Of Lenka and the Show and a Great Italian Meal

Tags

Alif, Amy Mastura, Lenka, One Utama, Sunway Pyramid, The Show

Yeah, so Si Yan came over to Sunway and we had an awesome Italian lunch at Pommes Frites in Asian Avenue.

Si Yan read about this place in The Star, and I was pleasantly surprised by the delightful Belgian fries, the shop’s main attraction. It came with a special cheese dip, drool worthy!

The pasta dishes were equally as good, at an affordable price in comparison to other larger franchises.

Yeah, so next time you are in Asian Avenue, do drop by Pommes Frites!

Fast forward a few days to Sunday, Akil and I headed to One Utama to catch Lenka’s showcase after Si Yan passed me two priority passes for my belated birthday present.

As always, the showcase started late, so FlyFM’s Ben and Phat Fabes entertained the crowd in between performances.

The first artiste onstage was a Singaporean singer called Alif, whose single ‘Sayang Sayang’ was downloaded up to 500,000 online though I dunno why. Another fun fact brought to you by Ben and Phat Fabes.

Next up, local veteran Amy Mastura performed two songs from her new album. She was so vibrant!

And finally, at 4.40 p.m. Lenka and her band made an entrance to much fanfare. Even though she came over an hour late, the crowd was still cheering when she started off with ‘Trouble Is A Friend’.

It was really warm and sweaty by the time she came up with ‘Dangerous and Sweet’.

And oh, the crowd really went crazy for ‘The Show’, the most famous song off her debut album.

Oh, and the keyboardist could really multi-task, blowing the saxophone (I think) at the same time.

But Lenka showed that she was more than just a voice, she could blow too! (which sounded kinda wrong I know)

And after just less than half an hour, she gave the crowd a parting song called ‘We Will Never Grow Old’ which was kinda a travesty on two levels. One, her showcase was freaking only less than a half hour. And two, of course we are gonna grow old, like hello.

Oh and my classmate Leonard won the Lenka artwork competition!

All in all, an enjoyable time with some decent music; oh, we met Kenneth there as well.

Oh yeah, currently in the library, first day of classes, and wohoo, I am now a second year degree student. Like yay!

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The Awesome Post-Second Semester Weekend

Tags

cable car, Cockscrew, Cyclone, Genting Highlands, Human Coaster, Space Shot, Sunway Pyramid, Thai Thai

Yes, I am officially a second year degree student.

Wohoo! And to celebrate the fact that we were now assignment-less for at least a month or so, Akil, Michelle, Nina, Cindy, and I had dinner at Thai Thai, Sunway Pyramid on Friday.

The siakap fish was scrumptiously delicious.

The green curry chicken was spicy yet deliriously tasty.

Judging from the smile of our faces, it was happy days all around.

But it was Sunday which brought the most excitement and cheer for this bunch of jaded and work-hardened Taylors kids.

We were off to Genting!

I mean after nearly 7 years of not setting foot in Genting Highlands, I have been there 3 times in the past 6 weeks, testament that when enjoyable times come, they come in droves and droves and droves.

Michelle Soh, Wong Woei, Kenneth, Sudhan, and Manpreet decided to join us on this fun trip, so yay us!

But I have a confession to make; I have motion sickness and height phobia to the max, so not only was the cable car journey horrendous, the bus ride up was awful as well due to the driver’s insistence on drifting with a bus, and most importantly, I could not go on rides which were fast, too high, or going round and round.

So the Space Shot was definitely out of the question.

But yeah, the rest seemed really up for it.

You have to salute Michelle Soh, while everyone else were sorta calming themselves and praying to God (read: Akil), she can still pose.

And you know what the best thing was? They went on it a second time after Cindy and Sudhan arrived (long story short: KTM screwed Sudhan over that morning, so what’s new?).

Oh, but I did go on the ferris wheel.

But even I thought it was boring and passe. All of us were dying to go out after the 3rd (of 5) rounds on that Godforsaken excuse for fun.

Then everyone but me went on the Cyclone.

Then they went on the Cockscrew (vulgar much?).

And then they went on the Pirate Ship.

You gotta give props to my friends, after all these rides, and not a single green face or ounce of nausea amongst them. I was already feeling queasy on the ferris wheel =p

We headed to First World Plaza for an overpriced but very satisfying lunch.

After walking around Dinosaurland and First World Plaza to digest our lunch, the gang was at it again, this time on the Human Coaster.

Scary much? You are suspended in mid-air, and your body is the roller-coaster. Extreme yo.

*Salute* The survivors of the Human Coaster, who can still afford a smile.

Oh, I almost forgot that they also went on the Spinner, TWICE.

But fear not, I also went for a rather extreme ride – the flume ride.

There are no pictures to prove that I did it (damn you dark and high ISO settings in the tunnel!), but all of Genting would have heard my screaming.

