2007

2007 is a year of changes, enjoyment, excitement and happiness for me.

Let me recall…. 2007 is a year which:

1) My 12-years dream came true
- Masha looked and talked to me at his concerts at Matsuyama. My heart beat was so fast then. I could not believe it. Thank god that my seats were at arena and I could see him.

2) I finally went for Masha's photo exhibition
- I finally have the chance to attend Masha's photo exhibition after so many years! It was so wonderful to see Masha's works. Each of the photo tells how 細い and　優しい Masha is. His works really touched my heart.

3) I went to 鳥取砂丘(とっとりさきゅう) and 植田正治写真美術館
- It was my aim to go to these two places since N years back. Till now I cannot forget my feelings when I first saw 鳥取砂丘 and step my foot on it. Especially the feeling when my tears just dropped uncontrollably when I started to take photos there. This was a special place for Masha and it has somehow became a special place in my heart too.

- My mind was really calm and peaceful when I was at 植田正治写真美術館. If I have the chance, I would have just idle around there for one whole day. I hope someday I can go back again. I will, definitely.

4) I started photography
- I always have an interest in photography and wanted to learn it since I was young. I am glad that I finally started photography. I like the black and white photos, taking potraits and landscape. Masha has influenced me greatly on these aspects.The photos he took were so interesting and beautiful. He can capture people's truthful expressions. I hope my skills can be at least half of his someday.

5) I travelled the most
- I travelled 3 times to Japan and 1 time to Taipei. All for concerts and of course tour too. I got to know myself better through travelling, especially when I travelled alone. Travelling alone allows me to sort out my thoughts, talk to people and get exposed to new things. I do enjoy travelling with friend(s) too. It’s another different type of experience.

6) I become strong and healthy
- I signed up for gym on 1 Jan 2007 and started it on a few days later. I am glad that I have the perseverance to continue gym for almost a year. In fact, if not for Masha’s concerts at Matsuyama, I would not have started gym. Thanks, Masha!

7) I find that I have slight improvement in dancing
- I managed to count beats when listening to songs. My dance is still very poor but as compared to the past, I have improved slightly, only about 5%. I need to improve more.

8) I known a few new and nice friends
- It’s good that I know few nice new friends this year, be it during travelling or in Singapore. They are nice people and have offered their help to me. Thanks to all!

I would say 2007 is a good year for me and I am looking forward to 2008. I hope 2008 will be a even better year for me!

Christmas Day = Bodycombat Day

I survived a 90 minutes Bodycombat!

I attended the 90 minutes Bodycombat on Christmas Day. Wanted to attend the Bodypump but changed my mind because I want to support JD. There were about 80 or more participants in the class.

The class was co-conducted by JD and Tomomi. I enjoyed JD's teaching more. He's cute. Haha. I like to see his smile as it brightens up my mood.

Some of the participants were quite active. Shouted and sing along. I did too! To join in the fun and enjoy myself.

There was not much break during the class. I am glad I managed to pull through. At the end of the class, JD distributed cookies to us. Wow, so nice of him.

I met Ngiam, one of the Personal Trainer (PT) whom is a nice guy and resembles Stephen Chow. He complimented that I looked nice in my sports gear. He said I lost weight! I did not...Alot of people said I lost weight but I did not. I am now announcing to the world that "I DID NOT LOST WEIGHT!" I always weight myself every one or two days. My weight is same. Just that I think my fats have turned into muscles.

Ngiam was so nice and he explained to me on the types of fats we have, vitamins I need to take, the diet etc. I think he's worried that I over exercise and lost too much unnecessary fats.

I feel lucky that I met some nice people like Ngiam. Even though I don't know Ngiam well, we can joke and chat. Thanks Ngiam, for your concern. It makes me feel some warmth during Christmas Day. (^.^)

Christmas Eve

I attended the Bodybalance class at Bugis after having lunch. Perina attended the class with me. We went for sauna for a while after the class. Then took shower and went BHG. Perina wanted to shop for a Christmas present for her father-in-law. She wanted to get a shirt but after some discussions with me, changed to a belt instead. She got one for her father-in-law and one for James. I got one for my dad. ^.^

I went for dinner at my brother's house. They organised a Christmas party. Frankly speaking, I did not enjoyed it. I don't know their friends well, and nothing to chat about. I just spent my time by taking photos. It's nice to meet up Kailian though. It has been years since I met him. He has grown up... married now. Can't imagine he was still a kid years back and always call me Big Sis.

