Retail Therapy

There was a story in the papers couple of days back about 4 new shopping malls springing up on our tiny island.

Actually, I shouldn't say shopping mall, because unless it's named Something-city, the rest hardly constitute as MALLS.

Well, it hasn't gotten me very excited because after visiting Vivocity twice (excluding the rest of the times I was there for work), I realised that lest for this Spanish corner, you can't not find the rest of the shops elsewhere in town. Do people really appreciate having all their "favourite" shops brought under one roof? Perhaps for people living in the vicinity, it's like bringing Taka-Wisma-Tangs-PS to their doorstep. But for the rest of us, Vivocity just provides alternative outlets if we can't find that right outfit in the right size in town.

So with the launch of the 4 new extensions, what is in for the consumers? Is it simply a case of relocation? Like Harvey Normal moving from Milennia Walk to Central.

While Square 2 aims to hike on the Korean theme, how different are these shops from Far East Plaza, Heeren, Bugis Village, The Edge (Bugis) and the "almost dead" Icon (Bugis)?

Speaking of Icon, how many people actually know where it is?

I finally stepped into Icon , located next to Ritz Apple Strudel opposite Bugis Junction) for the very first time since it opened more than a year ago (gosh, did you know that?). It promised 6 floors of exciting shops, but it's really a dismal "Shibuya 109" flop copy. Most of the tenants on the top floor have moved out, (I heard to relocate at Central) and the rest of the tenants are well, hanging on. Most of the empty shop spaces (it's really tiny!) don't seem to have impending developments. There was one abandoned-like nail bar with the walls half painted and an A4 handwritten notice asking for experienced manicurist to apply, stuck haphazardly on the glass door. Some shops looked promising, but aren't open; others shut their doors at 5 pm.

While most shops try to be different, it's really hard to tell with the limited window display and cheesy shop names. I spoke to one shop owner, a 26-year-old girl who invested about S$30-S$40K to start her own business of fashion buying and retail management but is now throwing in the towel. Manning the shop only on weekends (she holds a proper job on weekdays), she laments at the lousy marketing people of Icon (whom she said are wasting their resources on free balloon giveaways at the ground floor) and long working hours. She traveled to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Bangkok to buy things at wholesale prices, but said that it was also very exhausting because of the labourious task of price labelling and packing after that. She has found a job at a headhunter firm and is happy to end the business after breaking even. At least she's been there and done that.

I'm quite sad for the tenants, because none of them seemed happy or interested in what they're selling or doing. They seem to have lost all fervour (which I'm sure they had intially) and merely whiling their time away until they decide what to do with their goods. Most of the them don't seem to be very exprienced or know very much about the latest fashion trends, or work very hard to push their goods.

Maybe they're just tired.

While we can blame the marketing people for not doing a good job selling the idea of Icon, shop owners themselves also have to take the initiative. There had been some publicity and write-ups on Icon but obviously the shops themselves aren't happening enough. I mean look at Comme de Garcon! They can rent a shop at a heartland area, shut down and move again, and people still patronise them! The truth is, if you're good, word spreads and that's good for reputation and consumer loyalty.

There's a lot more that shop owners can do to spruce up their shop front. By that I don't mean renovating the shop. It's about being convincing fashion consultants, being on the forefront of fashion, providing cheaper alternatives to high-end fashion items, sussing out a customer and recommending items based on their preference and blah blah. I may not know how to run an apparel business, but if I were a customer, these are ways to win me over.

The whole culture of Icon has to change. Everyone should either pack up their bags or change their style. Play less cheap, wannabe-cool music, slap a rule on shop owners to at least dress up a bit more, carry out promotion for the whole building and motivate tenants to do a better job.

It's a pity because Icon has great potential. Like everything else, it just needs to find the right direction.

Beautiful Love

Beautiful Love by Tanya Chua

Love's Beautiful

My interest in Mandarin pop songs has got a lot to do with my recent fervour for singing well. I remember there was a time I was watching the Singapore idol contestants rehearsing for a segment in the TV Theatrette for a charity show, and I turned to my manager and told her, I would like to be able to sing 'live' on stage one day. It was met with mild encouragement, because after all, unless you're a professional singer, most song items are mimed.

My teacher said singing is almost like acting. For the entire duration of the song, you're telling a story, you're conveying the feelings of the song to the people listening to you. You need to move them, and the only way to do it, is to get into the song. I figured it's almost like how we get into character before we deliver our lines. There're certain points in the song where you peak, and some, you speak with a whisper. The emotions of a song isn't very far from that of a scene from a tv script (although most Mandarin songs tend to be about love lost, which is rather melancholic in nature).

