Lang Leav, Raw Emotions, True words...

I've never encountered such a writer as Lang Leav. Her words, although rather simple, seem to reflect all my raw inner thoughts so accurately. She is one who writes about love and relationships, most of , the time rather sad feelings, mirrors my current emotional state.

"I loved how his eyes danced merrily,
and the gentle way he spoke;
the way he filled my aimless days,
with bitterness and hope.

I loved him as I fell to sleep,
and each morning as I woke;
I loved him with all my wayward heart - until the day it broke"

I really loved "Talk again" as well.

Somehow, it is true that emotions bring out the best in our writings. When emotions flood in, the tears roll, words seem to flow more easily although your heart might be too distraught for your mind to pen the words systematically down. But recently, I've been penning down so much of my thoughts because it's pretty tiring to keep it all in my mind (and also because I'm less active now due to my injury).

It was pretty much "love at first sight" - although I'm a non-believer of that because it was always one-sided. This was the first time there was a mutual attraction and I do miss that attention. I've never met such a cute scientist, thought that it only exists in reel life.

I do miss seeing E, hearing about his passion and talking together about his dreams. It was not only about sports or work, which I do hear most of the time, it was both. I've never heard of a person so bold to pursue not normal goals, but great dreams, and actually meticulously having plans for them. I've never met someone who truly appreciates knowledge and conversations, being one of great knowledge and a good conversationalist himself, yet allows me to feel comfortable in silence. I'll never really look at someone else in the same light.

What happened to all the 보고 싶어요?

나는, 너무 보고 싶어요 ... :(

Music Stages

I realised I've been through different music stages of my life.
Upon reflecting, the choices are really varied and each seemed to bring out a different emotion, mood and interest in my life.

1. Oldies: Teresa Teng, Celine Dion & Mariah Carey - this was my dad's influence since he listens to them on a daily basis. My childhood was filled with fiddling with the CD player. And I remembered I watched plenty of Michael Jackson

2. English Pop Culture: In primary school, I don't know if it was the influence of my friends but I simply adored listening to 98.7FM & 91.3FM. I spent my savings getting LIME magazine, Smash Hits so that I could read about bands like S Club 7, Westlife, A1, singers like Gareth Gates, Shakira...etc. And yea, my brain cells were used to memorise lyrics!

3. Mando/Cantopop Tide: This was certainly because of my class and also a certain someone whose ringtone of Jay Chou's "Yuan You Hui" made me fall in love with Jay Chou (I'm still a big fan, but not as big as before). I stopped listening to English radio due to the influx of techno & overly "popped" songs which started turning thrashy. Bands like FIR, SHE, Fahrenheit dominated my cupboard poster space, some of which are still there! My Chinese improved tremendously because I started watching Taiwanese dramas and listening to YES933 :) Mandopop saw me through Secondary School and JC and I started listening to Cantopop too

4. KPOP Wave: Strange that I skipped the phase of JPOP but KPOP rocks and accompanied me through uni. It started with Wedding Dress by Taeyang..Don't ask me how, I don't actually remember but it is STILL my favourite KPOP song! Started watching Korean dramas and learnt Korean, though i totally sucked at the subject :/

5. English Country: Seems like my favourite Kpop artistes aren't actually making much songs and I'm facing a dearth of new Kpop songs to keep my interested. I'm turning to Country!The MV I posted here by Lucy Hale reflects why..It reminds me of travelling on road trips - the one to Adelaide and the later one to Dunedin actually made an impact in my life.. Here's to visiting the outbacks and farmlands again!

Childhood Memories brought to life again with Disney

I was surfing youtube when I came across this Disney songs medley cover by Alex G and Peter Hollens. I did not know who are they initially but I thought that it looked interesting and whoa, I was surprised at the quality of the video and song! It was amazing how they combined Circle of Life (Lion King), A Whole New World (Aladdin), Colours of the Wind (Pocahontas), Under the Sea (The Little Mermaid), Beauty and the Beast and dressed in costumes. :) Brought back memories of how I loved Disney movies, songs and stories when I was growing up and on hindsight, it had really impacted me deeply because even as I'm listening to this medley now, it brings goosebumps.

