Some say winning a title puts the world on your shoulders. So you might say winning Miss Earth Singapore 2009 puts the Earth on my shoulders, but I beg to differ. Sure with the title, crown and sash came many responsibilities; responsibilities to my organization, to the lovely ladies in my court, my friends and family. But the most important responsibility I had was to Mother Nature. It’s been a year since I last landed the title and on Thursday, I handed over my crown.

I had mixed feelings about that night. My journey the past year has been a truly memorable one. Winning the title last year sounded like a huge calling: one woman for the environment. But the best thing about this newly bestowed power was finding out I was not alone in my cause. I realized that last November in the Philippines where I met 89 other gorgeous women who were all passionate about the same thing: creating change for our one home. We were all allies, competing allies if you must. But we were competing to see who would be able to make the biggest change for our planet; we were competing to be the voice of Mother Earth. One winner emerged but the month long challenge made us all winners in our own right. We could carry proudly of the growth in our hearts back home to our countries to further advocate for a better future. For me, the experience and growth from within was made all the more sweeter when I placed Top 16 internationally. The amazing experience of spending an entire month in a foreign country with beauties from all over the world will never be forgotten. I am thoroughly glad to have met these strong and beautiful ladies from all over the world who I know, without a doubt, will do good for our Earth.

Other than the Philippines, my journey as Miss Earth Singapore has brought me to many places, both literally and figuratively. I quote my very dear friend Miss Philippines Earth 2009 also Miss Earth Air 2009, Sandra Seifert, in her farewell speech: “The best thing about having all three (a crown, sash and title) is that when I speak, people listen.” Doors have opened and opportunities have been aplenty from the very beginning, and I am quite sure they will not stop.

My reign may have ended, but the winning never stops. Thus it heartens me, to know that my growth as an ambassador for our planet will not stop the once despite having handed the crown over. It is with our future children in mind that I will continue to push for greater awareness in the green movement. I am excited for the beautiful girl who has succeeded me. I have faith she will continue to do good and carry the title of Miss Earth Singapore to greater heights.

Of course, my journey as Miss Earth Singapore 2009 in the last year would not be complete without the individuals who have lent their support to the Miss Earth Singapore organization. To my friends and my one and only beloved family, I thank you for standing by me unfailingly. You have supported me every single step of the way and I would not be the person I am today without your constant guidance.

Whether you’ve met me personally or not, I hope I have, in some way or another, inspired you to take baby steps forward in protecting our environment. I congratulate the new batch of girls for putting up an amazing show on Thursday and to my new queen Marcielle Wong, I am certain you will have the once-in-a-lifetime experience that only every girl can dream of in Vietnam if you open your mind.

Photo credits: Chen Jinfu

Beauty, like I always say, is only a state of mind.

Actually Earth Day was yesterday, 22nd April, and I must say I had a pretty good one.

I actually spent the morning at Pasir Ris Park walking through the mangroves on a boardwalk. Yes, who would have thought that our very own “pristine” little park in Pasir Ris has a mangrove. I was pretty surprised too. I mean I’ve of course heard of Sungei Buloh but never thought there was another one closer to home. We spent time with the Handicapped Welfare Association and NParks volunteers who walked with us through the Kitchen Garden and the mangroves.

With Stella (3rd Runner up) and Amira (1st Runner up)

I got a chance to flex my muscles that morning and pushed a wheelchair the entire way through in the sweltering heat while listening to the tour. The various plants of Kitchen Garden are commonly used in culinary cooking and the garden that grows them is, hence, affectionately named Kitchen Garden. The mangroves were full of various biodiversity but probably not as much as I remember seeing in Cek Jawa.

Coincidentally in line with the Earth Day theme, it’s also the time of the month where I feature a green beauty and her eco-friendly tip from the Miss Earth calendar. What better month to feature my dear and close friend Miss Earth Philippines, Sandra as she was here just last month. I had a good time showing her around and doing all sorts of girly stuff together. Also, this month is when the Miss Earth Philippines pageant comes to a close! This means Sandra will be handing over her crown to her successor.

