:+: Fine after rain :+:

I've been so exhausted since Tue no thanks to my wishful thinking of wearing heels to school . Next time I know better , I should have stick to flats as it's not fun wearing heels & being on your feet the whole day . It's a killer I tell you !

I think I don't have an affinity when comes to wearing such shoes , not to mention I'm tall so I don't need to wear them to 'increase' my height & I was so dead beat when I came back from school on Tue , I almost wanted to throw the heels away by the time I practically crawled my back home .

At least I managed to get ample rest today , I think I can sleep in all day today .

Oh a good note , I finally managed to get Kingdom YAY . Somemore it's the 'limited edition' CD + 2 DVDs copy which Warner Music S'pore printed & distributed locally . I'm surprised cos I never expect the CD + 2 DVDs edition would be made into a local press as I thought I would be getting the CD + DVD instead but ah it's never too late . I only wish that they would have done that for Black Cherry as the cover's hot !

I think I'm gonna be sore for the next few days . I kinda went over the top yesterday at the gym when I went a bit too far with the weights . Now I'm feeling the effects of it . Maybe next time I should have stick with the dumb bells .

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Monday, February 25, 2008

Yesterday practically everything went wrong for me . I don't know what the heck happened & so much so that I wanted to skin a panda alive . Don't ask , it's just 1 of those devil thoughts that I have in my mind . Well 1 of those many devil thoughts .

If there's 1 magazine that I don't mind to buy every month despite its hefty price , it's Austraila's Girlfriend . I paid about S$7.50 for it & I like reading it ever since I stumbled upon it by chance a few years back & I personally feel it's every $ worth spent on it .

Girlfriend covers on relevant situations , fashion , entertainment & basically it's an all rounder & I respect that . Somemore they launched a Self Respect campaign 2 years ago to promote Self Respect & they deserve a big salute from me .

Wish I could say the same thing for the local magazines in S'pore . I remembered I used to buy 8 Days , Teens , Teenage by the bulk lot but since then I have stopped because I just don't like the way it's being written , not to mention the content inside the magazines does play a part in it .

Nowadays whenever a new Teens or Teenage has been released on the magazine shelves , I just skimmed though the pages & have a peak in it . If there's an artiste which they featured who I really like , I don't mind to buy it .

Now I'm considering not to renew my subscription to a local magazine which I shall not named to protect the wicked aka me . I used to like reading it ever since it started about 10 years ago or so but it was only until mid last year or so everything started to change slowly , bit by bit & I'm talking about the content of the magazine .

The latest March copy arrived in my doorstep over the weekend & I went to read it & found out I just cannot stand it anymore & it was basically the last straw for me because it's as good as reading porn without looking at porn-y pics . Like hello , do you think I want to know whether so & so is good in bed & etc ? That's so un-necessary to begin with *wearily* .

If I'm a horny bitch I don't mind to know but obviously since I'm not the case , I'm quite appealed over it . My subscription's gonna end probably around April or May but judging from this , I'm considering not to renew my subsciption anymore & understand that the style & the way the magazine's being written wasn't changed overnight , it's a cumulative thing going on here .

Maybe they should take a reality check from Girlfriend who's an all rounder to me but too bad they're gonna lose this loyal reader in due time . Just because the sex word got in the way , they created such a mess for themselves . If that's the case I rather get Maxim or FHM .

Or maybe next time I should go for 2nd alternative which's to read whatever entertainment news via the net or just buy Hot magazine to satisfy my dose on the entertainment scene without the sleezy factor .

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Sunday, February 24, 2008

Ooh I so don't mind getting a hand on these abs merch which I found via http://abs-shop.fanscope.com/ especially the college ring & the different version that was created specially for the INNOCENT SORROW PV .

The sweaters look cool too but I doubt I'm able to get my hands on such fantastic merch who were produced & directed by the frontman Takanori Nishikawa as I found out you only can buy them in Japan itself :( . Now why can't the merch be purchased outside of Japan ? Don't the boys know you got 1 big fan here who wants to get them ?

I downloaded Ken Hirai's performances of MUSICFAIR21 from Chris & I was kinda cringing & not to mention sniggering when he performed Kimi wa Su.te.ki (You're Won.der.ful) & especially the minor dance moves that he did . It was kinda wrong but it was not bad lah but his live performances of the other songs namely Hitomi wo Tojite (Close Your Eyes) , Cry & Smile !! and Canvas are flawless .

Come to think about it , I have never seen , not to mention hear a guy who sounds exactly the same both live & on CD . I have been doing my 'research' on Ken & watching some of his live performances especially his Ken's Bar 2007 Winter & it's like wow .

