Being at the vainest (and most romantic city) in the world means a total makeover. Thus, us four girls are vaining in Paris, the production brought to you by xinping2o16 PRoDUCTIoN.
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For potential vainers, this is the stuff needed for the all-important vaining kit:-
- hair straighteners, if possible in shocking shades of pink - eye shadow, if possible in varying shades of green. Black is a must. - mascara, in black. And don't forget the eyelash curler. - black eyeliner pencil. not the liquid kind that pokes the eye, mind - lots of foundation and corrector sticks - hair accessories and jewelery, silver the preferred choice of metal - lots of girlfriends with varying collection of makeup, accessories and jewelery so you can "mix n match"
I am in Paris. Yes, I mean right now. This very moment when I'm blogging this post.
The journey to here was eventful enough, unfortunately. Waking up at 3am in Zati's apartment home, breakfast of Pop Mee (yes, Pop Mee) and the night bus journey to St Pencras International Station. And the 10 minutes stint at the passport checkpoint. Oh, was that eventful.
In case you did not catch my sarcasm on the last line of the previous paragraph, I will explain. It happened at the Eurostar passport checkpoint. Zati got her passport stamped, but not mine. Not Ain's. Not Ili's. When asked why, the French woman on duty said it was because we have no visa. But why is Zati allowed? Her passport is diplomatic. That made a hell lot of sense.
The four of us were led to a small but neat office by a French official on duty, where he explained in understandable English that a new law passed two months ago required us to get a visa. We were at a loss. Oh. I then asked him about whether a person staying in France need a visa to go to UK, but was told he is not clear of the law in UK. OK. Calm. Things will work out somehow. Ili looked as if she was going to cry.
After a few phone calls in French, the official announced that we do not need a visa after all, and stamped the passports of all three of us and sent us on our way. I thanked him curtly, making it clear that I am not pleased. We were not pleased. We just risked embarrassment of turning back, for goodness' sake.
We got onto the Eurostar train, our every movement observed by bemused Caucasians with nothing better to do, just because we are Asians. The train trip was interesting in the sense that we saw wind farms and observed the difference between French countryside and English countryside, and I learnt that s'il vous plait is french for please.
We arrived at Paris Nort with confusion of time blowing full-time. The second we got out of the station, we were approached by a dodgy taxi driver offering a first class ride in a taxi for €95. God, how cheap was that? Of course, we declined and instead got into a stardard taxi, the ride costing us €26. Compare the two prices and you probably will have a nosebleed.
We rested in Ili's uncle's apartment the whole afternoon, us taking turns to sleep away the time. When Ili and Zati were asleep, Ain and I played with makeup and hair straightener and I ended up looking very different (and nice, a certain male commented). Oh well. I kept the makeup on and revised for my C3 Maths for a while, then we got ready to go out. It was 8pm and still light out (unlike how a certain male imagined, hehehe, didn't bother to correct him).
The Paris tube system, the Metropolitican, is in its own way, simpler yet much complex compared to the London tube system. BRT in France is not as good as in UK though. At least this is what me, a budding Geologist, observed. We had dinner at a place with too many mirrors for comfort, and then walked around Paris, led by Ili's uncle. We took the Metro and walked, and somehow found ourselves looking at the Eiffel Tower at night. It was a magical sight. I took pictures of it, but for a lot reasons is not able to put it up here at the moment.
Ili's uncle then showed us the nearest supermarket, before bringing us back to the oh-so-warm apartment again to rest for the night. I forgot to mention this earlier but Paris is so much colder than London. I will have to wear thermals tomorrow whist going out. So there.
Brunei has placed yet another vote in support of Earth Hour as the Orchid Garden Hotel and the Empire Hotel and Country Club have jumped on the proverbial bandwagon along with the Sheraton Hotel and HSBC.
On Friday, the Department of Electrical Services made a last ditch attempt to raise awareness in Brunei by encouraging the public to join the world in switching off their lights. But the question remains - is this too little too late? The lights will be going out for Earth Hour organised by the World Wildlife Fund to draw attention to global warming. About 2,800 cities in 83 countries have signed up, according to WWF.