So if I may use a song to describe the drama I'm working on now, it'd probably be:

Love's Beautiful by Tanya Chua.

The word "love" is dealt with so unspecifically in this song, and yet it is able to convey the way love applies to the different characters in the drama with a bit of poignance and the need to value what we have。

One part of it goes:

Love's beautiful, so beautiful

我失去过

更珍惜拥有

我庆幸我是我

被你疼爱的我

紧紧牵着的手

不要放手

永远守护我

Almost everyone in the show is guarding over someone else, is someone else's emotional support and the source of love, hope and happiness.

I'm truly moved.

NYC

There is a sudden urge to fly halfway across the globe to visit the Big Apple. To just walk the streets of New York, visit the original Starbucks and McDonalds and other brands that we've brought in to Singapore.

I guess it's probably an act to try to fill up the not-so-outrageously-exciting-time of my life at the moment. Or rather, I'm trying to find an excuse to travel, get back in touch with my S3 Pro and once again be inspired to write poetry and songs.

Don't get me wrong, I do love Singapore, for the food, the weather and most importantly the people, but being in this comfort zone day in and day out, it's really not easy to think out of the box and find something creative to write about which can drive me nuts. I need to write! I need to know that I'm thinking.

Now why NYC? I have no idea, it's a sudden impulse thing. Pretty much the same reason why I landed myself in Cape Town of all places for my solo graduation trip. I never really wanted to visit the US or Europe, so I suppose it's good that now I finally do want to experience the typical American city.

Or maybe it's not really the place, but just being able to get away from the monotony of local habits. I would very much like to go back to Beijing too, to see how much has changed since last year. My friend in Beijing has bought a siheyuan which he's going to convert into an inn/cafe. I'm so excited for him, because when I was there, I had all sorts of ideas of what I would do if I had a few million RMB and I could buy a big siheyuan at a good location. I thought about having my own boutique inn, with nice F&B outlets to boot, turn it into a 5-star cosmopolitan oriental inn, that will be the first of its kind in Beijing.

But of course in the real world, it isn't always that easy. Hmm...I wonder if Nintendo DS has a similar game where I can realise my dream in a fantasy world. Build a hotel and manage the entire operations -- the marketing of the hotel, the treatment of guests, the business of the dining outlets within the hotel and so on.

Imagine, my own hotel chain...

Nothing

Nothing outrageously exciting has been happening to me. A couple of blogs that are on my favourite list seemed to be filled with eventful entries one after another. Mine seems dull and outdated. Can't seem to feel the desire to note anything down. Maybe I'm tired, from all that room-shifting and lessons I've been hopping around. But I really do enjoy what I'm doing when I'm doing it.

It's been a good 2 months since work began to renovate my brother's room to make it my own. Now it's nice and comfy, but I haven't got the opportunity to fully enjoy it yet. The 32-inch LCD TV has only been switched on once, and that was to listen to the news on CNA. I have yet to start watching the stacks of DVD lying under the TV cabinet. Plus, there's still more packing to be done for my wardrobe, but I'm just a little worn out today to get started.

After dance yesterday, my calf muscles are still aching. Yoga today was therapeutic and singing was very enjoyable, but I really should rest now. Except I don't seem to want my mind to do so. It's like I want to keep filling up my time with everything, to keep my brain working, so that there will not be a break where I can think too much about stuff that screws me up. And then I end up screwing people around me up too.

I really should go and lie down.

Tough Act

Someone I met recently said that many people think that a good actor/actress is one who can cry. He commented that for the nominees of Star Awards Best Actress, the candidates are rivalling against the one who can cry the best. He was just echoing what the masses think, because we both disagree. All of us hold different opinions on what constitutes good acting and for me, being able to emote deeply is an art I would like to master, regardless whether people think that is good acting or not. It's like how you can watch a close-up of Chinese actress Zhou Xun's face, as her expressions turns from bliss to betrayal, all without having to twitch an eyebrow. That is what I call good acting. It is the process she goes through with ever so subtle changes in the emotions, but yet clearly conveying to me what she felt.

Dialogue and gestures help make a more convincing act, but the real challenge lies in acting without using any verbal or nonverbal cues, how to convince people the emotion you're feeling without outwardly displaying it. TV doesn't quite allow for this. I guess it isn't called "drama" for nothing. TV dramas tend to have this "dramatic" element to it, so there is more dialogue than anything else. Yet even then, it's not easy to bring across what is supposedly most natural in our day-to-day encounters.

