Last weekend

So I went to my first jazz gig in KL.

Having had my expectations raised by the fact that the acclaimed jazz chanteuse Anne Weerapass from Singapore would be accompanied by two of Malaysia's most iconic in the scene - Michael Veerapen and Lewis Pragasam, plus the fact that Alexis is reputed to be the jazz venue in the Klang Valley, I guess it was inevitable that I would be let down. The food was disappointing, the sound system left much to be desired, Anne Weerapass' pants were too tight, the music was too loud, too electronic and came off sounding like hotel-lounge-music-only-with-better-vocals. Basically I think I've been spoiled by Ronnie Scott's lah. Lol. Oh and only one bossanova tune was performed that night. )=

Saturday we drove to Bentong - Eng, Em, Chuan, Jin and myself. Pa gave a crash course on 'how to eat your local fruits like a kampung boy/girl'.. we visited Chamang waterfall (it has proven to be an indispensable part of the itinerary whenever friends come to Bentong, haha).. we watched the World Badminton Championships at home.. and other than that we just ate. And ate. And ate.

Yesterday morning I left home at 6am for KL and came straight to work after dropping off my things at my aunt's. It's Tuesday today but I'm still feeling the Monday blues.

All that jazz

A mix of upbeat bebop/hardbop ala Miles&Trane and Charlie 'Yardbird' Parker, and soothing ballady numbers by Bill Evans and Stan Getz.

I can't wait for my Stan Getz "Cafe Montmartre" CD which Winston is bringing back for me from U.S. next week!! (=

Pictorial: Oct-Nov '06

I've decided to put up some pretty photos on my blog every now and then to systematically chronicle what has happened in the past one or two months. And they're not filler posts, okay! Lol. So here we go.

OCTOBER
Chicago Musical at the Cambridge Theatre, when Jenn Yi came to visit. And yes, I saw Ashlee Simpson. Not that I'm particularly proud of that. Heh.


Zhon Wei's pre-birthday celebration at Four Seasons, followed by a long and chilled night at Guan's.


Hari Raya with the Pengarah at Encik Adib's (our new JPA Student Advisor).


Burger night at Chuan and Nits's. Followed by Taboo and shisha.


NOVEMBER
Steve Tyrell at Ronnie Scott's. No shots of Steve himself though, cos I was too absorbed in the music and the everyeverything to be bothered to take out my camera. (= Oh, and there's a picture of me doing the touristy thing in front of the Eye. Teehee.

Nightshift: Part II

11:30pm, Ronnie Scott's. Jazz and Australian Shiraz-Cabernet. A scattering of a hundred warm red and orange lights - presumably Mathmos. Black-and-white pictures wall-to-wall. Dancing fingers, bopping heads and tapping feet. A jolly old white-haired man croons a nonchalant take of "That old feeling" as the metallic brush rhythmically swishes on the snare, light and silky.

5:30am, Guan's room. Soft, restrained strummings on the Takamine. Damien Rice, Goo Goo Dolls. Snuggling under the duvet. And the night slowly gives way to morn.

Spring can really hang you up the most

Heard this song by Jane Monheit on Pandora today. And it occurred to me how in some ways this song would have been so appropriate to my own little love affair last year which lasted but til the end of Spring, heh. d=

Once I was a sentimental thing
threw my heart away each spring
Now a spring romance
hasn't got a chance
Promised my first dance to winter
All I've got to show is a splinter
for my little fling.

Spring this year has got me feeling
like a horse that never left the post
I lie in my room
staring up at the ceiling
Spring can really hang you up the most.

Morning's kiss wakes trees and flowers
and to them I'd like to drink a toast
But I walk in the park
just to kill the lonely hours
Spring can really hang you up the most.

All afternoon the birds twitter-twitt
I know the tune. This is love, this is it
Heard it before
and I don't know the score
And I've decided that spring is a bore.

Love seems sure around the new year
Now it's April - love is just a ghost
Spring arrived on time
only what became of you, dear?
Spring can really hang you up the most.
Spring can really hang you up the most.

Love came my way, I thought it would last
We had our day, now it's all in the past
Spring came along, a season of song
Full of sweet promise
but something went wrong.

Doctors once prescribed a tonic
Sulfur and molasses was the dose
Didn't help one bit
My condition must be chronic
Spring can really hang you up the most.

All alone, the party is over
Old man winter was a gracious host
But when you keep praying
for snow to hide the clover
Spring can really hang you up the most.

They just don't write lyrics like this anymore these days. I've always wondered how people write such REAL lyrics and still be able to make them RHYME. For me, it's always either one or the other. Or neither. Lol.

