TAB Singapore – All-in-One Live Entertainment Venue
I have been swamped with work recently (What’s new?) but if you have been following me closely on twitter, you’ll see TAB as my latest favorite hangout.
Located at Orchard hotel, which is at the head of Orchard Road (Opposite The Forum), TAB is the ‘not-so-new-anymore’ kid on the block of the local nightlife scene. Where else can you experience live music with good food and drinks without sitting uncomfortably under the horrible Singapore weather? The kitchen sure knows how to cook up a storm and you’ll be spoiled for choice. I personally love the TAB burger, Fries (which my friends and I all agreed that the fries have this nice slightly sweet taste to it!) and the Chicken Caesar Salad totally won my heart with its freshness.
TAB is probably a dream come true for music lovers like me as they truly support original music! Not only do they provide a platform but they also showcase the talents of local and foreign artists alike in an intimate, relaxing and cozy setting. Last week I had the opportunity to catch the Lenka private showcase that was held at TAB and it was wonderful – the reason being that Lenka was just an arm’s length away and the space allows you to swing along to the music. I have also watched Oak and Gorski‘s gig when they were down in Singapore, it was wonderful to have such great overseas acts being invited and introduced to the locals who may not have come across them on their own. In fact, SMUBE is now playing TAB artists’ songs on Campus Radio apart from our usual YouTube covers artists!
Singaporeans love promotions, don’t they? TAB is clever enough to have a free flow steak sandwiches & fries during Happy Hours from Mon to Fri 5pm – 8pm for all paying customers. Or if you’re a student like me, you can check out the TAB burger deal that comes with a TAB burger, fries and 1 alcoholic/2 soft drinks for just $12.75++ ! What a deal !
So if you are looking for a place to hang out which allows you to satisfy both your tummy and music crave, TAB is definitely worth checking out. Pssst…you know where to find me when I’m not at work/in school ! Hehs.
For more information, you can check out their official site (the gigs, promotions and location etc): www.tab.com.sg
Disclaimer: This is not a paid ad post ! I am simply just infatuated with the place recently..hur (plus SMU Campus Radio loves them!)
[Event] St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival, Singapore
“Long Entry Ahead. You’ve been warned.”
*Ladyhawke on stage playing My Delirium*
If there’s one way to describe St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival at Fort Canning yesterday, it would be – WET! (We’ll get to that later.)
Outstanding line-up at this debut music festival in Singapore, it was an EPIC party that is unforgettable and one hella experience for me. Firstly take a look at the awesome artistes involved - !!! (Chk Chk Chk), Beach House , Deerhunter, Foals, Holy F*** (Heck, it’s Holy Fuck), Ladyhawke, The Temper Trap, Warpaint and Yeasayer. It was really a treat for music lovers like me, though I must admit I’ve only listened to 5 out of 9 bands before this. I can guarantee that the bands were all fantastic and totally worth standing in the rain for! The music was just so good that I’ll regret for the rest of my life if I didn’t see them live. My personal favorite were !!! (Chk Chk Chk), Holy Fuck, Ladyhawke, Yeasayer and of course The Temper Trap!
Speaking of rain, it was quite the ‘Rainway – a Mudfest’ instead of ‘Laneway – a Musicfest’ ! The location is, of course, open air and the raingod probably has bad taste in music – it was pouring almost the entire day! Every single time a band goes up, it starts raining. The rain before The Temper Trap came on was the worst ! Ponchos were nothing but just a piece of irritating plastic that keeps sticking onto your skin. But that did not dampen the mood of the crowd at all, people were stripping (yes, stripping), dancing in the rain and getting muddy all over. Mud swamp is an understatement, you gotta see the mess for yourself. There were even mudslides at the end of the event which looks really fun – I’d totally join in the fun to see how pigs rolling in mud feels like (lol) if I’m alone overseas or not going home for the night ! Yesterday night could have been one of the things to do on my bucket list, if I had one.
Of course I had wonderful people (mostly on my twitter list) to hang out with, bumped into probably half of my Facebook friend list at the festival as well ? We all agreed that dancing in the rain, getting mudcaked, singing at the top of your lungs (even if you knew nobody can actually hear you, including yourself), booze and whatnots, taking pictures with random people – this was probably one of the stories that we can proudly tell our grandchildren:” Hell yeah! We were once young and happening!” If you ask me how I feel about LanewaySG – IT WAS DOPE!!! Like what Utt said, it should have been a 2 day fest !
