Category Archives: Woman’s World

Yesterday was another fruitful day.

After my meeting in the morning, as usual, every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, I accompany my daughter, Alvernia, to go to school. I enrolled her in Growing Up Gifted (GUG) programme since last week. And I've made a commitment that despite my busy schedule, I'll do my best to always be there with her for that 2-hour lesson. So far, my daugther and I have really enjoyed our 'school' time together.

In the late afternoon, I went to Tangs, Orchard,  to have the clothes fitting for the Finals of MyPaper Executive Look 2010 (Have you voted for me today? http://executivelook.mypaper.sg/vote/ ) I really love the clothes that they picked for me this time. Can't wait to wear it and show it to you guys during the Finals. 

In the evening, I was speaking for “Women Powertalk Event”
I was very touched to hear that many of them personally re-arranged their work schedules and appointments just to come down to see me in person and learned from my experiences. Thank you all Ladies!

One important thing that I shared last night to all of the women in the room was this: "If you want to change your life, you must first change your attitude towards life". At least that's what I did 10 years ago. At that time, I was at the lowest point in my life. I wasn't very happy with myself. And because I can’t change my family, I can’t change my education, my friends, who they are and who I am, I then changed my attitude towards life. How we see life is really up to each one of us. That's why despite of my difficulties, I chose to live with high-altitude attitudes filled with optimism, enthusiasm, and excitement. And no matter how bad my life is, I chose to stay positive and see life on the brighter side. And I did it! By just first changing my attitude towards life, I eventually changed my life !

After my session, I was very happy to get a little surprise. Elim Chew (Founder of 77th Street) and Veronica Tan (Owner of Success Resources) dropped by. It was really a lovely surprise. Both of them are powerful women whom I respect and proud to call as friends.

Elim spontaneously shared her experiences too on how we can be a change-maker. Here are 3 important points that I can summarize:

1. Commitment: You must be committed to give 100% in whatever thing that you do

2. Habit: Whether is a good habit or bad habit, it is still a habit. Eliminate the bad ones and start to accumulate the good ones.

3. Attitude: With the right attitude and mindset, you can achieve anything!

What Elim shared has again re-affirmed the things that I just shared previously.

In conclusion, for a start, you don't actually really need a huge capital, many contacts, excellent skills, etc, to begin with. Just simply by having the right attitude, you are already on the right path. 

Thank you Mamiko for organizing such a wonderful event !
 

After the talk, I ended my day by having a nice supper with my husband, and went for midnight prayer session at Novena Church.
It was really a beautiful and wonderful day for me.

DO "GOOD LOOKING" WOMEN GET MORE PAY ?

I once read an article stated that women who wear make-up in business generally get better jobs, get promoted more quickly and get paid more. In fact, in a survey, 64 per cent of directors said that women who wore make-up look more professional and 18 per cent of directors said that women who do not wear make-up “look like they can’t be bothered to make an effort”.  You might agree or disagree with that, but I guess whether we like it or not, we live in a very visual world and we get judged on appearances.
 

In my personal opinion, I believe that every woman is already beautiful, and every woman can be even more beautiful! It's simply a matter of appreciating yourself, highlighting your natural beauty to project your own self-image and letting it shine through.

I like what Helena Rubinstein said: “There are no ugly women, only lazy ones”

BEAUTY COME FROM WITHIN

I used to be quite ‘bochap’ with my appearance. When I first started my career, I don’t really care about my look so much. I hardly wear any make up and I never even do all those things that other girls normally do, like manicure, pedicure, etc.

And at that time, without even having the ‘good-look’ I already able to do quite well, so I thought all those things weren’t really necessary at all. Another reason is also because at that time I wasn’t skillful at all, therefore every time I wear my make up, I felt like I was wearing a mask. It really looks unnatural.

As times goes by, I then started to care more about my appearances, and I realized that when applied correctly, makeup can actually enhances our own natural beauty, it can emphasize our best features (e.g. eyes, lips, nose, etc) and on the other hand it can conceal our flaws too.  When it is done tastefully and skillfully along with wardrobe, hair, and nails – It helps us to project our own sense of ourselves.

Remember the old phrase “Beauty come from within” ?
I totally agree with that. Beauty is a state of mind. It's not a matter of whether you're "pretty" or "plain", young or old, thin or not thin… it's a matter of your self-image: 
 

When you look good, you feel good.
When you feel good, you look even better.

