Ultimate Guilty Pleasures!

I know, I know, I was supposed to blog about Melaka in this post, but this inspiration came to me so I had no choice but to postpone Melaka to another day. Was caught in another traffic jam today, and I popped in my Ultimate Sing-Alongs compilation (yea I actually have one, and so do some of my close friends - haha you know who you are) and had a jolly good time singing along. Yes no matter how much you deny it, everyone has a song they secretly sing along to when nobody is watching. Songs you feel if revealed will tarnish your image you have so sacredly built up. So for the benefit of everyone who is hiding in the closet, I have unashamedly decided to put together 10 of the following videos of ultimate guilty pleasures. Sigh the sacrifices I make to my reputation for you guys. Go ahead and click to watch (over and over again), you know you want to...

1) Wannabe - Spice Girls. Come on now, everyone loved them back in secondary school. Everyone I know owned the Spice album, just like everyone owned the cassette of Alanis Morisette's Jagged Little Pill (which I can't seem to find the CD in stores now). Just when you thought girlll power has finally died off, here they are on their comeback tour. Man if they came to Malaysia I would have definitely gone to watch. Comeback single Headline (Friendship Never Ends) is mediocre though. Where has all the fun and zest gone? Of course they're denying they're coming back because of the money. And we believe them, don't we? Anyways a UK celebrity remarked about the Headline video, "If they really are singing about friendship, why do they need to be dressed in bras and panties?". Finally someone has asked the burning question.



2) Mmmbop - Hanson. Kudos, I say, to anyone who can make a hit out of a non-word. When I first saw the video, I honestly thought the lead singer was a girl! Of course they eventually grew up, voices cracked, started singing more 'serious' stuff. Zzzzz...



3) YMCA - Village People. I cannot imagine anyone being a spoiled sport enough to not like this song. Everyone knows the dance, everyone knows the words to the chorus (well it is, after all, just Y...M...C...A...). If you've not watched the video before, here's your chance. Be warned though, it IS very gay. Would you expect anything less?



4) Like A Virgin - Madonna. Yes, back when Madonna was still young and naive and not going all Kabbalah on us, she used to sing about being like a virgin, wearing cone-shaped bras, and sang in that whiny voice like in this song. Ah, who would have thought this teeny bopper back then would become the icon that she is today? Wonder if 20 years down the line, would Britney wake up and go all Kabbalah on us as well (and still make crap movies)?



5) Baby One More Time - Britney Spears. Which of course leads me to this classic debut video by Britney. Yes this was the video that caused the uproar about school uniforms. She's practically in the news everyday at the moment, making the rumours of her having a boob job back then seem so small in comparison. My, who would have thought Miss-I'm-Still-A-Virgin would have ended up being in the rut she's in now.



6) Barbie Girl - Aqua. Haha I don't think this video needs any introduction. Even Lai Jing used to own their album (yes, Lai Jing, I'm bringing you down with me).



7) Nothing In This World - Paris Hilton. Everyone hates Paris. And why shouldn't we? She is the epitome of all things wrong. She can't act, she can't sing, she's not funny, she breaks the law. But she's got the moolah. So she gets the movie roles, the TV scripts, the debut album, the red carpet invites, the press coverage. So the album sucked, like it should, but this song? Wellll, it is hummable. Now, that's hot, right?



8) Dancing Queen - Abba. 100% karaoke favourite among the Ah Lians.



9) Locomotion - Kylie Minogue. Haha I remember when I was small someone made me dance to this song. Thank gosh there was no YouTube back then!



10) I Want It That Way - Backstreet Boys. Ok I confess, I used to be a BSB fan. Ok a big one. And I owned all their albums. But now I look back, I don't think I'm too embarrassed by it. Well they're still hanging around now, but they seem so much more serious ie boring now. Well this is another classic guilty pleasure song. Everyone knows the lyrics, everyone sings along, everyone knows it's cheesy. Well, it ain't the most parodied song and video for nothing.

