我的火柴天堂...

2009-11-19T11:31:00.001+08:00

Show your support to Wei Lian and come together in Facebook, where all the latest updates will be there! :)

Song Voting Details

2009-07-25T21:29:00.006+08:00

After viewing the EPK video and heard Wei Lian's song broadcasted on radio, you wish to show your support and do your part in voting up his song? Then click on the icons (on the image below) of different radio stations, to look at the various voting methods and details! Let's make his song on its way up, to top position of the charts...

Wei Lian's new album EPK【走唱陈伟联】宣传短片

2009-07-25T21:28:00.003+08:00

In his latest album - 走唱陈伟联- Wei Lian demonstrates his composing skills with an array of new songs that will fill the lonely hearts with warmth and love. In this EPK, let the singer/composer himself introduce you to a few of his new songs. Listen with your heart and you will be touched by the warmth of his voice.

伟联在新专辑【奏唱陈伟联】里展现了他的创作才华，多首新歌是由他亲自作曲，希望给寂寞的人一些心灵上的慰藉。在这宣传短片里，伟联将亲自介绍他的几首新歌。请用心聆听，你将会被他温暖的歌声感动。

Wei Lian's Very First Electronic Press Kit coming your way very very soon!

2009-07-14T10:59:00.005+08:00

A Simple Wish from a Pure Heart

~Music for the lonely hearts~

In some obscure corners of a bustling city, there’ll always be some lonely souls in waiting. What are they waiting for? Sunrise or sunset? Life presents to us a variety of encounters, but his voice can warm your heart with a ray of sunshine – making you feel that there’s hope in life. If you listen with your heart, you will discover that within his pure heart, there's a simple wish – to fill the lonely hearts with his songs.

This time around, Wei Lian will be presenting his very own music compositions from the bottom of his heart. Though we missed his performances in public for two years, the music has not stopped for him. In fact, he has been working hard behind the scene to create music for your appreciation.

This is the first time he is trying his hands on composing, telling a story through a series of webisodes and creating personal podcasts...all in the hope of reaching out to you. Listen with your heart to feel the warmth of his music!

On 14 July 2009, watch out for the release of an EPK (Electronic Press Kit) in which he's personally involved in its production. Log on to his Album Blog and YouTube Channel to appreciate the fruits of his hard work.

《就在这里》

2009-07-14T10:23:00.008+08:00

《就在这里》

国庆日2009的主题曲,由陈伟联演绎中文版本,名为《就在这里》.英文版本是由El ectrico 乐团演唱, 名为 "What Do You See?"

Kelvin Tan sang Singapore's National Day 2009 theme song (chinese version). Original is "What Do You See?" by Electrico

Visit wei lian youtube for more media interviews on Wei Lian (about his participation in NDP)

NDP WEBSITE (theme songs)

Side Note:

Haha, this is the first time I am doing a video (with another WLFC fan Elsie) and glad that people do like it (consider i'm a greenhorn in this area and it isn't that impressive compared to those who are good lor. lol). But most importantly is the thought that counts right? hahaha. Well, if you realised, I use quite a few Paralympics shots, (there's an agenda to it) as I feel this annual event wasn't really highlighted (compared to Olympics) when it was held then.

有些优势世界忘了给我们不曾後悔
没有翅膀的人类一样也能起飞
就在这里把梦开启

(these simple phrases explains a lot of my intentions - Should a disabled be any less 'worthy' than an abled? maybe commerically yes, but having to educate the public isn't it equally important? just a thought for your mind.)

Although the original English version is not that typical of nationalist feel, but still a good try overall. I personally feel Chinese version is more touching, firstly due to the lyrics (although a bit mouthful) and secondly of coz Wei Lian's voice is more comfortable to listen to. hehe.

Anyway, Wei Lian won't be singing this song live (it is used more for chinese radio stations to play on air), but would be performing a medley of songs (Heart.Land as theme). So do stay tune to TV (if you don't have tickets to see live) to hear him perform!

Hot, hot, hot!!!

2009-05-31T00:05:00.006+08:00

AIYO, THESE FEW DAYS (OR FEW WEEKS) VERY HOT! PLEASE RAIN AR~~~

think this comment I heard people making very frequently, well indeed the past few days or weeks. Even raining may not necessary help to ease the hot condition (coz Singapore generally is humid)

Global warming is adding "pressure" to this unbearable hot condition, which we can't deny we have our responsibilities. See the chicken-and-egg effect? Because it is hot, we on the air con at full blast, then the by-products of air conditioning will make global warming worse, which will cause land temperature to be higher (or lower for countries experience cold weathers) and hotter - affecting us. So the vicious cycle continues...haiz...

So I guess what we can do is to switch on fans ba, at least they don't product by-products like air conditioning (although still uses electricity) and I advise all to drink more water before moving around, as water can lower down your inner body temperature. :)

孤单好吗 vs 孤单的人总说无所谓

2009-05-30T23:49:00.004+08:00

It is interesting how Wei Lian cleverly linked his new song 《孤单好吗》to this "old song" of Jolin's (something like a Q & A style). It is piano vs guitar too! (ok, this is lame I know)

Wei Lian's Webisode, Part4

I like his rendition! And his piano playing too. Secretly hope his next few episodes is similar to this :P *counting and counting, when his album gonna to release ar? still counting...*

陈伟联《孤单好吗》:

我只在乎你...

2009-05-08T00:47:00.004+08:00

Wei Lian's 2nd performance on channel 8's variety show, 综艺 Go Live!

Based on WL's rendition first...I really like his version (on a repeat mode in my handphone)...I have heard numerous people trying to attempt this song, but Wei Lian 气音/声 is really touching. Plus point for using guitar to play the song as well. Late Teresa Teng's songs may seem easy to sing, but to portray a kind of fornlorn feel + 细腻 is not easy, especially she the type of 气质 (mostly just stand there and sing type) singer. Personally I felt, it has been quite a while since WL's vocals really reflected well (Just like when he sing those hokkien-feel type of song, 会让我莫名地被感动. I do like his two compositions (that has been played in public), but is on a different kind of 'liking' scale ba.

Since this song is sung for Mother's Day, I would like to take this opportunity, and tell my mom: I really care about your opinions, and hope that you will always be happy. :)

(Btw, Teresa Teng was my mom fav singer and so coincident that the song is sung closed to Teresa Teng's death anniversary...hmmm, somewhat like a tribute to this special singer ba!)

Genuine and Earnest performances by Wei Lian, Kris & Cheer

2009-04-05T14:47:00.008+08:00

What should a performer do when he/she is on the stage? Sing like hell broke loose? Sing till the last energy that he/she had? Well, maybe. In a certain extent that shows showmanship, without constraints on stage. But let's fall back a little on studio recording. Personally the above descriptions will work very well for live performances (and immediately caught others' attention), but comes to studio recording, well it is another thing. As for 'durability' in such performances, I will be wow in the first round, but soon get tired over the exaggeration in performance (if it kepts repeating the same mould).

To me, music is not just showing how good you are but to be able to connect, is a tough thing to understand/intrepret by singers, especially good songs are hard to come by. Even the best singers if don't have good songs to complement with, will be hard to reach out to more people.

Recently I attended one of the live performances by Wei Lian, and heard his second new song, titled 孤单好吗?. At first when I heard was just alright, but the more times I heard, (after I formatted into mp3) slowly his flavour stood out. I did commented that some parts of the lyrics were not as good as expected(a bit more 诗情画意 would be perfect), but certain parts of the songs were subtly good. The first four verses, the 'di da di da la' interlude singing and last part when he sang '像个小孩他并不听话', are the climatic parts to his songs, and if the studio recording is as good/耐听- no worries that this song will be loved by people.

NTU Red Cross Charity Show - Gu Dan Hao Ma

Kris Allen - Ain't No Sunshine

The similarity between Wei Lian and Kris is they are blackhorses. Yes, Wei Lian has a good voice, but the truly awesome performances of his came much later in the show, that pushes his popularity even higher to eventual champion. (e.g "我的生活在哪里", "走出黑暗的世界吧! 朋友!", "HEAVEN KNOWS", "我真的受伤了") Just like Kris. At first, I see Kris as just a charming boy-next-doy. But this song show a more emotional and rawness of him. He's there to perform not to compete, which makes him more attractive and the judges agreed in the sense they never compared him to others and said his confidence level came across very well. Let's hope he will be able to proceed on till at least top 5. (I just feel that Adam will be overall champion since he's of a total different league, the rest is just to 陪跑)

Another singer/song I would like to introduce is 陳綺貞 - 魚. The whole song didn't mentioned about fish related stuff, but rather depict how fish can 自由自在 in the marine world, drawing a parallel to human world. She is a good composer who writes songs that reflect not just love but life as well.

收放自如 type of singing is what will capture my attention. Able to play music instruments while singing at ease is even more desirable, add points to the singer of being more a musician than a performer. Eventually when I buy an album is to listen not to see (I don't think anyone will keep seeing how good the photos are in an album, but definitely good songs will be on the repeat mode in their player).

So looking forward to Wei Lian's performances in CSS night! All the best! :D

Androgynous singing in trend?

2009-04-05T14:00:00.006+08:00

Yeah, long time never update my blog leh. Today is such a crazy day - thunderstorm like anything. Last week or so, super duper hot (even when I am outstationed). Think must be global warming la, that caused weather to be topsy-turvy (heard that the iceberg at North side of the world are melting at faster rate than usual). sighz. Are we human the source of global destruction? I believe so, and am gulity of certain action, like switch on of aircon. (hoho, a vicious cycle - because hot then switch on the aircon, but that action also indirectly harm our world) But my home grew a lot of trees and flowers, so hope this little bit of "help" is useful.

Hmmm, back to my main thread topic: Androgynous singing in trend?

In the past 潘美辰 is a classic example (still is), now she's doing more backstage: opening music school and more song-writing.

What is an androgynous: http://www.answers.com/topic/androgyny

Well, currently here's two good examples of ex-contestants from singing competitions - because of them being androgynous, eventually won them fans (gals get crazy over their coolness, and guys find them hot in a different way) and the competitions. Between these two gals, which one's vocals do you feel sounded more like a male than a female singing? And for androgynous style singers, they like to choose very "man" kind of songs to perform. Below is the very famous 王杰成名曲:"一场游戏一场梦", so let' see how they sing.

Chris Lee李宇春_一场游戏一场梦

20080126 超級偶像@張芸京-一場遊戲一場夢

Actually I prefer the second one (張芸京) as least she looks much nicer/"handsomer" and got a more comfortable tone of voice...Doesn't she look a bit like mediacorp's Yuan Shuai? haha. Anyway, she is going to release her first album in May.

I like this performance from her. 超偶人氣王-張芸京～「落葉歸根」經典曲目！

She may not be technically the best singer, but I saw a few performances of hers, her stage presence won my praise over. Her eyes are attractive and got that idol material quality in her. Will listen to her new album then.

张智成《迷魂阵》和大嘴巴《國王皇后》

2009-02-25T04:01:00.009+08:00

Have been liking dance track songs recently. Coz I am still a slow sentimental song lover at heart. lol.

Would like to introduce this new song (迷魂阵) by Z-chen.

Wa, didn't know Z-chen can sing/dance like that. His facial expressions reminded me of Harlem in 眼熏装 + Joker (coz his jawline). haha. Not too bad try, especially this song tested a lot on his falsettoes. Quite catchy as well, and his rendition really got that 迷 in it (thanks to the lyrics and that in-out way of singing).

Heard he's coming out with an album soon. Wish him all the best as his songs/voice isn't that bad, just need more distinctivity.

Another song to introduce is 大嘴巴《國王皇后》. I kinda like this group as it is pretty refreshing and their music background varied. Although their singing needs lots of improvement, but at least their music element is funky and can balance their cultural differences pretty well (not at all surprising when they won the best group in GMA 2008). The song is quite catchy and it reflects how nowadays 都市男女是有主见的人,享受着被注视或自我陶醉.

Wei Lian on Razor TV

2009-02-11T01:05:00.006+08:00

Project SuperStar's Kelvin Tan

Project SuperStar's winner Kelvin Tan Weilian performed one of his self-composed singles from his yet-to-be-released album at the River Hongbao Concert. Don't miss Poh Kwan's chat with this well-loved singer-songwriter as he shared about his latest aspirations and relationship status. You'll be touched by his honesty and sincerity.

http://www.razor.tv/site/servlet/segment/main/entertainment/20714.html

http://www.razor.tv/site/servlet/segment/main/entertainment/20716.html

River Hongbao Concert (Pt 3)

The Chinese New Year is not over yet, so catch Kelvin Tan Weilian, Kelly Poon, Wawa and other Xinyao's favourites in this year's River Hongbao Concert.

http://www.razor.tv/site/servlet/segment/main/entertainment/20850.html

Trivia:

I went for two days...and personally I felt Wei Lian sang the new song better in the 2nd day. haha! Think is the stereo effects, coz the 1st day the stereo sounded "coarse"/too many disturbance noise. I also like the 2nd day dressing for him as well, simple yet bright. 2nd day also ended slightly earlier than 1st day, and everything is the same (even their speeches are 90% similar to the 1st day!) except Kelly sang another song from her new album instead from her 2nd album. hoho! 2nd day is much more crowded almost 95% full, but our fans managed to "manuover" around like got better seats la, really like right in front of the stage, center somemore. hehe. :laugh:

While Wei Lian was performing, got two small kids (one girl and one boy about 5-6 years old) really cute la, went to the front and use their handphone to take snap shots of him. haha! And got one lady sat beside me saw us took our the banner (but haven't raise it up yet coz Wei Lian hasn't appear) and kept murmuring who we supporting. Then she kept bending slightly down to see the name on the banner, and then say "oh, it's wei lian ar!". lol. :P

About the song (星光伴我心):
Something light and happpy teaser that I think is suitable for all ages...yet think it is more suitable to be 3rd/4th zhu da of the upcoming album, coz Wei Lian's vocals still not excerise fully in the song...anticipate something that his vocals will truly shine through.

But...am happy that the record label invited famous lyricist like 梁文福 and 林夕 (both can write meaningful and close-to-heart songs very well) to pen his songs. Now I hope is all original de, and if can, include Wei Lian's compositions as much as possible. Muahaha! :P

新年09到了!!

2009-01-26T01:00:00.001+08:00

新年到! 新年到!....(想到这儿就想到"团员饭"的阿公....朱厚仁演的很投入,挺感人的.)

新年终于到了...今年我"犯太岁". (我这么一说,想必知道我属什么的吧? 哈哈!), 所以愿自己能顺顺利利过一整年. :)

做了张祝贺图, 顺便借这个机会祝福大家过个太平年! :)

上个礼拜,去观看伟联的演出...总的来说蛮好看,歌曲也好听...打85分.

下一个礼拜,伟联又会有演出: 《大地回春贺新年》1月30日（星期五）及1月31日（星期六）, 8点直到晚上10点.

多一点详情: http://www.riverhongbao.sg/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50&Itemid=59

希望看到你们的出现哦!

过完年应该是伟联要发片的时候了...等到脖子都长了,迫不及待了...哈哈! 希望这次专辑会制作更好,让伟联的歌声感染更多人. 伟联加油! :)

《我不是你想像那麼勇敢》MV v.s《走音》MV?

2009-01-25T16:00:00.005+08:00

最近迷上一首歌,一个歌声(最近女歌手的成绩相比低调, 她是算比较突出的一位, 舒服漂亮,歌声也不赖...听的出她是21岁吗?)