As I was representing SMU Campus Radio, I had the chance to interview the bands and take some pictures with them. (The rest of the pictures were taken in the heavy rain, it wasn’t exactly…viewable.haha) Will post those up when the nicer stuff are ready for release! Below are some of my personal shots in the media tent, didn’t take more pictures during the acts since it was pouring =(
Warpaint – lovely girls !
Deerhunter – Brandon Cox (guy in yellow) is really skinny but he’s the friendliest too! They were trying to be funny with the ponchos.
Holy Fuck off stage and on stage – I LOVE these guys ! Very friendly and chatty. It was nice interviewing them. No airs at all !
Yeasayer – Doing what bands love to do at interviews now, taking pictures of the media while being photographed!
Temper Trap – the band that everyone was waiting for that night (they were the last act). Everyone in the media tent were soaking wet while interviewing them, probably amusing to them since they had this trying-not-t0-laugh expression. Lorenzo Sillitto is so cute! Toby Dundas and Joseph Greer were really nice, got to shake hands with them!
Last but not least, an unglam poncho shot with @litford in the rain ! (Yea, I had my geeky specs on for vanity purposes. hehs)
Oh, after being to gigs and music festivals…I think it’s time to share MYY Survival Guide to concerts and music festivals ! Especially after seeing godknowshowmany ‘walking disasters’ there were yesterday….coming up next !
It’s NOT The End.
[Long Entry Ahead]
As you guys probably know by now, I didn’t make it to the Top 10 #WCI ! Am I disappointed ? Perhaps a little but I’m sure there are reasons why the final 10 is the final 10 and there’s nothing much to ‘cry over’ since I’ve tried my best and it has been a fun experience. So not to worry about me, like I said – your same old @iammyy here !
Getting into Final 23s was already a bonus to me – to think that I’ve never quite considered joining this in the first place to coming up with the last minute post just because my friends around me were like ‘Come on ! Just give it a go ! It’s so you please!” to finding out that I was in the Final 23 among the thousand over applicants to rushing out a video in the middle of the night after school with my closest bunch of friends till 4am. What more can I ask for ? I would have never experience all these without trying in the first place ! So thank you @StanChartBreeze for the opportunity !
To answer some questions I’ve received so far :
1) How did you get into Top 23 ? I have no idea ! Perhaps I was the wildcard ? (haha) But all I did was blog – shared on 3 platforms and waited. Nothing special in particular (I did not use the $100 GoogleAd credit as well)
2) Did you have a strategy ? Obviously not ! I was rather last minute (my bad) since school is still my first priority afterall !
3) I was reading your old entries, do you have a boyfriend ? What a personal question, but not anymore and not looking ! Enjoy my life, focusing on school/career. Happy to have my family+friends around ! Romantic relationships can wait I guess ? haha
4) What’s next ? Continue my undergrad life and hopefully end it by next April ! Grabbing any opportunities along the way when it comes =) AND this will be my last WCI-related post for sure !
5) I really like your AOTW posts ! Thank You ! I think that’s the only thing I can be proud of as a ‘blogger’. Haha !
Here I am, after a much needed rest (lack of >3hrs sleep for the past few days is no joke). Just wanna briefly thank each and everyone who supported me for this #WCI competition ! Something I doodled within 15 minutes…There’s a reason why my Design School lecturer gave me C- for drawing ok! =P
Thank You to the Mak family for understanding, especially when I contributed the most to the electricity bill (haha!) Esp to my elder sister, Hilda for her support on the other side of the Great Firewall (yes, she’s currently in Beijing).
Next would be you readers, friends on twitter, facebook and plurk for the never-ending flow of support and encouragement ! Every single retweet/plurk/message counts and because of all these platforms, I’ve met many wonderful new friends. Thank You for all the opportunities and kind words! It has been an amazing journey since I first designed my website on Geocities and now, I have my own blog with growing number of readers. Really a motivation to continue blogging and knowing that there are people who actually like to read my entries! Thank You once again !
