Packing & Moving 1

As I am packing my stuff, trying to throw out unnecessary stuff and keeping those worth keeping, I stumbled upon this farewell card I got from my ex-colleagues in J&J when I left 7 years ago. Reading what my ex-colleagues wrote made me feel warm and some left J&J already, some still there and some I still keep in touch frequently. Thanks for the memory.

小步舞曲 - 陈绮贞

作曲:陳綺貞, 編曲:李雨寰
監製:林暐哲, 填詞:陳綺貞


天空突然下起傾盆大雨　戀人在屋簷下相偎相依
移動我的腳步輕鬆躲雨　人潮擁擠握住濕熱的手心
再也不願想起不快樂的旋律　呼吸這一秒的空氣

還有多少回憶　藏著多少秘密　
在我心裡翻來覆去　什麼叫做愛情
還有多少回憶　藏著多少秘密　
在你心裡我也許只是你欣賞的風景

夜晚靜靜等著電話響起　時間躺在他去年寄來的信
空蕩的房間我播放著舞曲　旋轉這一秒的孤寂

還有多少回憶　藏著多少秘密　
在你心裡我也許是你輕快的遊戲
還有多少回憶　藏著多少秘密　
在你心裡我也許只是你緩慢的練習

音樂響起我一個人演出重複的舞曲

***这是我在陈老师的作品之中最最喜欢的一首。

The End of An Era in Sandakan

Sandakan's 1st KFC. It's gonna be closed soon as the 2 "FOR RENT" banners indicated. As evident from the photo, it's on a prime location, in one of the busiest junctions in Sandakan.

One of the main attraction of the premise is that it's the best location for people watching. Of course during my school time which was at least 15 years ago, it's the prime hang out place. And of course, there's no Starbucks or Coffee Bean around so KFC is the "in" hang out place after school, birthday party venue and gathering/meeting place as well.

I had lots of memories of this place. I remembered I bring my parents to have their 1st KFC here too. Both me and my sister belanja them. There was another time I remember after some First Aid Competition where all of us had some meals there and did some nasty stuff there. Some of us put some ice chips into the tomato/chilli sauce bottles and some were being reprimanded and scolded by the managers there too!!! Hahaha... not me though.

So, what about you????

NOTE : I had my last KFC in 2009 today, courtesy of the cash coupon from Esther. Thanks!

《聖誕快樂》- （1984）

I never know that this song was actually featured in the movie. The movie is like the must-watch come every Christmas when I was a small kid. Of course, at the time, there were not many TV channels around, not even TV3 let alone paid cable. The movie will be shown without fail in TV2 or RTM2 at that time EVERY Christmas.. I mean... EVERY Christmas, just like another movie during Chinese New Year (let that be another post in the future). Helmed by Karl Mak and Paula Tsui, this feel-good movie also starred a lot of actors who's not here anymore, i.e. Leslie Cheung and Danny Chan.

Same Same But Different III : 敢愛敢做 & Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now

George Lam's 林子祥 cover 敢愛敢做

Starship - Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now

Thanks to YouTube... I present to you....

Are You Still Consuming This?

What do you call them? I remember them as navel biscuit.

Shirley Kwan 性格关淑怡

L to R :

心灵相通 新歌+精选 (1997) RM4.00

MY WAY (1994)

世途上 新歌+精选 (1995) RM2.00

PolyGram Records (OMG.... anyone remember this record company???)

陈升 Bobby Chen

L to R :

1. 恨情歌 (1995)

2. 风筝 (1994)

3. 六月 (1997)

Another Unique Voice : Mandarin Female

齐豫 - 骆驼。飞鸟。鱼 （1997）

齐豫 - 藏爱的女人 （1993）

莫文蔚 My Karen

全身 （1996）

滚石唱片Rock Musics

L to R :

1. 含情莫莫 精选辑 Greatest Hits (2002)

2. 你可以 You Can (1999)

3. [i] (2002)

You Know Them??? - "Strange" Mandarin Female Singers

Sandy Chan 陈珊妮 (2000) - 无瑕可击 Best Collection 1994-1999

Rock Records, Friendly Dogs

Liu Ching 刘沁(1998) - Light 青睐(Qing Lai)

Rock Records, Volcano Music

Faith Yang Nai Wen 杨乃文 (1997) - One
Rock Records, MagicStone Music

Simplicity and Nostalgic

The biscuit shown was a luxury those days...

