mezmerize n hypnotize....

2011-09-22T20:05:00.001+08:00

I have moved.

http://syamroslan.blogspot.com/

Cheers!

2011-01-08T02:17:00.002+08:00

Muhammad Hasfi Bin Buhary, you can simply call him Fi, or to some of us he's known as Bu. One of my best friends since secondary school. Ex-classmate, ex-bandmate and ex-Sea Sports teammate. This is the guy that inspired me to pick up the guitar in secondary school, and he's still one of my idols. I have been playing for around 7 years now, and I still can't match up to his skills and expertise that he already had since those days.

But away from music, he is one of the most awesome person I know. Loyal, trustworthy, humble, and pure respect for everyone around him. In short, there's no way to hate him since he possess so many positive values.

I don't know if you will come across this post, but if you do, here it goes.

I know we can't go back to those days when we're still close, when life is so carefree without a worry and all we wanna be are rock stars and play at Baybeats. I know the past few years have been rough on you, it's unfortunate you had to go through so much at an age when we're supposed to be out, enjoying life, enjoying the last few years of being a teenager. But always remember you have 10 other bros who still care, still worry, and still curious about your well-being. It hurts to know that you're suffering, and the fact that I can't do anything about it, it hurts a lot.

Us lads, we're still tight, still meeting up every week and every time we ask the same thing, 'Fi amcm ah? Fi mane ah? Fi ok tak?' Don't ever think that you're forgotten. When you're better and you're ready, we will welcome you back with open arms, trust me. We're still the same people you've known since the old days, only our outer appearance have changed. Also don't think that you can only come to us when things are better, we will always be there for your bad days as well, you can count on that. Be blessed that you have a lovely family that cares for you, especially your mom who's an amazing person.

The people around you will always hope and pray for your well-being man. As for now, we'll just keep waiting, patiently, however long it takes, we'll wait. :)

2010-12-30T17:36:00.001+08:00

I don't know how many times have I mentioned this, but Twitter and Facebook really, REALLY kills the need to blog, post, update etc. But I guess when I have the time, and the mood like now, I'll do occasional updates here. :)

Ok, so 2010's coming to an end, and I must say it's been a very 'safe' year for me personally. But there are a couple of major milestones I've reached. Here we go.

1. GRADUATION.

After 3 years of education in Temasek Polytechnic's IIT School, I finally graduated and I'm now a diploma holder in Internet & Multimedia Development. Some interesting facts regarding this chapter of my life is that I almost didn't get to pursue this course due to my partial color blindness. However, after meeting with the course director, they decided to accept me and the rest is history. Another thing that people might not know is that I almost quit the course halfway after being disillusioned and also due to a lack of interest, expertise and passion for digital media. But after a private talk with Ms Nat, I decided not to and I never regretted it since. I put my head down, worked hard, and finally graduated. Even if my GPA's were never gonna be enough to enter a local university, I still felt accomplished and I have serious intent to pursue a degree in a private institution after I complete my National Service.

2. THE MISFIT RAMONES.

As some of you might know already, I have been fronting a local punk band called The Misfit Ramones. We played our first show in March 09 and have been going strong since. 2009 was a fruitful and eventful year for us, playing around 5 shows, released our first compilation EP with other great acts, had an EP launch, played with the mighty Brader Bo of Ria's Vicious Volume and Chugga Ritual fame etc.

2010 however, just takes things to a whole different level. Here are some of the achievements we had.

- Radio airplay
(Kerenah Raya and Part-Time Soldier was played on Ria 89.7fm's Vicious Volume)

- Gibson support deal
(A Gibson Singapore representative approached us online and declared interest in supporting us with their gears)

- First overseas show
(We landed a spot to play at JB, Malaysia's Embrace Hall)

Others include being no 1 on Soundclick.com Punk Charts, being mentioned on Today and Straits Times, memorable show at Scape where we shared the stage with accomplished acts like Baybeats alumni, Cockpit and Thambi K Seaow, who were named as 2009's Singaporeans Who Mattered Most along with Electrico, Joanne Peh, Jamie Yeo, Fann Wong, Sezairi etc. Sharing the stage with these acts is already a dream come true for me. But for everything to happen in such a short amount time of a year, still feels surreal to me.

I come from a very humble music background, only being part of a couple of obscure sec school bands and now to be known as a member of The Misfit Ramones, simply said, it feels good. It was important for me to move on from being that guy who plays guitar in sec sch to a more respectable level. My friends who have been with me from the start knows that, I live and breathe playing music. It's probably the only reason for me to go 4 years being single and still be okay with it. Haha. With that being said, we are here to stay so look out for 2011. Someday, Insyallah, we will target KL, Jakarta and Manila to bring our special brand of punk over. :D

3. THE LADS.

The most important fellas thats been with me for the best part of 8 years. And I'm proud to say, we're still going strong, although some have fell off the wagon, which is a shame really. But I am sure if we were to meet and hang like the old times, there won't be any awkwardness. Because that's the beauty of our bond, we forgive and forget and don't hold grudges easily. We had 5 of us going to KL, and that's one of the highlights of the year for me definitely. 3 of us went to Tristan Park for dirt biking, and even though I came back battered and bruised, it was very worth it and an amazing experience. Here's to more overseas trips in 2011! Although that would be kinda hard since everyone is serving NS except for Wan. Haha. And this brings us to the next topic...

4. NS - CIVIL DEFENCE.

I finally received the dreaded letter to be enlisted into the SCDF, and entered on the 2nd of November. Amazing experience during BRT (Basic Rescue Training) period. I unfortunately was given a PES status of C2L9 due to my night blindness, and as a result I only had to serve 5 weeks of modified BRT (no physical training among others) with 42 other 'Ayam Saket (Sickly Chicken)'. A shame really, because I feel like I'm missing out on a lot valuable lessons. But the people I met inside were awesome. What I love about being a recruit, is that you really feel a sense of bond and belonging with everyone. You eat together, sleep together, go through shit together, get mad at each other, then be happy and celebrate together. A whirlwind of emotions which I probably will never be able to experience.

After passing out of BRT, I was selected to joined the Clerk Course to be a clerk (there isn't much vocations available if you're in PES C2/C9) and after passing out of that, I was posted to SSU Office in CDA (Civil Defence Academy) at Jalan Bahar. Posting? Commander's Secretary. I also work as an attendance and roll call clerk and possibly in the future, be the PO (Purchasing Order) guy. Not gonna complain and sulk, will just take whatever they throw at me and do the best I can.

5. K-WAVE.

This may come as a surprise, but 2010 is the year I got swept by the K-Wave and never recovered. It all started with We Got Married early this year, and I started watching other variety shows like Family Outing and Invincible Youth and I was hooked, bad. It got so bad that I had to give up shows that I used to follow like Chuck just so I could accommodate more Korean variety shows or K-dramas into my schedule. And it was all that I watch. Korean dramas, Korean variety shows, Korean music programs, Korean movies. I thought it would just be a phase but it's not. It's like when one show ended, another popped up and it's an endless cycle.

Korean entertainment is amazing, but its an acquired taste. If you don't like it, however hard you try to like it, you still won't enjoy it. What I personally love about K-Variety is that, everyone is the same. They look the same, they speak the same language, so if Yoo Jae Suk or Kang Ho Dong, two of the most popular MCs right now, says something funny, everyone gets it. Everyone laughs, everyone can relate to it, and it's beautiful to watch such a unified culture.

Some K-Wave recommendations:

K-Pop - Big Bang, 2PM, Super Junior, SHINee, Girl's Generation, After School, Kara, Wonder Girls.
K-Drama - Kim Tak Gu, Personal Taste, My Girlfriend is a Gumiho, Pasta, Oh! My Lady, Dream, God of Study, Full House
K-Variety - Family Outing, Invincible Youth, Happy Together, Oh! My School, Strong Heart, We Got Married, We Are Dating.
K-Movie - Vengeance Trilogy, Brotherhood, Sex is Zero, My Tutor Friend, My Sassy Girl, Windstruck, Daisy, Silmido

So here you go, my 2010 in review. Thanks for reading. Hope 2010's been amazing for everyone and if its not, don't worry, come 2011, forget the bad moments and start afresh. Plus, I've always believe that hardships are essential to make us stronger and better prepared for what's to come next. So yeah, cheers everyone, and a Happy New Year! :D

2010-08-24T12:52:00.013+08:00

If Laurent Blanc can axed his entire French World Cup squad to begin a new chapter after their shambolic and farcical World Cup campaign, why not England? Here's my opinion of what their lineup should be at their next international fixture.

GK: Joe Hart (Man City) - Age: 23

DR: Micah Richards (Man City) - Age: 22
DC: Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City) - Age: 22
DC: Phil Jones (Blackburn Rovers) - Age: 18
DL: Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal) - Age: 20

MR: Adam Johnson (Man City) - Age: 23
MC: Jack Wilshere (Arsenal) - Age: 18
MC: Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham Hotspur) - Age: 23
ML: Theo Walcott (Arsenal) - Age: 21

FC: Andy Carroll (Newcastle United) - Age: 21
FC: Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea) - Age: 20

Youthful, exuberant, lively, entertaining and most importantly, hungry. That's what the England team lacks, hunger. Then again, what do I know right? All I've done is played Football Manager. Maybe I can set myself apart from most counterparts considering I started way earlier when the game was called Championship Manager in 98 (Hahaha). But we did see the German kids light up the stage at the recent World Cup, demolishing teams such as England and Argentina with their brand of lightning quick counter-attacking football. There's a saying 'Don't fix something that's not broken' but surely something needs to be done with this English team now that the much hyped 'Golden Generation' is well and truly over?

2010-06-07T17:25:00.004+08:00

Top 10 Most Epic Songs Ever

Epic. Alot of things can be considered epic. The nerds came up with Epic Fail when someone 'fails' miserably, or when we see an awesome live performance on youtube, we go 'EPIC!'. This could be due to their fans singing along in unison which create this special atmosphere or just the band going crazy on stage.

But when I think of epic songs, I think of the songs taking me on a journey. When you listen in the bus, you start imagining the band in your head, with you in the crowd. And when they reach that climax part of the song, you can close your eyes, and smile to yourself. That makes a song epic to me. These songs are also timeless, which means in 5 or 10 years time when you listen to it, it doesn't go out of style. These songs have taken me on a beautiful ride everytime I listen to them.

Epic doesn't restrict to just a particular genre for me, say Post-Rock. It doesn't have to be anthemic and atmospheric to be considered epic, as long as the sound touches somewhere inside you, that's all that matters. Which is why I try to come up with a list as diverse as possible. To come up with only 10 is crazy as there's alot of songs that are special to me, but I love reading and making lists anyways, here you go. My top 10 most epic songs ever.

10. Rise Against - State of the Union (from Siren Song of Counter Culture)

Siren Song of Counter Culture will always be one of my favourite albums of all time because it is one of the first albums I can listen to its entirety, without skipping a track. How many people can say genuinely say they love every single track on an album these days. State of the Union is the opening track, and my, what an opener it is. It is such a short, powerful, in your face song with honest anti-bush lyrics and killer riffs that will leave you breathless at the end of the track by the sheer intensity and brutality of the song. It's angsty, short and sweet, yet so clean and precise in every department unlike your typical punk song. Perfect combination.

9. Finch - What it is to Burn (from What it is to Burn)

What it is to Burn is one of those tracks where when the song reaches its climax, everything else doesn't matter and you get absorbed so much into the song you can even forget your surroundings and the people around you for a few seconds. I'm talking about that moment when Nate Barcalow screams 'SHUT UP!' in the song. I get chills every single time I hear that scream. Brilliant track.

8. Bloc Party - This Modern Love (from Silent Alarm)

An absolutely timeless romantic track from UK's post-punk darlings, Bloc Party. I love everything about this song, how it started with the guitar, soft high hat playing from Matt Tong, who really shines here in my opinion, Kele's hauntingly soothing vocals, and how Russell added the delightful touches with his lead playing. But most impressive about this track is its lyrics. Masterpiece really. Lines like 'You told me you wanted to eat up my sadness' and 'Do you wanna come over and kill some time, throw your arms around me' are seriously brilliant lines. Beauty redefined.

7. 65daysofstatic - Retreat! Retreat! (from The Fall of Math)

The only instrumental post-rock track in the list, and one of my favorite songs of the genre. The best thing about this track is that it stirs up your emotion without any lyrics at all. The instrumentals really hit the spot in creating the uplifting atmosphere and there's so much hope in the riff. Post-rock usually follow the soft loud soft loud formula (Explosions In The Sky, Mogwai) but I like that this is loud from start till the end. Mind-blowing.

6. Oasis - Champagne Supernova (from What's The Story Morning Glory?)

Running at over 7 minutes, this is arguably Oasis's greatest song in my opinion along with the underrated Don't Go Away. Noel Gallagher showcases possibly his best guitar work in his career with a brilliant solo hook to go along with it. What a shame that he left the band already, but that's beside the point. There's really nothing much to say about this track. It's a beautiful song from start to end. 'Where were you while we were getting high?' Classic.

5. Envy - A Far-Off Reason (from Compiled Fragments 1997-2003)

You may not understand a single word of Envy's songs since they're in Japanese, but you can easily relate to the music. Tetsuya is one of the best screamers I've heard and in this track, you can really hear his pain and sorrow despite the language barrier. Screaming with beautiful post-rock background music? Envy does it best. Love the intensity and emotion of the song. Heart wrenching stuff.

4. Stone Sour - Zzyzx Rd (from Come What(ever) May)

Corey Taylor in Slipknot is amazing, but Corey Taylor in Stone Sour is a whole new beast. Everything about this song is perfect. Beautiful piano playing, amazing vocals, but the highlight would be the ending solo which goes for around 1 min and 20 sec. I love it when guitar solos are not mindless shredding or 'Look, I can play this at 1000bpm, can you?'. It's stupid and it's not music. In my opinion, Zzyzx Rd's guitar solo is one of the greatest, but underrated solos ever written. It seamlessly connects with the rest of the instruments going on in that climatic part of the song, and boy, does it really hit the spot. I don't think they can write another song that can top this.

3. Metallica - One (from ...And Justice for All)

One of the best songs by legends Metallica and my personal favorite. To be honest, I was first introduced to this song while watching MTV Icon - Metallica in 03, and this song left such a huge impression on me that I decided to check out the original and it changed my life forever. 'One' is special to me because this is the song that made me want to listen to Metallica and Metal music as a whole. Everything about this song is perfect. The storytelling, melody, the progression and of course, THAT SOLO by Kirk, which have been named 7th in Guitar World's '100 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time'. Immense.

2. Coldplay - Fix You (from X & Y)

This song is absolutely magical. Uplifting and positive, this song has the power to make a bad day seemed decent after a listen. Beautiful vocals by Chris Martin, brilliant lyrics and words can't describe how much I love the guitar riff. Hell, it's such a simple riff, yet it fits the mood like a glove. And when all the members sang together from 'Tears streamed, down your face...', that's the best part of the the song and I feel like everything's gonna be alright for 4.55 min the song is playing. Never a huge Coldplay fan, but this is an ode to how much I love this song that I put it as high as no 2. My go-to song on a bad day.

1. Weezer - Only in Dreams (from Blue Album)

Surprisingly, I didn't have that much of a trouble picking out my no 1. The reason is that from the first time I've listened to this song till now, I am still in awe. The reaction after listening to this song till now is still the same. 'I wish I could write a song like this'. Even though this song is over 7 minutes long, it's not your typical progressive or experimental song. What I love about the song how simplistic it is that I can't emphasise further how simple yet powerful this song is. Rivers Cuomo genius ability is on showcase here on the outro solo. Again, the solo is so simple, yet so melodic that it's orgasmic. There are occasions after the solo ended, my eyes are still closed and I slightly smiled, a satisfied customer. This song is exactly what I was talking about at the start about a song, taking you on a journey. The slow start, the build up, the climax and the ending, leaving you wanting for more. And that's how Only in Dreams ended up being my number 1 most EPIC song ever.

2010-06-07T00:33:00.000+08:00

Here we go. The last installment of the KL Trip with the Lads.

PART 3: SUNDAY

1. Times Square - We were supposed to take our bus back to Singapore from Times Square at 7.30pm, and just to be safe, we left the hotel at 2pm, and went straight there. Some of the things we noticed is that Chinese taxi drivers are more honest over there, charging us the exact fare on the meter, a measly total of RM11, compared to the Malay driver who drove a longer route, charged us an extra RM5 from the start due to an additional passengers (despite it being a 5 seater cab in the first place) and finally charging an extra RM4 for service charge upon reaching destination. It's not about the fare, after all, what's an additional RM9 right? But it's more about the respect and dignity. But I'm just glad we didn't run into anything that could put us in danger there.

Times Square, just a typical shopping mall i guess. Only bigger than the usual malls and there's a mini theme park in it, with a roller coaster. Pretty cool.

2. The birth of Wan Ong - While waiting for our bus to depart, since we have a few hours to go, we decided to go bowling at the alley in the mall. For those who don't know, Wan used to be in MJC's Bowling team. And to no surprise, he pretty much raped us in the game. There's no question that he would be in first place, so the rest of us treated the 2nd place as a first place as well. He even got a Turkey (3 strikes in succession) with ease and ended the game like with 230 pts, while the rest of us were just aiming to complete the game going over the 100 pts. I nicknamed him Wan Ong, after Singapore's Remy Ong of course.

3. Kenny Rogers - This was our last meal in KL before. Sticking to the theme of eating something that couldn't be eaten in Singapore due to the absence of the Halal cert. Good stuff.

4. RESHUFFLE! - While on our bus back from KL to Singapore, the bus we're on played some movies for all to watch. One of the movies was a Japanese show, called Kaiji - The Ultimate Gambler. Not sure about the rest of the passengers, but the 5 of us were following the movie closely, amusing ourselves when one of the characters jumped on the table and screamed 'RRRRRRESHUFFLEEEEEEE!' with the thick Asian accent. At the climax of the movie, the most important part of the show, the DVD got faulty and the show stopped. Fucking hell, we even told the driver to try play that part again, but he insisted that there's nothing that could be done. Yas ended up downloading the movie just to watch the final scene that we missed. Hahaha.

So that marks the end of part 3 of our adventure in KL. Next destination, who knows? Realistic targets for now would be Jakarta, BKK etc etc. But if we wanna be ambitious, there's only 3 place I wanna go and mark my words, I will make my way there sometime in the future if God willing.

Melbourne, London and Seoul. :)

Cheers!

2010-05-25T17:37:00.001+08:00

I know I promised to update part 2 soon, but the past week had been busy with mini revamps around the house. Imagine reaching home from KL, only to be greeted by 3 tins of Nippon paint in the kitchen. Ok, painting is pretty much straightforward, but the troublesome part is moving all the furnitures out, cleaning all the dust collected at the back and corners of the room, screwing out all the nails on the wall, with my room filled with Ikea racks and shelves and guitar hangers. Needless to say, I took all day, from 9.30am - 7pm to finished up revamping my room last Wednesday. But I must say, I'm liking the color on the wall of my room. Peppermint green, feels refreshing. Other days were spent painting Mom's room and reshuffling of furnitures in the living room.

Ok, my K-Pop playlist on iTunes is played, and I'm ready to go. (Big Bang's Haru Haru and After School's Because of You slowly climbing up my Top 25 most played along with Brand New, Ace Enders, Sam Sparro, Julian Casablancas etc).

PART 2: SATURDAY

1. Top of the World - This is the day where we felt absolute power, confidence and flawlessness if there's such a word. How we walk around, feeling better than everyone else. How everyone looked and stared at us everywhere we go. Even though the locals were dressed to impress (seriously wtf is up with the shirt, tie and leather jacket in such blazing weather!) and we're at our slackest best (most in tshirts, bermudas and slippers), I dunno, we still feel like we're better than everyone else. Mat was the most confident, carrying around a can of coke into the train and LRT. Also, there were female Adidas fragrance promoters spraying their new products at us, and Yas actually raised his armpits for them to spray it on with a voguelicious pose. That's how confident we are the whole day. Hahaha.

