I Want To Taste True Democary

It's been a while since I performed; it's been a while since I wrote a song.

When Anna asked if I'd like to join the "Voice for a Better Tomorrow" movement within a super short notice, frankly I hesitated a little while but agreed to all three venues they suggested to me.

I'm feeling a lil' scared (as I usually do everytime before a performance) but I know this round, it's special, as I'm doing it for a very different cause.

Yesterday while I was driving in the pouring rain, I was singing to myself and found myself choking many, many times. I was quite emotional yesterday, I don't know why.

When I was talking to Papa in the morning. I asked him: "Everyone knows that PKR will win if BN does not cheat. But everyone knows how dirty this election will be and it is ridiculous how unashamed these BN people are. First we have the election committee (supposedly an NGO and based on a neutral ground), siding BN! There are so many evidence that identity cards are misused and there are even multiple election venues tied to one identity number. Everyone knows that BN is giving out citizenship to foreign workers and it is also said that there are many hidden refugee camps feeding these foreign workers (we're talking about tens of thousands per camp) and their sole objective is to 'release' these campers during the General Election and make sure they vote for BN. They will then be of course, sent straight back to the camp (or maybe their country, who knows?) and to be hidden. 

So my question is, what can the PKR, Bersih and other NGOs are doing to make sure that these phantom voters does not exceed real votes? Papa said that is why they are urging Malaysians to come back to vote. But I said, "What if it's not enough? What is the phantom votes outnumber real votes? What other things can we do? I know PACABA is urgently calling for volunteers to be stationed at each voting station but what else? What else can we do? Other than making sure your circle of friends and family know the truth and be aware of this year's voting procedure?

Nothing more, I'm afraid? Than to pray...

Honestly, I was feeling sad that we are oppressed and bullied by BN. Why Thailand and Taiwan are able to turn over the government? Aren't we strong enough?

Then I thought of Mr Lim Kit Siang. How many years he has been fighting this war... and yet today, he is still the front man and DAP is in their strongest state.

We can't lose faith. I'm sure that one fine day, we will attain true democracy.

I'll leave you with a song that left me in tears yesterday, in the car.

Old Stuff, Good Memories

So Mommy was spring cleaning the house and when she saw me, she pointed at a box and asked: "Do you still want it?" It was the Nintendo console my brother and I played with when we were very young! Awwww... good old memories :) My brother played more with it while I'd watch. That's how we past time when we were little. Was it boring watching the screen while he played? No, I kinda enjoy it actually, it's like watching a story unfold. I'm definitely keeping this old friend.

Mommy also came across some old cassettes and I had to find my cassette recorder to play it. After all these years, the battery in the cassette recorder still works! It brought a smile to my face when I pressed 'play'. Old memories flooded my mind... I use to religiously record my demos on this trusty old recorder. I would spend hours on the keyboard and guitar just humming out tunes, and this recorder was one of my essential songwriting tool. Fond memories... It's really fun to pop in the cassette and just play straight away. Press stop and pop it out. You can't do that with digital. You have to press 'on', wait for the device to bootup (depending on the processor and all), record, then have to switch it off properly in order to protect the data... Well, I think it's good to go back to the basics sometimes. I'm also playing with an old medium format film camera too. Very challenging yet rewarding experience all the time. Come to think of it, I'm really into retro stuff these days. Yesterday night I watched Wreck-It Ralph with Boonyee and I thoroughly enjoyed the show. All the old school game characters like Sub Zero (Mortal Combat), Zangief, Bison, Ken, Ryu, Sonic etc were all in it! 

Awesome stuff :)

Back from Short Hiatus!

Oh my goodness it's been four months since I last blogged?? 

So much has happened! The Songwriters' Showcase concert, Chinese New Year, home loan finally got approved, received several 'red bombs' etc.

And then there will be more exciting things waiting in line for the rest of 2013... the long awaited general election, Gege's wedding, new plans for VIP etc.

I'm going to be blogging more frequently as I hope to continue documenting bits and pieces of my life :)

At the meantime, here are a few snapshots during my brief hiatus!
 

Yves came back from the U.S. for a short holiday! This is us at Papparich Bangsar :)

Spotted this during the company's Chinese New Year dinner at HSBC Restaurant Bangsar. Wise words...

