Travel Plans

So happy that boss approved my reports yesterday without amendments. Hopefully next week I can just finish the work on hand and tie up some loose ends by Thursday. Then I can go on holiday happily, yay!

Meanwhile, I'd better get started on planning the trip to Canada and Hong Kong soon. A few more months to go but there's quite a lot of stuff to settle and there isn't really that much time, come to think of it. It's kind of troublesome, cos there isn't a straightforward method of getting to the places I want to go and I probably need quite a few flight transfers...Have to prepare my materials for HK too...

Then I'm also supposed to think about Taiwan...When would be a good time to go? Think I should avoid the typhoon season for a start, whenever that might be...

My Life

Well, I'm not completely recovered but think I'm much better now since I'm able to stay awake until 11pm today, something that I couldn't manage for much of the past week. Thanks Caogu and Irishblue for your well-wishes!

Went to Nan's place today since I'd already promised to visit. Great to see Nan looking much better than the last time I visited and we took some great photos.

Also had dinner with Ht last night. Was still feeling a bit sick yesterday and shouldn't have been running around in town, but well, I wanted to meet Ht. 'Akashi' sounds like an expensive place but we checked the prices and decided that it wasn't too bad. The food was quite nice.

Couldn't resist popping into HMV afterwards. Ht thought it wasn't a good idea since I had resolved to stop buying so many CDs, but I figured that it would be ok cos the stuff at HMV was so expensive I probably wouldn't buy anything. Ha, I was right! But the bad thing was I spotted something that I wanted - Hideaki Tokunaga's "My Life". Priced at a whooping $70, no way am I going to fork out that kind of money! Ht also saw some stuff of interest and I bet you're still thinking of your $40 CD, Ht, because I'm still thinking about the Hideaki CD and trying to figure out how to get it cheaper. Ask Be to buy in Japan? Hope for overseas version in HK? Go visit Be and hunt for a 2nd hand copy? Arghh...why are Japanese CDs super-ex!!?

It also triggered off an entire 'wish-list' which I had already started thinking about since I'd decided on the HK trip, and now I'm adding more and more things to it! I'm just putting this list together to organise myself, but some of the stuff is so costly that I'm probably not going to buy them afterall...Here goes:

1. My Life (Hideaki Tokunaga)
One of my favourite Japanese male singers since "Kagayaki Nagara..." (Shining), I've collected most of his albums. I like his nice soothing music and encouraging songs like "Mirai Hikou" (Future Flight), "Justice" and "Love is all".

2. Go My Way (Alfee)
Seeing Hideaki's CD reminded me of how obsessed I was about this Japanese rock band. I collected their albums dating back to 1979! And I still put them as my favourite band. So I searched the Internet and found that they too have a new album out since the last one I bought. But $49 is just too ex...

3. Infernal Affairs Trilogy Set
I've been thinking about this for more than a year now, but I’m not sure which edition to buy for there seems to be so many versions floating around, and very expensive too!!

4. Kiss Kiss Kiss (at 17)
“Meow Meow Meow” was available in HMV but no sign of this second album at all. I like 女扮男生 & 成人禮. Eman’s voice is very nice, even though I don’t normally like female singers whose voices are too high-pitch.

5. Sickid (Josie Ho)
She didn’t sing very well last time, but her singing seems to have improved a lot when I heard her on JSG early this year. Seems a bit of a gamble to buy this since I haven’t heard any of the songs before. I’m told it’s not mainstream stuff…

6. Butterfly
Josie Ho is a great but probably under-rated actress and I guess she will be the main reason for me buying this. Heard that the DVD version contains interviews with the cast as well as deleted scenes which are supposed to explain the story better.

7. Eleven Fires Concert (Cookies)
Ok, their live singing can be quite poor, but I am surprisingly tolerant towards them. I actually like some of their songs and I think they have improved a fair bit. Very curious to hear the solo songs, especially Theresa’s version of 非走不可 (I assume it’s Nic Tse’s song). I always thought that Theresa has a nice voice and I believe that lower pitch songs may bring out her vocals better. Kary too has been a revelation since joining Ping Pung.

8. Love and Hate (Ping Pung)
The debut album by an interesting rock band fronted by Kary. I put 愛是最大權力 in my top 10 list for 2004. I also like the very ‘angst-y’ 講清楚. But just realised that the latter is not found in this album. So where is this song found? I keep seeing the MV on TVBJ though...

Shall We Talk?

In a way, technological advances have boosted communication (though the spoken word has somewhat diminished). Too shy to talk to someone that you sort-of-know but didn’t know well enough? Send email or sms. Want to discuss something but feel awkward? Meet in msn/icq.