The latest to jump on the Earth Hour bandwagon here in Brunei is NBT Sdn Bhd.
"We have registered ourselves on the Earth Hour website... we will switch off the lights between 8.30pm to 9.30pm," announced Ninan Chacko, NBT Managing Director.
"We also encourage our customers to send their vehicles for regular servicing to further reduce motor emissions on Brunei roads," he added.
While the initiatives made by these admirable few are commendable and exemplary, Brunei's efforts have been far overshadowed by the vast efforts in the neighbouring countries leaving Brunei, a country that makes up one third of the Heart of Borneo, far behind in eliminating complacency and ignorance of climate change and its devastating effects on the Earth.
Earth Hour 2009 will take place tonight between 8.30pm and 9.30pm local time and one can only hope to see the capital and the rest of the country plunge into darkness for a mere hour.
HSBC will be switching their lights off at its main branch in the capital as well as their roadshow to be held at The Mall, Gadong, later tonight.
Orchid Garden Hotel, the Empire Hotel and Country Club and the Sheraton Hotel will also join in and switch off for a full hour tonight.
According to the Straits Times, more than 10,000 people and 450 schools, malls, hotels and companies have signed up in Singapore to turn off their lights for an hour on Saturday from 8.30pm.
A local hospital in Singapore will also be switching off their lights in its wards, along some corridors and those on the facade of its building, the Straits Times reported.
Zahir Latif, a 25-year-old Singaporean said that ubiquitous advertisements and government-produced public service announcements have been circulated for weeks prior to Earth Hour which will be held today at 8.30pm local time worldwide.
Zahir will be just one of the thousands in Singapore who will be switching off their lights later tonight.
Meanwhile, in neighbouring Malaysia, similar events have been organised across the country.
Syu'aib Rafie, a Bruneian student at the Lim Kok Wing University of Creative Technology in Kuala Lumpur, is impressed by the efforts of the Malaysian government in banding the people together in support of the event.
"They're switching off the lights for a whole hour in the city!" he exclaimed. "My university is doing its part by having a candlelit cookout and an acoustic concert."
"All these efforts encourage me to do my part for the earth. My lecturers and friends will also be watching the Earth Hour DVD as an awareness incentive prior to the "blackout"," he added.
So has Brunei done enough to match these efforts as they announced their participation on the eve of the event?
A 19-year-old local student studying at Maktab Duli Pengiran Muda Al-Muhtadee Billah admitted to being ignorant of Earth Hour.
When told of the efforts of schools in neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore, she said: "They never mentioned anything about Earth Hour in school let alone what it is about."
The absence of local public service announcements has also left much of the public "in the dark" on the significance and importance of Earth Hour 2009.
"I would love to see the Brunei capital go dark for the event but other than an informed few I don't think the average Bruneians either know or would want to switch off their lights," one local commented.
Few, however, have started their own initiatives in support of the global fight against climate change.
Last ditch attempt?! Don't make me laugh. Taught in school or not, I registered on the Earth Hour website a week ago. Don't make petty excuses.
I feel like I'm just one dumb Bruneian getting all concerned about an important thing called climate change for nothing.
I got back from my little trip to Bristol yesterday evening and was so totally beat. Bristol was fun; my senior Yee Peng is very nice and helpful and so are her Malaysian friends. I took a tour around the university, attended the lecture "How Volcano Works" and found it very interesting, mostly form 4 Geography but with more chemistry explaination. Who would have thought pressure and water play important parts in the most violent of volcanic eruptions?
Well, that was what we did on Thursday. Friday morning we went up to see the Clifton Suspension Bridge. We then took a walk across the bridge to a visitors' centre, where we watched a video of the bridge's history. Because I didn't charge my Samsung i8510, I only managed to take one photo of the bridge before the battery ran out.