拍的MV也挺有心思...利用第三者的角度来做个停靠站,问题到底在于谁呢? 是你多情,还是他/她多意?

梁文音《我不是你想像那麼勇敢》MV - 完整版

另外介绍多一首歌.

黃靖倫《走音》MV完整版:

听完整张专辑, 最喜欢"走音" (歌词简单,旋律顺耳 - 怎么样去淡然接受不稳的爱情的安排?)和"缺席".他在这两首歌曲的声音发挥最入味.

你们比较喜欢哪一首呢?

Korea Trip Day 7 - Seoul - Incheon - Singapore

2009-01-03T17:41:00.014+08:00

Wooh...last day of Korea Trip le. Time passes very fast...

We went outside of Hotel to have our breakfast and it started to snow in midst of our breakfast! Yeah! Second time lucky to catch the snow, and this time round is heavier. Even the guide also said that we are lucky that we still can see the snow once more before we left Korea, so worth the air ticket and tour package price. haha! Most of us hurried through our breakfast and went outside of the shop to experience the snow. Hehe.

After breakfast, we went to an Amethyst Factory, where it sells purple crystals jewellery and ornaments. Coz it is on high side of a price, think no one in my tour group buy things from there, so just see see and look look. haha! Next, we headed to a place for Kimchi Making Session. On our way to there, the tour guide was talking about their taxi. Did you know they had two types of taxi? One is white whereby the taxi fetches typical customers but there is another black in colour (about 50% more expensive than white one), which is exclusive to only drunken customers. lol. Why? Coz like I said before, the Koreans enjoy drinking which result in drink-drive siutation. To avoid such problem, these taxis are hired and typical position them around pubs areas, so as to fetch these drunken customers safely back home. These black-coloured taxi drivers need a lot of years of experiences and special handling methods to handle those drunken customers - which explains their fees. (Maybe singapore should have that for those party-goers. But think maintainence fee will be very high. ha!)

We finally arrived at the Kimichi Making Session class. It was an Korean, 40+ years old lady teaching us how to make delicious Kimichi. The chili has been premade by the staffs so we are only left to wrap the chilli in the vegetables. One has to stuff and spread ufficient amount of chilli on every leave and the remaining chilli has to be used to cover the thickest leave as well as the bottom stalk, so that the leaf water will not escape so easily. (after that should be put in the fridge for the vegetable to ferment) The one I done is also captured below (paiseh for the messiness. lol.). Ingredients are shown as below.

After the Kimichi making process, we went to the next section of the room to test fit some hanboks and took some photos. As the closet area is pretty small and squeezy, it was kind of a mad rush trying to exchange some of the clothes (so that one can try different styles.) But nevertheless, it was an interesting experience!

After that, we headed to a palace park, named as 进善门. Inside kept those special rooms for the riches and governors. One of the door entrance is named as 常乐门, 顾名思义 - means that once one cross over the platform, will always feel the happiness and bliss. According to the tour guide, if it is during autumn season, the place will be filled with brightful leaves and flowers. But since we came close to winter season, there's nothing much left for us to see. lol. But we managed to see the internal of the special rooms (not able to enter through though coz to avoid people damaging the things inside).

That park is our very last itinery and we set off to airport at about 2pm.

Goodbye Korea!

Overall it was a nice trip. Would recommend you to go if you like sightsee (especially after watching numerous drama serial). Hmmm, shopping wise is not that cheap as expected, so you probably would not be buying things you can buy in Singapore, unless very unique or you can't find in Singapore (we bought back some of their local food products). Food so far I tasted quite nice and quite healthy as well. Even their fried food isn't too oily and every meal got kimichi. Tasted a teeny bit of their wine, but er not my liking at all. haha! For ladies, toilet cleanliness is very important so in Korea is not a problem (quite close to Singapore system). Prefably for you to understand Korean so that you can easy communicate with them, coz only people at Seoul (and those educated or hotel staffs) will understand basic English. Basic Chinese some of them do know too, but rather limited. Even our tour guide told us that she specially go all the way to study in Beijing Uni for 6 years, to learn Mandarin. (where she claimed is not tat really good. She's modest la...I think not too bad le coz can even quote some 成语和谚语 at times , even better than some Chinese Singaporeans I know. ) So you may experience some language barrier over there.

After the trip, I do gain more insight and information about Korea - history (the guide during our coach journeys mentioned about war histories time to time), culture (from artifacts and structures), people (from the way they behave to their beliefs) and etc...Last but not least, got to make some friends from my tour group and seeing the snow twice!! The only problem is I didn't get to meet any of the Korean stars (but my guide is almost as pretty as those Korean stars....muahaha!)

Korea Trip Day 6 - Seoul

2009-01-03T14:19:00.040+08:00

Day 6 we were at Seoul and the tour guide brought us to Blue House/Cheongwadae (青瓦台及昌德宫). This is where the government office is held in and the wide landscape park surrounded it(something like our Parliament House + Istana).

One of the photos you see below has a phoneix and beside the phoneix got a hill right? Do you see two 'rounded' white patches on the hill? Ya, that's is the "eyes" of the hill, representing as the dragon and phoneix (龙鳯配), that oversee the prospersity and well being of the nation/government. Unique natural structure right? There is a "family statues" of one of the photo - that represent unity and warmth in each family. Heard of 有家才有国? In Korea, fillai piety is also emphasis and very importance. So the guide also told us to take snapshot of that particular angle in hope that we will be blessed as well. :)

As we visited the palace/government office area, due to security purpose we aren't allow to take photos, but we were brought to a place whereby different national ambassadors will occasionally gave off their national treasures as soveneirs to Korea in the form of goodwill and respect to their relationship as bilateral partners or associates.

Cheongwadae consists of the main office building and its annexes. The main office building includes Presidential Office, audience room, conference room, and official Presidential residence. The annex accommodates the office of the Presidential secretariat, the office of Presidential security, Chunchugwan (press center) and Yeongbingwan (reception hall). Also, there are wide gardens, ponds, and rear gardens connected with Bukak-san in the Cheongwadae compound. The main building has a hipped-and-gabled roof, which is the most refined and beautiful style among Korean architecture, covered with Korean style blue tiles from which "Cheongwadae" takes its name. Approximately 150,000 tiles compose the roof of Cheongwadae. Each was baked individually, which makes them strong enough to be used for over one hundred years.

Quoted from : http://www.lifeinkorea.com/Travel2/seoul/420

Wikipedia info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheong_Wa_Dae

We are not allow to enter the Blue House (police and guard personnels were on standby at gates), so the coach driver just drive pass around it for us to have a rough idea of Cheongwadae is. (Cannot even take camera shots as they have the special detector that will sound if flashlights are detect. -_-''') Imagine he took about 30mins to do a complete round before exiting? That just proves how huge the area is.

(source from the wikipedia website)

After the visit to the Blue House, we set off to the most expensive meal of the tour package, called 韩廷食. Quite a lot of dishes as well, mostly closed to Chinese's acquired taste. But I guess the most expensive thing is the 牛肉串 (which my family don't eat). I like their rice coz is red bean-lookalike inside plain rice, cooked in bamboo, giving that sweet lingering taste. But their sushi tasted a bit unusual la, think their vegetables are preserved already then wrapped up (unlike the Jap ones, whereby they used fresh veg). Still got steamed pumpkin and 小龙包. Hehe.

After lunch we were brought to Coex Hall to shopping. Upon shopping, I spot a restaurant opened by famous actor Jackie Chan. Haha! Not bad leh, can open a shop in Korea also showed his popularity. Anyway, we just bought some silk pouches and some long jeans.

The final part of the day was at Lotte World Adventure (about 50% of Everland). But on our way to there was super jam lor, think is on weekend (btw, the place only opens from 5pm onwards) and children over there are having school holidays as well, so understandable la.

By the time we reached there, quite dark already (that's why my outdoor photos are super dark/blur). Didn't take too much rides as well la, coz super duper long queues lor. -_-''' But their ice cream not too bad. (must be think I am crazy to take ice creams in such cold weather. But indoor they got tune up the heater which is quite warmer, plus the ice cream look appetizing and we are thirsty, so ya. haha!)

Anyway, this is an indoor and outdoor amusement park. It is also the filming site of the Korean drama serial, "Stairway to Heaven". Remember the merry-go-round?

The indoor is split into 6 main areas (3 levels in all). 1) A big stage arena whereby clown and acrobatics performances took place (we managed to see part of it and got mini fireworks to welcome vistors), 2) museum whereby they kept those Korean culture related stuff, 3) soverneir stall shops selling necklaces, hand drawn pictures, etcs, 4) food centres/stalls, 5) amusement rides and 6) an indoor garden whereby you can see butterflies/worms/flowers. For the games we just took about 2 rides and played those shooting/hitting games. haha!

As for the outdoor, mainly are some castles and adventurous rides la. The other reason for the crowd is that outside super cold so not much people, hence a lot of them hide indoor which results in "unbalance" of the inside-outside space availability. Anyway, we just take snap shots of certain structures to our best ability (coz super cold, very dark to see anything as well).

A wrapper I gotten from Lotte World coz I bought some necklaces:

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j241/hippo1985_photos/personal/lotteworld.jpg

After that, we went back to Seoul Garden Hotel to pack up as we are leaving Korea the following day. The last day, the tour guide brought as to a Kimchi Making Sessiom (the same place we can try some Korean dressings), Amethyst Factory (where ornaments purple gem crystals are made) and a park whereby they kept some olden days how rich people stayed houses.

Korea Trip Day 5 - Jeonju - Seoul

2009-01-03T14:19:00.002+08:00

Day 5 we woke up and prepared to take our breakfast at the hotel, and to our surprise: it was snowing outside! Actually the tour guide said at Day 4 should have snowed (due to weather forecast) but it didn't. So it came as a surprise when it really snowed the next day. But when it started to snow, oh my, really cold leh. About -11 degree celcius. -_-'''. It was my first time seeing snow, so was pretty excited (although not very heavy yet, more like small flakes). haha! But since it is not that heavy, only certain parts of our journey has snowed. (That's why later my photos not every place has presence of snowing. But the chilling wind is quite frequent.) The guide told us we are pretty luck to see snow, coz the period we went is still quite early (based on their previous years) for snowing to occur.

Anyway after that, we are travelled about 1.5 hours of coach journey and reached Sangsoo Herbland (相洙香草农圆). This place is whereby many kinds of plants are grown and their essences/nutrients are used to make drinks (mineral water and tea), cosmetic-related products, honey, aroma-therapy usage, etc...but it is one's personal preference whether it is good or not la, coz some smell are pretty distinctive/heavy. This place is also a fav place for many countries TV representatives to interview from.

Ever see a super duper hyper active host? Tell you, if you go there really must meet the host, or rather the owner of the herbland. You look at him like 50-60 years old, but his action are like those 20+ type. He took up a small pot of young plant, brush them across everyone's nose (took everyone by surprise) and tell us to smell them. And he did that for about 10 sets (because different smell altogether). lol. Not only that, while he talks, he bangs on the side wall of the conference room, to gain our attention. And he talks loudly, rapidly and later glee at us. OMG! Got one demonstration very funny. Was that he ask two couples to stand up on stage. How it goes...One male after eating one of the plant's leaves (the plant can arouse that particular sense), need to show how much he loves the other female. Damn dramatic and everyone was laughing cause quite awkward ma, especially the couples up there are about 35 and above! :P Also got Q & A session, he "threw" their specially made mineral water (contain flavours like lavender, mint) bottle to the person who answers correct as a reward. But very interesting and joyful demonstration he made that make us excited to understand the plant's characteristics. 讲到头头是道, 你不信都不信. He has my admiration (especially at his age and his 'craziness')!

After the demonstration, we were brought to walk through their big compound garden to have a look at the plants. Some is in greenhouse effect, whereas others are propagated. Indeed it was a splendid variety of plants/flowers and I like one that has the smell of chocolate. heeh. There is also a soverneir shop that sells their products. I bought 2 small boxes of tea and perfume.

To know more about the herbland, click on the pamphlets that I have cropped and uploaded:

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j241/hippo1985_photos/personal/sangsooherbland_1.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j241/hippo1985_photos/personal/sangsooherbland_2.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j241/hippo1985_photos/personal/sangsooherbland_3.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j241/hippo1985_photos/personal/sangsooherbland_4.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j241/hippo1985_photos/personal/sangsooherbland_5.jpg

After about an hour at the herbland, we headed to Everland (爱宝乐园). It is a super big theme park cum zoo (given about 4 hours to sightsee)! Something like Disneyland. But as it is super cold, the big space allowed more wind to enter through, so it super cold lor. Because of that, many things we didn't try out (especially those adventurous rides) coz too cold to move actively to each part of the park. lol. The park is divided into three main areas - top, middle, bottom. To reach the bottom you need to take a special type of transport (something like a cable slide). When we reached the bottom, the guide took us to their wildlife zoo area whereby tigers and bears were most commonly kept. The bears were very cute and obdient (the driver microphoned them to sing and the bears pranced along. They were rewarded with food if they successfully performed the required). We are quite close in contact/proximity with them (except the windows are not opened for safety reasons), so it is an interesting experience.

After a visit to the zoo, the tour guide said we can feel freely to sightsee other places. So we went to a mini-farm whereby you can see animals like cows, ducks, pigs, swarns, chickens; another area of insects/creatures; night-life animals, monkeys, etc. Pretty educational as well, and a good hiding place from the cold wind outside. haha! Coz the mini-farm is designed either indoors/or with proper enclosure/shelter, so most of hide there from time-to-time to avoid the shrilling cold wind and at the same time resting.

There is an area where specially designed christmas trees (or rather for a special theme, which changes from different quarters of a year) are placed. Awesome, especially the purple bells on the christmas trees, giving a very dreamy yet classy feel. While we were walking around the area, we saw got a choir there singing christmas carols (performing Korean version of typical English Christmas songs). Personally ar, really ke lian them leh. Although wear long overall, but imagine so cold le (outside somemore!), still got to stand there and sing well. Pathetically only like about 10 floor audiences. -_-'''. That's what they meant by professionalism ba. We meet a santa dressed entertainer and he gladly took photos with some of us. Got a train ride round the place as well. After that we took some rides la. We took merry-go-round. lol. Like a bit childish hor? But the last time I took that was about 10 over years ago la, so kind of sweet relishing. hehe. Then we sat on a teacup rotating ride and a mini-rollercoaster ride. Dare not sit the super high one, later scared 冻疆 (you feel your nose like going to drop off liao). haha.

I believe if it was during other seasons, it would be a fun place for everyone of all ages to enjoy. At least don't have to spend time hiding la (really tiring), and can be more active plus adventurous to participate in the games and rides. And the feel of openess (not much building but specially designed structures to fit certain themes) is nice as well. One can feel a certain feel of 童真 when they see certain structures. Imagine the house designed like the storybook "Hansel and Gretel"? hehe.

It was super cold though, cold until I see my people in my tour group came back with mouth and ears covers. :P And the kids bought those super big head (got horse, wolf, dog) head cover mask. quite cute but not practical coz it is a bit unbalanced. lol. The sunset was very beautiful and scenic especially with the pine trees behind and that purplish-red contrast. After that, we went back to our hotel to pack up and travel to Seoul, where it should be warmer than Jeonju.

