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• Alicia Keys live!

  Wednesday, Jul 30, 2008 9:32PM / Standard Entry

  I went to the Alicia Keys concert last night in the HK Asia-World Arena, and I gotta say... that girl has such an AMAZING voice, so soulful and powerful! If you listen to her songs, you can tell that she truly gives it her all. She's beautiful, and of course so talented, she played on a grand piano for many of her songs and she sounded incredible live.
  
  She really made the crowd work hard for the encores, both of them, each time only coming out for one song. Of course we all went wild though when she came back out for the first encore with "No One", everyone in the crowd was really into it even those of us way in the back of the arena. We were all up on our feet singing along and rhythmically throwing our hands in the air to all the "OH OH OH OH!"'s of the song... :) What a blast! Then she came back out with a strong, powerful final performance of "If I Ain't Got You"... preceded by her graciously telling the crowd that she knows that she wouldn't be where she is, here playing in Hong Kong, if it weren't for all of us.
  
  In her song "Superwoman", she has some cool lyrics encouraging and celebrating the strength of woman out there. I love the following lines:  :)
  
  "Even when I'm a mess
  I still put on a vest
  With an S on my chest
  Oh yes
  I'm a Superwoman"
  
  Our seats were pretty far back and on the ground level though. So me being the shorty that I am and it being just my luck to sit in back of the tallest guy in the row in front of me (of course, Murphy's Law, grrrrr!), I couldn't see the stage at all. :( I spent the entire concert watching the performances from the big screen next to the stage. But it was DEFINITELY worth being there and hearing her sing live, even if I couldn't actually see her. I even ran into quite a few friends at the arena... Marsha, Terence, Steph... lots of Alicia Keys fans. =D
  
  Being so far from the stage, I didn't get to take any photos or videos that were decent enough to post. But here are some YouTube videos (no official videos though, they've disabled the option to embed) of some of my favorite Alicia Keys songs performed live.
  
  "Like You'll Never See Me Again" (my new favorite song!)
  Video: http://www.youtube.com/v/dpj9XbwU-bM&hl=en&fs=1
  

  
  
  "Superwoman"
  Video: http://www.youtube.com/v/zv58O2mqWS0&hl=en&fs=1
  

  
  
  
  
  "No One"
  Video: http://www.youtube.com/v/ZTXPyBoIRuU&hl=en&fs=1
  

  
  
  "If I Ain't Got You"
  Video: http://www.youtube.com/v/OhJNnxChi70&hl=en&fs=1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

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• Nostalgia: My 10 favorite old skool Rap/Hip Hop/R&B Songs

  Monday, May 26, 2008 12:57PM / Standard Entry

  I grew up listening to Hip Hop/Rap/R&B since forever, so even though I now listen to more diverse types of music, it's still my all-time favorite... especially at parties.
  
  Feeling nostalgic, I compiled a list of my 10 favorite classic, old-skool Rap/Hip Hop/R&B songs from the 1990's or earlier, in chronological order...
  
  Anyone recognize these?
  
  1) "Push It" (remix)- Salt N' Pepa [1986]
  An old classic, it's one of my all-time faves! If you watch the video, you'll see them busting out the old '80's "Roger Rabbit" dance move around 2:15 minutes into the video!! (I remember practicing it with my friends, haha) As I was only a young and innocent school girl at the time, I had no idea that this song was all about s-e-x until years later! haha
  Video: http://www.youtube.com/v/BCV5yGKWjv4&hl=en
  

  
  
  2) "Around the Way Girl" - LL Cool J [1990]
  Old skool LL Cool J! I remember this from oh so long time ago...
  "Standing at the bus stop sucking on a lollipop..."
  Video: http://www.youtube.com/v/v9CTSRg4NDk&hl=en
  

  
  
  3) "T.R.O.Y. (They Reminisce Over You)" - Pete Rock & CL Smooth [1992]
  This is one of my favorite rap songs from my high school days. I love the underlying melody. I couldn't afford to buy much music back then, but I remember buying the cassette single for this song... (remember those days of cassette players and boomboxes? ha!)
  Video: http://www.youtube.com/v/SuUZ1NnmRCc&hl=e
  

  
  
  4) "Nuthin' But A G Thang" - Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg [1992]
  "One, two, three and to the four..."
  Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEMmbtcxbpc
  

  
  
  5) "You Remind Me" - Mary J. Blige [1992]
  A classic Mary J. song.... This song "reminds" me of my old school days...
  Video: http://www.youtube.com/v/meTs9NO12uA&hl=en
  

  
  
  6) "Today Was A Good Day" - Ice Cube [1993]
  "Today I didn't even have to use my A.K.
  I gotta say it was a good day."
  Video: http://www.youtube.com/v/c4RY-eJgHHs&hl=en
  

  
  
  7) "Back and Forth" - Aaliyah [1994]
  Despite her early death in 2001, Aaliyah will always be one of my favorite female R&B singers. This song is one of her first singles (back in her R.Kelly days), and is still one of my favorites of hers. Rest in peace...
  Video: http://www.youtube.com/v/b2loc2Z37VE&hl=en
  

