The Pretender

Looks like Pegasus left the airport without me...

2010-09-16T13:01:00.001-07:00

It's strange... really strange... to know that you want to sleep, but you can't sleep at all. You're tired, but you just can't shut off and recharge. The body is going haywire and the immune system is susceptible to the elements. Frustration, feeling disoriented, lagging brain processing, slow bodily functions are part of some of the side-effects the following day.

Don't believe me? Check the time of this post, and then believe me...

Priceless...

2010-09-04T07:23:00.000-07:00

Just because... I like it, just because. Some people do some really weird stuff, all for the fact that they themselves are weird. You have a living specimen right here at the doorstep. Even though it's weird to others, it doesn't really matter much to the specimen because through the specimen's point of view, it's totally normal; it's alright and it doesn't really matter what others may think or say, I'm just doing what I know and do best... Just because...

What is it for me?

2010-04-23T02:25:00.000-07:00

As everybody know, life is definitely not that easy after all... There's always the good and there's always the bad... There's always the predictable and there's always the unpredictable... So what is it now for us? What is it now for me? Who knows what will happen from now... That's what makes life so interesting... So much so that life is not a game, it's real... It's not make believe, it's action-packed... So why not live life from today? Then eventually we'll find out what is it for us...

Whatever...

2010-04-15T05:47:00.000-07:00

Why do some simple things would just turn complicated at the end? Is it that different even though it was the same entity before? And why is it that the dog have to bite the hand that feeds it knowing really well that it is its owner's hand and not that of a stranger?

Whatever... Yeah, really, whatever...

Gone is my good mood for the day... Then what is the point of showing kindness and being nice in the first place when in return all I get is a slap in the face? So much for that anyway... Whatever... Black and rainy weather is now in the house... Whatever...

Often Overlooked...

2010-04-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

The night sky is filled with numerous stars and the reflective light on the face of the moon facing towards earth looms in my face as I travel down the road in my car... It is at the hour where most, if not all normal people would be fast asleep by now, rejuvenating themselves before waking up refreshed to face a brand new day... The drive seems romantic just that it does feel empty at times... Yes, I do know all the good things and all the good and motivational lessons and words of wisdom, but sometimes it is so much easier to help somebody else than to help yourself... Still, the drive along the empty street past midnight is still a simple and often overlooked pleasure; being able to temporarily slow things down and enjoy the moment... So it does look that I should go driving more often like this...

Whatever...

2010-04-07T10:28:00.000-07:00

Boring... one word says it all... even to say the word IS boring... yeah, well, whatever... sometimes life just feels like that...

Something stupid...

2010-03-25T07:26:00.000-07:00

Somebody stupid went and spoil it all by saying something stupid 8 years ago on this very day... Memories...

Random

2010-02-11T19:47:00.000-08:00

Random... thinking of closing the blog... not sure if I can keep up with it...

Sometimes...

2009-09-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

Sometimes things just doesn't go your way, even though if it's sunny day
Sometimes you end up the loser, even though you are the winner
Sometimes you feel so empty, even though you have everything so abundantly
Sometimes faith and hope will just fade away, even though you know He will guide the way

Sometimes it is so meaningless, even though you know all the verses
Sometimes it hurts so bad, even though you look so glad
Sometimes it is just unfair, even though everybody gets a fair share
Sometimes you just want to end it all, but it's up to His call

Still I'll put my trust in You, to help me pull through
This phase where it's so tough, but by Your grace it is enough
We physical mortals are finite, but You in heaven are infinite
Miracles in Your will You can do, that at the end all glory goes back to You

365/24/7... not...

2009-07-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

Not enough time... been busy... been doing work... been here and there... at the end of the day, there's just no time to blog...

10:00 p.m. til late...

2009-05-15T04:21:00.000-07:00

Hope to see you there...

Get your own life...

2009-05-12T09:11:00.000-07:00

Basically the title is self explanatory... Get your own life and live it... Does it really matter what people do with their own life anyway? So what if it doesn't please you at all? Be a superhero and intervene in the situation? Forget it... Nobody is truly and fully satisfied with anything... And that goes to say that we can't please everybody at all... So just go on your own life and don't bother if something small, minor and harmless comes up your way... Keep all you have to say to yourself... At the end of the day, it's my choice... And it's my life... And I'm living it the way I choose to...

Ru-Fuzz got a Fuzz Face...

2009-05-03T04:20:00.000-07:00

Went to Woh Fatt yesterday really early in the morning... How early? As early as they have just started to open their gates for business... Yes, that early... You can say that the eagerness to just get there as fast as possible was killing me...

So the agenda was to get a drive pedal for myself to be used whenever I play and rehearse with Unabashed... What came to my mind was to get a decent fuzz pedal to be used with the bass... Getting an overdrive pedal would be even tougher work, and also tougher on the wallet... So to get a fuzz pedal it is... Actually, prior to yesterday I did my homework, research, and window-shopping enough beforehand to decide upon what to get... Got there, looked at the little red bugger smiling at me... A few things made me concerned about the potential pedal... Firstly, it may be a little hard on the wallet... Secondly, it may not be an all-rounder pedal... And thirdly, the rubber grip on the display unit looks like the glue attaching it has already given up the ghost... Doubtful that this may be the only stock left, I decided to ask the salesperson there if there was any new stock of this red-faced smiling bugger... Yes, we do have stock... That was all I needed top confirm that what I was about to purchase was in mint condition... So brand new it was that even the sticker seal on the box wasn't tempered with... Impressive... Strangely, the salesperson asked me why am I buying this for... Funny... I think I replied him even funnier... I said that I'm going to use it with the bass... Not sure if that was a decent answer but anyway, the little smiling red face is here with me now...

Sound-wise, way better than the BOSS FZ-3 Fuzz I have here... The BOSS version will experience a slight volume dip and the sound is edgy and filled with rough, serrated edges... Not a pleasant thing, unless killing the eardrums is the top agenda... This fuzzy-faced smiley gives that classic fuzz tone so many people will instantly recognize, and it sounds so much more pleasant despite it being a fuzz pedal... The quality that I'm looking for here is the level of edginess in the sound... Too much is a little too much to bear... That's why the smiley face is way better in this department... And it's always smiling despite being stepped on the face countless times... On the nose to be exact...

The Fuzz Face...

Wished that I can smile as well as this red-faced smiley...

Lasting Impressions For Eternity...

2009-04-21T08:29:00.000-07:00

A lot of things happened in a short span of time... Too fast to even recollect the intricate details of every single one of it... Man, time really do pass by so swiftly and unnoticed...

There were some good times, and there were some bad times...

If it's good, I'm like in a fantasy land far, far away where unicorns and Pegasus horses rule the land... One can hitch a ride upon a Pegasus horse and into the orange sunset it'll take you beneath the background of the purple sky and the glittering rays from the sun on the far side of the sea... Then it's towards the white matte-finished castle within the forest with a lagoon in the middle of it and a waterfall nearby...

That's how it looks like when it's good...

If it's bad, I'm like in a barren land where there's no hint of any living organism nearby... Trees are bare with no sign of greenery, and desolation writes its name upon the cracks in the earth... Rocks and splitting earth reveal the hot magma beneath... Vultures hover above waiting patiently to feast... The wind blows violently carrying with it the humid and sulfuric nature of the air from one place to another... Such is the conditions that it would prove impossible for anyone to live in such a place... Water is also an impossibility to find in such a place...

That's how it looks like when it's bad...

Well, all in all, I'm still improving as a person... Improving myself to be a better person for God, others, and myself... So now, I'm going to live my Lasting Impressions For Eternity the best I can... Take the four highlighted initials, and you'll get the message...

Band mate's wedding...

2009-04-19T07:07:00.000-07:00

After quite a long while I'm back here... Have been really, really busy... Too busy till the point I neglected my health and depriving myself of rest... For the past week it was the word busy, busy, and busy until now... At least I can afford to relax and chill a bit... Not long from now, it's going to be another one of those busy times once again... Sigh... Time is so precious now... Well, the show must go on...

Anyway, was here, there and everywhere for the past week... I attended my Unabashed band mate's wedding ceremony during the weekend... Thanks to the prayers I was in a good state of health during the entire wedding ceremony in the daytime and during the dinner celebration... Everything went really well and it was short, simple and sweet... The wedding sermon was surprisingly one of the shortest I've ever heard before... Which you can say was good in a way... The dinner celebration was great, but with the exception that the crew didn't switch my microphone on during my performance... Nevertheless, the show had to go on and I just played loud hopefully that the people in the front can just catch enough of my playing...

It was really, really tiring, but well worth it at the end of the day... A happy once-in-a-lifetime occasion for everybody... Glad to have the privilege to play for my band mate's wedding... Got to actually use the fretless bass on this very occasion too... I really think I owe it to the tube bass amplifier there... Just a bit of Ampeg tube bass magic, and your bass will sound so heavenly divine... Got to catch up with some people whom I knew, and also to meet some new ones... Talking to some of them, I began to realize that it indeed is a very, very small world out there... Most of the people were connected in some way or another... All in all, it was a great weekend...

To sum it all up...

Congratulations to Enoch and Michelle...

Fretless Jazz Bass

2009-04-09T06:04:00.000-07:00

It's here... It's finally here...

I don't care about the brand... I don't care what people have to say...

All I know is that it's THE sound criteria that matters to me... Besides, for a budget model I'm not complaining... In fact, I don't really bother if it's a budget model... It sounds TOO good to be labeled a budget model, let alone be sold THIS cheap...

The main reason and criteria of getting it was that the bass has to be a FRETLESS version... And here it is all in it's brown sunburst glory... It's modeled after the bass used by the late jazz bass virtuoso Jaco Pastorius... Obviously... Smart move too by Fender to manufacture budget versions of its more expensive models in its Squier range... It obviously helps those who are on a tight budget to be able to afford a playable and working bass guitar...

Squier (by Fender) Vintage Modified Fretless Jazz Bass...

Now I just have to think of a name for it...

Had a nice chat with someone...

2009-04-01T03:38:00.000-07:00

So I thought of just having a nice chat with an old friend that I've known for a really long time... Not bad you can say... We share a lot of things in common... Simple things like enjoying music and playing music, watching romantic comedy movies, taking a drive to particular place in mind, etc... Things like that... She also seems like somebody that is shy, not outspoken, but kind in heart... Talking more will make one realize that she is somebody that really values the family and friends... She mentioned that her family and friends matter a lot to her, and that she would love to see her family and friends being happy and contented... She would even sacrificed her time and energy to help people close to her smile again... In other words, the perfect girl... Do you want to know her name?

Highlight the line below here... Her name is...
April Foo... Happy April Fool's Day! ^_^

Earth Hour gig @ Urbanattics

2009-03-26T04:15:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the first of three gig days... Hope everything goes well... I'm getting scared as the moment approaches... Honestly, I may be smiling outside, but deep down inside I may be peeing in my pants scared! Haha... That last part was a little exaggerated... But that's how it feels now... Pressure and tension and all... Man, with everyone's eyes looking and everyone's ears listening... I just hope I get into the groove, then maybe I won't feel so scared after that and just let the fingers do the music interpretation...

It's not easy...

2009-03-24T05:34:00.000-07:00

It was like chasing the wind... Chasing after a dream somewhere out beyond the horizon... The captain then decided to board his ship to start off on a voyage to the unknown... Everything seems to be going well... Everything seems to be favorable... Until the weather changed... Then the wind and storm were hitting hard against the ship out in the middle of nowhere... Alone and afraid, the ship succumbs to the elements, helpless to do anything it goes where the wind takes it... Then finally the captain realized the danger and dropped the anchor... By now the ship have taken quite a punishment from the wind and storm... The captain had to put his ego aside and admit that he is powerless against mother nature and decided to rely on his navigating instruments to make it back home... Slowly but surely the ship held up through the wind and storm and after much time land was spotted... Everyone on board the ship can then go back to their tranquil and peaceful home to be with their family and friends...

It is not easy... I know...
It is so unfair... I know...
It just doesn't make sense at all... I know...

A rainbow will appear after a storm... That is enough to know that He IS in control of everything... We are the ones who don't have control over all these things... We have many a times complicated our situations when a simple solution is at hand... Due to the egotistical nature in us, we tend to go for the instant answers where it seems to benefit us the most... Sooner or later we fall down... Again, and again... Until we decide to put our trust in Him and commit all our burdens to Him... It is a humbling experience, but that is where we grow to become mature and stronger in Him...

It's not easy... But He will help us through our journey...
It is so unfair... But He knows and His perfect plan will prevail in His perfect time...
It just doesn't make sense at all... But He wants to take the first step to let Him lead us in His perfect plan...

Jeremiah 29:11 & Romans 8:28

Earth Hour Gig @ Urbanattic, March 27, 2009

2009-03-20T02:46:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we don't even notice how events come and go through a span in time... Well, now I just realized that a gig is coming up, and that's not all... It's going to be tiring, I may freak out, but it's going to be awesome! Imagine playing to a big crowd of people in conjunctio0n with Earth Hour... Honestly, it's the least I can do and I'll try my best...

Practice, practice and more practice... That's going to be my favorite word the whole of next week... Playing in front of lots of people means lots of practice to perfect everything and also to sound and look really good!

