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I don't Cosplay. I don't watch Anime. I don't read Manga. I'm not crazy about Japan.

But I like Costume events. I like Animation. I like Toys. I can accept the fascination of crazy Japanese cultures.

Maybe for these reasons, there is still a certain appeal to Anime Festival Asia (AFA) for me. Though besides Pikachu and Anpanman, I didn't know any other characters!

Cosplay (コスプレkosupure), short for "costume play", is a Japanese subculture centered on dressing as characters from manga, anime, tokusatsu and video games, and, less commonly, Japanese live action television shows, fantasy movies, Japanese pop music bands, Visual Kei, fantasy music stories . . . and novels.

(Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosplay)

It's the 3rd year running for Anime Festival Asia (AFA) 2010 and the Cosplay culture in Singapore is finally showing standards. Following previous years of Cosfest, CosCon@Games and Singapore Toy & Comic Conventions; this year's Anime Festival Asia has the most impressive turn up of cos-players.





From what I see sprawling in the atrium grounds of Suntec City, we are not to far off from the Cosplay quality of Japan. Gone are the days where fans are “too cheap” to invest in costumes and makeup and Manga & Anime perceived as ‘kid’s culture’.

A huge part of Christmas is filling the home and our hearts with songs of Christmas. There's something about the rhythm of tinkle bells and lyrics of snow that never fail to put a smile to face.

Eons years ago, I even drew up a Top 10 Christmas Tunes List! They are all evergreen classics! Usual to every year, I put on a variety of CDs and artists; ranging from Mowtown Christmas, Amy Grant, Harry Connick Jr., Jewel, Mariah Carey, Il Divo... but this year in particular I was more conscious to the meaning of the songs and if they sang in truth and honour of our Lord Jesus' birth and love.

I still want Santa, Rudolf and Frosty to be a part of the tunes I sing, but more so now, I am thankful for songs that really put me in the right frame of mind to welcome Christ on his humble being.


Corrinne May performing live in a rendition of "In The Bleak Midwinter"

I have a version of James Taylor's "In The Bleak Midwinter", but never thought too much about it till we sang it as our Thanksgiving hymn during midnight mass. More so because I never realized the song had such beautiful lyrics. My heart warmed up knowing that 2,000 years ago, Jesus took the humble path to be real and close to me.

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This has been 'viral-ing' around and I love it!

Have a fabulous and blessed Christmas everyone!
Hope you're having a blast remembering the Reason for the Season!

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In all my Spirit of Giving, The Christmas song of 2010 have to be Band-Aid's 1984 "Do They Know It's Christmas?" to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.


I particularly enjoy the original all stars featuring Boy George, George Michael, Sting, a very young Bono and Phil Collins performing awesomely on drums. This reminds me that given a chance, I really want to watch Phil Collins perform live (more so for the drums)!


Personally, I've never knew of Band-Aid II. And being the 80s kids that I am, I was very thrilled to see Banarama, Bros (OMG! "When Will I be Famous" fame), Wet Wet Wet, Jason Donovan and then GF Kylie Minouge. Pure Nostalgia!

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I've been behind on my posts these two months, but it's a good sign of 'living' more. Though, there's no good excuse to write less. Every weekend have been filled with tons of activities leading into Advent and then now into the last week of Christmas.

In the spirit of Christmas, a time of peace, love and goodwill to all... I paused to think about the many blessings I have received this year. This year, there was no Pre-Christmas To-Do List, no Shopping List, no rushing around stuffed up in overly crowded streets and malls; cracking my brains on what to get who! This year, I simply wanted to give 'Giving'.

Perhaps it was Celeste's Charity themed birthday in August that rubbed-off and inspired me to take 'giving' more seriously. Then came the World Visions Singapore Christmas Gift Catalogue in November that truly sparked me thinking why not forget about getting my friends stuff they already have... and make this season meaningful to someone, somewhere who's less fortunate in their honour.


World Visions Singapore Christmas Gift Catalogue 2010

I've been blessed through and through and in knowing the difference we can make by sharing God's goodness touches my heart in a mushy way.

The world can definitely give a little more love.

Spread Jesus this Christmas. Have a wonderful and blessed Christmas 2010.



A personal cause I adopted last year was to give the gift of Education. If there's a gift to give a child, give something life changing... give Education.

Sharing the basic principles:
1) Children are our most precious natural resource
2) The solution to poverty, peace and environment is education
3) Teaching is one but not the only way to achieve learning

I picked the following transformational gifts:

I've recently added a new gadget to the handle bar of my Scott Contessa - my iPhone 3GS! Techie as it may seem, but I am really loving the fact that I now have a GPS, Street Directory, Music Player and Hands-free phone!

