Belated Xmas Entry

Another yr wil soon be making way for the next in another 2ish hr (GMT). Having had an xxxciting dec 2010/2011, itz moody bluey this 2011/2012, since therez nth much in dec to see Marpig thru the transitional few daes

Anyw, 2011 wasnt much of an xxxciting yr for Marpig; partly bcos she didnt noe wat is considered as xxxciting for her, ha!!

*Reflecting* Marpig had the same resolution as previous 2 yrs, i.e., tt CEng report!! Luckily she did fin her 1st draft, had it reviewed once and now shez into the final draft and is 5% there!! Wil fin it on 1st Jan!! Really really!! *feeling very adamant*

Other than tt, cant say Marpig accomplished any BIG ths, since she didnt plan for anyth BIG either. Oh oh, she did want to run a marathon but she did Bristol Bikeathon instead. *pondering* perhaps her working xperience has been enhanced, specially in terms of cost and resource management

Gosh, stil rem Marpig was so inspired by Mrs "突然性感" back in sec 3 tt she planned wat she want to achieve until the 2nd yr she was working in the UK. Think Marpig must have bcome so comfy tt shez gone back to the lazy self!! Ah~~ itz just so easy to be lazy (it rhymes!! :P)

Watz worse is tt she only wrote a meagre 40ish bloggie entries this entire yr!! 这是超.级.不对的!!!!!!! *晕*

Hence, since shez feeling 102% guilty for being a lazy glutton thru n thru without doing much xercising + inspired by PS who managed to keep to al her last yrz resolutions, Marpig shal, for next yr, try to (can tel Marpigz confidencez wavering hahaha):

1) Get her CEng
2) Read her monthly professional magazines rather than chucking them under her desk, unwrapped
3) Exercise!! At least Sat & Sun!! Be it cycle, jogging or swimming!!
4) Catch Phantom of the Opera Musical
5) Go Norway see Midnight Sun in July
6) Diving at sm place where therez the sun, the sea and the sandy beach
7) Do 3D LEGO sculptures

Think ttz so much for now, better not set tall orders for herself!! :P

Right, resolutions aside (pun intended; brushed them away as quickly as Marpig made them!!) Marpig received 2 Xmas surprises!!

1st Surprise

Dont noe if itz Mimi T or was it Marpig but putting them tog = blur, confusion, joke!! hahahahaha

So the story goes when a dae after Marpig was properly "gek" by a female grad engr (PS noes best!!), she received a package from ASOS

Sharing a bit of backgrd info; Marpig genuinely do not noe / heard bout ASOS, only noe tt the grad engr always get onto ASOS during lunchtime and bought many pairs of shoes there. Hence, Marpig got to noe itz an online fashion thingy. Also, those few daes happened to coincide with Marpigz teamz secret Santa and everyone was trying to put presents into a collection box discreetly

And very logically, Marpig thought tt the grad engr was Marpigz secret Santa, since she couldnt think of any1 else who would buy anyth for Marpig on ASOS. You must be wondering, isnt there a card or name of the sender but there wasnt!! Without hearing from any frens, Marpig actually told PS tt the grad engr gave Marpig a present from ASOS!! And guess wat, PS continued to keep the cat in the bag!!

A few daes later, Mimi T said to Marpig, "u should receive a package from me..." and ttz when Marpig knew wat happened!! Come to think of it, think tt grad engr was also puzzled and envious from her look when Marpig opened the present!! Heheheh!!
As with al gifts from Mimi T (Scorpio, just like Marpigz sis), itz a useful snood!! *beaming* Thanks a mil Mimi T!! Muackmuackmuack!!

So wat did Marpigz actual secret Santa give her? Wel, this!!
Marpig really thinks itz tt Scottish guy since hez into LEGO too and hez the only guy tt Marpig talked LEGOism. But he denied!! Then again, quite a lot of Marpigz colleagues knew tt Marpig is into LEGO recently bcos Marpig has been heralding bout her LEGO mosaics. So thrill was Marpig tt she cant stop beaming al over like a child which prompted a comment from an old engr; tt Marpig is sm1 whoz easily pleased. Oops, Marpig wore her heart on the sleeves again!!

