For all kitten lovers...

I just HAD to share this video clip that I found on YouTube... this is just too cute!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY0MSuyaKMk

Aren't they just adorable??

Since I joined Alive Not Dead, inspiration has been flowing through my veins at an unprecedented pace.

As we speak, I have in the works a few different topics that I wanna write about... among them are my thoughts on Coco Lee (I believe one AnD artist in particular may be waiting for this entry... *winks*), Duran Duran, Les Nubians, the continuation stories on Lee Hom and my musical journey so far... gosh, so much inspiration and not enough time to write it all down... one of these days, I might explode! LOL!

Speaking of exploding... at 4.00am yesterday morning, I was woken up by a head-splitting migraine! I've had migraines before, but this one was the MUTHA of all migraines!!! I rubbed some medicinal oil (the kind you get in a traditional chinese medicine store) on my forehead, down the back of my neck and on my shoulders, and I was still in great pain... I couldn't put my head down, 'cos it would only make things worse, so I had to try falling asleep sitting up (which isn't easy to do)... needless to say, I had a pretty sleepless time, so I had to see the doctor later that day and get the day off from work... didn't think I was gonna be useful in the office with a migraine of that magnitude.

When I managed to get myself to the doctor's office at about 10.00am, he gave me a strong painkiller with muscle relaxant, and that really did the trick... it knocked me out, and I felt no more pain... but it knocked me out so soundly that I almost missed getting myself to the Cathay in time to watch the "Clone Wars" premiere! Yikes!

Luckily though, I woke up at around 7.30pm - a solid 7 hours of undisturbed sleep, amazing! The thing is, I was supposed to meet Tracey at 7.30pm, so I had to push it back, and met him at 8.30pm instead... yes, my guy friend's name is Tracey... don't knock it, he's one of the nicest people I know... so like I told Terry, what's in a name, eh?? And yes, Terry, I watched the "Clone Wars" premiere with the Tracey who was from Santa Clara... he had some pretty interesting things to say about you... but don't worry, I won't repeat any of it here... LOL!

So in short, although my day started out pretty crappy yesterday, it ended up being mighty fine, with me enjoying dinner with Tracey and watching the new "Clone Wars" movie... OK, before I sign off today, let me just upload some pics that I've been wanting to share here, but just haven't found the time to upload till now.

Some time ago, I ordered a little something from AnD... here's a clue, it's pink and white and silver and black, and I love it to bits!! **grins**

Yup, I paid for my AnD cap on 27 Jul, and my postman tried to deliver it to me on 4 Aug, but I wasn't home at the time, so I ended up collecting it from the post office myself on 6 Aug.

Here is the AnD parcel sitting on my living room sofa, beckoning to me, teasing me, "Open me, open me, QUICK!!"...

So I did... I opened it... and the good people at AnD had sent it to me wrapped in plastic, so it wouldn't get wet in rainy weather while it was on its way to me... how considerate!

Here's a close-up shot of the cap, on one edge it reads...

And on the forehead is that lovely silver and black AnD logo...

The cap looked sooo irresistable sitting on my sofa that I decided to put it on, and try my hand at modelling with it...

And this is me feelin' happy and tryin' to act cute with my AnD cap... Muchos gracias, guys! I love it sooo much! <3 <3 <3

Speaking of love... this newly renovated building just opened near my workplace, and as it turns out, this is the new wing of the Singapore Art Museum called "8Q sam"... this place is supposed to be a contemporary art gallery, and among the first people to show their works there is... JAHAN LOH!!!

The day before my birthday, I was working late, and as I walked pass "8Q sam" on Queen Street, I looked up and saw this big banner hanging down from the building and it reads...

It was pretty dark, so I wasn't sure if I had read it correctly, but I made a mental note to myself to check the banner again as soon as I got back from birthday leave... so on 21 Aug, I took this pic in broad daylight... and true enough, Jahan's name was printed on the banner in the extreme right of the second row of smaller letters...

Apparently, "8Q sam" cost SGD$5.8 million to refurbish. It is called "8Q sam" because the building is located at 8 Queen Street and it is a part of the Singapore Art Museum (SAM).

This same building previously housed Catholic High Primary School, and the last owner before the Museum stepped in was the Kum Yan Methodist Church. The Church has since moved into a brand new building next door, to the right of this pic.

If you wanna know more about this inaugural exhibition, which runs from 16 Aug 2008 to 9 Jan 2009, you can go to the Singapore Art Museum website to check it out...
http://www.singart.com/8qsam/school_8q.html

I haven't personally seen this exhibition yet, but I plan to do so soon... I hear Jahan let loose and "vandalised" the white walls in this former school building... except that it's all legit, 'cos that's 8Q for ya!

This week is my birthday week, and gosh, it feels like there is sooo much goin' on! I have a theory that my life moves in 3-year cycles, and this has been true so far... I won't elaborate too much on this, but basically, every time I reach a year where my age is a multiple of 3, I start a new cycle and usually, a lot of changes will happen that year. The last cycle started in 2005. It's now 2008, so lots of things are happening this year!

