For some personal reasons, one of our local actors, Lee Weng Kee, was admitted to Gleneagles Hospital last week...

He must be feeling bored out of his wits, for he invited many friends to visit him and help him finish up all the food in his "get well" hampers...

So I went on Saturday afternoon, and found Weng Kee enjoying "high tea" in his hotel hospital room with Roger, Rita and Daphne. Later on, Millie and Gel arrived, followed by Kay Siu and Selena...

I joined them all for a nice chit chat, and took some pictures for fun...

L-R: Roger, Rita, Daphne, Weng Kee and Edric

L-R: Lim Kay Siu, Lee Weng Kee and Selena Tan

"Beauty World" alumni, L-R: Lim Kay Siu, Lee Weng Kee, Millie Phuah and Edric Hsu

Turned out that Weng Kee, Kay Siu and Millie were from the Japan Tour cast of "Beauty World" in 1994, and I was from the 1998 cast which performed at Victoria Theatre! 

By a funny coincidence, me and Millie both played the same role but some years apart: we were both the Cabaret Band Bassist! Yeah she was asked to dress as a boy due to lack of male performers and female singers then...  

Well anyway, "Beauty World" is making a comeback soon, and will be staged by W!ld Rice this time. I want to be in it!!! Can I be Frankie Foo or Ah Hock please?

Oops, this entry was supposed to be about Weng Kee and his hospital stay. He was fine and looking well on Saturday, perhaps a little restless and bored with the stay. But as of Sunday, he was officially discharged and will continue to monitor his health...

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Last Friday, I found several music videos online and played them in my Young Artistes Club vocal class...

They included Lea Salonga's performances from her "Miss Saigon" audition to selections from "Les Miserables", the irrepressible and manic Carol Burnett performing "Getting Married Today" from "Company", as well as Machi Didi's rap and the Mandarin version of "We Are The World" etc...

And finally I got them to sing Angela Zhang's "Invisible Wings" with microphones, so they could hear their own vocals through the monitors. This was in preparation for their show on Vesak Day...

Before we left, and since Jalyn, our main coordinator, was there too, we took a couple of pics for the record...

and

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I was fortunate to grow up in an era where B&W television had been replaced by colour, and where watching movies were popular pastimes. There was no lack of entertainment...

That was the period when local street performances like Hokkien opera (or Wayang), and other roadshows, were experiencing a decline in popularity and attendance...

But even as a child, I had always favoured live performances, and I would beg my Mum to bring me to those roadshows when they were playing at Kampong Bahru area...

I'd often park myself at a side of one of the make-shift stages, to watch the shows AND to see the actors do their make-up and change into their beautiful costumes...

I had WANTED to be one of those actors back then (guess that's one of my early influences!)...

On Saturday, after visiting Weng Kee at Gleneagles Hospital, I joined Chee Kam and Sebastian at Drama Centre to catch the final performance of Toy Factory's play...

= Titoudao =

"Titoudao" opening scene set design (by Wong Chee Wai) and cast (taken BEFORE show started! =P)

It was a play that captured the essence of local street opera in the past, and combined it with the exceptional story of Mdm Oon Ah Chiam, one of the local Wayang "superstars" back in those days...

She was also, not coincidentally, the mother of Goh Boon Teck (founder of Toy Factory Productions Ltd, and who created "Titoudao" as a tribute to his mother), and Zachary Goh (local performer who also created beautiful design and artwork for many local theatre posters)...

(Read More Inside This Link...)

It's a real pity the real street theatre is fast fading into local history. But as one of the lines in this play goes: "Bo Lang Ai Kwa, Zo Ho Sin Kwa!" (If no one wants to watch, we'll perform for the Gods!)...

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Several years ago, when I was still active in the singing scene, I was asked by Liang Wern Fook to record an English demo version of Kit Chan's more recent hits, "Tian Leng Jiu Hui Lai" (which means "come back when the sky turns cold"), but I am not sure what happened to it now...

Recently, I learned that The Theatre Practice is preparing for a new musical for sometime later this year, written by renowned HK scriptwriter Raymond To, and all the songs will be from Liang Wern Fook's hits...

It's a pity I missed the auditions earlier this year, as it happened when I was travelling in Hong Kong. Hope they still have a good role that I could fill in.. 

And the title of this musical is, of course...

