morning musume 10th generation

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Following the graduation of Ai-chan, つんく♂ has decided to add more girls to his famed group, モーニング娘。. I find that a little fast since the 9th generation members have barely blended in with the other members, but I guess つんく♂ couldn’t bear seeing モーニング娘。 become a smaller 8-member group compared to rival AKB48. Of the 9th generation members, I think only Erina has managed to blend in well and beginning to look like a star. Despite everyone cooing over talented Riho, I think she’s only so-so. Yes, she does look cute and has the best singing voice among the 9th generation members, but in terms of star appeal…nope, not quite there yet. Perhaps Kanon’s redeeming factor for now is her cheerful nature and the ability to make people laugh. I’m sorry to say this but Mizuki is the only one who doesn’t look like she fits in. Don’t care whether she had some experience as a Hello! Pro Egg, she just doesn’t fit in.

But who knows? Things might change in the future like how Berryz工房 changed. Risako started out being cute as a button, but now she just looks like another pretty girl — nothing too wonderful. In fact, Miyabi has grown up to be the pretty girl with the star appeal instead. Even captain Saki is beginning to bloom and draw more attention. Oh, but I’ve digressed.

Presenting the 10th generation members of モーニング娘。:

 

Kudou Haruka (11), Satou Masaki (12), Ishida Ayumi (14), Iikubo Haruna (16)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ9z4m6i6zk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k6-78W1Olw

 
Of the new members, I think Haruna has a good chance of standing out like ex-C-ute member, Erika — not so much of singing talent, but of height and beauty. Haruka looks promising too being a little cutesy girl. Masaki needs a bit of an image change, but I’m sure it’ll come in time. Ayumi looks odd, but she seems rather enthusiastic when singing and dancing. Just hope she doesn’t turn out to be like Koharu — trying hard to gain attention to the point of being rather annoying.

Those who didn’t make it need not despair. There’s still a chance with rival AKB48 and judging by their popularity now (seems to have surpassed モーニング娘。), all’s not lost.

 

 

Oh hey! Isn’t that Satou Sumire and Kashiwagi Yuki? Both seemed pretty good during their 8th generation モーニング娘。 auditions so I have no idea why つんく♂ didn’t choose them. While both have managed to secure places in AKB48, I think they would have fared much better in popularity if they were in モーニング娘。 simply because it’s a much smaller group, but I guess they are happy where they are now. I mean, there are pros and cons. They get an older sexy girlfriend image in AKB48 rather than モーニング娘。‘s young girl image. And Yukirin is captain of Team B in AKB48.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBvOWCMoWvc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nvCuVgGtgI

matchbox cars

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That’s what the F1 cars remind me of when they are zooming down the track. We had narrowly missed the chance of going to the F1 race, but somehow fate decreed that we would watch our first F1 race (in style no less) this year. Yup, we got sky suite passes thanks to DBS.

 

Our trip to the sky suite started at the banks of the Singapore River at UOB Plaza where we boarded the private ferry and got ferried across while enjoying the sights and sounds (of the F1 cars) of the Singapore city nightscape. The excitement was definitely building up as we heard the cars zooming right across the bridge above us. The minute we reached the sky suite, we “burst” out onto the balcony to take in the F1 race experience. Boy, was it LOUD. No wonder they said earplugs were a must. After the third car zoomed past, we were scrambling indoors because our eardrums couldn’t take the noise anymore.

 


Entrance to sky suite


In the sky suite


Out on the balcony with the view of the pit and Singapore Flyer in the background

Dinner was served in the sky suite which we found the food standard only so-so. Frankly speaking, I think only the fish was good (besides the plate of truffles on the table). Oh well, food wasn’t exactly the top thing on our minds. After dinner and exploring the place a bit, we decided to move up to the open-air lounge only accesible to sky suite pass holders. There, we got a nice view of pit and track below. It was also there that we chose to watch the qualifying round that night. It wasn’t the actual race day, but hey, the passes were complimentary so I’m not complaining.

If you asked me how was the experience, I would say it was exhilarating. I thought I would get bored after awhile watching cars doing the same thing again and again, but I was surprised I didn’t feel that way. While some might prefer a different view of the track, I liked the view of the pit because I love watching the engineers and pit crew scrambling around to change the tires. Definitely a tough, high-stakes job.

Here’s a little tidbit to end of the post. It’s Ferrari’s Alonso going round the track.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtEdtBqAawg

tokyo skyscraper

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A bit of an overdued post, but here’s my two cent’s worth of the SCANDAL concert…

It began with a bit of chaos with the queue. Sis, Jie Yu and I arrived at 1.45pm to join the unofficial queue outside the theatre at LASALLE. Yes, it was an unofficial queue thanks to a note right where the entrance to the theatre was that said no queue was to form before 3pm. But hey, Singaporeans are Singaporeans and we will queue when needed no matter what. There was a “chunk” of people in the middle — read: fan club forum, SCANDAL Heaven — but that didn’t bother us too much. There were a few people not in the queue and standing at the side which kind of irked us, but we still kept our cool. After all, we were armed and prepared with boxes of food, mats, and Monopoly Deal.