The Songwriters' Showcase Concert! The event clashed with a major rally, but thank God TSS was smooth sailing till the end :)

One of the projects we handled-Platform 11 press conference at The Annexe Gallery Kuala Lumpur.

This was fun. We brought the pups out for a swim for the very first time. This is Rusty being 'checked out' by the resident pups. Heheheh~ Photo Credit: TC Mah

After the swim (they dry up pretty fast!), this is a rare photo of Rusty and Lassie sitting side by side peacefully. Rusty was only about 4-5months years old and Lassie is one plus. Look at the difference of size!

Oh! While we were waiting for Wawa and TC outside of the pup swimming pool area, Boonyee decided to take a smoke near the drain. I suddenly saw a moving object in the drain area and I just blurted out excitedly "Eeee Doggie!!". Then Boonyee said "It fell down the drain!" Poor beagle!!! What happened next was heroic Boonyee went down the drain (it was really high) and he managed to hurl the beagle up to surface. The landing was perfect :) The beagle was happily sniffing around and the swimming pool owner took her in, gave her a bath and meal. I do hope the beagle will be reunited with the owner!

2012 Recap

Happy New Year!

Boy... 2012 was pretty cool. Here are some of the highlights of my past year:

1. Under VIP, we designed the album, conducted the photoshoot, and handled the Press Conference for Grace's EP. I worked closely with Sh'n and Erin on this project, and our friendship has strengthen upon completion of the project. 

2. Brought home Lassie.

3. Participated in Bersih 3.0 rally.

4. Witness the proposal and helped with Sh'n and Pou's engagement photos and wedding invitation card, and of course most importantly, was a part of their wedding celebration.

5. Traveled to Spain with Boonyee.

6. Under VIP, I conducted a Mac training at Marlborough College in Kota Iskandar, Johor Bahru and also an in-house iOS training.

7. Collected keys to Atmosfera. Sold it and bought a new house.

8. Did LASIK!

9. Under VIP, I organized a monthly songwriting gig called The Songwriters' Showcase. We're gonna have a big one soon in Jan 12th (Saturday).

10. Started introducing wedding related items under Zebratree.

11. Brought home Rusty (she's a tall girl now!).

12. Received my first film camera, a Mamiya RB67. What a great birthday pressie.

And finally entered the new year with my parents at home. Even gave them a back massage with the 'healthy octopus' massage tool.

On another note, the family lost a family member. My grand 5th uncle is now reunited with his parents and his eldest brother (my grandfather) and sister-in-law in heaven. He's a great man. 

2013 will be a great year, I believe. A few things I really look forward to are: Moving in to my new house (crossing my fingers that it will not take long), taking VIP a step further and most importantly, abundance of happiness for my loved ones.

Cheers, everyone!

Rusty Is Excited!

How's the Xmas preparation coming along?

I've had my pre-Xmas celebration and gift exchange session with a group of friends just a few days ago, and will be attending a 7-human-3-dogs Xmas party this coming weekend. Lassie and Rusty will be celebrating their first Xmas, so when I told the pups about the upcoming party, red nosed Rusty got all big eyed on me.

Life's been busy. Will try to upload more photos and blog more often! At the meantime, hope everyone's doing great!

Sweet Surprise!

When I saw the writings on the envelope, I knew it was from my brother. His writing is distinctive.

I've always loved hand-written cards. What a sweet surprise on a gloomy rainy day in KL.

"Maine, thank you for being a wonderful sister! May this year be one of the greatest in your life, and let it be the one where all your wishes come true. Make the best! (note: Sandy from Sandy's Villa-Santorini always said this to us. It has become our slogan/tagline when we wanna give strength to each other) and have a monster year ahead! Happy Birthday! -哥 & Carmen"

Thank you, Gege and Carmen for your well wishes! I'm proudly pinning it next to my Donkey Ride @ Santorini photo :D

Say Hi to Rusty!

This is Rusty. She's around 2 months old. I never expected to get a second dog, what more a Siberian Husky so soon, but fate brought us together :)

I Miss Santorini!!! :'(

Life has been really hectic recently, both work and personal matters. Good moments, bad moments, all at once... sometimes when I do have the time to pause for a while, that's when the feeling of wanting a holiday hits me hard. I miss traveling... The last trip I had was back in June:

http://mainestage.blogspot.com/2012/06/travel-log-northern-spain-part-i.html

http://mainestage.blogspot.com/2012/07/travel-log-northern-spain-part-ii.html

http://feedreader.com/feed/mainestage/59196361

It was an exciting and unexpected trip to Spain :) So surreal, just thinking about it.