From the bridge we went to this cathedral, where we spent a considerable amount of time just looking around. Hungry, we had luch at Subway, where I ate my usual - Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki Honey Mustard, with tomato and lettuce. Healthy and tasty. After spending some time in the museum (in which I got 'a bit lost', no sniggering please), we went to Cabbot Tower in Brandon Hill, a very nice park with a tower which we were not supposed to enter, but we enter anyway. There is also a waterfall there, almost the same as the one in Regent's Park but of smaller scale, and the view is simply amazing - you can see Bristol stretching out in front of you, and the air quality is quite good also.
Yee peng then took me back to her flat to rest for a while before sending me off at Bristol Temple Meeds Station. I arrived at Paddington Station at around 5pm and just collapsed on the bed when I finally got to the transit room.
I attended the Brunei Cultural Night "Tiupan Seruling" or "Whistle of the Flute" just now, and for £6 I'd say I got myself a deal. The play itself was nice, with cheesy lines and dances and everything, and you know me, I love cheesy things so I probably was the one laughing the most. I didn't get anything in the lucky draw though, though Nadia did - the latest iPod Shuffle lagi tu. My ticket number is a nice 2321.
I've done like almost half of my Geography prep, practicing for Chinese AS when my focus wandered off. I think I will have to bring my Further Maths prep with me on my Paris trip on the 30th.
This is a picture taken just days before I left Brunei for UK! Credits to Wafiy M for this picture. All the students pictured here are the scholars of 2008 from PTE Berakas. Ili A is not in the picture because of certain reasons. Saidi is to be blamed *evil glint*.
However, not all of the scholars is in UK. The ones in UK are Nadia S (Strathallan School), A W S (The Godolphin School), Saidi S (Bedford School), Arif A (Shrewsbury School), Akmaliah R (Oswestry School), Hani Y (The Godolphin School), Zaidah J (Malvern St James), Ili B (Canford School), Ain Y (Badminton School) and me, Jolene Cynthia W (The Godolphin School).
I'm outdated in a sense I am outdated. Apakan~ typing off.
After months of not having Borneo Bulletin in my grasp, I miss the Bruneian newspaper so much that I visited the website. It is not as good as reading it in paper form, but it sure is more environment-friendly, or green as media put it.
Since I was, and still am, an avid fan of Borneo Bulletin Weekend, I checked out that part of the website first, and found an article relating to just what I had been blogging about two posts ago. Due to the fact that the BB website is updated frequently, to retain the article I will post it here.
Change your attitude, change your life By Kartini Knox
"I have some kind of infection, the doctor doesn't know what's wrong and I'm in bed, on painkillers and antibiotics, until who knows when", my friend groaned over the phone. I couldn't help feel sorry for her.
Maybe it was coincidence or maybe not, but in a spate of recent bad luck, she had slipped and injured herself, had her car dented and split up with her fiancée.
On reflection of our past conversations and exchanges, the idea flashed through my mind, that there was always something going wrong for her. Circumstances and situations had a tendency to go belly-up, leaving her in despair. Bad luck followed her around like a bad smell. Was she jinxed?
Not being the superstitious type, it dawned on me that maybe her problems could be pinned to her attitude. We've all had days when we got out of the wrong side of bed and things got progressively worse as the day went by. If anybody deserved the label "Misery Guts" tattooed across their forehead - she was one of those people.
When not ranting on about her job, her colleagues, deadlines, rules and regulations, she would moan about her salary, which wasn't enough she said, to compensate for all the headaches she put up with in the line of duty. "Phone bills, car bills!" she'd sigh. Apparently, her monthly pay packet never lasted long enough - (a daily fact of life for most of us!)
Apart from her working life, her personal life was a frequent topic of mind-numbingly repetitive grumbling.
Her rants about how her nearest and dearest constantly disappointed her were not only restricted to coffee-shop conversations. Whenever somebody incurred her wrath (and it didn't take much - forgetting her birthday would do the trick) she would have no qualms about expressing her temperamental frustration online through Facebook for all to see. If she was expecting sympathy, it had the opposite effect. The next thing we'd hear about would be how the latest love of her life had deserted her. I wasn't surprised. Her attitude was enough to scare anybody away!