A Good Day Out

An invitation from Lee Leng recently to go to Sungkai Hot Springs brought about the inspiration for this post. I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling this way (well I sure hope I'm not), but there ARE people like me who unfortunately do not get much opportunities to travel. Be it due to financial or time constraints or inability to get leave (or all), we therefore need to resort to quick 1 day getaways to literally GET AWAY from it all. I guess the importance of such retreats has never really occurred to me until I've started working, and therefore I'm dedicating this post to everyone out there who feels they are in similar shoes.

I have to stress the importance of it being a FEASIBLE 1 day trip, where you can actually have sufficient time to do actual walking about, and not merely spend 80% of the time in the car. Mind you, when you're working on Saturdays, and the occassional public holiday, and your friends often have conflicting schedules with yours, having that ONE day where everyone can all go is really oh-so-preciousss...So if you don't want such a life, then to all aspiring college-goers, there are some courses (*cough* pharmacy *cough*) you should avoid like the plague.

I guess I've really been on 2 destinations for a day trip. The first being to Bukit Tinggi, Pahang. If you haven't been here before, I highly recommend a day trip here, just enough to see everything and not ask why-am-I-staying-the-night-here-there's-nothing-to-do-but-stare-at-odd-houses. PLUS it's something different than the usual Genting or Cameron or Fraser. Only 45 minutes drive from KL, it's really just a place to chill and to bring your significant other, and to snap really nice photos! They've mainly got 3 areas you should check out, the Japanese tea house, some trail that allows you to walk through some botanical garden thingy, and the French village. Literally it feels like you're not in Malaysia for that very short moment. I guess pictures speak louder than words (I don't know why I can't get the captions to be aligned in the centre):

Jap House

Oh you'll go trigger happy upon seeing the koi

Colmar French Village

My we-can-only-afford-one-day-trip kaki's

Be forewarned though, if your idea of a good trip consists of eating out til you burst, trekking through some wilderness like the nature lover you are, conquering some mountain or other, or is a sucker for all things historical, then THIS IS NOT THE PLACE FOR YOU. If however, you fulfill the following criteria, then by all means go:

1) You just want to go somewhere other than Genting,
2) You are a sucker for taking photos in un-typical places,
3) The idea of stomping through mud in a jungle or scaling mountains sounds like you must be out of your mind,
4) You live and breathe koi, and/or
5) You just want to go somewhere other than Genting.

Coming in the next post: Of Melaka and Glorious Food and Funny Signs...

New Keys Video

This is the new video release from Alicia Keys, Like You'll Never See Me Again. I've heard this song a few days back and it's really grown a lot on me after a few listens. As much as I dislike using cliches, I guess there is a reason they're often used: because there is some degree of truth in them. It's common for us to hear about treasuring every moment, and I guess this video simply epitomises that. Anything can happen today or tomorrow, so don't put til tomorrow what you want to say or do today.

Man, am I getting soppy...OK let's watch Beyonce (below) again (yes Zeb, you too).

A Classic

I was watching Channel E! on TV just now and they were screening this feature on Beyonce and when the snippets of the Crazy in Love video was played, it instantly opened a floodgate of memories. The song was HUGE in 2004 (and still is widely favoured now, just listen to the cheers of approval whenever it's played in the clubs), and coincidentally was the time when I started living in Glasgow in the summer. The song was EVERYWHERE then, and I fondly remember how I downloaded the video and watched it EVERY night before calling it a day (ok somehow that didn't come out right). Anyways...I LOVE this video, it had all the makings of a hot one, and I'm sure Beyonce and the video director must have kindly thought of the needs of the global male population when producing it. From the walk-in intro, to the frolicking on the ground, the kicking of the fire hydrant releasing a gush of water to rain on her dance sequence, the blowing of the bubblegum, to the gravity-defying piece of cloth she calls a top in the final scene...everything was perfectly engineered with utmost precision to cater to the mass audience. She knows what the public wants and she duly delivers, now that's what I call a professional :)

I crashed a party recently with a friend (yes you read that right), and they had this guy dressed in drag who gamely got on stage when this song was played. Man, was he funny! Obviously a purist of the video, he literally replicated the dance moves to the T, complete with the signature shake-the-booty-while-raising-your-arms-against-your-chest move, and the licking of the thumbs too! Damn happening party, that was.

