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AOTW [9] : Eagle-Eye Cherry

Randomly came across Eagle-Eye Cherry while looking at random music videos on youtube. Didn’t pay much attention to it till I came across the name again on my tumblr.

As usual, I like songs which contain lyrics that relates to me or at least meaningful enough to complete a song. This is pretty awesome for those wanting to fall in love again, but dare not make the move because you have once been hurt before. Sometimes all it takes is a simple promise (and I don’t mean empty promises) to make that someone feels loved and wanted again. (ahh..I sure sound very emotional here for a second,hur)

I have to say, another not-exactly-new-myspace artiste but here’s his hit from 1998 which I thought was quite a nice one (with really retro music video feel).

Eagle-Eye Cherry “Falling In Love Again”
I’m so tired
Of falling in love
Finding it easier to fall out
Can’t deny it
I feel it inside cupids fire
I can’t hide

I’m falling in love again
Ain’t nothing I can do
Falling in love again
Girl this time its with you
When I fall
It’s always the same
And I’m so tired
Of playing this game

It’s been so long now
Since I gave up my heart
I’ve kept it locked down
I don’t wanna get it harmed
So let me tell you now
I just want to be sure
That you wont hurt me
Can you promise me that

You got to tell me
If you’re going to break my heart
cos I don’t wanna take the chance
And if it ain’t true
All it’s gonna be
Is nothing but a poor romance
So give me that promise to hold on
And I’ll never let you go
We gotta have something to go on
I’m letting you know now

Falling in love again

Tags: eagle-eye cherry, falling in love again, Love, lyrics, myspace, promise, retro, tumblr, youtube

Heineken Green Room : Trip the Light Fantastic !

Heineken Green Room is indeed a pushing music boundaries event – I didn’t quite expect myself to enjoy the event this much ! As mentioned in my earlier post, I really find it hard to enjoy the “diu diu diu music” but surprisingly, I had a great time and Moderat was just mindblowing !

Joshua and I made our way to Tanjong Pagar Distripark and first look of the event venue was pretty cool, a very unique/underground industrial feel. Thank goodness we were quite early so there wasn’t much of a queue. We were then ushered into this huge cargo lift with glowing green light (duh, it’s the color of Heineken and it’s not called Heineken Green Room for nothing!), I like the feeling of “godknowswhat it’s going to happen next!” while waiting for the lift to reach the party location. Being a cargo lift, the door really opens up slowly but that added on to the effect in a good way – you see lights and smoke from the tiny little gap and viola, it opens up to the dance floor with DJ Cherry already playing on the main stage ! She’s pretty cool – I always have a thing for female DJs, girl power ! (lol)

Since it was still early, Joshua and I had the chance to walk around the area freely. There was this interactive area where guests get to be their own DJs and do their own mixes via the iPods and Korg kaossilators which were pretty cool. It took us awhile to figure out (we must be really dumb) and I was wondering where’s the instructions – but who the hell reads instructions at a clubbing event right !? -slaps forehead- Pardon me, it is obvious that I’m no party animal ! (Haha) We then moved on to grab ourselves a Heineken each at the long bar which was so much better than event bars I’ve been to, no long queues and quick services. One downside to it was that, by the end of the night, the floor was wet from the ice and people were littering their bottles everywhere. Poor cleaners but I guess it happens at all these clubbing events.

I love the lights and visuals we were surrounded by, Joshua was telling me which patterns and how he has done the light effects for one of our school events. You can’t blame the geek/nerd in him, can you ? It was a good thing that the smoking area was out of the party area so I didn’t inhale any 2nd hand smoke at all ! The crowd was pretty much a disciplined mature group (there’s a reason why it’s exclusively by invites only!) and I didn’t see much drunkards around, especially with the amount of security lurking around. Afterall, people are really here for the music ! (Well, some are here for the girls…Joshua and I were observing how some guys were trying to hook up with the Heineken girls who were walking around to take polaroids for the guests) I had fun with Joshua nonetheless !