Korea Trip Day 4 - Daegu - Jeonju

2008-12-31T21:53:00.035+08:00

Day 4 we set off to Maisan Provincial Park/Tapsa Temple (马耳山公园/塔寺司). A mountaineous area and a temple halfway up the hill. Pretty scenic place. Remember I once mentioned about the elders? During winter time, they enjoy climbing/travelling such places, dressed in pretty well-fited clothings and bring along a trekking stick. They believe in 吸地气, that helps in cultivating one's health condition. So by such activities, can help in them to live better and healthier. According to the tour guide, Koreans' live span generally are longer as compared to the rest. Also, the people generally are quite slim and not very obese as well (due to their habits and continual exercise). But one big problem is they enjoy drinking (and their wine are quite heavy in dosage - easily drunk kind, 酒精含量很重), so they have a common health problem that affect their liver (No. 1 health threat problem).

Trivia: Next time if you go to Korea, to remember to let the elders have the toilet first.

Why? Coz my sis had an interesting account with them and I witnessed myself. There were about 3 old ladies lining after my sis. So when my sis went to the toilet, within less than half-a-min, they were outside knocking furiously on the door (and preparing to take off their pants anytime outside). You know in Singapore is first come first go concept right? But Korea, they respect their elders as they admire those who survived through many wars (especially the North-South Korea internal war) and build up the nation so they will let them go first in due respect - so it is very common/nothing surprising in Korea. Actually the tour guide had told us earlier (otherwise we may have rebuked and faced fiery temper lor), but what we didn't expect was how outright their actions were. lol. My sis was a bit 'pekcek' and complain a bit la. ahah!

Somewhere at the hill bottom, BBQ food were sold. And they are famous in their 猪肉排骨 (a photo attached below). Pretty delicious and tender (especially in cold weather) but is rather expensive la. haha!

Anyway, we had to travel to the mountain part area first before lunch. But halfway travelling, it was drizzling, the road was pretty slippery and rockish, hence we didn't managed to climb to the top of the mountain (although I much wish I can go up there to feel the breeze and see the outlook of the area from the top). Was pretty much drenched on our way back as the drizzle got heavier.

You see the rock shape and texture? Although it looks very rough, they actually contain many useful natural minerals for people to use to make ornaments. And the shape resembles a horse's ears. The whole park has about 80 of these (big and small). Pretty tiring walk to and back the place as the whole stretch of road is long (not forgetting it is raining). You see a green tiger at one of the photos? That's is a national animal to South Korean, it is also a kind of siberian tiger family.

After about 1.5 hours at the park, about 15mins later we reached a ginseng farm. The period we went is not the best period for growing ginseng, so we didn't managed to see them.

So the tour guide told us a bit history of their ginseng - growing, quality and it is their national treasure. Because it is their national treasure, the authentic ones are not sold cheaply outside normal stores, but must be certify/authorised by the government. (We were also brought to their speciality, highly authorised by government shop to have a look at their properly packed products. Due to the high level of security, they forbid us to take snap shots of the place, so I got no photos to show.)

The black tent is to protect them from strong UV sunlight and heavy wind/rain. The growing environment of ginseng is very delicate. And once the place is for growing ginseng, at least another 15 years the place cannot be used for growing other plants. This is because, ginseng absorbs all the nutrients, therefore the land is not suitable anymore. 6-year old ginseng is at its best stage and also where they will reap them to keep/sold. Their ginseng (高丽人参) is neutral in content, so suitable for anyone of ages/body constitutent to consume. Unlike the China ones (generally heaty), and the English ones (generally cold), Korean ginseng are uniquely good/gentle and well known to many. As I have mentioned that ginseng is very delicate, therefore not all places are suitable for growing them. Usually the better ones are at the mountain side area. And the tendency of having all good and can be used ones are not many nor often (one of the reason why they are expensive), so farmers who wants to grow them need to consider whether to grow ginseng or other plants (I mentioned about the time lapse earlier on) to their best profit.

After a trip to the ginseng farm, we went to sightsee traditional winemuseum and craftworks exhibition hall (全洲传统酒博物馆及全洲工艺品博物馆). They are like those old china alleys (but much wider) and many small shops that are doing/selling similar things - handicrafts of all sorts (from paper drawing, dolls to knifes and pottery) Along the way, the guide brought us to a place whereby drawing of ascendants kings were placed, and things that were available in the era (e.g carriage, dressing rooms) were also maintained. Interesting to see their cultural aspect of life. We bought one doll back (encased in plastic rectangular container, about 50 cm high). The doll is sweet looking, very well dressed in silk material hanbok , and its pose is like dancing to happiness.

After 2 hours of walking, we headed for dinner. The dinner is very special as they have about 20 dishes to one meal, and some of them are not so commonly available or easily cooked. One of the more expensive meal in our tour package as well as in Korea. We had 3 different kind of soups, about 10 side-dishes of different flavours and the remaining are main dishes. Some of them tasted a bit unusual so some of us didn't really touch, but generally the dishes are quite nice.

After the dinner, we went back to the hotel - Jeonju Riviera Hotel. The hotel is special in the sense it has no bed at all (like in most Korean shows you will get to see it). haha. Only got very thin mattress and pillows made of green bean seed pods. This kind of hotel encourages people to sleep close to the ground so as to able 吸地气. And actually the ground is pretty warm. hoho! So in the end, we pushed the table to one side and pull the mattress close to the window area so not so stuffy. Manage to sleep quite well. Nice experience!

*Btw, before sleeping we watch their TV for relaxation and surprise to find got our Singapore 神雕侠侣 after some accidental tuning! The surprise is the show is like ages ago in Singapore, now then they show over in Korea. lol. Manage to take a snapshot of the show.

Korea Trip Day 3 - Jeju - Daegu

2008-12-28T02:04:00.021+08:00

After an hour flight, we reached Daegu (大邱). We immediately went to Donghwa Temple (桐华寺), which is about 2 hours of coach distance from the airport.

At the entrance of the temple, got some (念过经的泉水) spring water where they allow people to consume it. There are three eggs displayed representing good wills/blessings from phoneix (Country Bird of Korea) - touching them will bring you good luck. At the right corner, one would observe a high-platform whereby a drum, a fish, a small metal banner-lookalike, and bell are placed inside. Actually they represent animals (drum), fishes (a fish), birds (small metal banner lookalike) and humans (bell). For a complete praying session, the monks/nuns have to dedicated their praying/blessings through these 4 things, in the event of allow animals, fishes, birds and humans to learn and absorb the prayers.

After taking a view at the entrance, we walked further up to the outside of the temple, where the big Buddha statue is being placed. The tour guide told us to take a look at below of Buddha's arm (see a dark patch under the Buddha's left arm, the one holding a ball?) and asked us to guess what it is. Some said a bag and others took quite a long while to look. Only I came up with the answer....bird nest! And I was correct! yeah! Under Buddhism, 放生 is very common belief/action. That's also the very reason why they didn't remove the patch (although it may does affect the Buddha statue look a bit), as they know that the birds and their eggs need to be protect/not disturbed by.

After seeing and praying to the Buddha, we walked down quite a steep fleet of steps to the park.

After the temple, we went to Jung Angro Street for shopping. Actually I got nothing much to talk about shopping coz in general their structure is like 4- 5 times of Bugis street/Bugis village. Or either is a bit like Orchard Road (but much cramper). Also in general, their standard of living is pretty high, so their goods are not that cheap as you imagined, and you cannot any-o-how go and slashed price (that you can do in China).

I just feel some of their winter clothings and accessories are not too bad la. haha. Faceshop is the one I truly recommend you to ask your colleagues/friends to buy from if they do go to Korea. It can be as cheap as 60% of our local price or even lesser than that. And definitely much more variety as well (that only available in Korea). You see even their students can afford them (that shows how affordable the stuffs are) and that day we went to the shop which happens to have some promotion going on...you see the queue you really got the urge to buy a lot more. The ladies in my tour group went crazy over the face masks. lol. Faceshop is also famous coz they use natural resources (fruits/vegetables) to make the products, so it is safer and neutral to asian skin texture.

After giving us about an hour of shopping time, we set off to Spa Valley (AQUA World - 温泉水世界) for rejuvenating oneslef and enjoy a fun-filled time at its water park. Very advance looker system they had - by using magnetic and coding watch to tap on the destinated locker that the particular watch is allocated to. They still got shoe locker and clothes locker separately.

Imagine soaking in hot spring water at the different kinds of bade pools, spa facilities and sanuas...Shuangness ar! hoho. We also tried the Doctor Fish Spa (a thermal spring filled with tiny fishes that thrive in hot water and it is said to be therapetic for those with skin aliments). Heard one time Doctor Fish Spa is about S$25 for 30mins, so it is not that cheap if it isn't a tour package. Quite unique experience, initially a bit ticklish, but after about a min or two get used to it. Quite a lot of fishes came to my side, and my mom joked that I got too much dead skin at my foot la. muahaha! Also there is an outdoor spa, but hor, no one in the right mind will go there la...coz super cold leh. Althought outdoor spa also got hot/warm water (about 40 degree celscius and above) but the distance you walk from inside to outside will make you feel the cold air rushing in, cold till you shiver type. lol.

The soaking in spa itself is quite cool, except the process of changing and taking off one's swimwear "unbelieavable". We were quite shocked to see that the ladies are very open...in the sense, they practically stripped in the changing room, x-posed throughout leh (without undies as well la). -_-'''. To them in a very very common practice/habit so they gave us weird expression when they saw us still quite dressed. *alamak*. And their 'free' towel is at most enough to cover the face la. hoho! So we all did halving lor - meaning quick but part by part undressing: upper half undressed (bottom half still dressed) and vice versa next. We also only rinse briefing and hope to get back to the hotel as soon as possible to bathe throughly. :P Why we only rinse briefing is because their shower room does not have those door-locked type, just those pull-away curtain lining lor, so people can just barged in as they like. -_-'''

After the interesting spa experience, we head to a dinner meal - Ginseng Chicken Soup (with rice/noodles) and then to Daegu Iner-Burgo Hotel for a good night rest. The ginseng chicken soup is pretty filling (coz they put in a small-sized full chicken into each bowl for per person consumption) and quite tasty, also able to keep one warm and the tonics benefit the body. The ginseng they used are neutral to body, regardless if you are hot/cold body constitute. More about Korean ginseng info will be mentioned in my next post.

Korea Trip Day 2 - Jeju Island (part 2)

2008-12-26T17:34:00.041+08:00

Previously, I mentioned that Jeju Folk Village (济洲民俗村) is the place where the famous show 大长今 fliming took place...the village consists on huts, animal farm and vegetation farm. There is also a 大长今 mini-museum. Jeju Folk Village's area is quite big, i think about 1.5 times of Jurong Bird Park. The ship is like a 'weapon' to last time army, that's why it is being placed right at the entrance, to represent protection of the area. Among the photo, you would see a black pig right? This is the famous 黑毛猪 (remembered I mentioned about the delicious bbq pork meal in my previous post?). Only the fur/outside part is black, but internally is the same as normal pig. The pig you see is only for 'display set' (coz only got 2 of them in a small sty) like how previously olden days people will keep and rear. There are actual farms to keep many of them.

Here's an interesting fact. Actually beside the sty, is where people do all their "business", and directly below is an hole linkage, for "business" to flow out and after that those pig would eat them up (as part of their main dishes) lor. wahaha! Also, notice the symbolic figure again?

Regarding their huts, the more the wooden stills that support their huts, the richer the family is. Also their wooden front (x-shaped) doors can also represent whether the lady in the house is a widower or not. Represented by a hankerchief placed at the wooden door. They also displayed an artifical horse milling (whereby a horse instead of a human are used to move the stone grind machine).

Anyway, this village would be nice for those who like to experience non-city lifestyle (rather greenery), coz no tall buildings, no cars/vehicles are allowed to park within certain circumference of the village. Before we left for the place, my parents bought two jars of jam, that are made of natural fruit sources. Quite cute the packaging (but forget to take the photos of them).

As we travelled to the next destination, the tour guide told us that among the Korean artistes, only two has never went for cosmetic surgery. Guess who? One of them, is mentioned here (在戏里面的灵魂人物. And she acted in《火花》). the other is the one acted in 天国的阶梯, as the bad sister/lady who loves 权相宇 to no avail (the same lady is actually a very bright student in real life as well). Think you would know which two I am referring to ba. haha! But generally, the rest have done a bit of cosmetic surgery, especially in Korea, beauty is sought after as well as highly maintained (but their good skin texture helps them to look at least pleasant and clean). Erm, we forget to ask how much their cosmetic surgery is....wahaha!

The next stop was at the Teddy Bear Museum (泰迪熊博物馆). It was a three-level building with an outside garden. The teddy bears were designed in different materials and of different theme (different culture and countries). One of the photos I took was the famous korea ou xiang ju 宫's 4 famous bears (representing the leading roles). At the ground level was where some of the bear dolls were sold. We bought two: one boy with golf dressing, the other girl with maiden dressing...although some dolls were pretty much expensive (especially those with special clothings on them). Some keychains/bags/pencil boxes were sold as well.

The most expensive bear was named as LV Bear. The funny thing is...I didn't managed to see the bear lor! (wondering where they placed?) So only able to show through the pamphlet that was given to tourists (see the 1st pamphlet bottom ride handside). It is most expensive not only because of the leather material, but it is an auctioned bear for charity purpose.

1st phamplet side:

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j241/hippo1985_photos/personal/TeddyBearMuseum_1.jpg
2nd phamplet side:

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j241/hippo1985_photos/personal/TeddyBearMuseum_2.jpg

The last place we went before the day ends is called the Mysterious Road (奇幻山坡).

Whoa...really mysterious until I can't feel it. -_-'''. According to the tour guide, when one is on the Mysterious Road, will experience the strange phenomenon of going uphill when one's vehicle's engine is turned off. So she let us all stand in the middle of the road to test out the phenomenon. She told us to walk up the road for a certain distance, then turn around and walk down, returning the same distance moved. But hor, I did the same thing about 4 times, but can't really feel the difference leh. (the host joked that if we can't feel, then need to see doctor le. ha!)

She wanted to show us also by pouring water on the road and observe the water flow. But it is too late at night (6pm already 乌漆漆) to perform the task, so in the end didn't do it.

The Mysterious Road looks like any normal down-slope road (with repeat pattern waves down the path for about 2km), but certain part of it has an unusual phenomenon. This phenomenon also caused some drivers to be "blurred", so much so they actually slow down while driving past that particular portion. It is because of human's eye parallel view (especially when the lights shone on the road, will affecting your sight as though your eyes are viewing into different plane levels, where theorectically is not so.) A bit hard to descibe here how the Mysterious Road looks like, coz I forget to bring down my camera la. (Actually I thought why on earth the guide bought us to some wulu place, coz it doesn't seems to me got any buiding/significant signs at all. Was complaining to my sis in fact that she bought us down to shiver and I can't feel what she wanted us to feel. haiz.) hoho!

So after that "Mysterious" Road, we returned to our Hotel for a good night rest! Coz next day we will travel back to mainland - to Daegu by an hour flight + an hour of coach travelling before reaching a temple, that was claimed as 很仙灵, by many Koreans. One of their established temples as well, coz there is a very big park surrounding it. I will mentioned more about their habits (especially their elders) in my next update.

