...fall in love with him?

He is 31 this year.

He was trained in classical music and plays many different instruments, but I think he plays the piano the best.

He plays basketball as well, as far as I know and handles a pair of nunchuks rather well.

He is apparently very filial to his mother and grandmother who brought him up.

He is also apparently a non-smoker and a non-drinker.

Contrary to what people may say, I think he can sing. I have heard him sing live and it's real and good.

He is arrogant, but, he has every right to be. In fact, I think it makes him cuter.

His name is Jay Chou. 谁叫他是周杰伦!

I just attended his concert, and I'm still smiling to myself at the memory of it and singing his songs in my head. Gawd, I feel like a teenager all over again. :)

...attend a Mayday (五月天) concert?

Lest you think that pop concerts are a thing of the past or only meant for the younger ones, let me remind you that Mayday released their first album in 1999, and so they are kinda from our generation too. :)



Yesterday, I attended my second Mayday concert in less than a year. I first went for their concert last August. I had heard a lot about their concerts, that the atmosphere was fantastic and that everyone would be standing throughout. The scene where everyone is standing throughout the concert is hardly seen in Chinese concerts, except for the Beyond concert I went for in 1997. So I thought, I had to experience a Mayday concert at least once.

I had a lot of fun at their concert last year, and yes, I stood throughout the concert. They write all their own songs and the atmosphere in the indoor stadium was just fantastic. I think part of it also has to do with their charismatic lead singer, Ah-Xin (there's always a guy involved, isn't it?). But Ah-Xin is not only boyish-cute, he's very talented. He writes almost all the songs in their albums and he's very good with the pen. I thought he wouldn't be able to sing live very well, but he did and he did so for close to 3.5 hours! At the end of their concert last year, I told myself I had to go for every Mayday concert!

Yesterday's concert was an open-air one at National Stadium. It was their first outdoor concert in Singapore, even though they have held many of such outdoor concerts in Taiwan. It was a little humid last night, but the concert was again fantastic! And because it was an outdoor concert, there was even fireworks! Very very pretty fireworks!

They even set up a 3-tonne transformer (Bumblebee) at the venue!

I had heard that the sound system might not be as good at outdoor concerts and you might not be able to hear the singer very well. But last night, Ah-Xin again showed his mettle! haha. If only they did not have any curfew to adhere to (I think the authorities would fine them if they over-stayed), I believe they would have gone on singing way past midnight. There were so many fans still at the stadium even though the lights at the stadium had come on and Ah-Xin had spoken from backstage to ask everyone to go home.

I felt a bit amiss cos they did not sing their hit Hokkien song, Zhiming and Chunjiao - oh well, till the next Mayday concert then! Maybe this time in Taiwan. :)

... celebrate your 30th birthday at an "old" place?

Nostalgia is in the air.

Perhaps it's because we have reached a milestone in our lives, or just a plain feeling of wanting to revisit some memories, nostalgia seemed to be a theme in the two 30th birthday parties I have attended thus far.

During the Fridays preceding her birthday, KC dragged us to some of the bars and clubs that we (or rather, she and the rest, I was not there all the time) used to frequent, for "old times' sake", as she put it.

So, off we went - the first weekend, we went to St. James - at Movida and then to the Boiler Room. It was quite interesting, to say the least. I have never been to Movida in the many times I went to St. James, so it was an eye-opener. The crowd was, well, mmm, much older than 30, haha. The Boiler Room was, as usual, rather crowded and the band was energetically belting out contemporary rock and R&B hits, but their crude jokes left much to be desired, and marred a good night out. Or perhaps I was not drunk enough to ignore those crude jokes. :)

The second weekend, we went to New Asia Bar. I felt the club has lost some of its former glory and it was scarily empty the last time I was there last February on a Friday night. It was more crowded this time round, but we left and headed to ChinaOne instead. Enough said.

In the end, KC had her birthday party at Cuscaden@Chijmes. Not really an old haunt but another branch of an old haunt. It was a cosy party, with a small live band and lively banter amongst old friends.

YL celebrated her birthday next, at the Night Safari! I must say I thought it was a rather unusual place to have a birthday party. There was even a party bus which ferried everyone from Bishan MRT to the Night Safari. The whole group caught the "Creatures of the Night" show and went on the tram ride.

We stopped to walk along the "Leopard Trail", but got split up into 2 groups when one group gamely walked through an enclosure of flying squirrels, while the other group went another way. The flying squirrel group was rewarded for their bravery and they managed to see the leopards, while the other group saw none and had to contend with photos that the other group took! It was a novel way to celebrate a birthday and it felt very much like a school excursion. We even took a group shot at the Night Safari sign to commemorate the event!