Not Just A Dream

the invitation

WriteClique reached its 100th member a couple of weeks ago. Keeping to my promise, I organised a small get together for the writers who were in town on Dec 21 @ the Mint Museum of Toys, tucked away in a li'l corner at Seah Street.

If you like vintage and mint toys, this is one place you've got to check out. The Mint Museum of Toys showcases a world class collection of rare toys that span more than 25 countries and over 10o years. Housed in a sleek and contemporary five-storey building, these beautiful toys, dolls, characters, planes and robots rekindle feelings of nostalgia and bring you not only back in time, but also a fond smile on your face.

The Inaugural WriteClique Event was highly successful. All but one who RSVPed came. I made name tags with the WriteClique logo for everyone so that we can easily remember each other's names without having to struggle with the embarrassment that may follow should a particular name slip our minds! (I am very prone to that memory loss!)

A'zone kindly sponsored writing pads as doorgifts for everyone - so that they can start scribbling their thoughts on them.

I really had a great time meeting everyone - and I am sure the rest did too. We spent so much time learning about one another, how we caught the bug for writing, sharing our past, our present and for some of us - our future too.

We talked about everything under the sun - from military aircrafts to 50,000-word thesis, authors of great books, jobs, dreams, aspirations, eco-friendly movements, grizzly bears and foolhardy croc hunters, crappy novels, wines, ghost stories, vegans and mad-cow disease, free falling fruits and so much more!

It felt like we were never going to run out of topics to talk about. Enthusiasm level was perpetually high. Of course, there was also the museum tour by the Operations Manager Randolph, who took us into an entirely whole new world. He patiently recounted the origins of Tin Tin toys, golliwogs, Betty Boop, Bruce Lee and Beatles figures and all the other interesting trivia behind each and every vintage and mint toy in there.

We also played a li'l creativity game - where the members unfortunately did not rank too high on the creativity scale! Haha...

My score was a 9/12. Most of them had a 6 or less. Seems like they need to work harder to break out of their comfort zone and do something different and radical, which usually helps to force someone to become more creative.

The writers enjoyed each other's company so much that we proceeded to a cafe for late night supper and drinks to continue our chats. We were talking and joking away as if we knew each other for the longest time - and all the candid banter made the event really memorable.

And speaking of memorable, WriteClique was actually the FIRST group to ever hold an event within the museum. So we have made history just being there that night! :)

The WriteClique forum started off as a dream. Every little step I take brings me and my humble dream that little bit closer to reality.

And that's good enough for me.

"The key to happiness is having dreams....

and the key to success is making dreams come true."