Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Mother-Daughter Day at the Mind Museum

Mama and I had our mother-daughter day at the Mind Museum when they opened to the public. Never mind that I'm married and in my late-twenties. =p

Aedi the robot welcomed us.





They have interactive games.















There are A LOT of things they have to work on. Some of the exhibits felt random (too many toilets on display and arcade games on the second floor) and some of the signs were too wordy for young readers. It was a bit disappointing and underwhelming but it's still worth checking out especially if you have children. Children do not over-analyze so they'd probably have fun here. I've been to the Science Discovery Center in Mall of Asia and in my opinion, this place is equally enjoyable for the young ones. 

For more information, you could visit their site here.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

International Women's Day: Phenomenal Woman (Maya Angelou)

Picture stolen from C's blog

 I dedicate this poem to all the phenomenal women in my life:

Phenomenal Woman
(Maya Angelou)

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.



Tuesday, March 6, 2012

20x200: Everyone Needs Art

One of the misconceptions people have about art is that only the rich can afford it. Jen Bekman, the founder of 20x200 ("20 by 200") came up with this formula:

(limited editions x low prices) + the internet = art for everyone

That's when she started 20x200, a site which sells affordable limited-edition archival prints. They made art accessible to everyone! It was easy browsing through the site, you can filter your choices according to different categories (for example, you only want to browse through photographs then just select photographs). 

While browsing through the site, I saw these prints I'd want for our house:

Jericho. From the Series the West Bank by Philip Cheung

A Map of the Open Country of a Woman's Heart by D.W. Kellogg & Co.

In the Library by Tatsuro Kiuchi 

Shinjuku, 6:43 by Joseph O. Holmes
ny.11.#2 by Jennifer Sanchez

Despair by Yuji Yamada


Art should not only be seen as a financial investment. Art is an expression of yourself. Even if you're not the artist, you are attracted in a piece because you see a part of  yourself in it. But that's my personal opinion :)

For more information about affordable art, you can also look at my entry about the Art in the Park.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Book Report: February Edition


I can't believe it's already March! I can already feel the summer heat creeping up my limbs and going under my skin. I'm looking forward going to the beach, lying down under the shade, a good book in my right hand and  frozen mango shake in the other. *insert dreamy stare*

For now, I present the books I've finished for the month of February. Note that my monthly book list does not include books that are part of my daily routine and those I've read for work, thus the short pile.

6. 500 Time-Saving Hints for Every Woman by Emilie Barnes


Our house is very cluttered because we don't have spend much time at home. This book gave a lot of tips I have yet to adopt but one very helpful advice given was spending 30 minutes per day de-cluttering will go a long way. I try to time myself for 30 minutes every day and have a go at putting back things in their proper places, throwing away things that we no longer need, or setting aside stuff we can give away.

7. & 8. Guys Read Volumes 1 (Funny Business) & 2 (Thriller)


It's a fact that boys read less books than girls. Jon Scieszka, the author of some of the funniest books such as The Stinky Cheese Man & Other Fairly Stupid Tales and Math Curse, made a collection of short stories from different authors targeted at boys' interests. I might be a girl (nay, an adult woman) but I really enjoyed reading them and had a couple of laugh out loud moments while reading Funny Business.

Read more about Guys Read here.

9. The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde


I've been a Jasper Fforde fan ever since I started reading the Thursday Next series in the wrong order (Lost in a Good Book first). This book felt less absurd than his other series (Thursday Next series and Nursery Crimes series). Yes, I don't know why I feel that magicians stuck at doing blue collar labor is considered less weird...

In other news, C gave a mandate that we are not allowed to buy books until we've read all the books at home... Let's see how long this lasts =D