The Singing Nun - Dominique

I still remember my university year when I bought my first computer and hooked on the solitaire game (err....still kinda is hahahaha....) played that until early morning the first night I put up the desktop. Besides using it for assignment, which was just about 20% max of the usage, the rest of the time was dedicated to playing VCDs which can be found in great abundance in pasar malam at a very cheap price!!!!!!!!! And also with internet connection (dial-up, mind you!!!!) when I was in 3rd year, I managed to "collect" quite a number of songs.

One of the song that I searched for quite long and proud that it was in my "collection" was Dominique by The Singing Nun. I first heard the song over 988 radio station but I forgot which DJ play it, either 林丽叶 or 展雄 but it stuck in my mind. Reclaimed by the Belgians, now a movie will be soon released on The Singing Nun. The real story here and the movie (1966 version) is here. Enjoy the quiryky Dominique.

Dominique - The Singing Nun

我的情怀 III ：她的第一次 My Nostalgia III : Her First Time

梁静茹 Fish Leong 一夜长大 (1999)

OK...I have to admit that initially I have no interest in this singer. Not that I am not patriotic (she's from Malaysia but made her debut in Taiwan) or she's not pretty (I guess it's quite obvious from the album cover) but I am not really into sweet sugary voice so I kinda dismissed her song (yeah....I know I am that close-minded).

But thanks to Calvin (yeah..the same Gigi Leong Calvin mentioned previously), he lent me this cassette and recommend to me relentlessly!!! And yes, I love it. The album was produced by the legendary Jonathan Lee 李宗盛 and apparently Fish was discovered by him! She's the earliest Malaysian Chinese female singer who made it big and Rock Music contributed much to her success.

The title track 一夜长大 (Growing Up Overnight) is the best in my opinion. The song has good lyrics penned by Jonathan and again it's his signature style with talking-style lyrics (but not rap) which made you feels like she's actually talking to you in rhythmic melodic way. The song was composed by 许华强 who also wrote another fantastic track called 解脱 sang by 张惠妹 (Ah Mei).

成长是， 爱情非自发性唤醒自己的过程

成长是， 懂得失去， 习惯寂寞， 适应彩虹与爱情的相似性

成长是， 尝试不露痕迹， 告诉我爱情的道理

Other notable tracks are 彩虹 (Rainbow) by 五月天 (Mayday), 迷路 (Lost) and 对不起我爱你 (Sorry, I Love You).

I actually accidentally tore the cover so I bought a new one to return to Calvin. This was the original Fish he lent me hahaha...

我的情怀 II ：他的第一次 My Nostalgia II : His First Time

陶吉吉 David Tao (1997)

Speaking of David Tao, I still remember the 毛骨悚然 moment when I first heard his song over the radio. I still remember the radio station. It's a multi-language Voice of Asia, broadcast from Taiwan if I am not wrong. The DJs has immaculate perfect Mandarin and soothing voice. Their mandarin session was 10-12pm everyday. The first song by David I listened to was 流沙 (Everything's Gone - literally translated Flowing Sand) and I was completely mesmerised!!!!!!!!! No Chinese male singer sings RnB like he did. OK, he grew up overseas that explains right but his songs were so cool that time. At least for me. Most of his songs (debut album) are mushy-mushy though towards later stage his songs are more ambitious and talking more about big love, world peace and etc.

His smooth silky rendition of 流沙 (liu-sha) captivated me at that moment itself. I still remember asking my buddy Sherry to search for his album and the one taken above was bought by her. I couldn't remember how Sherry send it to me or pass it to me because she was studying in KL already that time while I'm in KK enduring my Form 6 life. Thanks Sherry!