2. Guy going to town on GF's ass - At Pavilion in Bukit Bintang, we sat at Coffee Bean. So we all have been noticing this particular lady, more notably her ass. It's like round and perfectly shaped, on a white mini-skirt, simply irresistable. Ok that's where the description ends. The most amusing thing was that her BF was beside her, and while they were going up the escalator, he put his hands on her hips, and we're like, 'CONFIRM NAK PEGANG PANTAT'. And guess what, he did. It's not how he just touched her ass, it's how he grasp, grope, even inserting his fingers slightly to her hole. In public. No complains from us though! Keep fighting the good fight old man. :)

3. Waitress at Coffee Bean - Ohh, and there's this hot waitress at that Coffee Bean we sat. Yes, they actually have waiters and waitresses, giving you the menu and bringing the drinks to your table. But there's a service charge included of course. All good things comes with a price I guess. She's wearing a white long sleeve shirt, so her black bra is pretty visible. Boys, will be boys. Hahaha.

4. Doppelgangers! - While we are there, we saw a lot of doppelgangers! Hilarious stuff. Like in the LRT, we saw a girl who looks like Sakina. Again, with our newfound confidence, Wan said loudly, 'Korang bebual pasal sape? Pompan blakang aku per?' And of course, she looked damn paiseh. Hahaha. Acting like freaking matreps in a foreign city. We are seriously asking for a beating. Then, in the same LRT, we saw someone like Naqiah, who is pretty infamous in our gang for reasons that won't be revealed. Lastly, while watching Gol & Gincu in our hotel, we saw a character who looked like our junior, Faris Zaki, who's probably famous in Facebook for being a fan of a million profiles (it's 'Like' now). Hahaha.

The funniest thing is that, we realise at the end all this people have little to zero significance to us. Hahahaha.

5. London Reflexology - While we're at Bukit Bintang, a couple of us, especially Mat, wanted to go for a massage. Since Zai had been to a massage parlour there, he led us to a place called London Reflexology. It was the best RM40 I have ever spent. Me, Wan and Zai had a foot massage, while Yas and Mat had a neck and back massage. It was really good and my feet felt a little lighter after that, I didn't mind it was an apek that's massaging for me. Apparently the experience wasn't too good for Yas since he complained the whole time after that how much his body hurts. It was funny seeing him whining about the pain. But I can somewhat understand because we all can hear how his back was getting a beatdown from the masseuse. It was seriously really loud, compared to what Mat got. LOL.

6. Petaling Street - What is KL without visiting the famous Petaling Street? Putting your bargaining skills to test, see who can get their fake/authentic lookalike item at the lowest possible price. Everyone pretty much got what they wanted so we left when we're done since it's not the the most convenient place to walk around at. People always say that when you have bargained, and got the price you both have agreed, DO NOT WALK OFF, or else they will get nasty. And Mat got a small taste of that, with the seller throwing all kinds of profanities, repeatedly saying 'LU KENCING AH!'. Hahaha. Luckily we left unharmed.

7. Pizza Hut and Dunkin Donuts for supper - We were already tired from walking around the whole day and since Star Movies is showing P.S I Love You (ooh yea Hilary Swank), we decided to take away food from Pizza Hut and Dunkin Donuts from KLCC and bring back to the hotel for supper. Before that, we had hotplate for dinner there at the foodcourt above. Good stuff. Considering that we all watched the movie in its entirety, with no one falling asleep, I guess it's not that bad. But the admiration for Gerard Butler and other Irish guy gets a little embarassing at times. Hahaha. The Dunkin Donuts were a waste though. We bought a dozen and more than half were thrown away the next day since we were all too full.

8. Happenings at KLCC - While there, trying to get our food and drinks to bring back to the hotel, a couple of unforgettable incidents. For instance, at Dunkin, we were supposed to choose 12 donuts, the annoying thing is everytime someone wants to choose theirs, someone else would shout 'DA 12! DA 12!'. Fucking annoying hahaha. We spent a long time deciding on the donuts because of that.

Then there's a lady at a booth who was squatting and her longkang were for all to see. Then comes 4 Chinese girls, all in short dresses. Seriously, they were all so hot that me and Zai didn't know who to pick as the hottest.

While walking, we realised that Wan and Mat were left behind. Turns out they were semi-flirting with a girl from a bra shop, exchanging smiles. Hahahaha. I mean seriously, these are stuff we wouldn't do in Singapore, further emphasising the newfound confidence I was talking about earlier.

9. Burp Wars - The day before, we had room wars. The next day, we had the burp wars. Hahaha. I didn't remember who started it, but remember Yas and Mat exchanging burps to each other while watching P.S I Love You. Burp, then blow onto the other person's face. And stinking up the whole living room in the process. The childish things we still do. Haha.

That's it for Day 2. This is one heck of a long post, so don't hold your breath for a Day 3 post tomorrow. Will update as soon as I can find time. Cheers!

2010-05-18T00:36:00.004+08:00

Twitter and Facebook kills the need to blog. But this, this I gotta update.

Went to KL with some of the lads, Yas, Wan, Zai and Mat last Friday and safely got back home at 2am last night. Being best of friends for over 8 years now, we have always envisioned having a holiday or a short getaway together outside of Singapore for the longest time, but never materialised due to various reasons, main one being the lack of funds and time since we're still students and all. But now that some of us have gotten the dreaded enlistment letter, we had the mindset of 'Die die must plan!'. And thus started our detailed planning during weekly meetups at Starbucks or Coffee Bean at Tampines. Credits to Yas for booking the hotel, the coach and drawing up a mini itinerary. Hahaha.

Will be blogging our trip in 3 parts, each part for each day we were there and this will be the first part. Will only be focusing on the memorable moments there.

PART 1: FRIDAY

1. A&W and Subway - Our main purpose visiting KL is to eat the food that are either unavailable or not Halal at a way more affordable price. A&W was heavenly, the root beer float, the curly fries, the ice cream waffle, CLASSIC. And it certainly helped that we were starving since we were on a bus ride for 5 hours with a pitstop for a measley 10 mins for toilet break. And Subway was, i have no words to describe for it. 4 of us got the footlong sized sandwich and needless to say, we went to town with the damn sandwich.

2. Cikgu Balqis - There were limited channels on the TV in the hotel, although all Malaysian channels are available so we made do with whatever that's available. Bought food and drinks from nearby Suria KLCC, which is just a 10 min walk btw, and just chilled in the hotel at night. Being the guys that we are, we would stop channel surfing and watch a show if there's a hot girl in it. And we were blessed with a character called Cikgu Balqis from a show I don't a remember the title from TV2. We even took pictures from the TV screen. Hahaha.

Yes, we ate snacks and smoke like nobody's business while watching a Malay show. LOL.

3. Zai's Sea Monkeys - Ok, some description first of the hotel room we got. It was a suite, with a living room, a kitchen and 2 bedrooms with bathrooms in each room. For only 5 people, it does feel quite luxurious with all the space. Although there's 2 bathrooms, one of the rooms is not equipped with the water spray thats usually beside the toilet bowl, so to do our big business, we just settled for the other room. But that's not the end of the problem. The toilet bowl's flushing system were pretty 'old-school' in a sense that after you flush, it will take a while to fill up the bowl with new water. So Zai had to go right after Wan and as a result, his shit was floating in the bowl. And thats when Zai said his 'Sea Monkeys' were floating around. NASTY.

4. Room Wars - Funniest incident for me personally. There were 2 rooms, so me and Mat shared a room, while the other 3 occupy the other. Thus the room wars starts. It was SO HARD to sleep since it's the first day and we're still excited, but we just tried anyways since we planned to wake up early for breakfast later. Me and Mat decided to just lay on the bed and talk between ourselves to sleep. And we finally managed to get our eyelids heavy, until we heard laughter from Zai in the other room saying 'HAHAHA WAN GOSOK GIGI SIA!'. And me and Mat just instantly burst into laughter. Hahaha, Wan is so annoyingly proper, brushing his teeth before sleeping. And me and Mat went over to their room since we couldn't sleep after hearing the commotion in the other room and annoy the hell out of them. Then we went back, tried to get some sleep, and they decided to ambush us with Wan using the torchlight and saying 'Kamu telah ditangkap basah!' or some shit like that. And we replied with our ambush on them, with Mat saying 'APE INI? SEKS RAMBANG!' and calling Wan their 'Bapak Ayam'. It was so fucking hilarious and super annoying cause the ambush happens when each of us is just about to go to sleep. And the room wars continued with the final one being us coming over to their room with our camera phones and saying 'Kami dari Syarikat Rakaman Jizzhut (a porn site btw), ingin melakukan talent scouting di sini.' But they were too tired to entertain us so we just had a few more laughs and went back to our room and finally managed to get some sleep.

5. Mat's 'Ikan Tamban' - Arguably the most infamous and unforgettable incident of the day. This happened during the Room Wars. I was annoyed with the other room's ambushes that I took my pillows and went over to their room and decided to stay and sleep there to stop them coming over to our room. Mat then entered the room after I did, smiling, putting his hands on his waist. We were all wondering why is he doing that pose and then it sank in. HE HAD HIS FUCKING COCK OUT OF HIS BOXERS HAHAHAHA. We were all just went WTF and screaming and laughing and crying all at the same time. It was Mat's attempt for the other room to stop their ambushes on us. Then he lay on their bed, face front without keeping his dick. But the real joke was how tiny his penis is and he had the nerve to call it his 'Anaconda'. Instead we named it 'Ikan Tamban', a small fish bigger than ikan bilis, but smaller than ikan sela kuning. Hahahaha. Talk about rock out with your cocks out!

That's all for part 1. Part 2 will be up by tomorrow. :)

2010-02-28T20:25:00.001+08:00

I have tried my best not to get involved in this story and just concentrate on being a football fan and support my favorite club. But not anymore. Here's my piece.

From the start of the scandal till now, I have stuck by Terry and I will always be in Team Terry. He has shed blood, sweat and tears for the my beloved team and that's all that matters to me.

Blood, we have seen from time to time how he put his body on the line. Heck, he even put his head on the line and got kicked in the face by Abou Diaby in the League Cup final. Sweat, because nobody can doubt his commitment on the pitch from start to finish. Tears, cause when he missed that final spotkick which would have won us our first Champions League trophy in the history of the club, he was crying uncontrollably and pretty much inconsolable. What more can you ask from a captain and a true blue?

To those who thinks I'm disillusioned by the love of my club, let me ask. If Rooney or Fabregas or Gerrard is involved in this scandal instead of Terry, do you turn your back on them if you're a fan of their respective clubs? Yes, he was stupid, but majority of the footballers are stupid. And screwing with your friend's girlfriend, I condemn it totally but I think he has paid his dues already. His marriage is on the rocks, and he already lost his England captaincy to of all people, Rio Ferdinand, who he himself is no saint for missing a drug test and banned for 8 months.

I am a football and a sports fan, first and foremost. And usually I don't give a shit about tabloids like this, just like how I didn't care about Tiger Woods and Kobe Bryant's affairs. But I guess I'm just bothered at how much hate there is towards Terry and Chelsea at the moment. To people who are disgusted at Chelsea fans booing Bridge, seriously what do you expect? It's at Stamford fucking Bridge, anyone with a Chelsea shirt booing Terry will probably get beaten up.

By refusing the England call up, Bridge is just adding fuel to the fire in this whole saga, and by not shaking Terry's hand last night, further intensify the situation. It's selfish not to accept the England call up, to me at least. Especially at this crucial World Cup, where your whole nation are counting on you.

Wait, is Bridge even with Vanessa when Terry had the affair?

2010-02-28T19:43:00.000+08:00

Last night's gig at Cineleisure was our first gig since August and we had a blast. Special shoutout to those who came. Some of the lads who have always been there like Bhir, Khy, Wan, Fi and Mat. Not forgetting the guys of Planar Trajectory and the huge entourage they brought along. Like seriously, I was surprised at the amount of people with them. Haha. To the guy who requested a song called 'Beautiful Sunday' while we were preparing, really sorry we couldn't make your wish come true. But we'll check out the song and hopefully we can play it next time. It was the first time we played to a crowd that big and I must admit I was a nervous wreck at the start. But eventually we had fun and everything else just naturally falls in place. Thanks guys! We really appreciate the support

Bad Romance was a success i guess. Poker Face next? Hahaha.

2010-02-19T01:33:00.000+08:00

The spirit of blogging has haunted me all so suddenly so here i am, updating.

Had my Major Project final presentation just now and just as expected, we're not done with it. We're told that our work still need work to be done, which we agree, and if all goes well, next week will be the FINAL presentation of the damn game in front of our clients, the Junyuan Primary teachers.

Even though this past 3 months of MP have been treated like the holidays since we only go to school twice a week, and spent the rest of the week doing our own stuff, it is tiring mentally in a sense that, we couldn't really enjoy the holidays when the submission and presentation date is still lingering in our heads. All i can say to fellow juniors out there, if you're reading this, DO NOT, and i really mean, DO NOT FORGET ALL YOUR PAST WORKS. For our case, me and JY were really, in his words, handicapped that despite being 3D students, we had to do a project which is pretty much DM based, a flash game with coding and programming which we absolutely detest and the main reason why we chose to go to 3D option in the first place. I wish i was a little more in touch with my INMM and MMP2 skills where we did a lot of coding. So stuffs like this added further to the burden of the group. But I really really think we did a good job despite the constraints. Can't wait to get all of this over and done with for real.

This is pretty amusing but I had this mini 'debate' on Facebook of all places, about Lady Gaga a while back with Bhir. It's amusing because if this was 3 years ago, I'll be anti-Gaga like Bhir myself, but now, I think she's kinda cool. But the stubborn kid in me is still apparent as I tried to change people's opinion by empowering my opinion on them. I seriously think she's something special. Her combination of shock image and mainstream radio hit singles is something new and i appreciate it when someone is daring enough to do something no one has seen before. Come on, its like Marilyn Manson singing Kylie Minogue songs. How is that not unique? I believe the media have every right to hype her up.

I seem to appreciate a lot of things these days. I appreciate Lady Gaga, I appreciate the Korean wave, I'm not ashamed to say I watch 'girly' shows like Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill. And this is coming from a guy whos in a Punk band playing Misfits and Ramones covers. I dunno, I think I've come to a stage of my life where its tiring to be an idealist already. Too old for that stuff. Heh.

Ohh, blogging to The Get Up Kids on iTunes is the shit. Should do this more often. Cheers.

2009-12-31T01:16:00.000+08:00

Ok, 2009 is coming to an end and it's just plain wrong not to review what I've done this year. So here we go.

So i read my post dated Jan 1, 2009, and i wrote a couple of new year's resolution then.

1. Get a new band - Got one, and pretty much content with it.

2. Be a better son - I dunno about that, but I tried my best that I could. Only my parents and God can judge this one.

3. Be a better Muslim - Again, only God can judge this one. Currently trying my best not to miss praying times everyday. Well, everybody gotta start somewhere right?

4. Be a better friend - I hope I pass this test? I dunno honestly. Haha.

5. Get my driving license - EPIC FAIL. Hahaha. I tried to go for my driving license, failed my BTT, passed on my second try. And I failed my FTT. Mind you, these are only theory tests. I didn't even get to drive a car around a circuit for practical lessons. And I decided to take a break, indefinitely, for now at least. I dunno, I guess I wasn't too thrilled or passionate about getting the license. And with my constant paranoia of my colour and night blindness.

However, I'm currently pursuing my 2B bike license because a couple of friends have mentioned that it's more practical for people my age to get a bike license since it's more affordable to get a bike and to maintain it. At the same time, get used to the roads in Singapore before driving when you are an adult and can afford your own car and not use your parent's. Yes, I'm aware of the dangers so pray for my safety alright? Haha.

6. Cut down spending on unnessasary items - Well, since this year I never had a major shortage of money due to all year round wedding services work with the family and then there's also the 4 mth internship pay, I've been able to afford the things that I want without really troubling my parents.

7. Catching up with friends - It's true what they say, the older you get, the smaller your social circle will be. But the friends that I'm still in touch with, I always put them first on the priority list. Like the lads, these are the people I consider my brothers that I never had. Imagine all the way from secondary sch, to now where we are going to graduate from poly in a couple of months time, and we're still as close as ever. Still meeting up almost every week. That gotta count for something right? So cheers to all 10 of you, as we close yet another year maintaining this close bond we have.

Also this year I became a total TV series nutcase. An addict really. I even convinced my mom to take out the cable from my room as I have no use for it anymore other than football. I spent my free time watching the shows I dwlded, putting them on my hard disk, plugging it in to my PS3 and watch them on my 32 inch Panasonic Viera. Ohh and trust me, it's heavenly. Also this year, I finally had a proper aircon installed in my room so I can safely declare Syam's room = THE PERFECT ROOM. Perfect place to do marathons at night. Current love? Veronica Mars. Starting on season 3 soon. :)

Other highlights of the year? The Cambodia trip. Really an eye opener. For someone who never been on a plane, this was a huge deal for me but I just contain my excitement. And what a beatiful place it is. Especially the Angkor Wat and the Royal Palace. Kingdom of Wonder? Damn right it is. An experience I will never forget.

Also the Kaiser Chiefs and Hujan concerts. Really enjoyed them. Speaking of concerts, band influx or what next year! From the top of my head, these bands will heading to our shores.

The Killers, Muse, Rise Against, Saosin, Kings of Convenience, Paramore, 65daysofstatic, Boys Like Girls, Lamb of God etc etc etc.

Got my Kings of Convenience tix already. HEHEHE. 65dos? We'll see. Reflecting back on the past year, I guess I had a pretty safe year to say the least. I didn't encounter alot of disappointments, but then again, I couldn't say it was a wild ride either. But all in all, I think it's a good year. I'm content.

Here's to a good year ahead! NS SIOL. *GASPS*

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-11-15T17:45:00.002+08:00

This past Tues, I went to work, a one-off part time job to design an ad for Hanman products in Motoring magazine's next issue instead of going to school. Unluckily, my MP supervisor called me up while I was at work, and stupidly, I admitted I was at work when I could say things like I'm outside doing research or something.

As a result, I got blasted at meeting the next day by my supervisor and there were 3 things he said/did that left me so insulted and humiliated.

1. 'I understand some of you are needy and needed bursary or subsidy and needed to work. But I hate it if you work to buy a $1000 handphone.'

2. 'I earn $5000-$7000 a month. I dont let my children work because I can give them money. Maybe your parents cannot afford to give you, I don't know.'

3. 'My watch is only $36. I don't like branded stuff. You want, I can give you this watch.' (takes out his watch and handed it to me)

I have never been insulted like that in my whole 19 years of living. Anger, rage and pure hatred for this man filled inside of me. But all I did was take it all in and keep quiet while he insulted me and my family.

How dare he. How dare he judge me.

How dare he said I work to buy a $1000 handphone when I am happy and contented with my beaten and bruised Nokia 5610 which I am using for almost 2 years now.

How dare he said my parents couldn't afford to give me money when I have never complained with the amount they give me every week and never ask for more even though it's not alot considering how hard they work to put me through poly and my sister through university.

How dare he insulted my parents when they still get me luxury items like a PS3 and a new laptop so I will be happy. How dare he insulted my parents when they are the best parents anyone could ever wished for. The most lovely and genuine people ever.

How dare he took out his cheap watch and gave it to me like I'm such a poor kid who needed charity.

How dare he. How dare he insulted me and my family right in front of my friends.

The worst part about this is that, I have to work closely with this man in the next couple of months as he will play a huge part whether I pass my final module and get my diploma next year.

If you were in my position, what would you do? Go.

2009-10-31T20:41:00.000+08:00

FNITN.

Bugis to Leisure Park to Changi to Hougang to Jalan Kayu to Fiq's place. Continue the fun from 3am - 7am with freaking Winning Eleven 7 and PES 5 on his PS2. Fiq easily get affected by my mind games and ended up losing his first few matches. Funny stuff. Zai and Fiq completed the Contra game in less than 45 mins with me being the 'captain', and we tried Def Jam Fight for NY, and ended up settling on PES 5 again in the end.

Ok London Derby starting soon and Chelsea against Bolton after that game.

