And..Cheers!

I've finally accomplished my mission - to catch Cheer live in concert..been talking about it for years(well, the last concert was almost 2 years ago, refer to blog below)

i think i'm quite a paradoxical fan..Let's see the 'quite-fan' side of me first..Well, over the years, i've attended :

• Some promo concert at 木船. The retro venue meant that it was some n years ago..when she was still a 'newbie' and trying to gain recognition(i think recognition and not publicity was what she was hoping for). At that time, i didn't know many of her songs..but think i quite enjoyed it..really closeup..just her guitar and her voice..din pay a cent though i spent some 30mins queueing up..


• The musical play 地下铁 where she was the lead actress as the blind girl. It as held at the Esplanade studio..of couse, with the high-end acoustics, her voice sounded near perfect. Forgot how much i spent on the tickets though..


• Her previous concert in Singapore 'A peice of Summer' - ok, so i din go for this one..but i was this close to attending..and i had devoted one entire blog entry on her, which coincidentally had the same title to previous blog - Reason to Cheer


• And of cos, the recent 'The Immortal' concert..despite still only knowing a handful of her songs. I'm still not sure why it's called Immortal..when the chinese name is 太阳 or sun..just like i dunno why the song with the simple chinese title of '鱼' has been translated to 'the edge'..shouldn't it be just 'fish'?

As for the so-much-for-being-a-fan side of me..the number of albums i've bought : ONE

And that album was bought from macau many moons ago for probably less than S$10..what's more it's a compilation album and i've only very recently convinced myself it's a genuine copy(& not pirated). Then again, she's only released 5 full albums over her 12 years career.

But..i did know her from her very first hit -让我想一想 so i guess i'm still quite a loyal fan..and i did seriously contemplate buying her concert CD after missing the 2007 concert in Sg..but but..

Anyway, this time round, i had 'indirectly caused' 4 other pax to go with me..and i sort of paid for 3 pax(though i'm very grateful to junior who gave me a free upgrade..haha) I guess 3 of them still managed to enjoy the concert..we even stood up for more than half of the concert(mainly due to the fans standing and thus blocked our views), though the 4th pax(who never heard of Cheer before) had quite an 'overdose' of her 'cute' voice.

Since then, i've added another of her album to my 'collection', courtesy of 0.5 and it's now on repeat mode in my van :)

Reason to Cheer

Finally..after countless blogs(actually only one lah 'Glorious Summer Night') and months of waiting(coming 20 since the last one), i'm finally attending Cheer Chen Qizhen's concert!

And the best thing is, it's held at SIS..not the ulu place-with-lousy acoustics-with even lousier seats-'XPO'..the concert is billed as the 'first solo concert by a taiwanese female singer-songwriter at SIS'..way to go!

Uh-hmm...clearing my throat now..for the sing-along tonight :D

2009-1

Woah woah..guess wat..ang moh and cheena new year had both arrived and it's now officially 2009 already!

Ever since i'd started getting more and more stingy with my blogs, i've formed the habit of reading thru my previous blogs to see where i've left off..so it was the class monitress's WD that i last talked about..Coincidentally, we(4/1 1994 - refer to photo below) met up yest for CNY..

Yes, tat's our signature on a dusty-but-undoubtedly-expensive desk..hah


The gathering was an opportunity to catch up as much as an oppprtunity for us to 'marvel' at our Maths Rep's not-so-humble abode..haha..Like i told whoever-bothered-to-listen-to-me, her paintings in her house probably cost more than my flat liao lor..haha..And the most 'admirable' thing about their house? They clean it by themselves.. with no maid..i think just cleaning the 'luo di chuang' on the ground level is enough to burn away half a box of bak kwa liao..but of cos Maths Rep is eager to add that she can manage it all with the help of 'i-robot', which is really easy and good to use! As someone mentioned, Harvey Norman should really get her as the spokesperson..i think if i were to stay in such a house, i wouldn't need curtains very soon..the dust accumulated would be enough to block out any light..ha..

Oh well..now that we've got such a nice 'alternative' for gatherings, we needn't crack our heads over where to meet every time we organise a gathering..heh..

WDs

Nope..sorry to disappoint..i'm not announcing my Wedding Dinner..Though i already have a willing emcee-volunteer - Wei..we've agreed to emcee at each other's wedding...whose will happen first..i guess your guess is as good as mine?!

Is yearend the season of WDs? Even i-who-have-few-frens-who-marry have to attend 3 WDs in a month..of cos, this is still nothing as compared to OYB-who-has-13-WDs-in-a-year(OYB is also formerly known as OSM)

Attended class monitress Song's WD last sat..i had bugged her endlessly(who's going? got 4/1 pple? how many? Wei not counted hor) to ensure i won't the only one from 4/1 going..i absolutely hate attending WDs where i know the grand total of ONE pax, which is the groom/bride(in fact i shall make it my new year resolution tat i'll not attend such WDs anymore)

It started off as a typical WD..'registered' myself and paid my share for the WD(Why are WDs so ex anyway? It's definitely not the food..what am i paying for?? The beer so tat uncles can yum seng all night?) Din spot any familar faces so tried to while time away looking at the photo albums..heaved a sigh of relief when 2 classmates appeared..we quickly congregated and huddled together..trying to conceive a plan to 'steal' the cocktail nuts from the next table...another grouse about WDs - Why do they always have to start so late? Its not healthy to eat a calories-laden dinner at 9pm..tsk..

That said, i must say this is one of the few WDs that i truly enjoyed myself..mostly cos we(4/1) had the whole table to ourselves(the two mysterious 'gym frens' were MIA) and the moment we seated ourselves down, it morphed into a class gathering..

There were 8 of us, which i think is a good size for a typical table..10 pax is always a little too squeezy..esp when you have unknowns at your table..and you feel very paiseh to reach out for more food just in case u elbow them in the face or something..