Korea Trip Day 2 - Jeju Island (part 1)

2008-12-24T11:04:00.034+08:00

Jeju Island is really quite a refreshing place away from city, especially all around it was water (所谓的有山有水, 空气新鲜). It is also considered as a tourism place for couples (even for Koreans themselves if they can't afford too far a country for travelling). But in past history, Jeju Island is also a place where pirates like to attack in/from, precisely coz they can invade through the waters (less boundaries)...which hence leading to overall living standard much lower compared to city, 也是比较朴实. In the olden days, the people are used to running away from their homes for survival, that's why 泡菜 concept was somewhat developed from there, where only preserved food can be used for easy consumption.

In the morning, we were treated to their abalone porridge. But their kind of porridge rice is more similar to Jap's 珍珠米, rather than ours. So when you eat, you can taste 一粒一粒的粥米 as well. Their abalone definitely is not like ours, but more like hard sotong. Their typical porridge also added in not-so-salty seaweed strips as seasoning. Overall, not too bad.

So after breakfast, we set off to Yongduam Rock (龙头岩) . It is a formation from volcano residues, where a look-a-like dragon head was created.

Jeju Island has this interesting fact...阴胜阳衰. So to change that, they design the below symbolic figure (it can also be found in different areas of Jeju Island). The host told us to touch its nose before telling us the background story. Haha. Behind the symbolic figure has something like a 'baggage' behind his back...where actually is associative to 男根. >.<. Our tour guide also mentioned, pregnant ladies will come here to touch the symbolic figure, in attempt to pray for their child to be a boy. Because of 阴胜阳衰, it is a common trend for the guy to have many wives, which indirectly made the wife have to be capable of many things, like cooking (that's why even in shows, the mother always advice their daughter to learn how to cook) and managing the household....刻苦耐劳 is a important characteristic in Korean women for them to survive.

The next venue was Sungsan Sunrise Park (日出峰) . Very scenic and a bit like those Australia-country side farm feel. My dad and me managed to climb to the mountain peak (but really tedious man! coz the steps are narrow and pretty steep), but my mum and my sis to tired to climb all the way, in the end just rest half-way the journey. One photo you see got tents, is actually where the old ladies are selling tangerines (cheap rental). I will mentioned more about it later.

Next, we went to a tangerine farm and tried cutting of tangerines for sovenoir. Tangerine is considered as a 特产 in Jeju Island, because their land (volcanic?) and overall climatic condition not very suitable for other kinds of vegetation, whereby only tangerines can survive. The guide also told us the smaller the tangerine, the sweeter the fruit is. Tangerines are also use in making of chocolates, creating that slightly sour but sweet aftertaste.

After visiting the tangerine farm, we set off to ATV ride. (山地摩托车). Oh my, although quite trilling but hor, can scare you of your life-time if you don't know how to control the motorbike (It just zoom forward, coz no numeric/gear type of control but just a normal push in-out kind!) We were supposed to follow a mini-terrain (according to the professionals, that is considered easy for new beginners), but really not that easy leh. Quite a few times, at those curvature areas, my bike got stuck to one side. lol. 挺耗费体力, coz the bike really not light lor. haha! It is designed for 4 wheels for safety/balancing purpose. But taking the ride itself can make your pants quite dirty as you would have to travel along sand/muddy tracks...

After the tedious and adventurous ride (but not cheap if it is not a tour package. Just one round the place is about S$25-30 depending on the day you went), we were treated to their 黑猪肉烧烤 for lunch. Really nice leh, coz they cut quite thinly plus they marinate quite well so 有口感, 有嚼劲. 黑猪肉 is also their 特产, and people purposely go all the way to Jeju Island to eat them. A picture of 黑猪 will be posted later on...

*One thing I realised when I went to Korean 专卖 (only sell one type of dish/food) restaurants, is that they are pretty generous with their side dishes de. They cooked up boxes/containers of the vegetable, and if you think it is still not enough, feel freely to take more at the restaurant side shoulders. And their 泡菜 also looks and taste fresh.

After the meal, we set off to Jeju Folk Village (济洲民俗村) for sightseeing. By the way, this Jeju Folk Village is also the place where the famous show 大长今 fliming took place...

Korea Trip Day 1 - Seoul and Jeju Island

2008-12-21T17:56:00.001+08:00

*Long overdue summary of my trip there. Paiseh, coz sorting out the photos and thinking of what to write ma. Hahaha. * Our trip was about a week, so I will blog day by day stuffs going on.

Annyong haseyo? (Basic good morning/afternoon/evening greeting)

Haha, this phrase was greeted by the tour guide to everyone (20 peeps) on the same trip with my family. And she "forced" us to know this by hand, so everyday she praticed with us. haha.

First time going to Korea, anticipating it (after watching numerous Korean Shows). When we reached there (Seoul) the temperature was around 5 degree celscius, erm but was quite cold already. hoho! (But the air flight is pretty jerky, not a pleasant ride at all. :P) From Singapore to Korea is about 6+ flight.

When we reached there, the tour guide immediately brought us to Nami Island (南怡岛). We need to take a small ferry to go across to the place. This island is where the famous Winter Sonata filming (My mon ultimate fav movie. hoho!) took place. The tour guide "bluff" us, said actually very near to where we stopped our ferry, but the more you walk you realised it is not that near after all, and pretty big place. Too bad, when we went, nice leaves have already fallen, so mostly you would see tree trunks with baren leaves branches. :(

After about an hour at the island, we went to shopping area (东大门市场), ok la quite big. And in the late evening, we took an hour flight to Jeju Island/済洲岛. (something like from world trade centre to sentosa la...but is X500 times longer lor. haha!) And Jeju Island was pushed forward according to our past itneary, coz the flight there will need to depend on the weather. Only if it is ok climate condition, then the flight can take place. So the tour guide took the opportunity to bring us there.

When we reached Jeju Island, we settled in a Jeju Oriental Hotel. And that's a day trip le.

**P.S: The one thing I want to complain about the Hotel is the switch plug, real lousy la. I inserted in my chargers and it kept dropping out (the rest of the plugs in the hotel room I stayed also gave me the same problem), so in the end I went to find something to support the base and force it up to stop the charger from dropping out. Frustrating, Argh!

Not-so-poppish Songs to recommend

2008-12-21T17:40:00.000+08:00

Hehe, it has been a while since I recommend some songs le.

Going to recommend some not so poppish songs...

萧煌奇 just released "我是萧煌奇". Heard his album online and recommend 点点的. The rest is ok, just that 点点的 is more impressionable to me, although is a commendable album that he is involved in most compositions.
江蕙 just released "甲你揽牢牢". Heard her album online and recommend 甲你攬牢牢. This song is penned by herself.
陈珊妮 just released "如果有一件事是重要的". Heard her album online and recommend 离别曲演歌. 离别曲 is a duet with SHE's Hebe, and 演歌 sounded a bit of chopin music material. Btw, she's also the producer of Kelly's latest album "Smiling Kelly", but Kelly's album still lack a kind of mysterious feeling that 陈珊妮 is pretty famous for (陈珊妮 is known as 黑公主).
薛之谦 just released "深深爱过你". Heard his album online and recommend 2 versions of 深深爱过你. One is 前世, the other is 今生.
方大同 just released "橙月". Heard his album online and recommend Sing A Long Song and 100 种表情. Sing A Long Song is very addictive (certain parts sounded like Wang Lee Hom), but the chinese version 为你写的歌 IMO is not that nice, coz got that feeling the changed language lyrics are being 'forced' in. There is this thing I realised about 方大同 1st zhu da...is either got 'song' or 'love' as the title. haha!

闽南语/福建话

2008-11-29T02:40:00.007+08:00

我本身是福建人...但是有点惭愧的说,我的福建话不是很流利 (听还可以,但是表达能力就...)

虽然如此, 我喜欢听福建歌曲. 说起来可能大家会笑, 特别是有种刻板的想法,觉得喜欢听福建歌的人一定是老一辈. 对我来说,歌没有分老和年轻, 只有好歌和滥竽充数的歌.

喜欢它的原因有:

精髓中带着亲民/民谣的亲切感, 豪放但也挺细腻, 苦情到你的心会揪起来,快歌也有人多朋友多在一起,的共同和愉快感.

尤其搭配连戏剧, 就更能带动故事情节. 记得以前有一部戏,有一位叫飞虎,另外一位叫飞龙...很迷上它的主题曲 (忘记歌名了), 有事没事就哼一哼. :P

在众多歌手,我喜欢的有: 江惠, 江淑娜 (两位是姐妹), 黄乙玲, 洪荣宏, 王识贤, 刘玲玲.

其实伟联的声音也适合唱这类似的歌曲 [他唱"车站"的那一次,有点让我惊艳的感觉], 有点 (贪心) 想听到他的新专辑有这样的尝试. 哈哈!

要找新一代能唱好闽南歌曲, 已经寥寥无几了, 所以偶尔会拿起旧CD 来听听. 呵呵~

不幸的事情还是发生了...:(

2008-11-29T02:23:00.003+08:00

外交部证实本地一女子遇害:

http://www.xin.sg/article.php?article=26164&st=dtl

我国外交部在28日9点40分左右证实，在印度孟买奥拜瑞三叉戟酒店遭恐怖分子挟持的新加坡女子，已经不幸遇害。外交部也确认，目前已经没有其他新加坡人滞留在受影响的酒店。代总理贾古玛刚发布文告，对失去一名新加坡同胞深感哀痛。外交部官员自死者被挟持后，一直陪伴死者家属，外交部目前与当地官员密切合作，希望可以尽快把死者遗体运回国。死者是28岁的Lo Hwei Yen，生前是一名律师，原本到孟买办公，却不幸遇害。死者的遗体是在奥拜瑞三叉戟酒店的19楼，被一名印度保安人员发现的。外交部领事司司长杰索汉说，“我们在晚上8点接到通知，找到的遗体与Lo小姐象征吻合。她丈夫在9点35分最后确认了她的身份。” 据了解，死者是第一位死于恐怖分子手中的新加坡人。恐怖分子曾下令要她向新加坡外交部传话，警告孟买当局不要抗争，否则她将性命不保。我国外交部获知后，马上通知驻我国印度最高专员公署，并把消息转达给印度政府。

虽然完全不认识她, 但看到新闻还是提她和她家人感觉有点悲感(尤其是新加坡的一分子) . :( 人生无常.

世界和平?

2008-11-28T01:51:00.002+08:00

最近看到的两則国外新闻,突然感觉生命的脆弱,和人性的丑陋.

政治一向来是很敏感的话题...或许很多人也可能对它不问不闻, 因为总觉得离自己很远...但一旦有变化的话,对我们来说冲击是挺大的.

为了权利而害了别人,到底是为了生存还是单为了有权势? 有时候是很难断定谁对错或谁引开不该有的混乱? 妥协是否真的能解决问题还是显得懦弱?

这因为如此, 有人的地方就有很大的矛盾点, 尤其每个人的观点和背景不同...

真希望这些僵局能够赶快舒缓...祈福那些受困的,早日和亲人在一起.

我的创作灵感

2008-11-15T22:25:00.008+08:00

灵感是从哪里来? 看似很简单的问题,但又挺深奥的.

要与其他的人不同,又要有传唱度够高,其实不易.

哼哼唱唱我还可以啦,但要我用乐器弹奏这方面我是扎根没办法(因为我从没正式学过乐器弹奏).
但我喜欢写作,喜欢华文,希望能作词这方面有点心得~ 哈哈!

我喜欢用文字的简单文法或意思,来一个"白色幽默"(没有黑色幽默那么黑嘛! 哈!)的"联合体".

好比: "天使" = "天" + "使". 简单的说, "天"是种自然现象, "使"是种动作的互用词汇. "天使"是指天神的使者。现在常用来比喻天真可爱的人(多指女子或小孩).

以这个"天" + "使" = "天使" 的"联合体",我已经开始在创作一首歌的词...会是比较温馨的感觉 :)

(目前为此,已经创作了有十首歌...希望有一天会被认同哦! "人因梦想而伟大"...哈哈!)

从歌唱比赛崛起的新生歌手

2008-11-15T21:53:00.003+08:00

参加歌唱比赛只是一个开始...

对音乐的热忱是否在混乱的娱乐圈越猛或越消沉...真的不是在你能掌控之内的范围...

最近又迷上听从歌唱比赛崛起的新生歌手...

让你来欣赏"有点不同"(把爱表达在不同与往的层面)的MV:-

黃靖倫-缺席 MV

David Cook - Light On (Official Music Video)

让我介绍魏如昀的"傻" (我还蛮希望它开头的"feel")...如果加以磨练,有又另一位女创作歌手突出的潜力.
这首歌曲是她在比赛时候已经创作了,现在她发了专辑也被收录在里面.

星光班的"斗争"

2008-11-02T20:11:00.005+08:00

Oh woah...long time never update my blog le. haha. *a bit lazy*. lol.

Anyway, here's to share some new songs I heard of recent.

潘裕文 - 夏雨詩 [Official MV w/Lyrics]:

周定緯 - 寂寞包廂 [Official MV w/Lyrics]:

梦见-许仁杰 MV*完整版:

黃靖倫 - 月光完整版 mv:

Which one of them will win between the battle of 星光班? Huang Jin Lun. Because he's releasing a full ledged album, high profile under Warner Taiwan. Believe he will the "IN" thing in the current mandopop because he got certain x-factor that will have people liking him. (That's depsite that when he competed, he only won sixth position and that season wasn't as 轰动 as the 1st season). Plus his high pitchy voice is a unique one among the rest.

Baby Blues!

2008-10-09T01:36:00.005+08:00

I have collected all the books of it (except the super large ones) and occasionally like to take it out and read. haha! Why I like them is because they are light-hearted and certain scenarios really happen in young kids and family, so quite connective in that sense. Actually the first book was introduced to me by my friend during secondary school days, so after that is history le. haha!

I like the kids the most! Coz Zoe is the typical bossy sister who talks faster than she thinks...and Hammie her younger brother who is always being bullied by Zoe (but they are close bro and sis though). The parents (Darryl the dad, and Wanda the mum) are kind of funny at times when especially these kids like to 'disturb' them. hee.

If you wishes to look at them, here's an archive link to view upon:

http://www.babyblues.com/archive/index.php?formname=getstrip&GoToDay=09/25/2008

Hopes it manages to clear away some of your blues =)

Jack Neo's 电影卡拉OK歌曲精选专辑

2008-10-09T01:02:00.004+08:00

Was visiting omy.sg site yesterday and found this very interesting 'movie clip' from Jack Neo's blog.

http://blog.omy.sg/jackneo/archives/888

Wow! Didn't know got 'lao zhao bor' rap de. really makes me laugh lor, especially her 'hip hop dance'. lol. And because of this name, really make the old lady quite famous in her calefare acting of some shows. The recent one would be 叮当神探 (kitty kitty?!). Those who watched will know what I'm refering to. haha!

电影卡拉OK歌曲精选专辑:

The album is out in most Singapore stores liao...if you have watched many of Jack Neo's films and like some of the theme songs, do get a copy ba! :)

Which David?

2008-10-03T01:52:00.003+08:00

Both Davids I'm making comparison about are the top 2 winners of AI7

David Archuleta - Crush MV:

(the MV really aids the song...the first time I heard the song is too poppish for me le, consider David Archuleta's vocals aren't that kind of feel. The title just reminds me of 'himbo'. lol)

Lyrics to Crush

I hung up the phone tonight
Something happened for the first time deep inside
It was a rush, what a rush

'Cause the possibility
That you would ever feel the same way about me
It's just too much, just too much

Why do I keep running from the truth?
All I ever think about is you
You got me hypnotized, so mesmerized
And I've just got to know

Do you ever think when you're all alone
All that we can be, where this thing can go?
Am I crazy or falling in love?
Is it real or just another crush?