2nd Surprise

Received this package slightly b4 Mimi Tz snood arrived. Stil rem it was a mondae morn bcos the package actually kept Marpig in happy spirit the whole dae, despite being another blue mondae!! :D
Marpigz alter ego aka Piggie, "Should I open, should I open?! So xxxciting!! Should I open, should I open... (on & on & on)"Unable to put off opening the present until Xmas dae, Piggie opened the box ful of surprises!! Therez the Charlie Brownz Xmas tree with Linus's security blanket, a LEGO heli/biplane/boat set and a scratch and sketch book!!
The classic, "A Charlie Brown Xmas"!! Hear hear, this show debuted in 1965 and had won both an Emmy and Peabody awards!! Therez lessons to be learnt and in the story, Charlie Brown wanted to decorate a little tree and blah blah blah and Linus wrapped the tree with his security blanket and the ornament. Hence, xplained why therez the tree and blanket in the leetle box with the teeny weeny book!! :D

(NOTE: Linus's security blanklet is now permanently on Piggie!! :D)

Having done up the tree and kept Piggie warm, itz time to assemble a biplane for Piggie!!

Frens often feels tt Marpig am always up to smth, which is true!! Quoting Dingko, she once said tt Marpigz hiding a sledgehammer smwhere, ready for sm pounding out of the blue. Indeed, Marpig am always thinking of the next photo to take, next surprise to give, etc

The moment Marpig saw the LEGO and b4 she took the bricks out, she knew watz shez gonna do and the photo she wanted to take; shez gonna drive home the point bout PIGS CAN FLY~~!!
Wasting no time in assembling the biplane, she got sm strings and hang the biplane on a hook in her bedroomz ceiling and precariously sit Piggie on it for the shoot!! *beaming al over*

After having much fun with the toys and waking up to a "flying" biplane each morning, itz 23rd and time to get to London for Xmas @ Marpigz sisz and BIL
Arriving into Paddington, therez a charity band playing Xmasty carols as wel as...
"stags" in provocative (!_!) Xmasty outfits in the Tube!! *恶*

Hereafter, cant really rem wat Marpig had been doing btw Xmas eve to Boxing dae, just rem she was eating non-stop, sleeping, lazing, watching Xmas telly such as the super cute, "The Gruffaloz Child" (recommended) and nope, therez no Tim Burtonz Edward Scissorhands nor NBC!!

Anyw, Marpig received a mushy card from Marpigz sis :)Which really is smwat like Marpigz sis and Marpig, specially tt one on the size of the butt!! (Marpigz sis DOES ask Marpig such questions on her physique!! Shhh!!)
*smiles*

BTW, if u are asking why Marpigz sis addresses Marpig as "大姐", wel, tt question was also raised by Marpigz sisz frens and her Mandarin teacher, 叶老师, when they al met up (with Marpig too) for a catch up

Apparently, according to Marpigz sis, Marpig once said, "我不会让别人欺负你!!" Biangz!! 超 pai seh umk!! Marpig 真的 said smth like tt?! Of cos, it is smth Marpig wil do!! Cancerians are indeed very protective of their loved ones!! :D

And as usual, Marpigz sis (Scorpio as wel) direct debit Marpigz a/c with sm lollies and also got her this DVDSo why did she get Marpig tt? Bcos Marpig told her Marpigz playing Smurf's Village!! Just like last yrz giant book of Collins Scrabble dictionary; bcos Marpig told her she was playing Scrabble with PS throughout their Arctic trip!! hahahaha

Finally, wrapping this late Xmas bloggie entry in Marpigz STYle...
The food they ate during Xmas eve and Xmas!! They also ate Gammon but Marpig was too ful and stuffed to take anymore food pics then!!
As wel as a just-right-not-too-sweet chocolate hazelnut cake which BIL baked!! Unbelievable!! :D))

M&Mz World

Rewinding to July, Marpig and fam went to 2 very interesting places; the 1st being a heavily commericalised place while the other is more suited to Marpigz cuppa teh. However, she shal blog bout the 1st b4 she dives into the next!!