There's going to be a gig at Urbanattic, KL next Friday... Then it's the gig on Saturday night where people everywhere will be turning off their lights... Most likely it'll be an "unplugged" version due to the policy of saving electricity... Then on Sunday, it's the Volume 9 gig... Everything is approaching so fast I really didn't see it coming... Better practice!

Try to come and catch the gig... The more the merrier...

Earth Hour Gig @ Urbanattic flyer

Marley & Me

2009-03-17T21:35:00.000-07:00

After watching the movie, my personal conclusion is that THIS movie is the most touching movie ever since A Walk to Remember, to me personally, that is... And to those who thought they will not and have never cried before watching a movie, take the challenge and try THIS movie...

Just by watching the movie, I too feel like adopting my very own Labrador... The movie is simply awesome and touching at the same time... Something to note is that the movie crew paid extra details to key events and chronological sequences to tie-in the story as accurate as possible to the original book... Just that Owen Wilson doesn't look anything like the original John Grogan... Jennifer Aniston was just so perfect and sizzling in the movie... Wonder what was Brad Pitt thinking? Anyway, the movie is a MUST watch... For dog lovers and also for the family... One of the all-time touching movies of today... If the book is an all-time best-seller, what more this movie then... I believe it touches hearts too just as well as the book...

Oh yeah, coming back to the crying part... Yes, I did cry and I'm not afraid to admit that I do cry at the movies... Well, I cried when I read the book, so how much more the movie adaptation of Marley & Me? By the end of the show when I went to the washroom, my eyes were red as if I was in a time of grief and mourning... A great MUST watch movie... Go watch it now and see if you really cry...

The movie poster

Guardian Angel

2009-03-16T18:38:00.000-07:00

Somehow or rather something clicked inside of me and I began to finally realize how I really would like to complete my journey in life... It took some time of pondering and reflecting, and sooner or later it just came back to me...

Interestingly, I've set out this personal mandate of mine a long time ago thinking I'll just do it casually and if it's needed... Now, I see it in a very different light; I see it as something that I can do not to glorify myself, but rather to touch lives and leave a legacy for others along their journey as well...

It seems weird to some, but it doesn't really matter to me when the drive and passion takes over; the enthusiasm to achieve and fulfill it... It was quite difficult at first, but then I had to learn to put myself aside and really think of others better than myself... Now when I look back, I never knew that I've come this far just by living according to this personal mandate that I've set out to achieve a long time ago... It truly is His strength, compassion and grace that really assisted and guided me thus far; that I may not boast because of my works, but it's by His grace that really helped me to achieve it...

Now that I've seen it rekindled, I really want to give it my best to achieve the highest that I can go... Such as to a point that I don't even think about self anymore because it really doesn't matter that much already... And you know what? I makes me truly happy and content just to fulfill a little part of it as I slowly see the bigger picture slowly revealing itself as I slowly fulfill it from time to time...

Looking back, doing THIS is what makes me happy... And THIS is what I'm going to do to make others happy... The cost doesn't matter, the distance doesn't matter, all it takes is just a little time, effort and love just to put a smile on someone else's face, and then living life's journey is so much more worthwhile and satisfying...

Some random thoughts from the heart (?!)

2009-03-16T04:32:00.000-07:00

Been really busy, had some up days and some down days, was sick for a time so yeah, basically those were the contributing factors of why the blog isn't updated that frequently...

Basically there was a lot of time in between to think about things; to think about the future... Plans and resolutions to fulfill, goals to achieve... Sometimes it just seems so superficial and idealistic that we feel depressed about not achieving such objectives... It's easy when somebody knows what they REALLY want to do and achieve in their lives... For some, they really don't have the slightest clue as to what they intend to do in their lives... I belong to such a category... It irks sometimes that some people have such expectations or stereotyped mentality towards a certain group of people on how THEY would like YOUR life to be... We can't please everybody completely and we should just be who WE choose to be and be the best WE can as an individual...

Personally, I never knew what I really wanted to do in the first place... Some random thoughts about certain ambitions seemed too idealistic to achieve, let alone work towards it... It seems that most perfectionists suffer from the "imperfection-complex" that haunts their flawless pursuit of their idealistic objective... Depression comes after that to some who are not so fortunate enough to avoid it... The difference is that I know God, and sometimes no matter how baffling or weird it may seem, there is always a rainbow after the rain... It just calls for us to put our faith and trust in Him to lead the way, no matter what it may be... Easy? Not! It really takes a lot on our part to really obey and put our ego aside just to trust in Him...

Not everything is really certain and predictable... And what makes it harder is the fact that sometimes we just can't do much about our own situation that we are in... Thankfully God is certain and real... Just that we humans hardly have the initiative and time to seek Him in every aspect of our lives... Not that easy a task to do, but it does gives the assurance and direction needed when all else fails...

Ibanez SD 9 Sonic Distortion

2009-03-02T08:02:00.000-08:00

So on one fine day I was just browsing and surfing on the Internet through various random websites and web pages when I stumbled on a particular web page advertising THIS rare unpolished gem... Yes, it is the "puke green" 9 series Ibanez SD 9 Sonic Distortion pedal... It's completely vintage and "Made in Japan" from the 80's and mind you, they DON'T reissue this particular unit anymore... Mine came with the plastic battery cover intact... The only thing that shows its age is the minor paint chips and dings sustained all over its die-cast aluminum casing, which didn't really matter to me that much...

For your information, sometimes these used pedals have the battery cover missing or the effect switch is gone... You could say I got one which had a very good owner who took care of his gear... Kudos to him...

Coming back to the main subject, the next thing you know, I bought it... No second thoughts about it... Just pay, and now I can play...

So here comes the new boy in my distortion lineup... Sound-wise, it will occupy a permanent spot in my rig replacing the BOSS DS-1... It doesn't have that metallic hint in its sound, and it sounded more aggressive... Like what some other reviewers said, "It's a TS 9 loaded with steroids"... Truly sounded like that...

Sigh, well, now the BOSS DS-1 will be sitting on a shelf at home... At least it can be my backup distortion if I really, really have to use it...

Really can't wait to unleash some riffs the next time I get to play electric guitar... It's so satisfying when you got "that" sound in your dreams nailed down in song and in playing... Truly euphoria...

Ibanez SD 9 Sonic Distortion

The curious case of Benjamin Button

2009-02-12T03:48:00.000-08:00

The folks at Unabashed had some complimentary premiere screening passes to the movie entitled, "The curious case of Benjamin Button" courtesy of our band leader, Jason...

We all were supposed to meet earlier before the movie to have dinner... I was late as I was out earlier in another appointment... Surprisingly, the traffic to MidValley was smooth sailing all the way... And I found a parking spot 10 seconds after I took the ticket from the parking ticket dispenser... Sweet... To top the icing on the cake, the parking spot was just in front of the entrance of the escalator to the shopping premise...

Met the rest of them at La Manila restaurant... We had dinner there and later proceeded to the cinema around 9:00 p.m. The movie starts at 9:15 p.m. We entered the cinema hall from the side... The first thing that I saw was the empty row of seats where nobody would like to sit as it would kill their necks... I thought then the cinema would be empty and we may be the first few in it... Surprise, surprise... As we turn to proceed to the upper seats, there was everybody... All the best seats in the house were taken and some of the seats were also reserved for special guests on that day... Anyway, at least we found some seats at the upper part of the hall, but at the side... No complaints really, as it was all free seating... Honestly, had this been a Transformers movie we wouldn't have been able to get a single seat the whole night, so complaints in terms of seating... The thing that surprised me was that there weren't that many people; the hall wasn't full to the brim...

Anyhow, it doesn't matter... The MixFM deejays were there to say hello to everybody in the hall before the start of the movie... Then, it was time for the trailers... From watching the trailers, I now know which movies I'd like to watch in future... Man, there are lots of nice movies coming out soon... One of the "must watch" movies will be Marley & Me... The golden Labrador puppies are so cute!!! Even the golden Labrador acting as Marley really looked like the actual Marley himself ^_^ Better mark it down on my calendar...

Coming back here, The curious case of Benjamin Button lasted slightly over 2 hours... Very interesting movie in itself... Interesting till it seems so real... Unfortunately, it's only in the movies... Still, it was a nice movie in itself, and a kinda lengthy one to that... Unless, you are a Brad Pitt fan and don't mind the long hours...

My pass...

Unabashed - recording after recording...

2009-02-12T03:35:00.000-08:00

Yes, that is practically what I have been doing most of the time... It would either be a few nights in a row, or it would be on a single day but with really long hours... Tiring is the suitable word... But then again, it is worth it after all at the end of the day... Recording is no easy feat, folks... Sacrifice has to be made, in terms of hours... As of today, we at Unabashed have been doing well so far; recording and rehearsing and all... Sincerely, we want to make the final product something we can truly call our own and be proud of... We can see the big picture, and there are a few jigsaws left to complete the entire puzzle... In other words, we are almost there...

2009 is here...

2009-01-23T20:56:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2009 is here... It is rumored that 2009 is supposedly better than the previous year in financial terms... It also seems that 2009 is rumored to be a good year for those wanting to settle down... Interesting... Some people can be a little dense in this particular topic...

Anyway, 2009 signifies the end to the really long school holidays... In other words, back to work... Or you can say it's back to school for me... A brand new year in school means a lot of potential for students to absorb and acquire the knowledge necessary for their future... This year, we will be seeing quite a number of the students sitting for their O-Levels examinations in May/June 2009... We pray and believe that these students will study well and give their best when the time comes... There were also a couple of new students...

Besides school, there were other stuff to do... Planning after planning, and meeting after meeting... It's mind-boggling to know how many meetings and planning sessions have to be done to set the department off on its course for the year... Everywhere seems to be filled up with an important agenda to do... Man, I really think I need a personal assistant to plan my day for me... Maybe... Maybe not at the moment... I guess I'm managing it quite well for now...

There were 3 birthday celebrations in the month of January alone... What made it unique was the proximity of days between each birthday... That means more presents to buy and more birthday gatherings to attend... Makan-wise, excellent... Presents-wise, there's a hole in the pocket...

First of all, we celebrated Joshua and Jeremy's birthday at Good Old Place, a steam-boat and hot-plate grill restaurant... We basically had to choose our ingredients and cook it... We ate a lot that night... Special thanks and appreciation to Joshua's family for organizing the whole thing...

Makan time...

Bryan's camera flash is sooooooooooo glaring...

The birthday boys: Joshua & Jeremy...

Then it was off to Pizza Hut for Joseph's birthday gathering... Joseph suddenly came dressed up and most of us were dressed down... He ordered like about 10 pizzas that night with some side dishes... Full? Not really... We could've eaten more...

Bryan trying out the wide-angle lens...

Group photo...

The birthday boy: Joseph...

Unfortunately, I had to leave midway through Joseph's birthday gathering as the folks at Unabashed are wanting to have a rehearsal after quite a long break spanning from Christmas to the New Year... Yup, we really needed to get the cogs and gears running again... WD40 is needed, I think... Had a few rounds of rehearsal on a few songs to be recorded and then had a time of discussion to plan our schedule... That is recording schedule, rehearsal schedule, CD production schedule, etc... Yeah, it looks like it's going to be a really busy time leading up to the 2 gigs in March 2009...

More information at a later post... This is a really concise post as concise as I can get, if you did noticed... I'm also pressed for time as I'm composing this post at this very moment... For now, ciao...

Christmas Drama 2008 - "No Vacancy"

2009-01-04T07:05:00.000-08:00

This year we had a little, if not big trouble starting up our thinking cap... It just seems that the director and producer have been drained of their brain fluid and grey matter... Dateline exceeded and we needed a backup plan to the first proposed plan... Backup plan didn't work, and so we had to come up with our ultimate secret weapon, which is called, "Play by ear"... Literally we did that, and after backup plan after backup plan, we miraculously came up with something... Yay!!! But that's not all, now we have to get the cast and cram in rehearsals... Honestly, we exceeded the dateline by a good 2 months... Unbelieveable but miraculously we saw it through...

First of all, the script was the problem... Doing something similar to the previous year is not something we wanted to do, and so a fresh new script has to be engineered... Easy? Not!!! Our first proposed script didn't turn out that well, and so we had backup 1... Unfortunately, backup 1 didn't work out that well too and so we had backup 2... This later prompted us to use our secret weapon to engineer a script... The idea came when we combined different elements from the original plan with some elements from the backup plans and thus came our final script, "No Vacancy"...

Secondly, getting the cast was another headache... But after initial recruiting, it was a breeze... What made it a headache was that most of the hyperactive and energetic youths were out due to major exams... It's a little unfortunate that 2/3 majority of the youths were sitting for the PMR, SPM and 1 for the STPM... Not to mention a number of the youths were also having college / university final term exams... So we rounded up some adult couples and some children to play the parts of the core cast members... This marked the very first year where we actually have adults and children in starring roles in our Christmas presentation... Before this, it was always a 2/3 majority of youths occupying the leading roles in Christmas presentations... Honestly, what mattered most was the willingness and committment from the recruited cast members to participate and diligently come for rehearsals... Everyone deserves a pat on the back for the effort...

Thirdly, skill and quality was also another small if not a crucial element in the whole production... Skill is vital in how well a person's ability to do something, be it acting or singing... And this indirectly affects the quality criteria, as to how everything will look and sound when everything is finalized... There were times when skill indeed was a wanted element... Somehow with patience and lots of diligent practice, everybody involved played their part in the whole thing... Thumbs up means a job well done... Thumbs down means, nevermind that; we didn't get that anyway... We got double thumbs up for a job well done from the viewers!!!