Do you catch a breath when I look at you?
Are you holding back like the way I do?
'Cause I'm trying and trying to walk away
But I know this crush ain't goin' away-ay-ay-ay-ayy
Goin' away-ay-ay-ay-ayy

Has it ever crossed your mind
When we're hanging, spending time girl, are we just friends?
Is there more, is there more?

See it's a chance we've gotta take
'Cause I believe that we can make this into something that will last
Last forever, forever

Do you ever think when you're all alone
All that we can be, where this thing can go?
Am I crazy or falling in love?
Is it real or just another crush?

Do you catch a breath when I look at you?
Are you holding back like the way I do?
'Cause I'm trying and trying to walk away
But I know this crush ain't goin' away-ay-ay-ay-ayy
Goin' away-ay-ay-ay-ayy

Why do I keep running from the truth?
All I ever think about is you
You got me hypnotized, so mesmerized
And I've just got to know

Do you ever think when you're all alone
All that we can be, where this thing can go?
Am I crazy or falling in love?
Is it real or just another crush?

Do you catch a breath when I look at you?
Are you holding back like the way I do?
'Cause I'm trying and trying to walk away
But I know this crush ain't goin' away-ay-ay-ay-ayy
This crush ain't goin' away-ay-ay-ay-ayy
Goin' away-ay-ay-ay-ayy
Goin' away-ay-ay-ay-ayy
Goin' away-ay-ay-ay-ayy

David Cook - Light On (just music):

~still waiting for the MV before I comment on the suitability. haha.~

Lyrics to Light On

Never really said too much
Afraid it wouldn’t be enough
Just try to keep my spirits up
When there’s no point in grieving
Doesn’t matter anyway
Words could never make me stay
Words will never take my place
When you know I’m leaving

Try to leave a light on when I’m gone
Something I rely on to get home
One I can feel at night
A naked light, a fire to keep me warm
Try to leave a light on when I’m gone
Even in the daylight, shine on
And when it’s late at night you can look inside
You won’t feel so alone

You know we’ve been down that road
What seems a thousand times before
My back to a closing door and my eyes to the seasons
That roll out underneath my heels
And you don’t know how bad it feels
To leave the only one that I have ever believed in

Try to leave a light on when I’m gone
Something I rely on to get home
One I can feel at night
A naked light, a fire to keep me warm
Try to leave a light on when I’m gone
Even in the daylight, shine on
And when it’s late at night you can look inside
You won’t feel so alone

Sometimes it feels like we’ve run out of luck
When the signal keeps on breaking up
When the wires cross in my brain
You’ll start my heart again
When I come along

Try to leave a light on when I’m gone
Something I rely on to get home
One I can feel at night
A naked light, a fire to keep me warm
Try to leave a light on when I’m gone
Even in the daylight, shine on
And when it’s late at night you can look inside
You won’t feel so alone

Based on comments I see on net, seems more prefer David Archuleta's one. I think coz it's quite suitable for his age ba, can win over many teeny poppers' hearts. haha. But I feel the song didn't really shows his vocals much either. As for David Cook's, many commented it sounded like Daughtry pieces, and pales to David's previous renditions (maybe some of them have high expectations?) But actually I prefer David Cook's one coz it sounded more 'haunting' feel that will unearth your deepest feeling type of song. Both songs are quite marketable as they are quite commericalised and not-so-niche feel.

Well, looking forward to their full pledged albums! Hopefully the male winners from AI competitions will fare better than the females...last two seasons, the ladies did better overall.

P/S: I prefer David to Daughtry coz David can sing moving love songs pretty well, but if you prefer hard core rock that Daughtry is the man! *my sis loves Daughtry* hahaz.

Canto-Mando Pop?

2008-10-03T00:53:00.003+08:00

This year we see a few ex-Canto-Mando Pop stars making a return.

陳小春 - 獨家記憶:

郑中基 - 怪胎 MV:

蘇永康 - 我願等 MV:

What you think about their new songs? In terms of quality, their previous hit songs are much better...but still better than some taiwan songs nowadays. In terms of 情式旋律, HK compositions are much better. But due to their pronounication, that's why they are not as well received as they ought to. Out of them, William So has the best pronounication, so he was quite famous as a singer then. While 郑中基 is more famous for his quirky actions, and 陳小春 is better at acting bad roles. Their original canto version of the above songs are much better received. Anyway, hope they continue to sing, coz not many new singers' vocals are suitable to sing love songs feel. =)

Wei Lian's Birthday Bash 2008

2008-09-28T14:00:00.002+08:00

26 Sept...What a night!

Although was a bit tired during the week before the event, but still managed to enjoyed myself at the event itself. The food was alright (actually didn't eat much also la. haha!), and the place quite spacious. Not forgetting it was also F1 racing launching date, some of our poor angels were stuck in the traffic jam, but still manage to reach to the venue in time for heavy-duty segments. haha. Ya, it's been long while since I met some of them! *Miss you guys*

Well, before the actual event, was busy tying up ends of the preparation segment. The special gifts for Wei Lian were in my hands as well as some deco stuffs. Below are snapshots.

The big present (in terms of value):

The second present:

Presents being wrapped up:

IC in-charge list:

Birthday Gift Contributors:

The "notice" that was placed outside our room. last minute works due to changes :P. nice ma? Haha.

Will wait for more photos and videos taken by Patricia and photographer peeps (Hui Ping and Zheng Guo) ba! This year is a bit more special in that sense, we have a chance of a solo picture with him! And we get to 秀 our vocals...after Wei Lian left, some of us still zi-high in the KTV room singing different kind of songs. (must make our trip value for money ma. lol) You should have seen how we were reminicisiing the 3 year-old times at one of the autograph sessions when Wei Lian released his "wo zhi shi xiang yao" album (thanks to auntie iris whom dedicated "月亮代表我的心" before she left in a hurry and sabo me to sing. haha). Dixon aka our host when comes to S.H.E...really is 一发不可收拾. Haha.

Happy Birthday to Shing as well. Hope she like the gift and card from us as well! :D
Looking forward to more events in the future! And Wei Lian will progress smoothly oh! jia you!

(Still waiting for the suprising news that Paul Chan is going to reveal....eh, almost going to October liao lor~~~ )

张靓颖画皮 ("画心"主题歌) MV

2008-09-28T00:18:00.004+08:00

Been listening to this piece of late.

It is the theme song of the upcoming China film (where Qi Yu Wu is casted inside as well!). Simple lyrics but the rendition is artistically beautiful.

And I like the female singer out of the many china competitions one, coz she looks beautiful, sings well and has a very unique vocal technique called 海豚音...which can be heard in this song (somewhere after the chorus bridging).

作曲：藤原育郎
作词：陈少琪
演唱：张靓颖 Jane Zhang

看不穿是你失落的魂魄
猜不透是你瞳孔的颜色
一阵风一场梦爱如（是）生命般（的）莫测
你的心到底被什么蛊惑

你的轮廓在黑夜之中淹没
看桃花开出怎样的结果
看着你抱着我目光似（比）月色寂寞
就让你在别人怀里快乐

爱着你像心跳难触摸
画着你画不出你的骨骼
记着你的脸色是我等你的执着

你是我一首唱不完的歌（我的心只愿为你而割舍）

more info about the show:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1055300/

Think I should be catching the movie ba...provided my schedules doesn't clash =x

S.H.E沿海公路的出口MV

2008-09-28T00:07:00.006+08:00

Here's the latest MV of S.H.E 11th album, 2nd 抒情主打 (沿海公路的出口):

the main reason I like this song is because of Ella. Her raspy low voice makes the intro even more beautiful (although the song tune itself is rather common/plain). Pleasantly surprise they also use Ella as the lead female actress of the story. :)

I have bought their latest album and got 4 songs I like. I do prefer this album compared to their previous "Play" album, coz the songs are more 'nai ting'. But if compared to their much previous albums, this album is more ah-moh style in the sense, they have a few songs that are british pop feel. And I didn't quite like their photos. I get the idea of futuristic but somehow it doesn't connect with me...

Botonical Garden Visit - 14 Sep 08

2008-09-17T23:13:00.032+08:00

Erm, how long I never step into there le? haha...think got at least >8 years ba. One thing good about the trip is...never rain lor! very happy leh, finally can take some decent outdoor shots le. haha. Is the dressing nice? wahaha, coz I first time match them up! initially want to wanted to wear jeans, but thinking quite boring so there's for a change. (hmmm, got a bit like camouflage into the nature background. lol.) Visited the "flowers dedicated to foreign artistes" garden (more pictures below), and then knew more about the flowers that Singapore gave as a friendly gestures. Interesting! The only thing bad is the pathetic number of carpark lots...wa, my dad drove at least 3 times round the place, to find the suitable lot. Not only that it is pretty far from the entrance, so not very convenient.

愛的盲俠─陳偉聯

2008-09-17T23:13:00.011+08:00

还记得李宣榕和伟联在他台湾宣传时,合唱的女生吗? 看到她的留言, 就是提伟联感到高兴...她的支持者也"爱乌及屋", 购买了伟联的专辑, 也留下鼓励的话:

http://www.wretch.cc/blog/sharon80055/24464876

愛的盲俠─陳偉聯

September 18, 2007

愛的盲俠─陳偉聯
陳偉聯，一位新加坡歌手！第一次聽到要與他合唱真的感到蠻開心的，偉聯是歌唱比賽第一名出身的，而且他真的很棒！縱使雙眼看不到，我看見了樂觀的偉聯縱使雙眼看不到，我看見了對音樂執著的偉聯偉聯說他曾經在類似民歌西餐廳演唱我問偉聯：那你會吉他嗎？偉聯靦腆的說：一點點我問偉聯：鋼琴？偉聯低頭靦腆的笑：一點點囉真的很佩服他，勇氣、執著、純真完全在他身上展露無遺最後祝福偉聯：偉聯，加油喔，期待你會是歌壇另一顆閃亮之星！

不知道李宣榕会出专辑吗? 她的歌声也不错哦! 期待! :)

Beijing Paralympics 2008 - Yippie for Singapore!

2008-09-17T23:13:00.007+08:00

Our athletics have done bravo achievements in this Beijing Paralympics 2008! :)

We have...

16 year old swimmer Yip Pin Xiu Wins Singapore's First Ever Paralympic Gold (50m (S3) backstroke final in 58.75 secs) and also a silver for 50m women's freestyle, clocking 57.43 seconds.

We also have (competition held in Hong Kong)...

29 year old singapore rider Laurentia Tan strutted 'Nothing to Lose' confidently through an Oriental melody, despite her inability to hear the music. She skillfully maneuvered Harvey through a course of shouldering, walking and trotting, impressing judges to a 70.167% finish, successfully gaining Singapore its second bronze medal at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. Tan made history as Singapore's first Paralympic medalist when she won a bronze medal in her first event - the Individual Championship Test Grade 1a on 9 September.

Really admire their fighting spirit and love for sports...I'm not particularly good in sports (definitiely not international competition standard! haha!), but it is a known fact that sporting is tiring and requires much mental strength. So in the event of countering their weaknesses and disabilities, they emerge victorous through hard work and determination.

*but the sad thing is about the event coverage and monetary award arugment. As much as we belong to a democracy society, there is still discrepancy in treating people like them. haiz. A medal won in Paralympics is not an easy feat as well...hope the system will be revised soon, hence equally recognising their achievements too. all the best to them, and hope to see even better results in London 2012! :)

残奥帆赛合唱表演——同在蓝色星球上

2008-09-17T23:13:00.002+08:00

在残奥帆赛启动仪式上，陈伟联和来自青岛市歌舞剧院的孙雅君共同演唱歌曲《同在蓝色星球上》.

残奥帆赛合唱表演——同在蓝色星球上 (电视录影):
http://2008.qq.com/a/20080909/000136.htm

"同在蓝色星球上" mp3 连接 :
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?dq7lrbozzjl

我喜欢这样的爆发力...不是乱轰乱叫型....而是所谓的"BUILDUP". 伟联的诠释是比较内敛的, 但唱歌最主要是感情, 多过与技巧....看到他的演唱,绝对不输给和他同唱的雅君小姐. 即使有合音陪衬,但他的音质还是恰当地演绎出来. 好样子! 加油!

RSAF Open House 2008

2008-09-11T02:28:00.022+08:00

Welcome To RSAF Open House 2008!!!

Last two sundays ago, attended this event with my family. Quite crowded and again raining! actually quite fed up leh, so many family events i went along the few weekends are raining de. -_-''', so can't really take nice photos coz busy hiding from raining. zzz.....And the queues for sitting in the plane pilot areas for photo-taking were extremely long, which we don't bother to wait lor, so all the photos we took were just beside the planes.

Started off fine...

If you read the newspapers, you should know this old uncle, who is a fannatic collector of singapore memento stuffs like NDP-related badges...wow, that day he also attended the show (Very ON!) and lined up beside my row, that's why i managed to take that shot lor. We were lining up because of security check. His wife also wore army-like t-shirt, really matching with his creative, "daring and unique" outfit. Wow, an amazing couple! lol.

Below are some of my photos:

Rain Rain Go Away....(but didn't!):

Perfect place to hide from rain and fill up our stomachs! hehe.

Simply troublesome to take umbrella and want to snap photos at the same time!

Well, the rain stopped and rained again. really spoiling mood wor...but still the audience didn't lessen (late afternoon still got many queues outside), so quite spontaneous in that sense. =)

2nd Updates of Singapore Hits Awards!

2008-09-11T02:14:00.003+08:00

(Gotten from a sms of a friend)

Currently leading in online voting are....

Males: 林俊杰林宥嘉罗志祥王力宏杨宗纬

Females: 梁静茹刘力扬萧亚轩张惠妹 杨丞琳

Newcomer: 林宥嘉刘力扬唐禹哲萧敬腾杨宗纬

Groups: S.H.E 棒棒堂飞轮海 苏打绿 五月天

(those in bold are new entries)

Trivia: wow, rainie managed to squeeze out jolin?! i thought I heard that rainie's popularity has been dipping? but then again, that depends on your region leagues of fans lor. And sodagreen took over 5566! that's great news. (actually i used to like 5566 last time de, but their quality of music depreciated quite a lot...so now their news i am not really interested la. haha!)