As u may have already guessed, itz M&M World in Leicester Sq!! Itz def a new Londonz attaction which was opened in June this yr. Itz currently the worldz largest candy store at 3250 sqm. There are 3 other M&M Worlds; Las Vegas (1997), Orlando, Florida (2005) and NYC (2006)

On their way there, Marpig chanced upon a "living" wal of a hotel near to Hard Rock Cafe. Being interested in unique buildings, she took a pic!!
Anyw, going back to Leicester Sq and presenting~~
Newly opened M&M World in Leicester Sq!! Bcos itz stil early on a wkdae, the crowdz not here yet; best time to take photos!!The iconic London bus at the entrance of the store. Coincidentally, the bus, Marpigz dad, sis and herself are al in red!! Ha!!

别小看 the leetle bars of Snickers we so lurved during our hikes, Sexy Lady!! Apparently, Mars Incorporated is a long standing family biz (& quite secretive), now into the 4th generation. Itz an American brand and oh, itz got a reputation amongst the industry as the perfect training grounds for CEOs!!Didnt noe Chemistry can be fun too!! Actually, the only th Marpig like bout Chemistry is really just the Periodic Table; she used to be able to rem 80% of the elements and their atomic and mass numbers!! *geeky look* hahahaha*salutes!!*Oooh-la-la~~ *whistles* So whoz the sexy lady?(!_!)// Ya noe, beauty is in the eyesz of the beholder!!
No wonder he got a bit out of form on the pitch... :PLittered ard the massive candy store are more statues such as M&M Blue in his silver Aston Martin DB5!! (Marpig got a model of the AS DB5 in her collection of models!! :D)
The M&Ms using the zebra xing in colourful STYle

Other than lotsa mugs, clothes, etc, there are also countless M&Ms (edible ones) in different containers such as:
Noticed tt Marpig (& Marpigz dad too) was playing with the sweets over the shelves for the camera!! Think they were fiddling with the sweets for a gd 30 mins or so, shifting and moving the sweets here and there, everywhere!!

After gaining unltd access to the normally priced M&Ms candies, the bar is raised to the more xorbitant merchandise such as this hand-crafted wooden chess set selling for 150 quidAnd the 200++ quid porcelain display figurines
Wonder who are the ones who wil buy such ths. One th for sure is tt it wouldnt be Marpig bcos itz~~
Xpensive!! Argh~~~!!

(Another reason being, itz not smth Marpig collects :P)

As with al themed stores, the world just cant seem to shake off tt craze which Hard Rock Cafe popularised!!

Rock Climbing in a Church!!

After suspension bridge, letz talk bout another sport which, to date, Marpig only noes (recently) tt JM and Corn do as wel; rock climbing!!

JM!! Letz go climb the next time Marpig am back!! Umk umk?!

Marpig am afraid of heights but rock climbing is fun!! Wel, at least itz much safer than cliff edges!! Of cos, we need a trustworthy belayer (not a heavy one) & the correct knots!!

When was the 1st time Marpig took on the sport? TT was back in Uni, where many ths were either FOC or cheap cheerie cheap cheap!! She finished the basic course and actually, rock climbing is fairly easy!! But heu, kinda difficult to find khakis after grad :S

Anyw!! Marpig & office teammates went to Bristol Climbing Centre for an aftern of rock climbing back in Sept
As Marpig didnt have a wide angle / fisheye lens, above is a stitch of 2 pics to show how the place look like. The place is fascinating as the wall is built in the 15th century Church of St. Werburghs, i.e., the whole place was a church!! :DOnce there, Marpig and colleagues went for a warm up climb. NOTE:

1) The black "erected" shadow is the lens of the film camera which colleague used to take the pic, formed bcos of the flash!!

2) Marpig is on the left

Ah~ despite not climbing for so many yrs (~7 yrs?), Marpig can stil rem her basics!! :D although Marpig must admit she 4got how to do the figure of 8!!