That's not to say I didn't sympathise with her. But her attitude needed a makeover! It's no secret that positive thinkers seem to have better luck than negative people. On the other end of the spectrum, her on-going resentments and disgruntlements were taking over her life! Any redeeming qualities she had once possessed were fast disappearing, along with her sense of humour. This girl could never remain cordial with anybody for long, and was constantly picking fights for no reason, other than what could be put down to her personal insecurities. Her lack of faith in herself and low self-esteem seemed to drive away friends, old and new. Apart from providing an open ear to her dramas, there was nothing I could do to help, short of telling her to stop being such a grouch!
You may have had a terrible childhood, spent half your working life unemployed and had your pet cat die on you after paying a fortune on vet bills, but limiting the chronic commiserating with friends, will do wonders for your social life!
If you've known a Chronic Complainer, who'd rather blame others than accept responsibility or look into their own character flaws, forget about offering any sound advice. It will fall on deaf ears.
If any of these Perpetual Pessimists are reading this, then maybe this is a wake-up call - to change your attitude and change your life!
The above article is a copyrighted material from Brunei Press Sdn Bhd, March 21, 2009.
So now, let's visualise a soceity full of people with attitude like that of the said author's friend. I couldn't bring myself to even sympathise at all.
Here is another article, this time on World Forestry Day in Brunei.
World Forestry Day: Brunei a perfect carbon sink By James Kon
Brunei yesterday celebrated the World Forestry Day with a flurry of green activities at Bukit Shahbandar Recreational Park. The guest of honour for the celebration was Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Awg Haji Yahya bin Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Haji Bakar, the Minister of Industry and Primary Resources.
In his opening speech, he said, "Brunei Darussalam is one of the countries that don't contribute to the greenhouse gases because the sultanate's pristine forests act as an effective carbon sink. Brunei's peat swamp forests have been cited by numerous scientists as capable of storing carbon in its ecosystem."
"In the report by the International Panel on climate change assessment, new evidence has shown that climate changes has started to affect many part of Asia. A study on Southeast Asia and the South Pacific for year 2001 has detected changes in regional temperature and rainfall trends.
"The result shows significant decrease in cool days and cold nights. In rainfall patterns, the number of rains days has decreased significantly in Southeast Asia. However proportion of annual rainfall has increased on most stations which mean lesser rainfall events but greater amount of downpour.
" The heavy downpour coupled with rising sea level is an indication of how climate change will affect Brunei Darussalam. Our country will definitely be affected considering temperature and rainfalls are important variables in our economic activities.
"The government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam has never stopped to fulfill its responsibility to mitigate global warming.
"Brunei Darussalam has actively participated in the UN Framework on Convention of Climate change (UNFCCC) which signify the country's interest to stabilise concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
"Brunei Darussalam is also a member of the convention of Biological Diversity (CBD). Members commit themselves to achieve a significant reduction of biodiversity loss by 2010."
At the national level, the minister revealed that, "Numerous agencies and organisations in Brunei Darussalam have undertake green projects such as reforestation, energy conservation, energy efficiency promotion and public awareness programmes. The national forestry policy of Brunei Darussalam recognised the basic need to harmonise the relationship of the environment and the human population".
During the ceremony, the minister also presented Dayang Rafidah Hj Omar of Science College, the winning prize for the World Forestry Day Logo 2009 competition. The prize however was received by her representative.
The above article is a copyrighted material from Brunei Press Sdn Bhd, March 22, 2009.
I bought this product called "Bio-Oil" months ago, which should, supposingly, helps improve the appearance of both new and old scars. The directions say to use it twice daily, over a period of 3 months.
So last night I applied a layer of the oil over my scars on my legs, and went to bed soon after. At 3am I woke up to a serious case of itchiness - something that had not happened for over two years. I got up from my bed (hitting my head on the buck bed at Brunei Hall in the process, ouch) and went into the bathroom to sooth the itchness with hot water.
After hours of non-peaceful sleep due to the itchness, I woke up, showered and then proceed to re-apply the oil on the scars. Come evening my legs started itching like mad again, and upon close inspection I saw lumps where I had applied the oil. Crap.