And Yes 933 has came out with a short trailer of the event:

http://www.singaporehitawards.sg/index.htm

So do remember to continue to vote for Wei Lian (left another 10 more days!):

http://www.singaporehitawards.sg/Category1.asp

and the random poll at xin.sg as well:

新加坡金曲奖2008正式开跑，你觉得本地歌手中，谁最可能得奖？

http://www.xin.sg/

优周刊报道 (第144)：盲侠陈伟联担任残疾人奥运会开

2008-09-11T02:00:00.004+08:00

不只报道伟联担任残疾人奥运会开幕嘉宾，同时也报道他准备第三张专辑的收歌进展：

哈哈, 借个机会做张贴图吧 (女歌手也挺漂亮的而且还蛮高的. 嘻嘻!):

期待伟联的作品喔...加油! :)

青岛奥帆赛开幕式2008 新闻报道

2008-09-11T01:39:00.002+08:00

Found 2 news clips whereby they featured bits and pieces of Wei Lian's performance:

1)北京残奥会帆船比赛青岛扬帆

http://www.sdtv.com.cn/news/shipin/xinwenlianbo/200809/134821.htm

2)特写：温暖相聚　让爱起飞

http://news.qingdaomedia.com/content_tv.asp?id=139982

hahaz, not easy to find full video of the whole opening...but from these clips, believe Wei Lian has sung well...i like how he used his "zhong di yin" to project his voice across to the floor audience as well as to bring out the sense of 'gan dong du' that the song hopes to portray. Good job! =)

文艺表演个个精彩

2008-09-11T01:37:00.001+08:00

http://news.qingdaonews.com/content/2008-09/08/content_7916122.htm

昨晚启动仪式的文艺表演部分《让爱起飞》，体现了“体验运动快乐沐浴生活阳光”的理念。文艺表演定位于“融合、友爱、超越”。融合是融合文明，寓意人类文明共生共荣；友爱是关爱生命，寓意人类生命共同发展；超越是超越自我，寓意人类拼搏实现梦想。

小男孩《梦帆》拉开序幕

《让爱起飞》是在海涛声中拉开帷幕的。海潮声声，星光点点，蓝色的绸布构成了梦幻的海面。一束光亮中，一个可爱的小男孩正在沉睡，一艘帆船向他驶来，他驾驭着这艘帆船缓缓向前，帆船移动在蓝色绸布构成的波浪起伏的海面上，仿佛在海浪中迎风前行。灯光渐暗，当灯光再次亮起时，小男孩变成了一名健硕的男青年，意气风发地驾驭着风帆，他是自己的船长……这个唯美的《梦帆》诗意地拉开了文艺表演的序幕。

紧接着，舞台上大片的蓝色绸布下，演员们张开双臂表演迎风展翅的海鸥形象，他们在风浪中奋勇搏击，表现血肉之躯所蕴含的激动人心的精神力量。

拄双拐唱出顽强信念

“不论你是什么样的肤色，都是为了友谊而出发，不论你来自什么国度，神州大地就是你的家。同样的命运让我们相逢，顽强的信念让它升华……”当现场响起美妙的歌声，人们的目光聚焦在舞台上拄着双拐的歌手身上，他叫李琛，来自中国残疾人艺术团。出生在西安的李琛曾经是个健康的男孩，3岁半的时候患了小儿麻痹症，由于医疗条件不好，从此拄上了双拐。李琛喜欢画画、弹吉他，他所有的爱好母亲都尽量满足他。1987年，李琛毕业于西安画院。1989年加入残疾人射击队获得第三届残疾人运动会气手枪冠军。1997年参加全国首届残疾人中华曲库歌曲电视大赛获得通俗唱法一等奖。1993年参加中国残疾人艺术团。1995年参加亚太地区残疾人十年主题歌大赛，他作为中国惟一派遣的一个代表在韩国参赛，演唱的《生命之光》夺得了银奖。李琛用自身的经历证明，残疾人的生命依然可以非常精彩。昨晚，他用歌声打动了青岛。

盲歌手唱响天籁之音

“听到他的歌，就会抛开所有烦恼。”这是许多人对新加坡盲人歌手陈伟联的评价，昨晚这个天籁之音在浮山湾畔响起，陈伟联和来自青岛市歌舞剧院的孙雅君一同唱响了《同在蓝色星球上》。 27岁的陈伟联曾是新加坡的街头艺人，在新加坡的主要巴士转换站表演。2005年9月1日，他从4000人参赛的《绝对SuperStar!》中脱颖而出，成为总冠军，也成为新加坡家喻户晓的第一位“盲人歌手”，在新加坡的乐坛中有“盲侠”的称号，陈伟联也成为2005年新加坡残障意识公民教育大使与青年领袖。

《辉煌梦想》向往辉煌

“你让我相信，没有双桨也可以远航，你让我相信，没有翅膀也可以飞翔。波涛汹涌，你比我坚强。困难险阻，你给我力量。天离地有何等的高，你的爱也何等的深。东和西有何等的宽，我的心却就在身旁。海阔天空，风帆依旧飘扬。激情梦想，瞬间就是辉煌。” 这是专门为本届残奥帆赛启动仪式创作的歌曲《辉煌梦想》，当这首歌曲响起，全体演员身着各种服装汇聚成五彩的海洋，他们簇拥着歌唱演员，代表五大洲心手相连，人们在歌声中旋转、拥抱，最后一起高举着互相握着的双手，向往着辉煌的梦想，把启动仪式推向高潮。

新加坡盲人歌手陈伟联为残奥会运动员献唱

2008-09-11T01:31:00.004+08:00

http://ent.sina.com.cn/y/2008-09-08/18202161368.shtml

新浪娱乐讯 9月7日(周日),第十三届残疾人奥运会帆船比赛在青海国际中心举行了盛大的启动仪式。来自新加坡的盲人歌手陈伟联(听歌)作为启动仪式上唯一受邀的海外歌手，现场为各国参赛选手及嘉宾演唱。　　

当陈伟联带领着60名小朋友和60名大朋友的合唱团穿着整洁统一的水手套装在台上演出时，现场所有的朋友均发出了由衷的热列掌声。这次成功的合唱其实背后也付出了很多台前幕后的努力，以认真出名的陈伟联，特地提前3天到达青岛进行严谨的彩排工作，力求在演出中做到尽善尽美。陈伟联表示：残奥会受到很多国家的重视，有很多朋友都也都很关注这场盛大的赛事。通过这些比赛，可以让很多的健全朋友更全面地了解残疾人，是彼此之间沟通的一个很好的桥梁。这次新加坡也有不少名运动员报名参加不同的比赛项目，希望家乡的运动会们能为国争光，多拿几面奖牌。也希望各国运动员可以赛出好成绩，为自己的祖国争光。　　

在青岛举行的帆船比赛项目，共有80名来自25个国家的运动员代表参加，其中新加坡派出2名运动员参加，陈伟联知道现场有新加坡的选手后，非常开心的请工作人员为他引见，为参赛者打气。新加坡代表团的成员见到陈伟联后，非常的惊喜，争着要和他合影。运动员说，陈伟联在新加坡参加《绝对SuperStar》比赛时，就有很多人被他这种努力追梦的精神所打动。几位惺惺相惜的“老乡们”互相勉励，祝愿大家在不同的领域中都获得很好的成绩.

"我的心洒满阳光" 新加坡盲人歌手登台献

2008-09-11T01:23:00.001+08:00

http://sports.sohu.com/20080908/n259444565.shtml

北京时间9月7日，新加坡盲人歌手陈伟联于下午3时许就早早到达了现场候场，这个从小靠听收音机自学成才的歌手已经在新加坡发行了好几张专辑，今年4月在中国大陆也发行了专辑《i伟联》。“我是先天性全盲，也许从未拥有过一些东西，所以也就无所谓失去，从来没有为此产生过失落感。我觉得我们都一样，我的心里也洒满了阳光。”陈伟联和记者的交谈在一种坦诚而轻松的气氛中开始，他说他从小就喜欢唱歌，经常守着收音机边听边学。“我基本上算自学成才。”陈伟联笑着说，在两年前签约华纳之前，他已经在新加坡发行了好几张专辑，今年4月在中国大陆推出了全新的专辑《i伟联》。　　在残奥帆赛启动仪式上，陈伟联和来自青岛市歌舞剧院的孙雅君共同演唱歌曲《同在蓝色星球上》，这是一首专为奥运会创作的新歌。“这首歌还蛮有难度的。”陈伟联笑着说，副歌部分有很多高音，为此他还很是用心地苦练了一番。

Wei Lian's performance at Qing Dao opening ceremony of Paralympics 2008

2008-09-07T23:16:00.008+08:00

just managed to take some snapshots of the event where Wei Lian and his co-female singer performed:

For more photos pls refer to:

http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j241/hippo1985_photos/kelvin/paralympics/?action=view¤t=45a50644.pbw

Although didn't managed to hear the full song (heard hear and there, bits and pieces), but Wei Lian did performed well given those China singers gave vocals-belting type of performances...hope his appearance will gain more exposure over there! jiayou =)

Weilian for the Paralympics

2008-09-06T02:58:00.002+08:00

http://www.mediacorptv.sg/en/buzzdetail/EDC080904-0000002

Visually-impaired local singer Kelvin Tan Weilian will sing for the opening of the Sailing Segment in the 13th Annual Paralympics!

Sept 4, 2008

Kwok Kar Peng
Photo courtesy of Warner Music

Knowing that he’ll be performing in front of the many international representatives at the opening of the Sailing Segment in the 13th Annual Paralympics has sent the champ of Project SuperStar 1 Kelvin Tan Weilian to the music studio for practice. The event, to be held in Qingdao, China, on Sept 7, 2008, will also be broadcast on all the TV stations in China where approximately 500,000 viewers will see him ‘live’.

To get him into the Olympic mood, his music company Warner Music has also specially requested for a set of the Beijing Fuwa dolls to be sent to him. The green Fuwa Ni Ni is Weilian’s favourite as the colour represents the green efforts in the Beijing Olympics and in Singapore; Weilian even brings the doll with him the studio for practices!

(photo credited to mediacorptv channel u and warner music)

盲人歌手陈伟联积极准备残奥帆赛开幕式表

2008-09-04T02:13:00.005+08:00

http://ent.sina.com.cn/y/2008-09-03/11442154970.shtml

or

http://www.xin.sg/article.php?article=23087

日前，受邀参加第13届残疾人奥运会帆船比赛开幕式表演的新加坡籍盲人歌手陈伟联，为了在开幕式上有更加出色的表现，一向对自己的演唱功力自信满满的他，也特意进录音室练唱。

　　据悉，本届残疾人奥运会帆船比赛开幕式将于9月7日在青岛举办，当天将会有各国嘉宾、国际残奥委会、国际帆船联合会、北京奥组委和25个国家、地区参赛代表团的运动员、教练员到场参加，得知将要对着这么多来自世界各国的朋友演唱，陈伟联非常开心。而其经纪公司华纳唱片的同事为了让他感受北京奥运的气氛，特别请人从北京带了一套小福娃给他。虽然看不到福娃的样子，但了解到五个可爱的福娃代表着传递友谊、和平、积极进取的精神，让陈伟联对北京奥运有了更深一层的认识。当被问到他最喜欢哪一个福娃时，陈伟联笑称每个都喜欢，但是最喜欢妮妮福娃，因为今年北京奥运会倡导举行绿色奥运，在新加坡，人们也是非常注重绿色城市的营造。为此在进录音室里练歌时，陈伟联更特意把妮妮带在身边，说要跟福娃一齐练唱。

Here's a scan article from Wednesday's Straits Times about Beijing Paralympics:

Do catch the videos at (as Singapore won't be showing live telecast on it):

http://www.youtube.com/ParalympicSportTV

All the best to Wei Lian and representatives of Singapore in participating different aspects of this sports event =)

Update of Singapore Hit Awards 2008!

2008-09-04T00:21:00.005+08:00

As of 9pm on 3 September 08 (I heard from Chong Qing's segment):

5 Most Popular Male Artiste (Listener’s Choice):

林俊杰
林宥嘉
罗志祥
王力宏
杨宗纬

trivia: I was surprised that Jay not inside (isn't kind of expected?)...which proves the voting now is more volatile to changes, so let's not give up voting for Wei Lian =)

5 Most Popular Female Artiste (Listener’s Choice)

蔡依林
梁静茹
刘力扬
萧亚轩
张惠妹

trivia: Jade Liu is kinda of surprising (especially she's a mainland artiste), expect angela or tanya instead.

5 Most Popular Group (Listener’s Choice)

5566
S.H.E
棒棒堂
飞轮海
五月天

trivia: got two groups I'm surprised. haha. you guess which two lor. :P

5 Most Popular Newcomer (Listener’s Choice) :

林宥嘉
刘力扬
唐禹哲
萧敬腾
杨宗纬

trivia: Danson? ok...thought at least more deserving is wu jia hui or wang rou lin...but eventually would be a fight between 林, 萧 and 杨 lor. wahaha!

So don't forget to vote for Wei Lian hor? 40% leh...heez:

http://www.singaporehitawards.sg/Category1.asp

Do ask your overseas friends to vote as well, coz don't think the voting is just limited to singapore located people.

Jia you!

Vote for WL (Singapore Hit Awards 2008)!

2008-09-02T02:23:00.004+08:00

To show your support pls cast your vote now @:

http://www.singaporehitawards.sg/Category1.asp

Closing date 21st sept 2008 11:59 PM

海内外华人歌手百家争鸣，百花齐放，他们在华语流行乐坛的贡献、地位和成就有目共睹。最终鹿死谁手，将依据60%醉心龙虎榜成绩以及40%你的线上票选成绩来计算。线上投票期限 – 2008年9月1日早上10点至9月21日晚上11点59分。

最受欢迎男歌手Most Popular Male Artiste (Listener’s Choice)

曹格
陈伟联
方大同
林俊杰
林宥嘉
罗志祥
王力宏
伍家辉
杨宗纬
周杰伦

*Each IP address allowed only 5 votes....so do gather more friends or computers to vote.

Do visit our forum for further details, otherwise this week's I-weekly will have some info about it as well. Thanks for all your votes and support =)

My dedication letter to Wei Lian!

2008-09-02T02:10:00.003+08:00

Here's my dedication letter. geez, don't think it was being read during xian ge ji yi (if I didn't missed hearing it la.)

ok, I was a bit lazy so I typed on 'printed design' paper lor. simple and nice right? lol :P

Hereby, wishing Wei Lian has a furitful trip to Paralympics and may that he stay passionate to music and life as well! jia you! =)

Wei Lian, Happy "3rd PSS Anniversary"!

2008-08-31T01:57:00.001+08:00

*tadada!*

Ok, I know I'm a day early for the 3rd PSS Anniversary...but 31 Aug 08 is also his second album (but first time) launched into a big overseas chinese market, Taiwan! (18 Sep 07 for China.)

I did wrote a dedication letter to Yes933 la, but whether will they read out depends on my luck lor. haha! *cross fingers* Actually this year my letter is 'shortened' by quite a lot coz a bit brain dead when I wrote it. :P but is the thought that counts right? haha!

P/S: anyway, if within the two days my letter is not read, I will still post up the article la...but till then, it remains a surprise! *wink*

弦歌寄意
晚上9点至11点
弦歌寄意，让你通过全新的点歌方式传情达意！

So those who want to show your support to Wei Lian, do send in your sms to the station during these two days or type your well wishes at:

http://xiange933.blogspot.com/

Hey Hey, in a few days time, Wei Lian will grace the opening of Paralympics Games 2008 as a guest perfomer, so hope to see him on TV (if Singapore channel is showing) or our China fans to share with us any clips. Wei Lian, jia you...many people are behind you! =)

Singapore Flyer

2008-08-31T01:02:00.001+08:00

August babies are lucky in that sense. lol. why? coz if you attended NDP and inside the goodie bag got this complimentary ticket for a free ride of Singapore Flyer if you are born in August...So moi family three of us are born in August, got three complimentary tickets! *later we got one more ticket coz four of us attended*

One very weird thing happened on our way to the place. Upon reaching the carpark, got a group called themselves 'valets' halt us at the entrance, said that we have to pay $7 for entry (unlimited time) into the carpark coz got one private organisation held their Family Day event. We were like what? Coz there is no special notice before that, and by right that carpark normal entry is charged by per hour...but coz it was a bit drizzling, and my dad don't bother to look elsewhere to park, so relentlessly paid that amount. *my mum still wondered whether are they cheats. lol*

Initially, a bit nervous to go to take the flyer, coz I got height phobia. haha! but after the ride, i can tell those got height phobia de, don't have to be scared at all...if you keep moving in the cabin, don't think you even will feel particularly there is a change in height lor. The ride is about 25 minutes long and the cabin size is relatively large. The only thing is that there is too much on-going construction going around (mainly IR), not much nice scenary to take (so can get a little bored after like 10 minutes of camera shoting). Of coz, little drizzling does not further help at all. haha!

