Asian Entertainment Review: Khalil, Raymond, Justin

I feel totally exhausted for some reason, so I decided to give myself a break while I sit here listening to my new cds.

Khalil Fong's This Love Live album was amazing as usual. He has this very unique voice that totally suits the soul/R&B genre. According to my brother, he sounds like an asian version of Jason Mraz. I hope to see more new songs from him soon. I've heard a lot of the songs on this album before but it was different to hear them "live". My favourites are still "Goodbye Melody Rose", "詩人的情人" and my all time favourite: "南音". His renditions of classics such as "Signed Sealed Delivered" were also great!



Raymond Lam's debut is not that bad. I was a little worried at first because all I've ever heard him sing were themes of tv shows, but the songs are pretty good. The only problem I have is that there isn't much variation in terms of the style of his songs. He managed to try a more upbeat/more hiphop sounding tune for Track 5 though. I hope to see more of that since he needs more upbeat songs to enable him to show off his dancing talent :) After listening to the whole album I still like the Drive of Life song (ie the title track) the most. Despite the fact I'm not a big fan of the series, I actually like both the main theme and subtheme of the series a lot. The last track is pretty but I really don't like the "wee-oo-wee-oo" sound in the background. I find it a little inappropriate. The packaging was very cool, nice poster-lyric book hybrid, awesome photo collection; however, the cardboard cd case is not very durable. I already ripped it :( His music is not as catchy or amazing as Khalil's but he definitely deserves more attention than Ron Ng etc.

Justin's JTV is also very good. My favourites are "紅地氈", "一句" and "男人KTV". I swear "頭條新聞 " is pretty old. I heard it way back when. I'm not a big fan of intro's and outro's though. I think they're supposed to tie the album together, but they're not something I would actually enjoy listening to. Also, I don't like it when artists sing the same song in different languages/dialects, like how Stuck On U is the English version of "紅地氈" and "路人甲" is the Mandarin version of "貝殼". It's like, did they run out of melodies so they had to recycle them? I always end up liking the first version I hear more than the second(or even third) so it just doesn't help in terms of increasing the album's value for me. The outer sleeve of the album is normal looking but what's up with the ugly inner cover. Oh well, it's the music that counts right?

Since I am trying to be objective, I noticed I mentioned a lot of bad points but don't get me wrong; overall, I'm very happy with my purchases.

Living in the Present

Last night, I attended yet another workshop. The topic of the night: Stress. The main cure for stress? Living in the present - to not be affected by the past or look too far ahead into the future. Monica Magnetti mentioned that a goal is a lot easier to reach when you're happy while you're trying to reach it. That makes so much sense to me. Don't you find sometimes you totally bury yourself in trying to reach a goal only to find that time has just flown by. On the day you reach your goal, perhaps you will be very happy but why waste all those days prior to this day? Why not enjoy all those days too? As a very results-oriented person, I can assure you this is a difficult task but definitely not impossible. Sometimes it is important to kneel down and smell the roses.

Strangely enough, today right after my ballet class, as I was packing up by the window, I caught a glimpse of the water fountain outside and felt a sense of calmness which I have never felt before. Even as I found out I lost my necklace, I didn't especially stress out over it. A little upset, yes but not to the point where I'm so frustrated I can't function properly. And this is indeed strange coming from someone who freaks out even when she loses a measly eraser. Hey, maybe these workshops do help.

Lastly, no one says it better than my all time favourite musical - Rent.