After the warm up climb, Marpig and colleagues played "wall games", learnt a leetle bit bout bouldering and of cos, climbing walls of diff grades (F3 to F8a and above)1 of the walls Marpig climbed is the above. Cant rem wat grade it was... think itz a F5 and the challenging part is the orange "boulder"
And up went Marpig!! For pple whoz learnt/tried climbing, 3 impt ths to rem:

1) Keep body as close to the wall as possible (so tt u r not using both arms to support the entire body weight)

2) Use the legs to push yrself up instead of pulling using the arms (most of the time)

3) Look at the wall have a mind map of which grip/steps to take prior to climbing. Otherwise, u wil find yrself dangling/ stopping too long while thinking which is the next step/grip to take and tire the arms and legsTada!! Marpig reached the top!! :D

After the climb, itz chinese buffet for dinner!! (buffet spread arent the xpensive dishes obviously) The guys 真能吃!! Initially, Marpig would prefer to order proper dishes but, buffet was the way to go for a tableful of 10 hungry guys & 大胃王 Marpig!!

Suspended

Umk, this is just 1 of the many backlog entries which Marpig am frantically trying to blog b4 another wave of entries come during the Xmas and new year period!!

Hence, without keeping al of u in suspense, here goes!!

Was back in July/Aug when Marpigz dad was here visiting. Marpigz dad, Marpigz sis and BIL spent a wkend in Bristol where they went to 1 of the highlights of Bristol; the Clifton Suspension Bridge!!

But 1st, a small leetle distraction!! As it was, Marpigz dad stayed with Marpig in Cosy Barn while Marpigz sis and BIL stayed in a hotel just bside where Marpigz office is (5 mins away!!) Early in the morn b4 meeting up with Marpigz sis and BIL, Marpigz dad and Marpig went for a morning walk at the park ard Marpigz office

Therez much to see and observe; the ponds with the wild geese, mallards, fountains, robins, etc. And as both of them are avid photographers, they were taking arty farty pics such as this!!Morning dew suspending on the buds!! :D Not a gd pic actually :( Too bad Marpig didnt have a macro lens (super xpensive!!) but oh wel, need to save and invest in 1 next time!!

Back to Clifton Suspension Bridge (grade 1 listed building in the UK). Beenie wil noe this since Marpig and her went there when she came visiting 2 yrs ago?! Right Beenie?! Hahaha, stil rem it was late autumn and it was drizzling with gales!! But both of them stil walk the (swaying) bridge, ax the Avon Gorge and even ate ice creams!! 好怀念哦!!
Luckily tt time when Marpigz fam was here, the summer weather was gd and clear!! Above is the Clifton Suspension Bridge, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a British Civil Engineer. He was ranked 2nd in the survey conducted by BBC, titled, "100 Greatest Britons", with the 1st being Sir Winston Churchill and 3rd, Diana Spencer!!

Brunel built many "1sts" and his designs are innovative, despite not al his project were 100% successful. But hey, engineering is like tt!! Always striving to be better!! Other than Clifton Suspension Bridge (he designed but did not live to see it finished), therez also the Great Western Railway (GWR, linking London to Bristol and SW of England), London Paddington Station (the main terminus on the GWR route) Ah~~ Marpig always wanted to be a person known for her knowledge and be a good engineer!! 真的!! But PS seems to think otherwise (come to tt in later entries!!)

BTW, just sm interesting info, if any1 of u happen to go to Temple (where KCL is), therez a statue of Brunel there. Ho humNot going to go into the details of the bridge; if u are keen, you can read bout it here. Underneath the bridge is the Avon Gorge aka Bristol Avon where the River Avon flows. The river also flows to the Bath where the Pultney Bridge is. Oh oh, therez also an ancient cave tt was cut into the cliff wal and which was used as a chapel as far back as A.D 305!!

