. The hovering sound buzzed throughout the procedure. I feel the doctor tugging and carving, but luckily there was no pain.

1 hour later, everything is completed. Immediately, I felt my lips were weirdly plump. I remembered thinking to myself, Cool, so this is how Angelina feels every day! The numbness of the nose and chin just make me start to imagining that I just finished my nose and chin implant job, ah not forgetting the lips Botox…

BUT~ no, I merely went for root cleaning session at National Dental Centre. This time round, the procedure was less painful, thanks to the anesthetic cream. Therefore, I even did the whole mouth instead of doing one side of the mouth first.

I have done the root cleaning before and after this recent experience, I am just mad at my ex-dentist. How can he not apply the anesthetic cream before the injection and subjected me to 32 shots of excruciating pain?!!! The pain was like multiply by 20 times of BCG injection. The dentist had to poke the needle into your gums and the area at the roof of the mouth and above your front teeth hurts most. To think I actually pay him a lot a lot more for it…

Then again, my ex-dentist apparently did a very good job. The dentist at Tan Tock Seng’s dental clinic told me that when I was there doing normal cleaning. He even suggested that I should go back to my ex-dentist.

After the treatment, I couldn’t eat at all. To be exact, I couldn’t chew and bite as the teeth were sensitive and sore. I have done the treatment in the morning, thus I didn’t eat much for lunch. Dinner was spoonful of rice soaked in soup. Still, I cannot even squashed the soften rice with my teeth and had to swallow them whole.

My current dentist wants me to apply aesthetic gel to the gums nightly and go back for a review after 6 weeks. Because of that, brushing of teeth at night becomes a 15 minutes routine as I have to apply special aesthetic gel to the parts of the gum.


However, the gel worries me a bit. It was written:

Do not rinse.

But also…

Do not swallow.

So if I can’t rinse, the gel will stay in mouth and gets wash and mix with my saliva. What do you do with your saliva? Yes… Swallow…

*Starts checking for purple nails…

Friday, April 11, 2008

Polygrads - Follow up thoughts

I want to make myself clearer since my previous posting - "Neither an A’level student, not yet a Graduate " have attracted some comments. I had wanted to post the article fast, so I combined what I want to say about my recent observation into one article. I have not explained the context and the content were unfortunately misinterpreted by many.

I feel that Singapore society (or in fact everywhere) still recognised people based on certificates instead of work abilities. If you do not have the qualifications, it is hard for you to advance further even though you have the abilities. When I make this comment, I am not referring to myself. I was in fact thinking about my friend.

She worked in a MNC. She is a high-flyer in my view, very capable and well-liked by her boss. Her boss trusted her more than her fellow unigrads colleagues. In return, she was given good pay increment and also promotion. Her pay package in fact can even rival many university graduates. However, even though she can do much more, she had reached the roof of her career ladder.

That was a bit sad. She can do better but yet because she only has a diploma, she cannot advance further. Why couldn’t they give opportunity for people who have the abilities instead of stubbornly insisting on a piece of paper? Of course, I have heard university degrees are not meant to only increase your knowledge, it’s suppose to train you in terms of logic and perspectives. You are suppose to be wiser (different from smarter) if you have a degree.

I do know that a lot of polygrads are doing good in terms of monetary wise like my friend, but I feel more can be done for them in terms of career advancement wise. In case you don't know the difference, having a job that pays well and having a career is different. There is more future if you have a career than a job. My point is poly-graduates are under-rated and they should have a better standing in the workforce.

Now, Yawny don’t be so worked up. I do understand the point to get upgraded and I have been planning that. I am not looking down on Poly grads or myself, but just feel that we need a stronger voice to get poly grads represented. No doubt, getting upgraded will get us out of the situation faced by polygrads, but it did nothing to help existing polygrads.

Then about comparing A’level students and Poly graduates thoughts was sparked by forum. I chanced upon a few of the discussion threads about the same old talk of comparing A’level students with Poly Graduates. There were some “elitists’” comments by people who feel that A’level students are more “superior” compared to poly graduates. I was irritated by those comments and also worry about the future.

Honestly, A’level students have a better opportunity to get into a local university than polygrads. There are no doubts that a number of them are incredibly intelligent. One day, they might be who’s who of Singapore society. However, I am afraid that many of them because of being constantly successful, they might therefore lacked of empathy for others who might not be as smart/rich/successful as them. Then when you are successful, in a way you are “supposed” (not everyone does that) to return something back to society. For those people, I wonder what will they do if we need their help?