These are the people whom I’ve been with for the past 3+ years and despite the fact that I dislike school (who doesn’t !?) I am glad I’ve made wonderful friends in there. Special thanks to those who spared that few minutes to write a message and be publicly featured on my #WCI video ! Week 13…HANG IN THERE PEOPLE ! It’ll be my final term next year, will miss everyone alot ! Not forgetting the wonderful seniors who are busy working but not forgetting to drop me words of encouragement too !
Last but not least, this is the bunch of people whom I can never thank enough. My other family ! People who shared my tears and joy along the way, who helped me no matter how busy they are, who shared stupid jokes and giggled at everything, who stayed with me in school till 4am to finish up the video and a spontaneous marketing team till 7am, who flooded the rest of their network with my links/video in the middle of the night, who made sure I am fed all the time and had enough rest – not forgetting not to skip school (lol), who gave me words of support and much needed hugs when I feel like breaking down/giving up. You guys know who you are =) They have been the biggest support in my entire 4 years of SMU life and the friendships I’ve made in the club is something I’ll always treasure. Thank You everyone in SMUBE =) *sniff*
There’s just so many things to say and people to thank but I’ll stop here before everyone dies from my ugly handwriting and drawing..Once again, Thank You for being part of my life ! Cone Testicles all !
<3
p.s : sorry to disappoint you guys =( no treats from me…..hahahahaha *runs away*
Blessing In Disguise
This whole #WCI experience has been a blessing in disguise – how so ? As much as I’ve always known I have the awesomest friends around, I must say that during the past week since I’ve joined the WCI challenge- I am so so touched in many ways (now don’t start thinking otherwise. Hehs.) It is currently week 12 (2nd last week) in school and every SMU student will understand how heavy the workload gets – project submissions, essay deadlines, presentations. Obviously that applies to me as well -seriously putting my time management into use- and I was practically dying (blame it on not paying attention in class all the time..), but the support I’ve received from my friends is just amazing – be it online or offline. Power of Social Media eh ?
Let’s just talk about this video alone – I was totally in panic mode when I realized that I need to submit a video since I had 3 papers due by Friday as well as my own French project video (and totally in a PMS-y mode.) My friends willingly (or not) stayed behind, despite this week 12 madness, to help me with the filming (original concept) and taking photos (new concept) and post-production (It’s been 4 years since I last touched the technical side of film making ! You can’t blame me for that, can you ?!) I had overseas help as well from friends who are currently pursuing their degrees there. I felt really loved by everyone ! Like what I said in the video, even without the coolest internship, I think I am happy with the coolest friends around. =)
Not forgetting the online friends (old or new) who tweet-supported me with/without being asked! Although some of the reasons are pretty strange *coughs* but Thank You ! It’s not that easy to find people who are willing to be take time off AND a picture for you ok!
So here’s the video,as promised ! Better late than never ? (-panic- Am I the last ? Am I the last? Am I the last?!)
Concept : I wanted to do something like a Barney Stinsons Awesome Resume video but that requires alot of time and footages. So I ended up recording a segment to talk about what a coolest intern should be like, suit up! Pretty much putting my Emcee/Campus Radio DJ skills into good use. Was pretty clueless of what to say and it felt really weird to be shamelessly selling myself on the video as that’s not the Ingrid people knows. In the end, my awesome friends and I came up with this idea of walking around school to get my fellow SMU friends and staff (since they know me best) to describe their first impression of me/why I should be the coolest intern…Pretty much sums it all up ? Hope you enjoyed it – afterall, this is the first time my ‘coolest-uncool’ friends actually said such nice things about me! *SNIFF*
Special thanks to my SMU Broadcast & Entertainment ‘family’ who did not want to be listed individually, love you guys loads ! I have to say, they are more ‘kan cheong‘ (Translate: 紧张/Nervous in Cantonese ) than the one who’s taking part (aka me) ! XOXO
Additional thank you to my anon video editor who was stuck at ‘But According…’ for an hour just to get the perfect timing while I kept going ‘ITS OKAY.JUST LET IT BE!! MOVE ON NAOO‘ in a panic mode. (lol) And the rest of MYY secret WCI marketing team for the one hour photo hunt and 8pm-4am studio madness…I really appreciate it. 
Friends on Twitter : Please tweet to “@stanchartbreeze -inserts reason why @iammyy should win- #WCI”
Thank You ! (Random Pictures can be found here !)