"No Vacancy" was the title for the 2008 Christmas Drama... It is about normal people in different walks of life facing different challenges in life... Some are better than others, some less fortunate than some, but at the end of the day, there is something more to life; something more meaningful, especially during Christmas when Christ the Savior was born... It doesn't matter who you are, or what you did, or where you're from... Christ came to touch the lives of everybody... Everybody should have a vacancy for Christ to come into his / her life... Do you have a vacancy for Christ to come into your life? Or do you have "No Vacancy" for Christ this Christmas?

After hours and days of rehearsal, the actual performance on D-Day was the best... Everything went well and smoothly... Even the props and music were top-notch... All in all, it's another successful Christmas presentation and everybody involved did a really good job...

Hopefully the thinking cap is repaired by now... Better start thinking of the script for Christmas 2009... Sigh... Another year, another challenge... That's why I like Christmas...

Christmas

2009-01-04T06:12:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas

Now let's get down to business here... There's just way too many things that were happening in a short span of time... Basically the whole month of December was just event after event, rehearsal after rehearsal, mamak after mamak, it was literally like everyday we saw each other... We were like students in a school seeing each other everyday and amazingly, we didn't even feel bored about it... Actually, the more we saw each other, the higher the chances of going out to have a few hours of Call Of Duty 4... Either that, or we'll be in the mamak stall or out in the shopping mall...

Personally, I took the time to go out shopping for Christmas gifts... Sale after sale greeted the potential customer to the store... Such is the temptation nowadays that any impulsive buyer can just blatantly close one eye and make the purchase, only to find it's just another redundant white elephant... Mind you, during festive periods, the shopping mall IS crazy to the max!!! All the roads leading to the shopping mall will be like strawberries compacted into the jar, thus giving you strawberry jam... Anyway, not only is the traffic crazily jam with vehicles, the manner in which some drivers drive can literally drive you up the wall... For example, the fast and speeding cars will be overtaking on the slow lane, the middle lane is occupied by some car driven so slow as if it was on 2nd gear, and the fast lane will be occupied by some other car that doesn't even want to budge to allow any overtaking room for cars from the middle lane... Such is the sight here during the festive period... By the way, that's only the traffic part... When you do get into the mall, now you'd have to find a parking spot... In times like this, give it another hour before landing a decent and "legal" parking spot... If Lady Luck was on your side, you'd find a parking spot in less than 15 minutes upon entering the mall's parking lot... But such is not the case here, as many cars will be "illegally" parked everywhere in the parking lot... Spoting a "clamped" car brings cynical sniggering from us "legal" parkers...

Now it comes to the shopping part... Try to go shopping when it is off-peak hour or "non shopping hour" as this can be less stressful, especially during sale period... I was fortunate when I was shopping for Christmas gifts this year... I went shopping on a few days between the first and second week of December... Most people will have the tendency to shop at the last-minute, so I started out early... I found that most of the shops will have their goods ready and all the sale banners hung up in bright, bold colors at this time... But the good news is that there were less people if it's before 6 p.m. or during off-shopping days; in other words, days that don't have that much significance to urge a person to go shopping... Another good thing was there were extra booths all lined up and decorated in the Christmas colors and deco hoping to entice some potential buyers... I'm one of those by the way... But I got what I wanted anyway... Also, most of the gifts that I got were reasonably priced... Not to mention that you have to keep your eyes wide open on the lookout for unique and rare gift items lingering around somewhere in the mall... I managed to get some unique gifts not found just about anyway... You can say that shopping is a form of therapy... It sort of "trains" you to polish this "skill" in the mall... They should have a "black-belt" in shopping for the shopping "sinsei"...

After shopping and finally having bought the gifts, the one and only thing to be of concern is the credit card and wallet... If you're not careful, the wallet may feel really flat and light-weight... The credit card will also be rejected at the cashier and lots of people win the queue will then give you that stare that says, "You no money ah?"... It didn't happen to me by the way... It was a breeze from the get-go... Only until the last-minute "I think I forgot to buy something" bug comes back to haunt me and I think to myself, "Must I go? I think I should"... Then I'd have to embrace the chaotic festive shopping scene first-hand... Boo-hoo... Not nice when you forgot to buy something and it's nearing a significant day in the festive calendar...

Anyway, all gifts distributed and everyone is happy... Which makes me happy in return just by giving and blessing others, and also to put a smile on their faces...

That's why I like Christmas...

Unabashed - recording progress

2008-12-16T21:35:00.000-08:00

So far so good... Progress have been good and I honestly can't wait for the final product of all our joint effort... Some of the demos sound that good you'd even think that the demo is the final mix... Honestly, we all sound like a million bucks once all the mixing, compressing, editing are done and the effects are thrown in... In other words, we sound just like a professional... Hopefully you guys will like it...

Unabashed - recording session

2008-12-11T05:29:00.000-08:00

So today I went for another round of recording some bass parts... I really wanted to lay down the bass part to so far the most difficult song I have to record... Honestly, this is song was scheduled to be recorded earlier, but I took the initiative to record some other songs, which in my opinion were easier to do...

So from the recent rehearsal, I've made up my mind to tackle the difficult song no matter what... In a way, so that my confidence level will be boosted, but more importantly that I don't drag or slow down the recording process just because of this single song that I've yet to record... What made this song "difficult" to me was not in the notes or that I've to play some complicated note phrasing, but the varied bass drum pattern throughout the song... There were a few different patterns to remember and get my fingers accustomed to the timing... Here's a way to make you understand how it feels like... Imagine playing Guitar Hero and not hitting the correct notes, what do you get? You'll get a loud BOO... And what happens if you do hit the notes but at the wrong timing? You'll get a loud BOO too... So, my job in tackling this song would be to hit the right notes at the right time... It's like trying to get the PERFECT for every note in the song... Simple? I'll let you decide when the CD is produced... Honestly, I can't wait to get my hands on the finished product...

Ended up not only tackling that one difficult song, but 2 other songs as well... Why? It's because I managed to lay the bass parts to the difficult song and it didn't take me that long after all... So ended up tackling 2 other songs, which didn't take me that long either... Will be tackling another song really, really soon...

Unabashed - rehearsal and discussion for recording

2008-12-09T03:25:00.000-08:00

Went for rehearsal as usual... Had a couple of practice rounds on the songs we are going to record, and also had some time to hear some of our recorded efforts thus far... Sounds good as compared to before... On my part, I'm going to lay the bass part for one song and if I do have the extra time, I'm going to tweak a little on another song...

After everything, we had a mini discussion at the mamak stall on our progress, recordings, future plans, etc... You know, typical band stuff... At the moment, it's practice, practice, and more practice... And then it'll be perfect, perfect, and even more perfect...

Unabashed - impromptu unrehearsed recording session

2008-12-03T09:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a very tiring day... It was really tiring as I was at the studio from 1:00 p.m. till about 8:30 p.m. which practically means the whole day there... Gordon called me up the night before asking me if I could drop by and hang out at the studio... He wanted to discuss and clarify some of the guitar and bass parts so that we wouldn't play clashing notes but we'll be playing complimenting notes...

So I arrived at the studio... Was wondering why the guys didn't answer the door... Found out that Andrew was doing some recording and the place had to be quiet... Went in and everyone kept silent while Andrew finished up his recording part and then we went to lunch... Stephen even joked about giving Jason and Enoch a call to come over since he, Chris, Andrew, Gordon and myself were already there...

Andrew left after lunch, and it was both guitarists turn to record their respective parts... Gordon took awhile to record the first song and then it was Stephen's turn to also record the first song, which also took quite awhile but not that long as compared to Gordon... By the way, Gordon does more of the rhythm, heavy-rock chord work and fills while Stephen does more of the scorching scooped-mids solos and brutal metallic riffs...

By the time both Gordon and Stephen were done, it was almost like 7:00 p.m. in the evening... Stephen left around that time and Gordon stayed back to have a small, minor recording to another song... After that, it was my turn to record the bass parts... Unfortunately, I wasn't going to record the song that I was scheduled to record... Instead, I intended to take a stab at two other songs, which in my honest opinion, was a lot more easier to have a go from the first take... For your information, the song that I was scheduled to record isn't that difficult at all chords-wise... What made that song difficult and tricky is in the timing-wise aspect... My task is to synchronize as close as possible my bass lines to Andrew's kick bass patterns, which in this case has a lot of double bass notes... Anyway, I took two or three stabs at each of the two songs and it was done... Gordon left after I recorded the first song... After the second song was done Chris and myself decided to call it a day as we both were really tired...

Homework for me now would be to practice the song that I'm scheduled to record...

A "silent" article in memory of anyone that is suffering from any form of loss in their lives...

2008-12-01T07:39:00.000-08:00

*Because mere words can never fully describe the anguish, pain and sorrow etched deep within the human heart*

WWF Earth Hour

2008-12-01T06:58:00.000-08:00

Unabashed will be playing in a gig entitled, "WWF Earth Hour"... The gig is scheduled on Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. in conjunction with Kuala Lumpur participating as one of the many major cities in the world that will observe an "Earth Hour", which is an hour of turning out the lights to help raise awareness about global warming...

On 28 March 2009 millions of people around the globe will unite for one hour and switch off their lights to show that they care about our living planet. Join them. (www.earthhour.org)

Unabashed - songs rehearsal for recording session

2008-11-30T23:25:00.000-08:00

Had the normal rehearsal yesterday... As I've already laid down the bass parts for two of the songs, I was trying to mimic my own playing as in the recording... For the other songs where I have yet to record, I was trying to come up with the best phrasing and also to match Andrew's kick bass pattern... It went well as we all already have an idea on how and what we have to play in our respective parts... Stephen wasn't there yesterday so Gordon had to cover the distortion spectrum... Enoch lugged in a heavy-weight monster keyboard... Heavy in weight, monster in sound options... Honestly, yesterday's rehearsal was the first rehearsal that I can actually hear the keyboard sounds... Maybe Enoch was playing louder than usual... Or maybe there was a void there with Stephen not around unfortunately and Enoch was trying to fill in to make it full-sounding... I'm not too sure on that... All I know was it sounded very full and dense...

I was encouraged when the guys told me my playing improved and I sounded good... The truth is, I think I still have more to learn and improve on, and besides that, I honestly think it's the collective effort from all of us on our respective parts and how it all comes together and sound in the end... "WE" all put in a lot of effort and so it's "US" and not only a "ME"... Besides, the improvement comes from first taking the advice of others... I know my limitations, and so when the feedback was given and I was advised to do this and that, I have to personally put my idealistic side of me aside and trust the sound engineer... A tip to all the potentials hoping to play music and cut an album... Trust the sound engineer! In my case, not only listen to the sound engineer, but also listen to the feedback of others and take it into consideration and learn from it...

Improvement... It all starts when we first listen with our ears...

So my next target is to practice and arrange for a suitable time to lay down the bass part for the third song... And also if time permit, take a shot at another two "completed" songs...

Mamak, Maggi Goreng, Milo Ais, McDonald's, McFlurry...

2008-11-30T23:02:00.000-08:00

It's been quite awhile now since the last article was posted... I blame it on going out too often, almost the whole day and then coming back late at night... I even went out when I was sick and still came back late... Yea, most of the time I'll be hanging out with my brother, Aaron and Bryan... Our normal routine would be feasting at the mamak stall and then off to McDonald's for dessert... Maggi Goreng and Milo Ais is the normal routine for most of us there... Sometimes it would be Nasi Goreng Pattaya where we can have a chance to draw some graffiti on the egg with the chili sauce... And then there would be the add on Ais Kosong after the first round... Aaron always says that he doesn't have enough money every time he comes out... Most of the time he would be cutting cost and ordering just a Roti Kosong... Really... Looks like he has been eating a lot... He even has a belly now! Haha...

At McDonald's the three of them will be playing with the small little paper cup... Don't ask me how they came up with the idea... They just did, and they have lots of fun playing with it... The game goes like this... They'll try to keep the cup in the air as long as they can... Something like volleyball... Fun to them I guess... There were a few moments when Aaron was drinking and then when something funny came up he had to empty all the drink in his mouth into an empty cup... And then he would say, "Why did you make me laugh? I was drinking la!" And it happened twice... Haha... Our favorite part is of course the Move It McFlurry which consists of Milo powder and Milo nuggets in it... We would order the McFlurry from the counter, and later we would add on extra Milo nuggets into our Mcflurry courtesy of the Petronas store next door where we would buy the packet of Milo nuggets... Besides, the McFlurry doesn't come with that many nuggets to start with...

Bryan will be finishing his SPM soon... So I forecast it's going to be more of this until the end of the year... I like to Move It, Move It... You like to... MOVE IT!!!

Volume 9

2008-11-19T18:02:00.000-08:00

I think most of you will be wondering about what the title really means... Anyway, that is the title of a gig event that will be held next year on Saturday and Sunday, March 28 and 29, 2009... There will be 25 bands performing on Saturday and another 25 on Sunday, with the total number of bands being 50 altogether... 50 bands, I'm telling you... Venue for this event is at Stadium Negara...

Unabashed will be playing there!!! See you at the event...

Here are the flyers for the event...

