Remember my little post last Oct?

It has always been a secret wish…for my works to be part of a movie soundtrack.

And my wish came true tonight! It is actually a project by Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s 2009 Grad students from the Film Sound and Video course (School of Film and Media Studies). 6 groups produced a short film of approx 15min each and voila! Many people’s dreams came true yesterday night, because the films were screened at GV, Great World City!

Funnily, the students used the demo I anyhow-recorded at home as the ending song. Not ideal (cos I hear all the mistakes and lack of right reverb etc lol), but definitely all in good spirit

I am most happy to be involved in one of the films, specifically a musical titled ‘Love Story’. The pride I got when I hear actor Rayve sing my song with the emotions and all that jazz on the big screen - priceless! (Incidentally Rayve is the actor in the recent Koka advertisement which I loveeeee.)

Many thanks to people I’ve come to known because of the film: Calvin, Singwei, Jean (for the wonderful arrangement to my song), JJ, Marilyn, and many others for making this such a memorable one for me. It’s my first time doing this, but definitely one of good experience! Hope for many more of such to come. Here’s the trailer for you:

The CEO of S2S, Kazunari Suzuki (more commonly known as Ken), passed away peacefully on 31 Jan 2010, aged 55. When I received the news, it took me a while before the news sink in, then I couldn’t quite control my grief.

This is a very personal post for me. I finally decided that I should post it.

Amongst other reasons, Ken is the major one which made me decide to sign with S2S. When I first met him, I didn’t know him of course. But during those brief moments of first few meetings, his honesty, sincerity, positivity, fairness (which I’d really never quite seen in the music industry) touched me. As time went by, I knew I was in the right ship, because he was a brilliant captain. After I joined the family, everyone in the music industry I met has nothing but positive things to say about him.

It wasn’t just his capabilities, but also his lack of air as a boss, and willingness to show himself as a mere human being which really impressed me. I don’t really like to talk about my love life (lack of), but I’d like to now, just to demonstrate how fun a person he was.

Anecdote 1:

Close to 2 months after I joined the label in 2008, I was invited to a New Year Eve lunch with the staff. In one of the conversations, one of them asked how I celebrated Christmas eve. I said I hung out with some girlfriends. My very-new Jap boss Ken who was seated beside me, burst out laughing, then tried very hard to quickly contain it with his hand. At first I was bewildered. Everyone else was bewildered. Like, “what!? what was the joke!?” Nobody understood the joke.

After 3 seconds, I quickly clarified, “Oh no, I’m not a lesbian” (just in case he found it funny that he had signed on another lesbian singer. Don’t be offended, that was the wildest guess I could come up with in split second. I mean, I didn’t know him well, and I’ve zero ideas about Japanese humour). Then he shook his head and said in thick Japanese accent in between gasping laughs,  ”No no…. Hopefully next year……you will spend your Xmas….. better “. I got what he meant, and thinking it a Japanese-appropriate answer, replied sheepishly, “Yes yes, I will get a boyfriend next year “. <– on hindsight, my reply was uncalled for, because I really don’t think he cared for any; he just found it funny.

I couldn’t quite believe it. He actually laughed at me!

Anecdote 2:

I can’t remember which month this was; this time round he got me an interview for a Japanese travel publication. As I had been mocked by him in Anecdote 1, I felt that I could let my guards down and be more ‘myself’. He personally went with me to the interview, mainly because the journalist was Japanese, and he could do some translation if necessary. The interview went very well with some help of translation; questions were mainly on my inspirations on song-writing, and music related issues. Then the journalist asked about my love life. When she knew I was single, she asked what kind of guy I like, well so, I replied blah blah blah. Ken, who was seated beside me all these while, looked at me with near disgust and commented, “Tsk. Very difficult“. Then I believe, he shook his head. Almost as if talking to a father-friend, I said (in front of the journalist), “Noooooo….it’s not!“. He said, “Difficult. You want this that.” Shook his head again. Luckily I did not need his translation for that part of the interview. (My standards are really not that high. Just too high for Ken).

As time went by, he was less a boss-figure and more a father-idol figure. His generosity, fairness to artists, kindness, sense of humour, and always on the ball attitude, fearlessness, and passion for living life, inspired me.

There are many other fond memories of him: When he spoke sprinkles of Mandarin to me… How nobody batted an eye when I performed with Aiza, well before the contract was signed… On one occasion he wanted me to sing at one of his Japanese friend’s wedding (we were very fairly paid), and he even came round to my band and I at the end of the performance to make sure we get to take some nice Japanese desserts home (each of us went home feeling really happy about the desserts more than anything else)… My last conversation with him at the Christmas party about Lisa Ono and music scene in Japan….and him spurring me to write more original songs… My best memory will be when he shared with me what S2S stands for. I wish he could have stayed on longer to see the success he envisioned for his artists, and S2S. I had really wanted to tell him, “I think your English has improved over the past year.”

