I Wish I Knew How to Quit You?

Hocc has a new plug! 願我可以學會放低你...Some fans commented that the title (and even the melody) sounds very 'un-hocc'. That the lyrics seem to be inspired by Brokeback Mountain. That the melody is quite ordinary but the music arrangement salvaged a lot of points for the song. That the lyrics are a little below Wyman's usual standards. That Hocc handled the song very well, since such simple songs without much ups and downs are perhaps the most difficult to sing. That the song is too slow. Blah blah blah...

Yeah, hocc has critical fans. Fans who don't just blindly accept everything their idol churns out, who give constructive feedback, genuinely wanting the best for her.

But sometimes, it's not necessary to analyse too deeply into a song. I think listening to music is a very subjective thing. You can't always come up with reasons why you like or dislike a song. Just use your heart to listen!

In a nut-shell, 願我可以學會放低你 touched me. Perhaps as veegay said, many people can empathize with it because they all have someone that they 放不低. Touched a chord in their hearts. Hocc is singing their story. I like the song.

Some people said that the song is rather commercial. The thing is hocc has never said that her music is alternative or non-mainstream. I always think that one of her greatest talents is her ability to inject her own character into her songs, commercial or otherwise. The new song very 'un-Hocc'? If people could so easily predict her next move, then it's not Hocc!

Lyrics from the horse's mouth (from her blog):

願我可以學會放低你

曲: 徐偉賢 詞: 黃偉文 編: 何秉舜@goomusic/英師傅
監: hocc@goomusic/何秉舜@goomusic/英師傅
唱: 何韻詩

任我出去任我飛
遊蕩兩日又重踏這地
沒有牽掛就會死
難道我靈魂被你收起
自己都管不了自己
太多錯誤經已因你起
我都知 再找你
連幸福都要放棄

其實你有多好
到別處碰不到
至令我重返這條路?
臨近晚節不保
卻行到這一步
難道天空海濶再無芳草

* 願我可以學會放低你
就讓我重頭來過物色新知己
望著你的臉如山水一般優美
要走的我 總企在原地
願我可以絕到踢走你
但是我如何能拒絕張開的臂
自問我可以贏你
但喜歡輸給你
猶像你親於我自己
我怎可以 一刀切下來 親手 傷你 *

其實你有多好
到別處碰不到
美麗到危險的程度
臨近晚節不保
卻行到這一步
沿路的山丘已化成焦土

Repeat *

我只可以 將心割下來 親手 給你

Hospitalise

I think my pc got problem...only a few months after i got it sheesh! Luckily still under warranty so the guy said that he can fix it for me and replace any faulty parts free of charge. May need to hospitalise for 1 or 2 days :-( So no more online at home for the rest of this week :-( :-(

Double-Decker

Caught 1983's JSG Awards on TVBJ yesterday! They are doing re-runs of past award ceremonies and charity shows etc on Saturday afternoons. Can't believe it's nearly 23 years ago...I hardly know any of the songs (except those by Mui-jeh, Danny Chan and Roman Tam).

Just imagine, in those days, only 13 awards were given - 10 song awards and 3 most popular songs (as voted by the fans, music industry professionals and general public respectively). And now we have like 60 or even 100++ (for Metro Radio)!

The most 'ging' was Mui-jeh, she had only released her 2nd album that year and yet was the only one to win 2 song awards among the 10 songs. Danny Chan got an award too, and for the first time I thought that actually 他蠻帥的!

Sunday we went to JB Neway in celebration of Yee's birthday! Happy happy Birthday! 11 plus to 5 plus and as usual we did lots of Ah C and Sammi. The room was huge and had a private washroom attached, but it was super freezing lor! At one point we started choosing fast songs and stood up and swayed around cos it was just too cold! Aarrrggh! Oh yah, Yee's birthday cake was yummy...much better than our ermm...too-creamy dh cake which we felt sick eating! We also had pressies from Dolores who had just come back from a holiday in Japan, including little red goo...so cute!

Dinner at Jusco, nothing spectacular about the food. In fact the prawns in the har gau and mushroom mai like got a bit of a smell and the dim sum was too hard in general...The highlight of the day though, was our 'double-decker car', the art of squashing 8 people into one! But I don't think we'll try it again. My back is still aching a bit now...Hahaha...

Konnichiwa

My host family in Japan whom I stayed with for a few weeks during high school finally visited Singapore for the first time! Haven't met them for so many years...It was Kanako and her mum together. They only had Monday free in their 3-day tour so I took leave to accompany them.

It was their request to experience more 'Singaporean' stuff rather than 'tourist-y' things only. So I brought them around by train and bus. We managed to squeeze in Sentosa, lunch at Chinatown hawker centre (porridge and Hainanese chicken rice, yummy), St Andrew's Cathedral, shopping at Orchard Rd (with special request to go to the Heeren!) and dinner at food-court (Ba Kut Teh, Pig's Trotters and dessert).

My rusty Japanese didn't fare too badly and we could communicate pretty well. The best part was seeing the two of them enjoying each other's company perfectly, with the occasional chiding and jokes. And nearly all the clothes they saw were 'kawaii' (cute) and 'yasuii' (cheap), with both mother and daughter making many last minute purchases despite their initial assertion that they were only going to 'look' but not 'buy'! They definitely share a close bond, 十分難得。


The Majestic Merlion!