Unabashed - after the recording session

2008-11-19T10:09:00.000-08:00

Just got back from laying down the bass parts for two of the songs... Thankfully it went well as I was quite anxious of how it would turn out considering it my first time being required to lay down the groove in perfect timing with the drums... If you think that playing bass in church is simple, it really is THAT simple in comparison with recording a bass part... Laying down the bass part or any other part takes a lot of precision and accuracy, in my opinion that is... For the drums, the main requirement is to lay the beat down to the metronome... As for the bass, my job is to lay down the groove of the bass notes in perfect synchronization with the bass drum... Simple? Not THAT simple if you are the rebellious type of player that occasionally run away from the drum timing... So you can say that accuracy plays an important role here to ensure that the final mixing process produces a punchy and groovy song with clear kick bass patterns and cutting snare shots... But to achieve that, we the musicians have to ensure that our playing MUST be at a 100% at the recording stage...

So all in all, it went well considering it my first time... There were some parts that required a retake or a few retakes as the playing was not that accurate or it didn't sound that right in the playback... Some of the retakes were done to further polish up some of the bass chops... After some time of assessing the playback mix of the two songs and after some minor tweaking, Chris and myself were happy with it and we decided to call it a day...

Overall, I'm happy with my performance today...

Unabashed - recording session

2008-11-17T06:43:00.000-08:00

We're taking turns on the recording process with Andrew going first and then myself followed by both guitarists and finally the vocals... We'll be recording two songs each session... Andrew will be laying the drums part first and then it's my turn to lay down the bass part... Why? It's because we'll be recording layer by layer and not all at once... Also, the rhythm section have to be laid down first and foremost before adding the fillers and anything else into the mix... If all goes well, I'm scheduled on Wednesday night... So at the moment, it's practice, practice and practice...

More Care Bears

2008-11-14T03:30:00.000-08:00

Shopping is addictive... Especially when you see something so cute that you just can't leave the store without taking it home... Yeah, that's what happened and I now have not one, but four Care Bears dangling from my bag... More to come, believe me...

Love-a-lot Bear, Harmony Bear, Good Luck Bear, Tenderheart Bear...

Unabashed - rehearsal

2008-11-12T06:06:00.000-08:00

Had rehearsal at Andrew's church last Monday... My third visit there personally... Practice was good and there were lots of creativity flying from all directions... Some improvisations were cool, and some were just plain funny... For example, we were working on the intro for a particular song and was experimenting with different versions and ideas, with one version sounding so like a Christmas jingle... Seriously, it didn't sound half that bad though, but it was just an idea... Who knows, we may even use it in a Christmas album... Haha...

We practiced without Enoch as he wasn't able to join us due to work... It was a bit empty but it wasn't that empty as Gordon was around to trade riffs with Stephen, which made it sounded full and heavy... There was one time when Gordon played some comical riff and had everyone laughing... It sounded so comical and funny that it sounded like some funny blooper riff ala Video Zonkers... Haha... Man, both the guitarists have fast fingers that the police can have field day collecting speeding tickets all day... Haha... I think I'm the slowest in comparison to them in that department...

But the best thing in my opinion has to be the Ampeg tube bass amplifier... The brand is synonymous with bass legends... Now I understand why people insists on playing an amplifier with tubes... It doesn't just sound good and solid; it sounds heavenly and divine... So good that solid-state amplifier guys will be converted... At last I am able to achieve that smooth and round bass tone... Unfortunately for me, I don't have the moolah to go get one...

The tube bass amplifier... It's an Ampeg! The brand is legendary!

The full SABIAN setup on the drums

2008-11-11T06:27:00.000-08:00

My brother played drums last Sunday for the Sunday morning worship service... There were lots of arranging and relocating of the cymbals and stands, so coming with the final configuration was tiring... Here's the full SABIAN setup as during the service...

The drum configuration - 14" snare drum, 10" tom, 12" tom, 14" hanging floor tom, and 20" bass drum...

SABIAN setup from left to right - B8 14" Hihats, B8 10" Splash, B8 16" Thin Crash, B8 12" Splash, B8 20" Ride, B8 8" Splash mounted on a stacker on top of AA 15" Medium Crash, B8 10" China Splash stacked directly on top of B8 18" Thin Crash...

Here's some photos of the setup...

Sorry, some shots were shaky as I was standing on the drum throne to get some overhead shots while keeping my balance...

SABIAN B8 10" China Splash

2008-11-11T05:54:00.000-08:00

Surprise, surprise... The latest little effect cymbal arrived just in time for Sunday's worship service... In the end my brother got to use it... I guess I've been jinxed... Most of the time when I get a new musical item, I seldom can get the chance to use it on the "opening ceremony"...

Anyhow, I received a call that the cymbal had arrived at the shop... So I went there, made the payment, then my brother and myself made our way to church to give it a go with the entire SABIAN setup...

Sound-wise, the SABIAN B8 10" China Splash sounded almost identical in pitch to the normal B8 10" Splash, but with a dirty Chinese-inflected sound in its tone... Normal splash cymbals sound bright, fast and clean, whereas this China Splash sounded bright, fast and dirty with a little hint of trashiness... A special effect cymbal to add some interesting accents...

Overall, a unique sound to add on to the current sound palette... Even Joseph was like "What's that sound?", and "Huh? What's that?" Haha...

SABIAN B8 10" China Splash cymbal...

My brother's SABIAN B8 Performance Set Plus

2008-11-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile now since the last article was published... Got lots of stuff to do here and there, like work, errands, some overtime work, research work, etc. Yeah, hope you get the picture...

In the process, my brother got his new set of SABIAN B8 cymbals... This cymbal set was labeled "SABIAN B8 Performance Set Plus", which meant that the set came with the standard 14" Regular Hihats, 16" Thin Crash, and 20" Medium Ride... And since this set was labeled with a "Plus" at the back, it could only mean that there's something extra that was included in the set itself... In the older SABIAN sets, the norm would be to include a free cymbal bag... But in this particular "Plus" set, the guys at SABIAN included an extra 18" Thin Crash, which could have cost another RM400++ if bought separately... By the way, the 18" Thin Crash from the B8 range CANNOT be purchased separately; if ever people wanted to get it, it must be purchased with a set that includes it as a free extra cymbal thrown in... Only the B8 18" Medium Crash and 18" Rock Crash can be purchased separately... Funny then why the B8 18" Thin Crash have to only be in a box set...

Anyway, it doesn't matter knowing that it doesn't come with a cymbal bag... The bag can be purchased separately elsewhere and at a much cheaper price compared to getting another cymbal on its own... Most importantly, it was the inclusion of the free 18" Thin Crash to add a different dynamic option to the standard 16" Thin Crash... The Hihats were clear but a little medium pitch sounding instead of the high pitch clear-cutting sound... Half-open Hihat sounds were washy... Both Crashes had fast and explosive responses when struck with the shoulder of the stick... Sound-wise, both had a medium pitch sound as expected from a thin model... The 16" gave an explosive medium pitch accent while the 18" gave a fuller mid-low pitch accent... But still nothing beats my AA 15" Medium Crash with the bright and explosive high pitch gain! Haha... The best of all was the 20" Ride cymbal... The bell is clear and musical while the overall tone of the Ride was musical and doesn't give you that funny ringing pitch with lots of overtones... In other words, the tone spread is washy but controllable...

Expect lots of hours of riding, crashing and splashing on the throne... Drum throne, I mean...

The SABIAN B8 Performance Set Plus box set...

SABIAN B8 10" Splash

2008-11-05T07:34:00.000-08:00

Got another Splash cymbal the other day to add to the ever-expanding collection... Saw it hanging on the display rack in a music store and thought it was a cheap bargain considering the listed price was below market cost... Took it to the counter and the store owner gave me a further discount upon the already below market price for the cymbal... Good or what? Better than good... Just excellent! In the end, the price I paid for this 10" Splash cymbal is the same price I paid for the 8" Splash cymbal... Sound-wise, it's very cutting... Cutting enough to get you heard in the mix of the music...

SABIAN B8 10" Splash cymbal...

The Splash cymbals from the SABIAN B8 range...

The collection as of now... SABIAN B8 8" Splash cymbal, SABIAN B8 10" Splash cymbal, SABIAN 12" Splash cymbal, SABIAN AA 15" Medium Crash...

Good Luck Bear

2008-11-01T06:29:00.000-07:00

This post is in reference to the earlier post entitled, "Birthdays equals gifts galore!"... Well, here's a picture of the Good Luck bear keyring I bought at 1-Utama... Cute, don't you think?

Unabashed - Group Photo (5)

2008-10-30T02:38:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest group photo from the photo session mentioned before... Keep in mind that this is not the last of it as of yet... There's still lots more... Hopefully we'll get it see it soon... By the way, if you do notice that in some shots, Andrew, Gordon and myself will be without our glasses... Yeah, we were suggested to take it off by the photographers...

(From left to right) Andrew, Gordon, Chris, Jason, Me, Stephen and Enoch...

Birthdays equals gifts galore!

2008-10-27T08:28:00.000-07:00

Another Sunday came, and another Sunday went just like that... But last Sunday was different as it was one of those "Consecutive Birthdays" celebration... It goes like this, Sunday was Elvyna's birthday, Monday today is "Uncle" Sonny's birthday, and Tuesday tomorrow is Bryan's birthday... 1 strike, 2 strikes, and 3 strikes makes it a TURKEY!!!

After Saturday music practice, my brother and myself went to 1-Utama along with Bryan and Elvyna's parents for a meal... We all went to Vietnam Kitchen and had dinner there... After the meal, it was shopping time and Bryan hurriedly led us all to Deeper & Harder to buy a white leather belt... We then went to various shops here and there and did some window shopping along the way... Then we stopped to have a look at a toy shop called, Action City... Guess what? In Bryan's blog there's an article about a store in Japan selling Care Bears, well this shop has a couple of it... And so Elvyna and myself were looking through the Care Bears plush key rings... She chose a Tenderheart Bear while I was doubtful about ever finding a Good Luck Bear... A moment later, Elvyna called me over and lo and behold, it is a Good Luck Bear... And it's the last one on stock... Credit to Elvyna for finding it; I owe you one... So I bought it, of course and Elvyna bought her Tenderheart Bear... It is so much cheaper here in Malaysia compared to Japan, but the only setback is that there is limited stock here in Malaysia compared to Japan where the shelves are fully stuffed with loads of Care Bears all looking at the potential customers... How I'd wish I can bring all of them home...

Anyway, the last shop we went to at the end of the day was MPH Bookstore... It seems Bryan was looking for a book, so we all helped look for it... Typed in the book title, "Zodiac" and the results were "There are 2 on stock"... Great, easy to locate as there are 2 of it... Wrong! We looked at every nook and cranny of the shelves and then decided to look upstairs instead... Bryan and my brother then went to ask the customer service desk on the location of the book as we couldn't find it in the designated aisles... While they were away, I located it... It was there right in front of us all the while... The reason why we couldn't see it was that the book title has the half fade into the background effect that made it quite hard to see... Moreover, it was not arranged in the correct order on the shelf... Bryan and Elvyna bought their stuff, and then we were off and went back home...

TY "Topper" the giraffe... This giraffe can stand!

Vic Firth WUV P.O.D Signature drumsticks

Sunday came, which was Elvyna's birthday... I got her a TY stuff toy named, "Topper" the giraffe... Elvyna then took her Tenderheart Bear and put it on Topper's back and played "riding horsie"... So now Tenderheart Bear has a new friend... We the boys gave Bryan an early birthday gift... His gift is something practical; something that he will use and not something just for the occasion... His gift was a Vic Firth WUV of P.O.D Signature drumsticks... Not bad... Happy bashing after the SPM examinations... Bashing to relieve stress is justifiable and understandable...

Nothing beats "it's better to give than to receive"...

Ukulele

2008-10-23T09:31:00.000-07:00

Before I went to 1-Utama as mentioned in the previous post, I dropped by Harmony Music to look at some guitar tuners... Chris from Unabashed recommended that I'd get one of those tuners to help me tune fast during performances... So I was in Harmony Music just looking around for a decent model... Unfortunately, the model that I was looking for was in fact an old range model... So I placed an order for it in the hope of actually getting one at a cheaper price considering it's an old dated model...

So while I was in the shop, I thought I'd just take a look around... And then, I spotted this item on the top shelf of one of the display cabinets; it was the very same ukulele that I had wanted to buy from before... And so it was done; I bought the ukulele and took it back home to have a test run... The ukulele came with a soft case of its own... Pretty neat, and also cute in a way... So as soon as I got back home, it was strumming time! Tuned it and started to play Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours"... It sounded much more closer to the recording on the ukulele compared to playing through a normal acoustic guitar... So in a way, you never know when this ukulele will come in handy... I was thinking of bringing it to church and just fool around with it during the caroling rehearsal sessions... Who knows? Maybe it'll sound better on certain songs...

I've been playing it everyday since buying it... Lots of fun!

Jusco Day!

2008-10-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to 1-Utama to run some errands and guess what? It was "Jusco Day" and there were lots and lots of people everywhere... The main cross junction outside of 1-Utama was crazily jammed up with cars and cars and lots of cars... It just feels like seeing the whole Petaling Jaya population gather at this 1-Utama shopping mall... What did you expect then when 1-Utama's catchphrase is called "It's all in One"... Now you know why... Everybody and everything is IN 1-Utama... Crazy!

