Category: Human

Be Positively Teal – Raising Awareness for Ovarian Cancer

I have so much exciting news in store for you guys that I don’t know where to start!! Haha okay let’s do it step by step. Last Friday, I attended ‘Positively Teal Bloggers Event’ at La Maison Du Canele @ Shaw. It was AMAZING. I got so much out of it and I’m going to share.

Why teal? It’s the colour representing the fight against ovarian cancer! If you don’t know what teal is, just check out my profile picture on the top right! Haha ——————————–>>>>>>>>

I know nobody likes to talk about cancer… You probably have half a mind to close this page now, BUT hold up! It doesn’t hurt to know just a little more, right?

HERE’S THE TRUTH

You probably haven’t heard much on Ovarian cancer in Singapore due to the lack of TV advertisements and broadcasts. The ovaries are also hidden in the body such that most women possess the notion of “What you can’t see can’t harm you.”

But the truth is, it can.

Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer among Singapore women, and 1 in 80 women face it in their lifetime. Those are pretty high odds, I’d say.

There are CURRENTLY NO TESTS that you can do, unlike breast cancer where you can go for mammogram, or cervical cancer, where you go for a Pap Smear, to detect ovarian cancer. That makes it so much scarier, and that’s also why patients usually go to the doctor when the symptoms become too unbearable. And that’s when the disease is already at Stage III or IV.

THE ONLY WAY. Is to recognize the symptoms by yourself. This is crucial, because sometimes our bodies give us signals that something is not quite right, but how many of us have actually listened? This is especially so with most older people. Even if they knew that there was something not right, they wouldn’t approach a doctor. That’s where you, the younger generation comes in, to help educate them and encourage them to see a doctor when they feel unwell. And unfortunately, cancer isn’t bias – it attacks women in their 20s too.

Treating ovarian cancer at its early stages can exponentially increase survival rates and patients are able to lead normal lives after that.

KNOW IT & RECOGNIZE IT

Here’s the most important part of my post. If there’s only one part you should read, this is it.

What are the symptoms?

- Bloated feeling in the abdomen

- Abdominal distension

- Abdominal discomfort

- Backache or ache in the legs

- Change of bowel habits

- Urinary complaints

- Abnormal vaginal bleeding

- Loss of weight

I was damn upset when I saw these symptoms. They are so freaking non-specific! Every woman probably has experienced the above symptoms before, and how do we know if it’s the real deal?

Even the doctors had no answer.

I guess the only way is to be vigilant about your body’s signals and don’t ignore them if you or your loved ones are experiencing two or more of the above symptoms concurrently.

THE EVENTS

Canele, one of the sponsors of Positively Teal campaign, hosted the closed-door event for us on Friday. A total of about 20 bloggers were present, and I was really honoured to be able to attend. Thank you Ju Ann for the invite. =)

To show their support, the Executive pastry chef of Canele, Christophe Grilo, launched a newly created Teal coloured macaroon! Along with the teal macaroons, we also had cute cupcakes and finger food. All of them are too pretty to be eaten!!

Sweet feature of the day: Teal macaroons with a hint of mint and raspberry in the middle! The raspberry balanced the sweetness of the butter cream and the result was a a perfect combination of flavours.

Pretty cupcakes!! I would have ALL if I could, but I only took the pink coloured one.

Didn’t try this cuz it’s all sugaaar that melts in your mouth.

Cesar chicken mini-wraps.

Le chef proud of his creations.

Adorable illustrations on the walls of Canele.

Ovarian cancer survivor Lim Ai Ling, who gave a splendid speech on how she overcame the disease. She was diagnosed 3 years ago at 28 years old. What touched me was how she ended her speech with heartfelt thanks to the doctors present that day who saved her life.

Part of her speech:

“Being young doesn’t immunize you from cancer. I’m a living proof. I’m very lucky that I did not ignore the signs and symptoms that my body was showing.”