In fact, I’m going to her Coronation in Manila tomorrow and I’ll see the crowning of the new Miss Earth Philippines 2010 first hand! Whoooohoooooooo!

So as part of her farewell routine, I will help her share her green tip featured in our green calendar.

Iron clothes twice-a-month mass to save electricity.

Instead of ironing one shirt a day, why not be economical and efficient and iron your clothes mass?

If you’re intending to prune your trees, plants or even mow your lawn this Saturday (why you would do that on a Saturday I have no idea), gorgeous Miss Earth Venezuela, Jessica Barboza, has a tip for you. Not only is this girl a looker, she is also smart. Jessica is a lawyer and was one to look out for during the entire Miss Earth pageant. I remember seeing her for the first time and wondering how such a beauty could exist. She reminded me of Victoria Secret Angel Alessandra Ambrosio! But this beauty has an important green message to spread, and I’m sure she’ll do it well as 2nd Runner up of the Miss Earth pageant. Here’s her green tip from the Miss Earth calendar.

Instead of bagging cut grass, they can be left on the lawn to rot. These will decompose and contribute to soil enrichment.

We can do the same for our plants. If leaves dry up and fall off their branches, instead of throwing them away, sweep them up and put them back in the pot as fertiliser! You save money, save your plants and save Mother Earth.

During Earth Hour today, if you’re afraid of not knowing what you can do to entertain yourself, here are some fun things you can do while the lights are out and STILL reduce your carbon footprint!

1. Have a green dance party!
In the blackout hour today, call a few friends over to your place, get them all dressed in green, turn on the radio, pop in a feel-good CD and just dance your night away in the dark! One track I would recommend is Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance with Somebody. Such a classic feel-good song! While you’re at it, use a fan instead of the air-conditioner because air-conditioners are not environmentally friendly. Or just have your party outdoors!

2. Tell ghost stories in the dark
Turn off your lights, draw the blinds and curtains, light a solitary candle and huddle round in a room with lotsa pillows. Start by sharing your spooky stories and soon enough you find time has gone by in an instant! Even better if you could have your story-telling in the dark forest with tall looming trees in the background. Sets the ambiance don’t you think?

3. Go out for a romantic walk by the beach or in a park.
Air conditioners produce a LOT of CO2, more specifically 3605kg of it. But spending your night outside in the fresh air? 0kg. So why not take your loved ones out to the East Coast Park for a leisurely stroll and enjoy the beautiful sea breeze. You can also sit in one of our lovely parks and have a quiet tête-à-tête.

4. Star light, star bright.
Because of light pollution, it’s generally quite hard to star-gaze in our little island. But because tonight, we’ll have our lights off during 8.30pm to 9.30pm. Take this time to and act out the scene from Twilight. Go to a meadow, lie down and sparkle, watch the stars. No sunlight for you to sparkle in though. The stars, however, will twinkle in the dark night sky because it’s their time to shine.

5. Take a cold shower.
A hot shower will produce 110kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) but a cold one produces NONE at all! Some energy is used to deliver the water to the house but you can always try to reduce it by having two people in the shower. Hahaha!

Any other ideas for something fun you can do during Earth Hour in the dark?

This month and the following others, I’ll be featuring the Top 4 winners of the Miss Earth contest! They’ll share with you their environmental tip; the little things we can do to help save the our planet.

Starting with the 3rd Runner Up, Miss Earth Fire: Miss Spain, Alejandra Echevarria Pedrajas.

Green tip: Use a bike when going on short distances. One less car on the the road means lower carbon emissions and cleaner air.

Increased carbon emissions in the ozone layer trap more heat and increase the greenhouse effect. This causes global temperatures to rise, damaging crops, changing weather patterns and melting icecaps. By reducing carbon emissions, we can slow down the greenhouse effect and prevent global temperatures from rising.

Okay. Well, sort of. The recent Miss Earth competition put all the girls competing in a calendar.

