[Event] Singapore Polytechnic's ARTS FIESTA 2014!

I was recently invited to Singapore Polytechnic's ARTS FIESTA 2014 - an annual celebration of dance, music and theater featuring the best of SP's talents! (Thank you, Rachel!)

This year's theme is "Timeless", an ode to Singapore Polytechnic's past and traditions as it celebrates its 60th Anniversary.

When I first heard the name of the theme, I was drawn to it immediately.

I pictured a moment of time freeze, where date and time doesn't exist... ...

There were various activities happening during the one-month long ARTS FIESTA 2014, ranging from SP Guitarists, Vocal Talents show, Chinese Orchestra, just to name a few.

After looking through the Calendar of Events, I requested for a pair of tickets to the SP Magician show (Yes! I have always been fascinated by magic tricks since I was young but have never been to a physical show before.)

And I was granted my wish - Singapore Polytechnic gave me a pair of Complimentary tickets to the show!!

(Thank you, thank you, thank you~!)

An ecstatic me posing with their signboard outside the Auditorium (where the Magic show was taking place!)

(Didn't put much make-up on that day though... )

I love the booklet design.. So... Timeless. Haha.

Although flash photography wasn't allowed in the Auditorium, I still managed to capture some decent photos of the SP Magicians in action.

(All thanks to Singapore Polytechnic for giving me the honor of V.I.P seats at the front row!! We were the only ones sitting in the front row

 Talk about Timeless. Haha.

Start liao, start liao~~

I shall let my photos do most of the talking!

Wah, looks so cool.

Transforming a rod to a piece of cloth...

You know, it was really amazing seeing something appearing and disappearing in front of you without any darn loophole. That is what makes Magic really intriguing - at least to me.

It's like, now you see it and now you don't.

A striking pose! Haha.

As an audience, I thoroughly enjoyed the show as it  was really entertaining. There were talking bits and storyline segments as well that cracked us up.

(The guy below acted as a funny grandfather. He was able to keep a straight face throughout the show and yet made everyone laugh at his "lame" jokes. Now, that's something..)

In his segment, he performed a duplicating magic trick and the Pringles on his table kept multiplying  each time he removed the containers!

How could that be humanly possible?!?

Now you see them:

And now you see them even MORE:

After having a good laugh at his Pringles segment, here comes another magician with his card tricks!

(We had to watch his part on the projected screen due to a close-up view)

The coins could disappear and reappear under different parts of the poker cards  -in the blink of an eye! Damn - Now... How is that even logically possible?!

Here's a funny one - This magician sported a "HK" accent during his act and he's such a natural comedian! (The guy beside him on the left was a chosen audience.)

Now... Ready? At the count of three... Just hit them together and they'll be linked!

"This is called, 'One on top, Three below. It's my favorite position.' ", said the magician - referring to the hoops he was holding.

(Everyone in the audience laughed. Erm... )

Here's one of the classics that had me glued to the chair. I have always seen such shows on TV and this was the FIRST time I witnessed it in action! 

I bet it isn't difficult to guess what it is all about from the photos below:

There we have it - The Magician's assistant in the small box. 

I was impressed. I mean, how in the world was she able to squeeze into that tiny space?!?!

(That was really her palm waving at us from the box!)

The magician pierced several swords into the box through the holes, seemingly impossible for her to make any escape. My heart stopped at each sword that was inserted into the box. OUCH, OUCH and OUCH.

But... Hey! It's magic, remember?! *hits myself for being silly*

They performed another risky stunt - Tying the magician and ensuring he was locked stiff behind the steel locks.

Spare no mercy~

That expression... 

Totally no escape for you, mister!

It was then that they covered him up using a black cloth - Viola~ The female assistant was seen in place of the magician within a few seconds - fully buckled~! HOW DID THEY SWITCH PLACES SO FAST?! 

I didn't even have the time to catch my breath!

I didn't manage to capture photos of the female assistant while she was strapped. In this shot, the magician has already unbuckled her. 

But trust me, it was amazing. 

What is the logic behind it, huh?!?!

A short segment of another handsome magician performing his "number sequence" trick.

The numbers seemed to auto-arrange themselves when he covered them up!

Acadabra~~

Now this is a nice one! It's a magic trick involving an iPad. 

He seemed to be able to "take out" whatever was shown on the iPad! Such an interesting sight to see how technology is being combined with magic tricks.