That seriously struck me and gave me goosebumps. I admire her for her courage and how normal she is now. She found a job, and a man who accepts her for who she is. I was lucky to sit next to her during the event and had the chance to converse with her. Amazing lady.

Then it was lucky draw time!! Haha What a surprise, I was the first to be called up to receive a consolation prize of Choco Marvel chocolate drink to ease menstrual cramps. Lololol. Thanks Samantha for helping me take this photo! She was really friendly and kind :) Other bloggers were luckier to win handbags from BATA and watches worth $108!

With A/Prof Jeffrey Low and Ai Ling.

So lucky to have spent such a meaningful evening with the peeps from Singapore Cancer Society, doctors and bloggers. The organizers really put in a lot of effort to prepare notes for us, and a FAT goody-bag filled with lovely stuff. More importantly, they want us to spread the message that we ladies must be aware of our own bodies, and never be afraid. What will come will come, but we must fight it. And in order to give a good fight, we must be equipped with the necessary knowledge. If you still do not know what knowledge I’m talking about, please read my post again from the top!! Haha

Anyway, the campaign doesn’t end here. They have something exciting coming up!

They are bringing the party to ZOUK! I’d definitely want to see doctors letting their hair down. *QUICK, think of the doctors in Greys Anatomy* Haha AND AND I might just be walking down that runway dressed in KissJane apparels alongside inspiring cancer survivors.

Purchase the ZOUK tickets here and the proceeds will go to Singapore Cancer Society in support of the fight against Ovarian Cancer.

So spread the message and see you there!

Click for more events and seminars on Ovarian Cancer – Calender of Events

I’m going to reveal what KissJane has in store for you, in my next post. So stay tuned! =D

Northpoint’s spanking new foodcourt

Check out the newly renovated foodcourt at Northpoint! It’s so bright and cheery. Although I felt that the whole place was a little too bright that it can be overwhelming. I tell you what else is overwhelming. The crowd.

Everywhere I turned, there were throngs of people buying food, and queuing for food. It’s almost impossible to find an empty table. This was the situation at dinner time, so I haven’t had an opportunity to sit down and try the new stalls. There’s pepper lunch express and some other new stalls, but it was too chaotic to go around taking photos!

I just quickly ordered my food from the Jap stall (my usual), and left. Too many people~

There was a change in layout as well so the old stalls are kinda jumbled up. The Banana leaf indian food is now all the way inside the foodcourt! I wonder if the standard is still the same though. Anyhow! I’m just glad the foodcourt is back and I can always fall back on some cheap and nice food from that place.

Collected my Churpie~

So SO lucky that I remembered to collect Churpie on the very last day of the collection period. I’d won him from Valerie (Miss Universe Singapore 2011) @Dweam ‘s twitter contest! All I had to do was to tweet why I love churping!

I didn’t know how cute Churpie is until I got him. Haha I sound like I’m badmouthing him but his head is bigger than his body so he always topples! But it’s cute lahhh. Lol

So now Churpie is safely with me. He’s trying to mingle with bearbear, but bearbear says he needs time to get to know him. He’s shy but can be territorial. So, we’ll see how it goes!

"Hello, I think I need some time to get to know you.. What's your hobby?"

Make It Right For A Better Ride!

Remember singing to the catchy tune “Train is coming! Train is coming! You may start queueing~” by The Dimsum Dollies in 2010? This time, the Gracious on Public Transport campaign is back to remind us not to be unpleasant commuters to one another!

Since we are confined to such a small space in the duration of our travel, we are all ‘in the same boat’, so why irritate each other with talking loudly (it’s not the market), blasting your music (ever heard of earphones), or blocking others’ entry (so that you can have more space is it, grr)?? And the number 1 ultimate crime: not giving up your seat to those in need even though you’ve spied them from the corner of your eye the moment they stepped into the train.

The campaign this year aims to cultivate travelers’ graciousness through poetry, reflections and calligraphy submitted by fellow commuters of different ages, but they are all advocating the same thing; kindness on public transport.

I first saw the posters at Bishan’s circle line station (I take the train quite often), and this was the very first poster I saw that caught my eye.