In the past, I always look forward to Christmas. Since few years back, I don't feel anything for Christmas anymore. I don't know why... maybe because there is really nothing to look forward to. The light decorations at Orchard Road no longer excites me. I am no longer interested to do shopping in S'pore.

Christmas to me now just means that the year is ending soon...

Gastric Flu

I was down with Gastric Flu on Tuesday, 18 Dec.

I went to see the company doctor on the way to office in the morning. I was given only cold tablets, losenges and a lotion for diarrhoea. Doctor said it was a small matter... and gave me one day MC. The day before, I went to see the company doctor and was diagnosed conjuctivities. The stupid doctor said it was nothing serious and did not give me any MC. So this doctor was nicer than that one.

I had diarrhoea even I took the medication. I had such pain that it made me perspired and I just endured throughout, from morning. Till about 4 pm, I could not stand any longer, after the more than 10 times diarrhoea (luckily it did not exceed 15 times!). I went to see my GP. My mum accompanied me as I was too weak to walk, worried that I may faint.

My GP diagnosed that I have gastric flu! The conjuctivities was a symptom. It started last Friday (Thank God I can still go to Code:Edge!). Sunday I ate sashimi (Ru's birthday treat!). So it just blow up... haiz

I was terribly sick and felt 気持ち悪い on Tuesday and I admired myself for being able to go through the pain. I felt better the next day, but just a bit weak because I did not take much food.

I feel that ever since I started exercising, my body recovers fast when I am sick. Hmm.. I fell sick 3 times this year:

1) flu, cough, cold - lasted about 2 weeks because of the cough
2) conjunctivities- 1 day (I even went to gym during MC!)
3) Gastric Flu - 1 day (this was the worst attack!)

I hope I can stay healthy... having a good health is most important! This means, more exercising, a balance diet and a healthy lifestyle!

CODE:EDGE at Zouk, 15 December, 7pm

I attended the dance competition, CODE:EDGE at Zouk last Saturday. This dance competition was held by Studio Wu and Dance 2XS. Dance 2XS gave cash prizes scholarships to Dance 2XS to the winners of both the Solo and Group Category. The judges for this competition were Patrick Chen, Gigi Torres, Lee Daniel, Patrick Loo and Sheila Cheong.

I feel lucky to be able to attend this competition. It was fun to identify familiar faces, dancers who are/were Patrick’s students, dancers whom I have saw in competitions and dance instructors from dance schools. This was definitely one of the events not to be missed by people from the Singapore dance scene.

My friends and I secured a place near the entrance, above the dance floor and near to the staircase leading to the dance floor. The dance floor was small and the stage is small too. The dance floor as quite crowded, so we decided to stay at the second floor. Though I wear high heel boots and probably can see the competitors, I don’t wish to squeeze with those people and decided to stay with my friends.

I saw Patrick walked passed us. So I suggested to Eileen and called him. We called him quite loudly while he was walking down the stairs. He got a shock and replied “Yo!!!” He turned and saw us and said “Don’t give me heart attack.” Haha. I seldom see Patrick wears denim jacket and jeans. So when I saw him wearing denim jacket, jeans and a cap, it looked as if he has lost weight. Maybe because he always wears lose t-shirt and track pants.

The host for the night was Sheikh Haikel. As usual, he was as funny as ever and created a ‘high’ atmosphere before the competition.

The competition started at around 8pm. It started with a few dance performances by students from Studio Wu, O School and Patrick’s students (current and ex-students from NUS and NTU). Patrick taught some of the choreo in these dances at our classes.

Zaihar started the solo category dance competition, followed by the rest like Eve, Yuri, Brian etc. I saw a couple of new faces. This is good as there is new blood in the S’pore dance scene. The competitor with the most supporters is Yutaki. He has many fans! I think they are his students. His fans hold his posters. Haha! This is the first time I saw Yutaki danced. He’s good. From the way he dances, it seems like he knows other types of dances like jazz besides hip hop. He’s creative too, by taking a small part of the “881” song. Patrick must have loved it! (^.^)

My long awaited Group category started after the solo category. Some of the choreography from a few of the groups did not attract me. So I simply switched off or went toilet (same for solo). Some were really good! I cheered loudly for D’ATO (pronounced as D.A.TO), the group which Justis is in. Eileen was rather surprised that I was there to cheer for Justis. Anyway, D’ATO’s outfits were cool and attractive. I guess it must be Awi’s works. I am so happy to see them danced lyrical hip hip. In fact, only 2 groups in this competition danced lyrical hip hop. It’s so difficult to dance well in lyrical hip hop. You got to hit at the lyrics and essence. Most of the dance teams played safe by doing the usual hip hop and adding in some gimmicks. It’s not what I really hope to see. I just find that D’ATO is so cool and admire their courage to do lyrical hip hip in the competition.