I would call it an understatement that I was devastated upon realising her anticipated concert here was cancelled, only for Jakarta to rub it into our faces by declaring that there will no dress code restrictions on her visit there. Heck, I don't blame them. Sigh when am I ever gonna meet Beyonce in person...

To the many Malaysians who still can't get over the cancelled tour, let us revisit this classic video once again and maybe, our self-imposed moral guardians will one day realise what they have been depriving us of (yea keep dreaming...).

Battle of the Grunts

OMG YouYube is simply amazing. I was searching for video evidence of the Sharapova vs Venus grunt battles as mentioned in my previous post, and (of course) they have it! Enjoy!

Having a ball

Whatever I post on this blog I suppose comes from inspirations, and sometimes they can come flowing non-stop, or they can be so dry you might as well call me kayu. Today's inspiration came about when I joined Zeb for his regular golf practice at the range (no, I wasn't there to play, just to be the proverbial fly on the wall) and the moment he asked me to swing a try, as expected I appeared like a total klutz. No, wait, I WAS a total klutz at it. Just one of those times I was thankful there was practically no one watching me, and of course I basically wasted one of Zeb's balls.

I think the word 'klutz' is just the perfect word to describe my experiences in sports. It pretty much summarises my whole sporting life, or the lack of it. I'm not sure if there is such a thing as someone being born with sports genes (ie even if it's not a sport of their choice, they can still friggin' play reasonably well, damn these people), but I can guarantee I definitely have no genes of such sorts. Of course like how the evolutionary theory will tell you (this is an unsubstantiated claim), people are products of their genes and the environment. I guess since my parents are not the sporting type, I never grew up with that sort of culture embedded in me. So no genes + no environment = BIG klutz. It's not that I've never even tried any games, I've just never been good in any of them. In fact, my only fond sporting memory was the time in primary school, when me and another 'well-fed' classmate were often the pick of the crop as defenders in football. Yes size does matter back then I guess, so the rare feeling of being wanted on a team back in those days was often a proud moment haha.

I vividly remember absolutely hating the annual Sports Days practices where they wanted to choose the potential participants in the various events. As if it's not morale-sapping enough doing the jog around the field as warm-up and lagging behind everyone else while wearing a tight school sports T-shirt (as usual their sizes don't cater for the plus-sized), they have to further degrade people like me by forcing us to do the 100m sprints and high jumps. I mean is that even necessary? Do I LOOK like I'm gonna sprint pass everyone in the 100m and/or perform a miraculous record-breaking jump over the pole?

I think psychologically the build-up of such embarrasing and often intimidating (well at least back then) moments have sort of contributed to my low self-esteem sports-wise. In fact, the only sport I can play and agree to join an invitation to play that I would not be worried about embarrasing myself is bowling. Well not that it means that I'm super-good in it, but at least I know I CAN play reasonably ok, and chances of me putting up a fight are there. So yea, when it comes to bowling, I don't really have to shy away from an invitation to play, except if you're talking about playing with players who score consistently higher than 140. In fact, if I had the time and extra spending money (which is obviously unlikely), I would really like to take up proper bowling lessons, and maybe, just maybe, one day I can experience the glorious moment of thrashing someone in a sports event muahaha :)

Now, while I don't play sports often, people are often taken by surprise when they realise I DO know what's happening in the world of sports. So yes, I do know who's winning the Super Series tournaments in badminton, what teams are leading the various football leagues, the teams in the Champions League, the F1 controversies, and one of my favouries, the latest in tennis updates!

Tennis has always had a place in me, and at some age I just started to really enjoy watching the game. Of course, it would be great if I could actually play it, but refer to story above. So it was indeed a pleasant surprise when I found out about the Federer vs Sampras match on our local shores. I'm ecstatic to say that I AM GOING!!! I really have very few friends who are remotely interested in tennis, so when Yan Seen couldn't make it because she's landed in KK, it was really a bitter disappointment. So Zeb, a BIG THANK YOU for coming with me! Oh this is gonna rock, though I'm not too sure if Sampras is still able to play a competitive match.

