Lovely Morning Sky

 

Overcast Sky at Gardens by the Bay

Dark overcast sky at Gardens by the Bay on this Wednesday with my friend. 

 

Precious Peony- Inspired to Write Chinese Poem

I'm inspired to write a Chinese poem on Peony after seeing it at Gardens by the Bay. Yeah I just wrote for fun and it's not exactly in the formal format. I plan to sketch and paint peony when I'm free. Lately I'm really busy with 3 courses. 

鲜艳牡丹绽花放

亮丽花朵笑盈盈

老老少少皆欢喜

开开心心赏牡丹

Art and Life

Recently, I learned about making mud and I was not happy with some of the work and wanted to throw some of the "ugly" work away. Then I recalled a good article I read years ago in 2018 May, 

Singaporean artist, Wee Hong Ling shared the following anecdote that changed her perspective. She attended a workshop conducted by American clay artist who shared that in the first 10 years of his career, he would throw away any art pieces that did not meet his expectation. Later, he realised that he had lost 10 years of information. 

Thus, I'm going to keep these "ugly" pieces and take note of why they turned out the way. Do read the following inspiring article. I hope you find it helpful. 

Time is a finite resource. What do you want to spend your time on? I know I want to spend more time on Art, Design and Reading. 

The Straits Times

When life deals you a curve ball, you can still have a ball

To read more, click here

At one such workshop conducted by American clay artist Jack Troy, she was struck by something he said. In the first 10 years of his career, the artist apparently placed a trash bin next to the kiln each time he unloaded his fired pieces. With a hammer, he would smash anything which did not meet his expectations and throw it into the bin.

 “He said: ‘After a while, I realised I had lost 10 years of information’,” recalls Ms Wee. A light bulb came on in her head when she heard that. “We do the same in our lives. We write off people and things which do not meet our expectations and throw them in the trash bin,” she says. When the realisation struck her that she was not only moulding clay but learning about life, she decided she would work with ceramics after completing her PhD.

“I had friends and neighbours who went to work that day and never came home. It was another wake-up call. If you want to do something you care about, you’d better not waste time. Those people who went to work that day never thought they were not going to come home.” The day she got her PhD in 2005, she threw away all her books, journals and academic papers. “That was the past. I needed more room for my art. If I were going to use those books again, they would be obsolete anyway.”

Making mud- Some dark and some bright- representing moments of life with bad and good. 

Watercolour background using salt and paper towel

Eating Double Boiled Milk with Walnut and Almond

After lesson on every Saturday, I will go to Honeymoon Dessert 满记甜品 at Bugis

Junction and have 2 double boiled milk with baked walnut and almond. I think the staff know what I want since I always order the same dessert. This combination of crunchy walnut and almond on silky smooth double boiled milk is awesome! It is priced at $6.10 each.

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Sakura at Gardens by the Bay Flower Dome 2022 March to April

I went to see cherry and peach blossom at flower dome Gardens by the bay in March. Don't know why, today then I decide to publish this post. 

 

Vegetarian Dinner at Harbourfront Centre Elemen Restaurant

I really enjoyed the breaded Shroom cutlet with golden fried rice available only at Harbourfront Centre Elemen restaurant. It is on par with Ding Tai Fung famous egg fried rice. Maybe during the holidays, I'll go eat this yummy breaded mushroom golden fried rice again. 

You can view the menu here.

Breaded Shroom cutlet with golden fried rice is really delicious and is comparable to Ding Tai Fung egg fried rice! It is only available at Harbourfront Centre Elemen restaurant

Red quinoa salad

My favorite truffle pizza! I like crispy thin pizza.

My cousin had this avocado sushi

I opted for this dessert

 

Exploring and Experimenting Watercolour Painting

Today is Good Friday, a public holiday in Singapore. I spent the day reading U magazine and exploring and experimenting landscape watercolour painting by learning from youtube videos. I realised that normal masking tape works as well as the painting tape. Also one needs to really work at a faster pace for watercolour painting else you can't lift the paint if the paint is dry. 