In other words, when you feel beautiful, you are beautiful!

Confidence makes you beautiful and beauty makes you confident!

So with this I would like to thank Bobbi Brown, who have taught us yesterday how to enhance our unique beauty through make up.
THANK YOU Bobbi Brown, THANK YOU MyPaper

“Beauty isn’t about looking perfect, it’s about celebrating your individuality” 
Bobbi Brown

I had an awesome session last Saturday at the SMART EXPO 2010, sharing my experiences on the the topic "Extraordinary Women in Business"

One of the questions that was asked during the panel discussion is this: "Being a successful entrepreneur probably equates to spending a lot of time at work. What do you do on juggling time with family and putting in the hours at work? "

Well, I would say as an entrepreneur, we will need to spend a lot of time to build our business in the beginning. But, once we’ve set a proper system and get good people to manage it, we will reap the rewards in terms of time-flexibility. When I started as an entrepreneur 8 years ago, I worked 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. Now, with the system in place managed by a trustworthy team, I can spend lesser time in office and work during the weekdays only.

Having said that, even now, I still need to do a proper time-management to achieve work-life balance. And the key to do that is to know and set our priorities right in the first place.

IT'S A MATTER OF PRIORITIES

Do you ever wonder how a juggler does it? With several balls in the air, how does she keep the momentum and even add more balls along the way?

Well, her first priority is the first ball that touches her hand. She catches it and throws it up at the exact angle and height that enables it to fall in her hand at precisely the right moment. If she started looking at all the balls, she would lose focus, and the chain would be broken.

The same rule applies to your life. You have to decide what is most important, what comes next, and what can wait. Your sense of priority is based upon your perception of the consequences of your action or inaction. A number of questions can help you decide when an activity needs to take place, what is required, and what outcome is expected.

Ask yourself:

"Who will be disappointed?"

"Will we lose a deal?"

… and the Million-Dollar Question:

"What is the worst thing that can happen if I don't do this?"

Be honest with yourself, and determine your priorities based upon your answers. Give yourself a break. If it's not so important, don't do it. Eliminate things whenever possible. Remember that being perfect and doing too much when it really isn't necessary don't make for a happier you. It's far better to do less and enjoy the journey!

MY HIGHEST PRIORITY: MY FAMILY !

This is one example that I can give. For me, my Family is my highest priority, and that's why despite my busy schedule, I personally set aside a time for important event for my family, e.g. accompanying my daughter for her 1st day at school.

And at the same time, besides my family and work life, now I can also set aside a time to do something exciting in my life, like participating in the MyPaper Executive Look 2010.

It takes mental discipline to set priorities. Doing the most important things first allows you to plan your personal time. First determine whether something can be delegated. If it can't, then prioritize it. Establishing priorities takes into account deadlines, ease of completion, urgency, and others' expectation. In the final analysis, whether something is worth doing at all depends on the answer to the Million-Dollar Question: What is the worst thing that can happen if I don't do this?" And again, you must honestly assess if the consequences are real or imagined. Often, we create the drama with performance expectations that are too high.

I know it's definitely not easy, but trust me, if you're able to master it, you'll definitely see a difference in your life.

Today post, I would like to begin with pictures

To me I think the BEST Clothes in the world is the one that fits our personality.

So as long as it potrays my personality and I am comfortable and confident in wearing it, that's the perfect fit for me.

And at the same time, there are also things that we must watch out. These are actually what a lot of people called as 'Image Destroyer'
 
 

IMAGE DESTROYER

*) In a survey of 300 men to find out what destroys their first impression of a lady, these are the top 10:

1. Messy Hair

2. Heavy Make Up

3. Platform shoes

4. Lisptick on the teeth

5. Strong perfume

6. Scuffy shoes

7. Wearing revealing clothes to work

8. Chipped nail polish

9. Run in the stockings

10. Visible panty lines

In a survey done on 300 women, these top the list of what will destroy their first impression of a man:

1. Oily hair or hair that's very well-greased

2. Scruffy shoes

3. Crumpled shirt; shirt not properly tucked-in

4. Body odour

5. Bad breath

6. Socks that are loose and gathered at the ankles

7. Trousers that are too short

8. Belt that looks really worn-out

9. Color of shirt not co-ordinated with trousers

10. Nasal hair showing

So with that I think I'm ready to give my best for the Finals

Before I end my post today I have 1 last photo that I personally think is very cute…
 

That's a photo of me and the other finalists in our 'geeky-looks' 

FUN QUIZ
(got prize one !!)

