First of all, apologies if this seems like it’s turning into a music blog, but there are just so many cool, new, undiscovered talents that you can stumble upon in YouTube. Introducing the band - Boyce Avenue. I have seen their name pop up a couple of times before as I was surfing, but was pretty much turned off by their gay-boy-band sounding group name. But, when I saw their number of views ranging in the millions, I was immediately intrigued. And man, was I glad that I braved my paranoia just enough to click on one of their videos. It. Was. Absolutely. Brilliant. Their lead singer, Alejandro Manzano, sings, strums and plays the piano with so much ease that it puts many an Idol hopeful to shame. The band does some amazing covers, I guess to get their name out there, and even though they do have original material, I’m sharing with you these:

With You - Chris Brown

Timbaland and One Republic - Apologize

Justin Timberlake - Lovestoned

Enjoy! =)

… this post is going to be a short one. Heh.

Been busy with a whole bunch of stuff from job applications to final examinations (which are just about to be over any day now). Anyway, stumbled across this YouTube channel by this artist who you may or may not know/remember. Summer’s coming - I can feel the heat - so these are for you out there looking forward to our last sun-filled summer fun together as IC Undergraduates! Woohoo!

Camile Velasco - Road Trippin’ (Red Hot Chili Peppers cover): ROAD TRIP!!! WOOO!!!

Camile Velasco - Natural Mystic (Bob Marley cover): OK, this one’s kind of random, but damn her voice is so sexy =P

Sorry for the lack of posts and shit, it’s almost the end of term and the end of my lecture-attending days (something I wasn’t very good at). But, anyway, check out this video I found on YouTube the other day. I know some of you are feeling the AI7 heat, but let’s take a step back to reality for a second and remind ourselves how REAL people sing. What I love about this video is that it captures the human spirit in all its blindly-confident glory. Watch first, thank me later. =D

Tulibu dibu douchoo…

I’m still on a high and drunk with infatuation from Ms. Keys’ concert, so I thought I’d share a bunch of her more elusive and lesser known tracks.

Now Playing:

Alicia Keys & Jermaine Paul - If This World Were Mine
A duet with her own backup vocalist as a tribute to the late Luther Vandross (this one’s for you, Amal).

Alicia Keys - Waiting For Your Love
The bonus track off her latest album, As I Am, as found on the UK release.

Alicia Keys - Tender Love (Live)
Taken from her Stripped: Raw and Real live session; was originally recorded by Force M.D.

Enjoy!

Alicia Keys was friggin’ PHE-NO-ME-NAL last night at the 02 Arena. Her set list consisted of 20 plus songs spanning all 4 albums (counting her Unplugged release) and included collaborations (My Boo with Usher), covers (Force MD’s Tender Love) and bonus tracks (Waiting For Your Love from As I Am). That is to say, Lance, May, Amal, Isya, Chuan, Nits and myself had an AMAZING 2 hours. We were on our feet the whole time, even during the slow jams, and grooved with the rest of the crowd to one brilliant performance after another.

Being the huge fan (and the equally big dumb ass) that I am, I told everyone to meet there as soon as the doors opened at 6:30pm. So, as you can tell from the pictures above, we were one of the first few to be at our seats with eager anticipation.

Alicia Keys’ own backup singer, Jermaine Paul, served as one of the opening acts for the show. He’s a really, really good vocalist, but his repertoire could do with more songs that better challenged creative boundaries. Amal went gaga nonetheless. Taking the stage after him was Soul II Soul, whose members included a string quartet, two DJs, two female leads (1 seemingly blind), three backup singers and one serious nut-job of a rapper. Let’s just say, No comment.

Then, at slightly past 9:00pm, entered Alicia Keys. She. Was. Absolutely. Breathtaking. And she brought the house down so hard on us, it wasn’t even funny. For me, the whole experience felt somewhat surreal, like I was watching its entirety through a pair of lenses from a far away place. Not that we had bad seats or anything like that (we actually got really incredible ones at a bargain), but it was just so unbelievable and so indescribable. No one tops Alicia Keys on my must-see-in-person-before-I-die list except for maybe Stevie Wonder. Then again, maybe not even he. Oh, Alicia! *I-can-now-die-a-happy-man sigh*…

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DAY 1

So the 5 of us left London early Friday and reached Paris at about 8:30 in the morning. As soon as we arrived, we headed straight for the Village Hostel near Montmartre to dump our luggage and begin our 3-day tour of the city. Our hostel was pretty standard, but was in good, clean condition. I had booked an en-suite room for 6, so we had 2 different Japanese dudes bunking in with us on the 2 nights that we were there. I did NOT practise conversing with either.