I was attracted by the Chinese calligraphy and after reading the words, I realized that I was standing right in front of the door in order to read the poster! So I immediately stood to the side of the doors. I guess such reminders are indeed needed, especially when commuters are all tired and occupied with hundred and a million things on their minds, we tend to not take notice of such minute details. Whether we are blocking others’ exit/entry, or whether the next person boarding the train needs the seat more than we do.

I then checked out more posters at ‘We Keep Your World Moving’s FB page and here is my favourite!

I find this super relevant because every time I gave up my seat to someone else, I would feel embarrassed/shy as though I’d done something wrong!! This is because the person would thank me profusely, and the rest of the seated commuters would stare at the commotion (and suddenly I’m promoted to a small heroine. Okay that’s being overly dramatic). And perhaps growing up in an Asian society, taking credit for something isn’t really part of our nature, even for something as trivial as this. So this poster struck a cord with me. It also has a catchy rhyme! :D “DON’T BE SHY, GIVE IT A TRY!”

Check out the entire collection of posters here.

And also join the “Make It Right For A Better Ride” Twitter contest and stand to win a pair of movie tickets! More details on http://on.fb.me/betterride.

Charlene sis’ wedding 12022012. <3

Last weekend was a fun and blissful one as Hammy’s sister got married! It was also my first time being a bridesmaid and I certainly had a crazy time stopping the groom and his ‘brothers’ at the door and making them drink our deadly concoctions. We even gave them a waxing service on the shin! Wahaha, all the things men do to get their women. ;P

The pureed concoctions comprised of the following:

- Sour: Lemon and lime juice with Lemon bits

- Sweet: Dried plum and pomegranate vinegar (surprised? We’d intended this combination to be sour, but it turned out to be sweet instead!)

- Bitter: Beer stout with raw egg (Potent. Woohoo!)

- Spicy: Chilli padi and tobasco (This was a killer)

Surprisingly, we did not face much resistance from the guys as they drank up willingly, although it was funny to watch their expressions and cries for god. Haha One ‘brother’ was so cheeky that he asked for more waxing! Of course we gave it!

Unfortunately I was so busy running around and settling stuff for the bride that I didn’t manage to take any photos at all! Plus I only had 1 hour of sleep the night before, so I didn’t have that much energy to do so. Just let the wedding photographers and videographer do the job! But this was what I wore for the morning events; a blue dress bought from Max Diva at Orchard Central. Resembles CHIJ’s blue pinafore, doesn’t it?

Then after the tea ceremony, it was time to prepare for the wedding dinner at Hilton Singapore. I didn’t have time to visit a salon to style my hair (I spent 2 hours snoozing), and I don’t know how to do it myself, so I looked pretty plain that night. But I absolutely heart my dress! Laced Cheongsam in teal from a local blogshop. I adore blogshops that provide XS size for petite girls. They are a god-send.

In the hotel executive suite. Hehe couldn’t resist the full length mirrors.

Ashlyn, Hammy’s cousin, who was my bridesmaid-in-crime.

I really like this photo of us, although Hammy looked really tired after modelling and animating a 3D-animated photo montage for his sis and bro-in-law. I would say, good job dear! <3

‘nudge nudge’ Eh take photo alr!

He’s all suited up! :)

The pretty bride taking a break after the dinner. Being the couple of the night is not an easy task! You need to stand the entire night, walk around, entertain guests, drink, laugh, smile till your cheeks are stiff, and still try your best to look perky and pretty. I know she probably only had 3 hours of sleep the night before, but see, still looking good and smiling even when she’s resting :) haha

With Hammy’s grandma, I adore her cheeky smile!

Yay! A photo with the bride. I’m so happy for you, Charlene sis! Wishing you happiness and love in your marriage, and have a couple of children soon! Hehe (Hammy: The house feels so empty and quiet without you!!!) <—- He’s really sad! Hope we’ll be able to hang out and have meals often ok! HUGS. X x miss uou.