Sonic Fest 2004!

It was great listening to the Christian songs and worshipping God under the starry night. The concert was better than I expected! Desmond told me last year's Sonic Fest wasn't up to expectation. Didn't want to raise my hopes to high in case the concert really turn out sucky because of the comment from Desmond.

When I was there at the concert I heard this year's concert had more people coming in than last year. By the time we reached the St Geroge's Church, it was this band from from Kuala Lumper called Altered Frequency to perform. Thought they were called Autum Frequency until someone said they were Ultra Frequency. When I went to the sonic fest website and checked, I found out their true name. The Frequency band was really good in my opinion. Their songs were simple and straight-forward. I like their playing style as well. Wanna buy their CD and listen but too stingy. Hee. After the Altered Frequency, the emcee wanted everyone to squeeze to the middle so he could take a picture and posted on the website. He said we'll be "archived" as well. Becky was kinda like "What?! Archived ourselves on their website??". Xuefeng happened to be among those being archived. Haha.

Next band was Sonic Edge Band. They are the resident band which means they get to play in every Sonic Fest. I guess the name of the concert was tribute to the band as well. Actually I dun really enjoy the songs from Sonic Edge or rather the performance of Sonic Edge. The guitarist was hoping like a wild dog on the stage. In fact, every guy in the band was hoping wildly except the drummer. It would be a magnificant feat if the drummer could join in and hop while he drums. Their songs are good but I'm kinda turn off by their performance la. Sonic Edge was the most jumpy band I've ever seen.

Lastly, the concert ended with this kiwi band called FORM. The sharing and music was good. Spent good time worshipping God with many people around me. Guess I'll be going for the next Sonic Fest. Let's Rock!

GOD OF WONDERS

Lord of all creation, of water, earth, and sky
The heavens are Your tabernacle, glory to the Lord on high

God of Wonders beyond our galaxy,
You are holy, holy
The universe declares Your majesty,
You are holy, holy

Early in the morning,
I will celebrate the light
When I stumble in the darkness,
I will call Your name by night

Hallelujah,
Tto the Lord of Heaven and Earth

God of Wonders beyond our galaxy,
You are holy, holy
Precious Lord reveal Your heart to me
Father holy, holy,
The universe declares Your Majesty
You are holy, holy, holy, holy
Hallelujah

Words and music by Marc Byrd and Steve Hindalong

House of Flying Daggers

Reuters organised this movie outing and the staff get to watch it for 2 bucks! It's too good a bargain to miss. Was hoping transport and pop-corns would be provided. Hee. Too bad non-Reuters people has to pay for the full price.

The movie opening was not too bad. First half and hour was good. Nice costumes, nice scenery, good cast but lousy ending. So if you wanna watch it, my advise is leave before it ends. It means you watch Disc One but dun watch Disc Two. Haha. The ending spoils the whole movie but I find the scene where Takeshi Kaneshiro moved towards Andy Lau to stop Zhang Ziyi from saving him kind of touching. Didn't expect that to happen in a action movie.

The Last Samurai

This evening, Fitness Network was supposed to screen the movie, "The Last Samurai" by the poolside. However due to the drizzle, we had no choice but to watch in inside the Science Hub. Fitness Network was really thoughtful in providing free hotdogs and drinks for us while we watched the show. Save me the money to buy dinner. Hee.

The disappointing part was that the DVD disc somehow would freeze in one particular scene when Tom Cruise was talking to Ken Watanabe. Very disappointing and disruptive during the screening while the Fitness Network Manager, Samuel tried to fix the problem. Samuel mentioned before the start of the screening that he love the show so much that he watched it twice. Perhaps he had caused the disc to have problem. Haha. Or the disc could be a pirated version. Anyway, back to the movie.

It was a great movie. Inspiring. This was my first time watching the movie and I regretted not catching it on the big screen. I would recommend people to watch it if they have not. It's definintely worth a weekend movie ticket. Many many months back, my good friend, Kiat told me it was a movie which I MUST watch. Totally awesome fights with spectacular scenes and scenery. I just smiled while thinking to myself that it's just gonna be another of those Hollywood type of movie. Pure action and brainless plot. However the movie was contrary to what I thought.

