Author: Wilfrid

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Diary

My First Trip To Bukit Timah

My friend KF the branding consultant and his buddy WS are heading to Mount Kinabalu this coming June (best of luck buddy … you can do it!) and KF has invited me for a practice session at Bukit Timah – one of the nature reserves in Singapore. I was more than happy to train with him and hopefully can provide him any advice he needs for his climb to Mount Kinabalu. Indeed KF has tons of questions for me and I tried to answer them the best I could – even if it may shatter his confidence a little bit.

I have not been to Bukit Timah before last weekend. It was certainly an eye-opener. I mean … look … Singapore is a flat piece of land and who would have thought there is a little hill anywhere at all? It was actually quite fun to trek up Bukit Timah. You can either take the main road that takes you directly to the “summit” (funny when the word “summit” is used to describe the highest point of something especially the top of a mountain and Bukit Timah is nowhere near the mountain status) or you can take the different trails to experience “wilderness” – which we did. We even heard what appeared as live firing as we trekked up (well you know … military training and all).

My buddy KF is really some sort of Bukit Timah guide. He can tell stories from the World War II like this cave was for what and that cave was for what and that stone was for what and that huge container was for what. Amazing. He even took us for a detour as one of the trail was cut-off due to fallen trees. It was more like an adventure to me.

Truth been told, 163.63m above sea level is insignificant compares to Mount Kinabalu that is 4,095.2m above sea level. We trekked the entire hill in way less than 2 hours (with moderately faster pace). However, I can understand why Bukit Timah is popular amongst the locals. We went up during non-peak hours (1.30pm). By the time we were back, the entire car park and beyond were fully packed. I have been to quite a number of nature reserves and it is nothing like Bukit Timah. It was a nice experience and I will go there again … perhaps with Cynthia and definitely with my buddy KF the Bukit Timah guide.

Categories
Diary Foreign Movie Reviews

Undon + Our Mission KJ + Nambantei

While Agent C is on overseas secret assignment (I honestly do not know of the nature of her trip except “business” and “take care of some family affairs”), Agent T has handed me a new assignment: go and find us a Korean or Japanese movie to watch this weekend. Roger that!

Agent T and I both wish to watch “Blades of Glory”. Since Agent C vows not to watch it with us, what better way to spend our weekend than to watch “Blades of Glory”? 3am on a Saturday morning I gave it some thoughts but hey, two guys enter into a theatre laughing over a show with two gay-ish looking guys ice skating as a pair with hands touch each other’s bodies? A little bit gross eh? So I have decided to stick with my original mission and suggested a Japanese movie “Udon” instead. The last show was at 8.15pm and knowing Agent T has a secret military training in the late afternoon (he has, I swear), I texted him at 3am with the minimum number of characters (something I have learned from him) – 2015 can? I switched on my phone in the late morning and got the reply: MC today, can. Excellent! “Udon” it is (by the way, udon is a type of Japanese noodle).

1815 – I exited the highway and faced a traffic jam.
1830 – Agent T called me. I told him that I would be there in 10 minutes (I was wrong).
1845 – Agent T called me again. I asked him to head to that restaurant he wished to go and order for me.
1900 – Running on my feet from Taka to Far East Plaza.
1905 – Received a multimedia message from Agent T with a picture of the restaurant and address (ya, that’s how agents work … receiving the next bit of information as we proceed).

To give myself some credit, I arrived just minutes after Agent T was seated. The Japanese restaurant – Nambantei – is on the 5th floor at Far East Plaza and it is cosy. They serve mainly Teriyaki food – meat grilled over fire. The chef I believe is a Japanese. He remembers what each table has ordered and his assistance is responsible in retrieving the food from the refrigerator and making markings on what seems like a colorful spreadsheet on paper. Tracking inventory perhaps?

Service was excellent. I think they have one waitress for every 2 or 3 tables. When the food is cooked, the chef will hand it out onto the counter right in front of customer’s face. The waitress will then moves the dish that is inches away from the customer to customer’s table. Customer takes the food from the dish and the waitress will then clear the dish. Kind of complex eh? At times I just grabbed the sticks from the dish in front of me – if I managed to beat the waitress that is.