The selection for the solo category was rather obvious. It’s not difficult to guess who will be shortlisted for the battle. Zaihar, Eve, Brian and Yutaki were shortlisted for the battle. Eve and Yutaki were in the same group while Zaihar and Brian were in the same group. Yutaki was obviously better than Eve with the attacks. The judges could not determine whether to chose Zaihar or Brian as both just attacked and did not give each other a chance to rest. Finally Zaihar won the battle. He did not have much time to rest and have to battle Yutaki. The judges could not decide who to pick after the first round of battle as both of their skills are good. So Yutaki and Zaihar have to battle again, and this time the judges decided based on who can make use of the music. Zaihar won the competition! Congrats! He was so emotional that he immediately jumped down to the stage to hug, his girlfriend? The whole Zouk was filled with cheers and applauses.

To our surprise, Patrick Chen announced that since Yutaki is so good, he is willing to fund the scholarship to Yutaki. Yutaki is so lucky to go LA! Patrick and Gigi did askd Zaihar and Yutaki to continue dancing.

Patrick Chen, Gigi Torres and Daniel Lee gave their group and solo performances. I like Patrick Chen and Gigi Torres’s dancing, especially Patrick Chen’s dancing. He’s good. When he danced lyrical hip hop, I was like ‘Wow!”

Time for the Group category announcement. D’ATO won the “TAGGER'S MOST STYLISH GROUP AWARD.” (^.^/) “Little Red Riding Hood”, led by Seow (NUS former dance captain) won the second runner up.

When Sheikh announced “D’ATO” as the first runner up, I was disappointed. (>.<) I would really want them to be the winner…. The winner is “La Fuse,” a group of girls. Their dancing skills were good but I don’t really like it as they danced girl moves. I don’t like girl moves. Their performance was entertaining and it was rather safe as it’s the normal hip hop style. They took part in “Overdrive” last year but heard their members got injured and it affected their performance. D’ATO felt so happy for them and jumped with joy when “La Fuse” was announced. I was, not that joyful though. The competition ended by another round of performance by “La Fuse.” I was not keen to watch them again actually… Anyway, it was the fact that the judges picked them. Overall, I enjoyed watching the competition. The standard was really high. Patrick Chen did say that someone told him that S’pore has no dance enthusiasts and he said this is not true. I totally agree. The problem is only that we need more talents and the S’pore society to recognize this group of people.

I look forward to the better future of our dance scene. Cheers!

Bodycombat

It was the first time I tried Bodycombat yesterday. The reason I tried was because J.D replaced K.C for the class. Hehe.

I do not like Bodycombat previously because it is a 'hard' exercise (unlike dancing) and people shouted during the class, which I find it a bit crazy. Anyway, I did perspired alot during the class. Used up alot of energy and burnt alot of calories. It was not bad as I thought. J.D told me that the shouting was also good because it allowed people to exhale the air and good for breathing. Hmm, I did shouted a few times during the class too, just to blend into the atmosphere.

I may go for the class again, after Bodypump on Sunday.

My body ached since yesterday...(>.<)

Bodypump

I increased the weights for Bodypump since the last few sessions.

Warm up – 2kg to 4kg
Squats – 4kg to 7kg
Chest – 2kg to 4kg
Back/Gluteals/Hamstrings – 4kg to 5kg
Legs/lunges – 4kg to 5kg
Triceps – 2kg to 4kg
Arms/biceps – 4kg to 5kg

I tried 7kg for arms/biceps but a bit taxing for me after the earlier exercises. Anyway, I don’t wish to look too muscular, so 5kg is good for me.

My weakest areas are the Chest and Triceps training. I hope to increase the weights gradually.

12 November 2007 – Back to Singapore

I am so glad I got these 2 items!