Before we know it, we have become so reliant on these virtual methods of communication. It is definitely convenient and lets us ‘meet’ more people. It has become a way of life. But in the same way as how handwritten letters deliver a warmth that can never be replicated in emails, nothing beats hearing the voice of a loved one that no sms can ever replace. Where has that personal touch gone to?

Now we prefer to sit in front of the computer. (Yes, my mum has complained about it!) We’d rather while our time away in the park than go home for mum's soup (“Shall We Talk”, Eason Chan). In time we may become less eloquent in speech. We talk less. We type more. But we type in abbreviations. We misunderstand people. We get misunderstood. The computer doesn’t really convey emotions.

Make an effort, shall we talk?

Sick

No wonder I’ve been feeling so tired for the past few days and sleeping at ridiculously early hours. I think I’ve caught a cold which finally surfaced properly yesterday.

Could have gone to the doctor but I won’t unless self-medicating and sleeping a lot can't cure it. It doesn't seem too serious this time, but I'm still very tired. And so I end up drifting through the day...

The Many Faces of Candy

A follow-up to the "Unnecessary to be perfect" post:



My favourite image is probably "Fantasy", but I think "賞味人間" is cool, and "Muse", "Mega Collection" and "花言.巧語" are very pretty too.

Unnecessary to be perfect...

Recently I came across a survey of favourite albums and songs at Candy Lo's forum. It struck me then that I didn't have a ready answer for some of the questions. Although Candy is the only Chinese singer besides Sammi and hocc whom I own a close-to-complete collection of works, I am quite ashamed to realise that I didn't know her songs that well.

So I embarked on a refresher course of Candy's material. 不需要...完美得可怕 Unnecessary to be perfect; Miao; 貼近 Close to Candy; 色放 Colour Release; Muse; Fantasy; Mega Collection; 賞味人間 Taste of Life; My Collection; Candy's Airline; 花言巧語 Flower Talk; 4 Seasons in One Day. I have yet to work through the whole lot, but I am happily discovering and re-discovering stuff that I had neglected or forgotten about. For example, I love "戀愛很遠" (Love is Far Away) from "Candy's Airline", especially the part when the guitars and drums come crashing in. Reminds me of how I used to snub songs that relied heavily or even solely on synthesizers and computer programming. I love songs that use real musical instruments in their arrangements, hence my liking for rock.

To be honest, I found that even though Candy's earlier albums had more 'character', I actually enjoy listening to her later albums more. My first encounter with Candy was "深藍" (Deep Blue) at a year-end awards ceremony. I guess I like songs that straddle between commercial and alternative. Yes, a song should have character, otherwise it will be 'just another k-song'. But it should be likeable, meaningful and with a certain mass appeal, and importantly for me, it should be melodious. Those are my criteria for liking a song. And I find more of these type of songs in her later albums, though I think Candy has always tried to be careful not to let her albums end up sounding too commercialised. Her earlier works are perhaps not quite melodious enough for me. Die-hard fans from early days have expressed disappointment with Candy for taking on more and more k-songs. Well, they might be pleased with her latest plug 'Asura', which reminds me of songs in "Miao".

My favourite memory of Candy is definitely the time she came to Singapore for an autograph session. I had a very good impression of her. I thought she is very nice, humble and sincere, patiently signing autographs for everyone even though she had just recovered from some eye problems. She also did a short 6-song set. I had watched her performances on TV before and sometimes her live singing was not very good. But she was almost perfect during her performance at HRC. I was so impressed by her singing. If not for a short moment when she tripped over some lyrics, you could be forgiven to think that she was miming.

Still, her one shortcoming is that her voice and singing are not as good as Sammi or Hocc. But she makes up for it with her own unique style and ability to combine alternative and pop into an effective blend. Sometimes, it's unnecessary to be perfect.

P.S. I think that EP is great!

Honey

Yes, the song is very catchy but no, I’m not a Cyndi Wang fan. Kp liked “Honey” the first time she heard it and was contemplating buying the album, but wasn't sure if it was worth it. Then one fine day we saw the China version going for $3.90!!! So Kp made up her mind within a few seconds to buy it, never mind the fact that it didn’t come with the photo-book, poster or other goodies that were given with the original version, since she figured she wasn’t going to pin the poster up anyway.

I don't like China imports but my naggings can’t stop my friends from buying them. I think they are spoiling the market and have no business to be here in the first place because it is printed that they are for sale in mainland China only. Of course real fans will never buy them but people who just want to hear the songs don’t seem to mind. To them (at least to those I’ve spoken to), they would not have bought these albums anyway if not for the availability of the cheap versions. If it was a singer they really like, they would have no qualms about buying the original versions.