My favourite Disney princess used to be Pocahontas & Mulan, though they were not exactly princesses, I felt they exude confidence and a wild streak which I saw in myself! Despite the stories always brought in a Prince Charming, which always made the story end 'happily ever after', I could feel a connectivity with the characters. In fact, I once dressed up as Pocahontas for some school dress-up competition! hahas..

A profile of Disney princesses on Thought Catalog :)

This was one funny article about Disney Prince Charmings.

I do hope they would do another set of medley of Disney songs! :D

After listening to that song, I thought of trying to listen to Disney songs sung in other language, just for fun and curiosity and this is what I managed to find:

Reflections (Mulan) sang by Coco Lee in Mandarin, Coco Lee is actually one of my favourite Chinese singers. Originally sung by Lea Salonga/Christina Aguilera. Below shows the Korean version by Lee So-jeong & there's another one officially sung by Lena Park.

Next up - Colours of the Wind, originally sung by Vanessa Williams but here in Chinese by Coco Lee, Cantonese by Amanda Li and Korean by 신동희 (Shin Dong-hui). I thought it was interesting how the Chinese version changed the flute in the introduction to the dizi (Chinese flute), added a nice touch to it.

A whole new world originally by Peabo Bryson & Regina Belle. Here in Korean, Nam Gyeong-ju & Lee Jeong-hwa sings the song. However, this time I feel that the english one is still the best.

Do you find any contrasts to the songs of different languages?
Pretty cool stuff there, I did enjoy the songs :) Goes to show that Disney movies are pretty universal!

Family Staycation at Marina Bay Sands

I haven't blogged for a pretty long time..still lagging for my NZ trip update as well as several articles for RunSociety (something on Holiday Running, Power of the Mind, Woes of the Working People) gosh.. work must be really tiring me out :/

Anyways had a staycation (having a vacation in your home country) thanks to my dad's company family day - we got to stay at MBS, which I've never been before, except Ku De Ta on a free Wednesday night, despite it being opened eons ago and that at least half of Singapore has already been there, done that. Well, I must say that it was indeed still an eye-opener for me and unless it's  paid for, I will never spend to step foot into that needlessly extravagant place ( though I admit that its a revenue-generator for Singapore and provides countless of jobs).

WELCOME TO THE LIFE OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS.

Don't kill me but I'm sure many people aspire to be rich, me too, but for various reasons. And MBS is one of them - more of an analogy - to be able to flaunt their wealth materially for others to envy. I was glad to be able to sleep in a comforatbly huge hotel room with everything provided for, take a dip in the famous infinity pool 57 storeys atop MBS, eat an international buffet meal that costs $60/person but I won't pay that much to be able to enjoy it again. One day in my life is enough - why? I get bored and I was bored.

Please don't misunderstand me but my intention merely to say that in my opinion, I would only use money to enable me to see the world, experience different cultures and interesting moments and not on paying to sleep comfortably in a hotel, swimming in a pool that overlooks a skyline and taking photos to upload and rouse people's jealousy. Hahas.. which I also realised is what my sister, Rachel, loves to do. Each to her own, I guess...

I'm not too sure if my perception will change if I'm older but I'm inclined to believe that it is in my principles rather than an age thing. Previously, I was telling my colleagues about what we touched on in Sociology of Tourism that older people do tend to prefer a different type of tour/holiday compared to teenagers - bogged down by work on normal days and the hectic lifestyle of a working person, older people shift their preferences to a slow chill relaxing holiday tour to slow their pace of life down, as compared to teens, who prefer activities like backpacking to see the world.

Ok, enough mentioned about my critique of wealth and back to family day. Dad, Mum, Esther and I went to the 2 domes at the Gardens By the Bay. I've been to the Cloud Forest once with Leon but not the Flower Dome. The flowers were really pretty, reminded me of my travels overseas! Other than that highlight, the day was pretty dull and passed really quickly and I realised that I haven't actually done anything much the whole day except eat at RISE at MBS and walking around the gardens. hahahas..no more staycations for me!

Buffet Spread at RISE

The Sister and I :D

Look at the variety

Sushi round!

They even have cheese!

Ice cream selection I made!

Desserts!!

Awfully sinful!

Spoilt for choice!

Mommy!!