And, u may have guessed it too, the bridge is wel known as a suicide bridge!! This is the reason why the bridge has barriers to prevent pple from jumping and the Samaritans (UK) plaques such as this:
Contrary to belief, one do not have to be suicidal to cal the Samaritans, although it was 1st founded on the basis of providing emergency help to pple to have suicidal thoughts. Now, the Samaritans encourage pple who are depressed, etc to cal them. Yet, they do not provide counselling to pple; they only provide a listening ear and ask the depressed questions bout their situations, etc to help them find solutions, i.e., to help the depressed pple to be rational. Errr... in Marpigz POV, itz kinda 没用 unless the pple are only marginally depressed or vexed, etc. Severe case needs more than just a phone cal ba... oh wel, who is Marpig to judge?!

Oh, btw, itz not FOC to cal the Samaritans bcos 0845 numbers in the UK are not FOC...
Many of us enjoyed many childhood activities such like catching fishies in big drains, cycling, see sawing, "go li", five stones (Marpig am crap at it), "zeropoint" (Marpig am crap at it too!!), etc. So wat do the children in the UK do? Wel, they enjoy sliding down the smaller granite cliff bside the bridge!! Itz not very high, although it is steep AND hard!! Itz actually kinda scary bcos itz not permitted nor banned, i.e., at yr own risk

So watz the risks? Wel, "no big deal", just mayb a broken bone smwhere, hurt the spine, cuts or even breaking a neck and die!! *想到都可怕*

"Rainboules"

Marpigz 1st ever 超 random bloggie entry!! (Really?)

During summer/autumn, when the weather was a-ok, Marpig was jogging on a particular wkend and saw the group of wild geese xing the road. Yup, there are wild animals ard urban areas bcos ang moh believes in ecology and coexisting with the animals!!
If u are to blow up tt pic, u wil notice 2 male geese protecting the rest with their wings fluffed up. And mind u, geese ARE really hot-tempered creatures and wil give u a very nasty peck/bite/watever if u go close to them. Oh, not only tt, they might run after u too!! Hence, xplained y Marpig stayed far away from them until they xed the road!! They have the right of way!!
Was July & Marpig & fam drove passed Trafalgar Sq when itz was drizzling and saw a beautiful rainbow!! With reference to the previous bloggie entry, this is wat Marpig meant by "有着太阳但又下雨的时候"Back at Marpigz sisz place, they saw double rainbows!!

Whilst Marpigz dad was in the UK for 3 mths & when Marpig was down in London, she went to play boules!!
The pple were professionals!! Despite boules having the image of "only for the old", itz really a great game for al ages!! Marpig played with colleagues in pubs and enjoyed it!! (Then again, sm wil argue tt Marpig am old!!)

The pple in the club were al so frenly and keen to teach Marpigz dad. They also said tt the game need young pple like Marpig!! :P They were so frenly tt they even gave Marpigz dad a set of boules (4 wooden balls makes a set) as a farewel gift when he flew back to the Leetle Red Dot!! Heu, Singapore dont have/enough venues for playing boules (the flats are impt) :(

FYI, Marpigz dad was thought to be a terrorist in possession of bombs when he went thru the Changi Airports customs; bcos the 4 boules in the bag appear like bombs under the Xray!! hahahahahaha

Marpig thought this is smth farny; 话说 Ding lost her mobile in HK but after a while, Shanny and Marpig received a Whatsapp message from her. However, to be on the safe side, Shanny questioned the authenticity of the personz 身份 and cautioned Marpig tt the person might be a fake

And here comes the other very impt reason why Marpig nicknames 99% of al her frens, the other reason being her affection for them. In order to prove tt the person is truly Ding, Marpig asked her to reveal the 2 nicknames she gave her!! And bingo!! The real Ding managed to ans it!!

... ... Then again, other frens of Marpig would noe by reading bloggie too... ... ho hum :P

Finally, just a pcs of random news, to wrap up this random entry. China had just lent the UK 2 pandas and they are now in Edinburgh zoo. Their names? 甜甜 and 阳光, aka Sweetie and Sunshine in the UK!! :D

联想

"星星不会呆太久, 雨后会有彩虹"

Was listening to 881 musical CD and reading the lyrics when Marpig chanced upon tt phrase and thought of blogging bout 联想

Guess itz the hectic lives pple lead now which doesnt allow them to relax and observe their surroundings and of cos, most pple are less mindful of ths ard them now, big or leetle

Marpig often blog bout the leetle ants, the leetle flowers, bees, catepillars, clouds, rainbow, pple rushing bout holding their mobiles, etc on top of other observations. Perhaps bcos she has the luxury of having the time to observe and be mindful of the ths ard her; how pple and ths changed/shaped, how wonderful/sad/chaotic life can be, etc

JM, itz just like u would praise Him for all the wonderful ths and creations. However, al these need an audience to appreciate...