Speaking of music, Moderat was really awesome ! I’m totally sold by their live performance and the stunning visuals. Still quite head-bobbing but it was quite adrenaline rushing ! I managed to snap a few (bad) shots and the starting sequence on video – the sound quality was quite disappointing though. (Will some kind souls please sponsor me a proper video recording+picture taking gadget or something ? hur)

Moderat_02 from Ingrid on Vimeo.

I enjoyed myself alot, especially when I got to meet a couple of my friends there ! Had a great date with Joshua and it was a brand new experience for me. Although I have to admit that I went home with a bad throat after all that yelling over the music and blocked ears, thank god I didn’t drink enough to get any hangovers.  It was a fabulous “trip the light fantastic” indeed !

Tags: cargo lift, cherry, diu diu diu music, dj, exclusively by invites, heineken, heineken green room, interactive area, ipods, joshua, korg kaossilators, lights, live performance, main stage, moderat, Music, music boundaries, party, polaroids, security, smoke, stunning visuals, tanjong pagar distripark, trip the light fantastic

AOTW [8] : Moderat

I’m never a fan of anything that sounds too much like House/Techno/Trance, basically I call them as “Diu Diu Diu music” (like the background beats ? Haha) Honestly, it still gives me a headache each time I listen to these genres. No offense to fans out there but I personally would prefer music with lyrics or pure instrumental like piano etc.

I came across Moderat during my internship and they will be coming for the Heineken Green Room Event later on ! Am really excited over the event itself and getting to watch them live should be a new and interesting experience. Basically Moderat is made up of Modeselektor and Apparat who both have equally great separate career but decided to do another collaboration after the first one  in 2002.

If you were to ask me, I’ll probably not listen to their tracks since I’m not a big fan but the cool visuals changed my mind, supported by eclectic visual arts collective  Pfadfinderei!  Along with the visuals, I see them as more of a multimedia performance rather than just electro icons. I guess their music is club-ready to the party animals, whereas I really don’t understand how people dance to it except bobbing their heads with a drink in their hand. I will find out later !

Speaking of which, Nick Catchdubs, also in Singapore for the very first time will be at the Heineken Green Room as well ! See you there if you have the cool invites =)

Here’s a track that I thought was pretty cool with the awesome video (the video looks crappy but I thought the editing was great),

Tags: apparat, beats, collaboration, diu diu diu, electric visual arts collective, genres, headache, heineken green room, house, moderat, modeselektor, multimedia, nick catchdubs, party animals, pfadfinderei, singapore, techno, trance

Go Potty Over Potter : The Half-Blood Prince

It is indeed a remarkable achievement for Harry Potter to enter its sixth movie, I still remember watching the first and thinking “oh my god,this totally ruin the book!” Without a doubt, I’m one of those who prefers reading the books to watching it on the big screen – this time is no exception.

I have to say the effects were marvelous, judging how clever they put the “magic” into the “real world”. I quite miss the magical moving paintings on the walls and the ever complicated stairways, Hogwarts looks too “normal” in this film, it felt as though alot of details were lacking. Speaking of lacking, the action in the film seems to be background-ed by the focus on the characters and the romance between these teenagers.  Sure,it’s puberty but snogging and crying over boys/girls isn’t exactly what I’m here for. Complex human beings indeed. I had to control my giggles when I thought of various reasons why Dumbledore likes to invite Harry to his room alone, c’mon ! Look at the way he looks at Harry ! (HAHA)

I’ve always thought the death eaters deserve more scenes than the good old Harry, I’m glad Malfoy and Snape stole the limelight for a second. I thought Tom Felton (Malfoy) did a good job at the killing scene, his acting skills has improved from the last films. This film was definitely “darker” than the previous installments but the lack of spells and actions was disappointing. It is already obvious for audience to guess the ending, I thought the screenwriters tried a little too hard this time, could have taken a more passive approach towards the ending. The Dark Lord is straightforward evil, even non-Harry Potter fans would have known, the show just leads to their showdown no matter how the story develops. Harry is never going to escape from the confrontation of the approaching evil dark force and good people always die – well,here and there.