No backup singers , just him & a band , be it small or big backing him up musically & he just sit on a stool & just sing . Initally I thought he lip synches but judging from over 10-20 live performances that I watched on the net , it's not the case & 1 of the best performance I've seen from Ken was when he performed an capella version of White Christmas to kick start his Ken's Bar 2007 Winter . It was just him singing & at that time his backup band members were all backstage . He just came onstage alone & just sing the hell outta it & that was really mind blowing .

I kinda regret not listening to him eariler as Ken has been around for 13 years but I supposed it's never late than never .

I don't usually respect people who does cover songs but Ken's an exception . His cover songs are fantastic especially his take on The Eagles's Desperado , Norah Jones's Don't Know Why , Bette Midler's The Rose & etc

I have passed a list to my mum so that she can give it to her colleagues as they're heading to Japan next month for a business trip & I'm so asking them to get me a copy of fakin' pop .

So can't wait for fakin' pop now despite the album cover's left pretty much to be desired .

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Saturday, February 23, 2008

I wanted to blog about this yesterday but I totally forget about it . I realised only about this today . Yesterday it was my late friend Tracie's 2nd death anniversary . In fact I'm surprised that it has been 2 years since Tracie has passed on .

I missed talking to her on MSN & back then talking & idolising on Gareth Gates which was about 4-5 years back when I was a squat . Those were the days that I sorely missed . I knew her condition all along when I 1st know her which was an inborn lung defiency condition , it was the same condition which killed her best friend & that Tracie's time to go would come but it still came as a shock when I came back from school , logged onto Gareth's forums & found out from her mum Anita that she has left this world .

Everyone was devastated over her death but I guess the people who were hit the hardest were Anita & Tracie's husband Steven . I still remembered that faithful day 2years back when Anita dropped the bomb & it was horrible . But I'm happy that Tracie managed to fufil a wish of hers before she left everyone which was to meet Gareth in the flesh as that was something she wanted to do before she slipped away & I remembered reading the thread that she & Anita managed to finally meet Gareth in person .

I believe wherever she's now , Tracie finally's able to rest in peace without suffering any longer & that she's in heaven together with her best friend . Rest in peace my dear friend , thinking about you , always .

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Wednesday, February 20, 2008

1st of all before I go on with the rather depressing stuff , I want to say a big happy birthday to Dila who's the latest person to join me in the adulthood club aka the 21 club . Happy birthday girl & I know that you say that you want to be forever 19 so haha ok I let it have your way but in any case I hope you had a good bday celebration with your folks & friends today !

Now onto the depressing stuff . I've been sick all day AGAIN . I know what the hell's going on & it seems like I've been falling sick on a weekly basis . Last week , I was ill like crap for about 5 days so much so that I thought I was going to die & today no thanks to the fact that I got up at 3am of all timing , I got a cold due to a severe lack of sleep .

I don't know why suddenly my immune system has taken a turn for the worst . Maybe this means that I have to start sleeping early each day & not to mention take more vitamins too .

I'm having some considerations on whether I want to constantly update my music blog more often than this one because I have more satisfaction & not to mention things to talk about regarding music . I've been giving thoughts about this for a while now . I'm not sure if I want to make the switch to blog in my music blog full time as compared to now , dividing my time between these 2 blogs of mine but only time will tell .

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Monday, February 18, 2008

Oh yeah the wait's finally over or so . The local press of Kingdom's gonna be out somewhere this week & I can't wait to get my hands on the CD + DVD edition of Kingdom .

I'm still a bit sore that Warner's not gonna print local copies of the CD only edition of Kingdom as honestly outta the 3 Kingdom covers that I saw , the CD only edition's the best outta the whole lot imo . It's a very nice face shot of Koda .

For some reason/s , Koda's CD only & CD + 2 DVDs covers of her albums are always very nice with the CD only pic's the best outta the whole & the CD + 2 DVDs cover coming a close 2nd .

CD Only Edition :

CD + DVD Edition :

CD + 2 DVDs Edition :

See what I mean when I say that the CD only edition cover of Kingdom's the best outta the whole lot ? Too bad I also wouldn't be encountering the CD + 2 DVDs edition (I don't really like the pic as much as the CD + DVD) cos it's a limited edition in which the 2nd DVD contains footage from Koda's PREMIUM LIMITED LIVE IN HALL IN YOKOHAMA ARENA concert .