My deepest condolences and sympathies to his lovely family… Here’s a song dedication to Ken for being a dream-weaver, and for everything positive he stands for. It’s my misfortune to not have a longer working relationship with him.

Wherever you may be
In that canopy of stars
I know that you are not so very far
Wherever life takes me
I will carry you
In every dream that comes true

Click here to view the embedded video.

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

If you have 1.5 hours to spare, watch this spectacular movie “HOME”, free of charge on youtube.

It is free of charge, because the maker (French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand) needs it to reach you, fast.

To know what you’re going to be watching, read here. Abstract:

“Home is a 2009 documentary by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. The film is almost entirely composed of aerial shots of various places on Earth….Opening in 181 countries, the film broke the world record for the largest film release in history…..Taking over eighteen months to complete, director Yann Arthus-Bertrand and a camera man, a camera engineer and a pilot flew in a small helicopter through various regions in over fifty countries….The film received a large response upon release, receiving over 400,000 combined views within the first 24 hours on YouTube. As of December 2009, it has a total of more than 4 million views…”

“On March 9, 2009, a press-conference was held in Paris, France, where Yann Arthus-Bertrand and various producers talked to the media about the issues raised in the film, as well as confirming that Home would be the first film ever to be simultaneously released in theaters, on television, on DVD and on the Internet in five continents.

On May 5, 2009, a second press-conference was held again in Paris, where the same crew members announced that the film’s release date would be June 5, 2009, World Environment Day. Here, they also announced that Home would be 100% free for everyone to view, as “The benefits of this film cannot be counted in dollars, but in audience figures.”"

Enjoy the spectacular pictures of our mother earth, and think about what we can do as individuals with buying power.

If consumerism rules mankind (governments, and corporations who cares about figures), then let’s make use of it to indicate what kind of products we want, and help ourselves (and them) by saving the earth.

Even if you’re not cool enough to watch it, pls pls pass it along (by blog or email) to your cool friends! :p

You have no idea how much I slept over the past few days. :p

The whole trip was tiring, mainly cos I didn’t sleep well with the new pillow, plus the excitement of exploring the fantastic room @ the ParkRoyal hotel. One of the funnie things to share is, many Malaysians I came across asked if it was my 1st time to Malaysia; my answer was always “Well, my father is from Perak” : )

Once we reached, we checked into hotel, and I zoomed out after 10min of make-up and a change of clothes. It’s usually times like this when I feel grateful for my NCC training back in sec sch days (haha).  Then we zoomed off to One Utama for a radio show where I had to tape  a performance:

All thanks to 98.8fm, DJ May-zi who readily agreed to have me on her program. This is actually a pre-recorded show, so if you’re in Malaysia, it’ll be aired on 26 Dec 09, 3pm on 98.8fm. Other than 4 songs from my album, I also sang 3 Christmas songs… :)  We even had a gift exchange heeeeeee:

Then the next day was a hectic one all over again with the preparation for the performance hosted by CD-Rama @ Summit @ 2pm! This is cool:

I was really very touched to see some fans holding my album in their hands when I was performing. All in all, I felt reeeeeeeally welcomed

They even did an autograph session for me!

Honestly I’m still getting used to all these…. as much as I appreciate, it’s still weird for me at times…

After the performance, we had a late lunch, then zoomed off to the TV station TV3! It’s so cool…cos One fm is inside the tv station! Again, all thanks to DJ Jack for having me on his program. That actually was a very enjoyable radio interview. Maybe cos he’s also from Perak!

And with that interview, my work in KL ended officially~! Heeeeeheeeee.

Then I went up to Genting to catch a joint concert by 4 divas - 潘越云，万芳，齐豫，黄小虎.

At first I was a bit hesitant about catching this concert, but at this moment in time, I am so happy that I didn’t pass it. Of course I don’t know most of the songs, well except for 我是不是你最疼爱的人，橄榄树，分不到你的爱，家后，割爱，and … 新不了情. Actually, when I heard 万芳 sing 新不了情, I felt like I had come full circle. I remembered the times when I was in 木船 as a part-time singer; this song is a song most requested for, and probably most sung. To have this song in my album was a little dream come true, and to hear the original singer perform it with my own ears… I felt like a part of my life had rounded up nicely.

听万芳唱歌是非常感人的。我是一个不易落泪的人，可是，她还没唱这首<<新不了情>>之前，我的眼泪情不自禁地流下了脸庞。那有多夸张啊。可是，就是那么夸张。万芳感性的声音，就好像是在安抚你的心… 就那么一句, “当时，以为过不去的，也都过去了。现在如果你也觉得..过不去，它总会过去的…不要让它挡住了你未来幸福的路… ” 接下来就唱了<<新不了情>>.. “回忆过去，痛哭的相思忘不了…” 加上现场saxophone手激动的演出，我想雪人都会溶化吧?