This Fort Siloso car is cute. The driver was going off but stopped to let us take a pic.


Very 夏日麼麼茶-feel?


Another 夏日麼麼茶-sque pic...


I pass by this 'cannon-ball tree' so often and finally I managed to take a pic!

Winner in our hearts

Yesterday met up with sg gootoes at Yee's place for our 'project'! It was easier and less time-consuming than the previous...but looks great! We ended up watching the Leung Joke DVD...haha...then snacking...Oh yes, and exchanging of magazines too! Yee helped us to buy them much cheaper in JB...Imported magz in Sg super ex lor! My magz all stacked up are about the height of the body of my guitar! Let me do a headcount one day...

Got home just in time to watch the HK Movie Awards. Sammi was there! Even though she missed the photo-shoot and there were rumours that she would not attend, she did say that she would (at her forum). And sure enough, there she was seated in the audience wearing a suit and 'V-hairstyle' (whatever you call it). Every time the camera turned on her, she was looking happy and/or chatting with her companions. (Photo from wenzi's blog.) Winning or not, it's great to see her looking so cheerful.

On the whole, the awards show wasn't very interesting though...my favourite part was the movie themes song special...felt a bit 眼濕濕 when Chris Wong was singing "追" against the screening of "金枝玉葉 2" clips...Anita, Anita and Leslie...3 great actors and one great movie...

Getting my act together

Time to get my act together.
Need to plan a proper schedule or things will never get done!

Check-List (Target: before 1 Jul, but latest 30 Sep)
1. Apply for company sponsorship.
2. Schedule dates and take TOEFL and GRE tests.
3. Write letter of application.
4. Fill up application form.
5. Ask Uni for official transcript.
6. Ask 3 people for references.
7. Ask Boss for employment verification.

No. 1: Done, now awaiting outcome. Boss and Bigger Boss seem pretty supportive :-)

No. 2: Ran into a bit of a snag :-( No dates available for TOEFL cos they are in the midst of changing the test format...darn, shouldn't have dragged my feet over this matter...And do people need to study for GRE? Seriously I'm a bit worried...

Dunno if I'll 'kill' myself in going for this part-time study...Got a lot on my plate and am tired enough as it is without the extra commitment. But there is support from my important people, hopefully it is enough to see me through...provided the application is accepted!

In a Retro Mood

Been in a bit of a retro mood recently...or maybe I'm just bored with current stuff. Dug into my collection and unearthed these:

再不小心(Nicola Cheung)
I admit, I was looking for something to make up the nos. for the 3 for $9.99@ deal at yesasia some years ago. Even though I didn't know much about Nicola's songs, I like 上帝愛我 very much and so bought this album. Chucked it aside after a few listens, being attracted to only 上帝愛我. And I didn't think her singing was very good.

But I quite enjoyed it when I listened to the album again last week. Apart from 上帝愛我 and her cover of Leslie's 風繼續吹, the rest of the songs were self-composed. Not brilliant material but at least refreshing and different in style. Some people may think that if someone else had sung 上帝愛我, it might have become a bigger hit but somehow I feel that the song is 'very her'. Even the charity version 同步過冬 by various artists didn't sound as good as Nicola's 上帝愛我.

2002 Fifa World Cup Official Album (Songs of Korea/Japan)
I bought this only cos I thought it was an interesting selection for the World Cup, and yes, surprise surprise, I was a soccer fan. It's my only CD containing Korean songs (apart from a couple of tracks found on the Seoul Raiders soundtrack) and I must say that I still don't like them very much. To me, Korean songs are either depressing ballads or annoying hip-hop/R&B dance-tracks and this album did nothing to dispel that.

As a whole, I enjoyed the 2nd half of the CD better. The Japanese tunes are more varied and likeable, esp the cheerful and encouraging songs by Mai Kuraki (the one who sang a duet with Stefanie Sun) and sunshine band Tube. Even though the heavy metal + rap of Dragon Ash was a bit hard to stomach on first listen, at least it was a decent and melodic song. Perhaps I just like J-pop.

Song For USA (Checkers)
My first idol...this album was made almost 20 years ago! I love every song here. Checkers was the perfect example of a substance + idol band. They played musical instruments, had an excellent and good-looking lead singer, two wonderful chorus singers, looked cute, and eventually wrote and produced their own songs.

Btw, Song For USA is the original version of 幹一杯, Sammi's 'contest song' in 1988, while Stay With You, a HK composition, has the same tune as Jacky Cheung's 相愛. Interesting stuff. So my 緣份 with Sammi began much earlier than I thought?!

擺脫 (Amanda Lee)
It was a time when I was at my most adventurous, buying all kinds of music. There it was, going at $5 at HMV, and I was curious to hear Amanda's songs. Like Nicola's case, I didn't know much about Amanda except that she was tall and quite pretty. Her voice isn't really my type so I didn't listen to the album much. But listening back now, it is actually quite interesting and listenable, except 2 or 3 songs. But where is she now?

Live Encounter (Shirley Kwan)
This is a 2VCD live-cum-1CD best selection released in 1999. Think it was sold at a very cheap price too, so I decided to go for it. Her voice is also not quite the kind I like, but she did have a number of very nice songs like 人生可有知己 and the little-known 當世界無玫瑰. Wonder if her recent concert was very good?