Also, a simple quiz  for  you to guess…
Which shoes belong to which Finalist Ladies?

Those who got it correctly, will get a very special prize from me

Till my next post

*) Taken from a book "Enhance Your Image Quotient", by Suzenne Zheng

Yesterday (Monday, 8th March 2010) was the very first time I celebrate Women's Day. It was a very meaningful and memorable day for me because that day I shared the joy of me being a woman by sharing my life experiences to other great woman in Singapore.

I conducted a Workshop, especially for Women, talking about how is it possible for woman like us to have both Money and Love at the same time. It was an exclusive event, especially for AKLTG (Adam Khoo Learning Technology Group) graduates.

The main reason why we choose this topic is because there are many women who feel guilty towards your spouse/family whenever they have late nights at work, be it if they are striving for a career breakthrough for themselves or slogging to lighten the family’s financial burden. And at the same time, there are also many women out there who are so focus in pursuing their career and because of that, they have to 'sacrifice' their Love life.

Being a woman myself, who is currently having my own business and having my own family and children, I thought it will be great if I can share my personal experiences and also few tips that I do balance both money and love.

The 3 hours workshop turns out to be better than expected. We all have fun in learning and sharing together. Big Thanks to my personal friend, Violet Lim, Founder of Lunch Actually who came down to the workshop and share her experiences.

It was my pleasure and honor to be an inspiration to all the women who came to the workshop yesterday

Here are some snapshots of the event

Me, excited ! just before the workshop start

Only Ladies are allowed to be inside the room

Interaction with fellow lady participant

Me in ACTION !

What does money mean to me ?

Sharing platform with my guess speaker: Violet Lim from Lunch Actually

Me and the wonderful team from AKLTG

Last but not least, I ended my day by spending quality time with my loving husband

Me enjoying my huge portion of crab-porridge.

What a wonderful day !

One thing that I enjoyed during my holidays was the extraordinary delicious food that I had.

Both Jakarta and Melbourne have great food that I can't resist. So turn out, after the Chinese New Year holidays I gained at least another 2 kg! :p

If you also experienced the same problem like me, then you will definitely love what I'm going to write here in my blog.

The easiest way to gain back to your original weight is to exercise and also control your diet.
If it's difficult for you to do to the first one, well at least I'm going to share with you tips on how you can do the 2nd one.

Next time you are looking at a delicious piece of chocolate cake and it's just screaming at you to be eaten. I want you to ask yourself this question: "Am I on diet ?"

Let me share with you what does DIET means to me.

D o

I

E at

T his?

Easy to remember rite? It is very simple. So next time if you're staring at that these cakes, ask yourself, "Do I Eat This?"

Hopefully you know the answer to that question :)

And If you are wondering how can I get my extra 2kg? Well.. these pictures will show you how …

Went to one buffet place at Melbourne, called 'The Volcano", nice ambience and also nice food.

Went to one of my favorite Korean food @ Melbourne city. In my opinion, it taste better than the Korean food that I had in Korea

Best place for Italian Food, Sofia @ Melbourne. The portion is HUGE !!  This is a combo pasta, consist of Carbonara, Risoto and Seafood Marinara

and the Gelato is SUPERB !

Happy and Fully Satisfied

Have you ever felt tired doing so many things in your life?

Have you ever felt that your life is so imbalance? 

Well, we all probably experience that once in a while.

The countless demands on our time and energy can leave us feeling emotionally drained and physically exhausted.

We become imbalance when we give out more than we take in.

Being a woman myself with many different roles, I do experience that. On top of that, as a woman, we have been taught to be givers and receiving seems selfish to us. And because of that, it takes enormous courage to see the value in allowing ourselves to give only that which is reasonable and healthy.

If your life were a bank account, how many daily deposits and withdrawals do you make to and from the account of your mind, body, spirit and feelings? If fact, we all do have a "life account", from which we frequently make too many withdrawals or allow others to withdraw too freely.

In order to have a comfortable "balance" in our lives, we need to deposit abundantly and withdraw only when is needed.  When we overdraw' physically,mentally or spiritually, we "see red"; i.e. we experience frustration, anger, and exhaustion. But when we credit our life's account by setting realistic limits, we have more to give.