The sword fighting scenes are awesome. Not forgetting the archery skills of the Samurais. Some say their archery skills are better than Legolas but they don't look as cute as him. Needless to say, the sceneries were great too. The movie speaks about true courage and the way of the Samurai. The movie also seems to portray the huge conflict between modernisation and Japanese tradition. Modernisation for the economy of the country has caused Japan to sacrifice its long preserved and rich tradition. The Ruler of Japan in the movie was too young to voice out or know what was really good for his people. In fact, he has also somewhat embraced modernisation by learning English and he didn't bun his hair in those male Japanese tradition style. The movie makes me wonder was it worth losing a unique Japanese tradition and culture and adopt modernisation to boost the economy of the country. In the later part of the movie, it seems that Japan wasn't left with much of a choice either. I did a module on the contemporary history of Japan from the Era of Tokugawa till its modern stage and it made me realised so much about the history of Japan that I didn't know.

For those who had read the history of Japan would know what "The Last Samurai" was trying to say. It doesn't belong to one of those Hollywood type of movies.

Climb Up, Climb Down

During yesterday's lunch, fen asked me, " Have you thought of a story for your romantic film?" Within a nanosecond, my quick and warp brain creatively came up with this movie parody of "Turn Left, Turn Right" (one of my fav movie) called "Climb Up, Climb Down". Its chinese title is "shiang4 shang4 pa2, shiang4 sia4 zhou3".

me: The story started with this guy staying on the 2nd storey and this girl staying on the 3rd storey of a HDB flat. They didn't know about each other even though the guy climb past the 3rd storey and and the girl walk past the 2nd storey

fen: What reason does the guy have to go past the 3rd floor??!? *puzzled look*

me: Well, there's a park on the 10th floor and the guy jogs in the park regularly *face showing signs of small intelligence*

fen: OH! So it's taking place at Duxton Pinnacle. *gave a very confident look while pointing at me*

me: Yup. In the end, there was an earthquake and the guy dropped from the 3rd floor into the girl's lap while she's watching tv on the 2nd floor.

fen: Your movie is a romantic comedy. *laughs it off*

me: Nope. *gave a matter-of-fact look* It's gonna be a dark comedy.

fen: eh?

me: There will be a blackout followed by the earthquake. :P

fen: -_-'


Somehow I believe that if this story is taken and expanded, it'll get nominated for the "Most Unoriginal but creative and wu2 liao2 scriptwriting Award".

fen: So who's gonna be the lead actor?

me: me lor

fen: aiyo

me: I mean why not? Look at Jack Neo. Quentin Tarantino acted in his directed film, "Reservior Dogs". Tom Hanks acted in his debut movie but only the song became famous.

fen: What about the lead actress?

me: you lor!

*fen beams with pride and smiling like an angel*

Actually, I have someone else in mind and she's none other than Charlie Yueng. :P

Pictures please...

Yup. She's my next choice in mind regardless if I'm her last choice of director. I think she looks very compatible with Jet Li. Most probably he's able to do a mid-air flip if he even crashes from the 3rd floor. I could save costs on hiring stuntmen as well. I really don't mind sacrificing the lead role to him cos he's my hero. Anyway, the lead actress part will definitely go to fen fen la. Cos she and I are more compatible ma. Hee.

Okay. Back to reality. Gonna get some rest and slog hard tomorrow. Hopefully I can wake up early and go for morning swim. Heh.

Ambitions

Today, fen fen and I had buffet lunch at Marriott Cafe. They have this promotion whereby a lady get a complimentary lunch buffet if she bring a guy along. Have to make a table reservation and it was almost fully booked till end of July when I made the call to the restaurant in late June. Thank God we got a table cos the promotion will be over by the end of July.