Tian Leng Jiu Hui Lai

(Come Back When The SKy Turns Cold) 

The above song was recorded by Yours Truly this evening at home, and I have also included it in my Imeem.com playlists...

This song means a lot to me. Whenever I listen to or sing it, I am reminded of the words my late parents would say to me whenever I go out to school or work...

I miss them lots, and will be visiting them at their temple altars tomorrow for the Qing Ming Festival... 

Anyway, I hope you will like my version of this song...

4 angel(s) visited

I started listening to Cantonese pop songs at an early age, as influenced by the Rediffusion radio station and old Hong Kong movies in the early 70s to mid-80s...

One of the most memorable movie tunes from that era was from the film, "Shi Ye Sheng", ("On Trial") in 1981, starring the late Danny Chan and Leslie Cheung...

In the movie, Danny Chan performed this song as part of a songwriting competition, which he subsequently won and became a singer. This was definitely a film that had inspired me to sing back then...

Here I have tried to record my own version, but as I could not find a good music backing track, or even just a plain piano accompaniment, I had to rely on some flaky old Karaoke version with an uneven tempo and an annoying Piccolo melody...

I also played around with some sound effects for practice, and had added some ocean waves sound to cover up the static from the old music track, but seems it has sort of become my signature! LOL

Anyway, till I have better means of producing an actual recording, please bear with this for now... :D

Yau Liu Nei

(Having You)

NOTE: I have updated the track here with another version of the same recording, sans the ocean waves, and using an earlier voice recording which I did...

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After watching Yasmin Ahmad's "Sepet" and "Gubra", I just have to watch her latest film "Mukhsin", which is a prequel to the former two movies...

This time, we get to explore the protagonist Orked's first love story, when she was a ten-year-old (Sharifah Aryana, who looked just like her older versions!) who fell in love with a twelve-year-old boy, Mukhsin (played by the handsome Mohd Syafie Naswib), in her kampong...

We also find out the fiesty Malay girl's early family influences and her preference for the Chinese language, and understand how she grew up to become the Orked in "Sepet" and "Gubra"...

I like how the director reintroduced her favourite and well-liked actors, Sharifah Amani and Ng Choo Seong (the older Orked and her tragic love, Jason, in "Sepet"), as well as Alan Yun (Jason's brother in "Gubra") as cameos in several scenes. There are also many interrelated links between all these films, done cleverly and subtly, like easter eggs and tidbits for Yasmin Ahmad fans..

Another welcomed fixture in these three movies is the comedic and plus-sized Adibah Noor, who played Orked's family servant Kak Yam. She added much humour and wisdom in her own simple ways...

And Adibah Noor is not only a fun actress to watch, she sings beautifully too! There was a scene in which Orked and her mum (Sharifah Aleya, who ALSO bears an uncanny resemblance to the original Orked), were dancing in the rain while Kak Yam sang to the beats of the Malay Kerongcong...

It was a sweet tender moment (yet highlighting how "different" this family is to their other Malay neighbours), and the song is called...

Hujan (Rain)

by Adibah Noor (with additional backing vocals by Edric Hsu)

I love her original version, but couldn't resist the temptation of adding my own vocal harmonies to create a more kampong folk singing sound to it, just to make it different. Hope it worked!

I also love the version of "Hujan" as performed by Yasmin Ahmad's parents, who also wrote this song, at the end of the movie, where they got together with the entire production crew. It was a truly nostalgic kampong (Malay village) moment...

The inclusion of a French song, "Ne Me Quitte Pas" (Don't Leave Me) by Nina Simone, although seemingly strange, added the right amount of sadness and tenderness in a scene where Orked again danced with her parents, and portrayed the emotions of the eventual parting between two very young lovers...

The movie is similar in feel and tone to "Sepet", which is a much more understated and sentimental approach to a simple love story, than "Gubra". I would highly recommend all these three movies (there's an even earlier movie "Rabun" that pre-dates this series!), and would definitely include them in my DVD collection...

Yasmin Ahmad is known for pushing some cross-cultural envelopes, by putting people from different social classes and races and backgrounds together, exploring their relationships, and seeing the chemistry between them...

I just wish more Singaporeans and Malaysians would get to watch her movies and appreciate her strong messages of LOVE and FAITH in them...

But please do so right now, for apparently "Mukhsin" is only running till next Wednesday at GV Cinema Europa at Vivo City...