Damn allergic reaction.
I went into the bathroom for hot water again, and instead of the second dosage of Bio-Oil, I applied the anti-itch cream I got from my dearest father over half a year ago, which I thought I will never need. Tough luck on me. It will take me twice as long to make my scars look even a minor bit attractive. Yes. I will have to use it for half a year.
Since I came here, I have been very impressed with the transport system in London. Apart from having a very reliable bus rapid transport, the London Underground is relatively nice as well.
Boris Johnson is the Mayor of London. He is elected on 2nd of May, 2008, and Transport is one of his main priorities, among many others. For more information, click here.
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All this makes me feel that Brunei should do something about the public transport system. No matter Brunei is not a country as big as UK, as Bruneians, as citizens of the planet Earth, we should do our part in reducing global warming. Reducing the emission of carbon dioxide from vehicles is one of the ways, but what I personally think is, an attitude change is in order as well. In His Majesty the Sultan's speech on His Majesty's birthday in 1996, His Majesty said: "We should also take note that the key towards development and progress is also held by the citizens. As such, it is most necessary for the citizens to be industrious and diligent to explore together the various activities."
To me, that means the attitude malas tah ku ingau must be eliminated, if not completely, for Brunei to progress further.
I don't usually post emo stuff, but as the date draw increasingly near everyday, I began to dread going back to Brunei. It's not like I don't miss the family and friends I left in Brunei. It's the sinking feeling I have when I realised how high their expectations of me is. Not just my family, but my teachers, my friends. I don't want them to think that I have changed. Because I haven't. Not really. Sure, I learnt a few valuable lessons here, but I am pretty much still the Ping that everyone remembers.
On the subject of emotions, I am trending on mudflats. Any moment when I'm not careful, I can sink and hurt others. I pretty much have sunk a few times when I told the truth when I am not supposed to, and it feel horrible, but it's me being selfish, not wanting the troublesome feeling of guilt to dominate me. Apology will never mend the damage, no matter it is just a dent. Damage is damage.
I love independence, and the fact that I am no longer emotionally attached to any good-for-nothing mâle means that I spend relatively most of my time alone, but I enjoy my own and the books' company. I started reading again, yes. I think there are still a lot of books - acedemic or not - that I have yet to read. I want to widen my knowledge. There is still so much to know, still so much to learn. Six months in UK there is so many places I want to go. The Lake District. Scotland. Dorset. Six months in UK but I still remember where I come from, and I know I will go back to my home country one day, and pass on whatever I have learnt.
Timing aside, the speech went smoothly. I had to go without my presentation because the projector ain't working. I got quite a lot of positive feedback and a few criticism from Mr Brown. I can take criticism, la... The part that I feared, the Q&A part, went quite smoothly too, surprisingly. And the most important thing is! I. DID. NOT. LOOK. AT. THE. CEILING!!! I MADE EYE CONTACT WITH MY AUDIENCE! OMG!!!
Here is a copy of my script. Copyrighted material, people!
Reducing Carbon Footprint As A Step Towards Tackling Global Warming
What is global warming?
What causes global warming?
What is global warming doing to Earth?
What is the world doing about global Warming?
What is carbon footprint?
What can individual do to help lower the impacts of global warming?
Global warming. I think everyone of us here have heard about this term. It is mentioned in the media all the time, in the newspapers, on the Internet, and on TV. It is everywhere. There are unscientific argument and sensational writings about it. A quick search on the internet gives 26 different definitions, some correct and some completely off track. So what really is global warming?
Global warming is the gradual, noticeable rise in global temperatures as a result of human activities. I want to emphasize that global warming is caused by human activities. What is causing global warming is a natural phenomenon go berserk, the greenhouse effect. This is when gases collectively known as greenhouse gases (GHGs) absorb outgoing long-wave radiation and reflect it back to Earth. This rises the temperature of the Earth by about 33°C. If the Earth is 33°C lower than it is now, life will not be possible on Earth.