Personally I think is rather costly for a ride (like $30 per adult?), coz like I say not much scenary to take and in the cabin no extra activities/highlights as well. I don't know is it just my cabin, the PA system does not function to its fullest (while showing a short clip on our Singapore's highlight areas, especially around Marina Bay and Raffles Place), it can get a bit monotoneous if you just read off from the LCD screen. Sound + photos will provide more information to the tourists, therefore I hope to see improvements. And felt a bit cheated of the so-called group photo-taking they did for all vistors somewhere at the entrance. Thought it was free at first, but after taking the ride and wanted to collect the photo, there was a charge of $15! hmmm, shouldn't they have tell in advance first? Which makes the $30 ride even more expensive in that case.

Sharing some photos I took:

Furture IR going to be?...

*I will encourage you to go at night, think got nicer lightings as well. but your camera got to set properly first. haha. But if you bring elders/kids, got to be careful when entering and alighting from the cabin, coz the whole flyer is consistent moving (although a slow speed), no particular stopping time point...so kind of worried for those whose legs are not strong or stable enough.

Singapore Flyer Website :

http://www.singaporeflyer.com/

同在蓝色星球上

2008-08-30T00:18:00.001+08:00

Found the song that Wei Lian would be singing with the China gal, as stated in the zaobao papers. The song is one those pre-selection Olympics songs...and guess they would be using for Paralympics instead.

同在蓝色星球上 - 谢霆峰/容祖儿试听(聆听)
Original singers: Nicholas Tse and Joey Rong (Pretty good mandarin there given they are Hong Kong singers)

http://www.1ting.com/player/b6/player_221317.html

Promotional MV:

同在蓝色星球上 (lyrics)

当白鸽放飞黎明的安详
灵魂的花朵在这一刻开放
是什么属于你我生命的颜色
也许是森林也许是海洋
同一个世界同一个梦想
同在蓝色星球上歌唱
同一个世界同一个梦想
同在蓝色星球上飞翔
做一次超越自我的英雄
伟大的瞬间在这一刻共享
精神有了穿云破雾的光芒
美好的记忆永恒的珍藏
同一个世界同一个梦想
同在蓝色星球上歌唱
同一个世界同一个梦想
同在蓝色星球上飞翔
当白鸽放飞黎明的安详
灵魂的花朵在这一刻开放
是什么属于你我生命的颜色
也许是森林也许是海洋
同一个世界同一个梦想
同在蓝色星球上歌唱
同一个世界同一个梦想
同在蓝色星球上飞翔
同一个世界同一个梦想
同在蓝色星球上歌唱
同一个世界同一个梦想
同在蓝色星球上飞翔...

Quite a powerful song, anticipating Wei Lian's rendition! :D (hopes he does recover well then to handle the song)
P/S: *How aptly that the song also mentioned about BLUE! haha!

陈伟联获邀参加残奥帆赛开幕式表演嘉宾

2008-08-28T00:26:00.000+08:00

29 Aug 2008 Zao Bao featured Wei Lian about his participation in the paralympics games and also mentioned his current working status of composing songs. =)

Just updated!

(just click on the article for enlargement!)

http://ent.cqnews.net/yy/hyyt/200808/t20080827_2239511.htm

陈伟联

　近日，新加坡盲人歌王陈伟联受邀担任第13届残疾人奥运会帆船比赛开幕式表演嘉宾。这个消息让这位新加坡家喻户晓的盲人歌王兴奋不已，他说特别荣幸有这样的机会参与到残奥会的开幕式活动中来，会用自己的歌声给现场的残疾人运动员加油，希望他们勇创佳绩。

　　自加入娱乐圈后，身为盲人歌手的陈伟联一直给外间一种乐观、自信和开朗的印象。推出专辑《I伟联》进军内地后，更不断参加公益事业为慈善活动演出，用自己的歌声告诉人们无论遇到什么样的逆境，人生的真谛在于勇敢地接受和勇敢的前进。用歌声告诉世界所谓命运其实并不是可以成为牵绊人们前进脚步的理由，成功是属于那些勇敢无畏的人们，要相信希望。

　　所有听过陈伟联歌曲的朋友都有共同的感觉，他的歌声非常能打动人，抚慰人心，给人力量，让人觉得人生充满了希望。正是他的歌声，他这种乐观、坚韧的奋斗精神，深深打动了此次开幕式的导演组。而且其自身的经历与残疾人运动员坚强不屈的运动精神如出一辙，所以，特别邀请陈伟联献声残奥帆赛开幕式。届时，将有各国嘉宾、国际残奥委会、国际帆船联合会、北京奥组委和25个国家，地区参赛代表团的运动员、教练员到场参加。

　　获知被邀担任开幕式表演嘉宾，陈伟联觉得非常荣幸，自己与残奥会的选手们可能都有不同的身体缺憾，但大家都非常坚强面对人生，在不同的领域里面不断奋斗，打拼出一片天空。成为歌手后，想做得最多就是把乐观、自信及积极的生活态度传递给那些需要关爱的人们，尽自己的绵薄之力唤起社会对特殊人群的关注和人与人之间的“关爱”,并鼓舞各国参赛者在帆船比赛中能拼出好的成绩。

no date ar? haha! But should be on 6 September, opening of Paralympic Games! Wei Lian, jia you! :D

http://paralympic.beijing2008.cn/

《钱不够用》或《十二莲花》?

2008-08-24T23:16:00.000+08:00

我国片子不能与国外的比较, 资金就是个问题, 技术方面需要多加磨练. 要保证观看率,就看哪个较深入民心.

带着一半矛盾 (专业评价不高), 一半期待 (应该支持本地片) 看了《钱不够用》或《十二莲花》. 为什么是八月发片? "内有乾坤": 钱不够用要点是国庆献词必提的重点之一, 而十二莲花的苦命女"生死"在华人七月歌台...

撇开之前有什么连续性 (其实根本没续集可言), 单单以看这两部片子做自己的评价.

在开场的《钱不够用》, 虽然有把ERP 的不满发泄一反,我稍嫌有点夸张而且很强质性 (新加坡人真的会这样? 好一个想象空间). 真的有需要改编国歌? 也未免太刻意! 梁家班的几位演的还蛮称职...但让我刮目相看的是绿叶马来西亚的黎明和新加坡的赖怡伶. 歌曲播放时,这两位的遭遇内敛地体现出来.

我觉得挺感动的是身为母亲和祖母的黎明把每场对白都很信服, 无论是嘘寒问暖鼓励孩子们或者当她患的有点老人痴呆症被孩子们移来移去时, 会让人心疼也会让人捧腹大笑. 虽然该戏应该是讲钱,但让人更感同身受的是亲情. 在最后两位亲人在生死边缘时,你会救哪位? 断然拆处呼吸管结束生命, 好停止家人纠纷,给孙女有那机会能用一包血...看到这里是,我的眼眶有点湿.我自己都蛮惊讶的,平时我看戏时候都是面无表情 (我是比较理智性的人), 还以为梁导郎才已尽, 庆幸他还是有两把刷子的.只是这招用的有点迟但可贵.

赖怡伶在这戏里表现比较没让人烦躁, 而多了熟女味.(之前她在第八播道的戏有点夸浮,声音有点装爹,可能是角色的问题).在一幕发现老公(李国煌)喝的烂醉回来,而忍气吞声地数落他时,醉到挺厉害的国煌在怡伶的脸上吐,狼狈不堪...同时好像在她委屈的心灵洒了大量的水,毫不注重她的存在.到底这是夫妻应该相处的吗? 到最后妻子为了他偷公款,而坐牢,他才醒悟有一位很体恤他的妻子..."家后"的一曲围绕在无限回忆当中,相当让人体会到夫妻应有的爱和支持.

这戏的笑点比较预料之内, 故事方面也不是很独特但情感方面做了较多心思...值得一看. 我看它的最大败弊是他的宣传照...情感方面不是很能显示出来,会让人觉得是复制品,没新意.戏里有推广"商家"的产品的拍摄手法,太直接了也破坏故事美.

《十二莲花》和《钱不够用》有个相同之处就是钱 (两部也有提到歌台,但《钱不够用》只是点水清蜓). 但故事方面比较独特的是《十二莲花》,因为是述说歌台人(但在新加坡人口当中,有几位是歌台人?)...也可能这一点无法让人感同身受, 影响观看率. 它也不能激励什么梦想,因为戏剧的比例来看苦命催泪盖住追梦应有的毅力和坚强.《十二莲花》的歌曲是最大的吸引力, 但故事方面有待改善.

其实蛮奇怪为何孙燕姿要客串? 不是嫌她不好,但是不会让人信服为"观音娘娘". 前面的《十二莲花》拍摄手法让我联想到梁导的《跑吧!孩子》,很乡村味. 小飞侠的出现是当故事连接线,也是在戏里的开心果. 开始小女孩阿花(故事灵魂角色)和父亲(黄弈良)的火花不错, 也是十二莲花的第一部. 《十二莲花》分成三部曲...一和二我还能接受,但第三部真的让我傻眼.

穿梭时空的有点突兀, 刘玲玲和戚玉武的搭配有点奇怪.为何要找原班人马,硬要塞这些人而不顾"形象符合"? 如果真的要反传统手法,要彻底改变,不是在故事快到结尾时候,而逆转,反而会让人想导演到底想表达什么. 如果是让杨雁雁装老点演刘玲玲的角色会更加有看头. 无可否认刘玲玲的演绎是不错,不惜丑陋而放胆演出值得赞赏...但有几个情节让我捉破头脑. 小飞侠为何要等二十年才给刘玲玲她父亲收着妻子传下来的遗物? 小飞侠这么有时间常常看访刘玲玲和他赚很多钱给刘玲玲有点牵强.而戚玉武以吊而朗当的骗钱小伙子这么快遇到刘玲玲 (无法让他那角色有层次感)?. 好才有他和杨雁雁的一幕戏挽回角色的重要存在.

最后戚玉武强质地抢刘玲玲的链, 两人的争夺战是精彩,但结局还是没有"尾"...倒底是戚玉武抢的成功而逃走,或着他后悔知错良心发现,变成揭不开的迷,也无法让我们更了解刘玲玲所表达的最后情绪.有观众还错鄂戏就这样完了...只能说可惜! 论演艺:王欣的演出更加成熟,相当让我满意,尤其她被强奸是和恐慌地一直吃酥打饼,泪水打滚在眼眶的情景. 戚玉武也不错,在舞台上的英姿也挺有魅力但他负心汉的形象应该更加露骨(应该把他情往的故事写出一点).如果要找笑点的话, 也只有刘玲玲有点疯颠的自然反应会让人一笑,但好像洗观音娘娘的头,那可真的可以省掉 (因为要表达疯颠的方式可以有更多).

《十二莲花》的宣传照也是不理想. 三个人的站立,我看不出《十二莲花》想表达什么...我会误以为故事是要讲刘玲玲是王欣和戚玉武的母亲和他们家庭的故事.要是以拟式手法拍手撕出莲花瓣 (有如撕下莲花十二篇章故事层次),或许会更好.

《钱不够用》或《十二莲花》? 要看你是什么样的观众,喜欢本地文艺味道还是现实贴切的故事? 坦白说,这两片虽然不是最好之作(论整体性),但还是希望各位给他们机会去看因为他们的戏有潜意识表达在你周围发生的人与物,希望有纯爱的地方寄托...

Silver For Singapore!

2008-08-24T01:10:00.000+08:00

*Sorry for the late happiness!*

Despite the Singapore Table Tennis Women Team fought to their best against the China players, they are unable to win the Gold Medal. But nevertheless still proud of them! :)

Finally an end to our 48 years of medal drought..and of coz it has also open more doors for the new generation to be groomed as future sportsmen/women!

Seeing the various performances...Feng Tian Wei is the one to look out for!

Even the China coach gave her credits during her match-off with World seed No. 1 Zhang Yining (extending each set match point). Comparing to Li Jia Wei, Feng Tian Wei is more 'adventurous' in her shots and one that can handle stress better...what she needs is more experiences as she hasn't seen/deal with many different serves out there. If these two came off as a double (if ever), we may have a special and outstanding combination ;)

Celebrate with our Team Singapore athletes at Raffles City!

Our Team Singapore athletes have done us proud! SSS will be organising an event in celebration of their achievements.

Come up close and celebrate with our athletes on 25 Aug 08!

Date: Monday, 25th August 2008
Time: 5pm - 7pm (timing may be subject to changes depending on their flight schedule)
Venue: Raffles City Shopping Centre, City Square, Level 3

Come dressed in red!

http://www.teamsingapore.com.sg/publish/teamsingapore/en/games/Olympics/Beijing2008.html

*all photos credited to beijing olympics 2008 website and yahoo news

Table Tennis-Singapore set for rare medal!

2008-08-16T01:05:00.000+08:00

What a rocking day for Singapore's sports!

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=reu-tabletennissingapore&prov=reuters&type=lgns

Finally...after a 48-year drought of medals, we will be awarded of a silver at least! If those who have watched the entire match, we have known the winning is not an easy feat at all, as the Koreans gave their best! Was nerve wrecking watching that Singapore-Korea match, especially the Koreans were 旗鼓相当 and quite resilient, plus the last part got many 'anti-climax' (e.g expedite system happened just minutes to game finish, got yellow and red cards given to warn them not to communicate to their competiting mates)!

I managed to catch some shots on bus (thanks to TV mobile) and back at home. Our underrated Feng Tian Wei performed the best! She's the most composed out there and got pretty accurate smashing shots, and I believe she will one of those groomed in the near future (this year only 21 year old leh) . Li Jia Wei did alright, but she tends to be impatient therefore easily to lose concentrate (maybe too pressure is on her as well). Wang Yue Gu is more of a defender player, but I think the doubles kind of drained her, she didn't performed that well during her singles (perspire nonstopped and look tired). Her opponent was also much younger therefore got more energy level, and she those 速仗速决 type of player, which proves overbearing to Wang Yue Gu, who is a more slow, tactical player (but didn't show her form well in the singles). The last Korean gal who played with Feng Tian Wei, is a very good and tough player. Seeing the balls 'exceed' the tables numerous times, but she remains unfazed and their sparring is one of the longest. Her strength apparently is 'chopping the balls' (which can slow down the ball momentum that is within her reach). Although I'm supportive of Singapore Team, seeing how the last Korean gal broke down really touched me in a way coz she really gave her best but didn't get what she wanted. shown real fighting spirit there!

Singapore ends 48-year Olympic medal drought:

http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/sports/headlines/tabletennis/n214546623.shtml

All the best to the Singapore Team this coming Sunday, facing off with the tough fighters of China =)

And for those who wish to watch the Finals, take note of the new time schedules on this Sunday @ Channel U.