An priceless shot capturing the happy faces of the audience. 

(From what we were told, tickets were completely sold out!)

"Now whoever catches this hotdog shall come out here..."

(*coughs*Now that sounds kinda wrong...)

And here was the girl that caught the hotdog! (LOL)

It was a classic Prediction trick, in which she was asked several questions by the magician. He would then reveal the answers that were locked in the untouched box since the beginning of the segment, as though they were already predicted!

As unbelievable as it may sound, the answers were revealed on this large sheet of paper after unlocking the box. Even the girl was staring at it in astonishment.

And she even got a warm welcome by "Jack Sparrow" himself as he led her back to her seat. LOL.

Now guess the last segment of the show...

Yes, its a table floating trick!! I have seen many of such videos on Youtube before and have been scratching my head for ages how it was done.

There was absolutely NO loophole or whatsoever - I even tried lowering my head hoping to catch a glimpse of the hidden trick somewhere...

And it appeared like he was dancing with the table...

And here... He slowly rested the table on the ground..

And the show ended beautifully with the magician performing a short balloon restoring trick... 

He actually tore the balloon string into different pieces, but they seemed to have restored in their original form!!

(And lucky me, this yellow balloon was given to me at the end of the show. HAHA, I've got the magician's balloon! Woohoo. Refer to my last photo!!)

I love this ending shot! A re-appearance of everyone who participated in the show... 

GOOD WORK, SP TALENTS!!!

See see? That was the same yellow balloon that was used during the performance! The magician passed it to me and I took it. (Thank you leh!!)

I enjoyed myself thoroughly at the show. I wish I could have taken more photos with the magicians though.

Thank you so much to Singapore Polytechnic for inviting me! Judging by the professionalism and scale of the performance, I would never have thought they are students. I am so proud of how Singapore Polytechnic has groomed such successful talents.

To anyone from the show who is currently reading my entry now, WELL DONE YOU GUYS!!Thank you for the captivating magic performance!!

[Event] The Scent Lab by Singapore Polytechnic

This entry is going to be a very interesting one!! 

So I was invited by Singapore Polytechnic to their exclusive Scent Lab workshop; and I was REALLY looking forward to it in excitement.

I have always been fascinated with scents, perfumes, fragrances and stuff like that, so it was somehow a dream come true for me! 

Here's the very first sight that greeted me when I arrived at the place which is located at T11B.

Trust me, I was completely in awe.

It's not difficult to see why, isn't it?

Like seriously?! I couldn't believe my eyes that I was actually standing inside a school.

Everything just looks so darn professional!

Let me give you a virtual tour of the place - I have taken tons of pictures.

I know the main point of this post isn't about its interior design, but I have to say that I really love how the place is designed in such a futuristic manner.

The display of different famous perfume brands - I felt as though I was standing in some high-end retail store that only rich people are allowed. HAHAHA.

Can you recognize some of the bottles? Do you happen to be using any of them?

Aren't perfume bottles beautiful?! I would have been a huge perfume bottle collector if my house is big enough to display them like this! Haha.

I particularly LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this section.

Unfortunately, I did not really have time to explore them individually. 

Some knowledge about Room Scents and Aromatherapy: - I am a fan of Aromatherapy!

It is extremely helpful when it comes to uplifting emotions.

Look at these transparent display cases in the shape of globes! I was really speechless, lah. 

Beautiful is too much of an understatement.

While browsing through the different display sets, I spotted this particular pair of perfume - Romance II! Do you know that they are actually SP's very own creation (and they are retailing in selective stores around Singapore as well - I have seen them!)

 I remembered I was given a set of the Romance II series by SP around two years ago, and I loved it.

In case you are wondering why there are two bottles, its actually a couple  set! Cool, right?! The female version has a floral scent, and the one for men smells, well... ...masculine.

Another close-up shot: - I didn't do any editing to the picture at all and its all taken under raw lighting! 

So romantic-looking. *stares at the picture dreamily*

Wow, I realized I have not even begun to blog about the main highlight of the event and I posted so many photos already!

So here, finally I'm going to start blogging about the workshop!

Here I found myself in the lab where students from Diploma in Perfumery and Cosmetic Science would usually have their practical lessons:

(I really love, love, love the environment here! I would be a happy student if I am one now. Haha)

I took a seat at the front table together with four other participants - and was thrilled to see all the equipment that was neatly lined up on the table in front of us.