Food was good and I will definitely return one day. We were in a hurry so Agent T took a short cut route. We entered into Hyatt Hotel, infiltrated the service area and took the service lift to the 3rd floor. The interior was dark and I saw beer machines along the corridor. A lot of tables and furniture and beds at the service area and when we exited the hotel, there were a bunch of drivers apparently waiting for their clients’ call. Not too far a distance I saw a sign: Do not trespass – private property. Too late.

I chose “Udon” because it is a different kind of Japanese movie. The hero of the story left his home town chasing his dream to be a stand-up comedian in New York only to return after years of fruitless attempts. It was then when he developed a passion for udon making his hometown a place for “Udon Pilgrimage”. The movie is so real to me that for a moment, I thought this “Udon City” does exist in Japan. If you are looking for something different from the typical Japanese tear jerking romance productions, you may wish to check out “Udon”. My only reservation is that the movie does seem a bit too long. The actress Manami Konishi is quite an eye candy though (see picture on left). Oh, another thing is … try not to watch “Udon” with an empty stomach. You will regret it.

On a final note, both Agent T and I do enjoy the movie.

Categories
Music Reviews Pop Rock & Alternative

Joanna’s This Crazy Life – A Decent Pop Album

One evening I wanted to play a different kind of music in my car. So I randomly pressed a disc number and when the music started, I was like … wait a minute, who is this artist? Four songs had passed and I still had no clue. Kind of scary because I did remember that it was a recent purchase. Then came the fifth song and I was like … ah ha! The fifth song of the album is “4th Of July” that has been aired in our local radio stations for quite some time. For the record, I do like that song a lot.

If you like the American Idol style of singing – twist and turn of the melody and all the high notes in the end – you will probably like Joanna’s new album. Some of the tracks remind me the music of Celine Dion. Unfortunately Joana is no match to Celine Dion and I wish she could have more control on her voice when the melody soars in some of the songs. Nevertheless, she does have a strong voice amongst some of her peers at her age bracket (she was 21 when “This Crazy Life” was released last year). And she does put lots of soul and emotion into her songs.

Most of the songs she has a part to play in terms of songwriting. There is one track that I especially like (besides “4th Of July”) is “Your Obsession”. Then I discovered that it is written by Diane Warren. Who is Diane Warren? I cannot even count how many hit songs she has written and I recognised her name immediately. “Because I Loved You” recorded by Celine Dion was written by Diane Warren. “Can’t Fight the Moonlight” recorded by LeAnn Rimes? “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” recorded by Aerosmith? They are written by her too. If you are curious about her accomplishments, simply click here and see how many songs you can recognise. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Since Joanna is not that famous for now, I can hardly find any of her videos in YouTube except “Let It Slide” – her first single. See for yourself if her voice is your cup of tea.

Related Site: Joanna at MySpace.com.

Categories
I See I Write

Jordin Sparks – Finally Someone Whom I Support Made It

(Erm … I apologize if this blog gets too “geek-ish” towards the end. I love watching reality shows such as America Idol because I love to decipher how voters think.)

I think by now anyone who follows the America Idol on TV should know that the 17 years old Jordin has won the competition. And if you have realized, I usually get excited and vocal about the Idol shows in my own website but after two big disappointment whereby someone whom I supported from day one made it to the finales only to emerge as runner-ups (McPhee of Amercian Idol and Jonathan of Singapore Idol), I kept my opinions pretty private this season. By the way, did you know that last season’s finale was exactly one year ago (+1 day). I still have the blog written for the final 3 performance.

Friends of mine who are into this season of America Idol know that I am a fan of Jordin. I like her voice, her smile, and the way she connects to the audience. Throughout the season, Jordin’s performance has been consistence except for the Bon Jovi night. I don’t think she is born to be a rocker. Even Melinda, the most consistence of all, has one bad night. In that sense, I think the only two contestants who have won judges’ praises episodes after episodes are Jordin and Melinda.