I do like the young Tom Riddle, he sure gives me the creeps. Thankfully, there’s Emma Watson to save the day. You have to admit that she’s looking great as compared to her fellow actors, the twins were pretty amusing – I really miss Cedric aka Robert Pattinson though. (hee hee)

Just a tip for people who are intending to watch this – do your homework ! Expect characters jumping into the scene without proper introductions (and disappearing, like Slughorn from the finale) or broken storyline if you are clueless about the Harry Potter series.  The storytelling moves forward too quickly and it concentrates on the characters more than ever, lacking the continuity from previous films. The Half-Blood Prince to me was  purely a “set up” to the next one, like superior continuation of a TV series which hopefully gets better. Till now, I still think that the movies never really lived up to the books.

And my owl must be late, where’s my letter to Hogwarts !

[image source : flixster.com]

Tags: book, broken storylines, cedric, dark force, dumbledore, emma watson, half blood prince, harry potter, Hogwarts, JK Rowling, lack of action, magic, malfoy, movie, owl, potter, potty, real world, robert pattinson, romance, set up, sixth, slughorn, snape, snogging, superior continuation, the dark lord, tom felton, tom riddle, tv series

Night(mare) Festival 2009

Another great event organized by the National Museum of Singapore, Night Festival 2009. Don’t get me wrong when you look at the post title and start thinking “it must have been a bad event”, not entirely ! I enjoyed myself with the boyfriend who was actually the one who initiated going for this since his girlfriend (aka me) is usually too lazy and tired to head out at night for anything. You can read his post here !

I think the main reason why the event turned out disappointing for us was mainly the rain. Surprisingly the rain did not chase the crowd away and people waited patiently for the delayed performances to start. I’m not sure what was the objective of these audience coming to the museums but I believe it’s a good start to encouraging and promoting the Arts here in Singapore. Night festival was one of the buzz worthy events during that week, along with other museums performances and workshop.

The Germany act “The Loop Of Fortune” (refer to picture) was not as fascinating as I was expecting – again, it might be due to the wet weather as I heard people raving about it for the first night. I hope the performer who fell is doing fine by now, silly me thought it was part of the stunt at first – well, until I see the panic faces of the people crowding around. Quite a Night(mare) !

The visual projection on the museum building was brilliant, I really liked the background artwork. Sadly,the music kinda annoyed me because it did not sound like it was part of the act, maybe it’s due to the poor sound system like what the boyfriend mentioned in his post.

Some suggestions to next year’s Night Festival organizing committee :

1) Will it be better if the performances can be held elsewhere instead of SMU campus ? I really think it was a bad choice of location – trees/buildings were blocking, people not knowing where to stand and the public sneaking into the school buildings to get a better view ? I honestly think the location kinda ruin the concept in a way.

2) I see that alot of people were equally lost during the event – would some sort of announcement or news flash projection on the building helps ? And again, like what the boyfriend mentioned – you really have no idea what is going on most of the time.

3) Overseas acts like “Loop of Fortune” was definitely the main attraction for the crowd. It’s a good start but will need more than this to educate the public on the Arts and Music scene !

I love the idea of Night Festival. I hope it’ll be bigger and better next year. Looking forward to it !

Tags: arts and music, concept, delayed performance, educate, germany, loop of fortune, museums, national museum of singapore, night festival 2009, nightmare, objective, performances, projection, SMU campus, workshop

AOTW [7] : Doll & The Kicks

I was checking out Morissey on myspace and came across Doll & The Kicks who happens to be his guest supporting act for his Europe tour. So as usual, I googled on Doll & The Kicks after listening to a few tracks of theirs. I find myself liking their quirky style and they reminds me of No Doubt in a way, maybe not music wise though. I like how unique they sound and I really have no idea which genre they actually falls under. (haha)

Quite a refreshing sight to see female singer in a band since lately most bands have male lead singers, Doll certainly has the spunky stage personality to pull off the indie/rocker attitude. In fact , I read that they actually sound even better live. You can follow them on twitter ! They may just be the next big thing!