The same someone I met recently said to me how is it that sometimes your friend sitting next to you can tell that you're jealous or angry, even though you never really said it to him/her. Just by looking at your face, or the way you sit, you have sub-consciously displayed a particular emotion, without trying very hard. So, how to act this out without appearing like we are?

To a certain extent, a lot of our local TV actors and actresses are probably trying to overcome that. They end up literally acting. They adopt a certain stature, a kind of presence, a series of habitual gestures to help them portray their character, while still preserving a bit of themselves. It's not a good or bad thing, because I can give reason why it's hard to achieve.

First of all, it could be the audience's own perception. Maybe because we see our local actors and actresses doing so many other things like endorsing products and going on variety shows or singing at events, that we already have a glimpse of this actor's/actress's real-life personality. So when we watch them try to be a cripple, or a chicken-rice seller at 7 pm and then at 8pm they are playing Snakes and Ladders on a variety show, we can't quite believe that they have grown into the role. Either that, or they haven't got an in-depth grasp of the character.

Even if it's the latter, you can't quite blame them either, because at the rate dramas are being churned out, and the amount of preparation time given to the actor/actress (from the time of receiving the script to actual shoot), it's hard for them to grow into the character they play.

Earlier I mentioned about how some actors/actresses preserve a bit of themselves in each role. Again I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing and I'm not about to judge. Another friend said it is necessary for TV, because one part of it is to let people get familiar with you as an artiste (in other words, an actor/actress-cum-host-cum-singer-by-occasion-cum-clown-cum-stuntsman/woman-cum-celebrity). But on the other hand, I'm just wondering if it actually limits the actor/actress's performance? For e.g. if Actor A and Actor B are given the same script for the same role, no doubt they will have different interpretations, and at the same time, while they may play the character different, each of them inevitably preserves a bit of themselves in the character. Now, what if Actor A completely forgets who he is, and while still playing the character based on his own interpretation, actually bring in the personality/character traits of Actor B? Would that make the fictitious character more wholesome and less like Actor A himself? Or would that make Actor A's acting become unnatural or fake?

Hmm...I'm thinking too much, and staring too hard at this screen.

Now that's food for thought.

Gee, I'm hungry.

Games, Bills and Males

Urgh! Nintendo DS Lite is here!!

I haven't been much of a gaming fan but I've been told that if the PSP is a boys' toy, then the DS Lite would serve the girls pretty well for the more animated and cutsey games. A friend of mine, who already owns a pink Nintendo DS was craving for the DS Lite, which is the newer, slimmer version of its predecessor. I mean, what are the odds of one owning both the DS and the DS Lite, when she only has one pair of hands and they both run on the same game catridges?

For all I know, two weeks later she got a "freaking DS Lite" (directly lifted from her blog) as a birthday present from "the boyfriend" (as she likes to call him), who not only hasn't started working, but almost paid for her entire grad trip in Perth where he was studying. I wonder where the poor lad finds all that money to pay for the digital camera, the grad trip and the DS Lite. He sure spoils her and she knows it.

For every one generous , self-sacrificing, all-giving male, there are probably six single, unattached males, who can't quite figure out why they aren't getting the ladies' affections.

Which brings me to the topic on guys and bills. There is no hard and fast rule when it comes to who pays, because it wouldn't exactly be fair to expect a guy to be paying all the time, unless of course, he can afford it.

BUT, when does it become okay to go dutch?

Another girlfriend of mine said it really depends on the situation. Usually, if it's a one-in-a-long-while type of date, especially when it was the guy who initiated it, then it is kind of unsaid that the guy would pay for the date.

In this case, I honestly don't think it's too much to ask for. Of course I wouldn't condemn a guy just because he asked to split the bill, but if he invited me out, picked the place, and made the reservations, I would be inclined to think that after all that trouble, he would finish off the date by taking care of the bill.

If his economic status isn't exactly cut out for expensive dining, then go someplace middle range and below. I am probably more empathetic with the seemingly poorer choice of location that he is able to afford, than the false portrayal of some place he can't quite handle yet.

I'm not a fan of grand gestures and fancy party tricks, so even if the guy were to turn up in limo, complete with champagne and flowers, brought me to a tastefully expensive restaurant, and paid for the meal, I still might not be impressed.

I've come to realise that beyond all that, it is the personality that counts. What better way than to observe the sub-conscious nuances in the conversation and body language.

Now that makes or breaks a date.

As long as he is down-to-earth and genuine, it really doesn't matter where he asked to meet me, or whether or not he drives, or if he has a tipping habit. After all, a man who has both feet firmly on the ground, will naturally stand strong and tall. Exactly the kind of shelter that can withstand all-weather conditions.