So after quite awhile battling the jam outside, I finally made it into the parking bay of 1-Utama... If you thought battling the jam was hard, finding a decent parking spot IS harder... Major hard! Initially I was looking for a parking spot on the rooftop... It was a crazy mess up there and the jam of waiting and going around in circles was frustrating enough to make me go a floor below the rooftop... I practically went around in circles a couple of times before spotting a lady getting into her car... Hallelujah!!! Hallelujah!!! In Malaysia, finding a parking spot equals finding hidden treasure! As I waited for the lady to move out of the parking spot, you can easily see the faces of the other drivers going either red in anger, or green in envy of somebody finding a coveted parking spot... All in all, it took me about 30 minutes just to get this parking spot...

Done with the parking, and now for the shopping... So far, the jam outside won the bronze medal... The parking was a decent winner of the silver medal... And now, the winner of the gold medal goes to... THE SHOPPING AND LINING UP TO PAY!!! Before I progress further, imagine 1-Utama on a normal non-sale day; pretty quiet and a pleasure to walk... Now imagine 1-Utama with about the whole Petaling Jaya population shopping at the Jusco departmental store in 1-Utama... It was literally and practically packed with people everywhere! So pack was it that I could literally tell what deodorant each person is using... Er well, not everybody was using deodorant... Well, you do get the point... Okay, so I got what I was looking for and now I have to line up and pay... Simple right? WRONG! The queue is as bad as the queue lining up for Big Apple Donuts... Man, it looks like we Malaysians are cursed to never escape "rush hour bumper-to-bumper queues"... Finally after 30 minutes of lining up, I was out of there...

I took the highway to get back home... Enough of traffic for a day...

I am now Unabashed!

2008-10-20T07:59:00.000-07:00

It's been days since I updated my blog... Speaking of which, this post will be about yesterday... Sunday came, and Sunday went... Went to church, played music, listened to the sermon, chatted with friends, had lunch... Yeah, the usual stuff we normally do on a Sunday... Don't get me wrong though; this is NOT a routine chore... I personally find every Sunday service special and unique in its own sense...

I was supposed to meet with the guys from Unabashed that same night... So I packed my bags and was ready to go... Brought my Fender guitar, David's Ibanez bass, and one of my BOSS effects case... Crazy considering the amount of luggage I had to lug around... And I'm not even gigging yet! Anyway, when I arrived the guys from Unabashed greeted me and Jason officially announced that I am now a part of the band... So I'm in a way "under contract" now to come for rehearsals and do recordings until the album is out... Release of the album is targeted at most likely end of November and early December this year...

So now I'm setting my eyes on landing a decent bass guitar of my own and to my own personal specifications... I can't be using David's Ibanez bass forever; it's not nice to play someone else's "wife", you know? Haha... Seriously, the instrument has to fit my playing style so I'm scouting around and surveying the market now... At the moment, I really fancy the Fender Standard Fretless Jazz Bass... A wee bit pricey but you get the sound and value of what you paid... Sigh, how I really wished money really does grow on trees...

Which also means I really, really need to buck up my playing or else... Seriously, I could get axed if I don't really meet the benchmark... It's really time for some improvement in my playing now... Looks like I may need to get a bass practice amplifier and a tuner... Sigh, it always have to come down to the money issue...

The Pretender

2008-10-15T08:57:00.001-07:00

So yeah, the blog has been created and there are various articles already posted up, but did you ever actually wondered why yours truly decided to named it The Pretender? Well, as the name suggests, it is somebody that can pretend to be somebody else... If you didn't know that, that is...

Well, it was a long story as to how this title got to me... First of all, there was a television series on the small screen years back entitled, "The Pretender"... It was basically about this prodigy kid that was abducted and brought into "The Center", a place where they place all this kind of genius and prodigious kids and conduct studies on them... One particular kid named Jared, which is the star of this whole series, wanted to know the truth and of life beyond "The Center" and decided to escape; as he was growing up in "The Center", he began to question himself and of his existence so he only made his move when he was in his adulthood... His main objective in escaping was that he wanted to find out more about his existence and his biological family; how and why he ended up in "The Center", and also to find out more about life... Upon his successful escape, Jared found that "Life is a Gift" and that people deserve a right to live their life to the fullest and the freedom to choose their paths and make their own decisions...

Being a prodigy and genius, Jared can be just about anybody... He can easily pull off emulating and pretending to be somebody else... Every episode will see Jared doing some different role playing... In one episode he was a doctor, and in another episode he was a fireman... In one particular episode, he was a jewel thief... But of course, since he was a good guy, he basically acted and play along, and then suddenly bring justice to the unsuspecting villains... So most of the time, he will be using his talents to help the underprivileged and needy, and also to help stop crime and bring justice whenever it is necessary... All this while at the same time being pursued by Miss Parker, the daughter of the chairman of "The Center"...

Basically, that is how yours truly decided to adapt the same title as well... Being a multi-tasking person is no easy feat... Let alone being a "Jack of all trades, master of none"... That is the problem with people who can do most things; they don't excel to the maximum on a certain aspect, but rather have all or most aspects distributed evenly... That has been a problem as to why yours truly doesn't understand at times into what yours truly really, really want to do with this one life... Sometimes, knowing that one can do almost everything and anything doesn't help when trying to find out what is the ultimate one thing that yours truly may want to do... Compared to some people where they have already known what they want to do in life, yours truly here can do just about anything, but doesn't have the slightest clue as to what is the ultimate as of yet...

So as the show says, "The are Pretenders living among us..."

Unabashed - Group Photo (3) & (4)

2008-10-15T05:29:00.000-07:00

At this very moment, I have just eaten my dinner and now I'm writing this post... Was really tired earlier and I was in "Lala Land" for a good couple of hours there...

Unabashed just uploaded a few more of photos from the recent photo session... So here are another 2 of the photos...

(From left to right) Me, Chris, Enoch, Jason, Stephen, Gordon and Andrew...

(From left to right) Me, Stephen, Chris, Gordon, Enoch, Andrew and Jason...

Unabashed - Red Group Photo

2008-10-14T03:04:00.000-07:00

Here's another photo from Unabashed... Compared to the previous post with the photo in its original color and essence, this version had some color tweaking done to it, and also the addition of the "Unabashed" group name in it... Looks pretty cool and "ganas" in a way... Check it out...

(From left to right) Andrew, Chris, Stephen, Gordon, Enoch, Me and Jason...

Unabashed - Group Photo (2)

2008-10-13T09:36:00.000-07:00

Here's another Unabashed group photo with me inside... Remember I mentioned in a previous post where there's a winding staircase and an elevator with a steel cage? Well, this is the picture of it...

(From left to right) Andrew, Chris, Stephen, Gordon, Enoch, Me and Jason...

BBQ at Esther's place

2008-10-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

We had a BBQ at Esther's place the other time so this post is in a way a back-dated one... Bryan posted on this same topic awhile back so here's my version of it...

While the rest of the gang were busy preparing and cooking the chicken and sausages, Joseph, Benjamin, my brother and myself were at church having music rehearsal... Music rehearsal ended at 7:00 p.m. and we were already hungry by then... The others were supposed to meet at Esther's place at 5:00 p.m. to help her prepare and cook the food for the BBQ gathering... Her reasoning was that everybody should lend a hand and help to prepare and not just to be a spectator at the scene...

Right after music rehearsal we made our way to Esther's place in hope that the food will be ready at the time of our arrival... Our stomachs were already making rumbling "music" and so we rushed there in search of the remedy... FOOD! We got there on time and the food was ready by the time we arrived... So it was feasting from there... After we have had enough of food, food and more food, we went to "karaoke mode"...

And so it was there that we had a marathon of songs from everything under the sun, from A to Z, from oldies to new hits, and even some in which I myself have never heard of before... But still the show must go on, so I just played the guitar, playing song after song after song while the rest sang song after song after song... It was practically the rest of the night, plus some comic relief thrown into the mix... Interestingly, some of the comic relief not only came from us, but from uncle Steven as well... It was really funny and "corny" at times, but no doubt about it; it was one really crazy and enjoyable night of marathon karaoke...

Here are some of the artists in which I played their songs that night... It was crazy... I was just like a real-life human iPod...

Mandy Moore, Mariah Carey, Jason Mraz, Arctic Monkeys, Weezer, Nirvana, Daughtry, Switchfoot, Backstreet Boys, Westlife, Blink 182, Boys Like Girls, Carpenters, Beatles, Green Day, Fallout Boy, *NSYNC, Black-eyed Peas, Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne, Wang Lee Hom... I think there's a lot more of other artists as well... I just can't remember all of it... Imagine playing song after song after song from all of these artists... Crazy... Haha... And I even played Spongebob Squarepants' C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G Song! Thanks to the play-by-ear skill that made playing virtually everything and anything possible...

All in all, it was an enjoyable time... I played the guitar, so it was enjoyable for me, of course! At the end of the day, there were deep indentations and rough peeling skin already on my left-hand fingers from playing non-stop the whole night... Well, things like having a good time filled with laughter and "corny" jokes, and music at a gathering with friends like this, it is just priceless...

Unabashed - Group Photo (1)

2008-10-13T03:37:00.000-07:00

Hey all, this post is in reference to the previous post entitled, "Unabashed - Photo Session"... Logged into Facebook and the first thing I noticed was that I got face-tagged in a photo... I then clicked the link and there it was... One of the many photo shots taken during the latest Unabashed photo session just recently... And I'm in it... It's really, really cool!

It was pretty hot and stuffy on posing on the roof top, but we're not complaining because the end result is just a very, very cool photo... All credit to the imaginative and creative photography crew... Double thumbs up to you all...

Here's the group photo by the way... This is the only one now at the moment... For your information, we took a couple of shots during the whole photo session, so please be patient as there are more to come soon...

(From left to right) Gordon, Me, Stephen, Jason, Chris, Andrew and Enoch...

Unabashed - Photo Session

2008-10-12T00:45:00.001-07:00

Jason rang me up the other day asking if I could make it for the Unabashed photo session... So I made the necessary plans and adjustments so that I could attend the photo session... It was scheduled at 9:50 a.m. so obviously I couldn't just leave the house at 9:00 a.m. and hope that I'll reach there on time, right? Guess what then? I woke up at 6:00 a.m. instead... It didn't quite help that I didn't get enough of "Lala land" the night before so the waking up part was a wee bit difficult, but what made me get out of bed was the fact that it is already 6:20 a.m. and the morning traffic may get heavier if I were to leave later... So out of the house I went after washing and dressing up in all-black attire; the dress code was black, brown or gray... So I went with a simple long sleeve black top with black jeans... I am not mourning, okay? It was so happen I didn't have a black shirt available at that time...

Arrived at the Masjid Jamek LRT station to meet Enoch... I "tumpang" a ride from him on his motorbike to the venue, which was the old and vintage white-colored train station in Kuala Lumpur, and the Heritage Hotel, which is located inside the train station itself... We were both early and so we chatted while waiting for the others to arrive... Then Andrew arrived... A short while later Gordon and Stephen arrived too... A little while later Jason arrived together with the photo crew... So we were told to chill out while the crew set up their gear... Then Chris arrived while we were chilling out... Enoch looked tired as he didn't get enough sleep the night before... Even Chris had a very late the night before... In fact, I think most, if not all of us didn't get enough sleep time the night before... Some of the guys ordered a breakfast set in the cafeteria area there while some of us chatted... Basically the guitarists will be talking about their effects pedals, amplifiers, guitars... You do know how it is when guitarists come together to discuss their gear...

The photo crew is ready and then we had to do various poses at different places... One scene was on the roof top of the old and vintage white-colored train station in Kuala Lumpur... It was 10 something in the morning but it was really stuffy and the heat was building up... Guess it was the color dress code that we had to abide to... So in between shots, at any given opportunity we will scurry back to the shady veranda and down in some mineral water to cool ourselves... Later we were requested to jump so that the picture would have us in the air... After the shot on the roof top, then came the bath tub shot... By the way, there was an empty bath tub on the roof top, that's why there was this shot... Maybe the hotel didn't know where to dispose it so they left it here, probably... So after that shot, we had a shot next to some of the pipes and valves located on the roof top... We were told to have some "character" to our pose and not to just stand straight and still... So some of us will have a leg up on something, while others were standing high up on some other object... It's just so that we don't look plain and monotonous with no "character" in the picture...

Next we did a shot in the winding staircase... Some of us stood on the left side and some on the right side of the stairs while Enoch stood in the middle... Well, he didn't actually stand in the middle... He was in a "doing push-ups" position , which the rest thought it looked a little obscene... Haha... Well, he said that it is like a seal... No comments there... After that we were told to chill while the photo crew looked for another location and set up their gear... While chilling out, I took the opportunity to look around... The hotel is really, really vintage, with the exception of some modern touch ups to refurbish the interior... Nevertheless, just walking inside the building gives you a sense that you actually feel like you are living during that era... It is THAT vintage... Even the elevator has a steel cage around it with a door you have to manually open at every floor; reminiscent to those Italian mafia shows we always see on television... After that we took a narrow corridor shot and then a shot with some of the guys on the higher floor and some on the lower floor of the hotel corridor...