A green calendar, of course. We were all given a green tip and had to model the tip. It’s pretty fun to look at the calendar and the tips cause it reminds me of all the amazing girls I met and our strong messages for the environment. But that aside, they are helpful green tips that you can use everyday! It’s the small little things we can do for our environment that will make the bigger change.

Because not everyone can lay their hands on this limited edition calendar, Ima be nice and feature one tip a month with one hot girl of course. Haha. Who doesnt like to look at calendar girls right? I’m obviously starting off with me: Miss Earth Singapore, Valerie Lim. Picture self directed and shot outside my own house. Haha!

Green tip: Save energy by loading your washing machine to its full capacity.

Instead of washing a little laundry each time, load your washing machine to its maximum capacity and cut down the number times you have to do laundry.

The day after we did our tree-planting activity and was welcomed by the Govenor, we set out early in the morning to Kapurpurawan White Rock Formation for a trek. Kapurpuraoan rock means “white rock” and it clearly demonstrated the power of wind, water and rain on rock and coral. The massive rock juts out into the sea and from afar looks as if someone has wiped off the top frosting and exposed the cake that lies beneath. Up close it was a dazzling white rock that sparkled in the sun. But, dont take my words for it. See for yourself.

We’re almost there. We had to trek for a bit. But finally we see the white rock in the distance.

Can there be a more amazing view?

WE’RE FINALLY THERE!

After trekking through rocky roads, by-passing some ponds or whatchamacallit, we finally make it to the white rock. And it REALLY is white even in the distance.

We climb on top the actual white rock and of course, the trigger-happiness starts all over again.

Close up view of the rock formation.

Moving out closer to the edge, we ran the risk of falling into the ocean if we werent careful! Also, the breeze was so strong, our hats were almost stolen by the wind. Everything was flying! See everyone desperately clinging onto their hats. Lol.

Cam-whoring pictures with the awesome background.

Ok. This obviously isnt me. It’s Miss Switzerland who eventually took the title of Miss Congeniality.

Group picture!
Pose girls pose! Wave! Wave!

By noon, we were on the way to Bangui Wind Farm. Because the Bangui area is so windy, plans to construct various tourist attractions were shelved. But, instead of letting the natural energy go to waste, why not make use to Mother Nature’s gift and build wind mills to harness her energy? This is the FIRST power plant in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. There are 20 units of wind turbines rated at 1.68MW each and they are a magnificent sight to behold.

Each structure is beautiful on its own.

But combined with the rest of the awe-inspiring structures and set against the blue backdrop, it is a picturesque scene.

Again, who would pass up the opportunity to take pictures?

Pardon the mad hair. Mother Nature decided to be my hair stylist for the day.

But that wasnt the last of our stops for the day. We then had to travel to Pagudpud, Blue Lagoon, Maira-ra Beach touted to have white sands and waters so blue. We had lunch at Hannah’s Beach Resort and then did a beach cleaning on the Blue Lagoon Beach.

We had a warm welcome reception when we arrived at Hannah’s. Beautiful bouquets and welcome ribbons for us.

Important message for everyone from Hannah’s.

Lunch was in a function room. They had set out tables for us very much like a press conference and we sat facing the audience. Imagine people watching you as you ate. Haha. Very common regardless of where we went in the Philippines.

Lunch is served.

Lunch was followed by a tour of the premises. Hannah’s overlooks the beautiful Blue Lagoon Beach.

And we got to see their cosy rooms too.

But our crucial mission there was to do beach cleaning. Armed with gloves and trash bags, we made our way down to the Blue Lagoon Beach to pick up whatever rubbish that was there.

And we take some time in between to make our fans happy by taking pictures with them. Haha.

Ilocos Norte was amazing and truly unforgettable. We visited so many astounding and breath-taking places that it makes me sad to read that the Copenhagen Summit was sort of a failure.

According to Newsweek, studies made at the environmental summit show that commitments by the various countries will fall short of of its goal to cut carbon emissions sharply enough to hold off a 2-degree-Celsius rise in global temperatures. The United Nations Environment Program found that the world had locked in less than half of the greenhouse gas reductions needed to provide a 50-50 chance of preventing the temperature increase by 2050.