I think I'm the type of person that needs at least two holidays a year in order not to go crazy... but looking at the schedule now, it's already November, and I don't think I'll be getting my second holiday of year 2012 anytime soon... :(

I suddenly miss Santorini so, so much! I think it was because Gege brought up the chocolate brownie that we had in one of the cafe... 

I haven't finished blogging about my Santorini trip but here's two parts of it, if you're interested to read:

http://mainestage.blogspot.com/2011/09/travel-log-from-london-to-santorini.html

http://mainestage.blogspot.com/2011/10/travel-log-santorini-day-one-part-one.html

I just went through my photo archive to reminisce the good times, when I stumbled across a ridiculous looking photo of myself.  It made me laugh and brought back tones of memories from the trip. The wind in Santorini is super, super strong! This will happen if you do not bring a head band, hair rubberband or whatever hair accessories that will hold your hair down :)

Finally, a Proper Company Signage

After close to a year, I finally decided to make a proper signage for the office. I'm really happy with the end result, it is simple and informative. Since we use this office to meet customers of our three companies-Target Marketing, Zebratree and Very Imaginative People, it only makes sense to have the three companies name side-by-side. What do you think about it? :)

Customized Wedding Invitation Card: Pou & Sh'n

Oh gosh... it's been ages since I last posted a blog entry. So many things are happening and I just can't settle my mind on what to blog about :(

So I went through my photo album just to get some inspiration on what to write about, and I found the wedding invitation cards that I made for Pou and Sh'n!

The Beginning

Beginning of 2012, Sh'n approached me and asked about wedding invitation card printing and designing. We went through months of designing, and it was a great feeling looking at the finished product. This is the first time I designed and printed a wedding invitation card (always wanted to do so) and I couldn't be more proud of it.

The concept behind the card

Sh'n wanted to incorporate Kim Casali's cartoon characters in the card, while Pou wanted to keep the card traditional at the same time. So after choosing a suitable Love Is character, I had them seated on the Double Happiness wordings with Chinese wedding head sets.

The other concept is that both Pou and Sh'n wanted the invitation card to reflect a music/record album because both of them are involved in the music industry (Pou is an audio engineer and Sh'n is an ICOM graduate and pianist).

With this, I added on the 'Parental Advisory' logo saying 'Strong Love' on the bottom left of the cover; and n the top right corner, I added a highlights logo saying 'Featuring the chart-topping hit couple of the year-Chin Sh'n and Sin Jie. Also includes an exclusive invitation to witness the union between two beautiful souls'

Next, when the invitation card is opened up, just like a real music/record album, we have the CD on the right side. On the left, of course we placed the official invitation wordings. Pou bought blank CDs that has ridges on the surface, just like a real black vinyl record! Which was perfect. So I just needed to design and print the sticker for the middle portion. We also cie-cut the EVA foam to hold the CD. Pou and Sh'n manually glue the EVA foam on the card, and stick the CD sticker on all the CDs. They later burnt some love songs in the CD. Nice touch :)

And lastly, the back cover. Since Pou and Sh'n are having two dinner receptions, I created two maps. And at the bottom portion of the back cover, we have the 'credit list', again, just like a music/record album. This credit list highlights the friends who have helped Pou and Sh'n in the wedding like Matron of Honor, Best Man, Gown Designer etc. I completed the card with a bar code just next to the credit list (it does not work, of course, heheh).

A summary of the wedding invitation card specification:

Card: 220gsm Ivory Artcard with Twinkle/Diamond Effect

Folding Line: Yes

Open Size: 16.5cm (height) x 33cm (Length)

Closed Size: 16.5cm (height) x 16.5cm (Length)

Printing: CMYK Printing Both Sides

Envelope: Yes (Standard Pink Envelope)

EVA Foam: Specially Die-Cut for Pou and Shn

CD Label Sticker Printing: 1-Color

Thank you, Pou and Sh'n for trusting me with your wedding invitation card! I had fun throughout the process :)

Interested to customize your wedding card or any stationery product? Drop me an email at jasemaine@gmail.com