The whole album is a gem! Another catchy fast accepted number is 飞机场的 10:30 (Airport in 10:30) with the classic sound dub of airplane taking off. David's style RnB is distinct in this particular song and his falsetto is amazing. Another karaoke and reality singing competition favourite is 爱，很简单 (I Love You - literally translated as Love, So Simple). Joanna Wang recently cover the number in English.

沙滩 (Blue Moon - literally translated as beach) is another favourite covered by Tanya Chua successfully and countless other flop attempts by other singers. 王八蛋 (Bastard) is one of my favourite song!!!!!!!! It's always fun to sing this number especially when you want to release your anger or such. "你这个没有心的王八蛋 你会有一天后悔" (you heartless bastard, you will regret one day). See...how not to love the song???

是是非非 (Yes No Song - Yes Yes No No) Catchy chorus in perfect harmonious background vocal.

心乱飞 (Do I Do I) Another perfect vocal choreography with catchy chorus!!!

十七岁 (Our Love - 17 years old) This is interesting as the song fade in with a phrase in Malay!!! Yes, it's "Kembalilah....Itu saja sayangku....Terima Kasih.

望春风 (Spring Wind) A great remake of the Hokkien classic which later become a style of David's album to feature a remake of a classic.

The release was successful and gimmick to blasting the radios with his songs but no release of photos or David himself in person made it such a mystery to the market at that time. He made his mark in the Chinese music scene since then and claimed to be the Chinese Father of R&B.

P/S : Anyone who saw a CD version of this album please let me know. I would like to buy it. Thanks.

我的情怀 I ：她的第一次 My Nostalgia I : Her First Time

顺子 Shunza (1997)

The first artist I feature here is Shunza 顺子. I still remember when I first bought her cassette (not CD), one of my hostel mate Calvin asked me why I bought albums like that. Well, he's very much into Gigi Leung that time so I guess that explains hahaha.

I first heard the song 回家 (Come Home) <1997> over the radio (I mean REAL radio and not over the internet) and totally hooked. And I still remember I got to know that the MTV was going to be played in a TV program, something RIM Chart the Chinese version and made sure myself sit in front of the TV at 7pm. But I think the program showed on Sat and since I was staying in the hostel during my Form 6 years in La Salle Benildus House, time is really a luxury. I forgot what's the reason but that day, I think brother is not there or that was actually our free week so I get to sit in front of the TV and saw this MTV and it got me hooked.

The voice and style of singing is refreshing and the song above was an instant hit!

But not many people know the other songs that are good in her debut album! She's very talented musically, writing and arranging most of the songs herself. Not surprising for someone with both parents as musicians. Her parents separated during her childhood time and her mom brought her travelling as musicians and she's known as the gypsy singer. She didn't sing typical Chinese songs in the typical Chinese ways that time and this made her stand out from the others. Her works are critically acclaimed though not mass-friendly. She made history by winning both the Best Newcomer and Best Female Singer award in the Taiwanese Grammy.

Other listening-worthy songs are 不想一个人 (Nights Alone Cryin') 永远等待 (Where Did We Go Wrong?), 太阳 (Sun) and 那那那那 (Na Na Na Na). Her songs are mostly R&B and electronica. Very heavily influenced by the African-American style. Produced by 滚石, a guarantee of quality at that period of time.

P/S : Please let me know if you see the CD version of this album.

Back to Primitive Way

Thanks to liangmoi who loaned me her mini-compo (wonder how many youngsters now know this term???) for me to play my collection of cassettes (another out terms) to revoke my nostalgia haha.....

Classic TVB

My 2008

The 2008 passed already. As cliche as it may sounds, it was kinda like a whoosh. Just flew away like that. How did I capture the moment? Nothing spectacular but having some drinks with friends at a-not-so-memorable cafe. Thanks to the friends.

Well, I'm not gonna write a review of my 2008 and indeed decided not to. Until few seconds ago when I listened to the replay of the midnight radio show of 嘩！嘩！嘩！打到o黎! and pardon me for copying what the DJs were thinking.

As a summary, my 2008.

王靖雯/王菲-愛與痛的邊緣 Faye Wong's cover version of 有多少愛可以重來.

張學友 - 如果愛 It's not perhaps. IT IS.

Looking forward to 2009.