Bevlyn Khoo

Awwww….. This is toooooo much!!

Supper after weddingsssssss….It was a reunion cos one of the pianists (Jon) was back in town from studies!

Ah Ken holding my album when he saw it in a mega-bookstore  (诚品书局) in Taiwan!

I saw this car after watching Harry Potter..happily snapping away and wondering who the cool owner is (1st pix). Guess what, the next day I saw him on the road (2nd pix)!!!

I was so happy that my friends and I could perform and do our little bit to raise funds for the children. During my stint at a family service centre, I used to apply for financial assistance for needy families; the Straits Times Pocket Money Fund was always the first to head for, cos I knew it could mean a difference of empty or filled stomachs for some children at schools…Thanks to those who went to support (we know it’s out of the way). Then to congratulate ourselves for our efforts (lol), James, Wah Yong and Shawn and I, we went to River Vallery for supper, then Jazz @ Southbridge, then Harrys to swing to cool music. How sinful.

A fun nite out with gorgeous Alicia (right, my Spanish teacher turned friend),  and gorgeous Ana (left, her Spanish friend in town) with Tien-yao holding the camera. Hola guapas!! :p

Recently a bride-to-be called me out of the blue, and when I saw the missed call I panicked a little. We had met earlier once to discuss on me writing a wedding song for her. The meeting went very well, and I had liked her personality very much already back then - very forthright, considerate, kind, affable etc. But after that meeting, things got busy for both of us, and we never really got to contact each other even via email. I realised she still ‘owe’ me some information for me to compose the song only about 1 month before the wedding, and even then, I assumed to myself that she had changed her mind, and so I left it as that.

So that day when I receive her call, I was a little nervous, because I really don’t want to compose a wedding-song, get someone to arrange, do the recording and mixing in 1 mth (it could have been done, but I hate rushing). I can’t remember word for word, but when I call back, her first few words (and subsequent) went something like,  “Don’t worry I’m not calling to chase you for the song…it’s my fault, I know I needed to get back to you but I was so busy I really forgot about it. Yah it’s ok, don’t worry. I just felt like I needed to call, cos I really don’t like to leave things hanging…”

I was really really blown away by this lady. After the call, my first emotion was guilt. I could have called, follow up and ask about it, even though I had assumed she probably wasn’t keen to follow through on the plan (which is ok by me).  Then a wave of admiration hit me. This lady has such a lucky husband!

Then it really set me thinking about how I would usually prefer to go by my passive side and let all things slide away from me.  The feeling is so detestable, and yet it is the default by (my) nature. And so, if all things happen for a reason, I think this lady’s appearance in my life sure has taught me something. I got it.

Yes I posted this article very late…cos I was very busy (playing) lah :p

I really want to say a BIG THANK YOU to the local media for being so supportive. Xie xie, xie xie, and xie xie. For this particular article, thanks to Louis for the writeup (I lost his handphone number, so sad!!)

I love fusion.

This morning I sang for a Japanese couple’s wedding to a whole roomful of Japanese, with Japanese wedding-planners and assistants, Japanese florists, Japanese emcee, etc. The couple did the normal cake-cutting but what was slightly different (apart from the REAL wedding-cake) was that the bride used a fork to (literally) dig a bite-size of the cake to feed the groom, then camera lights went off left right centre. Every guest was given a big bag of goodies (including my album lol) as wedding favours. The video of the couple and their friends and family was actually very very hilarious; and and…the hand bouquet was  made up of  little pink flowers to make a heart shape!

Then the BBQ I went to tonight consisted of 2 Italian men, 1 Spanish lady, 1 Thai lady, 2 German men, 1 French-Cambodian lady, 2 Malay men + 2 Malay ladies, and 2 Chinese ladies (the locals were actually outnumbered haha).

It was just so interesting to listen to the different accents (the French-Cambodian lady who speaks with a slight British accent actually thought that the Thai lady speaks English with a German accent), and stories of people from various backgrounds (for eg., it’s common for Germans to bring own drinks to parties but of course they pool the drinks and you just take whichever you want in the end). I’m trying to distinguish among the German/Italian/French humour now but sometimes it’s confusing when they all jump in to take the piss out of something and I’m lost in my own laughter, so it’s work in progress there…

And I learnt that this song actually has Italian and Thai versions (the Thai version is actually sung along to “Sawadika”. I wonder if there’s a French version? Dis-moi si tu le sais!

And one of the Italians played a Chinese mp3 from his mobile phone and begged me (cos they’re always so dramatic) to tell him the name of the song, and the song turned out to be this. He understands none of it, yet he loves it to bits, and begged me (again) to give him the meaning of the song, the chords,  etc etc.

An African-French once told me before that he told his children we’re all citizens of the world. Quick frankly, I’ve never quite see myself the same way ever again….

To make it even more complicated:

The Italians speak a bit of French.
The Spanish lady knows how to speak Italian.
One of the Malay ladies and myself speak a bit of French.
One of the Germans and the Thai lady can speak Mandarin very very well.
The other German can speak a bit of French.
None of us are Americans or British, but the common language is English.

Isn’t that happening!?