Earlier in the year, I picked up the Marware Sportsuit convertible sport armband at the ITShow. The convertible's neoprene skin and durable vinyl screen-cover completely enclose and protect the iPhone while giving you full usage of all screen functionality and buttons. It is a sturdy case and so far, no painful abrasions from the armband.

My objective was to strap the iPhone on and train for my runs. However, I soon found out that an iPhone is just too heavy a device to run around in comfortably for marathon length runs. Short runs are quite perfect.

It wasn't long later that I found out that the Marware Sportsuit convertible has another nifty add on - the bike holder! For USD$9.95, the bicycle holder mounts any Marware cases that uses the Multidapt® clip system.


The Marware Bike Holder

Kenny took home a piece for me from the states. And I was really excited to take it out for a spin, at the same time to travel the distance of the Kallang Park Connector.


What the ride and terrain looked like marked on MapMyFitness




Before hitting the Park Connector, I checked out this barren plot of land near the unopened Woodleigh MRT Station. I've zoomed passed this place numerous times and have seen people jogging and training. It looked like a good place to spin.


Nice open space, but it is definitely not a park. There are no benches and a good part of the track is graveled with tiny rocks; not the most ideal for sleek tires.


Towards Kallang from Toa Payoh. Cycling by our catchment canals is as good as it gets to riverside cycling!

Young People Learn About Purity At Rally
Youths and young adults were encouraged to lead lives of purity at the 2010 Archdiocesan Youth Day Rally.

Keynote speaker, Colin MacIver (right) from the US, defined purity as “singleness of heart … to know what we want and to pursue it”.

He highlighted to those present at the Nov 26-27 rally of Jesus’ teaching, “Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God”. He also mentioned an alternative translation that goes “Blessed are the single of heart, those who know who they are, what they want”.

He told the participants gathered at the Toa Payoh Sports Hall that in order to understand purity, one must understand that one is a child of God and one’s “deepest desire is to experience being a child of God”.

Mr MacIver, a trainer for the Theology of the Body for Teens programme, said the sexual revolution caused people to view sex as “self-assertion as a way to achieve pleasure… status … to get what we want”.

Thus, when one understands who one is, one would understand the Church’s teaching. “We say no to sex before marriage ... because it’s completely incompatible with what we are made for,” said Mr MacIver, who is also campus minister in St Scholastica Academy and a youth minister at St Anselm parish in Madisonville, both in Los Angeles

An engaged couple also shared with participants how their previous relationships, which involved physical intimacy, ultimately did not bring them happiness. They said they found the courage to move on through their faith and through reading Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body.

Praise and worship, Eucharistic adoration and a skit on living out one’s faith were other highlights of the rally, which drew a total of some 1,700 people.

Kelly Seah, a participant, commented that Mr MacIver’s talk corrected the many misinterpretations youth have of relationships.

The rally was held for confirmands, post confirmands and young adults.

By Darren Boon
darrenboon@catholic.org.sg

Because MUSIC is such a big part of my life, it is natural to assume I would enjoy dancing. And as much as I do enjoy the occasional 'shake your booty' night outs, DANCE is really not my thing. It would take some effort to persuade me to a performance like 'Ballet Under The Stars', though honestly the "picnic-er" in me wouldn't mind laying out a mat and enjoying a glass of wine in wide open spaces.

The closest dance performances I can recall attending were STOMP and Project X (Tap Dogs dance styled). I have a particular liking for the dance discipline of Tap, perhaps being overly influenced by Gene Kelly movies in my younger years.


Lead Dancers Chloey Turner & Padraic Moyles

Strangely I was quite excited about catching the international Irish phenomenon, 'Riverdance'; as they graced our shores the second time and marked the grand opening of the new Sands Theatre at Marina Bay Sands. It was also the 'Riverdance Farewell Tour' after fifteen years of performing and touring the world. They end 2010 in the Far East.

I expected a lot more from this supposedly world class 1,600 seat theatre, but was deeply disappointed. The stage is small and the place lacked grandeur. Mid-way through the performance, we could even hear irritable sounds of drilling, an obvious prove that the sound proofing can be improved.



Thankfully the performance was truly enjoyable and it was a good choice to have picked centralized circle seats. It allowed us to catch the choreographed step-dance routine, dance formations and the quick-footed, rapid-fire tapping feet!