2050 may seem like a long time away, but it is only 40 years into the future considering we’re already in 2010. 40 years later and many of us will be in our golden years. Years that we might want to enjoy with our families or possibly spend retirement in some exotic country where the beaches are blue and the sky in bluer. But, irresponsibility on our part not only causes the temperature rise in our environment, it in fact, costs us OUR home and OUR future. OUR chance at enjoying what Mother Nature has to offer.

The fact of the matter is this: despite already saying we’re TRYING, we’re barely making enough reductions to reach a 50-50 chance of preventing the temperature rise. Maybe we’re just not trying hard enough, or in Mother Nature’s books, we’re not even trying at all.

But the picture is not bleak. There is still time to stall the global temperature rise and we need to do it NOW. The experts will tell you if the world delays action by even a few years, emission cuts will have to be considerably LARGER so global temperatures stay within the 2-degree range to prevent melting ice. Why make things difficult if you can take small steps now?

OKAY. Finally gonna continue from the first post about Philippines. Mad load of photos I photoshopped today!

So after lunch at Fort Ilocandia Resort, we went to the brand new convention center to do tree-planting!

Armed with our sunhats, we walk to our nearby destination where our trees wait for us. Haha.

Remember, if it’s nearby, dont pollute the environment by travelling in a vehicle, WALK!

Following our guides.

Waiting to go to our trees. We hide under some umbrella shade. It is MAD glaring and hot judging by our shades, umbrella AND hat. Haha.

Miss Northen Ireland goes first.

My turn to plant!

Plant tree until glasses all crooked.

A much better picture.

YAY! We did it! Save the Earth!

Taking a breather after HOT work by the cool and relaxing pool in the new convention center.

It wasnt too long after that, we zipped off in our bus to visit some beautiful sites in Ilocos Norte. Paoay Church was our first destination. The church is built of coral blocks and stucco-plastered bricks. It’s architecture is a unique combination of Gothic, Baroque and Oriental. What’s really fascinating about the church is the bricks of the church were said to have been made by mixing sand and lime with sugarcane juice! These were boiled with mango leaves, leather and rice straw. Talk about being environmentally friendly. Haha.

Interior of the church

The main religion in Philippines is Roman Catholic.

When we came out, guess what greeted us?

A HUGE SWARM OF PEOPLE!

No, more like MASSIVE SWARM. They were already gathering when we were preparing to enter the church.

But when we came out, it was just….. PHWOAR!

We had to fight thru the massive swarm of people screaming, pushing and trying to shake our hands to eventually get to the cafe where we were supposed to have a rest. Of course, in the local province, you could never do without tasting local fare. We thus had a snack at Herenia Cafe and got to sample their famous Pinakbet Pizza and Empanada (like a big curry puff).

Here’s the pizza with your usual pinakbet veggies. It was SOOO GOOOD! Om nom nom.

And we had this fried corn thing that is apparently dried first before it’s fried. Crispy, crunchy and salty, it would make a perfect snack for any time of day.

I stuff myself silly while Kayleigh looks on in disgust. Haha!

Even when we’re eating, THEY NEVER STOP HOUNDING US! Look at the camera pointing inside.

By this time, it was already evening. We had to go back on the bus and return to our hotel to shower, get dressed and go for a welcome dinner hosted by the Govenor. It was a welcome dinner with cultural presentation.

So although we were told the dress code was cocktail dress, everyone really dressed up to the nines.

When the event started, it began with a cultural presentation alongside some yummylicious Chinese cuisine.

The final item was the traditional bamboo dance.

And we got to try our hand at doing it! It may look really simple but it’s actually quite hard. I, however, managed to get the choreographed sets right! Yay!!!

The end of the dinner marked the end of a very busy and packed first day. However, day 2 in Ilocos Norte was even more exciting and we visited even more beautiful places.

I’ve done free fall harness jumping from the tops of trees, zipped through the canopies and now, for the first time ever I did a New Moon.

I cliff dived in Boracay off Ariel’s Point.