Before I forget, please bear in mind that I am only 70% confirmed in the band as mentioned by Jason the other time before this photo session... So from the first shot to the last, there were certain times where they will have a group shot without me in the picture... Jason mentioned that if things didn't work out, then at least they still have the shots without me in it so in a way, they have a backup plan... But if it works out, then they'll use the shots with me inside the picture... So all day long the joke going around was the "Off Rufus mode" then I'll know what to do... Normally people will get a bit upset for not including them into a group picture like that, but it was alright for me because I personally feel that I'm not photogenic enough and I don't quite have that camera-friendly face that can readily pose in front of the lens...

After all is done and dusted, we left and went our separate ways... Chris gave me a ride to the Kelana Jaya LRT station as he was on the way to Subang Jaya... Now the traffic IS building up... So I hurried off and grabbed lunch along the way and then went to church for the youth service, and then music rehearsal after that...

So all in all, it was a good learning experience in a way... Fun, funny, hot and sweaty... Yeah, it was hot but it was all for the experience, so I'm not complaining at all... If ever I am confirmed in the band, and if ever there is a next time to have a photo session, I am going to wear white, and bring some extra clothes and lots of water... We learn something new everyday, don't we?

SABIAN AA 15" Medium Crash - Pictures

2008-10-12T00:19:00.000-07:00

This post is basically to provide the pictures for yesterday's post... Couldn't upload the pictures for yesterday's post, for what reason I don't know, it was just frustrating...

So here are the pictures...

The 3 SABIAN cymbals at the current moment... I foresee more to come...

SABIAN B8 8" Splash... The first SABIAN we bought... My brother and I shared the cost to purchase this little guy...

SABIAN B8 12" Splash... Church already had a 10" Splash cymbal so we didn't get the SABIAN B8 10" Splash, so we shared the cost to get the slightly bigger SABIAN B8 12" Splash cymbal... Maybe some other time for the 10"...

SABIAN AA 15" Medium Crash... My personal favorite at the moment...

SABIAN AA 15" Medium Crash

2008-10-11T07:47:00.001-07:00

Yesterday the Internet was down on my side, so I couldn't post yesterday's post... So if you are reading it, please bear in mind that this is a "one day back-dated post"...

This post is in reference to my September 30, 2008 post; the post about drum cymbals and my various experiences with the sales people there...

So today's post is a continuation to that final portion of that post referring to the part where I came across the SABIAN AA 15" Medium Crash hanging on the display wall... Well, I took that baby home today... By the way, this particular model is discontinued in the 2007 product brochure so that in a way prompted me to take swift action to get it, and fast... You can say that it was an impulsive purchase, but no it is not an impulsive buy... I actually considered it for a couple of days weighing the pros and cons before parting with a lump sum of hard-earned cash... Well, I guess that's the chronic addiction of musicians with picky ears in their quest for that "ultimate tone"...

I got it at a 20% discount off the normal retail price; this is because the staff ordered the AA range instead of the HHX range, hence it being a clearance item... So you could say that I got a bargain in a way... At that price, it would only be possible to get a 13" cymbal instead of a 15" cymbal so I really consider this to be a really good bargain... I mean, honestly how often do you stumble across a shop having a clearance with the products going with a 20% discount? Yeah, not often, or in normal circumstances, rarely at all...

Took it to church and had a real good trial run and I can say that I am really, really impressed by the sound quality and projection... What more can you actually say when you have "pro quality" equipment to play with? Nothing... We just can't express just how good it sounds to the ears... So don't say anything, just play and enjoy!!! Yeah, that's exactly what I did... You can say that it is my favorite crash cymbal at the moment...

This is what happened at church today... It is in a way a continuation of the post above, which is the day before...

Took all the cymbals to church to have a real bashing session... Thought that we could jam a bit before youth service started... Joseph came so the normal routine was to head to the drums... He didn't even react a bit on seeing the new SABIAN AA 15" Medium Crash cymbal... He just asked how much the damage to the pocket was... I was thinking what could have made this Joseph react really dramatically... Maybe reading other blogger's post will make him react dramatically... So he had a test run of the cymbal with the drums upstairs, and then the drums downstairs... The drums downstairs are now set for Sunday's service; the existing drum setup with the SABIAN cymbals... My brother in particular liked the new AA cymbal so much that he ended up bashing it most of the time during the music rehearsal... Both he and Joseph gave the approval that the AA cymbal indeed IS a very, very good sounding cymbal... Don't believe me? Believe your ears during tomorrow's Sunday worship service and hear the difference...

Note: Couldn't upload the pictures at the moment; not sure why the small upload applet is taking forever to upload the pictures... *Sigh* Will try to upload the pictures tomorrow...

Unabashed - 70% confirmed, 30% still pending...

2008-10-09T08:23:00.000-07:00

Today I received a call from Jason from Unabashed... He asked if I could try and make it for their photo shoot session... Whoa, honestly I really wasn't expecting this, let alone for things to happen so rapidly at blinding pace... One moment I was so into rehearsing for the audition, and then the next thing that comes up is the open invitation to join the band in their photo shoot session... Man, things are really taking off really fast in my opinion...

Well, technically I am not 100% in the band as of yet, though there is the invitation to attend the photo shoot... Jason mentioned that he is kind of impressed with my playing during the second audition and that he is at 70% confirming me officially as part of the band... He also mentioned that he will be discussing with the other band members of whether I am to be accepted officially as part of the band, hence the other 30%...

Speaking of which, I didn't actually got into all this to capture some secular fame or that sort of thing... I just thought of it as an open door to utilize my talents and through the band playing music will minister to believers and non-believers alike... It is also an avenue where I can play, if I do get confirmed officially as a member of Unabashed, together with the band and people can hear us play and reach out to the audience in music and song...

So in the meantime, it looks like I have to practice smiling and posing in front of the camera... Honestly, this is one of my character flaws as I am not photogenic... Ironically, all my nice photos are the candid ones where I don't actually strike a pose, or the photographer took me by surprise and snapped a picture of me... Well, it's time I practice that and spend more time in front of the mirror... Not to look vain, okay?

Speaking of that, it looks like I may need to find my way to the rendezvous point for the photo shoot session... Got to scout the place prior to actually going there on the day itself... Maybe I'll take a drive to familiarize myself of the directions there... The sooner the better...

I need to befriend Storm from X-Men! (July post from Facebook)

2008-10-09T02:22:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the "catchy" title... kind of lame in a way too...

But that's what I really need right now...

"Oh Storm, will you be my friend? I need you to change the weather and drive the clouds away from the night sky!"

I was actually planning on planet-hunting... but Mr. Cloud had to show up (again!)... *sigh*

Guess I'll have to wait and monitor the weather conditions at night for the next few days... and then hopefully hunt down Uranus since I know where it is!

That's what friends are for... (July post from Facebook)

2008-10-09T02:21:00.001-07:00

So what else is new today?

Yes? You talking to me?

Hello? Anybody there? Of course I'm talking to you...

Not much is going on here as far as I know...

Then what? Bored?

Nope... Not at all... Just kind of feel that there's more to the bigger picture...

Aha! I think I get it...

Yeah? So tell me what is it...

You are feeling so "emo" right now...

Yes, no, er... I don't know... Maybe you can say so...

Isn't it a bit obvious?

I don't know... feels like I'm all mixed-up... kind of like I'm in a blender... You know, the one where we throw in just about everything and anything and see what we can conjure up...

Eww... gross!

Yup... somehow it feels like that...

So I guess the weather conditions there are "cloudy with signs of a downpour?"

You can say that again... I "literally" brought an umbrella along...

You are so funny... and I thought you were the one that's feeling "emo!"

Well, it's like that at times... other times, the weather is "clear and sunny"...

Yeah, just like a rose with the thorns...

Correct! Everything has to have a balance... and also there's a time for everything!

Man, it sounds so simple yet profound... I wonder how many times we've overlooked this in the course of our lives?

Countless times, I can say...

I really think we should learn to live each day the best that we can...

Agreed! Feeling "emo" is just another phase in our life's journey... what really matters is getting up and going again after the "emo" phase...

Yes, agreed one hundred percent!

Come on, I'll buy you a coffee... It's on me today!

By the way it is, I think we should have this kind of talks more... then I can have you spend me more coffee! *chuckles*

Hey, that's what friends are for...

Even "greedy friends?" *snigger*

Better a friend than none at all!

(Note to readers: The author occasionally talks to himself just like that!!! Talk about Dr. Jekyll and Miss Hyde...)

'95 was the year... (July post from Facebook)

2008-10-09T02:16:00.000-07:00

Thinking back, it amazes me every now and then on how much progress I've made and how far I've come ever since 1995... It blows my mind away dwelling on the "what-ifs" of 1995 not taking place... Well, it didn't turn out that way; 1995 did happen and here I am today...

In 1995, the bass was my first instrument... I didn't choose to play it in the first place though, rather I was taught to play it as there was a shortage of bass players at that time... Practice, practice, practice, played on Saturday, played on Sunday, practice, practice, practice, played on Saturday, played on Sunday, yes, you get the idea... It was all like that in 1995 when I started out...

In the midst of it all, I've unlocked the sacred and highly coveted skill of "playing by ear", also known as "Perfect Pitch"... No kidding... David would almost always play some random note and asked me to guess it... Sometimes he would make it interesting by playing random notes on other instruments and asking me to "name the note"... Don't ask me how... It just came "like that"... Suddenly I felt like I had like some kind of "mystical" power to differentiate the notes and chords from literally every song... To add salt to the wound, for the rest of my life, I can never fall asleep listening to music anymore... reasoning being the Perfect Pitch will come into action and I'll then start to breakdown chords, name notes, piece together the melodic sequences... Basically, I sleep without music now because of this... A good thing or a bad thing? You be the judge...

1996 was rather interesting... I was fiddling with an acoustic guitar back at home, thinking that I could learn how to play it too someday... Someday did come... Sooner than later (fortunately)... David was playing guitar but doing too little (seriously)... No offense to David, but he really wasn't that type of player who would shred the finger board to bits, let alone "speed" or perform some acrobatic maneuvers on it... And here I was doing all of those stuff... on the bass... Yes, on the bass... Only 4 strings to play on, but I was doing all those stuff... Speeding, maneuvering recklessly through the 4 strings, I kind of wondered if ever there was more to my playing style...

So I approached David and arranged a swap of instruments with him... Knowing David, he was willing to give it a try but was having mixed feelings knowing that he would be facing a culture shock of playing a 4-stringer when all this while he has been playing a 6-stringer... 1996 was the year we both swapped instruments... And guess what? It payed off big time! We both realized that we could excel better now that our playing styles matches the instruments we're now playing...

By the time 1997 came, I was a wee-bit adventurous... Having a background of playing bass, I decided to embark on playing drums... During this time too, we were all facing PMR... But still, I didn't let that stop me from polishing up some rhythmic chops as I go along...

1998 came, 1998 went, 1999 came, 1999 went... It was basically improving and leveling up not 1, not 2, but 3 instruments... As I've mentioned before of acquiring "Perfect Pitch", I was slowly unlocking the "Relative Pitch" side of playing... Perfect Pitch + Relative Pitch = Ultimate Playing By Ear!!! Perfect Pitch deals with determining a certain note's pitch whereas Relative Pitch deals with determining chords made of the collective sound of different notes... At this time, SPM was another one of those hurdles that we all had to go through...

Into the new millennium... the BOSS DS-1 arrived! Little did I know that this very first effect pedal would grow into a chronic addiction worse than "having your daily fix", slowly acquiring into around 15 or 16 of it now (no way!?)... seriously, it really burns a literal hole in your pocket just to get one of this cute, little, colorful toys... But all I can say is, it does its job pretty well and your ears will beg for you to play more... What can I say, we're "addicted to BOSS!"

Sometime around 2002, I decided to embark on playing the piano (again!?)... I am at grade 2 (no kidding here) from way back when I was 8 or 9 years old and stopped because I "couldn't stand the teacher anymore"... I also lost interest in playing piano at that time (I blame it to not having an interest in classical music!)... So on I went with the same routine... Practice, practice, practice, played on Saturday, played on Sunday, practice, practice, practice, played on Saturday, played on Sunday... yes, the same one from last time...

Notice that I only mentioned that I would practice when it's a "new" instrument? It was because I didn't practice that much ever since learning how to play by ear... Honestly, I just didn't practice, not to say I didn't like to practice, I just didn't... I can just turn up knowing what to do on-the-spot or like what we call it, "Impromptu"...

It really wasn't an easy feat this time on the piano though... If ever you've heard me play the piano, all those skill and chops are thanks to transferring the "guitar chords" into piano fingering... Also, I actually took the time to listen to some Japanese and Korean instrumentals and soundtracks to further improve the creativity of playing the piano... Currently, I'm still trying to improve my piano playing...

Ever since GAYA Day (Youth Day), it made me ponder on how much I've achieved and also how much progress the new youth musicians have made thus far... Ironically, I only got my Fender Stratocaster this year... You would've thought I'd get one sooner when I was just starting out, but "better late than never"... At least I have it now before the mid-life-crisis...

Hopefully one day we'll be playing to hundred thousands of people attending a revival service in a stadium... It doesn't hurt to dream and envision such things, you know? it sounds crazy but it CAN be possible!

All in all, "To God be the glory" for everything...

Rehearsal... "Addicted to BOSS"

'95 was the year... It's been a real journey...