For those who are interested to know more about this interesting and very intelligent writer, story-teller and filmmaker, please do visit her blog at:

http://yasminthestoryteller.blogspot.com/

And just for the record, if there is a film director I would love to have a chance to work with, it has got to be Yasmin Ahmad...

“The minute I heard my first love story
I started looking for you,
not knowing how blind that was.
Lovers don't finally meet somewhere.
They're in each other all along.”

-Jelalluddin Rumi-

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Last week was Qing Ming, a period of remembrance for the loved ones who'd departed this life, and I spent some time at Bright Hill Temple where my late parents' and grandparents' ancestral altars and ashes were placed...

They were the ones who'd given me all the support I needed in my formative years, not only financially, but also emotionally, spiritually and physically. Without their encouragement and unconditional love, I would never have dared taken so many steps toward my dreams...

The following is a cover of a motivational Mandarin song by Angela Zhang that I recorded in dedication to them, and all those who've continually given me their invisible support. Incidentally, my class students will be performing this song for an upcoming Vesak Day event...

Here it goes...

~ Invisible Wings ~

by Edric Hsu

And here're the group photos of my class taken last Friday, together with Jalyn, the main coordinator and drama coach. It's the biggest turnout so far...

Kong Meng San Young Artistes Club

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It's been a long, long while since my last PhotoFriday.com entry, but I am inspired to post something this week...

This weekend, everyone in Thailand will be enjoying their Songkran Festival, where plenty of water is showered upon all not only as relief from the hottest time of the year there, but also for fun...

I was there last year! And as part of the festivities, I was blessed by the Thai monks at one of their major temples...

The following pic that I took after the blessing rituals seemed appropriate enough for this week's PhotoFriday.com weekly challenge theme (my entry is #332), which is...

 BLESSING

Well, the past year had indeed been a blessed one for me, with everything going smoothly as can be in almost all aspects of my life. Hope this year will be the same or even better! *touchwood*

Sadly, I couldn't make the trip to Bangkok for the Songkran Festival this time. Anyway, I do have long-overdue pics from that trip yet to be posted here! Might just do so this weekend, in remembrance of the fun I had last year... LOL

For those interested to know more about my past contributions to this weekly challenge thinggy, do check out:

http://merman13.livejournal.com/tag/photo+friday

And to vote for my entry (#332), please click:

http://www.photofriday.com/vote.php?id=109529

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Or is it "Week of the Geek"?

For two separate events this week, I was asked to portray a nerdy geek (geeky nerd?), and the first one was this morning for a photo shoot with Cedric, Ellery and Erika...

It was fun channelling my inner nerd, which is actually pretty much what I am in real life anyway, and at the end of two hours, I took more than 500 shots of varying wacky, tacky poses...

Can't display them here till it's officially released, but here are some pics I took AFTER the shoot, with the team...

Cedric, Erika, Edric and Ellery

Sidenote:

Remember the previous photo shoot I did with them in February? (http://merman13.livejournal.com/147406.html)

Well, Peggy Chang, the short-haired girl with whom I'd posed as a couple, is now a finalist in the current Miss Universe Singapore 2007!

Way to go, girl! Jia youl!!!

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My submission for the previous Photo Friday weekly challenge ("Blessing" ) was just the day before, but whadayaknow... it's Friday yet again...

While I'm on a roll (if you could call it that), here's my entry (#75) for this week's theme on Photo Friday, which is...

The Blues

 "The Blue House" ~ Edric Hsu

The above image was taken at Lan Ohk (or The Blue House) during my recent trip to Hong Kong, at one of the few remaining historical sites slated for conservation...

Here's what the full residential building looks like...

(Click Here To View...)

Next to this blue-painted building (circa early 1900s) are several other residential blocks, including buildings painted in other similarly striking colours. Hope the next time I visit Hong Kong, these will still be there...

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Today's class turn out was the lowest ever, just four of the girls out of a class of 11...

Oh well. Thankfully each of them had a different line of the song to sing, so all's good. And it's much easier to work on each of them this way anyway...

 (Click Here To View The Pics...)

Hope next week we'll finally have a full turn out in class...

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After an audition, went out with some of the boys in search of our first meal of the day... at 2.45pm...

Food happened, from Gillman Village's The Turquoise Room to Holland Village's popular Nasi Lemak coffee shop...

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This entry is NOT a paid advertisement, but something I would really like to share it with all of you here... 