  
  
  8) "I Got Five On It" (remix) - Luniz (feat. Digital Underground, Dru Down, Richie Rich & E-40) [1995]
  Another one of my all-time favorites. Both rappers of Luniz hail from my ghetto hometown and they rap about Oakland throughout the song. Oh yeah, I went to elementary school with the younger brother of one of the rappers, we were in the same 4th(?) grade class. I love this remix. And check out the video at around 1:35 mins, they're busting out the "Kid n'Play" dance move. =)
  Video: http://www.youtube.com/v/CiZ3XtGtmQs&hl=en
  

  
  
  9) "California Love" - Tupac (feat. Dr. Dre) [1995]
  Tupac's also from Oaktown. West-SIDE! A great party anthem!
  Video: http://www.youtube.com/v/FWOsbGP5Ox4&hl=en
  

  
  
  10) "Make It Hot" - Nicole (feat. Missy Elliott) [1998]
  This is the first and only song that I randomly heard from this girl Nicole, but I love it. This song is backed by Missy Elliott and Timbaland, and has shout outs to Aaliyah and Ginuwine, who all make appearances in the video.
  Video: http://www.youtube.com/v/yDZXlxASYYA&hl=en
  

  
  

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• my So What album photos

  Tuesday, May 20, 2008 11:57AM / Standard Entry

  Local girl band, So What (which my pretty and talented friend Jan is the lead singer of), released their debut album "Happiness" last fall.  I assisted with the album photo shoot last year in Sheung Wan and had the opportunity to take a handful of closeup shots of the girls during the shoot. The following two of my photos of Jan were used in the album insert booklet. (More photos from the shoot can be found in my album here.)
  
  
  
  
  The rest of the album booklet photos, including the cd cover photos (see below), were shot by Edmon Leong, who is an amazing photographer. Although he's mainly a fashion photographer, I've found all of his photography work to be so incredible and inspiring... and he's a good friend and has been a mentor to me in the recent years. He just joined AnD as an official artist so go check out his page and photos and say hi! :)
  
  
  
  

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• Photo exhibit @ Triple J

  Monday, Feb 18, 2008 8:17PM / Standard Entry

  Yesterday evening was the opening of the photo exhibit with images by four AnD photographers, Berton Chang, Chris Lay, Ohm Panhiroj and myself. Some of us made a trip up to Shenzhen to catch the opening party, which included a fun musical performance by Dirt Star. The exhibit runs for two weeks at Triple J Cafe, a cozy and cute little art cafe in Shenzhen, China. I had a good time and it was nice seeing familiar faces there and meeting some new folks including Chris (thanks for inviting me), the cafe owner JiaJia, Dirt Star (Ron), Jesse, and others.
  
  A few random shots from the evening...
  
  
  Unfortunately I can't read Simplified Chinese. Anyone wanna translate to English? :)
  
  
  (mine's on the right)
  
  
  
  
  
  The Triple J and AliveNot Dead present "On the Road",  a photo exhibit with images by Berton Chang, Ivy Lam, Christopher Lay, Liza Lebeda and Ohm Panphiroj, with live music by Dirtstar. 
  
  Opening Sunday, 17 Feb @ 7-11pm
  Photo Exhibition 17 Feb - 1 March
  Triple J Cafe, Shenzhen, China
  (behind the roller coaster, Culture Palace Park, Dongmen, Luohu)
  +86 134 1064 5216
  www.triplej.wordpress.com.cn
  
  
  

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• Support a small bookshop!

  Monday, Feb 11, 2008 11:44AM / Standard Entry

  First of all, Happy New Year! May the Year of the Rat be a great year for you all!
  
  For anyone in HK who likes books and artwork, let me tell you about a cute little used bookshop in Central (LKF). It has a colorful, cozy setup with sofa and armchairs, a nice livingroom-feeling to it. Sadly, since it's on the second floor, it's sorta hidden so most people don't even know it's there. Other than books (English), they also sell original paintings and photos, which is displayed all around the shop.
  
  *ahem* As a matter of fact, I have some of my travel photo prints for sale there, both framed and non-framed... (shameless plug... haha)
  
  Seriously, I wanna spread the word about the bookshop because I got to know the owner and she's a real cool gal, but due to financial reasons, she may be shutting down the shop by end of next month! It's sad cuz she's put all her time, money, and energy into running the shop which opened a year ago. Since I'm a huge booklover and enjoy browsing in bookstores, I'm gonna miss having a used bookstore in HK that's so cozy and comfortable.
  
  So for HK book-lovers or art-lovers out there, support a small local business and check out the shop for some quality, discounted books and artwork if you have the chance... before it closes down soon! Thx for reading~
  
  MUSE BOOKSHOP
  2nd floor, 12 Lan Kwai Fong, Central, Hong Kong
  (Entrance located between the bars Club97 & Whiskey Priest. Go up 2 flights of stairs)
  Open daily 11am-8pm
  Tel: 3620-3399
  
  
  

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