(Dedicated to Patrick Lee aka Jazz "sifu")

Sliced... the "retard" has been "admitted to the hospital" (July post from Facebook)

2008-10-09T02:13:00.001-07:00

Yeah, the topic speaks for itself... basically I sliced the flesh and skin off the side of my index finger... it wasn't that deep though, but it was unsightly...

I guess you can say that it is part of one's job; facing potential risk of "job hazards" along the way...

On Tuesday, here I was constructing an organizer box from those thick mounting boards, slicing away the bits and pieces... and then it happened... apparently the blade escaped the side of the metal ruler restraining it and sliced... yeah, you know what it sliced... duh!

Surprisingly, I didn't scream or yelp or anything like that... In my mind, I knew that GAYA Day (Youth Day) was just a few days away, and here I am with 1 finger down and needing to play like 2 sets of songs (6 songs per set) on Saturday and Sunday! "Oh man...", was all I thought...

Interestingly, I hurriedly plastered the "retarded" finger with 4 plasters! After that episode, I didn't even bother about the "retard" for the remaining days till Saturday... You could say that I pretty much got accustomed to guitar-life with only 3 left-hand fingers and my thumb... Amazingly, I could even pull off most of the songs without my index finger!

Saturday rehearsal wasn't that bad though, thanks to my "retard", I took the initiative to practice and adjust all of the songs with my remaining fingers... It looked easy on that day, but I can tell you plainly, it was "torturing" to a certain extent! It was no simple feat to pull off something like that; relegating to playing power-chords with the middle finger and pinkie... and also playing economically, thus cutting down improvisation parts... It was a big letdown at that time knowing what I was capable of doing... *sigh*

Came Sunday, went through the whole 2 sessions without a finch! Surprisingly, I played normally using all fingers despite the "retard" still "yet to be discharged from the hospital"... Interestingly, I did not feel any discomfort or pain prior to kicking off the concert, so why not? In the same way people use "Go break a leg", I was telling myself, "Go break a finger!"...

In the wink of an eye, everything was done... Finished... The show is over... The End... I took the time to reflect on the "retard" having to be "admitted to the hospital"... This whole experience made me realize that there are lots of other alternative methods to accomplish something... it's just which one I'm going to use... It also made me realize how much I miss playing guitar and appreciate playing...

Yes, the "retard" is finally "discharged from hospital" and is back to normal... Interestingly, the whole top portion of the finger until the finger tip feels a little numb now (?!)... Well, it doesn't matter now... good thing it wasn't the whole hand... by then I would've played the drums Rick Allen style!

Notice the "retard" pointing outwards? I couldn't bend that particular finger due to the 4 plasters on it... In a way, this is proof I managed it with only 3 left-hand fingers and my thumb...

Almost perfect... the Gods must be having fun up there... (July post from Facebook)

2008-10-09T02:07:00.000-07:00

No, no, no... I'm not referring to relationships here (though it is true)... It's just frustrating when you have all your equipment ready, the timing is just right, you're in the mood and in tip-top mode to perform... when the weather spoils it all... *sigh*

*Ahem* I'm referring to star-gazing and planet-hunting here... *sigh*

Just when the constellations and planets lined up just about right, the weather crashes the party... What a letdown... It happened a few weeks back when the moon was right next to Neptune, and guess what? The weather spoils it... yet again...

Before this, it was impossible to even view Jupiter with the naked eye, thanks to cloudy conditions... All the cumulonimbus clouds really like to come out and play at the unexpected times...

I was even hoping to catch a view of Uranus today and... no prizes to whoever can guess "who showed up at the party"... yes, cloudy conditions... I couldn't even see the moon in the sky, can you believe it!? Hello, midnight is Cinderella's curfew... not mine... and to think that the sky is the limit... *sigh*

Oh well, at least there is some consolation to it... There is always some really good viewing times when the clouds are nowhere to be seen (even at night)... the sight is just magical! Believe me... it is R-O-M-A-N-T-I-C... really, no kidding... When I was viewing Scorpio and Sagittarius, a "shooting star" whisked by... yeah, now we're talking romantic... I almost made a wish there myself, thinking who may be the...

"OFF TOPIC!!!"

Coming back here before I stray any further, Jupiter could be viewed nightly, hence it being so enormous and bright...

I even managed to catch a view of Saturn and Mars side-by-side after sunset... again it sounds romantic... Anyway, Saturn's rings are majestic! In 2009, the rings may be difficult to view due to the tilt being perpendicular to earth; meaning we may only get to see Saturn as a round planet... Mars looked almost similar to Antares of Scorpio... the only difference is that Antares has a greenish glow surrounding it...

Crossing my fingers, I hope to get a view of Venus, Uranus and Neptune if possible... Sooner the better... and it looks like I may have to make friends and forgive the bad weather conditions and clouds for spoiling the show...

Better still, these "guys" will always be in the sky somewhere... playing hide-and-seek with the people embarking on finding them... Like the saying, "You can run, but you can't hide"...

Music is the weapon of the future

2008-10-07T08:54:00.000-07:00

Did a little shopping after work and lo and behold, I managed to find two Switchfoot albums! By the way, I was rather bemused at the fact that the old and new Switchfoot albums were sold out at most of the popular music outlets that I'd went to... It was a little frustrating when you want to buy a particular CD but it is sold out, while rows and rows of CD albums of other bands are stocked up to the max...

So anyway, I managed to get a hold on Switchfoot's "Oh! Gravity" and "Nothing is sound" albums... I was just listening to "Oh! Gravity" and "Awakening" earlier, and the songs and the whole collective band sounded really, really good... It was really amusing when the "I simply whacked it" piano part came... Funny but brilliant... Will be listening to the other album later before I check into the 5-star hotel in "Lala Land"...

A day earlier I bought Alicia Keys' latest album entitled, "As I am"... Bought this to learn some of her R&B piano chops, and also to explore other realms and different genres of piano playing... "Superwoman" has a lot of really nice R&B and jazz piano phrasings; all the more I am going to learn it and improve my piano playing... May give it a try this Saturday or Sunday...

But the surprise of it all was that I managed to get a hold on an "Arctic Monkeys" album today! A few weeks back, Tower Records told me that they don't have and they don't bring any "Arctic Monkeys" albums to their store... So, obviously I was a little puzzled as to why they wouldn't stock up any "Arctic Monkeys" albums, while other lesser known and up-and-coming bands are having their albums stocked up on the shelves by the dozens... It was the same story at Rock Corner and Speedy... Well, the search continues, with very dim hopes of finding a needle in the haystack... Until today, when I went to another Rock Corner outlet and spotted the lone album sandwiched in the midst of other albums on the display shelf... Bought it straight away quite impulsively, but rather in my opinion, better to buy it now than to regret not being able to locate it again later...

Well, guess I'm going to spin a couple of audio tracks before boarding my flight to "Lala land"... "Music is the weapon of the future"...

Lucky

2008-10-06T08:18:00.000-07:00

It was just like any typical day; work, work, work... Then the phone rang... Received an emergency call to get back home as soon as possible to handle some emergency protocol... It seems that there's a dog at my neighbor's house... They needed some assistance from us as they are Malay and prohibited from handling dogs... My parents were out at the moment so it was time for the "Dog Patrol Squad" to move in, so to speak... In mind, I was picturing an ugly and infested stray mongrel at my neighbors, thinking that it must be an ugly dog that triggered the distress call...

Got back on time, or in fact, faster than the normal time to find the mongrel... Thoughts of the ugly mongrel flashed through my mind; at the same time I was kind of wondering how am I really going to handle this mongrel at all if ever it was really in fact an ugly and infested mongrel... Picture the disgust in your mind and you will understand what I mean... Well, if it's to help a neighbor I would have to abandon such thoughts and get to the job... We're the "Dog Patrol Squad" after all, right?

Guess what? It wasn't an ugly infested mongrel at my neighbor's house... It was just a really, really tiny shih tzu! I was thinking "What? All this just for a tiny adorable little fella?" Adorable, it is... Small and tiny, it is... Barked noisily at the presence of people, it didn't... So it was indeed a pleasant surprise that the tiny little dog didn't make a scuffle or struggle at the sight of strangers... So we got to work by taking the little dog in a cardboard box before relocating it to our front porch... We couldn't place it at the back of our house as our current and existing dog WILL be barking his head off at the presence of a total stranger, let alone another of the same species... The usual inspection and diagnostic checkup was done to gauge the little dog's status... Found that it is a female... It was quite underfed that the bones in the backbone can easily have been compared to that of an undernourished child... The fur looked like it had a recent visit to the hairdresser... And the eyes are shrouded just like a cataract patient... The dog can still see and move around thankfully, but there would be the occasional "bump in the face" kind of scenario due to the cloudy vision...

We decided to adopt and keep it... Well, actually me... I'd thought it a really pity to give it to the pound, and if the owner actually came to get it back, I mean honestly, who would actually want to adopt a dog in this kind of state? So my parents suggested we wait to see if the owner actually did come in an effort to retrieve his/her missing dog... Well, the days turned to weeks and so on, and it came to our conclusion that the owner must have blatantly released the dog to in a way get rid of it, in a hope that some kind soul would pick it up and adopt it... No harm done there, but in my honest opinion, it is a real irresponsible act of animal cruelty to have done something like that... Of course somebody would take pity and care for an abandoned animal, but the act of abandoning an animal, let alone an animal with such blemishes and imperfections shouldn't have occurred in the first place... How I'd wished that animal owners to have a heart to accept and love their pets for the way it is, and not abandon it when it is not "up to standard"...

So of course the owner didn't come at all to claim his/her dog back, and now it's to our gain that it has a new home... Naming it was always a challenge as we all have our own preferences... So I called the shots and decided to name it "Lucky"... It's kind of obvious why I chose that name... Anyway, Lucky is one of those dogs that will not bark or make any kind of noise at all under normal circumstances... The only time Lucky would bark is when it feels kind of lonely and needs the company of people... And if it where to happen, it normally happens after dinner time... Other than that, Lucky is really, really quiet; just like a girl that is "in her own world, without a care at all"... Sometimes Lucky would be a bit careless and will bump into an object in the way, which seems like somebody mistaken the glass panel for an open door... So for the majority of the time, Lucky will be somewhere out in the porch wandering about without making any noise at all...

All in all, it isn't about having a really perfect-looking dog to show-off or brag to others; it's all about the fact that "animals matter to me" and they too deserve better during their lifetime's journey with the people that cared for them; us, the owners... Imagine if there really was a "Dog Heaven", I really wonder how many dog owners will get "merit points" whenever our pets give an account of us?

Unabashed - Bass Audition

2008-10-05T10:13:00.000-07:00

Just got back from the audition... My second audition out of a total of three times... Can't wait for the third time... It seems that after every audition session the level of the music and the playing improves... So in other words, I am satisfied with my playing this second time around compared to the first...

During the first audition, the full band wasn't present; the lead singer cum songwriter wasn't there as well as the rhythm guitarist... So there I was with Andrew, Enoch, Stephen and Chris... Gordon and Jason wasn't there though, but we still had a run-through of the songs... Basically the band recruited two new guitarists in Gordon and Stephen, and the current members changed instrument roles... So Andrew is on drums now replacing Judson the original drummer, and Enoch is on keyboard replacing Justin the original keyboardist... Jason is, and still is on vocals... So in a way the whole band is kind of "reshuffling" its members... You can say that my playing during the first audition was just, in my own critical opinion of my own playing, just a borderline effort... Mainly, it's because I wasn't that sure of the song progression and the intricate details of each song personally yet at that moment... So I give myself a 4 out of 10 for that time... I was honestly so afraid of screwing things up that time; being a perfectionist and all, I just couldn't accept my own playing in a very long time... So come the second audition, I just knew that I had to really level up and take my playing to another level... Though I know that my playing level is decent enough to fit most genres of music, I just knew that I needed that extra "something" in my playing; a stroke of genius at the right moment in time... I knew that I couldn't just take these kind of things lightly and put some effort into it... So practice I did... Lots of it... Sometimes in the wee hours... But not with an amplifier; I just kind of exercise the fingers with running and sliding everywhere on the fingerboard... All those in hope that the second time around would be better than the first time...

So here I am now, after the second audition... I can say now that I am satisfied with my playing today... Enoch had to briefly point out some finer details in some of the songs; like some parts of the song where I had to play a certain way to fit the song... Chris the sound engineer and Jason told me to "blast" the other guys with the low-end frequencies; meaning to play it "loud", and really, really loud... So in a very, very long time I can actually play it really, really loud and blast it... And I didn't even use my BOSS CS-2 Compressor to boost my gain level! It was THAT loud... The band members are really cool and "chun", stylish and really, really a talented bunch of people... Honestly, I feel really humbled just to audition with them... It really is an honor if I were to land the role of playing bass in their band... So to sum up today's second audition, it went pretty well... Played most of the songs from the previous session, and also some new ones on the spot as I haven't heard of it yet... I just had to use the impromptu "play-by-ear" skill to play along... It was in other words, some sort of a time of "jamming" in a way... Playing and rehearsing the song, but with the fun part of jamming incorporated into it as well...