I'm quite happy with today painting but maybe I can add more details when I'm free. I'm looking forward to tomorrow art lesson. 

I reworked on earlier painting today too.

Playing with translucent painting

 

Watercolour Painting- Nature

I love watercolour painting as it gives a dreamy and translucent effect. Finally I started to practise watercolour painting today. I'm not very happy with the colour of the trees scenery and cactus. I have to practise more to get the colour right and dreamy effects.  

Update

I was not very happy with earlier work so today I painted again to improve the painting. Does it look better now?  

Updated watercolour painting today

Dinner at Cafe Aster Yesterday

I had waffle deluxe ($11.90) at Cafe Aster at Gardens by the Bay yesterday. It actually comes with chicken sausage but I requested the staff to replace it with hashbrown or egg. I had a cup of free latte ($5.50) as I'm a member of Friends of the Garden. I like the crispy waffles and creamy scrambled egg and my favourite hashbrowns. If you love waffles, you can try this all-day breakfast. 

 

The Billionaire Heir Who Became a Monk

Ajahn Siripanno is the billionaire heir who decided to become a monk for life when he first became a monk just for fun at 18 years old. He is fluent in 8 languages and had a comfortable and privileged life in London. He is now teaching the dhamma and lead a disciplined and austere life as a forest monk. Ordained monks have to follow 227 rules of the Vinaya. Some of the rules include eating only 1 meal a day before 12pm and going out for alms for forest monks.

There is a saying that those who are truly blessed become monks. Not many people can give up the comfort of luxury and immense wealth but he did. Now I am listening to some of his dhamma talk. He knows that true happiness is not owning lots of material things but peace of mind within oneself. To be kind and compassionate to all sentient beings. Good actions lead to good results. What you give out, you get it back so one has to be mindful of one thought at all times. 

Click here to read the article.

Reflection on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

I'm currently reading the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey. The author had ranked the habits sequentially to reach interdependence. After reading, I feel that it depends on situation. Habit 1 is Proactive and Habit 5 is Seek First to Understand, then to be understood. I realised that many a times, when someone did not meet to others expectations, the person would assume that the person is irresponsible or just plain lazy. If they are already making assumption of the person, how can they help others to help themselves? 

Sometimes I look at the people around me, but it seem like they are not practising what they know. They are quick to blame others. How can there be paradigm change if you already have bad impression of the person and never seek first to understand why he/she didn't deliver? 

Visit the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People website here

My former boss who I really respect reminded me not to assume. He shared with me the following words as shown above. 

From Wikipedia

Independence

The first three habits surround moving from dependence to independence (i.e., self-mastery):

Habit 1: "Be proactive"

Proactivity is about taking responsibility for one's reaction to one's own experiences, taking the initiative to respond positively and improve the situation. Covey discusses recognizing one's circle of influence (you can control) and circle of concern. Covey discusses focusing one's responses and focusing on the center of one's influence.

Habit 2: "Begin with the end in mind"

Covey discusses envisioning what one wants in the future (a personal mission statement) so one can work and plan towards it, and understanding how people make important life decisions. To be effective one needs to act based on principles and constantly review one's mission statements, says Covey. Covey asks: Are you—right now—who you want to be? What do you have to say about yourself? How do you want to be remembered? If habit 1 advises changing one's life to act and be proactive, habit 2 advises that "you are the programmer". Grow and stay humble, Covey says.

Covey says that all things are created twice: Before one acts, one should act in one's mind first. Before creating something, measure twice. Do not just act; think first: Is this how I want it to go, and are these the correct consequences?

Habit 3: "Put first things first"

Matrix of importance vs urgency that Stephen Covey and Dwight D. Eisenhower used in deciding where to invest their efforts.