Schedule as follows:

6.45pm - 7.30pm National Day Rally (Malay/Mandarin)

7.30pm Beijing Olympics 2008 - Women's Table Tennis Team Final (Singapore vs China)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just sharing about my interest in Table Tennis and do feel the adrenaline from a game so far away from me and even though I'm not playing. Actually during my secondary school I was in Table Tennis School Team, but I'm more of a defender player rather than attacker (my style is more palm-grip, rather than fingers-grip). Why did I chose Table Tennis? coz don't need to run so much lor. haha! Not really la, coz my dad is quite cheena type one, so keep song yong me to take it up...then I sort of being 'bluff' to take it but gradually like it. I still remembered my coach last time super strict one, scold people any-o-how one, but still a good coach la. Very tall guy but a bit hunchback one. lol.

One of my trophys:

Few 'difficult to play' skills:
- When your opponent uses different hand from yours. (e.g you are right handed and your opponent is left handed) Somehow, if you are not versatile enough, usually left-handed opponent will gain upperhand.
- Fast spin balls
Especially difficult for those who aren't able to concentrate in the game or very impatient type. Coz it is within split second on how to deliver the ball to the opp side. If over-exert your force the ball will fly up and not within the table.
- Corner/near the net
This is tricky if your defending skills aren't good, coz if the oppponent's attacking skills supreme over you, usually they would use this technique to smash you down or just merely bring the ball slightly over but still need time for you to stretch over, that short distance does cost time.

Haha, thinking about it ar...if you ask me to play now, my bones will start to crack lor...very stiff le, and for very long I didn't play already. But nevertheless, I still enjoy watching Table Tennis related games.

松柏原创MV《普通的人》

2008-08-13T01:18:00.000+08:00

在最新播出的绝对SUPERBAND (怀旧金曲),听到小松老师请唱了刘文正的一曲...虽然忘了歌词,但唱功不减,个人的魅力依旧.

忽然让我想起柏松兄弟他们的支持者用心制作的MV片段 (用了伟联"普通的人"来添加'剧情情感'),连接他们兄弟俩的合作和默契的回忆场面:

唱歌本来就是要唱出精髓, 看来这届的SUPERBAND有很多准备工作要加把劲了 (如果想出唱片的话), 不是随便打打敲敲就是创意! 第一届的SUPERBAND至少最后四组的表现平稳,风格也挺鲜明,唱功也不赖...这届的话,暂时我觉得"兔子","大风吹", "异世界" 有比较高的机会突围而出,但很明显不比第一届来得吸引人 (即使有国外评判, 节目本身缺乏亮点也不太能刺激收视率).

陈伟联 I Love You MV（新上海滩〕

2008-08-12T00:50:00.000+08:00

陈伟联 I Love You MV（新上海滩〕

(取材于07年黄晓明的《新上海滩》中许文强和冯程程的感情故事)

本身喜欢这个MV多过与伟联自演的MV. 伟联自演的MV不是演绎的方式出现问题 (让不同人来表达歌的含义是满新鲜的尝试, 伟联在一个桥段哭泣也挺动容),而是故事剥落, 直到尾声在知道"伟联"和"郭美美"是情侣, 有点牵强,没真正让人感受/体会到他们相爱相惜的过程, 也自然感觉不到那份不舍和伤感. 还好本身歌词优美自然就能画出情感, 加上伟联舒服的嗓子和细腻的演绎, 是一首让简单的"I LOVE YOU"意义深渊.

I-伟联专辑主打歌之一: I LOVE YOU

凡人二重唱-凡人跟他的朋友们

2008-08-11T23:34:00.000+08:00

凡人二重唱...actually I only know 小胖 (as a composer and a singing competition judge), the one has a much lower profile...but have to say, their voice unison is perfectly great! Due to u-weekly recommendation, I went to online to search for their album and after listening to some songs, it is a pretty sincere album from them. One of the albums I am considering to buy, should be out in our local stores le. hee.

My top fav will be 赶路, others are pretty nice (e.g 上海爱情故事, 北京爱情故事, 朋友别哭, 杜鹃鸟的黄昏) except the "征服" and "离开我". "征服"未表达应有的张力而 "离开我"有点混乱, 表达不出离开的伤愁.

[赶路MV]

凡人二重唱 - 赶路
la...lala
la...lala
la...lala
la...lala
清晨五点半的候机室
手上PSP取代你的位置
已无法计算这些年非的城市
在心事在清楚的及所在的地址
我买了地图以为不会迷失
手中的电话卡该不该充值
总以为忙碌阻断思念的影子
口袋里还吸着想家的钥匙
我一直在赶路忘了停下脚步
多渴望远远是反射我的孤独
我一直在赶路忘了你的祝福
才发现的是之前是回家的路
la...lala
la...lala
la...lala
la...lala
我买了地图以为不会迷失
手中的电话卡该不该充值
总以为忙碌阻断思念的影子
口袋里还吸着想家的钥匙
我一直在赶路忘了停下脚步
多渴望远远是反射我的孤独
我一直在赶路忘了你的祝福
才发现的是之前是回家的路
我一直在赶路忘了停下脚步
多渴望远远是反射我的孤独
我一直在赶路忘了你的祝福
才发现的是之前是回家的路
la...lala
la...lala
la...lala
la...lala
la...lala
la...lala

首波主打:新都会音乐情歌『赶路』—新都会音乐的“极弱音”
　　这些年，凡人一直在赶路，忘了停下脚步
　　我们又何尝不是一直在『赶路』
　　生活就像在阡陌交错的道路上前行
　　这一路走来，沿途的风景不断变迁
　　当我们停下脚步，总有那些人和事在心头
　　这些年，凡人的脚步从未停歇；往返于全球各大城市，最夸张的竟然是有一天连续去了四座城市，创造了一个小小的纪录；忙碌的凡人内心一直在不断的自我战斗，一方面没办法停止脚步而另一方面又渴望回家：
　　“总以为忙碌阻断思念的因子口袋里还繫着想家的钥匙
　　我一直在赶路忘了停下脚步多渴望月圆时反射我的孤独
　　我一直在赶路忘了你的祝福才发现得失之间是回家的路”
　　--就是凡人独自在外为事业奔波忙碌的苦楚和对家人思念的最真实感言--

*Actually I thought if such songs were to be included in Wei Lian's next album (just purely voice and the guitar), I personally believe will be a hit as well. "赶路" at Hito排行榜第9名 and MTV封神榜第13名, 证明简朴真性情的歌也可以取得共鸣...

人生有十几路得经过,人生总是忙忙碌碌,到底是为了什么?

National Day Parade 2008

2008-08-11T22:58:00.000+08:00

This is not my first time watching NDP 2008 live, but my second time caught in rain. haha! Actually I wore pink blouse (a bit not matching the theme la.), but thanks to the red colour poncho, it gave the 'false' effect on the screen that the live audience all wore red. hehe. Looks pretty in unison in front of the TV and the rain didn't really dampen our spirits! :)

Sharing some photos I took. Coz my camera lens got rain droplets on it, so it did create some 'unexpected' effects. haha! Around me got quite a few kids, super active leh. got one quite cute, raining hor, overturn the umbrella and hold above his head (maybe he thinks collect raindroplets is more effective? :P )

It has been a long while since I sang National Anthem, but everytime I sang it I'm indeed proud of our nation! I guess the songs that still has 'nation feel' would be those good old songs like "Stand up, Singapore", "Count on me, Singapore"...songs that all ages will know and able to sing with.

Singapore, Happy 43rd Birthday! May she grow and prosper, weather all challenges and look forward to new achievements! At the same time, wish all our athletics representing Singapore for Beijing Olympics 2008 all the best! Shoot for the stars! =)

Singapore Garden Festival (27 July 2008)

2008-07-30T01:43:00.000+08:00

Over the last weekend, went to the Singapore Garden Festival (held at Suntec City) with my family. Erh, actually I am not a flower fan la (somemore need to pay entrance fee!), but becoz my mum likes so I guai guai follow along lor. wahaha!

I visited one last year, and I think this year one got more people and more participants. The event is 'split' into two portions. 1) With various design themes for competition and works from professionals. 2) Mainly orchid exhibits and works from students.

Sharing some photos I took:

Black and white photos? how "ancient" right? But on another point of view, solidifed colours like black and white gives people the feeling of simplicity and distinct clear perspective.

This one quite cute. hehe. I like the feel of the guy (cool feeling) amongst the "colourful world" that surrounded him. His movements are showing as if trying to get hold of something in frot of him that can be interesting/anticipating.

The below picture gives me a feeling of Christmas. Hmmm, something like those old cottage side pond during the early period of Christmas. hehe.

The below project is making use of cellophone papers to give the mysterious but strengthen the overall colour of the flowers as well.

This is the most magnificent project among the competitors. And indeed it won 1st prize!! Kind of reminded me of 'Underwater World'. Haha! Hmmm, wondering how they support the whole heavy structure so high up there with water inside? But really attracted many people to take photos :)

Erm, trees without leaves? To me, it kinds of symbolic the idea of 'free from troubles'.

At first when I went near, thought what is the green and brown plants doing there lor (imagine you see the colourful flowers around!) After I walked further and turned back, to my surprise it is a very abstract cum intelligent design of the past era Hollywood icon sexy lady "Marilyn Monrne"! Tough work trying to assemble her face. haha!

Very nice rainbow colours of orchid! Just like our life full of different colours whereby each colour can be representative of our personal experiences and feelings.

Any lily flower lover? Quite delicate work there, gives the feelings of crystal clear feel that is very complementary and suited to project the feelings that white lily gives to us.

How aptly! Our National Day (9 Aug) is coming! And the below project is done by one of the secondary schools, showing their creativity and at the same time remind the public of a very important day to Singapore! :)

*Hope you guys like the photos I took and maybe if there's a similar event to be held, do visit and you will get to know more kinds of flowers around you and appreciate the nature feel (especially if you have been facing computer and work whole day!). Great job to all people involving in the competiting projects and coordination! :)

Korean shows, 一切完美

2008-07-22T00:25:00.000+08:00

http://www.koreandrama.org/?p=463

Of recent, seems that "Korean wave" remained strong with more and more stories into the '明朝时代" settings. As observed, these Korean shows educates values and cultivates culture, plus the settings are quite natural. I am personally attracted to it. Kind of reminded me of our good past local shows like "出路", '红头巾', which is sad to say, the shows nowadays focus more on nonsensical screaming (丑化女生!) and 老少配weird combination! :(

(photo credits to MediaCorp TV Channel U website)

Of those recent local shows, 一切完美 is a better one. 郑婉玲 although not really the main character but her bubbly yet a little serious brightens the show a lot with her famous '娇艳' interpretation. haha! A natural 笑将 cum 可爱 auntie! :) Too bad the show is quite short, but nevertheless one of the better local productions this year. Sin Huey's song renditions also not too bad. 8/10 for the show (would be even better if the operations details were more indepth)!

Music Addict! Wei Lian!

2008-07-21T02:35:00.000+08:00

Being a music addict, I like to share and recommend some of the songs/singers to many more people around me. I appreciate good music and music talents out there...now trying to compose music, but needs a lot a lot more hardwork given that I am not born with music talents (I'm not pro in music instruments either) that some do. Well, each and everyone of us has their own strengths and weaknesses right? haha!

Talking about singing and music..In particular, Wei Lian was one singer that make me 'chase' his songs and performances (some singers i do like but never chase)...All started from "火柴天堂". haha! With everyone trying to be jay chou, stefanie and a-mei, this rendition proves to be different in terms of feel and it does bring back some memories of the original singer (熊天平) who has fantastic vocals but quieten down over the years. I don't know if you realised or not, Wei Lian's songs chosen during the competition rounds are more 'leng meng' type (as in one won't chose for competitions), yet he still able to remake into his own. (e.g 火柴天堂, 孤单的夜里我不孤单, 草原之夜, 走出黑暗的世界吧朋友!, 我真的受伤了, 其实你不懂我的心, 一剪梅) not including those he did when he was busking...) Did disability really won him, or what I said his uniquely strong song selections/style (and I don't think it's easy to sing even though they are slow songs) that sets him different from his competition peers, hence able to won general heartlanders' hearts? I let you decide ba!

In the present era whereby music is being overdone with many complicated background music and hype of big-shot production crew behind the 'wonders', not many truly able to bring out a song's essence and 'feel' purly using their own vocals...Wei Lian's vocals proven otherwise. I personally recommend you (especially not-a-supporter yet) to listen to his live guitar unplugged performances...that always won applauses from audience of all ages and how he won Superstar eventually.

Actually the first time I saw his live performance was in an enclosed hall area somewhere near Kallang Stadium after he was crowned the overall winner. (Nope, not at any competition rounds, coz that time I was busy and can't go down) The event is Youth Leaders' Talk and actually we paid to join the event coz only primary and secondary school students were invited. haha! But you will be more than surprised, that even young kids who I sat along with gave him arousing applauses and commented that he's talented. You know kids - their reactions will show whether they like it or not. ;)

To know more about him, do visit his official website: http://www.weiliankelvin.com/

Join in the Blue Angels family where they render much support and care to him and among themselves as well. It has been about 3 years since he started off. Hope his music journey will continue to touch many who have heard his music or got to know him. =)

My Title Description

2008-07-21T02:26:00.000+08:00

You may be thinking that I am a 'love addict' from my title description...No! That was the intro to one of the stories that I wrote for my friend's acting materials but she took only the last few parts of story (modify a little as well) so the intro became 'my copyrighted' materials. haha!

'Love addict' I am not, but I more of a "sentimental fool" though (sometimes my thoughts are beyond my age and I like to reminicise the past)...haha! But definitely a food addict! Can't resist good food, that's why if you happended to see my baby days photos (I was born like 2.5kg and somemore only premature 7 months!) and now, can see the impact that food has brought to me! ;) I won't say I'm a fantastic cook but coming up with four can-be-eaten-and-not-sick dishes is still within my means. hoho! I am a fan of Chinese food, don't eat beef and moderate hotness is still ok for me. hee.

Welcome! My very first post!

2008-07-21T01:41:00.001+08:00

Woo hoo!!

Finally decided to come out with my personal blog. Despite the fact that it was eons ages ago that there was the craze of blogging, it took me like tortoise years to do it! No doubt I like writing, but I can be quite lazy to do updating. Plus my life is pretty boring, so also not much things to write la. wahaha! :P

Some people (especially my parents) say I can be quite quiet (well, compared to my sis who is even more expressive and outspoken than I am!) Others who know me better, know that I can be a pretty lame-cool-jokes joker, a mild temper and dedicated person. hehe. I say that my character depends on the situations I am in. :P

Nothing fanciful (maybe occasionally?) is going to be shared yet, coz like I said I am a very simple gal. hee. Life is too hectic nowadays that we failed to appreciate the simplest things, and left many things to regret. Instead more personalised thoughts and feel of things/people I met will be blogged, just like what my title head says: 我的火柴天堂.

How did I came up with the title? Not difficult to see that I support Wei Lian ba? haha! But more because the song itself is rather uplifting for those who are in sorrow. 火柴 represents glow of light (or life) and to be in admist of 天堂 (being 'classified' as a place free of worries and where good souls will also be there) seems lucky and that there are many hopes/dreams. That's why I hope that my life will always be like a 火柴天堂: stay positive, appreciate people around me and the things I have. As well as bring that spirit to many more others. =)

Hereby, wishing all the best in whatever you do :)

Cheers!
Stella (Silly Hippo)