I admit that there were a few occasions in the past when I ignorantly or unluckily bought some dubious CDs/VCDs, but these I either give away or stash somewhere. I’m not trying to be ‘qing gao’ here but it’s just a matter of principle. I think it’s only fair that you pay the appropriate amount for what you are getting. If you don’t have so much money, either be more selective, buy 2nd hand or try to save up.

In Japan, CDs are so expensive that you can find overseas versions (prohibited for sale in Japan) sold at half the price in other parts of Asia. But these overseas versions are properly licensed and never found in Japan itself. So I don’t see why China versions should make their way outside China. No wonder the music industry is in doldrums, what with piracy, illegal downloads and now cheap versions :( Give Music A Life!

A Thousand Pieces of Gold

I remember that there was a time during my teens that I absolutely detested reading. I’m glad I overcame that incomprehensible period. I am a very slow reader though, and can take several months to finish a book. One exception is “Harry Potter”. I am grateful to Al for introducing me to this magical world. If Al hadn’t given “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” to me, I would still be wondering what all this big hoo-ha Harry Potter was about. Turns out that the book is so highly addictive that I couldn’t put it down and I ended up snapping up the next three books in the series at one go.

Al is probably in some ways more ‘westernised’ than me but perhaps all the more interested in Chinese culture. I never thought that I would enjoy reading “Falling Leaves” and “A Thousand Pieces of Gold”, two very ‘Chinese’ books, but I did. I am still halfway through the latter now but it is interesting to find out how all those Chinese proverbs came about. My mum said, ‘you should be reading the Chinese version of this book. Or else how are you going to work out the names of the characters properly when all you know is the pinyin?’ She does have a point, but there isn’t any translated version (not that I know of). Besides, I would probably take forever to get through the book if it was in Chinese.

Al, who seems to have a knack for picking up good and thought-provoking books, also gave “the Alchemist”, “Holes”, “the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time”, and “the Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories” to me. And each book is always personalised with a nice message. I don't buy many books but I treasure all those in my little collection.

I know you will read this, Al, and I want you to know that I appreciate it all very much! This piece is written for you.

Mini & Me

I like the chords in "迷你與我" (Mini & Me); think they sound very good. And thanks to the song I have now found a quick way to remember how to play diminished chords, yay!

There are only a few repeating chords to remember in "Mini & Me" but all are barre chords and so painful to play!!! Not only do my fingers hurt, my wrist also gets a bit numb. And it's hard to do a smooth chord change. Horrors of horrors, I find that my skin has become very dry. I think I need to moisturise my fingers specially now!

Recently, I worked out the chords for "花迷戀" (Flower Love) and "明星夢" (Dreaming to be a star) from scratch. I'm quite proud of myself! Having said that, knowing the chords doesn't equate to being able to play them smoothly and well. I still need to work on that aspect...

Beyond

I had always thought that this particular colleague of mine was a classical music person, but turns out that he likes noisy Beyond songs! I heard him play Beyond songs recently and it was quite a surprising discovery. Anyway, the album he was playing was "Beyond the Ultimate Story" 3CD+1DVD box-set that was advertised on TV recently.

I already had most of the songs in the collection, apart from some very early songs and the ones from the mid-nineties onwards, and the inclusion of the live DVD didn’t entice me to buy it. Although I was quite a huge Beyond fan when I was still in school, I had long gotten over them by now. To me, 1994’s "二樓後座" (Second Floor, Rear Room) was the last Beyond album worth buying. I bought a few of the subsequent CDs but they were mostly disappointing and unable to capture my attention anymore.

My first Beyond album was “Beyond IV” on cassette. True and hardcore Beyond fans probably think of that album as a betrayal to the band’s hard rock roots, for the members had cut their hair short and started singing more commercialised material. Well, I didn’t know then and I didn’t care. All I wanted was good music and I liked that album, especially "真的愛你" (Really Love You), a dedication to all mothers in the world, and the songs for the TV drama "淘氣雙子星" (Naughty Twins - direct translation).

I grew to like Beyond very much and bought all their main albums from "秘密警察" (Secret Police) to "樂與怒" (Rock n Roll). “Secret Police” had hits like "喜歡你" (Liking You) and "大地" (Great Earth). I realised that I cannot listen to the former now without thinking of Rose and Ho Nam (Sammi & hocc in the musical)!!

Anyway, my favourite Beyond albums are probably "真的見證" (The Real Evidence) and "命運派對" (Fate Party). After a couple of slightly commercialised albums “秘密警察” and “Beyond IV”, these two albums marked a return to form and their rock nature. That is possibly one of my earlier encounters with rock that paved the way for my subsequent liking for Japanese rock bands and taste for electric guitar-based music.