Now I'll just have to wait for their notification on when is the third and final audition... The next time around I am going to hook up the bass to the BOSS effects and blast away... I didn't thought of it; Gordon, Stephen and Chris recommended me to hook up some overdrive to the bass to give it more "dirt"... So come the third and final time, it's going to be a "lock and loaded" bass with plenty of ammunition to blast some eardrums... How does it feel to audition in a really cool band like UNABASHED, you may ask? Really, really COOL and "CHUN"! I've learnt a lot in just two auditions so far, and it has been a great experience... Now I just have to practice with the BOSS effects...

Saturday Night Fever

2008-10-04T10:37:00.000-07:00

What a day it has been... Just came back an hour ago after a full day out... Youth service, music rehearsal, dinner, did some work in church and then sped all the way back home... How I'd wish that the roads will be like this forever with no traffic... Yeah, dream on... This IS Malaysia and it will never ever happen, unless there's the "Balik Kampung" syndrome on major holidays and festivals... By then the streets will be a deserted ghost town where all the rodents are able to come out and play and do some sunbathing on the empty streets...

Music rehearsals are one of those things that I really, really look forward to every weekend... Why, you may ask? Simply put, it's one of the ways that I personally can express myself when I play music; using my God-given talents to His glory... It's also an avenue where I can experiment and refine the skills of playing... *Sigh* Until now, I'm still in a daze as to which instrument is my personal favorite... It feels like I just want to shade all the answers on the objective test paper because I just can't simply choose a clear-cut answer... *Sigh*

Come Sunday night, I'll be going for my second audition for a bass player in a band... I have my fingers crossed now in fact... Hopefully I don't screw up and do the necessary stuff... Extensive research and practice is a MUST before any of this kind of auditions... Chord progression, musical phrasing, filling in during the interludes, all that have to be taken into consideration... I actually do wonder if I am obsessive compulsive in this way... Never mind... Anyway, I'll have to try and do my best and hope that it'll be good... It'll be a good experience to learn and also let others listen to the music that the band can play, but most of all it's for the friendship...

Oh yeah, which band did I auditioned for? Unabashed... They are really cool and "chun"... Their latest group picture is at the bottom... Currently they are looking for a bassist... Will try my best and leave God the rest...

Mr. Flu

2008-10-01T20:24:00.000-07:00

*Achoo* Yes, it is October and I have woken up... But with Mr. Flu tagging along... *Achoo* It does get irritating after awhile knowing that you MUST rest and that you MUST take good care of your food nutrition, before being able to go out and enjoy yourself... Sigh... *Achoo* Speaking of that, I was actually thinking of going out yesterday, only to stay back and recuperate thanks to Mr. Flu... *Achoo* Personally in my case, I'll be like Mr. Healthy for a very, very long time... And then at the next instance, an accomplice to Mr. Flu... Sigh... Wasted my day yesterday... *Achoo* Well, there's always Facebook to burn off some time... It always seems to be forever when you are NOT enjoying the moment... *Achoo*

Welcome sir, how may I help you? Buying the cymbal you saw the other day?

2008-09-30T07:33:00.000-07:00

My third article... And I'll equal Aaron's count of articles! It has been the usual day at work; noisy students, photocopying materials, marking the students' work... All in a day's work...

Went to The Curve after work and did some window shopping namely at Yamaha and F.O.S. and then across the road to Bentley Music. As soon as I stepped into the Yamaha outlet, the salesperson was swift to greet me... A pretty unusual sight because normally they will most of the time "only" greet potential customers that "may" purchase something from the store... Ironic but true... No offense to the employees there; they are just doing their job of making the customer feel at ease shopping at their store... But to "some" customers like myself, I personally dislike the idea of being "under the very watchful eyes of the person-in-charge observing your every single move"... Well, it's just that I'll feel more at ease shopping without "that" kind of a scenario going on around me... I mean, it's not like I'm going to steal anything, right? I'll pay for something if I want to buy it... A customer with integrity...

And then there are the certain salespeople that will tag along with you all the way trying their best to describe and propagate the information of the product you're looking at (This situation didn't happen at Yamaha; it's just a recollection of a situation in the past that irked me and a fellow friend before somewhere else...) and believe me, sometimes the salesperson doesn't even have the slightest idea of what the product is... It just seems that the propaganda is just something "you try to remember for an exam; remembering for the sake of passing the exam and not for the value of acquiring knowledge"... Worse still, they even asked if you have a valid "Credit Card" so that you can charge it... (Please bear in mind that my friend and myself were just browsing and looking but not touching anything as the place carries lots of pricey stuff, and yes, we didn't like the idea of being tagged along from behind the whole time) Er, hello? A salesperson at the store asking a customer if he/she have a Credit Card?! Excuse me, man... Okay, so my friend evaded that and said that he doesn't have a Credit Card, and guess what? The salesperson pushed further and suggested paying a deposit in cash and then working out an installment plan... Believe me, my friend was shocked at the whole situation; not even a 1% commitment to make ANY purchases, and all this came up?! After that day, THAT store got blacklisted by my friend... It seems they may have been really, really desperate to make sale of some sort... I don't know, but one thing I do know; that store was really, really dead quiet... Maybe other customers got scared out of their wits as well before...

Coming back here, the salespeople at Yamaha are not bad actually... Just unusual for the greeting because I rarely get a greeting from them before... Anyhow, they are nice and helpful, and like I mentioned before, they are just doing their job... May return to make a purchase from them for being friendly to a potential customer... Maybe sometime soon, I hope...

Bentley was next... I was just a short walk across the busy intersection of Tesco, Ikea, The Curve and the Bentley building itself... Once inside, the sight of the guitars hanging on the wall will greet you with a "Welcome to Bentley Music, look at me, play me, and hopefully you'll buy me"... Just kidding on that one... But the truth is, the very sight of a more than a dozen guitars and various other accessories WILL greet you as you enter into the premise... Believe me, the place is HUGE! Made my way to the drums section and did the usual window shopping routine... Looked through all the cymbals hanging everywhere from the wall (How I'd wished it was MY room wall instead) and even took a look at some snare drums... I was kind of impressed by the Zildjian K Custom Hybrid line of cymbals developed in conjunction with Akira Jimbo... What made this line of cymbals unique is the (a) unusual diameter size of the cymbal, which makes it respond more rapidly and with more glassy bite, (b) half lathed and half unlathed portion of the cymbal, which provides a combination of hot and simmering, or bright and smoother sounds, (c) cymbal is hand-made, which provides the cymbal a very unique sound and voice all of its own, because machine made cymbals sound the same off the production line...

Yeah well, I was kind of impressed with the Zildjian K Custom Hybrid line of cymbals, but I'm more of a SABIAN customer... And SABIAN even have unusual diameter size cymbals courtesy of Mike Portnoy with his own Signature MAX line of splash cymbals! Yay! Better still, there is a box set of three of his MAX splash cymbals... Hey, how cool is that? Pretty cool!

Well, everything requires money... And money requires time... *Sigh*... Well, one day for sure... At the meantime, I suspect that there is a need for a decent crash cymbal... Was going through the SABIAN catalog and website earlier, and it seems that the AA 15" Medium Crash may have been discontinued just recently... Today at the store, I spotted just one unit left hanging on the wall... I really wonder, is it destiny? Easy to say, it still requires a whole lump sum of money! *Sigh*... All nice things come with a really "nice" price tag...

Monday, Monday...

2008-09-29T07:19:00.000-07:00

It's been a rather quiet day today. Nothing extraordinary took place... Basically going through the normal routine on an unusually "quiet" Monday... Traffic would normally be a problem every Monday, but due to the "Raya Balik Kampung", it has been a pleasant drive for the past week...

The peculiar thing has to be the weather of late... Either the monsoon season is coming, or the monsoon season is going crazy... I don't know... But what I do know is that it has been rain, rain, shine, rain, rain, shine... Okay, you get it now? When it rains, it REALLY rains like somebody desperately in need of a loo... And if it doesn't rain, it is like a living sauna couple with some scattered haze here and there... All in all, the weather is going nuts! Thanks to global warming I guess... I was driving Bryan and Aaron back home today, and guess what? When I dropped off Bryan, it wasn't raining at his house... Yeah, and no prizes for guessing what the weather was when I dropped off Aaron at his house... Funny to think that the distance between their houses is less than 100 meters apart...

Went back home after that and took a nap... What I didn't expect was that when I woke up it was already dinner time... Guess I may be tired from the past week... Had dinner and managed to catch the BPL action recap on television... Dubious penalty decision they all say, but in the end Manchester United still won the game, and you can't write-off the 2nd goal scored by Wayne Rooney... I really hope that Berbatov will start scoring soon... *Sigh* Anyway, a win is a win...

Took the little dog for a walk after that... By the way, it's a female dog... *Ahem* What are you thinking? Coming back here, the dog may be small and quiet, but will make a lot of noise when it seeks to have somebody for company... Guess it also applies to us too in a way...

Like I mentioned earlier, it has been a rather "quiet" Monday really... Well, this wouldn't be the case next week come October as the "Raya Balik Kampung" people would return home and back to the normal routine... Then there will be noise pollution from the kids playing down the street, traffic jams on the road, full house crowds at the "mamak" stalls, no parking spaces at shopping malls... Normal? I hope so...

Can't wait to get my hands on the SABIAN B8 Performance Set of cymbals... Initially, I was skeptical thinking "are you sure these budget cymbals could sound THAT good?" Somewhere in the middle of this year, I went to watch Bryan in action for his school's awareness campaign outside The Curve beside Laundry Bar entitled, "Autism Unpuzzled"... There were live bands performing on that day, and guess what? The drum set was equipped with this very same set of cymbals... From a distance, it sounded very clear and defined... At the back of my mind I was thinking this may have to be some of those "pricey and expensively good-sounding cymbals" to sound this good... I actually ventured to the side of the drum set and lo and behold, it was the B8 set... Man, this has to be it... I mean, at least it would be a good way to start; start with a really good budget set and then slowly work towards the more expensive models...

So in the meantime, I'm still waiting to get my hands on that set... Meanwhile, I'm still dreaming of one day getting the SABIAN AAXplosion Crash... arguably regarded as the best crash cymbal... *Sigh* How I wish money do grow on trees...

Wake me up when September ends...

2008-09-28T08:46:00.000-07:00

Today is a Sunday... So, what do you think is so special about today? Well, besides going to church that is... No prizes for getting the correct answer though... Yes, I have just got this blog up and going... *Music plays "Congratulations... and celebrations"*

Yeah, yeah... Jokes aside...

Went to church today, played music as usual, but it wasn't a rosy bed of roses at all. You see, the guitar chose to throw a tantrum at the start of the worship session. Now how do you deal with that? Do you either (a) stop playing and tune it leaving an empty void in the music group... or (b) just ignore it and play on though it's going to hurt the eardrums major bad... Well, I chose (c) that is to play AND tune it at the same time... Yeah, done it a lot of times in the past and surprisingly, grew more dexterous with my hand coordination. Never mind how "silly" it may look sometimes, but it definitely gets two jobs done in one go. It actually dawned upon me after the worship session that I may need to replace my guitar strings, again... Yes, another two red-colored notes out of the pocket once again...

At the end of church service, it actually dawned upon me that October is waiting to make it's grand entrance when September bows out... What?! It's already October?! Anyway, that is not the full impact of the reality of October's entrance... I then realized that we have yet to plan for Christmas! Man, time really flies away when we are enjoying it... and it seems forever when we are not really enjoying the moment... Ironic but true... *Sigh* Christmas have always been a very special and dear celebration for me personally... You know, the usual Christmas scene of window shoppers, cookies and chocolates galore, presents, and not to forget the caroling experience! In fact, I can't wait to get behind the wheel of the TOYOTA Unser during the month of December... Oh, you wouldn't want to know how many decibels of laughter gets generated inside that single vehicle alone... Even some of the jokes are so "lame" that "even the lame can walk" after all the laughter... Besides, laughter is the best medicine...

So in the meantime, it's that time of the year to put on the "Thinking Cap" and generate some input and ideas on what we are going to perform this Christmas... *Sigh* Basically, it always comes down to "the story of Jesus' birth MUST be conveyed", but it is the "approach" of our script that is the determining factor of making the entire performance unique in its own portrayal and effective in conveying the message to the audience... Still, somebody has to get the job done... Yours truly will be cracking his right-side hemisphere for creative juices and his left-side hemisphere for check-and-balance... Miss Esta C will also be one busy bee come October; already she's busy and is going to get busier as we approach December! Aunty Janice also mentioned that she'll be coming out with something... So, if we can't get Plan A to work out, we can always ask Aunty Janice for her plan, hence Plan B... *Music plays "That's what friends are for"* Hehehe...

Went back home after lunch at The Golden Arches... Updated some stuff on Facebook and then went out again... Went to Bukit Rahman Putra for "mamak" with Bryan... The "Happy Guy" was there in his Manchester United away jersey, as usual... Anyway, had a drink and "Maggi Goreng" and then went back home... Thought of just taking a cat nap since I was on my bed... Ended waking up just in time for dinner! Crazy! I didn't expect to be in "Lala Land" so early in the night... Anyhow, the Singapore F1 was on and here I was in front of the "Idiot Box" with dinner... The Singapore F1 was cool! Wished they could have a street drifting competition like that in the heart of Lion City! Haha...

So here I am now, composing my very first blog here... More to come in future... It's even an hour past midnight already as I'm typing here on the keyboard! *Cinderella has turned back to her rags from her gown* Think it's time I check into the 5-star hotel in "Lala Land"... Wake me up when September ends...