While I really enjoy the intensity of the men's matches, I am also very fond of watching the women's. And it would have been awesome if there could have been an additional Sharapova vs Venus/Serena/Henin match. While Sharapova isn't really up there with the best yet in my opinion, I enjoy watching her play, and the grunts that she makes are always comical to watch. For someone who grunts loud enough for decibel measurements to be revealed in the press and official complaints lodged by her opponents as distractful, isn't it un-befitting of the glamour queen? And nothing beats the matches between Sharapova and Venus, when it comes to the battle of the grunts I mean. Damn entertaining...

While we're on the topic of tennis, has anyone seen this video before? It's the impressions Novak Djokovic have made of his fellow tennis superstars and they're hilarious! The Roddick, Sharapova, Nadal impressions are spot-on, I say.

Start the countdown to Nov 22!

OO

Talk about creative thinking. All hail the marketing geniuses at Google. (BTW didn't Pamela have her boob size reduced a few years back?)

Blog Debut

I've finally succumbed to the world of blogging and have decided it's about time yet another person decides to air his thoughts on the WWW for public scrutiny. I'm not exactly sure how long I can keep it up, or how often I would be able to post interesting reads, but I guess everyone has to start somewhere.


Had to really think of what I should blog about in my debut post, and after giving much thought (I have to admit most thoughts come to me while I'm sitting on the 'throne') I decided to blog about what I do enjoy a lot - music! Seeing that it's the year-end again, it's only a matter of time before the radio stations run contests for sending in your choice of the top 10 songs of the year. I've been entering these contests for the past 3 years and I've NEVER come close to winning (the nearest was when I got the top 3 absolutely right back in 2005). I've come to learn a few of the following rules when entering such contests:


1) It's really NOT about what YOU think are the best 10 songs of the year, but what are the most played-to-death-but-let's-still-play-them-because-they-should-be-played-to-death songs. So the key to winning this contest is really to think what were the most overplayed 'hits' of the past 12 months, and somehow be able to arrange them into the ranking. Remember: the position in the top 10 is directly proportional to how much the song is played.


2) Do NOT let your personal judgment cloud your decisions when listing the 10. Even if you like that song sooo much don't let your bias allow you to rank it higher than it should. Example: I ranked Justin Timberlake's Sexyback #1 last year (yes it was overplayed, but I admit my bias allowed it to go higher than it should) when it was obvious Hips Don't Lie would take the crown (come on, who could have not heard that song last year, Hips Shaking + World Cup = #1 and Ka-Ching!).


Now why am I dedicating my time to post such irrelevant and non-globally-important issues on my blog? Because I can, and because I've always wondered what it would feel like to win the grand she-bang, that 100 CDs. Well I just hope they don't end up giving aways crap like High School Musical, Hilary Duff, and random Ultimate Dance/Techno/Pasar Malam Hits compilations.


So let me share what are the top songs I have listed so far for 2007. I've decided let's share the knowledge, and anyone who reads this can contribute/debate/fly kites, and tell me what I may have missed out, and maybe, just maybe, I (or you) can just win that damn 100 CDs this year! So without further ado, here's my top 10 (no, I don't like all of them, but I believe they were overplayed enough to qualify):


10) Rehab- Amy Winehouse. I absolutely hate this song. I think what's worse than the radios playing a song you like repeatedly is when they play a song you HATE repeatedly. Thinking of the many times I had to switch stations when this song came on edged it into my top 10. No, not even Jay-Z can work wonders all the time. But I have to admit I like the line "They tried to make me go to rehab, I said No,No,No". Imagine that in a real-life scenario.


9) I Got It From My Mama - will.i.am. Oh come on, you knew this had to be here. Call him a genius or a talentless fluff, but who else but will.i.am can come up with such songs about girls that anyone in their right mind will deny they like but secretly sings along to (think My Humps). I can't say I really love the song, but I have to say the lyrics are so tongue-in-cheek and shameful that it's a wonder they play it on local stations.