Many wished to see Jordin and Melinda at the finale but hey, there are voters who vote for stage performance and originality and there are voters who vote for great voice so while Jordin and Melinda (and to some extend the vocal powerhouse such as Lakisha) all fought for the same pool of votes, Blake cruised into the finale with another pool all by himself. Of course, let’s not forget there are voters who prefer male contestants and others who prefer female contestants. Katharine made it to the finale as the only girl in the final 4 amongst Taylor, Elliot, and Chris. Blake made it to the finale as the only guy in the final 4 amongst Jordin, Melinda, and Lakisha. It is no hard science of course – just a little swing in probability. And I usually look at the racial distribution, age distribution, and etc. in order to decipher the voting results. I even have one theory that those who have landed on the bottom positions (at times the show announces) has a dampening effect on their chance in reaching the top. Look, there are reasons why someone is not having enough votes at some point in time especially if they have not really screwed up their performance. Fan base grows over time. It is hard to become popular in just one episode. And furthermore, I usually pay attention to what happens to those voters whose contestants they support get voted out of the competition. For instance, those who were used to support Melinda (read: they value vocal performance), how would they cast their votes to the surviving contestants? That’s why I love to watch reality shows such as America Idol. Lots of thinking behind. There is one more thing to decipher: why do Cynthia and I always support a different contestant? And you guessed right, we are still not talking … (hmmm)

Enough of boring geek talks. Check out Jordin’s final performance at the finale that totally out-sang Blake on the same song. Jordin, you have made my day.

Categories
Diary

I Love Amazon.com + A Juncture In My Life (?)

Next time you wish to buy a book from your favorite local bookstore, do yourself a favor (especially if the book is a hardcover). Go check out the price at Amazon.com first before parting your hard earned cash. I am now holding a book that is selling at Amazon.com for US$12. The same book costs S$45 at Kinokuniya. Even with my Kinokuniya Privilege Card, which I have to pay for that by the way, the sum just does not add up. Adding up the shipping cost, it was still worth the hassle. How long have I waited? One week – with standard shipping rate (yes, the most economical way).

Watched the live broadcast of American Idol at Star World and I am not going to tell you the results. Say no to spreading the spoilers! People will still watch the show, regardless. And they wouldn’t have enjoyed the show as much. So what do those who spread the spoilers gain? Nothing really. Knowing the results first hand doesn’t make any one looks smarter … duh! I can understand how exciting it is to learn something first hand but surely we all know how to contain our excitement. I am so emotional towards this because I do know people who are that inconsiderate without themselves knowing it. I love entertainments and even if I don’t read Harry Potter, I don’t endorse the leaking of the ending of this upcoming novel (which it has already leaked out). Have some empathy.

Today I have to visit the airport twice. I needed to send Cynthia off this afternoon for her business trip at Jakarta and I will need to pick up my sister flying in from Hong Kong minutes before midnight. For 18 years my sister and I have not been staying at the same physical location. It will be interesting to see how things will turn out. Brother and sister go shopping together. Brother and sister having high tea together. Brother and sister watch concert together. Brother and sister … having drink together and talk about … relationships?! Certainly sounds frightening at this very moment.

SingPost called me and asked if I was aware that there is a M-Bag for me. Huh? I didn’t even receive a notice from postman saying that … sorry you were not in so please collect the package yourself. Good news was that this time round, they sent the package back to AMK Avenue 6 which is like 5 minutes drive from my home. My previous packages from overseas always ended up at Yishun which is like a good 15 minutes drive. SingPost must have done some software upgrade lately.

I am happy that my Amazon.com shipment 1 of 3 has arrived. Insider there is a self-help book on analysing my strength (after which I will go find a job or do a business!), a “bible” for all writers (after which I will continue to write my novel!), a great book on oil painting (after which I will paint more!), and a book on … I am not going to spoil the surprise but potentially this is bigger than Mount Kinabalu. This is so exciting. As though my life was on hold for a while looking forward to get started again.