Then for my colleague’s incident, I just want to point out this is a classic example of 好心做坏事 . You can say that she was being not sensitive enough or being too sensitive or I was being too sensitive (let you all choose). I feel there is no need to highlight the difference or can just highlight the status later, but she, who have no malicious intention, has done it by putting me in awkward light. Next time, we should not have lunch with someone we are not familiar with...

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Chicken Rice - Guess How Much Is It?


My mum went to 四马路early in the morning. She come back with this packet of braised chicken rice and wanted me to guess how much it cost. Of course, it was meant for sharing. It had extra rice, with drumstick and chicken wing. Knowing that it would cost much more than usual chicken rice, I guessed it cost about 5 -6 dollars. My mum said nope...

It cost a whopping $7.50!

Dropped jaw. Normal chicken drumstick rice only cost about $3.50 to 4 dollars in foodcourt. How can the hawker centre chicken rice cost that much??? My mum said they charge one whole chicken for $32 dollars. For the benefit of those who do not know how much one whole chicken cost - Normal chicken cost at most 20 plus dollars from reputable stalls!

According to my mum, the stall was one of those strongly recommended stall by the press, named something like "dian tai" etc. As usual, is the chicken rice really that nice? Firstly, I love to eat braised chicken. I find the dark honey colour skin very tempting but there are not many places who sell it. One of the better braised chicken which I love is at Kallang Bahru hawker centre. Can this match up with that?

The colour looked perfect, I have to be honest and it smells sweet and fragnant. It almost passed the sight and smell test with ease. I took a bite at one of the meat. Ok... It was very good and I start to forget that it cost $7.50. The meat was very tender and juicy and had a hint of sweetness and the spices in it. Of course, the skin had the most flavour and it tasted almost like salty-sweet candy! I usually don't eat the skin, but I took a bit because it is so hard to resist.

This expensive braised chicken rice can be found at 四马路 hawker centre. Should be easy to find since there are queues. They also sell braised chicken noodles. Yummy. I strongly recommend it ! However, do save up before you go...

Anyway, just to share with you all, my favourite Hainanese chicken rice stall is 东风發. It can be found at Maxwell hawker centre and also had franchise stalls in some other coffee shop. I know 天天 is the one with the long queue and I have tried it before, but I personally still prefer 东风發's and their chilli is good ! So if you are at Maxwell, try both and let me know which is your favourite one. :)



Sunday Brunch - French Toast with Musli

Woke up early so cooked some french toasts for brunch

I have always wanted to start my own business. One of my business idea was to open a bistro/cafe/stall serving nice breakfast and brunch. I first had that idea during poly school days. I was attached to this shipping company at Boon Lay which was very far away from my place. The company was small, but the office politics there can rival any MNC. Frankly speaking, the allowence was barely enough to cover my transport fees and I have to face a lot of devils everyday. It was a very miserable period ...

Anyway, back to the topic, I noticed a strange pheonoment unique to Boon Lay - there are quite a number of shops which opened very early selling packed breakfast and even lunch. I guess it is because Boon Lay was quite remoted, so people who worked there have to leave house early to be able to reach there in time. They might not have the time to buy breakfast from their place, so they will buy packed breakfast from Boon Lay to eat in office. Mind you, there are lot of such people and for some stalls, there will be queues.

I was imaging what to sell for breakfast, so that I can attact the most number of people. Of course, I cannot reveal my creation here. I believed I can make pot of money from it someday. :P Then, I was watching Asia Food Channel yesterday and one of the chef served French Toast with Musli. They didn't reveal the recipe, so I sort of created my own take of French Toast with Musli. Instead of golden syrup or maple syrup, I served mine with condense milk.

Ingredients:

Eggs (One egg can probably soak 3 pieces of breads)
Bread
Vanila Extract
a bit of Sugar (depending on how sweet you want it to be, but bear in mind that you can syrup and condense milk later on)
Butter to fry

Optional:

Milk
You can add milk to the egg solution, but I don't have it at home.

Served with:

Condense Milk and Maple Syrup
Musli Nuts etc

Method:

1. Crack the eggs in a bowl, add the vanila and sugar. Beat and mix well.
2. Dip the bread into the egg. Do not left it for too long as it will soak up a lot more eggs than needed and take a lot more time to cook.
3. Heat pan (medium heat) and melt butter. Place the soaked bread into the pan.
4. Leave it for 1 minute. Then flip over to the other side.
5. It will be ready when golden brown in colour.
6. To serve, drizzle some condense milk on the hot bread, and sprinkle the musli on top of it.
7. Eat while it is hot. Yummy.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