Coming back to wat we tend to 联想到 (could be ths or pple) when we see smth:

Does it depends on our mood at tt particular moment?
Does it depends on our opinions/ideas of ths?
Does it depends on our life xperiences and memories?
Does it depends on wat type of a person we are? (pessimist/optimist/violent/gentle)

Sm pple thought of the poor and hungry children in developing countries when they see food wasted

Sm pple thought of the homeless when they see a mansion

Sm pple harbour sadist thoughts when they see children!!

Alot of pple thought of lollies when they see (or hear) lottery!!

As for Marpig...

有着太阳但又下雨的时候, Marpig 会寻找彩虹, 就像个孩子在找寻她的礼物一样, 把泄气的雨给忘了

走在漆黑的夜里, Marpig 会停下脚步, 望向天空的星星和七姐妹, 把有可能隐藏在黑夜里的危险给忘了

曾几何时, 每样事物都会让 Marpig 联想起她的妈妈, 但随着时光的流逝, 伤口漫漫的愈合了, 联想到她的事物好像也少了
(but Marpig did think of her throughout the Bristol Bikeathon!!)

Anyw, Marpig am sure despite the "hecticity", pple stil 联想到 issues/ths/pple they come ax. At least al is not lost to the harsh reality of making lollies and survival...

BTW, Marpig am sure if any1 sees anyth to do with pigs, they wil 联想到 Marpig!!

久为了!!

好久没 update blog 了... Think itz bcos of the hectic get-as-much-work-done-b4-going-home, bz as a bumble bee trip home, hectic 1st wk back to the UK & the nasty cold and cough Marpigz down with :(

Anyw, another yr wil soon be over in a twinkling of an eye and u wonder where has al the daes gone!! Marpig had a backlog of thingies to share but she shal 1st do a summary of the interesting ths she discovered during her 2-wks trip home, lest she 4got bout them!!

1) Marpig managed to fin the 2nd LEGO 杰作 for Marpigz sis and BIL!! Took them back to make the frames and the Indian framemaker 看 Marpig 好欺负 and 坎菜头!! Worse, got to go back a few times cos they 偷工减料!! Pui!! Anyw!!

FYI, the final costs for Marpigz dadz LEGO wth frame is 105 quid while tt of Marpigz sis and BIL worked out to be 185 quid. Take a look at the completed work!! (Video quality is shite on purpose FYI!!)

2) Alot of Marpigz frens laughed and asked her why she pronounces taxi as "teksi" (Mimi T, Balachan, etc included). Marpig only pronounced it like tt when shez back home but even she noe naught why she uses tt pronunciation until Marpigz dad wanted to hail a taxi... :P

3) Shanny once xclaimed tt although Marpig played Bakery and Rest Stories later than her, Marpig stil managed to overtake her in terms of the levels. But, 一"珊"还比一山高, PS has already reached levels 90+!! *晕*

4) TWG. Marpig am pro homegrown products but TWG is 超 fake in Marpigz opinion and itz not portraying Singapore and a tat too much in terms of pricing for the quality of teh

TWG, in case u do not know, IS a Singapore brand and product (wel, sort of). TWG stands for The Wellness Group. Stablished in Singapore in 2007, not 1837, which it (kind of) misrepresented to itz customers by having tt number on their tin. 1837 is the year when tea trade in Singapore was made official by the Chamber of Commerce and hence, TWG adopted this number on their tin. Marpig emphasises again, TWG is stablished in 2007, NOT 1837

It isnt ang moh and strictly speaking, not entirely Singaporean either. Itz started by 2 Indians (not tt Marpig is a racist) with the base in Singapore. They put quite alot of investment (wel, they have the lollies) into product branding and had their teabags started out in grandeur 5 star hotels & SQ 1st/biz class. And so pple thought, "Wow, posh tea!!"

