Bevlyn Khoo

I’ve been quite down recently, but this joke cheered me up a bit. Here’s sharing it with you!

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The pastor entered his donkey in a race and it won.

The pastor was so pleased with the donkey that he entered it in the race again, and it won again.

The local paper read:

PASTOR’S ASS OUT FRONT.

The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered the pastor not to enter the donkey in another race.

The next day, the local paper headline read:

BISHOP SCRATCHES PASTOR’S ASS.

This was too much for the bishop, so he ordered the pastor to get rid of the donkey.

The pastor decided to give it to a nun in a nearby convent.

The local paper, hearing of the news, posted the following headline the next day:

NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN.

The bishop fainted.

He informed the nun that she would have to get rid of the donkey, so she sold it to a farmer for $10.

The next day the paper read:

NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10.

This was too much for the bishop, so he ordered the nun to buy back the donkey and lead it to the plains where it could run wild.

The next day the headlines read:

NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE.

The bishop was buried the next day.

The moral of the story is . .. . being concerned about public opinion can bring you much grief and misery . . even shorten your life.

So just be yourself and enjoy life.

Stop worrying about everyone else’s ass and you’ll be a lot happier and live longer !

Have a nice day !

OK so I’ve been back for 1 week, so maybe it’s about time I share some photos and my voyage!

My Europe trip was packed, with great views + nice friends to catch up + random friendly people (+ horrifying incidents which I may share if I have time)… I was most pleased to catch up with some friends, and also to experience for myself the change from Spring to Summer (i’m curious cos it’s summer all-year round here), and of course La Fete De La Musique (Music festival)!

So I bunked in with a friend who lives very near to Notre Dame, so I walked by this area really often…it’s cool, but after some time, it became too busy and crowded for me cos there were simply too many tourists (the pot calling the kettle black haha).

On the first day there, I went to my favourite corner of Paris, Montmartre. On the way near Sacre Coeur, I saw this lovely couple performing and I was so thrilled. They even performed ‘La Vie En Rose’ without me requesting!

And I had a good time looking at the paintings and all sorts of creativity at Montmartre (and fighting off artists offering to paint portraits of me for free). Then I chanced upon this artist, and I like his work very much. It’s charming that he actually painted for all to see at that time:

Anyway, I was walking so much for the whole trip, there were times I just want to do what the bird did (above). My poooor feeeet!

On the 3rd day, I went to Versailles! I’d been to Paris on other occasions, and this time round, I made sure I do a visit there. I dedicated 1 whole day to it yet I could not finish touring because it’s simply humongous! This is really one of the days when I wish deep in my heart that someone can plonk me and my heavy bag on a cart. The scenery was really breath-taking though:

(Above) The castle at the back and the nicely designed and trimmed garden.

This fountain is not even the middle of the whole area…See how it stretches on and on…

(Above) I really love the flowers…a lot of heart and thought and efforts must have gone into making this so beautiful.. (Below) And these are cute huh! (yes I live in a concrete jungle, deal with my silliness)

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I wish I had more time to just sit there for the whole afternoon, or do some canoeing and picnic… (below)

This room is kinda cool with the harp and the antique piano (I’d want it minus the scary mirror and the curtains). I’d speak with the King later in my dreams

Anyway I just want to say that angels are disguised as old gentlemen in France. 2 stories to support my claim:

1) When I was on my way to Versailles on RER C, I didn’t know I had to change my train to another. I was happily shooting video inside the train, then suddenly an old gentleman called out to me “Versailles!?” “Il faut que vous changiez le train!” (It is necessary that you change the train). I just blindly followed him and be led to the connecting train. Imagine if I didn’t meet him….and he was so nice and friendly to me!

2) I decided to go to Pere Lachaise to visit the tomb of Edit Piaf, and I actually forgot to take a map at the entrance. Initially I thought “Hey i can do this! i have sorta memorised the tombs’ locations!” And I was soooo wrong. After 10-15mins, I realised I was totally lost. And just when I was about to drag my feet back to the entrance, an old man spoke to me from behind. To cut the long story short, he was so nice to offer to be my personal ‘tour guide’ so that I don’t go back to get a map. He took me to the tomb of Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde and some others. I realised I missed Stephane Grappelli’s one!

Tomb of Edith Piaf: I’m really happy I paid my respect to her….And this one is Oscar Wilde’s…with a lot of kisses and ‘i love you’ by his fans…

It’s funny because at the start of the conversation, he told me he lives ‘à coté’ (beside), and I imagined for a split second which tomb he’s ‘living’ next to. I’m crazy…

And ta-dah! Some of the albums I bought…hihi:

Will upload more photos sooooon!! This is probably only 1/3

I like today!