I'm not sure if I want to get the Japan imported CD only edition of Kingdom from HMV cos it's gonna set me for S$52.95 which's insane ! Somemore the local press of Kingdom's gonna come with a DVD containing all the PVs that are found in the CD tracklisting of the album so more or less , it's a no brainer situation despite the fact that I really like the CD only cover of Kingdom .

I had the same dilemna too when I saw Black Cherry . I did considered to buy the CD only edition of Black Cherry as the pic's so pretty despite the fact that I already have the local press CD + DVD edition of it already but I tell myself there's no way I want to pay S$72 for a Japan imported one . + it only came with 15 tracks , not 18 .

CD Only Edition :

CD + DVD Edition :

CD + 2 DVDs Edition :

In this case , all 3 covers of Black Cherry are hot in their own right but I have to say that the CD only edition & the CD + 2 DVDs edition are fantastic . Black Cherry to me was a solid great album . I was a bit disappointed with Kingdom though but in a way I kept my expectations of Kingdom as low as possible as I know in some ways or another , Kingdom's gonna be a tough album to match up to the same success that Black Cherry attained , be it music or success wise .

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Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Recently in the press , a whole string of letters were sent in by the public in which writers wrote & complained on the various inconsiderate manners displayed by S'poreans .

Some issues raised by writers were commuters pushing their way into the MRT without giving a chance for people who were inside the cabins to get out 1st beforehand , people not giving up seats in MRT/buses for others who needs it more badly than the able bodied , people rushing into elevators without giving priority to others who have kids or pushing trolleys into the lift & among other issues .

They probably should consider to add another issue into the ever growing list of inconsiderate manners displayed by S'poreans & non-alike : people who talked non-stop during lectures which's what exactly happened this morning when I went for my eBusiness lecture .

For me , I cannot stand people who talk during when a lecture's being conducted when they engage in conservations with their friends/people . It's very irritating & distracting especially since it's not just the lecturer you're competing with , noise wise .

Usually I cannot be bothered when something like this's going on in a lecture but today I was fuming sliently when there were people talking behind my back quite loudly when the lecture was being conducted . This morning was an exception because I have been sick since Mon & I was struggling to concentrate & to listen to the lecture but because of some fuck heads , my concentration was broken & it was frustating to say the least .

This happens at almost every lecture & it's very annoying . The distractions would come at all corners no matter which part of the room I chose to sit . Distractions are the worst if I chose to sit at the back of the room so all the time I sit pretty much way out in the front . My classmates like to sit in the middle/back in the room but I can't be bothered so I always tend to sit alone whenever lectures are conducted .

The purpose of a lecture's that a lecturer is there to deliver 2 to 3 hours worth of material & to explain the lecture of the day in depth & to probably try to grasp most of the day's material . I'm not a smart student to begin with so I always go & attend lectures despite the fact that attendance's optional .

What I cannot understand's that when people who're sitting all around me starts to talk which makes me wonder why do they bother to sit on their ass during when the lecture's conducted & just continue to talk like nobody's business . It's like they just come for the sake of coming & the worst thing's that once someone starts talking , it becomes contagious & it will spread to the rest which's basically , stupid shit .

The point's what's so important to talk & discuss about during a lecture ? you have the whole day to talk after the lecture's done isn't it ?

To me personally I cannot be bothered with such people but this morning I was very irritated with what happened during the lecture because I was sick . These group of people are taking the exam at the end of the day , I'm not the one taking the exam on their behalf so they have to bear the consequences eventually .

Too bad my lecturer didn't see what was going on because from what I understand from Hui Li , she said that if her Econs lecturer started to realise that the lecture hall's getting noiser by the second , her Econs lecturer would just walked outta the room , end of story & the lecture's done , just like that . Too bad such measures wouldn't be implemented in my case but I will gladly welcome such an idea .

To people who can't be bothered to go for lectures & that you want to fail your exams & you just come for the sake of coming , sit on your ass & plan to talk to other people instead of listening to the lecture , my suggestion's to stay at home & don't come to school , period .

Saves you the time of commuting from your house to school . I'm sure if you consider this move , you will spare me a lot of un-necessary noise pollution & not to mention to those people who're sincere to ace the exams at the end of the day .

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Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Wow I was surfing the net this morning before I went to school & I read that there're rumors that ayumi hamasaki might FINALLY be performing in S'pore as part of her Asian tour to mark the 10th anniversary of her music career !

Other countries that she's rumored to be touring include South Korea , Shanghai , Hong Kong & Taiwan .

If that's the case , I'm definitely hoping that this rumor will become a reality as I'm sure a lot of ayumi fans in S'pore have been waiting for this opportunity for like the longest time ever . She wanted to come to S'pore to perform last year as part of her Tour Of Secret show but obviously that didn't happen so this time round , I'm crossing fingers & toes that she will finally be performing in this tiny little island !