The spread of food was superb especially the desserts. There was so many to choose from and my plate was like a mountain of bits of cakes from here and there. Love the raspberry cake! Simply unforgettable. My favourite is the fried fish platter which resembles so much like the one from Long John Silver but slightly smaller in size. Maybe Long John should copy the idea from them. Heh.

Over lunch, we talked about what we wanted to be before we end up where we are now. My initial ambition was to be a pilot. It was inspired by my classmate who always talked to me about how great and honourable it was to be a fighter pilot. Since I was very influenced by my peers and have not much of a mind of my own then, I took his ambition as my own. Well, ever since I wore glasses in Pri 2, I just put the whole pilot dream behind me.

In Sec Sch, I thought of being a film director. The common immediate response from my boy school friends was "You wanna film R-rated movies right? Must be it la!" and then laugh their silly heads off. Oh com'on. Being the actor is much better than being the stupid director shouting "CUT!!!" and "ACTION!!!" right? My wish was to do a genre of romantic comedy film. Like the nice warm feeling of seeing a happy ending for those who are in love with each other and making it funny makes the movie even more enjoyable. Maybe I could come up with the script as well since I'm quite an imaginative person. Fen realised my hidden talent when she saw how well I drew with my eyes closed as we were playing Cranium at Settler's Cafe. She managed to guess the thermometer I drew with my eyes shut but not the boxer shorts. Anyway, that was what I hope to do if I can't make it to JC and miraculously I made it to JC all thanks to the grace of God. To survive in the film industry in S'pore is really really hard but I really hope to do a film that is of my own.

When I was in JC, I thought being an Accountant cos accountancy to me may be my cup of tea. Furthermore I realised that I can earn big bucks being one. All thanks to my GP grade, I didn't even try applying for the Accoutancy course in NTU. Anyway, my A level subjects isn't that fantastic. I fail my GP and even to get a place in NUS was something I didn't expect happen. I got in with my first choice in Arts & Social Sciences.

As I was completing my Arts degree, I was thinking what shall I do after I graduate. Shall I be a teacher? NO WAY MAN. Now teachers are burdened with so much work which I think is too much. Furthermore, their teaching profession is not considered as any kind of working experience unless they wanna switch to working for private tutoring agency. Maybe it's just not the kind of job for me. No passion for teaching.

I wanted to be a farmer. I prefer manuel work to deskbound job. No office politics. Just me and the scarecrow. And the pigs and hens and chicks. But it's not gonna be possible in S'pore cos they would rather employ a foreign worker than a Arts degree holder to do the dirty work. Cheaper ma. Unless I go to Australia and find job as a farmer but I'll miss my family, friends and church here.

For now, I'm considering studying part-time in accountancy and intend to do so in the beginning of next year. To work and study part-time is really gonna drain me from my relationship and my ministry. Will need God's strength to pull me through this ...

Nearer, my God, to Thee

Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!
E'en though it be a cross
That raiseth me:
Still all my song shall be
Nearer, my God! to Thee,
Nearer to Thee.

Though, like the wanderer,
The sun gone down,
Darkness be over me,
My rest a stone;
Yet in my dreams I'd be
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee.

Then let the way appear
Steps unto heaven;
All that Thou sendest me
In mercy given:
Angels to beckon me
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee.

Then with my waking thoughts
Bright with Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs
Bethel I'll raise;
So by my woes to be
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee.

Or if on joyful wing,
Cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot,
Upward I fly:
Still all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee.

~Sarah Fuller Adams~

Wow! I have my very own Blog!

Oh my. I'm here. My very own blog site! Cool. I love reading people's blogs and it really makes me wanna start a blog of my own. But I'm afraid that it won't be interesting or funny and turn out to be mundane and boring. Oh well, I guess I don't have to bother what other people think or say and just start this blog for myself. Yes. For me, me, me and only me. Heh. That's quite a company already. My very first fan of my blog is me.

Here shall be my space for recording all my happy, sad and frustrating moments where I can look back and laugh at myself and wonder "why didn't I think of that sooner". Ha.