谁知盘中餐 粒粒皆辛苦

稻米-亚洲人基本的粮食。尤其在贫穷国家,它更是不可或缺,不可替代的必须品。照理说,那么重要的农作物,应该会有很好的回报,但是事实刚好相反。种植稻米却是一项低成本,但得付出许多劳力的农业。 随着乡下逐渐的被城市化, 可以种植农物的田地越来越少,种植稻米的农夫干脆把仅有的田地,拿来种植更加有回报的农作物例如甘蔗和玉米。

以上论点不是我猜的,是看新闻专家说得,节目刚好在讨论为什么全球会闹米荒导致米价上涨。。。

现在的人很奇怪,不是你付出很多劳力,就可以换回相同的回报。同样是种田,我相信耕田都是苦差事,尤其种植稻米可能就比种植别的农作物来的辛苦,可是就因为它的经济价值没那么高,所以就被种植甘蔗玉米比下去。当然,社会是现实的,人都想多赚一点,换成是我是农夫,我也会种比较有经济价值的农作物。可是,总不能人人都去种甘蔗玉米,也得有人来做苦差事来喂饱上千上万的人们吧?农夫们做了,辛苦了一整年却但赚不到了多少钱,这应该吗?你是农夫,你还会有信心花一年去种植米吗?

“谁知盘中餐 粒粒皆辛苦”我相信大家都听过。可是我从来没像现在这样对那句话感触那么多。说真的,如果不是闹米荒,我不会去注意为什么稻米会短缺,更不会知道辛苦种米的农夫赚不了多少钱。

我一向很爱吃饭,一天没有一餐饭就觉得怪怪的。我不能想象没有饭吃的日子,所以我要向种植稻米的农夫们致敬和感谢- 因为你们的辛苦和坚持养活了我们这些上千上万的人。

今后吃饭时,我一定会更加珍惜每一粒米饭。

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

蔡淳佳 - Je m'appelle Hélène

Went to Karaoke with Oreo and Isebella. Oreo happened to select a few song by Joi Chua. I was impressed with Joi's songs! Ok, being a very loyal Faye's fan, I seldom listened to others except maybe oldies and western songs.

No doubt, most of her songs were not original, but mostly covers of dated songs, she had interpreted them nicely. If I were to compare voices with scent, her voice is not strong at first impression, however it is mild, pleasant and seems to linger. The scent smell fresh, makes you relax and feels comfortable. It is almost like you are standing in the garden early morning, you take a deep breath and you can almost smell the dew on blade of grass... (Shall try to describe Faye's voice next time round)

Until yesterday, I have only heard of her "陪我看日出"。Thanks to Oreo, I found these two songs very nice - "依恋" and "恋之憩".

I just found out 依恋 was a cover from a French Song - Je m'appelle Hélène. Translate as "My name is Helene"(Hélène is pronouce as Elaine). Hey, maybe this is the chirstian name that I was looking for... then again don't think anyone know how to spell it, back to square one.

"恋之憩" was written by 梁文福. I mean the tune is good, but the lyrics is so poetic. I wonder how many Singaporeans can write like that in Chinese now... If only I can write as well... Makes me want to go look for 恋之憩 Karaoke tune and record my own take on this song. Hee Hee.

蔡淳佳 - 依恋



蔡淳佳 - 恋之憩




Je m'appelle Hélène - Hélène Rollès

It is a nice song and the original singer has a nice voice like she is singing directly to you. Don't know why, I always like to hear people speaking french. I feel that it has an edge over other languages. You know how irritated we can be by Singlish and worse if people speak broken Singlish? The same thing can happened to native french speaker, speaking broken English with french accent, you will somehow feel less irritated and might even love it as it sound sexy. French accent sound intimate and sometimes it is as though they purr.

I am obsessed with accent (Pekinese Chinese, Japanese, Espanol etc) and always want pronouced as native as possible (except English just can't...), but French really very difficult. Some words are pronouced in the throat like trying to spit something out or through the nose etc. :P

Imaging pronoucing in French the following words - Excuse Me, Bedok Reservoir, Louis Vuitton, Paris, Voyage, Notre etc. Oui~


Translated Meaning

Hélène
my name is Hélène
I'm a girl like any other

Hélène
I have my joys, my sorrows
This makes my life similar to yours
I want to find love , simply to find love

Hélène
my name is Hélène
I'm a girl like any other

Hélène
My nights are full of poems
I have nothing else to fill them
I want to find love,simply to find love

And even if I have my picture in all the weekly newspapers
There's no one waiting for me in the evening when I return late
There's no one there to make my heart pound when the projectors die out

Hélène
My name is Hélène
I'm a girl like any other
I want to find love