ChICAgoCAnadAboStonNYC - Part 1

we were caught off guard. at least i was.
shopping beyond budget,
eating over dietary needs,
sleeping less than desired,
breaking a bottle of fresh-from-da-vineyard-white-wine in the luggage,
spending too much time in the airport over flight delays,
freezing in the wind and rain with a buncha strangers waiting for a $15 chinatown cross-state bus,
snoozing in the kids' nursery room at narita airport during transit time,
travelling too far alone just to take a peek at the bloddy campus,
getting stalked by a humsup fat asian businessman,
being bitchy n cross at each other, n
making greater friendships along the way.

the 2 weeks passed in a whirlwind, n i was ready to come home after dat. too beat from my travels and too over-baggaged to lug even one more pair of shoes back.

Below are them fotos:

















at ah wan's sis's very chic aptm

facing Lake Michigan. Yes, it's so big it has it's own waves n beach *gasps*

aah.. bay windows.. dat extend from ceiling to ground.. me likies
enchanted forest
Ms Wiki in her Disney-manic moment
Land of the Apple.
*hiccups* with glee

street fashion
ah.. the lovely boot

is music a bad word? @%#%!

like f*** off or scr*w u, the word 'music' brings on bad vibes to pple, whenever it is used as a response to a career-related question.

Sure enough, given the teeny size of the music market in the country, the word doesn't look one bit promising in terms of putting bread on the table. A depth of knowledge in music, be it playing, arranging, producing, or writing, etc. seems entirely irrelevant and is often dismissed as frivolity.

Why so? When someone expresses a desire to pursue a career in music, it doesn't always imply that he/she wants to be a pop star. This point of view is currently reinforced to the public by the recent bulk of reality shows on singing competitions and talent searches.
However, there are other professions like producers, writers, arrangers, educators, performers, etc. all serving to develop the music community's expertise and contribute to the creation of better food for the soul, as I would refer to "the word".

Understandably, 'food for the soul' doesn't feed the body. N that is the fr**kin reason why I find myself in an unreconcilable situation, trying to balance amongst doing what's best for the soul, or the body, or the bunch of pple who matter.

Is music a bad word? To me, it's a pain in the arse.

the theme song for my wedding in future

Just watched 881 with the foggies that day. The above is one of the theme songs for the show. This might just be a mad coincidence but it seems like the shows i've been watching lately have all been making me cry. No I haven't been depressed lately. Maybe growing old makes you more tender in certain ways, just as much as it hardens you. OR, maybe i'm just a sucker for fagotty songs.
=D

Check out the other MVs in the official website. There r a few power ones that made me tear non-stop. Damn!

天冷就回来

Went to catch the musical today with huifang and her mom at the drama centre. The show clearly exceeded my expectations, where it succeeded in making me tear in the mere 20mins from the start of the show. Darnz.
Check out the website here. Make sure you watch the MV!

Seriously, I wasn't the only one trying to secretly wipe my tears away in the dark theatre. I swear i saw the auntie beside me wiping her face after one of the touching scenes! Btw, we were seated in the row right behind Mr Liang Wen Fu himself...haha! I wuddaf asked him to take a photo together, if he wasn't surrounded by a buncha pple the whole time.

The male lead, Ah Le, is played by George Chen, one of the judges from The Dance Floor. Never thought he could sing so well! Damn. I tot pple who danced well can't sing and vice versa. Not fair! N for someone whose portfolio of performances include several big broadway musicals like Miss Saigon and Chicago, his chinese still sounds very local and not too artificial!

The female lead, Rose, is played by Joanna Dong, someone whom i'd watch sing last time in school whenever the choir had a performance. I'm still mesmerised by her sweet voice whenever she opens her mouth.

The male sublead, Ah Qiang (he's gay, even in the show.. haha!), Sebastian Tan, sang the song Will You at this year's NDP. His voice sounds uncannily like Jimmy Ye's.

Besides the stellar cast, the main attraction of the musical was a compilation of Mr Liang Wen Fu's best works over the years, put together in a story that is told as if it was his own personal lifestory. The songs illustrated his life experience, giving the story much more credibility AND much more reason to cry and wail about. *starts melting*
Many of the songs he wrote are familiar favourites, sung by various singers, yet I never realised they were all written by the same hand. He's such a genius. I'm hooked onto LWF songs for at least the rest of this month.

For those who missed out on this jewel of contemporary chinese musicals, watch out for its return in 2009!

N she says,"天冷了就回来吧", as he leaves to pursue his dreams
**weepy**
**weepy**
**weepy**
.
.

Give birth from now till 31 Dec 2007!

I can't believe what I saw on the UOB privileges pamphlet for cardholders. This is what made me gawk for a while:

Up to 10% off published maternity packages
- 5% for first child born at Mt Alvernia Hospital
- 10% for subsequent children born at Mount Alvernia Hospital

Enjoy quality nursing care, double-boiled soup with confinement menu, delivery suite admission, pro-breast feeding environment, exclusive zodiac gold-plated coin, baby's personal bath tub to prevent cross infection, goodie back-pack and more.

*sniggles* Since when did hospitals start advertising for the childbirth business?
Sure I'd keep that in mind if I were preggers! For the double-boiled soup and pro-breast feeding environment. hurhur.

AB's coming back in Sept n we might be heading down to Bali or not at all, depending on how cash-rich we're feeling and how much precious time he wants to spend on his long-neglected frens. Oh cheap bali spa haven.. i wan u...

On a more exciting note, i'm going to Chicago with ms yeo n fren in october! Yar Hoo. Yes that's the way I show both excitement and apprehension at the same time. EXCITEMENT for the fact dat i'm flying to another continent on the other side of the globe, which looks extremely promising. APPREHENSION for the innate kiasu-sim in me that i won't be maximising my time and money from the trip. haha. But for now, the word is PSYCHED!

Been sleeping too late the past month. Bad bad bad. eyebags are puffing up and pimples are sprouting all over the face. Notch good. N the exercise routine has been non-existent of late. oh where do i find da time.. where oh where..

norahs is off to slumberland -..-

haf u heard the secret yet?

So i finally caught the secret with huifang today, after hearing extreme opinions about the movie by various peeps. It wasn't as touching as shine, or as moving as the pianist, but i'd give jay chou some credit for the story line he weaved out of the romanticised mind of a musician. Yes he qualifies as a musician to me amongst the others in the chinese pop music scene. For instance, click here for some *ahem* cringe-worthy performance.

Being jay chou, the movie done in a way dat's a tad bit melodramatic and the characters' dialogues are dry and almost uninteresting. N i can't help but agree with wat jon said about the movie being an extended jay chou mtv. Hurhur.. methinks he should stick to doing more mtvs for the moment.

But being jay chou fans, we watched the show for his piano-playing more than anything else. N it was impressive! If of course, there weren't any digital touch up or any post-editing done. The theme song might be a little cliche and almost imitating his other chart-topping songs, but wat the heck, jay chou does cliche the way we like it =)

n i haf yet to watch the movie @%#$!