“It’s like graduation day for you; after seven years of erratic Uranus in your sign, you are finished studying at the School of Unexpected Changes. Today, Uranus leaves fishy Pisces to enter enterprising Aries and your 2nd House of Self-Worth. You are beginning a long-lasting phase when you can improve your self-esteem and find ways to increase your income. Start by setting new goals at work but remember that the improvements will not happen overnight.”

Everything is timed…Everything in its time

22 Mar, exactly a month after my birthday is when I receive a couple of presents. But the wait was worth it…My crazy friends actually bought me (in partial… hence forcing me to pay the rest of it haha) a limited edition Taylor Swift baby guitar! Only 10 pieces in Spore so far…woooooooo…….I’m so happy! So we had this little jamming session at the resto after I’ve opened up the huge box…

And Tienyao and Ein tested the guitar, and Joey even sang! We really terrorised the resto, even though we were already tucked at one corner far away from the rest of the patrons. Here’s a closeup of the guitar (you have to use a mirror to see the reflection for the words haha):

I’m not a HUGE Taylor Swift fan…but I love watching her perform, and the love and simplicity she has for music. I love the fact that this guitar has the words ‘Love’, and ‘Fearless’ written on it. What great reminders, especially before a performance

And my dear French friend Dimitri sent me this CD, giving me such a fantastic surprise! I certainly didn’t ‘wait’ for this, so for the fact that I didn’t wait for it, the surprise is, SWEET.

The album is by Bénabar, titled ‘Infréquentable’. You may preview the music here.

This is my favourite song (so far):

Thank you to all of you for being my crazy friends. I am so in love.

Hello guys, so I’ve been slacking with my blog updates. Sometimes I just imagine I have already shared what I’d like to share, but of course, it was only imagination. This time round, it’s not laziness at work…many things happened and time just flew by….

My baby wedding-singing group A Little Dream had our AGM again on 30 Jan, nothing formal because AGM stands for Annual Gossiping Meeting afterall. I wish we had more moving space (cos the area was quite small), but it was still heart-warming to see so many of the musicians make time for this meetup.

Then….it’s the Chinese New Year celebration! It’s my favourite holidays of all year, mainly because I get to meet and catch up with some of my relatives….Well, Beanie is not a relative, but he is nonetheless quite family!

And yes..everybody’s been asking about my MV…well, some things happened and we decided to reshoot it. We might make it just in time for the 1st year anniversary of the album ha. But I want it good, it’s ok. At least we had a lot of fun heee:

A lot of things have been delayed….if you believe in astrology, it’s because Mars turned retrograde during this period. Yes….I do believe in all these, haha! (It just turned direct recently, so yeah!)

We had this MV re-shoot on the eve of my birthday celebration. We didn’t quite sleep, hence by the time it was the birthday dinner, I was ZOMBIFIED. Nobody really seemed to notice, maybe because Cafe Iguana was sooooo dark. I’m so blessed to have this group of friends!

And then….the E-awards pre-show event “姜是本地辣” on 27 Feb 2010 @ Bugis Junction. Definitely an honour to be invited back to perform for the organisation after they awarded my EP album with “2009 Best Local Indie Album” last year. This category is so encouraging for the local music scene - not only do they root for fellow musicians who have already made it overseas, they are also showing support for many more of us who are really just trying to reach out to a wider audience. This time round, I played the piano and sing, and had Jixiang to back me on his guitar. I love it! The first thing to strike me when I arrive at the scene was, “Who are all these people with professional BIG and LONG camera lens?” I really don’t think all of them are from the media…how interesting. I’d really like to know!

Someone from Facebook took this photo of me….and I LOVE it. Mainly because I have NO…IDEA…just…what…I…was…doing….ha ha ha ha ha….!

And of course, I went overseas to record the French album of my dreams. But that’ll be another entry when I’ve more time. Going to watch Pink Martini’s concert now. Tata!

On Saturday, 2 January 2010, close to a thousand RVHS alumni members joined ex-principals, teachers, staff and students of RVHS to walk the entire distance from the Malan Road campus (formerly ACJC) to the spanking new $79M campus in Boon Lay.

And I was there.

I know, it’s a bit crazy. I’ve graduated from RV for…ages…but I still go back almost every Teacher’s Day…it seems like some link which I can’t cut off. I love going back to campus. When RV’s old west coast campus was taken over, a part of me felt crushed…only memories could console. Going back to visit never felt the same ever again (though the familiar faces of the teachers helped). But this new campus feels, right. The colours, the infrastructure, the spaciousness, even a part of the campus resembles the old west coast campus. Going back physically, or mentally, always gives me a sense of protection and feeling sheltered….I didn’t feel it when I was studying there of course. It was only when I was ‘released’ into JC and Uni subsequently that I realised how safe and sheltered I was in RV…the world out there is a deep blue sea. And discipline and perseverance shaped during my teenage years were the 2 best things that came along with the graduation.