The first tourist attraction we visited once we’d had our sad and desperate McDonald’s breakfast was Cathédrale Notre-Dame. To be completely honest, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Nice and all, but no St. Peter’s. I think once you’ve seen the Vatican, you’d have seen the best of it.

En route to Notre-Dame, we crossed the Seine River and decided then not to take the proposed cruise that Sunday. Needless to say, it was blah.

Our first proper meal was supposed to be at the Le Caveau du Palais restaurant in Ile de la Cité, but without realising, we mistakenly walked into its bar-cum-cafe next door. As a consequence, we had to order salads for lunch. Luckily for us, the servings were huge and we discovered that having a salad on its own as a meal was actually quite the norm in Paris.

A quick stop by Berthillon for ice-cream (where I indulged myself with an inebriating rum & raisin) and we were off to Musée du Louvre, which houses some of the world’s most famous artifacts, sculptures and paintings, including the Mona Lisa.

The Mona Lisa aside, we weren’t particularly interested in any of the other paintings that were on exhibition at the Louvre, most likely due to the fact that we simply don’t/can’t appreciate art of that kind (or of any kind, for that matter). Immediately after, we went straight for the Egyptian collection, which I thought might be a bit more fascinating. Since all written descriptions were in French, we loaned one of those audio guide thingamajigs and I played parrot by listening and reiterating (word-by-word, mind you) anecdotes detailing a few of the Egyptian artifacts on display. At the end of our short visit to the Louvre, our feet were aching, my voice was hoarse and we were painfully bored.

Later in the afternoon, we took the Metropolitan back to our hostel for some much needed rest before meeting up with Allan’s friend, Jennifer, in the evening. She took us to a local bar near her place for dinner, after which we walked to the Eiffel Tower a mere 10 minutes away.

Again, I was slightly disappointed, although I can’t point out why it was exactly. It just seemed a lot shorter than I’d imagined it would be, and if it weren’t for the lights that lit it up at night, I really can’t see how it is one of the world’s great wonders. Perhaps it is more of an architectural miracle? Lance, May and I decided not to go all the way to the top and got off instead at the 2nd tier as it was a chilly night. We reasoned that we’d be able to get a good view from that height anyway. I guess, in the end, we made the right decision, ’cause the view wasn’t as spectacular as I’d initially anticipated (I’ve definitely seen better). Save for the Seine River, Palais de Chaillot and Champ de Mars, everywhere else around the vicinity looked rather plain and uninspiring.

Tired and dismayed, we made our way back to the hotel and called it a night (well, some of us stayed up playing board games till the wee hours in the morning).

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DAY 2

Lance, May and I started our second day in Paris window shopping at Galeries Lafayette. I don’t think we had anything particular in mind that we wanted to buy there, so it was pretty much a leisurely stroll more than anything. May had wandered off on her own to look at women’s clothing, and as I stopped by the majestic foyer to take a couple of pictures, Lance went on ahead and left me hanging. Serves him right that he wasn’t able to locate the men’s department afterwards (it was in the adjacent building) and it bored him out of his wits. I, on the other hand, found my way there, but was, ironically, equally weary with my disinterest for fashion.

From Galeries Lafayette, we walked to Jardin des Tuileries, a garden that lead us from the Louvre area to Place de la Concord and the start of Champs-Elysées. Despite the wintry atmosphere at the garden, I must say, it made quite a beautiful place for people-watching or a casual afternoon siesta. We took our time ambling along on the wide sand paths past limestone sculptures and fountains, families and fellow tourists. The setting felt just about right for some poser-maut photos such as these:

and nice non-offensive ones such as these:

At the middle span of Champs-Elysées, we met up with the other 2 who had slept in that morning, still reeling from the heavy (and totally unnecessary, might I add) board gaming session the night before. While we waited for Jennifer and May’s coursemate, Yuyong, to arrive at our rendezvous place, we walked in a couple of nearby shops including the main Adidas chain store in Paris. Lance showed me this awesome contraption they had with which they’re able to custom make shoes tailored in painstaking detail to every possible aspect of your feet - from their physical measure to the way they fall to the ground and so forth. Really cool stuff.

Not long after, when Jennifer and Yuyong had arrived, we made our way to our last destination before lunch: Arc de Triomphe. But, not before stopping by the Loius Vuitton headquarters for more vanity-filled camera action.