Covey talks about what is important versus what is urgent. Priority should be given in the following order (in brackets are the corresponding actions from the Eisenhower matrix, which Dwight D. Eisenhower attributed to a former college president):^[5]

• Quadrant I. Urgent and important (Do) – important deadlines and crises
• Quadrant II. Not urgent but important (Plan) – long-term development
• Quadrant III. Urgent but not important (Delegate) – distractions with deadlines
• Quadrant IV. Not urgent and not important (Eliminate) – frivolous distractions

The order is important, says Covey: after completing items in quadrant I, people should spend the majority of their time on II, but many people spend too much time in III and IV. The calls to delegate and eliminate are reminders of their relative priority.

If habit 2 advises that "you are the programmer", habit 3 advises: "write the program, become a leader". Keep personal integrity by minimizing the difference between what you say versus what you do, says Covey.

Interdependence

The next three habits talk about interdependence (e.g., working with others):

Habit 4: "Think win–win"

Seek mutually beneficial win–win solutions or agreements in your relationships, says Covey. Valuing and respecting people by seeking a "win" for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation had gotten their way. Thinking win–win isn't about being nice, nor is it a quick-fix technique; it is a character-based code for human interaction and collaboration, says Covey.

Habit 5: "Seek first to understand, then to be understood"

See also: Rogerian argument

Use empathetic listening to genuinely understand a person, which compels them to reciprocate the listening and take an open mind to be influenced. This creates an atmosphere of caring, and positive problem-solving.

Habit 5 is expressed in the ancient Greek philosophy of three modes of persuasion:

1. Ethos is one's personal credibility. It's the trust that one inspires, one's "emotional bank account".
2. Pathos is the empathetic side, the alignment with the emotional trust of another person's communication.
3. Logos is the logic, the reasoning part of the presentation.

The order of the concepts indicates their relative importance, says Covey.

Habit 6: "Synergize"

Combine the strengths of people through positive teamwork, so as to achieve goals that no one could have done alone, Covey exhorts.

Continual improvement

The final habit is that of continuous improvement in both the personal and interpersonal spheres of influence.

Habit 7: "Sharpen the saw"

See also: Kaizen

Covey says that one should balance and renew one's resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term, effective lifestyle. He primarily emphasizes exercise for physical renewal, good prayer, and good reading for mental renewal. He also mentions service to society for spiritual renewal.

Covey explains the "upward spiral" model. Through conscience, along with meaningful and consistent progress, an upward spiral will result in growth, change, and constant improvement. In essence, one is always attempting to integrate and master the principles outlined in The 7 Habits at progressively higher levels at each iteration. Subsequent development on any habit will render a different experience and one will learn the principles with a deeper understanding. The upward spiral model consists of three parts: learn, commit, do. According to Covey, one must be increasingly educating the conscience in order to grow and develop on the upward spiral. The idea of renewal by education will propel one along the path of personal freedom, security, wisdom, and power, says Covey.

Today Lunch- Fried Mee Sua

Today lunch is fried mee sua cooked by my mum. I had a heavy lunch so there be no dinner for me.

Esplanade Theatres on the Bay

Esplanade Theatres on the Bay is one of my favourite places in Singapore. I just love the arty and friendly vibe or energy that resonates with me.

I was surprised to see free violin performance this Thursday night.  There is also a library in the Esplanade. You can spend the day reading there and admiring the Marina bay view. 

Esplanade Theatres on the Bay

Sender of Wishes by Gatot Indrajati (Indonesia)

Marina Bay Sands and Art Science Museum

They can play violin really well at such a tender age. 

Golden Hue Clouds on 8 April 2022

This morning sky is incredibly beautiful with golden hue fluffy clouds up in the sky.

Later this afternoon, blazing hot weather features cirrocumulus clouds. Today scorching  hot weather really made me sleepy. What about you? 

In late afternoon, the sky showcases fractal clouds which also looks lovely. 

Life is a miracle with beauty around us if we only look around. 

Golden hue clouds in the morning today

This afternoon blazing hot weather features cirrocumulus clouds. 

Late afternoon sky today