Here’s one of their songs  “Roll up the red carpet” which I found rather cute and catchy. Sadly I can’t find the lyrics to it but watch the video !

Tags: attitude, doll & the kicks, europe tour, female singer, indie, morissey, myspace, no doubt, quirky style, rocker, roll up the red carpet, spunky stage personality, twitter

Parenting is a Verb, not a Noun

Ever since the end of my internship, I have become a part time nanny at home taking care of my 2 years old niece Giselle. Being a parent (in my case, an aunt aka yiyi)  is never an easy job, I now fully understand the “joy” my parents had while dealing with my sister and I.

There are just times when I feel like strangling Giselle literally or throwing her down the window (trust me, it’s THAT maddening) – it is easy to let go and let her be but the consequences are huge and it’s not like Giselle is mature enough to tell what’s right from wrong or what’s danger etc. I have to admit that I am a very protective yiyi in a way, mainly because I was rather sheltered by my dad to begin with. Even though I disapprove of how my dad (still) controls me at this age, I think Giselle has not reached the age where I think it is alright to let her do what she wants or build up the individualism/independence in her.

Take for example – my sister and husband has to work and because my mom was sick recently, we can’t afford to take care of Giselle at home anymore. So Giselle has to be enrolled into a pre-school which she has been attending for the past weeks. I understand that separation anxiety is a common phase for all toddlers but it was hard for me to accept the process I/she has to go through every morning. (Note: My dad and I pick her up every morning at 8am to send her off to school)

I think it has to be a fair balance between providing the opportunity to venture off on one’s own and letting the child to feel safe enough to do it. The way to ease the child’s anxiety is not to just leave him/her behind, crying and turning your back on him/her. If you deny the sense of security as a foundation, the child (already filled with anxiety), will flounder.  Leaving the toddler alone in the room with a group of strangers thinking he/she will get used to it and it’ll allow her to grow up and be more independent – it does not work that way. I’m not saying that you should carry on “babying” the toddler and sticking by his/her side forever, but just long enough to let him/her understand that it is ok to play with their peers and it is a safe environment to be at.

What I believe is that you come and go on a happy note, no matter how Giselle might cling onto me with her tear-filled eyes etc, I do not just leave her with the teacher thinking that she’ll deal with it. I think it works better with either a transitional object like a storybook or a toy to distract her focus or at least let it be a happy goodbye and ensuring her it is just for awhile and that you’ll be back for her.  Don’t just dump her there and walk away from her cries without a word. Though one thing about such promises is that – you have to make sure you will be back, on time. Kids do know and remember it when you betrayed their trust. I’m sharing my opinions because it affects me alil to see my niece crying every morning when pre-school was enjoyable for me and how other kids at the school are also experiencing the same thing. (Maybe it says something about the school, hur) Basically, going to school at their age should be a fun experience instead of something that they dread waking up to.

As much as I would love to whine and say how much I dislike Giselle for being in my life or how she has “ruin” my life in a way, I think I’m still thankful to have a niece like her because not many of us get to experience a special bond like ours. I just hope that she’ll grow up as a good girl (like her yiyi, haha) , respect and take care of her parents in the future.