P/S= Not to be taken too seriously, this post. (=

Latest song on 'Repeat-One' on my winamp

"Don't Explain" - Herbie Hancock feat. Damien Rice & Lisa Hannigan. (originally by Billie Holiday)

Hush now, don't explain
There ain't nothing to gain
[Just say you'll remain]
I'm glad you're back
Don't explain

Quiet, baby, don't explain
You know there ain't nothing to gain
Skip that lipstick
Don't explain

You know that I love you
And what love endures
[And that love endures]
All my thoughts are of you
For I'm so completely yours

Don't wanna hear nobody chatter
[Cry to hear folks chatter]
Cos I know you cheat
Right or wrong don't matter
When you're with me, sweet

Hush now, don't explain
You are my joy and you're my pain
My life's yours love
So don't explain

Such a haunting song... you can tell just from the words. I think Lisa Hannigan's voice really suits the tone and mood of the song. Oh and that piano-cello instrumental bit... sends shivers down me spine! Can a person be so totally 'into' another person that he/she would overlook the other person's sins, even his/her infidelity? Is that what they call 'sweet sorrow'? Lol.

Jamie Cullum at Hammersmith Apollo

[Edit: Because Winston's photos were so nice, I decided to add some of his to this blogpost (= Thank you Wincy!]

What a night! One of the best surprises 2006 has presented me so far is finding out on the night itself that our seats were in the third row of the stalls, all the way up in front, and not upstairs in the Circle area, as I had all along thought! Indescribable, the feeling. The grand piano was barely 10 metres away from me and when Jamie came to stand in the front of the stage I could ALMOST reach out and touch him! Almost, if I tried hard enough, lol. d= I had an absolutely fantastic time, the crowd was much more enthusiastic and alive than the Royal Albert Hall one (stuffy old working class men in suits... bah). The music - nothing less than spectacular. He did a cover of The White Stripes' Seven Nation Army, which was pretty darn impressive because he performed the whole song - vocals, keys, bass, percussions, beatbox - all by himself, by recording the latter three parts separately and looping them while singing and playing the piano. Oh, and when he sang 'I'm Glad There Is You', I could have died of awe, I tell you. Lol. Looking back at the photos on my camera, I find it hard to believe that they were taken by me, on my humble Nikon Coolpix 3700.... *happy sigh* (=

My plans for Christmas 2005

Download and watch tonnes of movies. Gone With The Wind. The Wizard of Oz. You've Got Mail. Love Actually. Kill Bill. Kill Bill 2. When Harry Met Sally. Sleepless In Seattle. Oh and of course, Narnia and Memoirs of a Geisha in the cinema. (=

Memorise all my Jamie Cullum lyrics for his next London gig... muahahaha... (As a side note: I now have three editions of Twentysomething - the UK release, the Australian release and newest to the list is the Special Edition with four bonus tracks!)

Drown myself in Herbie Hancock.

Force someone... anyone... to go with me to the Natural History or Science or Victoria & Albert Museum, or all three. Hehe.

Get the 'A Blossom Fell' piano transcriptions printed out and perfect it by the end of the Christmas break!! If I'm not in my room, look for me in Ensemble Room 3 at the Blyth Music Centre... haha...

Make a trip to Kensington Chimes and browse music sheets to my heart's content! (=

Build snowmen and snowpenguins if that's even possible...

Have emo "Cheong-K" sessions with Zhon and Jin Rong upstairs!

Bake something other than moist chocolate cake..... *sheepishly*

Study Heat Transfer and Economics.

Go Cardiff to see my beloved Sook Meng!!!

Cullum frenzy

I'm going to try and make this as plain and as simple as is possible (for I have admittedly gushed enough in the past couple of days to various victims whose responses varied from envy to indifference to amusement to excitement): I had the time of my life on Tuesday night watching Jamie Cullum perform live at Royal Albert Hall and have never been more convinced of his talent than I now am. It was THE BOMB! My favourite songs of the night: Mind Trick, These Are The Days, I'm Glad There Is You, Fascinating Rhythm, I Get A Kick Out Of You, Nature Boy, If Only I Had A Brain.

Some photos taken from www.jamiecullum.com


Said it many times before, but the hours and the days are zooming past at breakneck speed, it seems one day you are experiencing Monday blues, and the next, it's the weekend already even before you can say Jack Sprat. It's crazy.