Honestly I don't care how much I will pay to see her perform & once the rumor/s have been confirmed that she will indeed be dropping by S'pore to perform , I might consider getting the most expensive tickets for the evening . I just hope it wouldn't be on par with Rain's S$888 pricing . That will be a bit too much but then again it's ayumi we're talking about in here !

With that said I better don't get my hopes too high at the moment cos from what I saw regarding the supposedly rumored tour dates , it's still a long way to go before things will be firmed up or not .

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Monday, February 11, 2008

More or less , house visiting during CNY has concluded so it's time for me to stop stuffing my face with all the new year goodies . There's still quite a lot that's sitting on the table so I'm trying my best not to eat them anymore . At most , my dad will more or less will finish the love letters on his own .

This year I personally think that the star of the new year goodies's a tie between homemade cashewnut cookies & homemade peanut cookies . My mum ordered the cashewnut cookies & they're so addictive . In fact the whole container containing the cookies have been polished up already !

I went to my maternal grandma's house on Fri & I saw the peanut cookies that were on the table & they're also extremely addictive but not as addictive as the cashewnut cookies . It's a pity that my mum didn't ordered them , she should have but oh well . This time round , I didn't ate any love letters , baw hwa in sight but I did ate the usual staple fare of new year goodies such as homemade open face pineapple tarts which my mum also ordered , prawn spring rolls .

I didn't know there's such a thing as an 'open face' pineapple tart & a 'closed' version of it . My dad likes those 'open face' pineapple tarts where the centre of the tart consists of pineapple filling & around the edges it's the pastry . Come to think about it , I preferred that actually !

I realised this year something's sorely absent which's egg rolls which I had last year ! I remembered I finished almost 1/2 the contents in the tin when I saw the egg rolls but too bad I didn't came across it this year . Maybe next year ?

At least when next year's chinese new year's knocking on my door , I know what to ask my mum to order .

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Friday, February 08, 2008

2nd day of cny flew by today within a blink of an eye . Yesterday I went to the temple & pray with my paternal relatives & today I went house visiting over at my maternal relatives's side .

I must say , usually for every cny , I always look forward to the 2nd day of cny as usually on the 1st day of cny , I don't go house visiting as compared to the 2nd day which's always more fun & of course the food is fab especially when I make a pit stop over at Aunt Peggy's place where she always makes her fantastic roti jala which's washed down with curry gravy together with mini potato patties .

Divine I say & that's 1 of the reasons why I always look forward to Chinese New Year which's the food . I know of some people who goes all pooh-ed pooh-ed during this time of the year where they count calories , nit pick on food & etc . It's so silly to me & it spoils the fun of it . I say eat 1st & work out later or else you're forever gonna have a love hate relationship with food .

Maybe because from young I never like people telling me what to eat , what not to eat that's why I develop such a mindset & it's quite frustating at times . It's ironic when you're being told by someone what to eat , what not to eat where the person's fat/pudgy in the 1st place which defeats the whole purpose of everything .

& because of this , I never like it when I see dieticians , nutrionists being interviewed , be it on the papers & on TV & giving their views on certain issues . In fact I had a horrible experience with 1 when I was 12 so there you go . Most of the time , I just take things with a pinch of salt cos personally to me , I don't heed what the say .

I probably can go on & on about this but I wouldn't since at this rate , I'm going to write outta point .

Luckily over the weekend , more or less I will be staying at home so this means that over the next few days , I'm going to get my butt kick at the gym .

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Thursday, February 07, 2008

So today's the 1st day of Chinese New Year & the year of the rat aka my mum's year . I waited like forever for Chinese New Year to come cos this's the only time where I let loose iterally since I don't celebrate Christmas .

I also realised that it has been 3 years since I started blogging which's really cool . I didn't know that I've lasted so long in blogging . There were times that I had serious cases of writer's block & there were other times where I had so many thoughts swimming inside my head . The wonders of writing in a blog isn't it ?

Anyway , back to the story . Today's the 1st day of CNY & last night & today I went back to my paternal grandparents's house for steamboat dinner for both days . For once I did not eat the steamboat dinner for both days . Not even this afternoon when I went to the temple cos I got practically sick of it , be it the food & the steamboat machine so I rebelled & just ate the tang hoon & the mee sua respectively .