MAL Visit

I finally got the chance to go to MAL over the weekend. I decided to respect intellectual property rights and to support those artists who work so hard to produce great music. What a coincidence that there was an article in 24 today talking about the demise of CDs. Some might call me crazy for not following the crowd; some might call me stupid for wasting money, but like Jackie said about being punctual, I felt great after doing it and that’s all that counts. I felt like a little kid in a candy shop! Raymond Lam’s new cd immediately caught my attention. I’ve only heard one song off his album but the attractive cd covered lured me over. Then I start grabbing so many cds off the shelf. Fortunately I had someone there with me to bring me back to reality. I had to give up on some and decided to purchase Raymond Lam’s debut《愛在記憶中找你》, Khalil Fong’s This Love Live, and Justin Lo’s JTV. I usually don’t spend this much but I wanted to give myself a little treat because of the stress I had to endure this weekend. Listened to some songs from both Khalil and Justin’s albums. I’m glad to say that they are totally worth my money. If I have time, full reviews are to follow.

Responsibility

One reason why I love Johnson's character (Ah Meh) so much in Welcome to the House (WTTH) is that he is such a responsible and reliable individual. Per dictionary.com, responsibility is "a form of trustworthiness; the trait of being answerable to someone for something." I personally equate responsibility with reliability and even punctuality. It's to not let others down. I truly admire those who are responsible people. In WTTH, Ah Meh is never late and can always be relied on. I don't expect everyone to be like him; however, I am sometimes just surprised at how irresponsible some people can be. It's become more of a norm to not be punctual. I confess: I am guilty if this. I recall always being early before, probably from influence by my Dad. As the years passed, however, I'm slowly neglecting to be punctual because I don't expect others to be. What a slap in the face when someone was assertive enough to remind me of its importance! And I thank this friend. Punctuality is just one aspect of being responsible. Promising to do something and not carrying out that action out is irresponsible. Making a mistake and not accepting the consequences is irresponsible. Having others wait for your response when you clearly should have given it asap is also irresponsible. Not doing your part in a team environment is irresponsible. I really wish that being responsible can be the norm and not the exception. And I will try my best from this day forward to become more responsible and to think about the consequences of my actions or my failure to act.

Asian Entertainment Review: TVB Award Presentation 2007

2 posts in one day but I really wanted to share my thoughts. Just finished watching the show. I was very disappointed for most of the show because I really wasn't happy with a lot of the people who received awards. The show definitely turned around for me as Moses Chan and Lee See Kei were awarded as they were the only deserving winners in my opinion. Lastly, and most importantly, I was extremely touched at the end of the show. The appearance of Lydia Sum really touched me. I never really liked her as an artist. I thought she was loud and egocentric, but today all these thoughts dissipated as I see her appear in a wheelchair and she seemed like a totally different person. Chemotherapy has really affected her as she now looks very weak and very thin. I truly truly wish her good health and longevity. For everyone else, please value your good health now as I just realized nothing is more important than that.

Asian Entertainment Review: Welcome to the House

Time to take off my philosophical hat and put on my Asian hat. Welcome to the House - A sitcom revolving around the Ko family. When I watched the first few episodes, I was thinking: "What is this? This is so 無聊." I decided to stop watching despite the fact that Raymond Cho and Johnson Lee are in it. I've recently decided to give it a chance after finding out that the Drive of Life is not my cup of tea. I still have to agree that the plots are sometimes very 無聊 and pointless and some episodes are better left out, but if you're looking for something light-hearted to watch after a stressful day, this is the right series. I'd rather be watching something relaxing like WTTH than to have to suffer more stress and turmoil from watching the Drive of Life.

Johnson Lee doesn't have the looks but he's definitely got the talent. In my opinion, he has the best acting skills in the series. Some actors who used to play small parts before who I liked are actually leads now (e.g. Michael Tse, Roger Kwok, Joe Ma). Hope the same happens to him. Can't wait to see his performance tomorrow night at the TVB anniversary! Another plus is that his English is great. And I definitely can say the same about Chung King Fai. Him breaking out into his Shakespearean monologue out of nowhere was hilarious. Raymond Cho is stuck playing a greedy, selfish, vain jerk again after having a similar character in At Home with Love. Not loving it. Shermon Tang is actually not bad for a newcomer. Her character is also very likable. I really want her to end up with Johnson after the cholesterol episode but I don't think that's going to happen. Although she's only 1 year older than Annie Chung (Go B), her acting is so much better. And yes, Go B is apparently 23 years old! I seriously thought she was 16. When I saw her with Vin Choi in one episode I thought Vin was a pedophile, apparently not; they are the same age. Christine Ng has really got to stop saying "REElax" because it is not sending the right signal to those in HK who want to learn proper English. Lastly, the addition of Sharon Chan and her brother is bringing the series down. Can't wait to see Nancy Wu though. All in all, not an award winning series but definitely something to raise my spirits.