Because we walked the whole long stretch of Champs-Elysées, it was quite late and we wound up rather beat when we had our lunch at a restaurant in some random area I can’t recall. We were pretty stoned, lapsing in and out of consciousness after a heavy meal that included an over-breaded and much too sour Soupe a L’Oignon, the French Onion Soup (according to Yew Vern, the one he had the night before was many times better).

Post-lunch, we split up into 2 groups as some of the rest wanted to go visit some other sites while Lance, May, Yuyong and I went for a promenade around Les Halles (rue Etienne-Marcel, rue Tiquetonne and Marché Montorgueil). Walking around that area FINALLY made me feel like I was on a real vacation. With their narrow streets and quaint little shops to the left and right, I know for a fact that May loved it there as well. We didn’t take many pictures, as we were busy soaking in the lively atmosphere and savouring our large scoops of delicious French gelati.

Yuyong also took us to Boulevard St-Germain for some last minute shopping before the shops closed for the weekend (Sundays). We didn’t manage to get anything, but were content with how we’d spent a nice, relaxing evening.

After that, it was back to the hotel for a short respite and then to the district of Pigalle, infamous for the Bal du Moulin Rouge and its naughty shops. We didn’t catch a show at the Moulin Rouge, but entered one of the many sex stores for some souvenirs and perverse humour.

A good portion of the rest of the night was spent commuting to and from Franc Pinot, a jazz club May found online, which we found to be closed upon arrival. Disappointed yet once more, we searched for a bar to have some late night dinner in the neighbouring arrondissement before setting our way back to the hostel for a hot shower and a good night’s sleep.

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DAY 3

We woke up late on the last day. After checking out of our hostel and leaving our bags in storage, we hiked up to the Sacré-Cœur Basilica that stood on a small hill a couple of blocks behind our hostel. Knowing better, we didn’t bother entering the basilica, but the view from outside was splendid and the cascading steps were perfect for a little basking on a lazy Sunday morning. Who would’ve thought that one of the nicest sights in Paris was right in our own backyard (so to speak)?

For our last proper meal in Paris, we had “the best beef steaks in town” or, according to Allan, “the best beef steaks he’s ever had”. And that says a lot because he’s had enough in this lifetime to warrant being reincarnated as a cow in his next. I myself have not eaten any for the past 5 to 6 years, but was somewhat glad that I didn’t deprive my friends of it (the restaurant served only beef). On a side note, I thought the meat was excellent, but what do I know?

And lastly, our final 2 destinations for the trip were Canal St-Martin and Place des Vosges. The former is where Amélie was filmed, to which I say, “well, it must’ve been one pretty crappy movie”; the latter is a local favourite picnic spot, and to that I say, “how sad”. Here’s the justification:

Canal St-Martin’s murky waters reminded me of the polluted rivers of Penang and the shops that lined it were only remotely interesting. It also didn’t help that most of them were closed on Sundays. Place des Vosges seemed like it used to be one of the few parks made solely for the Parisian community, but has since become infested with tourists like myself who didn’t know any better than to rob them of their last remaining refuge. It’s almost as if its modesty was intended to discourage us, and yet somehow, there we were sitting amidst joggers and parents with their toddlers. I felt bad for them, guilty even.

Like Yuyong pointed out, ending our trip with these last 2 places was like a bad conclusion to an otherwise good cover letter. Forgive him for the horrible analogy, he’s in the midst of some job applications and it’s all he could think of at that very instant.

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All in all, it was an OK trip, a bit too tiring than was intended (and badly estimated). Some of the more famous places we didn’t find exceptionally enthralling. Nonetheless, we did enjoy those that were less of a “must see”, but gave off a much better vacation-relaxation vibe. It’s good though, ’cause now I’ve got a good sense of the kinds of places I would love to go to next when Spring break comes around. Heh.

Thinking back, I can’t help but wonder whether the reason I had been so unimpressed throughout most of the trip is the fact that the places we visited simply paled in comparison to some of the amazing sights I’ve seen (in Italy especially), or if it’s just that, subconsciously, I wasn’t in the right state of mind/mood for a holiday in the middle of term. Nonetheless, the company was shit loads of fun, as the other people I went with are a couple of my closest friends here in London.

PS: Many thanks to our guides during the trip, Yuyong and Jennifer.

Just got back from my pseudo-holiday to Paris last night. Was looking through the pictures (which I promise to put up tonight soon) and I made a new banner for the blog from them. What d’ya think? For those of you who miss the old one compiled from my winter trip to Morocco, here it is for the archives:

Will include a short write-up on the trip along with the photos in the next post, so come back and check again soon! Heh.