Just helped my best friend, Bryan Gan, who's the founder of Omhealth (http://www.omhealth.com) record his radio chat on Y.E.S. 93.3 FM with host Lin Pei Fen...

I've been helping Bryan in his workshops and talks for almost a decade now, and I would highly recommend those who are interested in holistic living (which simply means improving overall body, mind and spiritual well-being), to tune in to these recordings...

Listen...

Anyone keen on getting Bryan to conduct one of his ever-popular Aromatherapy or Cooking Workshops in their organisations or company events, do contact him directly at:

info@omhealth.com

Footnote: Omhealth has nothing to do with Multi-Level Marketing (MLM), which we absolutely do not endorse!

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Lester joined us for vocal class tonight, to look-see (or more appropriately, hear-listen)...

The class turn-out was much better, and we could do a proper sing-through of "Invisible Wings", which they will be performing in a few more weeks' time...

After going through that a few times, with and without microphones, I got everyone to learn the "Buddhist Anthem", titled "San Bao Ge" (or "Song of the Triple Gems" in English)...

Not easy, considering the Mandarin lyrics were written by Rev. Taixu and Rev. Hongyi in 1930s, and using the traditional Buddhist (con)text, which is pretty far from our regular conversational Mandarin...

But instead of singing it traditionally, we will attempt to make it contemporary and more listener-friendly. I think we'll get it down pat in a matter of time...

And last, but not least, here's the "class attendance shot" of the day...

Back L-R: Lester, Leah, Clorine, Aster, Shuli, Trish, Sky & Edric
Front L-R: Adwin, Soon Teck, Ernest (absent: Xiaoling & Alvin)

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I am so inspired by a book I just bought yesterday, "You Can Never Find A Rickshaw When It Monsoons - The World On One Cartoon A Day", where the author/illustrator Mo Willems recapitulated each day's event in a simple cartoon sketch, during his round-the-world travels in his youth...

Here's the book cover image, and one of the 390+ daily cartoons inside...

Those who've been following my blog would know that sketching is one of my favourite activities, and that I am constantly finding ways to create different sketches and illustrations...

I'm still working at my techniques of course, and after flipping through the above book, I have decided to try out my own daily (or every-other-daily) cartoons for practice...

And I shall name mine "Nitecaps", simply because they are my nightly recaps of an interesting event or activity during that particular day...

Now, let's just see how long this will last...

So...

Thinking through what to draw to kick-start this new interest, I considered which is more cartoon-worthy: being locked out of my own flat in the afternoon, chancing upon a beautiful gigantic moth at my corridor, recording a new song when I finally borrowed my sister's house keys to get back in, teaching a class, passing things to and from a friend, and then having yummy supper with another couple of friends...

And I decided on the latter - enjoying two Ramly Burgers (deliciously satisfying Malaysian-styled burgers) for supper with Chee Kam and Sebastian at the Railway Station (K.T.M.)...

Nitecaps #0001 - 20 April 2007

Depending on what you add to it,
each burger cost around $2.50 to $3.00.
However, the stall owner/cook does not speak English.
Bring along someone who can speak Melayu as interpreter... 

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Was out shopping today, and being such an incorrigible bookworm, I found myself at three different major bookstores within a few hours...

At Plaza Singapura's Times Bookshop, I found among the stacks of books a photograph showing a Godzilla in an elevator...

There was a stamped message at the back that goes...

Hugs:
Bruce Is My Name
I Feel Brand New...

Okay I thought someone left it here by accident...

Then over at Bugis Junction's Kinokuniya Bookstore, I found three other photographs with the same stamped message, but showing different scenes with the Godzilla in them...

Thinking I might have stumbled onto some conspiracy (how fun!) or a treasure hunt of some sort, I took pics of the three photos...

If someone knows what's going on, tell me... 

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Met up with Bryan for tea (actually coffee and Hebi Hiam toast with soft-boiled eggs) at Plaza Singapura's Toast Box this afternoon...

Didn't expect to have to crack the eggs myself, and in doing so, I almost got scalded by the egg's heat. The end result was that I pressed too hard on the shell, and a large part of the egg including the yolk got flung onto the floor...

Nitecaps #0002 - 21 April 2007

What a waste, I love egg yolks...

And while the diners had to crack our own eggs, the coffee shop did not provide paper napkins or a wash basin to wash our icky hands afterwards...

Fail!