Doing the heart, acting cute

My sis is really cute

Toeshot 1

Attempt to take a poolshot

Artsy Me Part 2: The Museums

Since museum entries are free and I've got nothing much to do, I decided to explore the artsy side of me by visiting the Singapore Art Museum and the Asian Civilisation Museum - hoping to visit the National Museum soon too!

There were new exhibitions for both museums and I was really intrigued by the pieces. Was also happy that I took Reading Visual Images which allowed me to appreciate Buddhist, Islamic, Chinese and Western art pieces better, despite not scoring very well. These are life skills which can't exactly be cultivated outside school and special lessons.

At the ACM, there is a new cross-cultural exhibition which was really interesting - Devotion and Desire, Stupas-Buddhism art and Lacquer across Asia (similar to the exhibition in Wuhan where we saw lacquer pieces). Devotion and Desire is a themed rather than chronological/period exhibition which displays the interactions between people of different cultures shown in the artworks created.

Buddha at the centre of a crucifix?

Looks egyptian

At SAM, I looked through all the permanent exhibitions and also the new ones - Terms and Conditions, Art Garden 2013, President's Young Talents - which I thought were all very interesting! Terms and Conditions displays pieces from Arab artists about the Arab world - rather political.

The phrase “terms & conditions” often refers to the fixed set of guidelines at the basis of any official contract or agreement. While these extensive specifications are sometimes overlooked in everyday practice, their implementation can powerfully dictate the representation and interaction between people, entities and countries, as well as set parameters that appear rigid over time. Yet, taken apart, the words “terms” and “conditions” convey fluid and precarious concepts that can, in actuality, be continually negotiated and modified.

Many artists with roots in the Arab world work simultaneously across different geographic, physical and cultural contexts, making it difficult to define and constrain them to specific identities and representations. Their work is thus a result of a variety of techniques, which enables them to navigate and speak within multiple contexts.
Terms & Conditions presents an open-ended debate into how history and social realities are represented, with an emphasis on the Arab world. One of the first Southeast Asian surveys of contemporary art from this dynamic region, the exhibition showcases works by artists with roots in the Arab world. These artists work across different geographic and cultural contexts, and through a combination of techniques, to produce unique artworks that fluidly traverse and defy social identities and representations.

My favourite piece was the one about 3 women singing ballads about Saddam Hussein. There's something sinister about the song but the way it is sung is so normal that you'll never imagine the meaning behind the song. The art garden was pretty cute but meant for kids to have lotsa fun. It stretches your imagination and makes you feel like a kid once again.

Chinese blue-white porcelain with images of Iran

cute phrase

quirky room

enter the scary world of nightmares

Artsy Me: First Experience at the Esplanade Theatre - MACHINES

I won tickets to the opening night of a local theatre production called MACHINES (by Orangedot Production) so I invited Patrick along with me to my maiden trip to the Esplanade theatre! It was a rather eye-opening experience, I would say.

Machines, I was told, is a new production (directed by Jeremiah Choy) of an old play in 2003, which won the best script award. It stars 4 new actors and the duration was 1h 40min without any intermission. The genre is contemporary romance and the play was pretty abstract. Well, for me without any knowledge of theatre studies, it does seem quite interesting and also the storyline seems pretty understandable.

Basically the story is about 4 adults, 2 office ladies (Lina and Kim) and 2 repairmen (Rex and Heng). Their paths crossed when Rex and Heng appeared to repair Lina and Kim's washing machine. These 4 people have very different personalities, which is reflected in their actions and speech - Lina being very outgoing and gregarious, Kim being more subdued and shy with a mysterious past, Heng is a repairman who thinks about machines all the time and Rex is has slick charisma which is hiding something. What's the meaning of love and partnership? Which is pretty relevant to today despite the script being written 10 years ago. Is love fickle, transient and how can we achieve it? It seems that these 4 adults treat love as something sexual and transient, as can be seen from how quickly they switch partners.

After this production, I thought I appreciated theatre much better because it was really difficult to memorise a 1h 40min script at one go, and acting naturally with much emotions and also with much sexual content. Definitely the goodlooking cast worked wonders by making me glue my eyes to every movement and word they say :)

Do watch it if there's a 3rd reproduction ;)