YES YES YES, we would soon be able to create our very own perfume and bring it home by the end of the workshop!

*rubs hands in glee*

Here's a bottle of "Splash"- given to me by SP before the start of the workshop. Yes, don't be fooled by its professional-looking packaging. I was told that it isn't for sale and is EXCLUSIVE as part of its 60th Anniversary. (Yes, can you believe that Singapore Polytechnic will be turning 60 soon?!)

I'm so honored to own a bottle of this, not to mention that I LOVE the smell too. 

Thank you, SP!

We were provided lab coats and were told to wear it during the workshop. I feel like a professional perfumer already. *laughs loudly*

Of course, what's a blogger without some selfies?

I am so proud of this logo that is sewn on the lab coat:

And we were advised to wear the provided goggles as well. 

And let the adventure begin!

Here's Ms.Jessie, one of the lecturers, kick-starting the workshop.

Here's Mr Koji Santoku, a former Senior Perfumer from Takasago International (a major international producer of flavors and fragrances headquatered in Japan)! Despite having huge achievements tied to his name, he is really humble. 

Fun, fun, fun! We were given various scented paper strips and had to make a guess what the smell was. We would then label them accordingly.

Well, not all were easy to guess though! I particularly loved the strips that smell like fruits.

(We were taught to bend the scented area upwards so that the smell would not be contaminated)

After a short while, we were taught to smell our own sleeves to "refresh" our noses (it's a really useful tip!!) so there wouldn't be a "jam" in our noses from all the overpowering smell.

The more floral scents provided were rose and jasmine, etc.

After gaining a basic understanding and knowledge of how perfume fragrances work, its now showtime for us - Creating our own perfume!!!!! OMG.

Never in my life would I thought I would have a chance like this; and I have ALWAYS wanted to know how perfume fragrances work.

Do you know that there are 3 different components that make up a perfume fragrance?

They are namely the top notes, middles notes and base notes.

The first sniff that you thought is a scent you like? That is probably the top note, which will wear off after a short while. You may or may not like the middle and base notes thereafter.

I would say that perfume fragrances are very subjective.

It actually takes time before you can decide if the smell is something of your favor.

We were provided different "ingredients" to mix and play around with using small sample bottles. 

After sniffing them individually and having a rough idea what kind of scent direction I was going for, I got down to work.

Urgh, how I wish my readers can smell them too just by reading this entry. LOL.

With a fruit-floral scent idea in mind, I attempted to create it.

I started off with the Apple (it smells 100% like FRESH apples) as my base note an

d slowly added in other "ingredients". I was actually quite afraid of making a wrong move that would result in a foul smell. LOL.

As CK One has a sweet smell, I decided to mix it with my Apple base so that the Apple can smell "sweeter". I added approximately 2 drops of jasmine (just to create a tinge of floral scent), 3 drops of Lilial to "neutralise" the smell and Bergamot to create that tiny "uplifting" fragrance.

#tryingtoactlikeaprofessional

It took me 3 sample bottles to get to the final smell I wanted.

It certainly wasn't an easy task creating a satisfying perfume fragrance!

And here - The final product is born! 

Here's the SGCOMPLAINQUEEN's very own fragrance.

It has a strong tinge of fresh apple scent!

The empty bottles that were used to hold our own created perfume - I love how the words "Singapore Polytechnic" are printed on them! #loyalSPfan

A random photo of yours truly while in the midst of working on my perfume:

And here's me proudly holding my masterpiece:

I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to Singapore Polytechnic for the 

invitation to this workshop that has proven to be a real eye-opener! 

The new knowledge gained after the workshop was priceless - and it sure was an unforgettable experience for me.

Not to mention I had a ball of fun experimenting with the different fragrances as well, enabling me to understand better how perfume actually work.

I feel that the courses that Singapore Polytechnic offers are getting more and more exciting!

If you are one who has great interest in this area, you will be glad to know that SP actually has the course "Diploma in Perfumery & Cosmetic Science (DPCS)" that specializes in it!

Seriously, I would have given it a consideration if I were given the chance to choose my courses again.

If you are interested to find out more, do check out this link:

http://www.sp.edu.sg/wps/portal/vp-spws/schcls.cse.ftdip.perfumeryandcosmeticsci