You don't need booze to have fun do you? :)

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-25T14:27:00.003+08:00

TV SERIES CRAZE

5. Leverage (Current season - 2)

Halfway through its second season, Leverage comprise of a team of 5 individuals, each with their own unique skills. A grifter, a thief, a hacker, a hitter and a mastermind. Think of the Robin Hood story, where he steals from the rich to give back to the poor, Leverage follows the same concept, except that they are equipped with the latest technology, sometimes even ridiculously attained.

The ensemble cast in this show is one of the best I have seen put together as they seamlessly compliment each other. After a while, the show gets kinda predictable, but the con acts and screw jobs they do are still stunning, still smart and still makes you want to know whats next for the team. This show is ranked at no. 5 for me as it is currently on a break until Jan 2010.

If you need other reasons to watch this show, Parker's and Hardison's antics are worth the time.

4. Big Bang Theory (Current season - 3)

This show is something special. I have watched alot of shows that features geeks and nerds but none even comes close to what the cast of Leonard, Sheldon, Howard and Koothrappali can come up with.

The things that comes out of their mouth and make you go 'WHAAAAT?' as every single thing can be linked to theories and what scientific explaination I have no knowledge of. But that is part of their appeal, and what makes this show unique. If everything that Sheldon says is scripted, then give Jim Parsons the Emmy right now because I can't think of anyone else who can say what he says.

Storyline is pretty much straightforward, 2 geeks with high intellect and zero social skills, meet with the girl next door Penny who is pretty much the opposite of them. And the comedic reliefs comes when they are together. Funny stuff.

3. Gossip Girl (Current season - 3)

I have always thought Gossip Girl of a girly show as the title suggests, and that kinda deterred me from wanting to watch it. But after recommendation from a couple of friends, and the fact it is created by Josh Schwartz, creator of The OC and Chuck, two of my favorite shows, I started watching it.

Initially, the similarities with The OC were there for all to see. Most notable were the two main characters, tall, hot, model-looking Serena van der Woodsen, and her cute best friend, Blair Waldorf (Marissa Cooper and Summer Roberts anyone?) the hot but domineering mom, Lily van der Woodsen (Julie Cooper no?) the cool dad Rufus Humpfrey (ahhh Sandy Cohen) and the fact that it is set in an environment of rich and privileged families and private schools, it does sounds like The OC version 2.

But thats where the similarities end. What makes Gossip Girl so interesting is the ever changing plots and twists. Always surprising, always unpredictable. And the ridiculously pretty cast that they have, surely must be a plus point for fans eh?

2. Glee (Current season - 1)

My new guilty pleasure. Fans of HSM, move on already and jump on the Glee bandwagon. This talented cast of singers and dancers come together to create this wonderful tv series. I love everything about this show. The intricate choreography, the music which combines the old and the new, the lovable Emma Pillsbury, Sue Sylvester's antics, the realistic depiction in a sense that they don't just start singing and dancing out of a sudden cue HSM, but only during practice, shows or at the right place.

One of the best new TV shows right now. And again, Emma Pillsbury. :)

1. How I Met Your Mother (Current season - 5)

If you have never heard of this show before, you should be very ashamed of yourself. For our era and generation, we have a show to call our own like how ten years ago, they call Friends. I rank this show so highly and would consider it a cult classic already. The weird thing about the show is that it seems to get better with time and I believe this season is their best season yet with 5 impressive episodes so far. I will cry when the day of the final episode arrive but for now, there's no stopping them.

There's really nothing not to like. And how they could reuse old storylines and plots and carry them over to other seasons and link them so perfectly is beyond me. When you follow them from the first season, watching them go through important events like the Marshall and Lily's wedding, Stella leaving Ted out on the altar, even slapsgiving, you will grow attached to it. It's like you are growing up together with them. Barney Stinson may be a fan favourite, but Marshall Eriksen is my personal favourite. Everything that he says or do is pure gold.

If you haven't watched this before, shame on you!

2009-10-21T12:59:00.001+08:00

Ok this post is 5 days late, but I finally have ended my 4 month internship at Hanman International. It's probably one of the best experience I will take out of this 3 year poly experience, together with my 8 day trip to Cambodia.

I don't know about you guys, but poly life haven't been fulfilling for me. Outside of school, yeah definitely I have friends to hang out, and hell yeah, we party hard outside. But I can't say the same about friends in school. The petty things that I had to deal with the culture in school, like getting pissed over geeky kids hogging the labs for their DOTA and L4D, or thinking about what to wear everyday so people won't talk.

With Despots and Misfit Ramones, I had plenty of gigs outside to have fun and express myself, but I didn't have a single opportunity to showcase it in school. I still haven't had a gf in 3 years, I had to deal with snobby coursemates and bias lecturers. So tell me what's so wonderful about poly life when every week, I look forward to Friday because that is the only thing that is keeping me from going insane? I'm happy for those who managed to find good friends, maybe even best friends in poly but all I'm looking forward to now, is the day I end my MP and the day when I wear the graduation gown, to tell me that these 3 years in poly is only a stepping stone for bigger and better things to follow in the future. Good thing about it is I only have a few months to go compared to those who are just starting, and feels the same way as me.

Back to my attachment experience, I had done alot of productive work. And work that I can show for. The sort of belief and recognition they give to me, I will miss that feeling. I feed on that. I feed on the things that make me feel good cause face it, we all wanna feel good about ourselves. Honestly speaking, I have never felt more confident about myself until I started working there. So a big thank you to the people in Hanman International who managed to light a fire in me that was lost a long time ago. The fire which is learning, which motivates me and the fire which burns that make me work my very best to hear words like 'Good job' or 'Nicely done' come out from them.

Okay, ranting over. Now I shall start blogging as per normal.

2009-10-12T17:46:00.001+08:00

I really need to start updating eh?

2009-09-13T21:27:00.008+08:00

Justin will be serving his National Service starting from tomorrow. All the best in Tekong bro! As a result, Misfit Ramones will be extending their hiatus for a while more from performing until Justin completes his basic training. For now, Mizar and I plans to play OASIS for jamming sessions and looking around for hot female bassists or sessionists. Skill and profiency is secondary, can be developed. Looks more important. HAHA.

Also, all the best to everyone who will be starting or already started their respective internships and attachments. Things will be different now, but it's ok. I guess that's life, like it or not, things will change for the better or worse. And sorry to everyone I haven't seen for awhile. It's hard enough as it is with work taking up 5 or 6 days a week. And then there's the occasional jamming sessions with the band, and family time is really important to me as well. If I could cut myself up and separate myself to different groups of people, I would. But even with the advanced technology we have now, that is still not possible to do.

But on the plus side, I'm enjoying my work, and I'm already going to the 11th week of the 16-week long internship. Even had a job offer as a designer, only for Alex to reconsider since I haven't serve NS. Fasting been great. I even manage to meet up with Nadia last week which totally made my week. Only God knows how hard it is for us to contact, let alone meet. My results sucks dick big time though. 2 D's and 1 D+ but how blessed am I in this fasting month to be awarded with the Lee Foundation Study Award again. I promised my mom I will give half of the $1000 from the award to her if I get it.

It's been a good month, this Ramadhan. Embrace it guys. :)

2009-09-03T20:40:00.000+08:00

Syam: HAHAHAHA. WIN AH KAU BOB. WIN
Bhir: Winona Ryder eh?
Syam: Winston reds
Bhir: Windows XP
Syam: Winning eleven
Bhir: Win Diesel
Syam: Winnie Jones
Bhir: Wineger
Syam: Chicken WIN. Right, right.
Bhir: Win Semod
Syam: Win of change. *whistles*
Bhir: ashWIN
Syam: We win we win rock you
Bhir: Chef win
Syam: Ridwin Idris
Bhir: Lil win
Syam: Win rooney
Bhir: Win bridge
Syam: Cup winners cup
Bhir: Win brady
Syam: Winner menthol
Bhir: Win smith
Syam: Win ferrel
Bhir: Winniam hung
Syam: Wingardium leviosa!
Bhir: Rupert gwin
Syam: Gwin stefani
Bhir: Win tree hill
Syam: Win republic
Bhir: WIN TANA MERA
Syam: BWIN
Bhir: Win dengan mambang kan tak jauh
Syam: Hahahaha. KAU MENANG AH.
Bhir: Hahahaha...tak2. We both WIN...haha. Selamat berbuke.

WIN SAK THIS WHOLE SHIT.

2009-08-31T12:13:00.004+08:00

FINALLY GOT MY ACOUSTIC ELECTRIC. And a beautiful one at that. A second-hand Takamine ED-10C Dragon Series. Retails at $450 at Davis, got it from a nice chap at only $200 including a padded bag, GHS Fast Fret, guitar strap and a 9V battery.

And I seriously have to give him some for taking extremely good care of the guitar. Looks and feels brand new. Definitely happy with this buy. Now that I have cross this off my list, maybe I can look at some Teles, G-400s or Dots. :)

2009-08-11T00:05:00.003+08:00

I guess the main reason I am enjoying attachment so much, is that I feel so goddamn appreciated there. I finally feel like, I'm useful after all in this field. School used to be a nightmare. Judgmental classmates, bias lecturers. Nothing that I do seem to be enough and the way some lecturers treat the 'better' students makes me sick to my stomach.

Those days are over. Simply said, screw everyone who have doubted me before. I don't give a shit anymore. Given a choice, I would rather do my MP in the company than to return back to school. Can't wait to graduate and get the fuck out of the damn school.

2009-08-10T23:55:00.002+08:00

Great Teacher Onizuka

Ouran High School Host Club

2 of the best animes I have seen so far. So good that I am not ashamed to tell everyone I watch these things. :)

2009-07-19T01:17:00.006+08:00

Finally an update. Here's whats up.

1. Internship

Ok firstly the reason I haven't been updating is because I have started my internship since July 6 at Hanman International, which is at IMM Jurong East. Working hours is 10am-7pm, and so by the time I reach home, updating would be the last thing on my mind. And I had to work on the weekends of my first week, even on Sunday which means I have been working 12 days straight from 6-17 July due to the carnival at Expo on the July 12. It really is no joke and yesterday was a much, much needed break from working.

But I must say internship is not all bad. Had to design 2 banners for the carnival and me and Soon Chang worked together to come up with these 2.

(Big Banner)

(Soon Chang posing with the small banner)

The company was happy with it and thats all I can ask for. 2 weeks down! 14 weeks to go!

2. Post-MJ

After his death, there's been an influx of people listening to MJ again. Why is that so? Why do people only started to care when the person is gone? A little too late isn't it? I for one will not be jumping into the bandwagon and start listening again to Billie Jean, Beat It and Thriller. Not because it's cool to be different, but because I have never been a huge fan of MJ and I don't see the point in me trying to be one just to pay respects to the man.

PS: I'm not a MJ hater. In fact, I have a copy of his 'Bad' album. :) RIP MJ.

3. 21 Guns (Green Day) - Whiniest Song of the Year.

When I first heard this song, I tried to tell myself, 'This is not Green Day'. But it is. American Idiot may be a smashing mainstream success, and people usually associate mainstream to sellouts, but at least their songs in that album are not terrible you see, just wayyy too overplayed. Case in point 'American Idiot', 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams'.

But 21 Guns take it to a whole new level of whiny. The way Billie Joe sings the chorus is just so hard to listen to. If you ever wanna irritate your friends or sound really whiny for whatever reason, just sing the chorus to 21 Guns and there you will have it. I don't expect them to go back to their Dookie or Warning days, but come on guys!

4. Crazy Crazy Summer Transfers

Everyday without fail at work I would visit Soccernet.com or Goal.com to check out the latest transfer news. It's been a crazy summer dominated by Real Madrid and Manchester City. Money talks in football, and this summer break emphasise that phrase to the fullest extent. Real Madrid just got 3 of the hottest properties in world football, Cristiano Ronaldo (above), Kaka, Karim Benzema and a young solid centreback in Raul Albiol.

Manchester City on the other hand had taken the Premiership by storm by getting majority of the other clubs important player's (Aston Villa's Gareth Barry, Blackburn's Roque Santa Cruz, Man Utd's Carlos Tevez) with Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor to follow suit. Not to forget Owen's shock move to Man Utd. The new BPL season promises to be an exciting and interesting one for sure. Can't wait.

5. Guitar Hero World Tour

Sorry guys it had taken me this long to get this. Better late than never. Fucking hell $275 for the full band set. But it was all worth it. And yes you are allowed to envy me cause at the moment, I think I have the PERFECT ROOM. Ok I don't have a bed. Heck, who needs a bed when you have all the other playthings around?

The only missing piece to the perfect room for me is an electro-acoustic guitar since I already have an electric, acoustic, classical and ukelele in my room. Maestro or Takamine? That is the question.

Cheers guys.

2009-07-01T01:12:00.002+08:00

Hey guys. I've been busy with work and band commitments last week. Thurs-Sun was wedding work. And I had that Metallica tribute gig on Sat, so imagine how i had to rush from work, to jamming on Friday night, back to work, to gig on Sat, and back to work on Sunday, which ended Monday morning at 1am. But it was all worth it. Both the gig and wedding went well, so I have no complains whatsoever.

I must admit I was quite nervous for the gig. When we arrive, there are a couple of old-timers/die hard Metallica fans and suddenly I felt like a small kid there. Well, literally I still am compared to them. So yeah, it was quite uncomfortable. But the people there were great. The bands Metalheadz and Dethfestuary were really helpful in helping me to set the amps. It's the first time I'm using the Mesa Boogie speakers, and damn that thing is pure power! The Fourtones guys also are kind enough to properly set the place and mics. So we are off to go.

Messed up alot of parts, especially in Seek n Destroy, but everyone was really encouraging. So I was like, ah fuck it, as long as everyone have a good time, nothing else matters. Alot of comic moments like in Last Caress when the guy in the crowd just screamed 'One last caressss' and Mizar and Justin play along to him and I was confused for awhile. But highlight would be the happy hour when we got 3 guys from the crowd to sing 'For Whom The Bell Tolls' with us, with me switching to drums. I was so feeling the whole thing and I guess i got carried away with my drumming. Haha. I really would like to see the whole thing on video. But overall, it was surprisingly, a pretty good experience for me. So thank you to the organisers for inviting us, even though it was a gamble to get a punk band covering metal music.

Thanks again to the lads who came. And to Bhir, Mat and Khy, seriously thank you so much again for the work you guys put in on Sunday. Everyone was really happy with all your contribution, including my parents, aunts and uncles. I am assured that I can rely on you guys. Don't worry Mat, you definitely working the next time despite all your flops. I'll even spare you from listing down your flops that day. Hahaha.

MAY be starting attachment at IMM Jurong next week. Hopefully i get that internship.

2009-06-21T14:31:00.002+08:00

Gig updates! We are invited to play for a Metallica Tribute gig on the 27th June at Fourtones Studios. I almost pissed in my pants when I heard we were invited for this. Honestly speaking, it's not easy playing James Hetfield's riffs. He's the fucking riff master, but I have been practising really hard so as not to look like a fool up there. Haha. We're gonna play medleys off Kill Em All and Garage Inc albums. Oh yeah, and it's free btw, so everyone is welcomed to come. When else can you see me play freaking Metallica man?? Hahaha.

We will launching our DIY compilation album on the 4th July, at Lcube Studios. This is a collective effort among 5 bands including Frostymug, Planar Trajectory, A Scar Filled City, RPM and us of course. There will also be guest bands, Rising Heart and Fatimah Rocker and the M.I.B. Never heard of them but Mizar said they're really good. We have put alot of effort into this so please show your support for local DIY movement! Tickets is at $7 and you will receive a copy of the album as well. Hope to see you guys there.

Cheers.

2009-06-21T14:07:00.002+08:00

Ok, continuation. Friday is I Love You, Man at E Hub with Zai, Wan and Fiq. Awesome movie. I've always been a huge huge fan of the new Frat Pack (Jason Segel, Paul Rudd, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen etc) and previous Judd Apatow works even though this ain't his. The best thing about this kind of movies is that, the jokes are real, you know that some of it aren't scripted and I was kinda annoyed with the stupid chinese kids behind me who went, 'Whaaat?' and 'What's going on?' Dumb kids who can't appreciate genius improvisation skills from the cast and the amazing chemistry between Paul Rudd and Jason Segel. Fun-loving movie, great plot, recommended for everyone.

After that hang out at One Fullerton's Starbucks and I forgot that Butter Factory is there and now the place is packed. Pros is that, chicks are aplenty to look at. But cons is that the place is not peaceful anymore. I like hanging out there cause it's quiet and there's not alot of people. But now not anymore.

Took the train back home from Raffles Place and it was the WORST TRAIN RIDE EVER. Imagine a group of scenekids in the train. Practically screaming every song loudly. ALL THE WAY TO YISHUN. We're talking about sec sch kids here and if there's one group of people I hate the most, it would be sec sch scenekids. With their stupid band t-shirts. Singing SOTY's Anthem of our Dying Day. WTF. I THOUGHT EMO IS DEAD. Well Wan was there up till Dhoby Ghaut so he can vouch for me on how annoying it was. Lamest bunch of kids ever.

Cheers.

2009-06-20T01:45:00.002+08:00

Ok. First things first, apologies for the hiatus. But now im back and that's all that matters. Holidays been fulfilling to say the least. Been going out almost everyday. I'm gonna update everything about this week.

So monday, football. It's been ages since we played at the Loyang field and needless to say, I'm in terribly bad shape. I can't run for shit, can't score. But someone mentioned that I've started playing the passing game, which is a good thing considering my usual selfish pointless dribbling play. Only for me to spoil the moment by saying that I can't run anymore, that's why I pass. Hahaha. So we played among ourselves, and then we played with some indonesian guys. Scored one easy tap in, and i dont even remember the final result. And for the first time we had warm up and warm down sessions initiated by Fiq. But I must say it was a good thing. I mean, if we want to be really ready for the match against KRFC, we gotta train man.

After that, head to the pool at Fiq's condo. Really cool place. Swam for awhile, chill, and head to the sauna after that. I don't even know why I did that, it doesnt even feel good and I felt so restless in there. But other than that, it was a good day and I went home really happy and satisfied.

Tues, jamming. The band has been practising hard for our upcoming gig, which is next week, 27 June, for a Metallica tribute gig. More details will be posted later regarding the gig. So yea, jammed at this place in Yishun called Lee Kwong Seng Music Centre. Super old school place. Kinda feel like Wee Lee as it has the same old vibe there. I swear the room smell of piss when we first entered. But after awhile, kinda got used to it. Used Mizar's Ibanez Gio which is generally a budget guitar but it sounded really good now with the new Tesla pickups he just installed. So we had a good 2 hr jamming session, then hang out at Mr Teh Tarik there for another 2 hrs and went home.

Wed is pretty much chilling at home playing FM 09. Managing Leeds United, and trust me, it's not easy.

Thurs, JB with the band. James from RPM also joined us. First stop is Marsiling's Standard Value where Mizar bought a Modtone Speedbox. Pretty decent pedal, but nothing beats James pedals. Seriously that guy got some mad gear with him. Our main purpose to go JB is to find a jamming studio. And hell yeah we managed to find one! It's called Ideal Studios and it's definitely one of the best jamming places I've been to. I mean, the gears are great, you don't even need to bring in your own pedals as their Crate and Marshall amps are equipped with footswitches, which makes things so much simpler. Simple furnishing and superb strategic location. Everything is there, it's a nice place to eat and lepak as well, which is just outside the studio. So yea, we all had a good time jamming. I even played drums and jammed random songs including Ace of Spades, Master of Puppets, The Trooper etc. Haha. Had a blast, even though I can't really drum for shit anymore.

Spend 3 hrs at Singgah Selalu. Me, Mizar and Justin managed to finish 28 sticks of Sampoerna and Dunhill there. Not including the banana shisha there as well. So i really really need detox for a few days at least from smoking. Even though I enjoy it, I'm really not proud of it. Have to reduce, have to slowly reduce.

Will update some more soon. Cheers.

2009-05-31T21:28:00.002+08:00

Shisha and beach with awesome company is such a lethal combination for one helluva night.

Another memorable outing.

2009-05-31T11:54:00.002+08:00

Satisfied with how the season ended. We deserve at least a trophy anyways.