The next few albums “Deliberate”, "長城" (The Wall) and “樂與怒” were not as good, in my opinion, but still they yielded memorable hits like “Amani”, “長城” and "海闊天空" (No Borders). After the unfortunate passing of Wong Ka Kui in 1993, Beyond managed to come together to record a commendable effort “二樓後座” but things started going downhill from there. The kind of melodies that I like were just not there anymore giving me no choice but to move on. But the Beyond of 1988-1994 lives on in my heart.

Scent

Ht:
Yesterday, I started using the EDT you bought for me.
Having used the previous scent for so long, I had initially thought that this new one is a little ‘musky'.
But well, it is a nice change. I like it very much :)

8 km Highway

“Effort & Love” is my fourth Edmond Leung CD.

It’s been twelve years since my first encounter with him! Admittedly, he was overshadowed by Aaron Kwok, Andy Hui and Sammi Cheng when singing “火熱動感 La La La" (Red Hot La La La) back in 1992/93. The spotlight was definitely on Aaron who was really popular then, and there was the alleged romance between Sammi and Andy. So Edmond, a newbie then, received little attention.

For the next few years, none of his songs really caught my attention except “朋友心" (Friends of Heart), a Miyuki Nakajima cover by Andy, Edmond, Gabriel Hoi and Cheung Chung Kei/Cheung Chung Tak. Then I chanced upon “隨時行樂" (Happy Anytime), an upbeat, pop-rock song to which I took an instant liking. That made me buy my first Edmond CD, a 1999 album of the same title. I found it at HMV, probably one of the few shops that stocked his albums. I love that CD (it remains my favourite of Edmond’s so far) for its variety of styles and nice melodies. It also contains the theme songs to “Detective Investigation Files IV” and “Untraceable Evidence II”.

I tried in vain to look for the other theme songs from earlier instalments of “Detective Investigation Files”, one of my favourite TV series. Ended up buying “Edmond 17 Love Songs”, which contains quite a number of nice soothing tracks like “錯先生" (Mr Wrong), "好朋友" (Good Friend), "愛共情" (Love and Affection) and "衣櫃裡的男人" (Man in the Closet), as well as the chirpy “不一樣的夏天" (A Different Summer) sung by Edmond, Miriam Yeung and Eason Chan.

I expected “隨時行樂” to make it to the yearend awards especially after Edmond bagged a win with “好朋友” a year or two before. But it didn’t. In fact his career stagnated and with the demise of Capital Artists in 2001, he was left in the lurch.

“No. 10” was his turning point and marked his great comeback. He deservedly won numerous accolades in 2003 including 903’s Album of the Year for “No. 10” and Song of the Year for “七友" (7 Friends). I thought he was very creative to use the numerals 0-9 for each song title and musically, “No. 10” was a varied and interesting album.

Back to “Effort & Love”, I hadn’t meant to buy it initially, even though I liked the songs “八里公路" (8 km Highway) and “艦隊" (Navy). For some reason, I decided to get it when the 2nd version, which came with a mini-live DVD, was released this year. Frankly speaking, I was a little disappointed. To be fair, there were great tracks like “八里公路” (my favourite song in the album), “艦隊” and “找我" (Look for Me), and Edmond also incorporated jazz and R&B elements respectively in two of the songs. But while all the songs are nice when listened to individually, some of the ballads sound indistinguishable from one another.

I suppose it would certainly be difficult living up to expectations after an album like “No. 10”. I also realised that even though I didn’t like some of the songs in “No. 10”, each song had ‘character’ such that they could be differentiated easily. “七友” was an outstanding song, and the fact that it was sandwiched between two not-so-brilliant ones made it stand out even more. The problem with “Effort & Love” was that even though the songs are good, some are just too similar and as a result the album lacked a bit of colour, a bit of ‘character’. In the end, I recognised that while “No. 10” was strong as a whole, “Effort & Love” had some strong songs. If an album encompassing the strengths of both could be made, then it would truly be a great piece of work.

Having said that, I am liking “Effort & Love” more with every listen. I believe it will become one of those albums that will grow on me. I don’t have a favourite male singer now but I quite like Edmond, though he seems lacking some luck when compared to Eason, Andy, Hacken Lee and Leo Ku. I hope to see him win best male singer one day. It has been a very long highway but I'm sure he wouldn't run out of steam.

The mini-live DVD contains only twelve songs sung at a casual, no-frills setting. No doubt it was a simple concert, but I couldn’t fault his singing. In my opinion, he is one of the better singers around at the moment. He also accompanied himself on the keyboards for three songs. (Yeah, he has written some good melodies!) That was cool. I remember there were a couple of occasions when I saw him perform with hocc, with him on keyboards and her on guitar. I wish I could watch those clips again.