Ultimately, it’s a matter of perspective and tackling your attitude when it comes to these matters in life. Parenting is not as easy as just words of advice or going through parenting blogs, it takes more than that to be a good parent. So think twice before you decide to bring another innocent life to this harsh reality. (lol)

Disclaimer : I’m not saying that my sister does not make a good parent because I know that she is trying her best but sometimes you just can’t have things as you wish it’ll be. So before you question about “where on earth is Giselle’s parents” or  “What the hell have they been doing”, I think my sister deserves the credits as a good mother in my opinion (although she can work harder, haha)

Tags: aunt, babying, fun experience, giselle, independence, individualism, internship, mother, niece, parent, parenting, parenting blogs, part time nanny, perspective, pre-school, promise, protective, sense of security, separation anxiety, sheltered, special bond, tackling your attitude, toddler, trust, words of advice, yiyi

AOTW [6] : The Rocket Summer

I think a good singer should always learn to play a musical instrument or two, else they are just “idol singers”.  I prefer to support singers who can write and compose their own music.

Don’t be fooled by the name “The Rocket Summer“, it is not a band but a solo project by @Bryce Avary – who is on twitter too !

I have to say, even though I thought I’ve quit that “rock era” since polytechnic days, I really enjoyed his music because it  really perks me up to blast his songs at night. You can find some of his live performances on youtube which I thought was really good in terms of  vocal quality and the atmosphere.

Apart from the usual rock, I think The Rocket Summer has really good emotional lyrics that I find most important to me when it comes to liking a song.

I like “So Much Love” and “Do You Feel” but I still prefer one of the older songs “That’s So You” which has this rather raw feel to it.

The lyrics is quite meaningful because lately I’m really just having a bad time but having the boyfriend around makes things so much easier to tolerate. I think it is also important to be proud of your other half in a relationship too, who wants to go out with someone whom you’re ashamed of ?! Be it the person as who he/she is or what they do for a living etc. You’re in love not because you love to be loved and wants to be in love – but to love the person as who he/she is wholeheartedly and being proud of his/her achievements, even if it’s just minor things like…er..winning a game on FIFA (haha).

I’m such a  sucker for sweet lyrics, what’s new ! Enjoy the cute fan video, I don’t think they have an official MV for this song =)

That’s So You – The Rocket Summer

It’s a beautiful day
Now I’ll be ok that you’re not away
Yesterday was a terrible day
But now that you’re here I’m ok
Cause you don’t know how much I, I need you
Please don’t go
You’re so wonderful
This I swear, this I know

You, oh you, every single thing you do
I’m so proud of you
What you do
When you do the things you do
They’re so you

So thanks for your help
You shine so bright
You are the star that’s in my sky
And I am yours and you are mine

I’m so proud of you
That’s so you

Tags: aotw, boyfriend, bryce avary, do you feel, emotional lyrics, fan video, FIFA, idol singers, instrument, live performances, love wholeheartedly, MV, myspace, rock, so much love, solo project, that's so you, the rocket summer, vocal quality

Saying “I Do” : Beauty of Marriage

I have always thought marriage is just a piece of paper and “just a proper excuse to have sex” since growing up. Never really thought of it as something sweet or long lasting because of many divorces and unhappy marriages I’ve witnessed over the years. Each time my parents/sister and her husband  have an argument, I find myself even more determined *NOT* to get married in the future.

My mindset started to change when my mom had her first operation, I finally understood the beauty of marriage and having someone who truly loves you,”to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part.” My father never once complained about how tiring or troublesome things were (even if he did threw his temper at my sis and I occasionally..haha), nor did he leave my mother to suffer alone. He took care of her with such tender loving care, waited patiently for her in the hospital while she had her operation,sat by her quietly as she sleeps,learning something new and cleanse the wound for her everyday, sent her to the doctor for daily checkup and more. Honestly, at that point of time, I really thought if loving someone meant doing all those things without a single grumble, I don’t think I can love someone at all. Daddy Mak is indeed my hero, deep down in my heart.

“Marriage is an adventure, like going to war.” -G. K. Chesterton

Sure enough, my parents are no saint either. They do bicker every now and then but I’ve come to realized that all couples do that and it’s perfectly fine if things are worked out between the two afterwards.  The beauty of marriage to me is how two people complement each other with their own gifts and insights instead of trying to be like one another or competing for the same role. While relationship requires devotion, honesty and loyalty, I think marriage is to unite two people at the essential body and heart level (ie communication and intimacy) which is important to maintain a long lasting relationship. Right ?