At about 3pm, a security guard came to tell the us that if we all cooperated and formed a proper queue (sans chunks of humans), he would let us into the theatre at 4pm. What happened next was annoying. People who were not in the queue took the chance to shove themselves into the haphazard “queue” while others who were right at the back took the chance to close the distance between themselves and the entrance. In other words, it was their unspoken cue to cut the queue. We found ourselves pushed right to the back of the queue. No, we were not about to give up the few hours of queuing just to find ourselves pushed out of the first 200 people bracket. (Note: the first 200 people who bought merchandise would get a ticket to the meet and greet session after the concert.) To make things worse, 4pm rolled around and there wasn’t a soul in sight to let us into the theatre. I wanted to talk to someone in the organizing team…like NOW. I must say that the event was poorly organized because there wasn’t any official person in sight. Finally when we managed to get hold of someone (think she was a LASALLE staff), that lady bitch wasn’t even the least bit helpful. She answered like she was annoyed that we even complained about the situation and asked for something to be done to improve the situation. She said she would get hold of someone from the organizing team and get back to us, but lo’ and behold, she didn’t even bother to get back to us. We were left standing like idiots right outside the LASALLE office door.

So alright, what do we do now? Some random dude from the front of the queue came to ask us why we were standing in the middle of their queuing party — probably meaning why were we cutting the queue. That was when Sis said that she’ll let out her inner bitch if she had to. Talked to the dude about the situation and finally we came to an agreement that as long as we don’t cut in front of their party, he didn’t care if we cut the queue. And so that was what we did. You know how they say “if you can’t beat em’, join em’.” Shaz and his two friends came later, saw us, and joined us after asking if they could.

After that whole queuing fiasco, we managed to secure front row seats! (Rejoice! Rejoice!) It wasn’t so much of how I could be much nearer to SCANDAL, but more of not having some random tall person block my view. Hell yea, it was good being in the front row. We were at the left of the theatre which gave us the clearest view of Tomomi. I must say that I was a bit lost with the songs they sang because I haven’t kept up much with their songs. Hey, when you’re a full-time student, you spend most of your time studying to earn those As. And although I would have much preferred to be at the right side of the theatre to be closer to Mami, being on Tomomi’s side wasn’t that bad too because she noticed us and threw her pick to us! Her aim wasn’t great as it fell at the barricaded part, but we managed to get the attention of the photographer to retrieve it for us. Oh! Oh! They sang 「瞬間センチメンタル」! And no, I’m not an FMA lover neither did I get started on SCANDAL because of the anime.

We found out later at the meet and greet session that Tomomi was focusing on Jie Yu most of the time because she said 「見えた! 見えた!」 excitedly when Jie Yu shook her hand. Rina commented 「可愛い。」 when she saw my outfit and Mami said the same too! <3 I only managed to blurt a mere 「マミも可愛い。」 before I was hurriedly “pushed” forward by the security guards. It’s true, Mami is cute because she has long natural straight hair and thick dolly bangs that I long for and can never have.

To end off the entry, this was our biggest present from the concert.

 

This was what I wore to the concert. Same thing I wore for my first J-Net fashion show…

 

And what would an entry be without some videos. The video that got me started on SCANDAL. Although they cannot replace ZONE, they have their own songs to make them a great girlband of their own.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtFGnRtr-Iw

My top 3 SCANDAL tunes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkz0K1NIff8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mpDLhppveI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOTQ6Bf33tc

i choose

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“We are responsible for our own effectiveness, for our own happiness, and ultimately, I would say, for most of our circumstances.”
— Stephen R. Covey “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”

In the midst of thinking of how to help Sis overcome her problems, I re-read the first chapter of “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” about proactivity. When I came to the part about responsibility and choosing, I started to think about myself and my own relationship.

I think I’ve found the answer to what people have been asking my all this while. I know some people have this question in their mind (especially Sis) about my relationship with the boyfriend. “He is your first boyfriend, how are you so sure he is the one?” “There are so many fish out in the sea, you haven’t had a variety of experiences with different people.” “Remember the time he hurt you and you cried so bad, are you sure you want to be with him?”

While we have had our share of quarrels and there’s still a lot more challenges ahead before we commit ourselves to a life together (aka marriage), I don’t see how not we can be together. I used to retort back by saying that I look at my relationship with him as long-term, but I still get the “how are you so sure that he’s the one” thrown back in my face. Now, I tell you why. I CHOOSE to make my relationship work and turn out the way I want it to be. Not saying that I am selfish and make it out to be the fairytale ending I want it to be, but that I know what I want as an outcome (a life together) therefore I work towards it. And that’s not to say that it will be a smooth road ahead, but we will work to overcome the obstacles and face the challenges together as they come along.