8) Smack That - Akon feat. Eminem. Another song that signals the need to switch the station. Akon has finally arrived, so to speak, since his 'Lonely' days. I don't think we could have gone anywhere this year without hearing a song of his. Frankly, I don't care much for his songs, but is it just me or is he only good when he features on songs (eg Sweet Escape with Gwen Stefani, Bartender with T-Pain, Baby I'm Back with Baby Bash, Sweetest Girl with Wyclef, I Try with Bone, Thugs and Harmony) rather than those where he is on his own? Definitely most featured artist of the year, followed closely by T-Pain.


7) Glamorous - Fergie feat. Ludacris. Who would have thought Fergie would have such a HUGE year and would be able to release 5 (!) singles from an album that I all love? This is probably my fave from her, followed by Big Girls Don't Cry (yes I sing along to Big Girls Don't Cry, don't ask). This song is just way cool man. Love the slow-mo walk to the private jet with the bodyguards and posh clothes and cool shades (ah everything I've wanted).


6) Last Night - Diddy feat. Keyshia Cole. This is one of those songs where when you first hear it, you go 'What rubbish', but it just grows on you so much that you later ask yourself how could you not have liked it before. Potentially one of the best songs Diddy's released and is an instant club classic (along with Come To Me with Nicole Scherzinger). Good stuff this.


5) Beautiful Girls - Sean Kingston. Every year somebody releases a summer anthem where everyone including the auntie on the road sings along to and your mother asks you who sang this song and you will inevitably hear it set as a ringtone. The honour goes to Sean, who came out of nowhere to claim the honour this year. Personally, I much much prefer Me Love, but this song definitely is bigger. Another reason for me to switch stations. Did you know Channel V censors the word 'suicidal' when they play this video? Come on, it's not like we haven't heard it on other avenues.


4) Beautiful Liar - Beyonce feat. Shakira. What puzzles me the most is how can 2 of the biggest booty-shaking stars on planet Earth at the moment release such a letdown of a song? This was certainly a dream pairing every male was salivating for, but really it was a tame affair, wasn't it? I expected huge club beats, big booty-shaking potential, hot video with lots of skin, but what we got was a big lame-o. Why, Beyonce? Why, Shakira? WHY??


3) Girlfriend - Avril Lavigne. If this song doesn't at least make the top 5 in the real list, I will retire from this contest. I can't stand this song. The irony is that at one point when the song was played so frequently, it was actually in my head ALL the time, when I was driving, shopping, walking from carpark to office, on the 'throne', filing my income tax, and it was oh-so-embarrassing only my close friends knew. I only like Avril when she releases all the angst-ridden songs like My Happy Ending, When You're Gone, but I suppose when stars become happy ie ridiculously rich, the angst/edge dissipates. Think Alanis Morrisette, J-Lo.


2) I Wanna Love You - Akon feat. Snoop Dogg. I have no idea why this song was as huge as it was. Even worse than Smack That (at least that was still hummable), I don't see any value in it. In the year when Beyonce's concert was cancelled in Malaysia (boo...), and Gwen Stefani gave a so-so concert, Akon not only came once, he came to our shores TWICE. Ugh, the agony, the injustice of it all.


1) Umbrella - Rihanna feat. Jay-Z. Rihanna has finally arrived. Well I guess anyone who can make a hit song out of an inanimate object like an umbrella deserves the crown. What would they think of next? A broom? Camera? A mop?? And not only does she sing of an umbrella, she injects a whole 'maksud tersirat' into it (You can stand under my umbrella - however you wanna interpret it :) AND she has now made it impossible for us not to think of ela-ela-eh-eh-eh when the term umbrella crops up. If that is not genius in marketing, I don't know what is. Plus she finally releases an album of consistent materials unlike her previous filler-filled albums. Hats of to you, Rihanna!


The nearly-made-its:

Big Girls Don't Cry - Fergie
Irreplaceable - Beyonce
Gimme More - Britney Spears
Don't Matter - Akon
The Way I Are - Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson
Give It To Me - Timbaland feat. Justin Timberlake & Nelly Furtado
The Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani feat. Akon