Meanwhile I still have a book review pending to write, tons of CDs to share (on average takes me 10 rounds of listening before I can write something on one), photos from my Melbourne trip yet to be organized, and not to forget to mention the videos from the same trip too (Gosh I hate video editing). Recently I hear so many friends around me telling me how busy they are and time is just not enough. Well, time is never enough. I guess the decision lies in you to make time for something or someone that means something to you. Do yourself another favor. Take out a piece of paper and pen down “10 Things I Wish To Do If I Have Time”. Pin it up at the wall and actually do them. You may gain more from life that way.

Categories
Music Reviews Pop Rock & Alternative

Is It Going To Be Avril’s Best Damn Thing?

I still remember when and where I bought the Canadian artist Avril Lavigne’s first record “Let Go”. It was at HMV Citilink back in 2002 and over the listening station I was impressed with her voice and music style from track one. Avril was 18 then and she was the youngest female artist to have a number one album in the UK Chart (now Joss Stone holds the record). Her follow-up “Under My Skin” pretty much sticks to her original style of maturity and attitude. Just how big a fan I am? I was there when Avril was performing at SunTech Singapore. It was a wild party.

I can picture that Avril’s third album “The Best Damn Thing” is going to make the crowd goes wild under live setting. Many songs have strong dance beat and are easy to sing along with – like my favorite track from this record “The Best Damn Thing” as featured below live. “Girlfriend”, an upbeat song with a strong hook, was released as the second single after the ballad “Keep Holding On”. (RCA Record has been deleting Avril’s videos from YouTube and that “Keep Holding On” video I found is created by a fan that blends the song with anime. Not only that, the original clip has the song “Complicated” from Avril’s first album as well.) Her AOL Music Session for “When You’re Gone” showcases why fans like myself keep falling in love with her slow ballads.

My favorite ballad track has to be “Innocent”. Sad to say RCA Record wipes YouTube so clean that all that are left are cover version (no thanks) or dubbed with videos from One Tree Hill, Charmed, Buffy, and even using the computer game The Sims. I do find this Final Fantasy version of “Innocent” beautiful. Just check it out. If you don’t like the video, just listen to the track.

Would I recommend you to pay more and get the DVD edition? The DVD documents the songwriting process behind “The Best Damn Thing” that I enjoy watching. Avril made this album with different producers and after viewing the DVD, you will probably understand why the songs are so … random. Get the DVD edition only if you are a fan of Avril.

I think if you are looking for some quality lyrics and trend setting melodies, you may wish to look elsewhere. “The Best Damn Thing” is a lot brighter and varied than her previous two albums. It comes with a “Strong Language” sticker too. If you happen to like the songs from the links of this blog, most likely you may wish to add this CD to your music collection.

Related Posts:

Categories
Hip Hop R&B Music Reviews

Beyonce’s B’Day Deluxe Edition Finally Got Me

I have this mentality when it comes to purchasing CDs. A legacy that is probably dated back in my days in UK. If there are three of more hit songs I like from an album, the album is worth buying. It is because the cost of one CD was roughly the same as three singles and I did buy singles back then.

When “Deja Vu” first released, I was like: ya, that is cool and I love the new upbeat and trendy sound. “Ring The Alarm” is even more extreme than “Deja Vu”. Part of me finds the song odd while part of me secretly likes it. But two is still not enough to persuade me to buy an album. Then came “Irreplaceable”, a slow ballad with the melody and line that instantly hook onto me (“to the left, to the left, everything you own in the box to the left“). But still, I don’t usually buy Hip Hop albums so I gave it a pass.

Then recently Beyonce released a deluxe edition that comes with an additional set of new songs as well as a DVD. One of the new songs “Beautiful Liar” sung by Beyonce and Shakira sounds okay (if only they could lose that line calling each other by names). It was “Listen” (featured below and from the motion picture “Dreamgirls”) that got me jump out of my chair. The video is emotional and I have got goose pimples all over me every time I watch that video (those watery eyes …). I could not find the version from the deluxe edition in YouTube (without the flashback to the movie that can be a distraction but for the curious minds, here is the link) but I manage to find this live performance. Check out the improvisation towards the end. That was out of the world I am telling you.