At least the Hebi Hiam Toast (fried spicy sambal shrimps on toast) was quite tasty...

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Cliched as it may sound, the Angels are all around us. Guiding us in their subtle ways, helping us out of difficult situations, and most importantly, make us feel the power of Love...

For those who have a hard time believing in spirits and fairies, the Angels come to us in the guises that we could relate to without fear... 

Some might say their Angels are their parents, their babies, their pets, their loved ones...

I have found several personal Angels throughout my life, and they are always there for me without fail. I could tell by the rainbows they leave behind as a sign...

Too airy fairy for some, perhaps? Just tell me if you don't feel ANY need for Angels in your life...

Well, in honour of the Angels who have been blessing me with their love and protection without fail, and also in answer to some of your requests, I have recorded my own version of Tank's hit song, featured in the popular Taiwanese series "Hua Yang Shao Nian Shao Nv"...

~ Personal Angel ~

...In Love and Light...

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Today's Earth Day, a time to remind ourselves of the importance of conserving the environment, protect and love the animals, and in general, be conscious and conscientious in giving back to Nature what she had given to us...

And so, for today's cartoon, I have decided to pay tribute to...

Mother Earth

Nitecaps #0003 - Earth Day

And yes, that's a portrait of my dearly departed Mother...

When she was around, I took her for granted. Now that she's gone, I have learned to appreciate everything she had done for me and given me, and I will always love and respect her...

And I feel the same for Mother Earth...

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Some songs last a lifetime, and then some...

The following song that I'd just recorded (mostly because I just couldn't sleep), enjoyed popularity in 1992 as performed by Taiwanese singer Lin Liang Le, and was brought back to life again in recent years by another singer, A-Sang...

For some reason, this simple and haunting tune kept repeating in my head the past few weeks. And now I am able to share it with you all...

In this song, I'd recorded two separate vocal melody tracks which would be more obvious when listening with stereo earphones or headphones, for the left and right side each contains a different version. Hopefully it will sound like two Edrics sharing a song dialogue...

I have also kept my harmony vocals to a minimum as the minus-one already contained the original singer's backing voices...

And so, hope you'll enjoy...

Gentle Compassion

(Wen Rou De Ci Bei)

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As I was walking back from the market downstairs after having lunch with Cousin Meiling, a pair of beautiful bright yellow Monarch Butterflies fluttered by, their flight paths twirling and interweaving...

The first thought in my mind was... they're in love!!!

Nitecaps #0004 - Butterfly Lover

Anyways, I am quite a butterfly lover... Nope, not like Liang Shan Bo or Zhu Ying Tai lah, silly!   

Butterflies flying around me are always a good sign that things are going well for me...

And having mating butterflies fluttering right in your face seemed like a damn good omen for my love life, methinks... 

Unless they're actually fighting... -_-"

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elnSDAAIwAc

今井美樹：半袖

作詞：岩里祐穂 作曲：上田知華

その人を見た
子供と遊ぶ笑い声が
庭にこぼれてた

初夏の匂いの
駅に降り立ち
木立揺れる 長い坂道

まぶしい陽を浴びて 細く美しい腕が
白い半袖からのぞいていた

清らかな空
苦しくて… 苦しくて…
たおれそうになる

さようならさえ
言い出さなければ
終わることのない二人だけど

あなたは 愛してはいけない人じゃなく
決して愛してはくれない人

愛し続ける勇気を
私はそれでも捨てない

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Finally! After weeks and weeks of waiting, one of my all time favourite TV series, "Heroes", is back from it's 2nd mid-season break!!!

And it basically rocks!!!

Nitecaps #0005 - Heroes Return

For those who've no idea what this is all about, please do a Google search or read more on Wikipedia...

Or check out the official website here: http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/

Who knows? You might just be able to...

Save

The

World

...

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Was listening to songs online and reading friends' blogs, and somehow or other, things got connected, and everything sort of came together under a theme...

And it seemed appropriate to share it here:

Today marked the death anniversary of Yutaka Ozaki, a Japanese pop/rock singer who was found dead at the age of 26, in an alleyway. He left behind a wife and young son...

Yutaka Ozaki 

(29 Nov 1965 - 25 Apr 1992)

One of his most memorable and touching love songs, "I Love You", has been covered by several artistes. You can listen to some of them here...