When it 1st started, the shop in ION had ang mohs tending the shop, to achieve tt traditional ang moh teh look. But now tt pplez taken in, one wil only see just 1 ang moh tending the counter outside. Been there, tried them, saw their menu and itz really just marketing. The cream tt go with the scones arent even nice!! Yes, Marpig dont like TWG, bcos itz so attasily fake. And, their beverages are not any better than Starbucks, other tea and definitely not Yorkshire!! Dont understand y pple rush to get their tea. Brand? Now u noe. Perhaps if it markets itself as "traditional tea selection of T(an) W(ee) G(eok)" or smth like tt, Marpig might change her views!! :P

5) Watched "School Days with a Pig" on board the flight back home and cried 80% of the duration of the movie. Sigh... should Marpig eat less of her fav Kway Chap and 皮蛋瘦肉粥... ... Lesson learnt: Do not name yr belongings as it wil 产生感情!! OMG. Marpig has been naming her ths!!

6) Frens including Marpigz sis said Marpig is accident prone. Umk. Also got to noe from Marpigz dad whilst they went home from Haw Par Villa (more on tt later) tt Marpig once suffered a nasty sprained right arm when shez a toddler bcos she fell from a tricycle and tumbled down the stairs (luckily Marpigz stil normal :D)

Marpigz dad recalled tt the doc said tt Marpig was a-ok and sent them home but during the middle of the night, Marpigz arm swell like a 猪手 & Marpigz mom and dad 急坏了. So next dae they brought her to see the faymoss 铁打 at "九楼" (Hokkein) Smhow, Marpig did have sm vague recollection of a bandaged arm and heavy-smelling 铁打膏药. Ironically, Marpig stil fall from bicycles!! 搞什么?! Hmm... thought she also achieved a few stiches on her left eye brow too (any1 noticed?), or was it from another separate accident?!

7) Teaching in Singapore and MOE is a FARNY biz, with red tape, etc etc etc (shal not go into the details), insights according to 当事人, teachers themselves, etc. Sigh... 为什么表面的华丽, 往往藏着阴暗的世界呢?

Umk, enough for the mo, shal continue in a rojak style entry molo!!

Marpig 的处女 LEGO 杰作

Wanted to blog chronically but really 忍不住, hence, this entry 1st!! *other entries under the carpet for the time being*

Itz not really Marpigz 处女 LEGO 杰作, since she had a few Technics but Marpig have been 闭关修炼-ing on this PROJECT. Itz not smth new, since there are professionals whoz done this. Most of them start off as a hobby and then started doing it as a career, selling the idea to companies and the masses who wanted smth diff and can afford it

Indeed, quite a few individuals had curved out a great career out of it (since this is 1 of the rare occasions when 1 get to enjoy the job they do!!)

Project = 2D LEGO Mosaic!! You must be asking why in the 1st place would Marpig want to try her trotters on it and how 珠子 got the idea and motivation to do it;

1) Was at a small art gallery in London 1 fine dae with Marpigz sis and BIL. They passed a LEGO mosaic of sm1 which was selling for 1700+ quid. Al of them agreed tt the price was mad and after taking a closer look, Marpig 大言不惭 said, "Chey, 我也会做!!"

2) Wanted to do smth as bdae/Xmas presents for Marpigz dad and sis since, if Marpig were to buy smth for them, they could buy it themselves too, i.e., not special/unique

3) A challenge to do LEGO Mosaic in the 贫民 way, without having to purchase any software like Photoshop, etc. 突破 is wat we al need!! Marpig wanted to break the perceived WOW factor and reveal the secret to LEGO mosaic DIY!!

And now!! To al aunties, uncles, 小弟 and 小妹们, 大家来学做 LEGO!!

If u are to search online for LEGO mosaic, 99.9% of pros and non-pros whoz attempted it wil tel/teach/share with u this: tt u need to have Photoshop to pixelate a photo but Marpig wil say no and she did it without!! Heh!! Rem, 我们的目的是要 keep it simple!! (biangz, 开始有点像 hold 住姐!! OMG!!)