Review of the season. Started out hot favorites with convincing displays especially from new signings Bosingwa and Deco, but we soon fizzled out with Big Phil never really settled in the BPL. Got sacked, expectedly. Drogba played with no drive and no hunger whatsoever.

Then came in Guus Hiddink. He rejuvenated the side instantly. Drogba looked like a new signing. Essien returned. And all of a sudden, we looked like a contender again. Lost only one game in the league to Spurs, but other than that, things look good again. The quarter final against Pool was one of the best 2 legged games we had this season.

Suffered the biggest disappointment in the semi-final by losing on away goals to Barcelona in the dying minutes. But what we can take from the match is that we never really lost, with both games ended in a draw. And we showed the world why we had to play, with the negative tactics we played against Barca because they are, the best team in the world and if you tried to attack them like how Man Utd did in the finals, you will get punished. And true enough they did. So love it or hate it, Chelsea defended and fouled Barcelona to perfection and almost got the job done. It was a better final than Barca vs Man Utd, to me at least.

Anelka finished as the top scorer in the BPL with a beautiful solo effort against Sunderland to end the campaign. Secured a FA Cup final fixture against ever-improving Everton. Saha scored the fastest goal in FA Cup history to give Everton a dream start, but the match was always going in Chelsea's favor. Ashley Cole and Florent Malouda linked up expertly making Tony Hibbert and later on Lars Jacobsen looked like schoolboys. Lampard was all over the midfield distributing inch-perfect balls to the forwards. Mikel was rock solid defending the back four and starting the attack. And who else but Drogba and Lampard to end up on the scoresheet. And there you have it, Chelsea the 2009 FA Cup Winners.

We need this group of players to stay. We need the stability. Bring in that new manager as soon as possible. Maybe one or two young talents to freshen things up (Lets face it, Chelsea is aging), but other than that, this is a good group of players. Ok come to think of it, Ballack's the only one gotta go. What a baggage to the team. Other than, can't wait for another exciting new season in August.

Blues 4 Life.

2009-05-23T23:11:00.003+08:00

Videos from our gig at Odiocrib is up!

Streets of Uptown/Blitzkrieg Bop (A.C.A.B./Ramones Cover)

Commando (Ramones Cover)

You Lie (A.C.A.B. Cover)

My love affair with ACAB started during the early early sec 2 NF days. Name it, we play it. Skinhead 4 Life, We Are ACAB, Freedom and Justice, Where Have All The Bootboys Gone, Streets of Uptown. So if you tell me that 5 years later I would be covering it again, I would probably just drop dead.

But somehow it felt right. It felt right to revisit those days again.

2009-05-17T22:38:00.003+08:00

Fucking awesome day it was yesterday. The gig was so-so. Could have been better. Not having my friends from the start to give the support makes me a little nervous but once they came in, all those jitters disappeared. And even though i mess up the vocals for the end of 'We Are 138' real bad, I still felt good about the whole gig. (But seriously, during jamming I pull it off!) Haha.

Special thanks to everyone who were there. Wan, Yas, Fi, Fiq, Dheel, Sya, Dee, Nisa. The crazy guys from Planar Trajectory, Syafiq, Syazwan and Zahri and the cool big hair dudes from A Scar Filled City. I really enjoyed their sets. Didn't stay for Frostymug though but im sure they did a good job.

Our next project will be a compilation DIY album with these bands, PT, ASFC, Frostymug and RPM, Mizar's and Justin's Sabbath-influenced band with Armen and James and the date have been tentatively set for 4th of July. Updates will be posted once everything have been finalised. I am so looking forward to this because I hope this will open doors for gigs in Malaysia and Indonesia (prays hard!) and also now we are in talks with a Malaysian band for a possibility of a split EP with them. I am grateful with everything thats going on with The Misfit Ramones. Seriously.

After that, Me, Fiq, Dheel, Sya, Dee and Nisa met up with Ayu and Yusof and we go to Bali Lane to eat and shisha. Shisha sessions was awesome. One of the best, if not the best session I had. Katy Perry's 'I Kissed A Girl' kept playing in my mind. HAHAHA. Ok but seriously, I don't know about everyone else but for me, I had such an enjoyable time with everyone. Met a couple of cool people like Sya's friend whos in Paris In The Making and Dee's bf, Harith who's in the increasingly popular Tacit Aria and Anna Judge April. I mean, I have alot of respect and admiration for these bands and to be able to meet and chat for awhile with them make me respect them even more and I can only hope I can be as successful as them.

After that, the plan was to go to the beach to chill. But the car couldn't start while we stopped at Downtown East! What luck. But then again, luckily the car stalled at Downtown East and not along the expressway where we would be in the middle of nowhere. Thankfully Sya's friend came and picked us up so thanks to him again. Me, Fiq, Dheel and Nisa hang out at Fiq's place while Dee and Sya went home. Watched Sex Drive on Dheel's laptop, walked Nisa back home since there's no car and we were all to shagged to sit and talk so we all went to sleep.

Got back at 9.30am this morning. Let's do this again shall we? :)

2009-05-09T23:47:00.002+08:00

BBQ was fun, surprisingly. Got to know some cool people. Nice guys like Ashwin, Nikhail's brother and Shafiq and Mathhew, Chron's bandmates and some other guys I don't remember their names. Shafiq happen to work at Maestro Guitars as a guitar tech and he told me to come down and test out their guitars anytime, which is perfect because I have always planned to get a Maestro electro acoustic. And with contacts, I guess I can get a discount as well. HAHA. It's not being cheapskate or what. But guitars are really expensive gears.

Spencer's life story is such an eye opener. It's true what Ashwin said, I guess people like me are too sheltered to know whats happening out there is real. But I am damn glad to be sheltered I guess even if it means losing out on some life experience that i think is not worth it after all.

Again, to Yi Jian, I'm sorry I got your dates's number. HAHAHAHA. Honest mistake really.

2009-05-05T23:41:00.006+08:00

Check this out!

(Click on image for clearer view)

We are on Soundclick's Punk and Rock charts! Not bad huh!

Ok yes it's not American Top 40 or Perfect 10 Top 20, but it still means alot that we are somewhat appreciated in the online community. It really is a good feeling. :)

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=947099

Cheers!

2009-05-04T23:06:00.002+08:00

Please support us, The Misfit Ramones and our fellow friends, Frostymug, A Scar Filled City and Planar Trajectory! This whole concept of 'Destroy Capitalist Gigs!' came up after we got tired of pay-to-play gigs or 'sell 20 tickets and play' gigs and got nothing in return and miserly exposure. So basically we organise this gig ourselves so as not to allow organisers to reap in the profit for themselves and most importantly, to have fun! Because ultimately, we are musicians, not ticket sellers or salesmen.

We have a few surprises lined up. With a few new covers to keep our set fresh, we have also included an original, A Little More Competition which can heard on our myspace, http://www.myspace.com/themisfitramones , and also a cover by a band you never thought we would do! If you are interested to know more, you have to come!

I for one am looking forward to this one, so do inform me if you want to go. We are aware that Odiocrib is a tiny place for a gig and it would be hard to accomodate alot of people as there are also supporters from other bands. But hey, the more the merrier, and the more there is, the more intimate our set can be. So please please show your support for a good cause here. Information are as stated on the poster. But for more info, can always hit me on my cell at 96547031.

See you guys there!

2009-05-03T00:22:00.003+08:00

- Went to JB with Mizar and Justin
- Go to Angsana
- Got my classic navy blue Vans shoes for RM 70.
- Diana got a classic red Vans on the same day in Singapore for $49. Padan muke. Lol.
- Got Hujan's self-titled album. AWESOME SHIT cause all their raw demos now fucking polished.
- Look at gears at C&M Music. Crazy Mizar just got an Ibanez Iceman bass there for RM 1100 last week! Which is relatively cheappp.
- I am tempted to get a Telecaster. But I don't want to settle for Squire. FENDER BABY!
- Tried to look for a jamming studio there
- Don't ask the people there for directions cause they are really useless.
- Gave up finding, went to Singgah Selalu
- Shisha, Man Utd vs Boro
- Home

2009-04-28T23:59:00.011+08:00

The OC Season 1 is probably my all time favorite because that woman up there. Maybe Mischa Barton and Rachel Bilson overshadow her short stint as Anna Stern in the series. But she didn't go unnoticed to me.

The epitomy of beauty. How many people can you say look good with long, short, messy, straight, black, blonde hair? Seriously, it's a crime to be able to look that good. Treatment or no treatment, Samaire Armstrong, you are perfect.

Oh yes, OC is the shit and will ALWAYS be the shit. Though Gossip Girl is pretty good as well. Haha.

2009-04-17T00:21:00.004+08:00

Kaiser Chiefs 7th April 2009 Fort Canning Park

SORRY, ANOTHER OVERDUED POST. But hey, what you're gonna do about it right? I'm in no mood to do a detailed post of my experience there. To keep it short and sweet, it was awesome. I had a blast. Opening band Electrico was dull, but Kaiser Chiefs totally made it worthwhile. They were energetic from start to end. Singer Ricky Wilson is a great frontman, really knows how to pump up the crowd, queing everyone to scream and cheer and clap in unison. And I love when he climb up that, what is it called? Oh you can see it in the photos. It was just straight-up, pure fun. Ok it wasn't epic, it wasn't immense, but it was definitely FUN and I'm really glad to be there. Come again Kaiser boys, you will have me in the front row again. I had no qualms, I had more fun watching Kaiser Chiefs than Stereophonics or Avenged Sevenfold.

Sorry for the blurry photos. It is almost impossible to take a decent shot with everyone in the crowd jumping around, including me. Haha.

2009-04-09T11:45:00.009+08:00

Ok, an overdued post about the Cambodia trip. Honestly, I still feel extremely lazy to post about it. All I can say is, it was more than I expected. I knew I was gonna have fun, but I didnt know how attached I would get to the place and the people. I left Singapore's fast and vibrant life for 8 days, and traded it with a much slower paced one in Cambodia and I didn't know I would love it so much there. And the people and kids there, are some of the most genuine and nice people ever. They don't just appreciate what you do there, they are very happy with just your presence.

And the friends I made, amazing bunch of people. We become more than friends, more like a family. Like when the Muslim group had to eat shit vegetarian food everyday due to the scarcity of halal food, alot of the Chinese people came forward to voice their concerns that we weren't being fed properly and Chron and Spencer actually went as far as to join us in the meal to share the burden of eating our shit food. Or when someone in the bus wasn't in the best of moods, 4-5 of us went to the front of the bus and played a song for her to cheer her up in front of everyone. Or when we all sang along to RJA and Yellowcard sappy songs. Or when every morning before we left the hotel, we call each other or knock on their doors so they wouldnt be late. We bonded so much and it really feels good to have company like that. I'm blessed to have the opportunity to meet these people and share this wonderful experience with them.

Favorite places there, definitely the Angkor Wat. Those who know me would know that I'm a history buff so being able to visit the Angkor Wat is like a dream come true for me. I still get the chills when I think of being in that place. Another one include the Killing Fields or the Genocidal Museum, which literally brought a tear to my eye after knowing the plight of the people there. Also, the Royal Palace. What a beautiful place that is. Cambodia is truly, a Kingdom of Wonder.

Ok enough blabbering. Picture time! Pics are taken with a Panasonic Lumix 8.1 Megapix. Enjoy.

Sunrise from the plane.

Shit vegetarian food I was talking about. And they didn't even give rice to go with it!

Teaching duties at the Bathy Sok An High School in Phnom Penh.

Hey, as long as they're girls, we don't discriminate. :)

The one of many cows that roam around at the school.

Cute girl at a temple near the school.

The temple again

Saying goodbye to the kids after our 3 days in the school is done.

Cultural costume showcase at the dinner in Intercontinental Hotel.

Another temple in Phnom Penh

V for Victory!

Killing Fields

Skulls are kept as reminders.

The saddest thing I have ever read. Click on it for clearer view.

Mass grave for women and children.

Killing tree where executioners just smash the kids heads against the tree.

Royal Palace.

Lucky attempt at lomography. Hahaha.

Eating spiders!

Angkor Wat.

Ok, I can't possibly put up all 450 pics that I have taken, so if you wanna see more, just visit my facebook or multiply acc. Cheers!

2009-04-07T11:20:00.003+08:00

Ok, yes guys, I am back! Actually I was back since Sunday but too lazy to update here. Cambodia was one of the best experiences of my life, and the time i spent there will be etched on my mind for as long as I live. I will update about my Cambodia trip another time when I feel like it. I seriously do not where to start.

Ok, Kaiser Chiefs tonight at Fort Canning Park!

Best. Holidays. Ever.

2009-03-27T01:01:00.002+08:00

Ok, to those who don't know, I will be heading to Cambodia on Sunday morning on a school trip for community work cum tour there. I will be there for 8 days from this Sunday, 29 March to next Sunday, 5th April. So my next post will be after 5th April, hopefully. I said hopefully, because I didn't take the flu jab or malaria pills. So please pray that I will return safe and sound. (:

Don't miss me too much. Hahaha. Cheers.

2009-03-23T19:03:00.008+08:00

To answer Iffah's query whether I go for the JB Rock Fest yesterday,

Top - Joanna of Joanna & Co
Bottom - Naza of The Times

And to answer another query from Iffah whether I bought any merch,

They Will Kill Us All's Secret Episodes and poster - RM 20
The Rhaman's Lagu Satu Tahun EP and sticker - RM 15
Bunkface's Lesson Of The Season with badges and stickers - RM 16

I couldn't help but go crazy because the merch are dirt cheap there. Convert the money to Sing dollars and I only spent like $25 on all the merch.

I'm actually kinda lazy to blog about the experience in JB. Not that its bad, but its so GEMPAK that i don't even know where to begin. But I know once I start to blog, it will be long, and will be detailed. First things first, what I can say is, to experience how a real gig should be, Malaysia is the place to go.

I almost didnt make the trip actually because Mizar msg-ed me at 3am that he decided not to go to avoid a massive jam since its the last day of hols. I was disappointed, but I thought to myself, its ok because I was kinda tired anyways since I had a long day the day before. But when I woke up at 11am, my mom left RM 70 on my table, and my grandma gave another RM 20 for me to spend there and Im like, whatthehell am im doing home. Then Izad msg saying that, he really wanted to go, and he dont mind taking the bus there. So Im like, screw the car, we're going to JB!

So fast forward, it's just 2 boys with the love for Malaysian underground scene travelling on our own to JB. Reached City Square, took a cab. Stupid driver sent us to Holiday Plaza instead of City Plaza, and totally ripped us off RM8 when the journey is so near. Took another cab with cost another RM 6 to the actual place. Took awhile to find where is the venue because it is so abandoned, until we saw their version of scenekids, and we just follow the crowd. Took the lift to level 3, and we are greeted by MORE scenekids. So there we are, City Plaza's CT Sport and Cafe.

Firstly I am greeted by the types of people there. The people comes from all forms of subcultures or whatever. There's the punks with mohawks, the indie kids, the hardcore kids who came in jersey shorts so that it would be easier to do kung fu kicks, the skinheads with their marten boots, but no one seemed to care and they are all there just to have fun and appreciate good music, be it ska, indie, hardcore or whatever. Seriously, the are really united when it comes to gigs. Everyone will be there to support.

Next, the merch booths are aplenty! It's not just one booth that carry all the bands merch. It's like some carry tshirts, some only cds, some only underground metal cds. And some of the merch are so DIY. I saw an EP with uses paper and staples and CD-R. And guess what? People still buys it! Oh yes, casettes are also available believe it or not.

Lastly, the bands. If you want me to be honest, I think our bands are more superior than theirs. But in terms of support, they win hands down. The fact that they have some really mediocre bands like 21st Floor and Glory of Pesona, and still get paid for performing. Whereas us, we still had to resort to selling tickets just to perform even if we are really good. The fact that the crowd actually stayed from start till late, and support all kinds of bands, of all genres. And they dont even mind the ticket price which is RM 22. If its a paid gig in Singapore dont expect a healthy crowd seriously. Cheers to Warna Warni for organising the JB Rock Fest 2!

Standout bands to me include:

Skudap Skudip - Ska/Reggae
The Rhaman - Indie
Julia Turns White - Indie/Rock N Roll
JOANNA AND CO :) - Indie pop? I dunno. But kinda like Mocca
Forsaken - Hardcore

Yes I know you must be wondering 'Where's The Times? Bunkface?'. I didn't manage to catch those bands unfortunately because they were playing really late and since we took the bus, we can't afford to miss bus back home. So we left kinda early at 8 plus. But me and Izad have no regrets at all. Being there is see how the scene and culture is like is more than enough. The whole experience is such an eye-opener. I find it so nice that the thing that unites everyone there is their love and support for their local scene. Even the hardcore kids who did the ridiculous hardcore dance moves in the pit, some actually knew the words and sang along and shit. You just don't get that here. I have nothing but respect to our neighbours for their enthusiasm. I definitely have plans to go on another trip up North in the future if there's a good lineup like this one.

And godd, Joanna why do you have to be so frigging HOT?!?!

2009-03-22T23:03:00.002+08:00

Our 2nd gig at FAD Studios yesterday. I would have to say we sound quite tight. I even think we sounded better than at Lcube. Maybe because we had a soundman this time around, and a proper soundman who actually does his work instead of just hiding behind the mixers. Crowd is pretty tame to be called a 'Lioncity Punk Rock Fest', but overall its still ok ah. Still had random people taking the mic at 'Blitzkrieg Bop' and singing along with us. Haha.

I would also like to add that the band before us, 1989, played a delightful set. A 3 piece band like us, except they are into pop punk. Seriously, i think they are the Singapore version of Green Day and their cover of American Idiot is really spot on. I mean, I have heard alot of bands covering Green Day, but none that stands out. Very impressed with this particular band. Can't say the same about the band after us, One Way Traffic. Very mediocre, very amateurish. I feel like slapping the vocalist cause he doesnt give any effort to sing properly. Harsh, yes, but seriously, its that bad.

I realised I didnt do any thank yous to those who came down for last week and yesterday's sets. So thank you to the awesome awesome crowd at Lcube and FAD Studios(Yas, Bhir, Zai, Wan, Khy, Mat Ris, Fiq, supporters of other bands who moshed and sing along with us). There are some who I dont know, but recognise and came down for both sets as well. Special thanks to people like Yas and Zai who actually came down for both sets too. I really didnt expect that at all, so i must say I am really grateful at the support shown by you guys. The reception for The Misfit Ramones has been encouraging so far. Can't wait for whats in store next for us.

We lepak at a coffee shop nearby and headed to Scape next to catch Caracal and Bittersweet. King Kong Jane played first. I think KKJ has some nice pop songs and they are ready to be played on radio stations. But the thing is that i think those songs are rather forgettable. Yes it is catchy, yes it is commercial and radio-friendly but it lacks that special something.

Compare KKJ's performance to Caracal. I can safely say, they have come a long way since I first started listening to them around 2-3 years ago. No more When Open Inverted Commas Close, no more the happy2 dance-y Best Defence Is Nonsense. Its all heavy and epic now. They are so good live. And they have that appeal, and I dont mean their looks or whatever cause its a given, but their performances provide a visual treat that leaves the crowd wanting more with Chris running around the stage, the band headbanging in unison. It is just so nice to watch. And I am eagerly anticipating for the album to come out. Loving the new direction they are heading.

Bittersweet was the band I wanted to watch the most. Been a fan for quite a while now since I have listened to Perfect Match. Their set was almost perfect. If the amp for the rhythm guitarist didn't blow halfway throughout the set, I would dare call the set flawless. They sound exactly like in the cd. Vocalist Pijie hits his notes so effortlessly, I am convinced that Malaysians can really sing. Even though the crowd is very pathetic cause it was late, I had no regrets at all. Best performance of the night to me. Four Years is my new favourite song by them now.

Cheers.

2009-03-20T15:09:00.004+08:00

The reason why I enjoy watching certain local bands like Plainsunset and The Great Spy Experiment is that, they can establish a connection between them and the crowd. Be it through their songs, or how they interact with the crowd, they just know how to connect with us and as a result, the performance is etched on our minds for a long time.

This sort of experience doesn't come often unfortunately. 2 of the best gigs I've been to so far is arguably Stasis 10 and GSE's unplugged set at last year's Mosaic Fest. But last Wednesday at Mosaic Festival, I experienced it again.