好棒的一场演唱会，因为感动得让我哭了。

你们还记得吗?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thank you KL, I’ll be back to eat MORE food soon! :p

Also a big thanks to my S2S family who took such good care of me during the trip. Happy happy!

Ok, this is so cool. Speaking of faith in the Universe, I’m sure I did something like that too when I was reeeeeaally young:

Click here to view the embedded video.

And for hardcore fans, he’s sooooo adorable here.

All thanks to CD-Rama, I’ll be going to KL to do a performance to promote my album next weekend! Will also be doing a couple of radio shows (yeah!).

I recalled what Tienyao said to me over a dinner recently. It doesn’t matter what work anyone does, there’s always the challenge of getting something done, and the satisfaction after. Even for music. Preparing for a show is usually arduous and even, boring (cos it’s just practising and practising and practising); it’s only when you perform that the satisfaction happens. Yes, I suppose nobody lives in fairyland.

My reward will be that, and to head off to Genting after everything’s over! (And to finally try Malaysian food again heh).

If you’re in KL on 5 Dec, do drop by if you’re in the area:

The Summit Subang USJ
Persiaran Kewajipan
USJ1,47600 UEP Subang Jaya,
Selangor

Performance’s @ 2pm. See you!

I wanted to perform at OOOM since early part of 2009, and thanks to Jonathan’s patience, we finally managed to pin a month down with my hectic schedule. I totally ENJOYED myself last night. I dig the cosy intimate setting..people seated on the carpeted floor, many of them performers of their original songs before my turn. Here’s some photos taken by Dengli who’s back for holidays!

Was really happy to share “Play With Me”, and 2 other unpublished works.  I think I go into another zone when I perform my own songs..like hypnosy you know?

Hope to see you there! I’ll be performing my originals, and for sure 1 (or 2) unpublished work!

cheers,
bev

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

I’m usually not the kind to be star-struck..but it was cool to see the oversea artists in real life, esp Tanya, Jam and Lala - their singing rock! There were really many songs which I didn’t know and had to turn to Tien-yao to ask “What’s the title of this song?” etc…well well. I gotta hand it to myself for not going to the toilet and not drinking any water from 715pm - 12am, never imagine I could do that. Really happy to be seated with Yet and his lovely wife though (Tanya’s mum was just seated next to Tien-yao haha)

Didn’t bring any good camera, but a memorable experience nevertheless!

One fine day, Monica (who took my photos for ‘You Are My Angel’ album) facebooked me and asked if I wanna do an MV. At first I thought she was joking…. Things rolled from there and wow, we’ve actually finished shooting my first music video

I had so much fun throughout the process, from auditioning for my male lead to the actual filming itself… honestly I’m not an actress, so to act in an MV was quite a scary thought (1. left or right profile 2. smile too big or too small 3. fats fats fats??! Then repeat from no.1 again). But the team - Monica (director), Sharon (director of photography), Ryan, Alex, Shawn, Seng Yew and Sam (the male lead) - made the whole filming so relaxed and fun. It’s a whole new experience for me, and I’m so glad I enjoyed it

Actually what I enjoyed the most, were the jokes + goofing around + laughing. And really, the dedication from the team, and the new friendships made!

Special thanks to Ngiap Heng for lending us the location, which is really really cool, and cannot be more suitable.

We couldn’t finish the shoot on day 1 (7am to 6pm), so we had to continue on a 2nd day. I love cool and relaxed ppl. I have to say Sharon and Monica really rock. It feels so good to be inspired and liberated.

Here are some photos  (my comments revealed upon clicking on photo):

Hope to share the video with all of you soon!

This is so tragic….

Sometimes my zest for life, and living it, comes from the surfacing awareness of mortality.

It’s so sad…esp when I see that she had gigs scheduled for November. I don’t know her before I came across the news, but it’s certainly thought-provoking. Listen to her music here. My favourite is Clarity.

I…..can’t….wait….for….October…to…be…over….3 more days…….

Many weddings to do, many songs to learn… October is really tough, but I’ve some exciting news to share:

1) Am invited to attend the Singapore Hits Award organised by Mediacorp’s 933 on 6 Nov.  Funniest thing is, when I was reeaaaallly young with loads of passion for singing and music to the brim, I listened to 933 all day and all night. The pop chart programme on Sundays was something I would never miss out on. To think that I’m now invited to attend as an artist, how incredible…I’d never imagined.

2) Will be filming an mtv this Sat, and I-AM-SO-NERVOUS <– See how I will be stressed right till the last day of October. Thanks, my Universe.

3) Will be recording an album of my dreams in Dec in Philippines. Am so excited just cos I’ve never been there!

It’s so ambiguous; I wish Oct will pass by very fast, but when I see Xmas lights/trees up already, I wish Xmas won’t come so fast.

Sigh, I just want to watch movies.