Unfortunately I didnt have visions of Edward Cullen, nor did I have anyone’s voice talking to me in my head. All I felt after I took the leap of faith, was the nothingness beneath my feet, the rush of falling, a sudden collison with the waters and eventually, its embrace and gentle weight around me.

When I was in the waters, all I could think of was swimming for my dear life.

GASP. Water. Blue. Dont sink, I pleaded.

Frantically treading water, it seemed like I was doing so much and not getting anywhere. Horror of all horrors, what if I was swimming the wrong way?!

Still in water. Still blue! EEP!

Maybe instead of pushing myself to the surface, I was heading deeper and deeper into uncharted waters. Literally. It was as though forever had passed and I was STILL struggling to get to the top. Keep treading, I told myself. Dont stop. Kick kick kick!

Finally, after what seemed like ages, I did break through the surface of the water.

Phew. Major relief. Cue huge megawatt smile.

No, it didnt hurt when I plunged into the waters. It WAS incredibly thrilling though jumping and not knowing when and how the waters would catch you. I didnt know whether I should have held my breath when I was falling but hey, I survived!

Whoooosh!

I may not have done it again on the spot, but definitely am game to take the plunge if asked to do it one more time. This time, I think I’ll do it with my eyes closed.

After my jump, the girls then decided to follow suit. Proud to say I was the first amongst the girls there to dive off the cliff. Lol. Always good to be a trend setter. Haha.

Video!

[youtube= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF5JvakOMRU]

Finally the first installment of the many travel posts that will come.

12 girls from Group 3 had to leave one morning bright and early to take a plane to Laoag. I was fortunate enough to be one of those 12.

Checking in. The headache begins. The dude looks appalled at the number of luggages we have. But we only carried 15kg each!

But once all that needs to be done is cleared out of the way, we have time to pose and make our adoring fans happy. Haha.

This is the crowd that has gathered.

In the midst of all that, we take time to cam-whore on our own.

Once we enter the waiting lounge, we still get mobbed by people who want pictures!

So we has to sit and pose nicely.

Sometimes, we turn the tables and ask the photographers to be the photographed. These guys willingly smile and pose. Haha.

After about an hour on the plane, we touch down to blue blue skies!

Welcome reception at the airport. Lovely kiddos present us with sunhats and welcome ribbons.

We were immediately ushered out to jeeps lined up outside the airport. At first we werent sure what they were there for, but we soon found out.

Cruising down the roads along scenic sights.

Check out our entourage.

And little did we expect that the WHOLE town would stop for us. The streets were packed with bystanders. Some just stoof and watch while others were waving, cheering as we zoomed by blowing kisses and doing “queenly” waves.

After meeting our public, we head off to our accomodation for the night – Fort Ilocandia Resort.

Dancing girls welcome us at the entrance.

The interior of Fort Ilocandia.

We can has a welcome drink too!

After checking in to our comfy rooms, we headed off for lunch at the in-house restaurant. We had a HUGE spread prepared for us.

Not only did we get to eat out fill, we got fresh fruit juices too. Elza Miss Kosovo proudly shows off one of the most popular drinks that we girls always order: a mango shake/mango juice! We love it so much because the Philippines mangoes are absolutely the best! They’re sweet, juicy and so very, very fragrant.

After lunch we had a full day of travelling and activities visiting various places, but am gonna save the pictures for a Part 2.

But anyway, like I said, I was gonna write about this after witnessing how a beauty pageant in the international circuit is. Despite beauty pageants dating back into the 70s and 80s, no body really talks about the things that go on behind the scenes. What is it that makes a beauty pageant tick? What makes a winner? Call me curious. But when I went to compete internationally, it wasnt just about winning or making my mark, I genuinely wanted to see WHO would win and HOW people won.

Looking back into the history books of past pageants, it wasnt always the prettiest girls who won. And for this recent Miss Earth 2009, neither was it the girls who dressed the best, had the most luggages, stood out the most or had the prettiest, most perfect faces. We had girls who carried 11 luggages while others carried 2. Both, however, still made it to Top 16.

Why? What? Where? Who? How?

