dunno how many days ago.....

Geezzz, long time since my posting... a lot has happened since then.
Where to start? Well officially my country of residence is now Singapore, I think we have been here for 2 months, I've lost count as I've been living out of my suitcase that much.

Flying and different hotels:  A lot of my friends asks me , hey you've got  a great job flying every other day. In the beginning is a novelty, after a few trips is getting tired and very tired. My most dreadful item, my red suitcase. These days I will no pack till the few hours before I board the plane and washing is 1 week after I'm back.

Getting up in different beds on a regular basis is not fun at all, at times I wake up and ask myself where am I? Dumfounded , blur and gets back to sleep.

I am deeply appreciated my staffs that directly works under me, they help me a lot along the way.

A brand new day.... just barely 24 hours after the BIG 37....

This is a post where I have not completed... sigh.... only posting it now

What a great way to hit 37.... I had a cough, on my birthday!!!! sigh... no more ice creams, actually more of 7-11 coke slurpee.. I had it almost daily when I landed in Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Phiman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit in short Bangkok, yes that the full name of Bangkok or Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon. In normal Thai conversations, Krung Thep is just used. What's with all the name one may ask. I will try (I hope so) to update my blog as frequent as possible and for this year will focus on Business start-ups, sales, marketing strategies.

There is a Chinese saying, 'when going to the temple respect the gods, when going to a house respect the owner' RESPECT is a rare word these days. Most children I see in a shopping mall talk or shouts back at their parents. Teenagers these days are mostly from the Gen Y or better known as the strawberry community. Why do I say this? Well it's personal observation.

RESPECT must be given and earned, without this principle, it is very hard to progress in life be it personal or work. It has to start from the heart, own personal's will to give and earn. How to we give and earn, as Confucius saying 'Respect yourself and others will respect you'

13,505 days of life (there abouts)

Wow time is really like the speed of internet connection, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. For me it's always been a mixed pace but for the last 12 months or so, like opening up a web page and you type in 'google.com' no matter at what speed you are connected it just come out - just like that.

Fast pace, slow pace, no pace..... Major developments, major career change , major life adaptations.
Firstly I resigned from Family business around 3rd quarter 2009, don't really know what I want to do. Sat down, hands together , thumbs turning.... actually I should have just munched on a bamboo which is much more suitable.. anyways... a light bulb moment appeared.

Acted on the light bulb before it burns out (light bulb ain't cheap these days) A short version - I got a new career. What as one might ask?? I'm a cosmetics distributor.... yes a guy dealing with cosmetics. A very big (ahems, Panda's are) stark contrast to what I normally venture into. To add more, my other partner is a guy too....

Two guys in cosmetics business, phew this is a first .... it not so much the gender, Two guys with absolutely no knowledge whatsoever about powders, cream, etc that goes on a face further more a female's face. A recipe for disaster but NO!! A determined Panda, means a determined Panda...
A series of discussions, phone call meetings to the USA and Panda ended up with a Master Distributor for a well known cosmetics brand, that not all.... it was for the Asean region covering Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and just added not too long ago Myanmar......

Adding to the excitement, Baby Calvin was due and my training to launch the brand is at the same time. Working my time management at it's best. Baby Calvin is going to be 8 months soon... gawd I have not updated his blog as well... http://Calvintigeryap.blogspot.com

Well it's the big 37 today... yes that many years ago I was alive , breathing , kicking and crying for milk.... only now I understand what my parents went through.

37 is my magical number, thus this year is my lucky year. Indeed it is... 14 years ago I set out a plan to move to Thailand, now I have the first step. An office, showroom and a house, without the help of my Thai partners / friends / Bro and Sis Alex & Hatsh this would not happen. It is a big Birthday present for me on my lucky number, lucky year. To add on, Diva Frances Yip is performing in Bangkok and we are glad to be part of the Official Sponsor for her make-up.

Well this is definitely a tough year to go by, not as in time. I regularly post on Facebook to buy time if anyone can offer to me. The tough part about me this year is I spend most of my time away from home. Setting up business is always tough in the beginning. I have not seen baby Calvin for the last 10 days, when I get back next week, I only get to see him 1 day and I'm off to Myanmar. 3 weeks in a month I'm not at home. I'm happy to have a understanding wife and I hope baby Calvin not forget me as he grows on.
 