AOTW [48] : Lydia Low
I am in the midst of doing an interview with my next featured artist and was just wondering who will be good for this week’s feature. Sat down in my SMUBE studio and was surfing the net for ideas till someone started playing the guitar and I was mesmerized. Look up to find my lil junior, Lydia (who is also the upcoming 8th EXCO Marketing Director of SMUBE *Cheers to Marketing! I was in the 5th EXCO*) Was delighted to hear that she has her own youtube channel and went online to check the videos out…..so here I am, presenting to you my very talented junior Lydia Low!
Here’s an original song from her ! Lydia plays every Tuesday night at China One if you’re interested to watch her live !
But- Lydia Low
[verse 1]
I’m standing at the corner
so that I’m easy for you to find
But I’m choking up human traffic
I’ve got mannequins flanking my behind
I wear this bow in my hair
‘Cos you said it looked cute
A dozen kiddies are wearing the same thing
Where the hell are you?
[chorus]
The people won’t stop staring
I can’t stop my eyes from glaring
I can feel hostility eating my heart
I’d very much like to just run home
And cry into my pillow alone
But your message says you’ll be here soon
[verse 2]
Now I’m having a coffee
that I don’t need to drink
But I need something to do
Besides trying not to think
About how this isn’t the first time
Not that I keep track
But darling if you don’t show up soon
I’m gonna crack
AOTW [26] : Boyce Avenue
Away from my Ukulele craze for once ! Just last Saturday, my SMUBE seniors Vince and Jasmine got engaged ! I’m so so SO HAPPY for both of them and it’s like a love story with a happy fairytale ending to us juniors who have been there (spying on them) since day 1! (HAHA)
Especially Jasmine, who is my fav BE senior ever (No offense to the rest..haha). Thank You so much for being there for me all the time ! Wish you happiness always and forever and evahh ! Such a gorgeous couple don’t you think ? Congrats !! =)))
I like Chris Brown’s ‘Forever’ alot, especially after watching Jill and Kevin’s wedding march-in to this song. So I’m ‘dedicating’ this post to the newly engaged couple !
Featuring Alejandro Manzano and Fabian Manzano of Boyce Avenue doing an acoustic cover the song =)
Chris Brown – Forever
It’s you and me moving
At the speed of light into eternity yer,
Tonight is the night to join me in the middle of ecstasy.
Feel the melody in the rhythm of the music around you, around you
I’m gonna take you there, I’m gonna take you there
So don’t be scared
I’m right here baby
We can go anywhere, go anywhere
But first it’s your chance,
Take my hand come with me
It’s like I’ve waited my whole life for this one night
It’s gonna be me you and the dance floor
’cause we’ve only got one night
Double your pleasure
Double your fun and dance
Forever (ever, ever)
Forever (ever, ever)
Forever (ever, ever)
Forever girl forever
Forever (ever, ever)
Forever (ever, ever)
Forever (ever, ever)
Forever on the dance floor
Feels like we’re on another level
Feels like our loves intertwined,
We can be two rebels breaking the rules
me and you, you and I
All you got to do is watch me
Look what I can do with my feet
Baby feel the beat inside,
I’m driving you can take the front seat
Just need you to trust me
Oh ah oh
It’s like!
It’s a long way down,
We’re so high off the ground,
Sending for an angel to bring me your heart
Girl, where did you come from?
Got me so undone,
Gazing in your eyes got me singing what a beautiful lady
No “if”s, “and”s or “maybe”s
I’m releasing my heart and it’s feeling amazing
There’s no one else that matters
you love me and I won’t let you fall girl
Let you fall girl oh
Ah ah ye yer
I won’t let you fall, let you fall
Let you fall oh oh
Yer yer
Yer yer
It’s Like!
Oh ah ah ah ah ah
Yer
Forever (ever, ever, ever)
Forever ever ah.
Time for some peeeeeeektures !
Introducing the current love of my life…
Answer : Bagel ! Fine, he’s not mine but the boyfriend‘s…hur
Favourite thing to do ?
Answer : Spending time with the love(s) of my life =)
Craving for IKEA meatballs ?
Answer : Who needs to go all the way to IKEA when the awesomest boyfriend surprises you by secretly buying it home, cooks and satisfy your craving ! xoxo *blissful pampered girlfriend grin* =)))
Best (and usual) way to spend your Sunday afternoons in SMU ?