There are six GHGs: water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, oxides of nitrogen, fluorocarbons and ozone. Of all these gases, the level of carbon dioxide has increased significantly since the Industrial Revolution. A way to measure the atmospheric concentration of GHGs is in ppmv (parts per million volume). Before the Industrial Revolution, there were 270 ppmv of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This has risen to 384 ppmv in 2007, and is expected to reach 600 ppmv in 2050.
The levels of other GHGs have also increased, save for water vapour, of which the concentration in the atmosphere always remain constant. I mentioned just now global warming is a result of human activities. These activities include industries, manufacturing, and deforestation which are releasing more and more GHGs into the atmosphere.
Natural causes of variation in GHGs have been found and some people argue that global warming is a natural process. While greenhouse effect is a natural process and fluctuation of GHGs is itself a natural occurrence, the increase of GHGs in the atmosphere from human activities is causing the Earth’s temperature to increase more rapidly in a shorter period of time than it has for thousands of years. This, in turn is having an effect in different parts of the world. According to NASA [National Aeronautics and Space Administration], world temperatures have risen by an average of 0.8°C since 1880.
Rising sea level. Tuvalu is an island nation located midway between Hawaii and Australia, and is possibly the first victim of global warming. The highest land is only five metres above sea level. Floods that used to occur twice a year now occur every month. One of the smallest islands, Te Pukasavilivili, disappeared underwater in 1997. Also under threat from rising sea level are Maldives and Bangladesh.
Rising level of acidity in the ocean. More carbon dioxide in the atmosphere meant more carbon dioxide is dissolved in the ocean, and as a result the acidity level in the ocean is increasing. An international panel of marine scientists says this acidity is accelerating so fast it threatens the survival of coral reefs, shellfish and the marine food web generally.
To reduce the amount of GHGs, a lot of measures have been taken up both nationally and internationally. Global warming was on the agenda of three international conferences. The first is the Earth Summit, held in 1992 at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 150 nations signed non-binding treaties aimed at reducing emissions of GHGs. However, the short term economic costs and worries over possible political consequences meant that not much action was taken.
In 1997, the Kyoto Conference was held at Kyoto, Japan. A protocol known as the Kyoto Protocol is set up, of which 84 countries signed and agreed to the compulsory reduction in the emissions of four GHGs: carbon dioxide, methane, oxides of nitrogen and sulphur hexafluoride, and two fluorocarbon gases, the HFCs [hydroflurocarbons] and PFCs [perfluorocarbons].
A more recent international conference is in 2002, the World Environmental Summit held in South Africa. Countries reconfirm their commitment to the Kyoto Protocol. As of 2008, 183 countries were signed up to the protocol, but this does not include the USA.
Carbon footprint is the total set of GHG emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organisation, event or product. This is measured by undertaking a GHGs emissions assessment. Once the size of a carbon footprint is known, a strategy can be devised to reduce it. According to the Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the UK’s carbon footprint is over 500 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, 45% of which is accounted for by individuals.
In November 2007, Google launched the UK Carbon Footprint Project, in partnership with DEFRA, a number of organisations including the Energy Saving Trust, Act on CO2 and RSA, and also companies such as BSkyB (the world’s first carbon neutral media company), British Gas and d::gen.
Google users under the UK Carbon Footprint Project can calculate their carbon emissions, choose from a number of “carbon reducing actions” and track their progress to lower emissions. Users can also see their footprint and actions displayed in Google Maps, and view others’ footprint. However, this project is currently underway only in the UK.
As individuals, we can also help lessen the impacts of global warming by reducing our carbon footprint. Bristol is currently trying to meet the requirements for the Europe Green Capital Bid. [shows booklet] This booklet is taken from the CREATE Centre in Bristol. This booklet is enclosed with a quiz, which can then be used to calculate your carbon footprint. There are also tips and information on how you can ‘shrink your print’.
There are many other organisations which offer advices on reducing the carbon footprint. At the end of the day, it is our decisions and up to us as individuals to take action and combat against global warming. “Think Globally, Think Locally”.