Couple may not be the most technically proficient musicians around, but what they make up for it, is their simple, straight-up, feel-good rock n roll and pop sensibility. That formula works for them and they are just so ridiculously catchy that it is almost impossible not to be smiling or tapping your feet after every song. Seriously, I've never heard of any other band that used the same chords, the same song structure, same drum beats, same solos and still able to keep everyone glued to their seats, eagerly waiting for the next song.

Even though most of their songs are similar and repetitive, it doesn't really matter cause their music is so easy to listen to and i think anyone can relate to it. First set consists of songs from their earlier album, Top Of The Pop, and the 2nd set is from their new one, Teenage Disc Fantastic, and both are equally good. To be absolutely cliche like how Couple like it, Couple is LOVE. :)

Another band who managed to 'establish the connection' is Copy Machine. I've never heard of the band before Wednesday, but now, I'm a fan. They're a Korean skapunk band. Think Rancid, or Reel Big Fish, except their songs are in Korean. When I was watching them during their first set, I feel like I'm watching a paid or ticketed show. They sounded so tight together. I can try to come up with a million positive things to say about them and i still don't think it would be enough credit to them. It was THAT GOOD.

Other than the obvious awesome music they are playing, they really know how to work up the crowd. It's really funny listening to them trying their best to speak English and failing. But thats what its about. They're not afraid to make fun of themselves just to ensure the crowd enjoyed themselves. They poked fun at themselves, at their country, and they're not afarid to make fun of us guys as well and everyone had a good laugh about it.

So to sum it all up, this is one of the best gigs I've been to. Definitely right up there with Avenged Sevenfold and Stereophonics. The fact that its free made it all the more sweeter. Both bands sold out their albums at the Esplanade after their sets, which strengthens even further how good was their performances.

Me? I'm just glad I was there to be part of it. Next, WeekendTrip Noise Edition.

2009-03-16T21:51:00.002+08:00

I'm going to JB to catch the JB Rock Fest this Sunday. Can't wait to check out the scene there and at the same time, watch the awesome awesome Malaysian acts like The Times (!!!), Bunkface and more.

It's gonna be great cause on Saturday, theres the scape gig with bands like Caracal and another one of my favourite Malaysian indie band, Bittersweet. Oh yea, Malaysian powerpop legends, Couple will be playing at Mosaic Fest this wed at Esplanade. Overdose of Malaysian acts and I love it!

Cheers to Mizar for inviting me on this trip!

2009-03-16T21:33:00.005+08:00

Here are some vids to the Lcube gig last Saturday. Credits to Mat (hahaha) for taking the vid. Apologies for the poor sound quality.

I Just Wanna Have Something To Do - The Ramones

Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones

N.I.B. - Black Sabbath

The rest can be found on youtube. Just type 'The Misfit Ramones' and you can get the links to the other songs.

As I have mentioned, we have another gig held at FAD Studios on 21st March. Apparently there's an offer on the pre-sale tickets. Book now and collect the tix this wed at Ang Mo Kio MRT Station, 7pm for only $5, so if you wanna save a whole load of money, order now cause it would cost $7 after 18th, and $12 on the door.

Call this guy at 9127 0829, hes called 'GUYrenCE' on www.soft.com.sg . Cheers!

2009-03-15T18:00:00.003+08:00

Yesterday was one of the best days ever. Had such a great time.

Firstly, the gig at Lcube studios. It was awesome. Best gig I've played in. The crowd looked like they had a great time as well. They moshed, they cheered, they sang along, they took the mic and helped to sing when the mic stand wasn't stable, they laughed, they flashed their tits, (ok, only mat and khy flashed their tits). I really enjoyed myself. Every performer will tell you, nothing beats having a great and responsive crowd, even if its a small one. Highlight of the gig to me, was when Justin screamed 'this song goes out to everyone who doesn't have a girlfriend!' and all the lads cheered like mad, with Khy being the loudest one. HAHAHA. Our first gig as The Misfit Ramones couldn't have gone any better in my opinion and if next week's gig at FAD Studios gonna be as good as yesterday, I would be a happy man.

After that, we ate at Little India to satisfy our needs for thosai. And goddammit, the Masala Thosai there is the BEST. It's so filling. And the pratas are like freaking huge! Just ask Khy who ordered 3 prata egg and they're like, almost twice the size of a normal prata. And to think he initially wanted to get 5! Hahaha. Ate till we're full, and off to Courts Megastore to catch the Man Utd vs Pool game.

As everyone knows, Pool humiliated Man Utd by 4-1. I was rooting for a draw, cause I dont want either side to have the satisfaction of boasting their win. Haha. But a Pool win is fine with me. Faris wrote an intriguing post about the worship of the EPL in his blog, and I agree to a large extent.

And as if the day couldn't have ended any better, she called. I haven't heard her voice in almost 3 years. And she had to sound so cute with her cute British accent and i couldn't help but to sleep with a smile on my face like one fucking idiot. That was really, an icing on the cake and a perfect way to end the day.

Cheers.

2009-03-08T15:27:00.003+08:00

Out with the old.

IN WITH THE NEW.

The past 5 years have been great XBOX. I had alot of unforgettable moments with you. But things change, and its time to move on to bigger and better things.

2009-03-05T19:46:00.004+08:00

My new band, The Misfit Ramones will be having our first 2 gigs on 14th and 21st of March. We are only a 3 piece band with me on guitars/vocals, Justin on bass/vocals and Mizar on drums. Expect a fast, raw and energetic performance from us!

The band initially was only meant to be a tribute band to 2 of our favourite punk rock bands of all time, Misfits and Ramones, hence the very cheesy and unoriginal name. But we decided to stick to that name for the mean time. Expect smashing covers like Blitzkrieg Bop, KKK Took My Baby Away, Die Die My Darling and more so do come down if you are fans of these 2 bands as well.

I urge everyone to come down for the 14th gig because we have to sell tickets for that one, do contact me if you want to buy tickets for them. If you are fans of Anugerah Band, then head down for the 21st as the winner Rancour will be playing in that. Well, i think thats the Rancour of Anugerah Band fame lah, unless got another band named Rancour as well. Lol.

Tickets for 14th March
$7 (Pre-sale)
$8 (On the door)

Tickets for 21st March
$7 (Pre-sale before 19 March)
$12 (After 19 March)

Timing will announced very soon. We are requesting to play earlier so we can all lepak at night after that! Hahaha. See you guys there!

2009-02-24T23:31:00.002+08:00

SEMESTER 2.2 IS OVER THANK GOD!

Review of 2.2. I think I have rant enough on the previous post about what I have gone through. Basically shit from classmates and shit from certain lecturers. All i can say is, 2.2 caused so much unhappiness and tension among me and some of my friends. I believe a certain friendship has even went beyond repair, because of this damned semester. All i can hope for now is, passes in all subjects. I would be devastated to get any fail grades, with the amount of time and effort I had put in on all the subjects.

With that out of the way, I went out with Fiqah yesterday. Spent almost 70 bucks on The Early November's Mother, The Mechanic and The Path album and Watchmen graphic novel. Well not actually cause TEN's album had to be imported from US to here so had to wait a couple of weeks for it to arrive. But already paid the deposit and will pay the balance when it arrives.

I don't usually splurge on things like this, but I have decided to start collecting things that would remind me of some of the best years of my life which is my teenage life. I'm entering adulthood very very soon, and I don't want to leave behind only memories to remind me of my past. Hopefully I can pass on all these collectibles to my kids in the future and have them say, 'Hey, I have a fucking cool dad!'. LOL.

Yes I am sentimental like that, which is why I have long decided I will not sell my first ever electric guitar even though it is a crappy Ibanez Gio. I also still keep my first ever mobile phone, a Nokia 3310 (Remember Snake and Space Impact guys?) and some other old junks are neatly kept and preserved in 2 shoeboxes. Yeah, just some of the things i keep. :)

And today, finally managed to catch a movie after so long. Well, it's the Oscars season and I was dying to catch Slumdog, Benjamin Button, Wrestler just to name a few. Settled on Benjamin Button at E Hub's Cathay and money well spent I'd have to say. Such a tragic storyline. Was in awe all the way with the effects and makeup for Benjamin Button and the other characters who are aging with time. Granted, there are some dry and redundant moments, but overall awesome work by David Fincher and his team. Stellar performance by Brad Pitt.

I just realised Brad Pitt looks like Torres. Hahahaha.

2009-02-16T23:38:00.004+08:00

In other news, I've decided to start a new, separate blog to pen my thoughts on music, concerts, gigs, movies, football and pop culture in general. I've been writing alot of them in this blog, but I think not many read them word for word since not many are into it. Haha. Well, I would not abandon this blog. Just that with this new blog, I can pen the thoughts more freely without concerning whether the majority of visitors here would understand what am I'm talking about. There would be a clear line on my life story in syam-41.blogspot.com and my critics and views in the new blog.

Well, its heavily inspired by Kevin Matthews and his www.powerofpop.com I can say that much. His posts on records, local gigs, and Spurs are a joy to read. Seriously do visit there if you haven't.

Probably gonna launch it as soon as next month since it's the semester break so do look out for it. Cheers.

2009-02-16T23:13:00.004+08:00

So sorry for the overdue post. School's been a bitch and people are being bitches.

Everytime I thought I have gotten through a particular term or semester, stronger and tougher and confident of new challenges, the new semester just gets even worse. This semester is no different. Call me proud or arrogant, but i just prefer doing individual assignment. I'd like to do my own thing, at my own time, at my own comfort. Group projects are just not for me.

But I won't be a bitch and not cooperate. In fact, I can be the most cooperative guy you ever know of. But if people won't do the same for me, then I'm sorry I can't be Mr Nice anymore. And it really doesn't pay to be nice and be the guy who tries to lightens the mood when things get tough, it will only result at you being screamed at. I really do not appreciate that.

What the hell am I'm thinking. IT is not for me. My life do not revolve around web designing, programming, DOTA and Left 4 Dead. Seriously I despise people who makes use of the labs to 'chiong' their pointless gaming addiction. It makes me sick to my stomach. My life revolves around music, bands, football and pop culture in general. As much I tried to accept this direction that I'm going, I know deep down, I'm not happy. Which is why I have decided to take up journalism when I'm done with this stinking course. I will fuel my interest in writing for what I am passionate about and finally do what I wanna do. I will not make the same mistake again.

If I could turn back the clock, I would have studied my ass off for my O's and get that distinction in English and be eligible for Mass Comm or Media Writing. But this is a painful(and expensive) lesson for me and I will have to live with it till I get this damn diploma. It really is too late to look for other alternatives at the moment as I have struggled through 2 years. So I'll just remain strong and hope for the best.

Really guys, if you want something, go get it. I have made up my mind, I do not want to work in a 9-5 cubicle job unless its something I am passionate about. It's true things do not go your way and you have to make do with it, but always remember if you are miserable, YOU DESERVE BETTER. Strive for what you believe in, and go all out for it. It may not work out in the end, but until you actually try, you never know.

2009-01-26T17:34:00.003+08:00

3 short days, but some of the most tiring experience of kerja kahwin ever. Even my cousin who never complains feels the same way.

But that couldn't stop me from meeting up with the lads at night. airport at 11.30pm. I was famished as my last meal was at 11am and its been all work after that. Zai said I deserve a Mega Mac, and hell yeah i do so i ordered that. Hahaha.

Spend the rest of the time brainstorming for ideas to have Fiq to come over. Couldn't think of anything that doesn't sound desperate, but sounds convincing enough. So we stopped at 3-4 ideas. Haha. But Fiq gave the biggest surprise of all by suddenly appearing at the viewing hall of T2, limping badly as he had twisted his ankle the day before and said 'Let's get out of here!'. We all cheered like some freaking losers and get the hell out of there. Hahaha.

Stopped at Changi first, look for some bapoks, then to Changi Beach. Planned to find some place to sit and talk, but the place was packed so we headed to Fiq's place. Pro Evo sessions and somew casual recordings of Great Decay took place there.

Highlight would be the Facebook and Friendster chick-hunting sessions. Some one-liners that got the staple 'Gimme Some' moments (moments where you said something funny and people 'give you some' or hi 5s lol).

Zai - 'I don't know which to choose... TO PUT FIRST ON MY XMAS LIST!'

Me - 'DAMN THATS CHURCH!' and 'Someone find me this song that goes 'DAMN YOU CUTE! GIRL YOURE FINE!'

Hahaha. Cb cheap thrills sia. Haha. So thats what goes on all the way till 6.30am and Fiq send us to the bustop so we avoid walking down that 'Walk of Shame' with our basi faces and, that's all you need to know. (:

2009-01-24T14:36:00.002+08:00

friends whose links don't work,
friends whose blogs need to be accessed with a password,
friends whose last update was a year ago, (special cases like Hasfi will apply haha)
friends whose link, i don't even know how it was there in the first place,

YOU HAVE BEEN REMOVED HAHAHA.

i am contemplating putting up illyas, nikmat and my old blogs for old times sake. LOL.

anyways if you want me to link back, just tag on the board. cheers.

2009-01-18T13:10:00.003+08:00

Everyone is going bonkers over the Kaka situation. soccernet.com and goal.com were full of reports and updates regarding the news.

Some of the funnier comments I've read.

Laminin (1/17/2009 at 11:17 PM) Report Violation
Should Kaka play for Man City for 5 years and get them relegated... He can buy over the Club... =P Trust me it's not that hard.. =P

zomb523 (1/18/2009 at 1:08 AM) Report Violation
the only player in the world worth 100 million pounds is the guy from Goal: The Dream Begins.

1nRafaWeTrust (1/18/2009 at 1:27 AM) Report Violation
The only player worth over 100 million pounds is His Royal Highness Mr. Peter Crouch.

merc0302 (1/17/2009 at 8:51 PM) Report Violation

Kaka costs as much as/more than

1) 4 F-16 fighters
2) Barack Obama's inauguration
3) 100 Bugatti Veyrons (world's most expensive car)

To put things in perspective.

But the best comment comes from Liverpool's hotshot Fernando Torres.

"You may have a fantastic car, a fantastic home, but what does it matter?

"You can have a contract that is better than your friends, but no player looks back and says: 'I won more money'.''

Ok not that funny a comment. But I like it. Haha.

2009-01-18T02:17:00.003+08:00

The last actual local gig that I went was way back last year at Old School for the RSC Block Party. Well, i did attended NYP Open House last week, but i missed AVA and PS only played 3 songs, so like whatthehell.

So Live and Loaded gig at Scape today. Here's a short description for the bands that played.

A Vacant Affair

Opened the show. They delivered an intense set despite the sunlight glaring right at them. They never fail to pump up the crowd with their energy and pure raw emotion they put out. News that Rudi is going off to further his studies stunned me for a moment. Never expected that especially when Shen just left. It's just not the same without Shen and Rudi headbanging together with Matt and Josh. 3 songs with the already cult epic Crestfallen, new single We Are Not The Same and fast approaching epic song Connecting the Dots (Damn the song feels so epic). When Matt puts up the sign which says 'Fight For What You Believe In', you know AVA are here to stay, with or without Rudi and Shen.

Allura

Not really familiar with their materials, but they did put up a great set. Inch was awesome with her stage presence, jumping around like she owns the stage, despite being the obvious smallest person there. She can definitely hold her own as a frontwoman. The new song and Ladeda sounds great as well.

Vertical Rush

I enjoyed their set totally. Really catchy tunes. The last time i caught them last year, the guitarist and drummer caught my eye as they looked like they were high on drugs. Lol. And they haven't changed one bit, which is a fucking awesome alright! After this set, i might actually be tempted to get Of Real Dreams and check out their other materials.

Astroninja

I wasn't a fan to be honest before this set. I have always thought of them as a generic pop/punk band with some ridiculous outfits and antics to accompany them. But they put one hell of a show. I mean, cornflakes, confettis, spongeballs? I gotta give them props for that. If some other band were to do that, EPIC FAIL I TELL YOU. Haha. Bukkake Udon Song and Lucky Cucumber sounds great live.

Plainsunset

The main reason i went. I have yet to be to a ps set where the crowd isn't nuts. And this is no exception. Even during River Song, people have started jumping and moshing. Looks dumb though. Hahaha. Checking Email was the highlight to me. They seldom play it and when they did, I was smiling like one idiot. Plainsunset is always a perfect end, and also another thing. I have yet to be to a PS set where they didn't play an encore. Every single time the crowd screams encore, they will come back and play. And what other song could it be other than their biggest hit Girl On Queen Street. It's like the anthem for the local music scene. Perfect end to an awesome gig.

Went with the lads. Met up with Dee, Iffah and Fiqah. Saw Diana who seems like a loner there. Hahahaha. Izad and Davin as well. And Hafeez, Zul, Saifuddin and gang. I went back with cuts on my right hand a face but hell i wouldn't have it any other way. Thumbs up to the people who made it happen. Can't wait for Live and Loaded on 5. It's about fucking time local music gets recognised.

I urge everyone in Singapore to watch Live and Loaded and see what the scene has to offer. These are the bands that have spent tons of time, money and effort, have shed blood, sweat and tears to get to where they are. This is an important moment with alot of bands coming out with EPs and albums recently. AVA, Vertical Rush, Astroninja, Amateur Takes Control, Trella and Silhoutte comes to mind. The scene is at its healthiest state and its buzzing with excitement. It is time for them to get recognised for their contributions that they so deserve. We have to support our scene cause that is the only way that the scene will be taken seriously.

2009-01-16T00:39:00.002+08:00

I've been searching high and low on how to get my hands on KAMI The Movie DVD but to no avail. So I decided to email the makers, Redfilms, straight and this is what i managed to get from them.

- The DVD is OUT (in Malaysia only)
- The DVD IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR SHIPPING OR MAILING (will only be up on Amazon in 3 months time)
- The movie will be shown in SENSASI (but date is not known)
- They did not tell me which stores in Malaysia carry the title.

So, the search continues...

2009-01-13T20:52:00.003+08:00

Last Sunday's 3-0 loss against Man Utd is one of the worst displays i have seen coming from Chelsea. Boasting a near full-strength squad with the exception of Michael Essien, the display in the 2nd half in particular was embarassing to say the least. There was no fight, no hunger, no desire to come back from the first goal down. Not that before they were of a threat to Van Der Sar's goal. It was plain disappointing from start to finish.

No ambition, no creativity and absolutely poor at defending set pieces. How things have changed. The fact that this has been going for a couple of months now is worrying. Even during Grant's regime, never have Chelsea been humbled as they were last Sunday. I could remember the disappoinments against Liverpool in the UCL semi finals for 2 seasons, and a certain 3-0 loss against Boro in the league, but this is just embarassing.

Before anyone starts calling me a glory seeker, I have been a Chelsea fan ever since I was a litte kid. The days when Ed De Goey is the keeper, French captain Marcel Desailly and Frank Lebouef marshall the defence. When Vialli lead us to Cup Winner's Cup (now defunct) win. When Zola is the messiah and struts his magic on the field. Heck, I can even remember Chelsea getting knocked out of the UEFA Cup against Viking FC whose best player was Man Utd reject Erik Nevland. Those were the days when our realistic ambitions every season would be a top 6 finish. If we can break into the top 4 and qualify for the Champions League, that would be a remarkable achievement already. We were like how Villa and Everton are now easily said.

But things have changed. Expectations are so high now that it is almost a certainty you will get sacked if you can't deliver a League title or Champions League. Which is a shame if you ask me. Managers like Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger were given ample time to build their teams and we can see the result of it now. i was hoping Mourinho would be given that sort of chance to be able to build a dynasty for 10-15 years at Chelsea But that didn't happen. I WOULD BE DAMNED if Chelsea becomes like Real Madrid where like 9 managers came and went within 5 years.

So please Mr Scolari, do something. I would love to give Scolari a chance to prove himself but we all know things don't work that way in the EPL these days. Unless things pick up in the next few games, his ass is on the line and he knows it.

2009-01-04T23:30:00.006+08:00

Ok I'm really bored.

Terry Crews, the 'beautiful chocolate man'. No not wan, not me, but him. He is simply, the BEST.