Till now, I really can’t imagine myself getting married and having a family of my own someday. Even though girls at my age are either planning for their weddings or thinking of having a dozen kids……but oh my, what a scary thought. =\ I want to make sure I really can commit to a marriage before saying “I Do”, that’s for sure.

Guess the boyfriend will have to work harder eh ? =P hur…unless he doesn’t want to marry me *boohoo*…LOL!

“A man is incomplete until he is married. After that, he is finished.” -Zsa Zsa Gabor

Tags: argument, beauty of marriage, bicker, boyfriend, communication, complement each other, devotion, divorces, essential body and heart level, father, gifts and insights, growing up, hero, honesty, incomplete, intimacy, loyalty, marriage, marry me, mindset, mother, operation, relationship, saint, scary thought, sex, vow

EQ > IQ , which is more important ?

I am not a person who is  really good with words or expressing myself, especially when it comes to things dealing with family and personal issues. My mother is  diagnosed with cancer some time back but she is the bravest and strongest woman I’ve ever known, she’s doing well so far. We have been supporting her for the past months and recently the doctor insisted that she needs another operation to get rid of the bad cancer cells.

Despite the fact that I have to clear 10 weeks of internship for my academic credit, I decided to end my internship earlier (6 weeks instead of 12) so that I can be around at home to help out and take care of my mother after her operation next week. My internship company has been very understanding and my colleagues were really supportive, I thank them for that. They were cool with my decision and thought it was the best decision for me as well although I have probably left my projects halfway through and rather last minute notice.

I contacted the school staff to check if there were any administrative work to be done and sure enough, it was a quick reply from the office. However, I thought it would have been handled better. I understand that work has to be done and the office has standard procedures/questions to ask before agreeing to terminate an internship contract.  I have to admit that I would have flared up if not for being really exhausted and emotionally drained at that point of time when the conversation was held. No names because firstly I do not want any more troubles and secondly I don’t think it’s his/her fault.

staff : ” What do you mean by family matters?”

me : -explaining my mother’s condition-

staff : “Oh, what stage is she at?”

At that point of time, I really did not know how to answer because I was not mentally prepared to have an intense conversation with a stranger about it nor do I think it was necessary. But I replied anyways, thinking they probably had (bad) students using such excuses to get away from internship. (Although who in the right mind would curse his/her own parents with cancer ?)

staff : “isn’t there any one else to take care of her ? what happens when school starts ?”

I do think this is the least I can do as a daughter and if necessary, I would give up my degree to be with my family for as long as I can. I don’t think even if I have 10 other siblings around to take care of my mother (which I don’t by the way), that can reduce or strip me away from the duty of being a daughter. I was rather appalled with the question and I explained that it is my responsibility even if my father is around to look after my mother and even when school reopens, I believe I have more time with my family because my timetable is up to me to decide ?

Of course my internship termination has been approved eventually without further questions. It could have been dealt with better if staffs are trained on their EQ aspects. Honestly, I would have broke down at work over the phone or yelled into the phone if I could not control my emotions/temper better. My sister was furious to hear about this and wanted to write a complaint letter, but I really don’t see the point when others are probably just trying to get their work done.

The next time when you face such situations, do remember to put yourself into the other’s shoes before saying things without thinking of how the person might feel. EQ is more important than IQ at times. It sucks to be “EQ Zero”.

P.S  : Thank you for the friends and loved ones who has been by my side during this period of time. We’re doing fine+strong and I believe she’ll be alright soon =) No worries but do keep her/us in your prayers =) I did not write this post to gain sympathy or whatnots, so please refrain from asking about my mother or telling me to be strong and have faith. I appreciate the kind thoughts/words. Thank you !

Tags: academic credit, admin, cancer, complaint letter, emotional intelligence, emotions, EQ, EQ Zero, family matters, internship, IQ, office, operation, temper, terminate