1) Photoshop is XXXpensive
2) Even for the average enthusiast, learning Photoshop wil put u off
3) Every1 seems to be following wat others say, hence, every1 who wanted to do it seems to be using Photoshop (of cos, Photoshop is a great photo editing tool which Marpig used)

So the secret to LEGO mosaic DIY consists of the following (any1 whoz got a comp is already 50% there!!):

1) Patience
2) Paint
3) Excel
4) LEGO colour code (corresponding RGB codes for available LEGO bricks)
5) http://shop.lego.com/en-GB/Pick-A-Brick-ByTheme

1 th to note is tt LEGO baseplate comes in 2 std sizes, 10" x 10" (equate to 32 1x1 LEGO studs) and 15" x 15" (equate to 48 1x1 LEGO studs) For starter, Marpig used 48 studs baseplate. Of cos, 1 can make a bigger mosaic by combining a few baseplates, it just means more work and effort

a) In Paint, open the photo and crop it, leaving the impt features only

b) Check the number of pixels so tt is = 48 x 48. Go to Image --> Attributes

c) Then go to Image --> Resize/Skew and resize it by 5% - 10%, constantly checking the number of pixels by repeating b)

d) After resizing, go to View --> Zoom --> Custom --> 800% and 1 wil see tt the photo has been pixelated
e) Once done, save the edited photo as 16-bit colour like this:
Reason why 1 need to save it in 16-bit colour is bcos of the limited colours of LEGO bricks

f) Go to View --> Zoom --> Show Grid and touch up the 'straying' shades/colours
g) Open Excel and create a 48 x 48 cells of data to represent 48 x 48 pixels/1x1 LEGO bricks. Viewing Paint and Excel side by side (here comes the tedious part), give each cell the corresponding colour in Paint and a letter to rep the colour. (Impt step!!) Complete the process of filling out each cell (FYI, 48 x 48 = 2304 cells)

h) After filling in all cells, check the available LEGO brick colours by clicking on the website above. Where a colour is not available on LEGO, replace it with smth similar

And this is where the RGB codes for LEGO bricks are useful. To replace an unavailable colour and see the effect, in Excel, go to a cell, right click --> Format Cells --> Fill --> More Colours and Custom and enter the RGB codes of the selected LEGO colour

i) After h), itz time to create assembly spreadsheets which is also the list of the precise number of LEGO bricks to order

Assembly spreadsheets are impt bcos 1 need to noe where each brick goes (location and orientation). Of cos, if 1 is to use 1x1 LEGO bricks, then this is step can be omitted. However, Marpig had done a cost cal; using 1x1 LEGO bricks wil be more xpensive than using larger brick sizes like 1x10, 2x8, 2x6, etc for the same colour, specially if tt colour is used over a large area

The assembly spreadsheets are also impt bcos this is where 1 would start the tedious process of counting the number and type of LEGO bricks, for each colour used, meticulously

Rem step g) where each cell will contain a letter to rep itz colour? There is also a lengthy formula in Excel which can count the number of cells, within a data range, tt gives information on the number of red, blue, green, grey, etc LEGO bricks 1 used

This data can be used if 1 is using 1x1 LEGO bricks or in Marpigz case, as a double check for the number and type of LEGO bricks Marpig used on top of 1x1 LEGO bricks. Marpig also used this to work out the total costs of the LEGO bricks!!
Above is how the assembly spreadsheets and the order / number list looks like

Once done, itz time to order the LEGO bricks online!!
The LEGO bricks wil come in a big box, al messed up, thank u very much. And itz time to separate the colours as wel as checking tt the numbers are correct and they havent miss a single 1!! (They didnt!! Very precise!!)

And now!! The 杰作!!

FYI, if 1 is buy the LEGO mosaic as gifts from online, it would cost (Marpig checked) approx 370 - 400 quid for a 48x48 portrait. Guess how much Marpig spent in total for her 杰作 above? less than 70 quid!! :D