White Chicks will always be the best movie that he has featured in but damn that scene in Click cracked me up the most. Hahaha.

2009-01-01T13:16:00.003+08:00

Countdown wasn't what we expected. But it's ok. Cause you guys were there, through the good times, and the bad times, like so many times throughout this i would say an uneventful year. At the end of the day, it's still you guys and not anyone else who stick it out to the end. And for that, I am grateful to have people like you all i call friends. Shafiq, Faris, Zainal, Ridwan, Illyas, Hasfi, Khyrul, Khabir, Nikmat, thanks for everything. May we have a blast of a year ahead.

Thinking back about 2008, I believe i gotten older and wiser. Of course you wouldn't be able to see it on the outside, but yeah. I've taken my schoolwork much more seriously, even at the expense of neglecting my other friends, which I am guilty of and I'm terribly sorry about it. I've started to enjoy what I'm doing, a far cry from the start of my poly life where I dread what Im doing and even contemplating changing courses. But i think that was just a phase. We are all going through the transition from secondary school to poly life and it is hard. You miss your friends, your friends miss you, but you can't make time, and you got new friends along the way. But you have to embrace change. Change will happen throughout the rest of your life however minor or major it is. Because who knows, however long it takes, 1 wk, 1 mth, 1 year, you will end up enjoying what you do eventually.

Being the quiet optimist that i am, i hope 2009 will be a blast! Happy new year to you all and have a great year ahead.

New year resolution:

Get a new band
Be a better son
Be a better muslim
Be a better friend
Get my driving or riding license
Cut on spending unnessasary items
Catching up with friends

2008-12-22T15:33:00.002+08:00

Been real busy the past week. The family business of catering and wedding services is in full swing this period with 3 weddings and 1 engagement ceremony in 10 days. Nuts, tell me about it. There's even one that will take place on Xmas day. Give me a break. So its been work, work and more work till the new term starts. Tiring as hell, but the only consolation i can get from it is the chicks man! Hahaha.

So Singapore is knocked out of the AFF Suzuki Cup by Vietnam. Managed to catch the game at home. I would definitely be at the stadium if it wasnt because of work. Bloody disappointing. The Lions had a hatful of chances but spurned it all while Vietnam had like one counterattacking chance and they took it. Congrats to Vietnam, they deserve it more to me cause they were more hungry and way more determined than Singapore. They defended their post as if their life depended on it.

In Raddy We Trust. Forget Asean honours. Been there done that. Asian Cup Qualifiers next. Let's hope we can qualify for this first, before we even think about the World Cup.

And fuck TNP.

2008-12-14T16:55:00.004+08:00

Battles
Live at the Esplanade Concert Hall
18 March 2009
Mosaic Music Festival 2009

Price: $78, $58 (Student $60, $40)

One of the most critically-acclaimed experimental/post/math-rock band Battles is coming to Singapore. And let me tell you, it is dirt cheap at 60 bucks for a Category 1 seat. Crazy beats, crazy samples, crazy riffs, their sound is like no other. I was just waiting for a band of this calibre to come and now i've got my wish.

'The people won't be people when they hear this sound'
Battles - Atlas

2008-12-01T22:43:00.003+08:00

The past week have got to be, the best week in recent times for me.

1. Dheel

Ok, it's no longer the best kept secret now. But i managed to keep it from everyone for months, and now, our aussie boy is back in Singapore. I mean like, that alone is enough to make it a wonderful week.

2. Soccer

Played soccer twice this week on Tues and Sat with the lads. When was the last time that happened? Totally enjoyed myself.

3. Music

I jammed for the first time last Wed since Despots split and fuckkk that feels great. Replied to a post at soft.com for a band calling out for a guitarist and i just tryout for them for the sake of it. They're a punk band playing Ramones and Hellacopters covers and they are just what i need. At the end of the session, Mizar the drummer said, 'You wanna jam again if we do?' Of course i said yes. So i guess, im back doing this band thing. (:

4. Meetups, Meetups

Met up with Ayu and Nisa who are dearly missed. Small picnic at Pasir Ris Park with Dheel, Fiq, Sabrina, Mateen and Bobby. Lovely day.

Friday, went shisha with the lads and that have got to be one of the highlights of the week. Everything was shared among everyone and everyone just having a really, really good time. I don't really like to say, 'You missed out man' to anyone missing, but Ris and Fiq, such a waste. Haha. It was some sort of a early farewell dinner for Wan who will be serving his NS soon on the 9 of Dec. Really unbelievable to think he is going so soon.

So there it is. Some of the aspects that have been severely missing in my life came back one after the another. Trust me, it has been one hell of an exhausting week, but i would never had it any other way. Loving life at the moment.

(I did say I was exhausted!)

2008-11-20T23:59:00.005+08:00

Boredom strikes. Anyway, I've always wanted to post some of my school works here, but always seem to forget about it. So here you go. And, if you ever told me in secondary school that I would be designing websites in the future, I would probably say no chance. I don't know, as a kid you tend to set high standards for yourself and say i wanna be a doctor or a lawyer or something. Hahahaha. But this is what I do now. Oh well, you can't be choosy in life can you?

F&N HTML-based Site for IDES module

DMPF Profile HTML-based site for DMPF module

Chelsea FC Flash-based site for INMM module

Yeah it's not that wow or spectacular. Seriously what do you expect from someone who have like zero interest or knowledge prior to pursuing this course? Hahaha.

2008-11-19T22:22:00.003+08:00

Faris is right when he said a couple of months back that the hippie movement will make a comeback. Haha. Listen to these.

MGMT - Time to Pretend

Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You

Keane - Spiralling

(I've always loved watching live performances, hence live videos)

I like it. Now we will see if this turns out to be another fad among teens here. I mean, the headbands and all are making a comeback as well. But hell, this is much better than the Boys Like Girls crap MTV plays everyday. Haha.

2008-11-08T14:55:00.004+08:00

10 random facts? Heck, ill give you 20. Haha.

1. I performed Indian Dance when I was in K2.

2. I once saw this girl when I was in K1, and dreamed of marrying that girl that very night.

3. I was a consistent EMB (Edusave Merit Bursary) winner throughout primary school. It stopped when I entered secondary school.

4. I can't eat or smell mee goreng or else I will puke.

5. I cried when I didn't get into Tanjong Katong Secondary School with my best friend in pri sch and was posted to Pasir Ris Sec instead. But no regrets at all.

6. I joined Media Club in Sec 1 cause I thought it was cool.

7. I was nicknamed 'Porn King' by my fellow mates in sec 2 cause I know everything about it. The pornstars, the genres, the scenes. Like guys usually just watched it, but I actually wiki-ed and learn more about it.

8. I have a soft spot for romantic films.

9. I am most afraid of rejection.

10. I never had a bed in my room ever since i was born. I sleep on mattresses.

11. I have moved houses 5 times in my short 18 years of life.

12. When I listen to songs in the bus, I imagined myself playing those songs on stage.

13. The only relationship I was in lasted only 2 months.

14. I sing jiwang songs in class in sec 2.

15. I still watched WWE every week.

16. When i was young, I tried to learn the choreography of NSYNC from their music videos.

17. Speaking of NSYNC, my favourite member was Lance Bass. I didn't know he was like, gay man! Hahaha.

18. I always puked as a kid when I'm in somebody else's car cause I wasn't familiar with the smell.

19. I'm a paranoid when it comes to my belongings. I will always touch the back and side pockets of my pants like, every half an hour to check if my phone and wallet is there.

20. I once had a dream of an angel taking my soul away. I really thought that was it, my time is up cause I couldn't breathe at all. I managed to wake up from it all sweaty and breathless. And i cried myself to sleep.

2008-10-30T19:15:00.004+08:00

Brazil's Ronaldo. One of the best strikers of all time.

He went from this

to this

And i thought i was the only one. Hahahaha.

2008-10-26T12:17:00.003+08:00

Avenged Sevenfold Live in Singapore
Venue: Max Pavilion at the Singapore Expo

The hype was there right from the start. We arrived at 5.30pm and the queue was super long. We asked around and some have been there since 12 or 1pm. We went right to the front and I saw a cousin of mine, Raihan, and we started queuing from there. Hahaha. There was a fight going on as well, but they managed to kiss and make up by shaking hands and hugging each other when security intervened. Lol. Everyone was squeezing all the way from the back to the front with hopes of getting the best standing place in the arena. Everyone were screaming 'Sevenfold! Sevenfold!' throughout the wait and singalong to their songs. It was good fun.

Managed to squeeze in with Nikmat and we got a real close view. Second row to be exact and we were at the right hand side of the stage which means we are going to see alot of Zacky. Awesome. Made new friends with people around us. Farhan, Nadia, the father and son who came all the way from Dubai just to catch A7X. Should have gotten Farhan or Nadia'a contact cause they have a cam with them, and i don't have any pics to accompany my post now. ):

Vermillion opened the show. Great, since i have never seen them live before. Another local band to strike off the list. I think the sound didn't do them justice. I seriously think they have great materials. And I know everyone was hyped up about A7X, but seriously guys. Boo if you want, but throwing shoes at them? Come on. I just can't find anything that can justify these stupid people's actions. But i do find it a little funny when they came out and people were like 'Who the fuck?!?!' Hahahaha.

The intermission between the end of Vermillion to the start of A7X was fucking long. Everyone was getting restless, and we entertain ourselves by cheering for anyone that walks on stage, and trying to guess the guitar tech's name. Hahaha. Finally, the lights started to go off, and the intro to Critical Acclaim sets in. Everyone went nuts and the band came on stage. Shadows is huge! Haha. Zacky is literally in front of us and damn he looked fucking cool.

Ok now for the bad. The crowd was annoying as hell. Everyone had their hands up with their cam and phones that i couldnt see the band at all. And everyone was pushing and squeezing to get to the front. I was pushed all the way back, which was worse cause there were MORE people in front of me with their cams and phones in the air. Oh yea, my right shoe got loose and it went off my foot by the 3rd song. I spent the entire song trying to get down to get my shoe and when i finally got it, i missed the action for that song. It was Beast and the Harlot if i'm not mistaken and i was fucking pissed. i threw my shoe to the security and told him to keep it, cause theres no way i can find that bit of space to wear it back. So i spent the rest of the set, getting the shit stepped out of my foot.

It was only when they got to Gunslinger, one of their last few songs, that i finally got to properly enjoy it. I got to a place where people weren't so nuts and everyone were just interested to singalong to the songs. And it's a fucking awesome tune to singalong to, Gunslinger. Another short intermission and they finally got back to the stage to end it with my favorite song off the new album, A Little Piece of Heaven. That was simply magical and the highlight of the set.

Max Pavilion is such a bad place to hold a concert. The sound system as I mentioned earlier was really poor. Alot of echoes etc. The acoustics are just very bad. If you were in front, you couldn't hear the vocals well. And it is a shame, cause Shadows was immense and imagine the mic being a whole lot clearer. Vermillion came off worst obviously because there were no vocals, all screaming and all you can hear is noise. Synyster's solos weren't that impressive too. The sound was just disappointing to say the least. The father and son from Dubai took the same train as us, and they were overly critical of the sound, claiming 'It's a fucking warehouse!' and even claimed not to want to come back to watch another concert here. Even told us to try and get write a complaint letter to the Minister of Tourism, if we have one. Hahaha.

Also, the set it seemed was a little rushed. The set was only over an hour. I was also disappointed that they didn't play more of their old hits. You can name all the songs that they played. Critical Acclaim, Afterlife, Seize The Day, Bat Country, Scream, Beast and the Harlot, Unholy Confessions, Gunslinger, Almost Easy and A Little Piece of Heaven. That's like only 10 songs. Plus Zacky played his own song and Syn's solo, it's a real short set, which is disappointing considering we waited for a long time to get in, and for it to start.

But all in all, it was an unforgettable night. Disappointing? To a larger than certain extent, yes. But at the end of the day, we Singaporeans don't have the privelage of these awesome international acts playing every week so we gotta make do with what we get. And it's awesome meeting fellow fans even though everyone wears the same shirt from Penin. Hahaha. And I still fucking love the band, but Max Pavilion is a no-no for me.

Oh yea, Shadows said, 'I think we sold more tickets than Kanye West!'. Hahaha. Fucking A. Oh yes, i got my shoe back in the end. Lol.

2008-10-19T22:12:00.002+08:00

School's back! I almost died when i first saw the new timetable, 9am-6pm everyday without breaks. Then when i revise it the second time, turns out some lessons only starts on week 37, so it's not so bad.

Thurs-Sat been a blast. Met up with a couple of poly classmates at TM's Seoul Garden on Thurs before heading back to TP for semester briefing for the first time in 2 mths. Hahaha. Then me and Lenon decided to catch Max Payne since it's the premiere and we have nothing better to do. Max Payne? I don't play the game, so it took me awhile to understand what was going on such as the Valkyr, Payne's family tradegy etc. But after awhile, it starts to fall into place, and i started to enjoy the movie, and the special effects are amazing. Kinda slow in the beginning due to the focus to origins, so i hope the sequels to it will be much better, like Dark Knight was to Batman Begins.

Fri, wasn't planning on going out, since i'm having new furnitures from Ikea coming in for my room. But Mat msg-ed informing about Aqmar's open house and all of the lads are going. So i can't be the spoiler and met up with them in the end. Had a great time. Took our first group pic as the lads hahaha. Seriously, cause it's such a rarity to have all 10 of us together. Me, mat, ris, fiq and zai went to E-Hub to chill afterwards and we talk about... I don't really remember that well hahaha. I remembered some like the 'one way street' with the hand action, them telling me the number 1 reason im still single is cause i do stunts on elevator (HAHAHA), thinking of girls to invite for raya outing the next day cause we were sooo desperate cause all the girls buey. Wah piang. So desperate that fiq suggested our gig buddies Iffah and Farah Chan. LOL.

Sat was raya outing. The only girls who made it were Aqmar, Faz, and Aishah and thats only cause shes Yas' girl. Hahaha. Farah went back early and Amira made a one house cameo appearance only. Haha. But it's all well. The day went well. Hasfi is back! With a bang. Hahaha. Zai gets my vote for 'Best Shades'. Haha. Unforgettable moments include the 'shade-on! shade-off!' command by Zai to us, Fi's hilarious reaction at the lift, our little read-along blog sessions at Farah's place with her big screen as the Mac's monitor etc. There's a whole lot more but i can't remember them all. I do remember we had a wonderful time from the laughs we had throughout the day.

I know that the new semester is gonna be tough. But come friday, i know i can look forward to A7X. And Saw 5 is out on that same day. Eh wait. High School Musical III too!

A7X. HSM. Hmmmmmmmmm.

2008-10-13T22:37:00.004+08:00

Wah it's been awhile. Sorry for the sudden lack of updates. It started with having nothing to blog, and when there's finally something interesting to blog, i'll be too tired from raya outings with family and the past week been hanging out with the lads so yea. There you go.

Raya outing been great. I feel kinda weird getting duit raya. Hahaha. Feel like im too old. But hey, ill just accept it anyway while i still can. Met cousins that i haven't seen for a long time, and i remembered one who look just like Juliana Evans! Wah piang i almost dropped my glass when she came out of the room. Hahahaha. She's kinda old though for me since she's in uni but who cares. Old is gold. (:

That's Juliana Evans from the Malaysian show Kami. And I was in the same house for 30 mins with someone who looks like her. Call me a loser or whatever but i bet you wished you were in my place. Speaking of Kami, I can't wait for the movie. Great show, awesome music, HOT GIRLS etc etc.

Ok maybe I am a loser. This holidays i did nothing except for fasting, playing 8 seasons of Football Manager, Spankwiring (after fasting like duh) and Guitar Hero on the PC. I swear i look like a retard turning my keyboard to the position of a guitar and configuring the buttons so that it simulates like a real guitar, as recommended by Hasfi. And headbanging in front of the computer screen. But you know what, i wouldnt trade this 'loser lifestyle' for anything else. I never felt free-er if there's such a word. No worries, nothing. I can start thinking and worrying when the new semester starts.

Only downside is that, my social life is totally gone. Hahaha. I seriously believe i have no one to hang out with other than the lads, a far cry from last year where i have these different group of friends to hang out with. It's hard to establish contact again when it's lost. Or maybe im just too lazy to do anything about it? i dunno. What is happening to me man? Psychosocial betol ah hahaha.

But hey, at least now i'm convinced who the real friends are.

I'll try to update more often. Cheers.

2008-09-28T22:29:00.003+08:00

Today was tough. Woke up at 5.30am and help my parents out till 3pm. The heat certainly didn't help and i can't help but gulped down 3 cups of lime juice before i even started eating. Hahaha in the end kenyang air.

Raya preparations been great. i just put on this blue curtains i bought at Bazaar (the one and only time i went) and it fits perfectly. I'm just a couple of things away from having the perfect room though. Like an aircon, or a PS3 maybe. HAHA. But nah, i'm happy and have no complains whatsoever.

I'm glad i didn't get a job, like a real job this holidays. Instead, i became my mom's 'personal assistant' and been helping out with the kuihs and chores everyday. Haha. I feel like i'm much closer to the family now. Not that i never was, but i do feel distant when the school semester starts. When i get up in the morning, everyone is either off to work or school. And when i get back, it's late and everyone is preparing to turn in. It's nice to spend more time at home, breaking fast together. Haha, don't even talk about pay lah. No amount of money can buy time spend together with family.

My cousin said it best. He asked if i got a job this hols. I said i'm looking around. And he said this. 'It's good to have a job. But remember this. This might be the only time you can spend your free time like this. Spend your free time contemplating to have a job. Or simply not doing anything else. Times like these is hard to come by in the near future. School, attachment, NS and a career. So think about it'. Wow. I never thought about it like that. I basically made up my mind on the spot not to have a job and I'm gonna make the best of the remaining holidays.

F1 was cool. But i have never watched it even when it's shown on TV before. I get updates about it only because i watch Sportscenter Asia every night. I feel like a poser watching the Spore night race on tv. Hahaha. But really, i might be one of the few in Singapore who doesn't really care about the race here. Ask Faris. I don't even know that the F1 race here would feature Hamilton, Alonso, Raikkonen, Massa etc. Hahaha. I really am that oblivious (thanks Diana for the word) to what is happening around here. Haha. And I really don't see myself watching F1 after this race. So, whatever. Haha.

Cheers.

2008-09-23T22:48:00.002+08:00

I have missed way too many great acts that stopped by our tiny island. Sum 41, Slipknot, Muse, Anberlin, Funeral For A Friend. I'm not gonna miss this one. See you guys on the 24th of Oct!

Yesterday, the lads came over to my place for iftar. Some like Ris, Zai and Fiq came early to kill some time by playing Pro Evo. The rest like Fi came later. Mat came over from his motor prac which he failed for the 3rd time hahaha. Wan came in his MJC uniform.

My xbox is on the verge of dying, and the Pro Evo is the old version, so they make do with PES 2008 on my PC. Played 3-men team since Ris and Fi brought their controllers and another one used the keyboard. It was fun all the way. Tried unsuccessfully over and over again to win the World Cup. Haha. People don't realise how hard it is to play with 3 guys in the same team cause it requires alot of communication on where you want the ball from your mates.

My mom and grandma whipped up Nasi Ayam Penyet. Delicious spread. Wan said now he knows what i mean. Everyone says i have gained weight but what they do not know is what my family cooks everyday. So if anyone wants to gain weight, stay over at my place for a week and we will see the results. Hahaha.

When you have the lads, you get jokes. Here are some of the funny ones of the day.

1. I just found out that in my sister's laminated certificate, there's a boy showing his middle finger. It's funny cause that certificate has been showcased in my room for half a year and i never noticed it until Zai told me about it. It's laminated for god's sake! Haha.

2. Faris' Creative controller has a special feature called 'Vibration'. And I kept playing with it to make the controller vibrates. Until Zai suggests that i try to smell it. Nasty. Of course I didn't.

3. During one of the game, Fiq kept repeating to Hasfi to 'Stay back! Stay back!' as in to defend against opposition. Ris just had to say it. He said 'Fiq, kau buat ah, that's something you're good at.' HAHAHA. PERSONAL ATTACK SIA.