They say you should never judge a book by its cover. We are, however, IN a beauty pageant and beauty is probably only skin deep. Sure you can talk about inner beauty. But what’s the first thing that strikes you when you meet a person?

How he/she looks.

All those photos that are plastered on the Internet, in forums, in print of the various contestants. What do you look at when your eye catches a glimpse of a visual?

How white the teeth are. Whether they’re crooked or not. How big the eyes and nose are. How smooth the skin is.

All that boils down to?

How a person looks.

And guys, dont deny it. You look at how big the boobs are, regardless of whether you’re a butt or legs person.

You might not know it. But your brain actually has an in-built calculator that tells you if a person is attractive or not. Beauty happens to be a mathematical formula. Sometimes, however, the beauty goes beyond skin surface. We’re not just about someone’s personality. We’re talking just a tiny little bit below the epidermis to the dermis where collagen and elastic tissue are. Knowing the formula of beauty gives you the power to change it.

If I were to speak the truth, I would tell you that we ALL had things done to enhance our beauty during the entire pageant.

It was only a matter of how permanent these changes were.

Hair extensions, nail extensions, fake eyelashes and in particular, silicon bras were staples in our beauty arsenal. Especially when it came to the big shows. During bikini rounds, we’d all STILL lament at our lack of cleavage even with the help of the silicon bra. Even makeup was used to dramatically change one’s look; both body and face contours. We’d highlight our nose bridges, bronze our bodies, contour our abs and spray-on stockings so legs looked smooth and flawless. And what about that voluminious hair? You didnt honestly think it would be without hairspray and extensions did you?

You’d be surprised at how different some girls looked without makeup. Seriously, they were unrecognisable. Thus, clearly demonstrating the power of makeup. Probably a good reason why they had prejudging without makeup. Fake tans, spray-on stockings, coloured contacts, teeth whitening kits littered the bathrooms of our residences and makeup counters backstage. And this was on top of already some permanent changes for some girls.

You could TELL just by looking which girls had had plastic surgery. But there were those who openly came clean about it. Honestly, I wasnt surprised that girls in an international pageant circuit have had plastic surgery. Breast implants, Botox and nose jobs, you name it, they’ve had it. Some girls had the entire works done.

You know what’s the best part?

They were all sponsored by their organisers.

How to fight lidat?! THAT’S why they all look so gorgeous.

I’m in no way saying I’m pro changing one’s appearance. Neither am I against it. We do it all the time, anyway, with our dressing, with our hair and with makeup. Even exercising helps to keep your body looking a certain way. So, thinking about it, if you come from a country where the changing of one’s external appearance is looked upon as a no-no, then how is possible for one to compete with countries where plastic surgery cases are a dime a dozen, particularly in a beauty pageant. If you say you’re sending the most beautiful representative from your country, would you then forbid the delegate to do their very best in representing his/her own country even if it meant resorting to “alternative methods”?

Compare this to if one were to compete in a sport where the athletes have had training since they were born, a competitor who’s only had training since 15 would have missed out on crucial time that could be spent honing skills. See the similarities?

I’m not about to stretch my hand out and ask for any part of me to be augmented (although I’ll admit I would very much like proper double eyelids) because there WERE girls in the Top 16 who were completely genuine and real. They worked out, took good care of their skin and hair. Basically they took care of themselves from top to toe. These are true and genuine beauties. I think I was lucky to be one of them. HAHAHAHA.

But on a more serious note, we could tell right from the very start.

The Top 15 girls for swimsuit comprised of a good mix of both plastic girls and real girls. Here’s a little inside info: a lot of us were rooting for the real girls to win.

It takes a LOT of hard work maintaining one’s appearance I must say. After all that scrubbing, buffing, running, exercising and eating right, I WOULD know. But not everyone has the time and energy to lead such a lifestyle. They thus opt for the fastest, least time consuming method.

I’m not insinuating that this year’s Miss Earth 2009 winner had anything changed. But, despite already having gone under the knife, if we can honour and crown these girls in various other international beauty pageants because they epitomise the beauty of women around the world, what does that say about us and our standards of beauty?