UPDATE:

As you may already know, we’re leaving for our trip later tonight (WOOHOO!). Anyway, by popular demand and due to certain limiting circumstances, I have revised the itinerary to something more laid-back that looks something like this:

DAY 1
Morning    - Arrival & check-in
                 - Musée Picasso
Afternoon - Lunch at Le Caveau du Palais in Ile de la Cité
                 - Cathédrale de Notre Dame de Paris
                 - Ice-cream at Berthillon
                 - Canal St-Martin / route du Cacao / La Butte aux Cailles
Evening    - Dinner at Chez Paul / Boteco
                 - Jazz at Franc Pinot / Caveau de la Huchette
                 - Bal du Moulin Rouge

DAY 2
Morning    - Eiffel Tower
                 - Cheese chop Barthélémy & pastry shop Gérard Mulot
Afternoon - Lunch at Toi
                 - Arc de Triomphe
                 - Shopping at Champs-Elysées & Galeries Lafayette
                 - Louvres & Tuileries
Evening    - Dinner at Le Relais de l’Entrecôte Paris
                 - Chill out at Le Caveau des Oubliettes

DAY 3
Morning     - Seine River Cruise
Afternoon - Market stroll down Marché Montorgueil / shopping at rue
                    Etienne-Marcel / Forum Les Halles / Espace Kiliwatch
                 - Cafe & brasserie chill out
Evening    - Check-out & departure

Here’s to picture perfect weather for the next 3 days.

Lance, May, Yew Vern, Allan Chong and I will be heading to Paris this Friday for our random-middle-of-term-weekend trip to get some well-deserved rest and relaxation. (Well, actually only some of us really deserve it). And, we couldn’t be more excited! (Some of us particularly so). Heh.

I’ve written down a tentative itinerary for the 3 days and 2 nights that we’ll be there, so hopefully we’ll get to do all the things and see all the sights mentioned here.

DAY 1
8:50   - Arrival at Paris
9:30   - Check-in at Village Hostel
10:00 - “Make Fresh” and on our way!
10:30 - Musée Picasso & Maison de Victor Hugo
12:00 - Ile St-Louis & “best ice-cream and sorbet” at Berthillon
12:30 - Lunch at Le Caveau du Palais in Ile de la Cité
14:00 - Cathédrale de Notre Dame de Paris (passing Palais de Justice
            & Pont Neuf)
15:30 - (Passing Palais-Royale & bread shop Julien) Louvres &
             Tuileries
17:30 - Champs-Elysées (including a compulsory visit to Louis
             Vuitton) & Arc de Triomphe
19:30 - Dinner at Toi
21:30 - Bal du Moulin Rouge and back to the hostel

DAY 2
09:00 - Rise and shine and time for round two
10:00 - Eiffel Tower, cheese shop Barthélémy & pastry shop Gérard
            Mulot
13:00 - Lunch at Cantine d’Antoine et Lili
14:30 - Canal St-Martin
15:30 - Afternoon siesta at Place des Vosges
16:30 - Route du Cacao chocolate extravaganza
17:30 - La Butte aux Cailles
19:30 - Dinner at Au Duc des Lombards / some other jazz club
22:30 - Back to the hostel

DAY 3
09:00 - Wakey time and final leg of tour (Check-out)
10:00 - Seine River Cruise
13:00 - Lunch at Ladurée / Galaries Lafayette
14:00 - Shopping at Galeries Lafayette / rue Etienne-Marcel / Forum
            Les Halles / Espace Kiliwatch & market stroll down Marché
            Montorgueil
17:30 - Back to the hostel to pack up and leave for Gare du Nord
19:13 - Light dinner & departure for London (Lance and myself)
20:43 - Departure for London (May, Yew Vern and Allan Chong)

Paris, here we come!

The room sits brooding in the darkness that’s inside it. Violet shafts stretched from halogen an indiscernible distance away, fell from the door like paper blades onto the staircase and trailed off mid-step. In the corner, a fireplace. The flames that licked at the blackness of air left nothing but a lingering scent of pine and regret. Slumped across the couch in front, he flips open his gold pocket watch, an heirloom from his father, a reminder of the present future, pauses, sighs and snaps it shut. Open, shut. Not in time with the ticking. Open, shut. To the throbbing at his temple and to his chest that is beating. Open. Silence. Shut.