4. Zai turned on the song 'Touch My Body' by Mariah Carey and while listening, we realised there's no vocals in it. Zai asked Ris, 'Eh yang part blank tok kau rap ke per?' HAHAHAHA.

5. Tried Guitar Hero 3 on Ris mac, then Wan tried. Confident sak nak try Dragonforce. He couldn't keep up with the speed and ended up pressing anyhow on the keyboard. He made the Ray Charles face on the piano and that was just plain whack! Fucking funny.

Ok that's all. One more week to Raya. Fasting's been good so far. No complains whatsoever. Cheers.

2008-09-18T23:37:00.004+08:00

We did this video a while back. Early this year if im not mistaken. Just thought i should share it with you guys. Yas was immense in his performance. And my brief cameo appearance shouldn't be taken lightly. Haha. Zai and Fiq added their own touch. But Faris was behind the whole thing. The recording, the editing, so big props to him. We did this in the early hours and we wrapped it up at 6am at Fiq's place. Simply unforgettable.

Heavily inspired by watching Eurotrip at 2am. The scene which Du was playing in the background while Scotty and his girl were making out was plain hilarious and we thought to ourselves how great it is if we could spoof it. And we did. So, enjoy. (:

2008-09-18T23:01:00.002+08:00

Judd Apatow is a genius. The man behind all my favourite comedies which includes 'The 40-Year Old Virgin', 'Superbad' and my personal favourite 'Knocked Up' which i think kicked Juno's ass last year (though Juno is a damn good movie). His other works are worthy mentions like Talladega Nights, Drillbit Taylor, Walk Hard and Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Even his television shows such as Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared has achieved cult status and i loved them all. I dont know why, but his works are just, so easy to relate to. Especially on Knocked Up, when you have the 4 buddies smoking pot and talking shit, if you minus the pot, thats exactly what me and mates do. We talk about the most stupidiest and irrelevant things and its so easy to understand where they're coming from. Not alot of people understand their jokes, but i laughed time and again when i recalled their one-liners. Hahaha.

Forget Disaster Movie. I loved Scary Movie 1 and 2, they were absolute classics at the time. But they have just been going downhill from Scary Movie 3 onwards. Date Movie was the final nail in the coffin and i didn't even bother to watch Epic Movie and Meet The Spartans. So i recommend you guys to watch his 2 upcoming works, Step Brothers and Pineapple Express if you're into his kind of works. I really think he's a genius.

And also because of him, I became fans of the actors who's worked under him. Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Jason Segel, Jay Baruchel etc. Imagine if i can sit and have lunch with them. Utter madness.

2008-09-14T16:14:00.003+08:00

Forget Camera Obscura.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD IS COMING!

They were one of my favourite bands going through sec 3 and 4, so i can't possibly miss this. I miss their Singfest 07 set cause the other bands aren't to my liking. But this, their own set. Oh man it's gonna be awesome.

24th Oct. Max Pavilion at Singapore Expo. 8pm.

$75 - Early Birds (16-21 Sept).
$85 - Students.
$95 - Standard Price.
$110 - On The Door.

I got enough to get my early birds tix next week thanks to doing odd jobs these past weekend.

Mat, Wan, Yas, Khy, Bhir, anyone?

2008-09-07T23:55:00.002+08:00

all i wanted was an answer from my bandmates, instead i got

- phirkhan telling me to go to the mosque and pray for a gf
- ris laughing at that comment, and asking for pics from the music garage gig
- zai countered phirkhan by saying he deserved to get 'chokeslammed' by the imam
- khy decided to get into the action by trying to act smart with his comments towards zai
- which zai countered again, leaving khy humiliated about our infamous lenny joke
- khy cried foul, farna and ris laughed
- suzie finally got back to the post, saying despots are missed
- diana and farah comments that the post is 'aww-worthy'
- and it all concludes with bhir calling me 'emo'

you guys ahhhh. hahahaha.

there's nothing emo about it. i have always had no problems revealing my sensitive side once in awhile in this blog. i can wear my heart on my sleeve anytime, but why would anyone wanna see that everytime? Gosh, if everyone is like that, the world would be a sappy place to live in. Hahaha.

oh, and Camp Rock > High School Musical. Wahahaha

I can't believe some of my classmates called me childish as i told them i still watched Nickelodean, Disney and Cartoon Network. Oh yeah, watching anime is very mature indeed huh. With fantasy storyline and boobs galore (why ALL the characters have big boobs i still dont get it), its pretty mature. I mean, if i want boobs, i'd watch the real thing. Hahahaha. Oh well, whatever.

Cheers.

2008-09-04T02:56:00.004+08:00

I've been doing alot of thinking. All these while I have not been posting anything about what's going on in my life. The fact is, theres nothing going on in my life. It's so dull. And now after much thought, i know exactly why.

I miss jamming sessions. I miss the feeling of satisfaction that we are able to complete a song. I miss the laughters when our vocals becomes turkey voices. Hahaha. I miss how my troubles just disappear after one session. I miss the joy of it. All of it.

It was the only thing keeping me sane all these while. The thing that completes me. If others need the companion of their friends, their better halfs or whatnot, i need my jamming sessions to look forward to. Friends who have followed me to one would have noticed, i never failed to smile at one. It gives me so much pleasure and it hasn't changed from the day i first went to one in 2004. How happy it makes me feel is beyond reasoning and description.

The biggest mistake i made was to dissolve Despots. Ever since that day, i swear my life hasn't been the same. The fact that i ended it so prematurely, right after our SAE sessions. It was a mistake alright. I took it too seriously and since that day, my life suddenly feel so, empty. Maybe you guys think im overreacting, but i'm not. And wow, this holiday, it couldn't get any worse could it? No school, no job, no gf (HAHA), no band. Perfect.

I tried to join other bands but it just never felt right. I tried to work with Justin, and he's like a jackass. Brenda? Great singer, but not much in common. Other bands just doesn't have the same taste as I do. So i gave up.

Now, I want to correct that mistake. I don't need a better drummer than Zai. Or a better bassist than Khy. Or a better lead guitarist than Fi. Why am i even complaining? You guys are some of my best friends in the world and that is more than good enough. I wanna reform this band. No pressure this time. Just have fun, like the old times. Like it was supposed to be. What you guys say?

2008-09-03T16:19:00.002+08:00

Robinho signs for Manchester City on the deadline.

Wow. Where did that come from?

All month long, a move to Chelsea was on the cards. And it simply got hijacked. Heck, they were even bidding for Berbatov on the deadline!

Next game, Chelsea vs Man City. That's gonna be interesting.

2008-08-31T11:44:00.002+08:00

Baybeats Day 2 was a major improvement from the day before. I truly enjoyed all the sets, unlike yesterday's one.

Initially i was heavy hearted to make my way down to the Esplanade, but the more i look at the lineup, the more i think it's a kickass lineup. And so, i went feeling optimistic that i won't be disappointed like yesterday did. And thank god it didn't.

Kickstart with Midnight Marvel. Straight up rock n roll. Decent set, but i enjoyed it. Next was Silhoutte. Another worthy mention. The vocalist and guitarist were superb. Esp the guitarist, his riffs were amazing. Now that's some tight shit! Haha.

Deserters were ok. I sat through the set, which means it wasn't bad. Then Cardinal Avenue. Silhoutte and Cardinal Avenue really have done the newer bands proud for the 2nd day for their tight sets. Even though the 2nd guitar were drowned out by the rest of the instruments, it doesn't matter as the crowd were loving it.

You and Whose Army? were awesome too. Their experimental style were fresh and i can see why they are selected alongside the other newer bands. And it's pretty cool all members can play 2 instruments.

Faspitch from Philipines were tight. Their brand of emo/hardcore is really loud and in your face and they were the only band who managed to excel in that. Sounded like Anberlin, Thursday etc, and that's not a bad thing either.

The Oddfellows are one of my favourite bands of the day. First saw them at their reunion set at the Peachy Pop showcase. They are just so chilled and laid back. They played a lovely set, with their hits including 'The Unity Song' and 'So Happy'. Guitarist was amazing, he was going berserk on his axe. Suzie said he looks and sounds like Vernon. Hahaha. But they put up a vintage set and i totally enjoyed it.

Iffah, Suzie and Farna left and I was left alone. Only for a short while as I joined Zahri and friend. Stopped by the merch booth and got Leeson's EP 'Speed Dating' which was sold out yesterday. Made our way to the Powerhouse and it was packed. Electrico was up on the stage. So packed i only managed to get a glimpse from the Junk magazine booth. Definitely remeniscent to PS set last 2 years. They were great, no surprises, but to be honest, i was looking forward to The Lucksmiths even more and left for the Arena 10 mins before it started.

And you have no idea how glad am I to stay around because The Lucksmiths from Aussie are the best highlight to me. The rest are just as great, but The Lucksmiths are something else. Drummer is the frontman, so he's got a smaller custom-made drumset for him to play while standing and singing as well. Frontman was lively and energetic. He even sounds like Luke Pritchard of The Kooks, without the Brighton accent of course. The whole 45 mins i was there, i was smiling away. Their fast indie approach was really refreshing and I was just so happy to finally catch them, even with no usual 'gig buddies'.

I went back alone. Actually, it doesn't really matter. My only intention to go there was to catch all the bands, the new, the old. Give all of them equally a chance. So what if there is no GSE and PS? Actually it's even better i went alone so that others won't spoil my moment of enjoying some of these great bands.

GSE invited the usual bunch of us to their secret show this sat. You guys must be delighted.

2008-08-30T00:57:00.002+08:00

Baybeats 08's 1st day was a big disappointment. I thought the new bands would bring something new and fresh to this prestigious festival.

Another Epic Story, I gotta admit, they sounded tight on their myspace. But their performance was marred by ALOT of technical glitches. And it doesn't help when they do not play their instruments properly and decided to jump around like monkeys. Disappointing.

I was looking forward to only a couple of bands, one of them is Leeson. Was impressed at their performance in Stasis 10 and they certainly did not disappoint. Their catchy tunes and pop sensibility is music to my ears. One of the best acts of the day despite another round of technical glitches. This time, with the speakers.

We ditched Peepshow to catch Analog Girl because of Chan, but we only manage to catch her last song. Lol. So we chilled at the concourse till some reporter from Straits Times came over and wanted to interview me and some of us regarding the local music scene. Hahaha.

Got ready for Force Vomit. Great performance. I have no idea why people are bodysurfing to Last Nite I Said Goodbye. Stupid scenesters. Back to FV, they were great, but i wasn't engrossed in it.

Was tempted to stay for Vertical Rush, but went back anyways. All in all, Baybeats 08 is a dull affair. I remembered the first Baybeats i went, in 06. It was a stellar lineup. The Pinholes, A Vacant Affair, Bittersweet and One Buck Short from Malaysia and Plainsunset. I was so enlightened by what our local and regional bands can offer us and have been a fan since.

But for a newbie who went for Baybeats only this year, they wouldn't be impressed by what they see. I remembered some bands in the past keep mentioning how honoured they are playing at a stage as big as Baybeats. I don't know. Maybe bands these days take it for granted. It's not what it used to be. The crowd is there, but the feeling is dead.

If i do make my way there tomorrow, it will be with a very heavy heart.

2008-08-23T17:45:00.003+08:00

Watched this movie yesterday with the lads

The good:

Lim Kay Siu's portrayal of Uncle Choo is pretty impressive. He was just how I imagined he would be. Passionate with a never-say-die attitude. Throughout the movie, his performance is commendable and I applaud him for that. I really see flashes of Remember The Titans and Coach Carter in this movie with the motivaional speeches before matches and such. Some of the scenes during the matches was pretty cool with the slo-mo effects. In that aspect, the movie certainly passed.

The bad:

The casting was almost perfect. I mean, Mat Noh and Samad looks pretty close and some others too. But 'Crazy Horse' Nasir Jalil was pretty embarassing. He was fat and the part where he ran to warm up like a 'Crazy Horse' cracks everyone up. Some of the parts are very unrealistic. Surely Rajagopal wasn't given a beer during the match and scored the winning goal because of that? Goalposts are so small they actually looked like they're playing a 7-side match. There are others but i guess you have to watch it for yourself.

Overall:

To be honest, it wasn't as bad as the guys made it out to be. It was a pretty decent movie for a local independent film. Like i said, Lim Kay Siu was enough to carry the movie alone. 'Untuk Bangsa dan Negara!' still lingers in my mind because of him. Ding An did well with the casting that he can find, and big props with the effects to make the stadium look old. The way they recreate the 70s feel was well done too. Again, let's keep it in mind that this is a local independent film. No point expecting it to be a summer blockbuster like the Goal franchise.

All in all, it's an enjoyable movie despite the obvious boo-boos in it.

Rating:

3/5

2008-08-18T22:28:00.002+08:00

Spent the last 3 days at Downtown East's chalet. It was the perfect getaway from school. Spent the first day eating, playing Taiti with cousins till the wee hours, then the next day went to Wild Wild Wet since we had 8 free tickets and that was great fun as well. Next we head to the bowling alley and we played one game for 7 of us. I finished last unsurprisingly due to my lack of skills in sports that require aiming. Heck, even my sec 1 bro finished higher than me! Hopeless. Haha.

We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the chalet. Watched the olympics. Some of the feats were extraodinary. Usain Bolt was immense. I think he broke his own records in sprinting at the games like 3 times effortlessly. And Michael Phelps got his 8 gold medals as if it wasn't there to be contested.

Planned to catched Meet Dave at E-Hub at 12am, but everyone was pretty tired so we rented movies from the kiosk. The Hottie and the Nottie and Be Kind Rewind. Well, i know Paris Hilton is hot, but she's like in a different planet of hotness in THATN. Hahaha. Boys, will be boys. Be Kind Rewind is another stupid decent movie. But watchable.

Checked out at 10am just now and went back to my cousin's place. Slept even more. Woke up, watched Never Back Down. Slept again. Woke up to watch the new chinese drama at 7 and EPL Review and home i went.

I can't get enough of 65dos, Albert Hammond and Last Shadow Puppets. Better get back to my dosage of these awesome bands.

Cheers.

2008-08-15T18:38:00.002+08:00

I can safely self-declare that it's the holidays already. I'm glad all my assignments are over, and presentations are over. All that is left is just one DBIS paper (yes, one only) on the week after, and that is it. End of Sem 2.1.

Next sem will be different. Everyone's gonna be in different classes. I'm gonna miss the friends I've made in C167. Awesome awesome people. I wouldn't trade this class with any other classes. It doesn't help that other classes seem to only look out for themselves and are super competitive. We are just happy, fun-loving people that looks out for one another come submission day. Even when Mizi is 3 days late in submitting his INMM assignment, everyone chipped in to help him finish it. The bond among us goes a long way. We may be the underdogs of the course, but hey, we are doing just fine the way it is. (:

Congratulations to Team Singapore for reaching the finals in the Women's Team Table-tennis competition. Li Jiawei, Feng Tianwei and Wang Yuegu, you girls have done Singapore proud. I'm glad i watched all of 3 and half hours of the match on TV. Saying it's a great match is simply, an understatement. Just a joy to watch.

Cheers.

2008-08-12T20:20:00.002+08:00

DMPF presentation was bullshit. Ms Nah never once wanted to admit that it was the server problem or her problem that we couldn't upload our websites to the server. If the whole class couldn't upload, then something must really be wrong. It was all our fault and nothing could please her. Also, she should really not gave her comments while people are presenting. It just shows a lack of respect to us, and to the effort we put in to our assignments.

In other news, we are pulling out from Tapestry 08 this weekend. Brenda couldn't make it due to school commitments. There is no way we can get another singer, and if we could, there is no way we can get the singer to learn 7-8 songs for a 30 min set from scratch for a performance in less than 5 days. Apologies to those who are looking forward to it.

Maybe I should take a break from all of this music stuff. There are other things out there anyways.

Cheers.

2008-08-11T22:29:00.002+08:00

HELL WEEK IS OVER!

ok not technically, left brochure design for CMSK. But I really deserve a break after all the hard work i've put in for the past week. Staying back everyday till 9 in school, sitting in front of comp, debugging codes, designing webpages and 3D animation is really not a joke. If that wasn't enough, have to continue sitting in front of the comp again at home till the wee hours.

A massive load has been taken off my shoulders after the submission just now, and now I can only hope for the best during presentations.

CAMERA OBSCURA IS COMING! I'm seriously considering going for this. Anyone wanna join?

2008-08-01T23:58:00.002+08:00

Rise Of Amateur Photographers

[Warning: Ranting Ahead]

With the advent of cheaper cameras being widely available everywhere these days, consumers are spoilt for choices on what type of camera should they pick like a point-and-shoot (P&S), a prosumer or a DSLR camera.

With major companies like Nikon and Canon consistently pushing the boundaries of a cheap, entry-level DSLR like the D40 and the recently-released EOS 1000D, I start to see the rise of amateur photographers that are jumping onto the DSLR bandwagon.

However, this price-war act by these companies might actually start triggering an advent of amateur photographers who used P&S for casual shooting and then switching to DSLR; which might cause an inflation into an already bursting arena of amateur photography, but with negative consequences.

Casual P&S users are mostly consumers who only use their camera to shoot either themselves, friends, families and special events. And that's where the problem comes in.

These users rely on the Auto settings and just snap away, meaning that everytime they shoot, all they do is click away. But that means that they are not able to learn the intricacies of photography like adjusting the aperture and shutter speed.

So that means that when they have a DSLR in their hands, they cannot maximise the power of the DSLR 'cause of their refusal to learn the settings and just use the Auto mode and shoot away, which i think is a total waste of time and money.

An ideal example will be one of my classmates like to take photograph of herself and her friends apparently in Auto mode. One time, she said that she was interested in getting an DSLR. However, when i offer her opinions of what type of DSLR she should get, she turned a deaf ear to me. Reason being that she wants a decent model and not an entry level one.

Another example will be another of my classmate's sister owning a 40D (semi-pro) but only use Auto settings and shooting casual events.

So what's the point if you get a rather decent DSLR but use only Auto mode? That's nonsensical and a waste of money in my opinion.

But the thing is that people believe that if they own an expensive equipment, their skills and productivity goes up. That's where that idea fails in the field of photography.

The prime reason why P&S users convert to DSLR is because of one thing: Ego.

They believe that if they have a DSLR, they can shoot well.

The same case can be applied to the next example, whereby my friend who is in the photography field told me that sometimes after a shoot, his clients who are dissatisfied with his shoot will boost that they have a DSLR with tonnes of expensive equipment and can probably shoot better than him. That's where the irony comes in.

'Cause if they know how to shoot, why bother hiring a photographer? And that photographers don't really need expensive equipment to get *THE* perfect shot. The equipments are there to assist you, but they aren't gonna gurantee an all-round great shot.

So my point being?

With the rise of P&S-convert-to-DSLR amateur photographers, the photography arena might be facing up to something tougher than they might expect, together with the camera companies facing a backlash by consumers who did not know that they were investing into a system and not just a camera.

I seriously fear for the future of photography.

[End of Rant]

- derived from http://makanator.deviantart.com/
written by Lenon Peh Jing Kai (friend, classmate)

Literally the single most amazing post i've read in awhile. Provocative, but undeniably it is the truth. It really has become a trend. I was like, 'Finally, someone had something productive to say'. Thanks for the post Lenon.

2008-08-01T23:42:00.003+08:00

Tapestry auditions are out!

and...

WE ARE IN!

Very surprised we made it. It was just a decent performance at most, guess we got lucky. This shows you, 40 minutes is more than enough time to practice, just gotta practice hard. Ok now, 30 mins setlist. I have no idea what to play. Haha.

Anyways, this is the details.

Who: Despots (New-look outfit with Brenda as our new vocalist!)
What: Tapestry 08
Where: VIVO CITY
When: 16 and 17 August, 2.30pm and 1.00pm respectively
Why: Cause we need your support!

Updates will be done progressively.

IMI, Hell Week starts tomorrow! Brace youselves!