Although taking care of ourselves is often difficult to do, it is an excellent investment in the quality of life we want and deserve. By taking the time to nurture ourselves, we ensure that we will not get "overdrawn."

So, wait no more. Start deposit to your Life Account today!

Me, my husband and my lil one @ Hyatt Melbourne, making deposit to our Life Account

1 more week before Valentine's day. Are you already in the mood for love? :) 

Having married for 5 years, I understand that it's not only just love that keeps the marriage going. Our efforts in making sure the marriage work is as important.

No one falls in love by choice, it is by CHANCE.
No one stays in love by chance, it is by WORK.
And no one falls out of love by chance, it is by CHOICE.

So I would like to dedicate this post to all the married woman out there.
10 tips on how to really LOVE your husband

1. Build your husband's self confidence and motivate him to action by letting him know you need him and appreciate him

2. Trust your husband. He needs to know you believe he wants the best for you and he is doing his best in the marriage. When you are open and receptive to what he has to offer, you fulfill his need for love. In turn, he loves back.

3. Romance in marriage doesn't just happen. You can make it happen by your attention, desire thoughts, and actions.

4. Pay attention when your husband talks to you. Turn off or put away any distractions. Look him in the eye and give him feedback. An inexpensive but extremely valuable gift !

5. Admire your husband. Give him thanks, approval, and appreciation. He'll feel secure in your admiration and want to continue to meet your needs.

6. Silent is not always golden, especially between husband and wife. Ask your husband if he'd like to set aside time just to talk.

7. Understand that expressing your anger is not necessarily bad. It's how you express anger that makes the difference.

8. Remember that in a  marriage the question is not so much about who is right, but what is right for the marriage.

9. Tell your husband on a regular basis: "I love you more than yesterday"

10. "Marriage is not so much finding the right person as it is being the right person." Are you the wife you wanted to be when you married? If not, it's still possible to become that woman.

Hope the 10 tips above will add more love into your marriage life

I feel proud to be a woman.

One of the main thing that I believe women are generally better than a man is the ability to multi-task. There are many women out there who have successfully mastered the art of balancing many different roles i.e. career-woman, homemaker, wife, girlfriend, daughter, mother, boss, etc. They are really an inspiration.

For me, I am fortunate that I had the opportunities to embark on many different roles in my life. Mostly I experienced it in my twenties. I've spent the first 3 years in my twenties finding my life purpose and also finding my life partner =) shortly after that I took another role as an Entrepreneur. Being young, and being female at that time surely it wasn't an easy task to do.  But despite all the limitation that I had, I managed to pull it through,

Do I feel proud about my achivement? You bet I am !  But to tell you the truth, My biggest sense of achievement happened when when I took up another role about 2 years ago.  The role of a mother. 

I think the best part of being a woman is that we share the ability to create life. How amazing is that !
I consider motherhood the biggest blessing for any woman. It is definitely a huge responsibility, and many times I have to sacrifice my sleeping time and my personal time, but it's definitely worth doing.

Being a woman also means that I can dress up, wear my high heels and feel good about myself. Compare to male, I believe we have more choices in making ourselves look great. We can wear pants or skirts or shorts or long flowing dresses or sandals or boots or whatever else that suit us. Our wardrobe has no boundaries

Life as a woman is meaningful, fun, challenging, exciting and rewarding.

So if anyone ever ask me, "If I can turn back time and choose, would I want to be born as a man or woman?" Definitely a woman.

Do you really love yourself ?

It might seems like a very simple question on which you might think that the obvious answer is a definite YES. But unfortunately not all of us can honestly and confidently said yes.

No one is harder on us than we are on ourselves.

Many times we look in the mirror and we see only our physical flaws.
"If only I am taller" , "If only I have better complexion", "If only I can be 5 kg slimmer", and many other wishes. 

Many times we remember only our mistakes when we look back on the day we've just spent.
We sometimes beat ourselves up even when we've done nothing wrong.

But guess what ?? Despite all those, others like us. Some even love us.
What do they see in us that we don't?

It's good to be honest with ourselves, but we also should be kind.
We can give more love and affection to others if we start with love and affection for ourselves.

So before you go to sleep tonight,  look into the mirror and see how wonderful you truly are, inside and outside.
There are definitely many good reasons why you should love yourself.

 "Learning to love yourself, It is the greatest love of all"