Second year Maple is underway and making slow but sure progress. Got stood up three times by my coursework partner who by the way has done next to no work at all nor given me any feedback on the work I've done and sent to him (am I so nice and forgiving and kind that people don't even hesitate to take advantage of me??). But it's alright. Maybe his dog died. Maybe someone sabotaged his alarm clock. Maybe he trips and falls and hurts himself real bad each time he steps out of his house. I'll let him have the benefit of the doubt. Lol. d= There are so many deadlines to meet in the next two weeks, that I don't know how I can still afford to play Minesweeper and Solitaire, go shopping, take unnecessary afternoon naps and go for unnecessary (though informative and interesting) debates on euthanasia. And that said, 'not have time' to go for cell group and Christian Union, vacuum the apartment, clear all the hair on the toilet floor or cook myself a decent lunch on weekdays. Look who's got a problem with priorities, *sigh*.

And again... *SIGH*.

All along, but ever more so lately, I find such fulfilment and joy in solitude - at times even to the point of being anti-social (i.e. actually dreading the thought of having company). I wonder why. It's not that I am a very introverted kind of person or do not have many friends. It's not like I'm depressed or anything like that (really, my dear, I'm not (.=). There aren't very many places I could run away to here in London except the piano room in Blythe Centre. I would take a solitary walk to nowhere... grab a book and my mp3 player and solo-picnic in Kensington Gardens... but for some reason I've never gotten down to actually doing it. Yet at the same time I yearn for the company of just one person - one person with whom silence is comfortable, but conversation even more uplifting. In my lifetime I have met a special two or three people whom when I talk to them, it just feels like coming home, somehow. The ease in conversation, the confident knowledge of that other person's presence and listening ear (or typing fingers for that matter) - it does so much more than one would imagine it could. Such is the power and beauty of a spiritual-emotional connection that goes beyond mere friendship... I miss and love you, you know that. *hugs* (=

Oh I don't know. Could be the side effects of an overdose of mellow jazz lyrics - or perhaps hormonal imbalance? - don't worry about me anyhow. (=

London Skies

Will you let me romanticise
The beauty of the London skies
You know the sunlight always shines
Behind the clouds of London skies
Patient moments, you're chilled to the bone
Under infinite greys
Vision hindered, mist settling low
Like a ghostly ballet
On a cold winter's day
Nothing is certain
'Cept everything you know can change
You worship the sun but
Now can you fall for the rain?

Rain, rain and more rain is all we've been getting in London for the past week or so. I thought the lyrics to this song by Jamie Cullum was really poetic and it made me think of the gloomy London weather in a more romantic way... well, somewhat romantic. You know... something along the lines of Knight-in-shining-raincoat-gallantly-rescues-dam(p)sel-in-distress-with-his-shiny-metallic-umbrella.... lol.

The weather yesterday was nice though. Took a stroll in Kensington Gardens before my afternoon lectures. London weather can be so incoherent and contradictory at times. Clear blue skies and fluffy white clouds above, but at the same time around you on ground level the violent gusts of wind send tsunamis of golden-brown leaves charging at you threateningly.

The Flat 3 (darn you, Allan, I always knew it was 3!!! Haha..) houseparty was a huge success. Never seen so many hot chicks in one place in London for a long long time... haha. Bet the guys had the time of their lives just sitting down sipping their booze and having the 'cuci-mata' session they claim they've always been deprived of in Imperial College. =P There's going to be another houseparty this weekend - this time it's a costume party in conjunction with Halloween but I'm hoping to get off the hook by turning up with a chocolate cake instead... hehe. Can ah, Jun?

Oooh ooooohhhhh yesterday I watched the Broadway musical The Producers! It was smashing! Ever so GAY, from beginning to end! Was really great, perhaps partly because I went in with practically no expectations at all since I'd never heard of the musical till like a few days ago? But yeah... it was great fun - the most hilarious musical I've seen, hands down. (= Next Thursday, Best of Broadway in Royal Albert Hall, and then the ultimate one I've always been waiting for - JAMIE CULLUM AT ROYAL ALBERT HALL on November 15th!!! (=

Fallen - Lauren Wood

I can't believe it, you're a dream comin' true
I can't believe how I have fallen for you
And I was not looking, was content to remain
And it's ironic, to be back in the game.

You are the one who's led me to the sun
How could I know that I was lost without you....

And I want to tell you, you control my rain
And you should know that you are life in my veins

You are the one who's led me to the sun
How could I know that I was lost without you....

I can't believe it, you're a dream comin' true
I can't believe how I have fallen for you
And I was not looking, was content to remain
And it's erotic, to be back in the game.
_____________________

Love the lyrics and the whole 'feel' the song exudes. I should make my own compilation of ideal background music for romanticcandlelitdinnerinswankyrestaurantsippingredwine type dates. Hehe. Let's see.... George Benson's version of "This Masquerade", Diana Krall on "A Blossom Fell" and "Fly Me To The Moon", Dionne Warwick's "Never Fall In Love Again", Sade's "Smooth Operator"..... though the lyrics to some of these songs aren't particularly appropriate. Lol.