Perspective

"Everything can be taken away from a person except for one thing - the ability to choose one's way, to choose one's attitude in any given circumstance" - Victor Frankl

"苦樂全在主觀的心，不在客觀的事" - 梁啟超

Is the glass half full or half empty? There are many ways to put this but it all boils down to one thing. Happiness is entirely dependent upon your perspective. I once read a book which told me not to be affected by the weather. Just because the weather is gloomy doesn't mean that we should be depressed. Why let external factors affect us? Being in Vancouver, letting the weather affect us means we will be depressed for 90% of the year!

If I haven't been having such a busy week I wouldn't have been able to enjoy my dance classes and the downtime I had with my friends as much. If the weather is not cold in Vancouver, there will be no snow on the mountain tops for those of us who like to ski or snowboard. Your life might seem like a complete mess right now: on the verge of failing courses, having kids who seem to be disobedient and unable to take care of themselves, or in your last year of university and still have yet to find a job after graduation. Take a step back and think about it from a different perspective. Challenges help us grow. If your life is always nicely paved with no obstacles, life would be very boring and you would totally break down given the smallest problems. Life is short. There's no time to be sad!

I have a friend who is always so happy and warm. Even though she might be having a bad day or her schedule is absolutely tight, she is always willing to say hi and welcome you with a warm smile. By doing so, she is brightening up the days of those around her. So be happy no matter what's happening around you. As a result, you may be helping those of us with lower EI than you and who are still influenced by external factors.

Back on Track

What's wrong with me lately? Apparently, my bad day yesterday carried over from yesterday. I'm proud to say that yesterday was the most productive day I had ever since midterms ended. But wait, is that something to be happy about? Or should I mourn about the fact that busy season has begun again. Perhaps, I'm not used to stress anymore. I recall I used to be stressed all the time with my 2 jobs, 6 courses and everything else going on with my life. This term, I decided to take it easy with 1 job and 4 courses. Who would've thought that can perhaps be a bad thing? During the downtimes, I would feel unproductive and useless instead of enjoying them. During relatively more stressful times, I would feel worse for being unproductive during the downtimes. I think my stress tolerance has decreased since I no longer feel that I can handle stress as well anymore. I am technically busier this week but this is still nothing compared to what I had to go through before. My self-control and self-discipline abilities are slowly weakening too. Time to get back on track, Bonnie.

人品

I was told never to send an email when I'm angry; however, I was never told not to blog when I'm upset. Did you ever wake up and have this horrible feeling that you're going to have a bad day. It's hard to explain. There's no particular reason why you feel this way. Quite frankly, I don't think it's because today is Monday. I don't really mind Mondays ever since school started. From dropping my phone on the bus, to choking on saliva in class (x2), to pointlessly carrying my heavy laptop to school today, the fun never stops. But what really did it was when I was on the bus, and there are these two guys sitting directly behind me who would talk non-stop. I'm not saying talking on the bus is bad. But listening to two guys talking on the bus about the faults of others is not necessarily a great way to start your day. At this one point, I swear they were saying crap about me. This is not the first time someone deliberately talks about me right behind me. What is up with that? They were speaking Chinese. They need to be aware of the fact that I, along with a lot of other people on the bus are Chinese too. I tried using my empathy and tried to understand why they would act this way. But WHY? I don't know. I searched high and low and couldn't find an answer to that. Maybe it's a matter of 人品. If you saw someone fall, would you laugh and walk away or help them up? If you see that someone's backpack is open, would you laugh at how stupid they are or would you let them know? If someone ran so quickly their shoe fell off, would you point and laugh or would you help pick up their shoe up for them? If you would laugh in all these situations, I worry for you my friend. I'm sorry this post is a lot worse written and less motivational than my other posts. I just needed to share my thoughts with you my friends.