2008-07-28T22:15:00.005+08:00

this door is always open,
this door is always open,
no one has the guts to shut us out.
but if we have to go now,
i guess there’s always hope that,
some place will be serving after hours.

this night is winding down but
time means nothing,
as always at this hour
time means nothing,
one final final round cos
time means nothing,
say that you’ll stay

say that you’ll stay

we’re finally drunk enough that,
we’re finally soaking up,
the hours that everyone else throws away.
and if we have to go now,
i guess there’s always hope,
tomorrow night will be more of the same.

this night is winding down but
time means nothing,
as always at this hour
time means nothing,
one final final round cos
time means nothing,
say that you’ll stay
say that you’ll stay

say that you’ll stay.

After Hours - We Are Scientists

What a band. What a gem of a song. I'm still surprised it isn't a mainstream hit cause I think it has such an appeal. Talking about timeless. This is it.

2008-07-20T18:44:00.000+08:00

Chelsea FC, Ian Curtis, GSE, Jon Chan.

I'm a fanboy, so what?

2008-07-20T00:51:00.002+08:00

It was a long day today.

Woke up at 8am, just to go to Fauzan's place to collect his electro-acoustic which i'm gonna use for the Tapestry audition at 4.20pm. The collecting of the guitar was just 5 mins, but the trip to and fro was like 2 hours. No pain no gain. Hahaha.

Slacked at home, watched 'Election' on HBO Signature. Then played some pro evo with my bro. After that, rushed to Clarke Quay to meet up with Brenda for the first time. We had 40 mins to rehearse by the time we met, and it went pretty well. She's a great singer. Nothing special actually, but pleasant to the ears.

We got our own parts right, so it wasn't hard when we met. Only need to piece it together. Got to Fourtones, turns out the auditions been pushed to an hr. So we went in at 5.30. Only managed to play a song, My Heart by Paramore since the organisers said they have no time for 2 songs. It was decent, only 40 mins of rehearsal, what do u expect? Haha.

Then rushed over to Mt Sophia for the RSC Block Party with Ris. Met Iffah and Fatin there. I was bummed to miss ATC. Marchtwelve is not really my cup of tea. and I think Analog Girl is weird. I won't try to be the 'cool guy' to fit in and say Analog Girl is amazing cause in all honesty, i find her music somewhat draggy as the set goes by. Even though it was nuts that the only instrument she had on stage was a Nintendo DS, not even an instrument. Hahaha. So i give her props for that.

GSE was next! I blatantly said Kevin Matthews was Song's dad. Until Iffah and Ris correct me. Hahahaha. Mag wasn't with the band due to Speech Day. :( But it's ok. There were alot of technical glitches, a pity really. Their new song sounded great, but I still loved that arena-sounding Litmus. They didn't play that due to some requests from the crowd that they wanna dance. We were fine with anything really. It's still GSE. Class A with everyone singing along and Pinholes getting up on stage to join them was undoubtedly the highlight. Not a vintage set, but still a fucking good time.

We traded I Am David Sparkle for food. With is not a good choice really. The fried rice was bland, and the Otah leaves a stench on your hands. Iffah can vouch for that. Hahaha. We managed to catch the last 2 songs of IADS, and they really blow your mind, and ears literally. They were so loud and in your face, i swear my hearing was destroyed in the process. The finish the set with a nice finishing touch with a riff from Unforgiven by Metallica if im not mistaken.

Ive never had the chance to catch Astreal, so finally comes the time. But i think they're just not my cup of tea. Just like Analog Girl, i find them draggy. If not for the super hot frontwoman, i think ill sit at the sides waiting for the last band. They're still solid for a band that hasn't played in ages. But then again, Plainsunset delivers one of the best comebacks at Baybeats 06. So if you're good, you're good.

Speaking of the devil, Plainsunset was the last band to play. They were scheduled to play at 10.15, but i think they only got on stage at 11? I'm not sure. So they basically rushed thru their set here. Johari Window, Programme, Interference, De Opresso Liber, River Song, Plainsunset. What? That's it? 6 songs? I was bloody disappointed at the end of the set cause i basically sat through the whole Astreal set to pump myself up for Plainsunset, and they only manage to play 6 songs. The closing band, played the least songs for the event.

However, the set was the most fun of the day, and i will take that. Had my 5 seconds of fame at getting bodysurfed (yes, people can lift me up). But it wasn't a satisfying event for me. The venue wasn't the best there is. Try walking up that famed 'Stairway to Heaven' to Old School and you know what I mean. I didn't mind the rain, but the place just doesn't give that nice gig feel. Got home at 12.30am.

Bleah, long day indeed. I'm turning in. Tomorrow's match against Jingga FC at Safra 11am. I'm playing the lone striker! Hahahaha.

Cheers.

2008-07-15T10:15:00.003+08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. I have some important news, so here it is.

Despots has decided to go into indefinite hiatus. There have not been any quarrels so I wouldn't put it as a breakup. It was an agreement among all the band members, although it was me who initiate it. I feel it couldn't go any further. It was a difficult decision for me seeing that Despots have been a big part of my life for the past yr or so.

There were plenty of fond memories and some invaluable lessons from our gig experiences which I will bring. Now i finally understand how Hasfi felt when he decided to call it quits with Nofingers in Sec 4. I remember being pissed cause I thought he was selfish with his personal vendetta. I was wrong. You can't keep giving your 100% if the whole band isn't on the same page with you. It's great to be in a band with your best friends, but you will find out soon that they are only holding you back because you tend to be more lenient.

A couple of factors have accumulated for this not-so-sudden decision actually. The fact that we haven't progressed in terms of our music and showmanship was worrying to me. The Music Garage gig was a disaster to be honest and that was hard for me to accept. Even though our Somethingood gig was a much better improvement, it doesn't matter. Our recording too was mediocre at best. I see us as a casual band with no ambitions to make it out there. We can't possibly compete with what is out there, so why continue?

I'll be the first to admit that I brought this band up and down single-handedly. Being the frontman, I never felt comfortable and strong enough to engage listeners and audiences. But I didn't take the risk to get out of our comfort zone and get an actual vocalist. So it became like a virus that keeps spreading. It never healed.

It was unfortunate, but it was an ending which was never in doubt from the start. I wish everyone, Fi, Khy and Zai all the best if they continue with the respective music careers. You guys should. We will still meet up as per normal, we will still laugh together, play soccer every week together, no problem. But as a band, it is not possible anymore. Thanks for everything.

As for me, I am going back to what I do best, being a rhythm guitarist. I posted on soft.com.sg on my available status on that position, and 3 bands have come in so far enquiring. But only one seemed promising. Very promising indeed. There is a female vocalist and another guitarist and i have decided to give it a try with that band. We are going through the route of Paramore and The Morning Of. I'm very excited. Even though they are total strangers, it felt right and I'm finally ready to try out something new.

With that being said, Despots won't be auditioning for Tapestry, which is this Sat. But if all goes well, maybe i will audition with my new band mates, playing an acoustic set.

Cheers.

2008-07-06T12:20:00.003+08:00

Friday was a blast.
It was rocky in the beginning cause,

1. Was late for leadership class
2. My Movie Review report was in the wrong format, so i redo and hence was late for 40 mins
3. I miss out several important points in the report, and i will be penalised 25 marks if i didn't do it again, so i basically was late for nothing, because i had to redo it AGAIN after class and missed Friday prayers.
4. Was looking forward to meeting the lads, but turn out there's only 2, Wan and Yas.
5. Spend 30 mins at Rasa 21 discussing and brainstorming what to do.

But the day turn out well after all.

1. The talk we had in the bus back to TM was a laughfest.
2. Found out Mat went to play Takraw. and everyone's reaction was the SAME. (Laugh it out, then reenact the special Mat kick)
2. We decided to catch a movie since its 6 bucks before 6pm, and we settled on Wanted.
3. Turns out it was a fucking cool movie after all!
4. Yas ditched us for a certain Ms Angeldemon (turns out it wasn't her), but we got more than enough replacements cause Khy, Ris and Zai came.
5. Slacked at Mccafe at Tamp, and there were full of plesant surprises! Jieting and Fad was there, and Ayu and Nisa came in to say hi. (: God I miss these people.
6. I did the Ahlian 1-10 pose on Ris' mac with Jieting and damn that's whack!
7. Finally got hold of The Subways' All or Nothing and Weezer's The Red Album from Ris.
8. We ended off the day still laughing at the prospect of Mat playing takraw and wondering if Anwar Ibrahim really was sodomised or not.

I went home a happy man.

2008-06-22T17:58:00.005+08:00

Death Cab is coming!

But thats not all.

This guy is coming too!

RICK ASTLEY!

Hahahaha. What? I like him. Hahaha. The article on TNP saying he's coming for Singfest makes me wanna download his songs, and i did.

Sometimes i feel like giving up on music these days. Blame the mat and minah rep anthems like 'Like A Star' and all the Chris Brown and T-Pain stuffs. Accompanied by their shuffling at bustops and overhead bridges (Yes overhead bridge) and doing the jumpstyle (I just knew the term, i used to call it the Russian dance) to attract attention.

But you know what? Give me Rick Astley's synthetic 80s groovy beats and ridiculous dance moves over that crap anytime, anyday.

I guess its true what my sister said. The older you get, the more evergreen your music taste gets. Somehow, the wiser you get too. Lol.

Oh well, back to assignments.

2008-06-21T01:23:00.002+08:00

K lah phir. Here's your shameless advertising. Hahaha.

quoted from http://www.xanga.com/sensimillia_bum

Attention all gamers, shoppers and everyone else!

ADIDAS will be organising a UEFA Euro 2008 Tournament to be played on Playstation 3 next Saturday, 28th June. I've been invited by ADIDAS to attend this competition along with other gamers/bloggers like Tetra, Eunice and Sheylara.

There will be prizes up for grabs for the winners! A total of 128 people will be taking part in this event.

How to take part in the event.

Contestants must have purchased S$80 worth of ADIDAS products to be eligible to participate.

Here are some details of the event.

• When: June 28th 2008 (Time: 12 - 7pm) / day before Euro 2008 Finals

• Where: East Court & East Boulevard - VivoCity

• Format: Single elimination, Straight knockout format

Prizes.

The champion of the event will get a pair of MIADIDAS Football Boots. These boots are fully customized made to the exact measurements of your own feet and taste in colours etc. There will be other prizes for the champion and the top 4 finalist as well. Other than that, participants will have a chance to win other fantastic prizes which includes, the official match ball of UEFA EURO 2008, a Sony Playstation 3 game console, vouchers by EA Games, football jerseys, mini match balls and lots of other goodies.

Other members of public.

Spectators can also walk by and answer trivia or play at the skills stations to win vouchers and other knick knacks from ADIDAS too. So you don't necessarily have to participate in the Euro 2008 game tournament to have fun at the event. You can just go there to soak in the atmosphere and even win swag!

This event is going to be a huge one and on behalf of ADIDAS, we do hope to see people taking part in this event and have fun!

2008-06-16T17:44:00.002+08:00

Sheer Disappointment.

That was the only thing left inside of me when Singapore ended their dreams of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. They lost to Saudi Arabia 2-0 in a match they must win.

A must-win match, yet the players never delivered. Khairul Amri missed a sitter in the opening minutes, Indra Sahdan the captain never muster a single shot if i can recall, Precious still struggling to keep up with faster opponents. The only players who performed well are 2nd choice keeper Hassan Sunny and Wilko.

The Lions fought admirably in this journey, and i should be proud of what they have achieved. Singapore have never made it this far in an World Cup Qualifying campaign. We are now also regarded the best team in the SEA region. Im not a big fan of the Sleague to be honest, but i do keep up to date of their results in the AFC Cup. That our clubs are regulars in it, and we are beating Malaysian clubs at will. We have really grown and progressed as a nation.

So where does this utter disappoinment come from? I'll tell you. It's cause I had enough of people saying 'AHHH SINGAPORE NOW LOUSY AHH', 'LAST TIME GOT FANDI, ABBAS SAAD', 'LAST TIME AH MALAYSIAN CUP BLABLABLA'. FUCKING MOVE ON ALREADY. Ok, fair enough, i'm not old enough to experience the Malaysian Cup fever. I understand its a footballing culture, our stadium is packed at every home game. Thousands make the trip to away games. But how come we are NOT GETTING ENOUGH ATTENTION now that we are qualifying for the WORLD CUP, instead of participating in a FOREIGN CUP COMPETITION?

On Saturday, i told my uncle im heading to the Kallang Stadium to watch our national team against Saudi. And he just laughed it off. Like it's some kind of a joke. And he started yakking about the Malaysia Cup glory days. The past stars. The joke which is Singapore football now. And he's more interested about European nations in the Euro 08. I just gave up stating my opinion. Im simply loss for words.

I was utterly disappointed we lost because i knew this is our only chance to shut the detractors, the fair-weathered fans, the glory hunters up once and for all. Yea, i know the ASEAN Cup is coming up. The Asian Cup too. But we have won the ASEAN Cup (previously known as the Tiger Cup) 3 times already. with 2005 and 2007 our recent achievements, and if that wasn't enough, why would a 4th victory be any different? It would only strengthen our position at the ASEAN level.

I wished the Malaysian Cup stars like Fandi would finally come out and give his support to the National team today. That if we keep playing in the Malaysian Cup, there would be no progression. No own professional league, no improvement in the National squad. Now i gotta wait another 4 years of 'Malaysian Cup glory talk' by uncles until we have another shot at the World Cup.

It's fine if you don't support your national team. But criticising it before even watching them? You just can't justify it.

Some people are just hard to please.

Still utterly disappointed.

2008-06-16T16:56:00.004+08:00

Plainsunset's Album Launch at Zouk last friday was a blast. I thought the venue wasn't the best place to have a gig initially, but it turned out to be more fun than expected.

It was amazing to see fellow local musicians around for the launch. When else can you see josh, matt and even shen of AVA crowdsurfing at a gig? It was quite a scene. Vertical Rush were around and several WMUM bands as well. They played almost all of their new album's material except for Eyeliner if i can recall. But it was the old classics that proved to be the hit with the crowd. Girl On Queen Street, Checking Email, Programme, and the finale Plainsunset was when the crowd went nuts. Even though i was there with Fiq, there were lots of familiar faces all around the crowd that i think if i came alone, it wouldnt even matter. Hahaha.

Like i said, the new album is awesome, a groundbreaking local record with lots of potential hits on MTV and radio stations. Johari Window and River Song are already making their rounds around 98.7fm, but to me, nothing beats their old hits. You can really see the difference in the passionate PS following during their moshpits in their new songs and old songs. Oh well, times have changed. You can't possibly be expecting them to make a record like Runaway at their age now. So its great that they are brave and moving on. But they gotta keep playing their classics here and there. :)

THE GREAT SPY EXPERIMENT FOR BEST SINGAPORE BAND!
RIVER SONG FOR BEST LOCAL SONG!
ALLURA FOR BEST BREAKOUT BAND!
DAPHNE KHOO FOR BEST BREAKOUT SOLO ARTIST!

VOTE NOW!

Power 98FM Singapore Music Awards

2008-06-12T01:22:00.005+08:00

Live from Bencoolen Street. Hahaha.

Our first proper recording session at SAE went great. We were like, i dunno how many times ive used this phrase, 'Fat Kids On A Cupcake' when we arrived. We were damn excited over the slightest things. Everything there looked alien to us. The equipments, mixers, the countless mics, the cables. It was one of a kind experience. We did our original 'Last Surrender' and Zai and Khy were in the mixing room, acting like they're Timbaland while im in the recording room recording my guitar parts. Hahaha. I complained to Khy that he played the wrong note at the end, and the complains i made were recorded along with the song. And the best part was yet to come when i accidentally plucked a note at the bass solo, it resulted in Zai jumping out of his seat in the mixing room and showing me the middle finger. Hahahaha. That was priceless.

The past 5 days has definitely been unforgettable. Who would have thought in 5 short days, we would have 2 gigs and a recording session to boot? We are really grateful about it. Big shoutouts to Tien Yuan and Aiman who are very patient with us throughout the recording, and the people who came to our gigs.

I promised pics from Music Garage, but i haven't got them from Lenon yet, so i'll make it up with this one. Pics from the SAE sessions.

the recording will be available in around 1 or 2 weeks, to finalise the mixing and editing. hopefully it will sound decent. Haha. Happy Holidays.

2008-06-11T12:41:00.007+08:00

Yesterday's gig at Heeren was so much better than Friday's Music Garage one. The crowd was better than we expected, the sound was soft, intentionally, but audible and great, and we had mat reps with piercings, angmoh guy taking our pics. HAHAHA. Plus the ang moh baby who was in front of us throughout the set, dancing and clapping to us (no kidding!), it really brought a smile to our faces. The weather was so hot i was basically closing my eyes the whole time. So there you have it. Thats the main reason. Haha. But we didn't care cause we had such a great time.

Thanks to the people who made our day. You know who you are. :)

(The baby i was talking about!)

Pics from Music Garage still to come! Cheers.

2008-06-07T15:20:00.003+08:00

Despots will be playing another gig! This time around for Somethingood 2008. If you missed our Music Garage set, then you should definitely be coming for this. We will be playing basically almost the same setlist, plus maybe one or two more songs FOR FREE. It's for a good cause, so if you are free, come on down! Tell all your friends!

What: Despots
When: Tuesday, 10th June, 5-6pm
Where: Wheelock Place, Orchard
Why: Cause it's free and we are nice people hahaha
How: Drop at Orchard Mrt, go out of the MRT station and turn left. If you turn right, you will be heading to heeren, ngee ann city, cineleisure etc. So turn left. Cross the road, and you're there. If you're still unsure, it's the building that has the big 'Borders' sign.

(There are people who doesn't know wheres Wheelock Place mind you)

See you there!

2008-06-07T14:52:00.003+08:00

Yesterdays gig at Music Garage was great. We managed to make the small room our own since the hardcore and screamo fans started to go out when we played indie. Hahaha. But because of that, we got to showcase it to our close and personal friends so it was an intimate set indeed. We relaxed ourselves, so did our small crowd. The guys like mat, wan and sofy were nuts to show their nipples through our set, and i can't help bursting out to laughters a couple of times while singing. Hahaha. It was really fun.

Thanks to those who came. We really appreciate it and it definitely brings a smile to our faces. Just wished there were more people there to enjoy it with us cause i think we did well. But no major complains.

After that, the lads along sofy, beel, john and lenon went to fullerton's Starbucks to chill out. Talk cock and wan came up with 2 new words. Fucked up become Fucking Tup. and weekend turns to weeksend. hahahaha. ingenious.

Zai, Wan and Yas came over to my place and we carried on the fun through Pro Evo. They have managed to become the first team ever to win the World Cup with 3 players. FINALLY. hahaha. and they kept their word to go back at 5.30am.

Friday Night is (finally) The Night.

(pictures will be up as soon i get them from lenon. Thanks Lenon for the camera!)

2008-06-01T17:44:00.002+08:00

im down with high fever and stomach flu. it was horrible, i felt useless, but nothing that i have never felt before. its the timing that im worried about. next wk is an important wk. term test papers on tues and fri, with the gig on friday night as well. i cant sing for shit now, with the sore throat. hope i can get through this week.

speaking of the gig, we are very happy with ticket-selling so far. considering it is our first gig that requires ticket sales, we are glad to know people would be willing to fork out a little of their pocket money to watch us perform. it feels really good. as for now, we only have 2 tickets left up for grabs. As a reminder,

What: Despots
Where: Music Garage, Bugis
When: 6th June, 7pm
How: Visit www.musicgarage.com.sg, go to 'Contact' and follow the map stated there.

Tickets can still be purchased on the door at $8. As for the other 2 tickets, they are still available so pls contact me or the rest of the band for more information.

i totally forget that Jon Chan of plainsunset will be on Power 98 today at 4pm. Thanks Iffah for reminding me! it was a little late, so by the time i tuned in, he was halfway through 'Find A Way'. and i didnt missed his acoustic renditions of Children, Interference, a beautiful cover of U2's Where The Streets Have No Name and end it off with the River Song. He said that he hoped the video for river song will be shown by National Day. Hahaha. How fitting though. Who knows, it could be our next National Day song. That would be amazing.

I wanted to get the album soon, but i have other more important stuffs to get. I lost my thumbdrive, so i need to get a replacement one, plus i need to get the strings changed for my elec. im still considering between dean markley or ernie ball strings. i guess the ps album gotta wait a little. :(

ok bye.