I must confess when I was a kid , I never like eating tang hoon that was cooked by my dad's eldest brother nor the mee sua which the staff members of the temple cooks ie. when my family goes to the temple every year on the 1st day of cny to pray but since I'm older now , I learn to try & to eat them . I suppose it should be that way or else it's either I eat or I starve myself til the next meal which's not right .

So everyone was pretty surprised when I ate the tang hoon last night & eariler on today & I ate 2 bowls of it today washed down with sparkling wine .

I'm trying my best not to eat so much during cny but it's hard when people are pushing food towards your direction but I will work things out & only will pick & eat those items that you only get to have during cny . My mum ordered a container of homemade cashewnut cookies & it's seriously addictive . Everyone in the family already polished 1/2 of the contents , it's that good !

I wonder what will I get to see & eat tomorrow . Hopefully roti jala's on the menu as that's the 1 item I look forward to eat every cny during the 2nd day of the celebrations without fail .

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Sunday, February 03, 2008

I went to Peony Jade eariler on in the day to have reunion dinner with my maternal relatives . Wow what a great reunion dinner , not to mention the dishes that I had were divine .

I think the standout dish that I tried was the deep fried pork ribs with garlic . I was never a ribs person but until I tried the black pepper ribs at Cafe Cartel , my perception on ribs has changed since then . There was abalone on the menu yes but the ones that I had just now were different cos usually the ones that I tried are stewed in oyster sauce but the style that Peony Jade did was stewed & in a tom yam like sauce . It was quite spicy but refreshing .

Hui Li doesn't like abalone as she commented the texture's like rubber so I ate her share just now . Might as well , don't wanna waste any food .

I didn't ate the dessert that was served in which yam paste was served . My relatives & the rest of my family were lapping up like crazy . Erugh , I never like it since young . I'm quite westernised when comes to desserts . Give me ice cream , cakes , puddings anytime I say .

In general , the reunion dinner with my maternal relatives that I had eariler on at night was better than last year & to think when I was a kid , I don't like to eat Yu Sheng & I would only eat the crispy biscuits like stuff but just now I was lapping the Yu Sheng up . I even ate the raw salmon pieces too despite the fact that I don't like to eat raw fish .

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Saturday, February 02, 2008

Looks like I will be giving B-Quartet's album launch gig a miss later on tonight as I realised I'm just plain exhausted out . I almost got a hard time getting outta bed this morning as my muscles are all aching from head to toe .

I'm not sure what's going on . I've been suffering from heatwave for the past few days & these seem to take place in the afteroon which sucks . So I think I better take the day to recuperate . Somemore tomorrow I will be going for my reunion dinner with my maternal relatives at Clarke Quay .

I didn't know that there's a restaurant located in Clarke Quay & I guess there's more to life than just MOS , Kandi Bar , The Clinic & etc . Somemore it serves Szechuan/Cantonese cuisine . I'm not that big on Szechuan food cos my chilli tolerance's seriously low but I love Cantonese food ! I have a feeling tomorrow's reunion dinner's gonna be a good one !

Dan was making a joke on Thus when I spoke to him regarding steamboat dinner . He said that hopefully tomorrow night I wouldn't encounter any boiled food of the steamboat kind haha . Somemore I don't think that's gonna happen .

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Friday, February 01, 2008

I met up with Jiha just now in the afternoon after school . Has been a while since I last saw her so I thought what better way to catch up with her than over lunch .

It was good to see her for sure since I have not seen her for quite some time . Thanks Jiha for the card & the pressie , much appericated :)

But before I met up with her , I went to HMV Citylink Mall to check what's in stock . I was surprised to see HMV bundled up A BEST 2 -BLACK- & A BEST 2 -WHITE together & the A BEST 2 series was going for S$28.95 for a limited time only !

Man if I haven't bought my A BEST 2 series last year , I would have gotten the A BEST 2 set just now as the offer was seriously tempting . I mean S$28.95 for 2 CDs + 4 DVDs , it's a steal ! But I already got my copies already so I don't need to buy again .

I did checked on whether Kingdom's on the shelves . Yes but it's the Japanese import which's the CD only edition . I love the pic of CD only edition of Kingdom but there's no way I'm willing to pay S$52.95 for the disc !

At most I will wait for the local press of Kingdom to be distributed via Warner Music S'pore since the price will definitely be much much cheaper than S$52.95 . I have a feeling that Warner will be printing the CD + DVD edition of Kingdom & it's gonna be worth the price that I'm gonna pay since the DVD contains all the PVs that Koda made for the CD .

I think later on tonight , I better go to bed early . I have been sleeping late for the past 2 days & somemore I'm gonna have a long day tomorrow especially since I'm going to attend B-Quartet's album launch at night .

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