I shopped around the hotel and went to 光南批發 again. As usual, I bought CDs again. I was surprised I saw the dvd of Masha’s first drama “Homework” and I bought it without any hesitation. When come to Masha, no hesitation. Haha!

I am quite proud of the list of CDs/DVDs I bought this time:

1) Masha’s 「5年モ」normal press album
2) Masha’s 「東京にもあったんだ」 single
3) w-inds 「It’s a Beautiful Life」single
4) EXILE 「Evolution」 album
5) A.I 「What’s Goin’ On」 album
6) 森山直太朗「未来～風の強い午後に生まれたソネット～」
7) 森山直太朗「5th Season」 Concert DVD
8) 桑田佳祐「明日晴れるかな」
9) 桑田佳祐「風の詩を聴かせて」
10) Kobukuro All Singles Best
11) 「あすなろ白書」OST
12) 「東京タワー　～ オカンとボクと，時々、オトン」　OST
13) Bob Dylan 「Modern Times」 album
14) Eric Clapton 「Complete Clapton」 album

The last day at Taipei, just felt that it was a boring place. Maybe because I have attained my goal and penniless. I will be back to Taipei someday… for concerts again!

w-inds. Live Tour 2007 "Journey" 2007.11.11@台北小巨蛋

I reached Taipei Arena about 6.30pm. As usual, I did stretching exercise before the concert. This has become my habit. Be it w-inds or Masha’s concerts. I feel that my muscles and body are not so tied after doing the stretching.

My seat was at the left side facing the stage. This time at the 4th row, 4th seat. The view is better as compared to yesterday. It was nearer. The concert started at about 7.20pm.

I could see w-inds more clearly. I wonder why I got so high from the start. Perhaps it was the finale of their concerts. The number of audience today was lesser than yesterday but we were louder than yesterday’s audience. At the first MC, w-inds mentioned that they could feel the power of the audience, even though the number was lesser than yesterday’s concert. I think it was obvious that they felt that the audience today was much powerful than yesterday. While 涼平　was talking, some fans started to sing Birthday Song in English and all the audience sang along. 涼平 was rather surprised (涼平 mentioned in the Yahoo Talk a day after their return to Japan that he was rather frustrated that his talk was interrupted by the singing. He doubt whether the fans were paying attention to his talk). 涼平 mentioned that “スタフは言われました。” on why his birthday is always near to their Taiwan trip. 龍一 got jealous and said his birthday is also near, which is next month. (>.<)

w-inds talked a bit more in the MC today. 龍一 was quite high during his solo dance performance. He danced much better than yesterday. He threw out his vest during the part where the dancers carried him. His shoe was flown out by mistake. Haha.

I can see that涼平 enjoyed a lot from his dance, when he stood at the side stage which is at my side. I am sure that w-inds can see my シンガポール board today as I can see them so clearly.

慶太 asked us to sing「そんなの関係ねぇ！」and did the 小島よしお action when he sang キレイだ. I was so hapyy when I see this again. This is exactly same as their concerts in Japan.

During the last encore, we stomped our feet on the floor so hard that the whole arena was full of the stomping sound! Despite our stomping, 慶太said they cannot sing anymore as his throat is unwell. But w-inds were happy and at the same time feel helpless that they cannot extend the concert.

I was happy to bid them farewell though… as I feel that they have given us a great performance in this year’s concerts. I am looking forward to their 2008 concerts!

11 November 2007 – 西門町

品冠
ENERGY

阿弟 is the second guy from the left (facing the camera)


We met Hwee Ching and her son at西門町. Leo was busy shopping for winter wear – for her family’s tour to Korea in December. I walked around and browse the shops. I stopped at a shop, where one of the clothes caught my attention. The sales tried to promote the item to me. I think I will look nice with the clothes because of my height. But the material is rather thick, not suitable for Singapore weather. Anyway, I have no intention of buying anything. I just feel sick of shopping after spending so much at Nike Women Shop.

The sales woman who served Leo can talk well and managed to persuade Leo to buy quite a few items. We tried to bargain for Leo but she said she do not earn much commission. Eventually her colleague said empathsize her because she’s pregannt. We thought her colleague was joking. So Leo, being kindhearted, gave up on the bargaining.

We had lunch at one of the small eateries. The food (Taiwan cusine) was delicious! Both of us enjoyed a lot. We walked along the street, and saw 品冠 singing. He has a autograph event. He put on heavy make-u. ><>