Yutaka Ozaki 

(Listen To Other Versions Here...)
[ Feeling... * touched * ]

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After gym in the evening, I met up with Seb for dinner and desserts. As we finished, lightning and thunder and threatening black clouds pretty much ended the day earlier for us...

At the bus stop next to Raffles Hotel, I noticed this old man sitting on a bench vigorously rubbing his left leg. After a couple of seconds, my jaw almost dropped when the leg came off...

Ok, ok, so I didn't expect it to be a prosthetic limb...

After he'd propped that leg up beside him on the seat, another elderly man came and joined him, and soon they struck a loud and bitter-toned conversation about life, which I didn't manage to overhear completely...

My bus soon arrived and rain started pelting down. I wonder where these old men were headed...

Nitecaps #0006 - Prosthetic Limb

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My old friend Bryan Gan from Omhealth is conducting one of his popular and very entertaining workshops tonight...

For those interested in attaining and maintaining beauty by natural methods, do come join in his class...

Natural Beauty Workshop

Date: 26th April 2007 (TONIGHT!!!)

Time: 7pm to 9pm

Fee: $25

Venue: Kreta Ayer Community Club
28A Kreta Ayer Road
S(088995)
Tel: 62223597

(Click Here For Map)

Bryan was recently featured on a couple of TV and radio programmes, and received favourable feedback from viewers and listeners...

I've posted one of his radio interviews with Y.E.S. 93.3 FM here: http://merman13.livejournal.com/163688.html

LOVE 97.2 FM's radio presenter Ye Yong Mei had also blogged about his beauty and health tips in her website: http://972djyongmei.blogspot.com/2007/04/bryan.html

You can read more at his Omhealth website: http://www.omhealth.com (I'll be creating a whole new website design soon)...

Why am I always helping him with Omhealth? Cause he's my best friend and I've been helping out at Omhealth since it began years and years ago...

Come and support la!

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Sometime during the previous monsoon period (some months back), huge winds almost blew the entire neighbourhood out of shape...

Of course, given than Singapore's pretty much a concrete jungle, that's not really possible. But anything that's not deeply rooted to the ground risked being thrown like a plastic bag in a hurricane...

And perhaps that's how the following yellow plastic bag ended up on a tree in the carpark near my flat...

It has been there for months, and the stagnant water level gathering inside the bag has been rising every time it rains...

Nitecaps #0007

I wonder, are birds drinking from it? Or are mosquitoes having orgies and babies in it?

And if that bag of water will break anytime someone walks under it unsuspectingly...

2 angel(s) visited

Anyone who'd watched American Idol's special charity episode last night would have caught this amazing duet between Celine Dion and the late great Elvis Presley!!!

If I Can Dream

(Celine Dion with Elvis Presley)

Really impressive indeed!!!

And this duet version is simply spine-tinglingly goosebumply good!!!

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After a few weeks of taking taxi cabs to class at Kong Meng San (Bright Hill Temple) on Friday nights, I have worked out the shorter and more economical route...

What better and clearer way to record this down than with a map?

So here it is...

Nitecaps #0008

And which is the faster route by cab?

The Red Route takes around 20 minutes maximum, whereas the Yellow Route would take 35 minutes...

The other alternative?

That would be... Bus -> MRT -> Bus = 60 over minutes including waiting time, total fares at around $3.40...

If Time = Money, then why does saving Time = spending more Money???

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Chanced upon this sad, sad MTV on someone's Friendster blog, and just couldn't resist sharing it here...

It certainly brought tears in my eyes towards the end, but then again, I am very sentimental like that...

Whiskey Lullaby

(Brad Paisley with Allison Krauss)

(Lyrics...)

...

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Thanks to Cheng Guang for the ticket treat, I got to watch Wild Rice's restaging of "Blithe Spirit", a play originally written by Noel Coward in 1941, and adapted into a local setting by director Glen Goei...

Nitecaps #0009

The first thing that greeting the audience when the play started, was the beautiful set by Adrian Linford (see rough memory sketch above). I so want a house like that, complete with a backyard and a pool!!! But since I don't think I am quite a Bukit Timah type... oh well, dream on...

Anyway, the show was entertaining, as can be expected by these veteran actors, who'd mostly sharpened their wits and comic timing through their sit-com stints (esp. "Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd"...

They comprised of Lim Kay Siu, Neo Swee Lin, Selena Tan, Tan Kheng Hua, Pamela Oei, Gerald Chew and Celine Rosa Tan...