Bad Habits

Do you have a bad habit you cannot seem to get rid of? Some people smoke. Some people do drugs. Some people shoplift. Some people download illegally. Some people like to use profanity. Some people like to watch tv before doing homework. Some people like to eat the dessert before the main course. Some people like to complain about everything they see around them. Despite the severity or consequences, this habits are by definition "bad". According to dictionary.com, habits are an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary". Indeed, it is hard to get rid of because how can you get rid of something that has become almost involuntary. Sometimes I would feel very strongly about getting rid of it but the next day or even in the next hour, I would think: "Why do I need to change? There's nothing wrong with the status quo... right?". I guess many people are waiting for that final push to get us going. When will that push come? No one knows. When will we change? We SHOULD know. I truly hope we all have the willpower and the self-control to change at least one bad habit as we approach a new year.

Empathy

I went to an EI talk today with a great friend of mine and one word in the talk really struck me - empathy. According to dictionary.com it is "identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives." It is the ability to put yourself in other people's shoes. Now I dare to ask, how many of us actually do that all the time? I try to when I occasionally remember but I often find myself not doing that. I remember CAPP 12 when my teacher told us that people might be ill-tempered because of the certain circumstances they are in which we are unaware of. If that is the case, we may be blaming others for things which we should not be. My ballroom teacher says we always blame our partner for not doing a good job when we are usually the one to blame. Confucius once said "己所不慾,勿施於人" or "Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself." Although not identical, it carries a similar meaning. The idea of being able to empathize not only results in imposing benefits on other people but also onto yourself. Once I start seeing things in other people's perspectives, I am able to mitigate the amount of anger and stress I suffer from the situation. There is someone who I really care about who always complains about everything around them and I used to get very frustrated at the whole situation. Occasionally, I would stand back and think: why is this person acting this way? I try to analyze the reasons behind their actions and then I find myself to be able to calm down a lot. It is indeed a win-win situation.

A new beginning

So one day I decided to create a blog for myself. When was this, you ask? Well it was today of course. I have slowly trained myself to try to not wait when I want to do something. Life is too short and if I keep thinking about whether or not to do something, why not save the time and do it right away. An old friend of mine once said don't save the ice cream for last, what if you end up dropping it before you get the chance to taste it? Perhaps this is a waste of time. Perhaps I would get disappointed if it ends up that no one would read this. But if I don't try, I would never know. In the age of Facebook, you might ask: why doesn't she just post notes on her page? Doesn't it serve the same purpose? In my opinion, no. Facebook has too many other things going on which distracts the reader from reading what you have to write. The Facebook network consists of a whole bunch of friends, family, coworkers and acquaintances, of which not all truly care about what you have to say. So I dedicate my writing to those who are truly interested in the topics I write about. Perhaps this is to allow me to continue with my diary writing which I was once very involved with. Perhaps this is to share my thoughts to allow you to understand who lil blue tiger really is. Perhaps I found out I've been watching too much tv lately and I should do something else with my time. Perhaps this is just an opportunity for me to improve my writing skills. Whatever the purpose, I hope to be able to continue with this and not make it an impulsive endeavor. Sometimes my posts may sound like rants and perhaps they are but in no way am I trying to put the blame on others or to offend other people. I would just like to share my thoughts and create a discussion among my readers. I was never much of an artsy person nor am I a good writer, please forgive me for any shortfalls in my writing.