There were a few revelations tat nite...

#1 Song can drink..AND drinks like a fish(according to classmate-cum-cousin Wei)

#2 Wei's exciting 'discovery' at the end of the dinner that 'hey, we can use this wedding gift as a luggage tag!'(my dear fren, we realised tat the moment we sat down at the table ya..)

#3 And the most exciting of all(to me, at least) Yun, my dear neighbour(though a good 10cm shorter than me, she was transferred to the back of the classroom to sit next to me..apparently to 'influence' me..Yun was sorta the model student back then) doesn't like mushrooms either! She finds them nuah, disgusting, gross, unappealing, off-putting...wat can i say? Great minds think alike!

What happened 2 months and 9 days ago..

Sorting my photos after the longest time..was kinda forced into it cos i needed my camera for work-purposes and my memory card was full..Yes, somehow my life kinda revolves around work now..i dunno why and when it started..but i was kinda taken aback when 2 people commented 'you're becoming a workaholic' on 2 separate occasions..

Anyway..on the 21 Sep 08, a 'significant' incident happened..not as life-changing as THE incident..but still enough to get frens getting concerned and asking 'What happened to u??'..again..

Target/Quarterly Review

'3 months..a quarter of a year..What have i achieved?'

I realised i left my previous blog(dated 28 Aug) uncompleted..unpublished..I forgot why this is so..but probably i got myself into a writer's dead-end..by asking 'What have i achieved?'

Since when have i set goals for myself?! Not since PSLE days when i set to 'achieve' 1 a-star(which i did)..next milestone was probably the 'O's..which i knew as early as before the leadup to the prelim exams that i had not put in enough efforts for the past year to achieve 'wat-my-maximum-potential-had-been-if-i-had-put-in-maximum-effort'

Come to think of it..why do people set targets to achieve? Goals like earning a million before 35 or even getting married before 35..buying a car before 35..Whether u can earn a million or not..it's something you can calculate - either you can or you can't(unlike your avenue includes striking the lottery)..getting married is another stupid goal..be it setting a timeline to get hitched or telling your partner let's get married in another 2 years..it just doesn't make sense to me..

Coming back to the question..Why? Why do people set targets? So you can be happy when you 'achieve' them? But you probably have an idea of your chances of achieving the targets in the first place..right? Ok, take it that you really achieve your goals..so you'll be happy..and then what's next? How long will this joy of achievement last? Set another goal? Worse..what if you don't achieve the goal? Sulk? 'Review' and then try again?

Maybe..just maybe..i really do believe that the process is more important than the end result(achievement) Which is why i'm always more concerned with 'what do i have to do if i want to achieve something?' Is it really worth the effort? But of cos, it could just boil down to the fact that i'm a super nuah person..

In any case..i've just failed to achieve my target of blogging about my head(injury)..see? Tat's why i don't set targets anymore..

p.s. wat a nonsensical post...think my brain still recovering from the shock..

Life's like tat..

Popped by a cosy little viet eatery in bugis area the other day..one of those places which have magazines for patrons to pass time..was flipping through one of the mags when my eyes fell on something very familiar-looking :




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Was walking to my van at my carpark when i heard 'excuse me' ..there were these 2 ladies who have been washing a car opp my van. The following conversation took place(in mandarin cos they're er..chinese)

The ever-helpful ZXL : Yes, can i help?

Car-washing ladies : Can u help to drive this car to the car-washing bay? (which is 2 lots away) It's very squeezy here and too dark to wash the car..i dunno how to drive and am just helping a friend to wash the car..

The amused ZXL : Err..ok..but what about after you washed the car? I'm going off in a while..

Car-washing ladies : Then we'll just leave the car there!

The 'summon-expert' ZXL : But u can't park there, u'll kena summon!

Car-washing ladies : Then we'll just get someone else to park the car when we're done washing!

The even-more-amused ZXL : er..ok lor..

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Met junior after the looooongest time..4, 5 years? Still look the same i must say(both me and her) Filled each other in on the past few years of our lives over a 'drink-forever-also-haven-finish' banana milkshake last week..

Her life has been..in a way, very 'predictable'..which was exactly how i imagined it to be..graduate from uni with an accountancy degree..work in a big 4..be an accountant..

My life..is..in her words..'wahh..so exciting hor! Travel, work in theme park, setting up own company'..(yes, as well as trying to make ends on a measly pay each month)

On a whim, we decided to go cycling..at 830pm on a sat nite(as if i didn't have enough of cycling)..one thing tat didn't change after all these years - we still do the stupid-est, boliao-est things when we're together..

Junior went on to lament that her life is so boring as compared to mine and her brother's(he who gave up a high-flying finance career to be a counsellor/teacher) She wanted to do something else..something different..something tat's 'jaw-dropping'..indeed, in the 15 years i know her, she's never done anything really jaw-dropping..And then, she casually mentioned: 'i wanna open a yong tau foo stall'

Wow! Indeed..to hear tat coming from her is jaw-dropping enough..of cos, immediately i tried to convince her how i can be her best yong tau foo seller..having accumulated years of experience as a yong tau foo-eater..

So..the next time u see me helping out at a yong tau foo stall..contain ur jaw..

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Was lunching the other day with a colleague at a hawker centre..when my colleague spotted a fren and started chatting away..while i continued chomping away on my fishball noodles..when i felt a pinch on my arms *ouch* i looked up to see my long-time-no-see uni fren..who happened to be the wife of the fren..so 'qiao'..

Haven seen her in years too..still look very much like the hello kitty(the cat with no mouth) fan she was back then..although she has since switched allegiance to miffy(the rabbit with a 'X' for a mouth)..

Seems like this is the season for finding back long lost frens..