Randy Jackson from American Idol often uses Beyonce’s unique improvisation as reference to some of the contestants. Beyonce’s new album has pushed her vocal ability to a new height. There are some slow songs that I particularly like from within the album such as “Flaws And All”, “If”, and “Amor Gitano” that I don’t have time to dig them out from YouTube. Having sung all the praises, I have to admit that some songs in this album are quite hard to accept. Cynthia has found this album towards the noisy part. I wish Beyonce could make more songs that sound like “Listen”. Is she the trend setter like she inspired to be? Only time can tell.

Edit: Found a Korea singer Yangpa gave a rendition of “Listen” live. Pretty interesting stuff.

Categories
Songwriting

When My Social Stars Aligned + New Song: Look Inside

There are times when my so-called social life evolves around … online chat. And there are times like these couple of days when my social life suddenly becomes … colorful. Last Friday I had lunch with my old friend EL and gosh, I have not met her for a long time. She has taken a one year sabbatical and did many things that kind of makes me reflect: have I been productive enough during my own so-called “sabbatical”? (Erm, probably not.) EL got me thinking of entering into the academic field and to make a difference to the younger generation. Subsequently meeting my buddy KF the muscleman has changed my perspective on teaching as his wife is into that line of work. I guess it is always good to chat with different people and gather different perspectives however confusing it can be at times.

Imagine a party of men and ladies of these origins by birth – Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Holland, India, Indonesia, and Hong Kong – gathered together for a good time. That Friday night drink was probably one of the most diverse group I have encountered for a long time. And seven of us have one thing in common – we are all consultants. Mixing with a group of consultants kind of makes me missing my consulting life a great deal. Perhaps going back to my old trade is not too bad an idea?

Then I met with my buddy KW – a Singaporean who is now stationed in Hong Kong – this afternoon. Tons of business ideas we have brainstormed on and maybe, just maybe, owning a tiny enterprise in the face of this Earth is not a bad idea. KW and I am still toying with this idea of writing a travelogue cum inspirational cum photographic book. I am keen to really translate all these years of brainstorming into something tangible. We shall see. And as KW and I walked to where I parked my car, we bumped into WC who just finished his last day of work moving onto another organization. So much has happened in just a few days.

One day prior to that crazy, crazy Friday, I have written a song titled “Look Inside”. It is still unfinished at the time of the publication of this blog. I am sure what happened these couple of days could be translated into the bridge that I desperately needed for the song. Friends have been asking me: have you been painting? Nope. Inspiration has run dry but I am sure I will pick up my paint brush pretty soon. Others have asked if I have continued writing songs. I will never give up on songwriting. Put me and my guitar together equals to a creative world of my own.

LOOK INSIDE

If you take a look what lies within
If you dare to open up your mind … look inside
The rain may stain your gentle skin
But there is one place no one can find … look inside

If you hear a voice echoes in your head
Confusing you what is right and what is wrong
And if you don’t hear a sound in this numbing void
Look inside, look inside, look inside
Look inside, look inside, look inside

There are many daunting paths I’ve walked
Tripped and fell too many times
In this awkward wayward state of mind
Sometimes I wish I can fly
Away from these questions in my head
Away from this mess that I have
I know how you feel
Just look inside like I do whenever I am lost

Copyright © 2007 by Wilfrid K. F. Wong. All Rights Reserved.

Categories
For the Geeks Game Reviews

Sam & Max Episode 6 – Bright Side Of The Moon (End Of Season 1)

How time flies. Back in December last year I chanced upon a new hilarious game called Sam & Max and till today, set aside the fact that I have fun with all the 6 episodes, I still find the business model pretty intriguing.