As Malcom Gladwell's book Outliers, 10,000 hours to perfection, I think I can see where my 10,000 hours is, and now is the Tipping Point where the business takes off.

My body is getting tired but my brain still wants to continue, I guess I'll give in to my body for now... I shall continue in the morning........

Shoot at Songkhla Beach

Was shooting some adverts in Hatyai, Thailand. Only posting this one shoot for the time being. enjoy...

Big Furry Cats.....

I was on a trip to Thailand with my lovely wife to cheer her up. (I did nothing wrong!!!) So I thought of animal theraphy. With my Thai Brother Alex and Sister Hatsh off we went on a road trip from Bangkok. 210 minutes later we arrived at the destination. We bought our tickets and waited for the gates to be open. The gates will open about 12.30 hrs. While walking into the sanctuary, we were concern where the Tigers were, while walking in we saw some boars, deers around the compound. about 10 minutes walk later, we saw the keepers walking the Big Furry Cats out on a dog leash!!! errrr, is that safe ... anyways the lay the tigers under the trees , shaded areas and asked us to go near and they will take our picture with our cameras.

Here is one of the Big Furry Cat ... resting so peaceful... how I wish I can be like them.

Another Big Furry Cat on duty with the official cap.... very sleepy eyes, just after a heavy meal (very like me!)

Most of the Tigers are resting because they have just had their heavy lunches and mid-day sun is not helping either. I was quite wet by now showered with my own sweat. A good place to be for a workout and sweat. Sometimes I wonder why people pay money to get to a gym to sweat it out.

"That's the correct spot, scratch more....."  One of the few cats lying around being photographed.

Now comes the mischievious little cat........

An Korr .. 3 months baby nosy-ing at what I was doing with all the clicking going on. Such a cute cat....

This is how peaceful and serene the cubs are, it really give you a good healing environment when youare next to them.

The cub is so sleepy but enjoys the some company. It did not matter how I pose together with him he was just snoozing away.

Make-Up Course...Week 3

As promised my 3rd week on my make-up course by my 'sifu' Lee Kuen. We got around to play with airbrushing .. my favourite tool and of course spending a big dent in my wallet buying Bobbi Brown make ups. anyways that shopping experience will relate soon enough when I can rcover and breath.

My Coursemate Sophia did a natural make up on me, not so natural wha you first see the picture. That's because most of you will start to laugh or be speechless. My experince in this is priceless. To be a good make-up artist one must be able to let other artist make up on ownself. This will gain a lot of experience in terms of how it will be felt when we are doing the make-up on others.

I respect the samll percentage of male make-up artist as this industry is mainly dominated by female in the profession.

Well 1 more added to the male statistics of male make-up artist soon :)

well here goes :



I know , I know, jaws dropping, speechless, rolling on the floor laughing, rice spitted out, rice spraying on your LCD screen now.

I had my experience , anyone brave enough to try........

Make-Up Course...

As a hobby and personal development, I took up a make-up course with hairdo. My second class was last night. I had to be the model for my course mate Elvira and also me the make up artist on her as well.

Last night was beginning stages of colourful, fun and eyes make up. This was the result of Elvira on me..


I guess I had to be make-up upon to know the feeling of fingers blending foundation on my face, feeling of the hair on the tip of the brush, and sponges in a rotating motion to blend in the foundations.

It was a newer experience for me to be doing a full make-up on my course mate or putting a full make-up on anyone for the matter!!

Most of the time I just did some minor touch ups during my model shoots.

The topic : Smokey eyes... actually I wanted to do the Japanese Geisha but I spared her the agony of her walking back to office at 10 in the night with a white face and a small red lips.... next session I would have the chance.



One the contrary, when one side was done by my Instructor Lee Kuen, with the camera angle corrected, it looked like she was punched in the eye. So we did this for fun ....



' A report was made because I was punched in my right eye - domestic violence. '
What a story it would create. Hmmmm.. now I understand make-up and photography can do some wonders in story telling via pictures.

Voila my first make up on my course mate - smokey eyes with the help of my Instructor Lee Kuen....



Back to practicing on more faces.... lab coat on and seeking for more 'lab rats' ....
just kidding.... anyone willing to allow me to mess errr... errrr .. I mean allowing me to practice and make up on the face..... till then...next week for my 3rd and 4th class...