My work life has always been interesting... 3 years ago, I couldn't picture myself wearing a suit everyday, 'cos I was always in jeans and casual clothes... but now, wearing a suit is no biggie for me, I'm so at home in a suit now that I can wear one any day and at any time and be completely comfy in it... I even know that when I buy a suit, I prefer one that is NOT double-breasted, NO french collar, it musn't be too long, the sleeves must be the right length, and it must have pockets (one on the left and one on the right, but no breast pockets please). I like my suits to be in plain colours, no stripes, no prints, no frills, etc. A bit boring maybe, but it works for where I'm working now, so that's good enough.

Now, I'm about to embark on another career adventure... a friend has roped me in to do something in his company. No, he's not employing me, but he wants me to be his business partner. We are working on something together, and we hope that when this takes off... well, I'm not comfy saying more, but let's just say that we have our dreams, and we're working hard to make them come true.

Well, when you work hard, you also have to play hard... and I'm looking to play harder, 'cos I don't think I play quite enough. My present job means long hours, and with this business partner thing, I can only expect playtime to get shorter... but hopefully, even with shorter playtimes, I can still play harder! I have set myself some fitness-related goals, and I'm looking to play harder to make them happen too.

One other thing I really need to do is some springcleaning around the home... I just have too much stuff, and I can't possibly keep everything!

These are the 3 basic things that I'm looking into... work, play & home.

But coming back to my birthday week...

I just got myself a digicam... FINALLY!! I've been wanting to get one for a long time, but somehow just never did... then a few days ago, I was out with a friend, and he asked me if I knew anyone who might want to buy a 2nd-hand digicam, 'cos he wanted to sell his Pentax 8.1 megapixels camera at a quarter of the price he bought it at... I turned to him and was like, gosh, what a coincidence! I need a digicam! So I bought it off him that same day, and now I have a new digicam! :-)

My friend is a techie person, loves gadgets, takes really good care of them, and always wants to get the latest model of everything. So even though I bought his camera 2nd-hand, he's kept it so well, it's practically still brand new. I'm still learning all the functions though, I'm still not quite familiar with it... give me some time though, and perhaps I'll soon be able to spice up this blog with more personally taken pictures :-)

Do you believe that if you really need something, somehow there will be a way to get it? Well, these past 3 years just seem to have passed me by like clockwork, and there are times when I don't think I've been able to do all the things that I've wanted to do. I always have this list of things that I want to get done, other than what I usually do everyday, but somehow I get so caught up with my daily routine that I hardly ever get to do all the stuff that is on this list. This makes me feel like I'm not making enough progress in my life, however true or untrue that might be... it's like there's this barrier between my daily routine and this list of things to do, and for some time now, I've not been able to break thru' it.

But I'm glad to say that this past week, I've been able to do just that...

**Getting a digicam was on that list... and now, I have a digicam.

**Having my own business was on that list... and now, with help from my business partners, I am part of my own business.

**Paying greater attention to my fitness and playing harder was on that list... and now, I make it a point to ensure that I get to play on a daily basis... and by this I mean, working out at home or at the gym, and just being more active in general... yesterday, I got me some new workout clothes, and I've already started working out daily this past week, so I'm a happy camper :-)

**Keeping my home spick and span is always on the list... but sometimes I fall behind, and yeah, I have fallen behind, so I need to get cracking! This week, I got started.

**Travelling is on the list... I would like to visit Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and certain parts of China, but since I started this job 3 years ago, I haven't done much travelling... at best, a weekend trip to Kuala Lumpur or a day trip to Johor Bahru once a year... quite pathetic. But now, I'm planning a trip to Taiwan in late Oct this year, and possibly a trip to Hong Kong in Mar/Apr 2009... exciting!!! :-)

So this past week, I do feel as though I am making a lot of progress all at once, because some of the things on my list are in-progress or have already gotten done... and this is more than I have managed to do in at least this past year or so!

Today, I'll be going for a belated birthday lunch with my family... we're going Japanese... yum yum yummy! My favourite! I'm looking forward to sushi and sashimi! And nope, I probably won't make the same mistake that Andy made... nope, I ain't gonna be bleeding for my birthday... haha! :-)

And later today, my sis and I are going to the Esplanade Concert Hall to watch AnD artist Tay Kewei and another Singaporean artist Sebastian Tan in concert for "The Philharmonic Winds Goes Pop"... we have first row circle seats, and somewhere in the middle of the row, so we have a really good view! This should be a good show! :-)

I have a few pics that I took some time ago, that I wanna post up here in AnD... but I'm running out of time now, so I'll post them the next time... OK I gotta run, 'cos I can hear the sushi calling out to me!

Being a part of the Alive Not Dead has got me seriously thinking about going back to my musical roots... on Wednesday (13 Aug), I decided to re-visit my old music school... Yamaha.