Answer : Mugging in the SMUBE studio with the best bunch of friends ! (It’s only fun when you do it with the SMUBE people *ahems*)
Wondering where’s the best place to let your kids roam free ?
Answer : If Botanic Garden is for the dogs, then Changi Airport Terminal 3 it is !
–
Feeling alil guilty for the lack of regular updates ever since school started 2 weeks ago…so some visual “treats” for you =)
Local Talent ? We Want You !
I’m currently doing a show call “Out of Order” with my co-host Rachel on SMU Campus Radio which is aired every Friday 7-8pm (Sadly, I think VPN is required to tune in to us..unless someone wants to sponsor for our broadcast license ? haha)
Basically we have 4 main segments in the show whereby we feature what’s happening or cool events in Singapore that students can check out over the weekend, geeky gadgets or sites to browse through, random facts and jokes and of course the main highlight is our Myspace artiste of the week.
Similarly to what I’ve been doing on my blog, we feature a local/myspace artiste each week. I’ve been doing interviews for the past 3 radio shows and this term will not be any different !In fact, we’re kicking things off with the Pervy Boy soon !
So if you know of any (or if you are !) local talent/artiste…do drop me a msg ! Or email to ingridmak [at] gmail [dot] com !
Movie Buzz : Fanboys
Caught the media preview screening of “Fanboys” today ! Courtesy of Golden Village ! 
This comedy starring Jay Baruchel (Windows) , Dan Fogler (Hutch) , Sam Huntington (Eric) ,Chris Marquette (Linus) , and the eversocute Kristen Bell (Zoe) is quite worth watching IF you’re a diehard Star Wars fan. The story follows this bunch of Star Wars (duh) fans on a roadtrip (or rather, a quest) to break into George Lucas‘s Skywalker Ranch to watch STAR WARS: EPISODE 1- THE PHANTOM MENACE before it is released.
Initially I was quite skeptical about the movie because I am not exactly the biggest Star Wars fan you can find. It looked like a silly movie paraody (like Scary Movie ?) And being a girl, the next thing I noticed was..the boys get to check out Kristen Bell but other than that, there isn’t any eyecandy in the film at all ! So I was expecting myself to leave the cinema halfway through this (already rather short) 90 minutes film. 
But I was wrong, its sheer geeky-ness and goofiness has grown on me as these “Star Wars” fanatics began on their “quest”. I had quite a good laugh over some of the jokes, although some proves that you gotta be a Star Wars fan to understand. One of the more amusing sub-plots deals with the Trekkies (Star Trek), and how intensely the Star Wars enthusiasts hate them. Very hiliarious if you dislike Star Trek as much as I do. 
Engaging performance from Dan Fogler (Hutch), gotta be my favourite character in the movie. Jay Baruchel (Windows) played his role pretty convincingly as well, totally adorable geek. Enough about the boys you say ? Kristen Bell is probably fanboys’ dream come true in this male driven plot, who can resist a girl who loves comics,bond and Star Wars ? Her short black hair looks rather sexy on her to be honest, even I thought she looks pretty hot.
Watching how extreme fans can be is entertaining, it makes it a blast to watch if you like/love Star Wars too. Quite a few subtle (but witty) jokes here and there to complete the weak plot. Probably won’t catch it if you’re not used to the geek/nerd lingo, so brush up on them before you watch the movie. I would say this movie is a tribute to the friendship of all geeky fans out there rather than a marketing niche, celebration of the fandom ! 
Speaking of which, I thought GV (or the marketing team) did a good job in bringing the “stormtroopers” to the preview. You should have seen the crowd gathering outside the hall,waiting to take a photo with them ! (They were really friendly stormtroopers by the way, offered to take a picture with me in the shot…but nahhsss) I wanna get one of these costumes too ! 
Oh, the sound effects were pretty awesome. Could have been an audio project altogether. Love the song by Spacehog “In the Meantime“. 
I wouldn’t recommend everyone to watch the movie since you should have at least basic Star Wars/Star Trek knowledge in order to understand the jokes. But if you’re a Sci-Fi fan and enjoy the geeky goofy things in life, do catch it ! It’s opening on 26th March. 
P.S : I thought I saw the words on the van changed color at one of the scenes (I think it was outside the supermart), I swear it was white instead of the red that was for the rest of the show. Continuity error ? Do let me know after you guys catch the movie ! (hur hur) 
