Halloween in Hong Kong is not like halloween anywhere else.

When I first experienced it last year, I was absolutely overwhelmed.  The sheer magnitude of people wandering around the streets combined with the fact that the majority of ppl do not wear costumes, is a perfect example of how the cultural worlds of the east and west collide around drunken holidays.  People come from all over new territories to stare and gawk at pepole as if to remind themselves of why gwai los will always be gwai los.  And the gwai los love it.

For some reason I thought I could avoid the treacherous crowds of LKF if I went to AnD's halloween party.  I was mistaken.  I did not have to get herded through the police blockades, but I did have to endure a swarm of people trying to squeeze through a tight entry way to the Zuma elevator.  I felt like a turd in constipation.  (Sorry for the graphic imagery, but at least we can all relate right?) 

Anyway - at long last I was "relieved" into the elevator queue.  Upon entering into the lfit with my handful of balloons, I was asked "Why does a boyscout need to have balloons?"  Costume fail.  I was supposed to be the do-good asian boyscout named Russell from the movie "Up".  I thought this would be well known - but apparently only to a few people. 

Fast forward to inside Zuma, I helped some people take a picture and one of the people said, "Hey, aren't you wearing the Hong Kong scout girl  badges?"  Costume fail #2.  oh well.

The evening did get better though as more people began to realize who I was.  I think the balloons grabbed a lot of attention but it was just straightup embarassing if people didn't know who I was.  =P 

Here's a picture from a random friend of a friend who happened to take a picture with me (thank you for knowing who i was!)




Oh well, I guess next year I'll have to be something more masculine and fierce like this guy:

Hey everyone,

I've finally booked my own show!!!  I'm really excited to be debuting a lot of my new songs and performing solo for the first time since I've gotten here.  Its been a crazy journey getting to this point, so I really hope you guys can make it out!! 

One bit I left out of the poster is the musical genre - people have told me that my style is "acoustic soul", but my selection of music varies from soul to r&b to alternative to pop...  The only thing I can say is that it's all got a singer/song-writer twist to it and I've put a lot of myself (my soul) into each song.  I hope it resonates with you!

The date and details are on the poster, but here they are again for your reference:

Show Title: Your Acoustic Soul
Date: Wednesday, 21 Oct 2009 @ 9pm
Place:  Backstage LIVE, 1/F, 52-54 Wellington street, Central, Hong Kong
Price: 100 HKD (incl. one drink!!)

Helloooo---

Whew!  I just got back from out of town.  Sorry for the short notice but -- I'll be singing at not one but TWO gigs this week.  Both are at backstage again!  Familiar territory is good.  =)  

Please come out on wednesday night and / or friday night!    Here are the details as per www.backstagelive.hk :

Address:  1/F, Somptueux Central, 52-54 Wellington St, Central, Hong Kong
(Across the street from the LKF Tsui Wah.  Lift lobby is next to Pacific Coffee)

(1) Singing with CANDY LO! (8/19)

If you like musicals, you should really come to this one!  Great songs with lots of heart.

[Date]: 19 August (Wed) - tomorrow!!!
[Time]: 8pm
[Admission]: $150 (include one standard drink)
[Food]: Happy Hour from 6-8pm (All drinks $30, Snacks 1/2 off)
Dinner served from 7-10pm, Casual snacks served from 6pm till late
*a percentage of the proceeds will be donated to 'Operation Long Hair for Siberia'

(2) Singing with MARSHA YUAN! (8/21)

I'll be singing some really fun songs with Marsha and also debuting one of my own songs!

[Date]: 21 August 2009 (Fri)
[Time]: 10:00pm
[Genre]: Jazz
[Admission]: $180 (include one standard drink)
[Food]: Happy Hour from 6-8pm (All drinks $30, Snacks 1/2 off)
Dinner and snacks served from 7pm-10:00pm
(All A La Carte Food Items 50% OFF, Monthly Special/Set Dinner Menu 30% Off)

Who knows what tomorrow will bring? 

I don't actually know who reads this - might just be the few of you who decided to add me randomly aftering seeing me perform, or maybe you just stumbled on this page b/c I look like your cousin.  In either case, I'm not entirely sure who my audience is but please know this is written for you!

When I first had the fortune of joining AliveNotDead as an artist, I was excited about meeting new people, writing new songs, and even perhaps performing at my own gigs in Hong Kong.  I wanted to wait until I had formally tracked, recorded, and mastered my own songs before I released/shared them publicly.  That's why I told several of you I was waiting to finish them up before putting them on AnD.  That was my rough and rudimentary plan to springboard into music.

About a month ago I went back to LA to do some recording and try to wrap up some songs I had written.  My recording sessions were planned for my second week but somehow I got really sick during the first week and was not even able to get out of bed.  Needless to say, this ruined my plans to record and when I tried, my voice could not keep up at all.  I left the states with no new songs and nearly nothing new recorded.

So I guess that's all to say - I'm sorry the songs aren't done yet.  I'm hoping it's b/c good things can take time, and sometimes they take even longer than what the artist anticipates. 

I've decided that I've just got to finish up these songs and share them through whatever medium I have available to me.  I don't think I can wait for the recording studios.

I arrived at HKG with no guitar, no girlfriend and no cantonese.  Even though I had just left my family in Los Angeles, I felt like I was ready to tackle whatever the world was going to give me here in Hong Kong.  I had done the responsible thing and had a job lined up, but I had no idea what it was going to be like working and living here. 

Fast forward just half a year and it's already been an incredibly rough but thrilling ride to say the least.  What I thought was my future has become an uncertainty, and what I thought was a dream has become a possibility.

I've discovered a new life in learning to be content and a new love for things I didn't know I already had... and it's only just started!  It's my hope to share this "newness" with as many people as possible and I hope you'll tag along as I take the next step. 

Thanks for listening.  =)