Traditionally, gaming companies spend months if not years to develop a title and yet even if the title has become a hit, there are still people out there playing the pirated version not willing pay the full price. Online gaming subscription model works well for a particular gaming genre but not for all. What Telltale Games does is to break down this adventure game Sam & Max into monthly installments and to apply a subscription model in order to bring in revenue as the game is developed. Hence, for the end users, instead of getting the entire season 1 that is worth 20 to 30 gaming hours in one go, monthly episodes are downloaded into the users’ computers. Because there is a need to authenticate the electronic copy with the Telltale Games’s server, piracy is minimized. This model makes the cash flow statement looks good too. And meanwhile, game developers can gather the incremental feedback from the public to fine tune the game. That’s why I feel that this business model is intriguing.

As for this episode, I think it is a good round up of the entire season. The 5th episode scores high on originality; the 4th episode scores high on humor; while the 3rd episode scores high on dialogues, the 2nd episode scores high on fun factor. This last episode reminds me of the very 1st episode when I was first exposed to the game (come to think of it, Max did have his body “separated” in both the first and last episode). At one point while playing this last episode I was dead stuck. But I guess perseverance did pay off.

For those who have bought the entire season upfront, we will be receiving the DVD version of the game plus the extras for free (excluding shipping charge). I know at least 3 of my friends have bought the 1st episode after reading my blog. Good news is you will be able to download the entire season for USD 26.

To round up this blog, I would like to quote one of the random conversations between Sam and Max. The humor does seems to come directly from the development team.

Sam: What do you feel like doing once we wrap up this case?
Max: Take a vocation! Seems like we’ve been working for the past seven months straight!

Related Links and Blogs: Official Site of Telltale Games, Sam & Max Episode 6 – Bright Side Of The Moon (End Of Season 1), Sam & Max Episode 5 – Reality 2.0, Sam & Max Episode 4 – Abe Lincoln Must Die!, My 3rd Contribution to YouTube for Sam & Max Episode 3 – The Mole, The Mob, And The Meatball, Sam & Max: Episode 2 – Situation Comedy, Sam & Max: Episode 1 – Culture Shock, Sam & Max at Wikipedia

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Bridge To Terabithia – Lived Up To Expectation

The rest of the Movie Review Squad was busy last Tuesday so once again I was empowered to make that one important decision – which movie shall we watch? I read that the Thai sex thriller “The Passion” and the Chinese erotic film “Summer Palace” are both terrible. The only reason why the theaters are full for these two films is because sex sells. Hence I only have “Bridge To Terabithia” and the dated but popular Korean comedy “200 Pounds Beauty” to choose from. I read that “Bridge To Terabithia” has generally good reviews so I took a risk knowing that it is a kid movie I was getting the Movie Review Squad into. Cynthia texted me that Straits Times reviewer Ong Sor Fern has written a bad review on “Bridge To Terabithia”. More the reason why we should watch that as I consistently disagree with her for more than 10 long years and I love that consistency while still hating what she writes (is she even aware that the film “300” is originated from a comic book?! … such an outraging review).

Based on a novel of the same title written by Katherine Paterson in 1977, “Bridge To Terabithia (the movie)” is 90% reality with 10% fantasy – contrary to what others expected as an after-school version of “Harry Potter” or “Pan’s Labyrinth” or even the kid movie “Chronicles of Narnia”. A rare friendship found between two teenagers – one who paints and one who composes fantasy stories – that do not quite fit in their social environment and together they have created “Terabithia” and have become the King and Queen of this new fantasy land. It has a rather gloomy side to the plot that challenges both teen actor and actress’s acting skill. I must say both Josh Hutcherson and AnnaSophia Robb (acted in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”) have raised up to the challenge and I enjoy every moment of their acting. I see both of them will have a long career in the entertainment business.

“Bridge To Terabithia” is one of those few movies that Tong Kiat, Cynthia, and myself enjoyed in a positive way. (Can you enjoy something in a negative way? Sure you can.) Some claim that “Bridge To Terabithia” is a classic in this genre. I am no expert in this particular genre but I cannot recall another kid movie that comes close to “Bridge To Terabithia”.