Yamaha Music School has branches all over Singapore, including one in my neighbourhood at Marine Parade. When I was 5 years old, my grandma wanted my parents to give me music lessons, so they did. I was enrolled in the Junior Music Course (JMC) at the Yamaha Music School in Marine Parade, and my parents used to attend class with me, mainly my Dad, 'cos he's the more musical one.

When I finished JMC, my teacher spoke to my parents and suggested I go on to take up either the Piano Music Course or the Electone Music Course (EMC). My parents are just ordinary people, and music lessons don't come cheap, but they let me go on to take the Electone Music Course. I was to take Group Lessons, because they were more affordable, and at the time, no one knew how far I would go in music anyways. At this point, music was just one of my extra-curricular activities, something I could do outside of just studying in school.

I wasn't far into my Group Lessons, when my EMC teacher decided to speak to my parents, because she felt that I would probably do better taking up Individual Lessons. But Individual Lessons aren't cheap, they are even more costly than Group Lessons, but the huge advantage of that would be that I could make progress at my own pace, and the teacher's attention could be focused on me during the entire hour in the studio.

I seem to recall that my parents had a discussion about this with my grandma, 'cos I was just 6 years old at the time, and this was a pretty big deal for a kid of that age. It was my gutsy grandma who threw her support behind me, financially and otherwise, and told my parents to let me take Individual Lessons. She would help to pay for them. They cost about SGD$100-odd dollars back then, I don't remember the exact figure now. But with SGD$100 back in the 1980s, you could probably buy a Barbie Doll house, or a few weeks worth of groceries for the whole family!

It was my grandma who also bought me an Electone, so that I could practice at home. It cost about SGD$4000, which was quite a princely sum back in the 1980s, but even then it was just a lower-medium range model. The top model cost about SGD$12000 back then, if I remember correctly, so the one my grandma got for me was just a little higher than the classroom model for the Group Lessons.

Within about a year of having Individual Lessons, my teacher decided I should start competing in music competitions. So I started my competition days by playing "Windmills Of Your Mind". This was my first ever competition song at the ripe old age of 7.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAAUnZ01M8k

I chose the clip above, because it is closest to how I remember playing it when I was 7 years old, except that I wasn't playing it on a piano, but on a Yamaha Electone that was more expensive than the one I had at home.

Being inexperienced in playing at competition level, I didn't even get to sniff the final round of competition at my first go. The final round is usually played on a nation-wide level in a big concert hall like the one at the old World Trade Centre, or Kallang Theatre, or Singapore Conference Hall (now the home of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra). Back then, it was called the Singapore Electone Festival, and only the 4 or 5 musicians who made it to the final round at each level would get to play in it.

There were 3 levels to compete at... Junior, Intermediate and Senior levels. If you were younger than 12, you would be playing in the Junior Level. If you were in your teens, you would be playing at the Intermediate Level. I'm not sure how old you had to be to play at the Senior Level, but one of my teachers played at Senior Level and she was in her 20s at the time.

I hate to cut short my musical journey, but I have to head out to meet an old friend now... will continue this when I'm able to get online again... in the meantime, enjoy the "Windmills Of Your Mind"!

Just wrote this minutes ago... Van Ness Wu's new book is supposed to be released today, so this one is just for the Daydreamer himself......

DAYDREAMER

Big town boy livin' in a small town world
Big dreams kid, be careful, they might make you swirl
Big voice talkin' on a deadend telephone wire
People they all turn to you, but hey boy, you're on fire

So you dance, you draw, just to hide away
To say what you could not say
And you play with your toys
And tell your homeboys
"Hey guys, I just can't stay"

"There's a big blue sky for me to fly
To treasure and explore
And there's nothing here for me, my friends
You know that I want more."

Daydreamer, just keep on dreamin', fool
Daydreamer, some day you're gonna rule
You'll smack down all those naysayers
And you'll be playin' with 'em players
Ain't nothin' wrong or bad in gettin' high
'Cos you never really know, unless you try
Daydreamer, spread your wings, so you can fly

Fly so high
There ain't a limit to this sky
Only you can turn around, and head back down
But why should you, don't be a clown
Ain't no way dude, all this will make you frown
Just leave it all behind, and wear your crown.
If they don't love you here, why hang around?

When there's a big blue sky for you to fly
To treasure and explore
And there's nothing here for you, my friend
You know that you want more

So you dance, and you draw, just to hide away
Just to say what you could not say
And you play with your toys
And tell your homeboys
"Hey guys, I just can't stay."

Now I'm a big town boy livin' in a big bad world
Big dreams man, so what, just let 'em make you swirl
Big voice singin' out loud in a livewire concert show
Fans they shout and clap so loud, all this can only grow

Daydreamer, just keep on dreamin', fool
Daydreamer, you know that you can rule
You've smacked down all those naysayers
And you're havin' a ball with all of 'em players
Well, you know what, you know you're at this height
So Daydreamer, spread your wings and just take flight!