However, I was uncomfortable with the high speed at with the main actors, Kay Siu and Swee Lin, deliver their dialogue. Several times, Kay Siu tripped over his words because of that. Perhaps this was the director's way of shortening the show to a digestible size?

Also, although it was endearing to watch them portray everything in a local context, I felt that all the actors here are certainly good enough to bring out the original British wit and humour laden in the 60-years-old text...

All in all, it was an entertaining show, and especially fun when the "spirits" started wreaking havoc towards the end. That's where Kiki Tay's special stage effects literally brought the house down...

I say, go watch it if you like sitcoms and haven't watched this one before, for it ends tomorrow (Sunday) night...

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This is a belated post for last Friday's vocal class at Kong Meng San's Young Artistes Club...

It was a small class that night, but just right for 2 different sets of duets that they had to learn and perform for separate occasions. So I let them take turns and pointed out anything that could help them...

For those of them who are reading, do try to remember those pointers, and let me know if the tips work for you...

And here are the obligatory class attendance photos...

L-R: Shuli, Jalyn, Ernest, Trish, Xiaoling, Soon Teck & Edric

And for everyone in the class, here is the Minus One music MP3 for the song, "San Bao Ge" ("Song Of The Triple Gems" )...

Note that it is available at the link below for SEVEN DAYS ONLY, so go figure it out...

And please leave a comment to let me know that you've received it, so I know, thanks!

CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK TO DOWNLOAD

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In view of the drunken brawl downstairs that had two men stabbed to death, and all the recent reported violences and murders everywhere, I have just one thing to say...

And that is...

Nitecaps #0010

Coincidentally, this afternoon I watched "Nightmare Detective" with Bryan and Jonathon, and this horror-detective-thriller Japanese movie had many gory scenes of knife stabbings and blood gushing out from victims' wounds and everywhere...

It's a good movie, but definitely not for the faint-hearted!

That said, I wonder if violence and bloodshed had always been instilled deep within the Human race, since the prehistoric days?

Or are these violent gory movies influencing more and more disturbing crimes of late?

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Reading through my friends' blogs, I just chanced upon the following video that documented how a religious heterosexual guy spent 30 days in an enviornment that has a high percentage and tolerance of homosexuals...

I say, watch this, whoever you are, and whatever you think. And then think again...

What's more shocking to me about this video has nothing to do with being gay or not, but that the straight people featured here all have guns in their collection! And they'd actually used them!!!

Also, it seemed that the Bible and religion (in this case, Christianity) are the main sources of reference for homophobia...

Are other religions just as negative about homosexuality?

And do people from other cultures around the world, who've never heard about the Bible or the Western version of God, have the same views about homosexuality?

Finally, and more importantly, why is someone's sexuality or sexual preferences even of any business to somebody else?

In an ideal world (Paradise? Eden? Utopia? Peach Blossom Land?), there would be just happy people without ANY judgement, prejudice or segregation: just people who are happy being themselves and happy to get along with everyone else!

And the only distinction between straight and gay folks is only found within the privacy of their inidividual bedrooms, WITH their own partners...

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A few Nitecaps back (#0006), I drew a couple of old men who are apparently fixtures at the Raffles Hotel bus stop. I have seen them again yesterday, and hurhur, they don't look anything like what I've drawn of them...

Anyway, that's what you get when you depend on your memory...

For tonight's cartoon, I have decided to draw their counterparts: the elderly ladies who are daily fixtures at my flat's void deck, sometimes feeding the plump stray cats, other times chatting about the current affairs of the day...

Nitecaps #0011 

And remember the other night when I mentioned the drunken killings at the carpark downstairs? These friendly, chatty old dears were the very ones who kept me up to date...

Bless them all...

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Besides J.K. Rowling's much anticipated final book in the Harry Potter series, which I had already placed my order at my post office, the other author I am always excited about, Paulo Coelho, had just released his new book...

The Witch of Portobello

I am eagerly waiting for a bookstore friend to get this book for me at a staff discount, but I had read the synopsis, and it sounded pretty interesting already...

Briefly, this book's many chapters are written as "interviews" of different "eye-witnesses", or friends of Athena, a mysterious woman with powers of prophecy who's born in Romania and last seen in London...

You can read the first chapter here, in the author's blog:

The First Chapter

From there, you can find links up to one-third of the novel. For the whole story, you'll have to buy the book of course...

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