30 day song challenge day 05: song that reminds me of someone

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Day 05 — A song that reminds you of someone

Actually, any Kanjani8 song will remind me of Perrine (Per), but I think the most appropriate Kanjani8 song would be “Osaka Romanesque”. It was the time when I was overly crazy about NewS and she was overly crazy about Kanjani8. I remember this song held meaning for us because we had visited Osaka one time together and we were identifying the places we had gone and want to visit in the song.

No official PV, but here’s a clip from their concert.

 

http://www.veoh.com/videos/v13419444dzt85yJ

30 day song challenge day 03: happy song

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Day 03 — A song that makes you happy

NewS‘ “weeeek” is one song that will keep you bouncing throughout. It gives you the “life is hard, but keep your head up high and smile” kind of 元気 feeling — a bit like how you look at happy boy Massu and all your worries are gone. The infectious beat definitely makes you want to stand up and start bouncing along. A truly happy song it is.

I couldn’t find the PV for it, but you can hear it from the Russ-K CM. The CM’s pretty cool too…haha…

 

patience

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You know how God tests your patience when you least expect it? God tests my patience via my phone. When I’m up and about, nobody calls/text messages. Just when I lie down hoping to get a snooze, someone has to call/message. My phone sits next to me on the bed plus I’m a light sleeper so I get awoken quite easily. And this goes on not just once throughout my sleep. I end up not getting the nice unbroken sleep that I want. *roar*

No, I can’t turn off my phone because somehow an important call comes in then (talk about coincidence). I just hope that callers will leave a message. I don’t care whether you’re calling to sell me something or want to offer me a job, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave a message if I don’t answer the call. I didn’t pay $5 (in fact it’s $15…one time charge of $10 for registering the service) and record my own voice for nothing.

love your skin

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“世上没有丑女人，只有懒女人。”

Whoever said that must be a genius (not counting Sis who quoted that person). I have never really taken care of my skin or hair until my hair started going all wiry and wrong. I started using leave-in conditioner. Over the years although my hair is still weird and has a life of its own, the quality has become a lot better. I made it a habit to put leave-in conditioner after my bath. Sadly, I have not done the same for my face.

It used to be fuss-free for me. I hardly got pimples so washing my face with a cleanser was just about all I did. I felt it was a waste of time to use all the different facial stuff. Well, now I pay the price. I don’t remember when my forehead started to get extremely oily. I just equated that to having combination skin — an oily T-zone.

I got a really bad outbreak on my forehead in my second year of college. It could have been due to the change in weather and my body adjusting to it. Anyway, some cream from the dermatologist helped, but somehow the problem never totally went away. I started to get some problem on my cheeks. Still, I would use the occasional face mask and cleanser for oily and problematic skin, but never the full regime.

Yesterday, I went for my first facial. Sis had bought some voucher for a facial session for 2. She decided to pull me along since Mum already had her own appointment booked. At first I was a little against the idea since I felt weird having someone fuss over my face and I did not want to be trapped in some sales pitch, but after Mum said I should be going for regular facials especially with my horrible skin condition and well, I couldn’t really worm my way out of it, I relented.

I must say the first time experience was nice (except for the part when the therapist put some VERY COLD mask on my face). She poked at my face, but it was ok since she was helping me get rid of all the nasty stuff. I was told that I had dry and sensitive skin. Was a bit surprised to hear that since all along I thought I had oily skin. Apparently, my oily forehead was due to my own body trying to combat the dryness by producing more oil to moisten the area. Of course, she was taken aback when I said I only used a cleanser for my facial regime. Yes, I know there’s the whole basic 3-step facial regime — cleanser, moisturizer, toner — but hey, didn’t I say I felt it was a waste of time?

The next part of the facial was the most hated part — the sales pitch. Since I had proclaimed that I only used a cleanser and my skin condition was like crap, she had to sell me their products which of course I knew would be horribly expensive considering I’m not earning an income now. The total set would have cost me $300+ mind you. I felt a little trapped. Maybe it was the whole psychological thing of reciprocity acting on me, I felt it hard to say no. In the end, it was Sis who helped me fend them off by giving (somewhat crap) excuses like I just came home from USA and I have no idea about such things so my mum has made decisions for me to get facial stuff elsewhere. To which, the beauty manager said that I was old enough to make decisions and even she was younger than me and she even made decisions to have facial sessions for her mother. (She knew how old I was because I had to fill in some form before the facial session.) I didn’t care what excuses Sis used and if they made me sound like a total idiot. I just didn’t want to pay $300+ for all that.

We walked off without me getting anything. (Hallelujah! Thanks Sis!) That was when I really made a promise to myself that I will make it a habit to take care of my skin. I got the essential facial stuff from Watsons later which although cost me about $50, but I felt I needed them and I felt happy paying for. Also, I’m thinking of having regular facial sessions too. Gotta start loving my skin more.

Expensive lesson learnt, but oh well, I gotta start from somewhere right? There’s really no easy way out for things like that and having fuss-free skin in your youth does not guarantee you having the same after your teens.