The teachers have aged a lot, and of course, so have I. It was a great way to start the year of 2010 by going back to the roots. And this is what I want to do a lot for 2010, going back to the roots of all things. Be it relationships, music or living. In particular, I’ll sing the way I want to sing, the way I love to sing, and follow the way of singing which made me fell in love with singing at the very beginning. No one else can ever tell me how I should sound like (well except for my teacher hiak).

A friend said recently (in his rarest moments of sanity), “If one cannot find beauty in his environment, he can never find beauty in any other places he goes to”. Again, it’s all about appreciation of, roots.

Happy 2010 everyone. May you find beauty in your roots

It’s always amazing how a year can fly by like this year had. It’s not a perfect year, but since nothing is perfect in this world, I thought yes - I definitely had a great 2009! To wrap 2009 up, let’s have 9 points:

9. I’m so happy to have more time to myself this year, be it meeting up with friends and family, getting to know new and interesting friends, or just have plain solitude.

8. I recognise that there are indeed weirdos in this world. And sometimes, you don’t have to seek explanations for why they exist. Maybe they’re here to make you stronger and wiser. So, smile

7. I want to surround myself with people who are always positive, open, and believe in me…  I think, real friends  don’t feel insecure and feel jealous of your success; real friends want you to climb higher even if you guys are using the same ladder. I’ve also come to believe that friends are not necessarily forever, because friendships need to be cultivated over time, as with any relationships.

6. I am open to competition and comparison, because I believe it’s good for my own inspirations. My biggest competitor will always be myself.

5. I actually crave for running these days. I even picked up skating. Evolution’s at work!

4. I’m thankful for the opportunity to release my 1st full-length album under S2S, and I can sense more exciting adventures coming up. And I really want to thank the local media for being so supportive so far. I can’t say enough thanks. 

3. One of my proudest 2009 moments has got to be performing @ APEC, to delegates  and ministers, Ms Hillary Clinton among one of them. Great materials for grandmother story!

2. My family @ A Little Dream just got bigger! Yeah!

1. Reading is so important to me nowadays, for knowledge, comfort, and pleasure. Here’s the latest book which inspired me, and I hope you’ll go get it!

Have a smashing 2010 everyone!
Let’s step into the new year with a sense of humour - with my spoof

I Love Lego. Don’t you?

A dear friend of mine has started out a business with a few of his friends, and ta-dah, here’s their products: http://www.brickade.com/

If you like what you see, do support our local entrepreneurs. I’ve already placed my orders last night

So, do you spot the difference?

I was the only non-Korean in the picture, but I thought I blended in quite nicely with the rest. Presenting to you MAYTREE the a cappella group! They are a full-time a cappella group from Korea (in fact one of the top groups). Their concert here on Sat was a success - their blend was superb despite the disappointing sound system, cute presentation, great interaction with the audience though they seldom speak English, creative arrangements of the songs, and loads of talents.

Most ladies will notice the cute guy on the extreme left, but, but, but, the guy on my right (I can’t catch any of their names cos they just don’t register in my memory), despite his kooky look, he is really VERY VERY MAN. I thought my heart skipped a beat when he started singing, esp the korean traditional songs. My korean friend (on my left) dragged him to stand beside me during the photo-taking. I was thinking, “Thanks thanks, how more embarrassing can my life be?”

Extra notes: The girls’ outfit are so kawai, and the percussionist’s (extreme right) vocal drum kit is cool, esp. the “jazz kit”. Brush Brush Brush!

To sample their performance: L.O.V.E, Lion Sleeps Tonight. It’s a bad sample cos ‘live’ is really better x 100 times.

I MUST BLOG ABOUT GOOD FOOD.

Ok, so I am a food person. But I don’t really snack (except for the occasional dark choc), but each and every meal to me is important. I do have times when instant noodles are good to fill the stomach and I’m happy with that, but the way to make it taste good, ah, that is a skill by itself. Truth is, I get bad-mood (to put it mildly) when I have a lousy meal.

In September, two wedding couples raised the bar very high when they provided dinner for me and my band. Ta-dah!

Vincent and Huiling (27 Sept 09) ordered this 8-course dinner for the live band. I was still recovering from a bout of food poisoning but thank goodness I could make it to the wedding..and savour all these!

Adeline (pianist) and I having the excellent fish fillet for dinner at Au Petit Salut at Esther and Huan’s wedding (20 Sept 09). Photo courtesy of Eu Lee Photography. It felt so good to dine in the petit alfresco area with the breeze… I wished I could sit there all evening!

If you’re think I’m some high-food-expenditure-diva, I am not. I am equally happy with $2 chicken rice and McChicken. Haha. Do you have any good food places to recommend? Tell me! I can go the distance for good food!