(Mid-stream before the first steep up-and-under)
Akil: I’m surprised you are going on this ride.
Me: Is it too late to back out now?
(Moments later, screams)

But yeah, totally awesome, I would do it again!

This Genting trip was near-flawless; everyone had plenty of laughs and fun, even me, the official photog of the trip. Sure I did not go on the rides and try anything extreme, but after countless rounds of puking even in windy roads, I know myself well enough to know that spinning, shooting up, cock-screwing, cyclone-ing, human coaster-ing are out of the question.

So, moral of the story, know yourself.

Go left or right; the road less taken is still a choice.

PS: Extremely funny post next. I kid you not.

Until then, can anyone say happy holidays?

HELP me, I’m a Taylorian

Tags

8TV, Cecilia Yong, grand finale, HELP University College, Sex and the City, So You Think You Can Dance Malaysia, Sunway Pyramid, Taylor's College, The Mummy 3: The Dragon Emperor

Dear friends,

The person you know as Boon Ken is now officially a Taylor’s College student. This is news to you as much as it is news to me. Last Friday, Taylor’s called me to inform me that I have been offered a full scholarship to pursue a three-year degree in the Bachelor of Arts (Communication and Media Management) by the University of South Australia. I just returned from the School of Communication campus at Leisure Commerce Square after attending the orientation yesterday, and this week has been a hectic mix of taking public transport to Taylor’s PJ, HELP University College, my house in Medan Damansara as well as Seremban in order to settle everything everywhere.

I leave HELP University College with an abundance of memories to last the next three years of my degree life which will now be spent instead at the Sunway area. I thank everyone for spicing up my Foundation in Arts program last year as well as two excruciatingly mediocre semesters in the Bachelor of Communication program, and I apologize for not being able to bid farewell personally to some of my friends. The last-minute nature of my scholarship award has made even the easiest of tasks difficult due to the lack of time as well as transportation due to my dad’s untimely conference in Johor Bharu.

Special shout-outs to my house-mates Leonard, Isaac, Charlene, Kim, and Grace for making my one-month stay a brief yet fantastic one as well as my family (including my “sister” Shir Lynn in Sydney) for all the support and advice, not forgetting Zhen Long for allowing me to bunk in with him for the past couple of nights. I wish I could upload some photos of the highlights of my HELP years, but with the internet connection bordering woeful, I will have to leave that post for another day. To anyone from Taylor’s reading this post whether you know me or not, please comment and maybe we can meet up.

To many happy years at Taylor’s.

Boon Ken

PS: My past couple of days at Taylor’s have been mostly spent watching movies at Sunway Pyramid. Please refrain from watching The Mummy 3 cause it is really brainless at best, but do watch it if you wanna catch glimpses of the gorgeous Isabella Leong and if you got nothing better to do. For all Sex and the City fans, the movie version is a must-watch as it most importantly does not feel like four separate television episodes and it stays true to everything Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha.

Cheerio…

PPS: Cecilia, or C.C. is the winner of So You Think You Can Dance Malaysia season two after she outlasted three other contestants at Ruums, KL a few hours ago, so kudos and congrats to the recipient of RM50,000 and an 8TV scholarship. You go girl!

Along’s Birthday @ Gasoline, Sunway Pyramid

Tags

birthday cake, birthday party, Chow Zhen Long, Friends, Gasoline Cafe, Sunway Pyramid

Yeah I know, what kind of name is Gasoline?

People with money these days.

So there I was in Gasoline Cafe, Sunway Pyramid, to celebrate Zhen Long’s 19th birthday with his Taylor’s classmates.

Gasoline is basically just a ship, cool concept, but real dark, bad for the eyes, mind you. I so wish I took some pictures of the actual place instead of cam-whoring. Well, college students will be college students ”p

The food was nothing to shout about, but at least it was affordable. Gasoline was trying to do too much with their selection of food, ranging from Western choices to Hong Kong-style delights, which made the cafe a typical jack of all trades but masters of none kinda food place. Go once, and you’ll probably never go there again, unless you wanna make out with your girlfriend of course cause it is majorly dark!

It was fun nonetheless as Long’s friends were fun and bubbly, and we had some disgusting mixtures of drinks at the end. Everyone had a sip of the undoubtedly grotesque blend of chocolate, orange, cream, apple, sky juice, and coke.

After that, I had to go through my second watching of the Forbidden Kingdom which was as excruciatingly mediocre as the first offering last Friday with Khai Yuan and Chuan Hong at Jusco. Ah, what friends will do for another friend’s birthday! *hint*wink*

How did Brooke or Jason not get kicked out in American Idol? I mean, I have nothing against those two, but performance-wise, the ultimately eliminated Carly and fellow bottom two-er Syesha were technically better sounding (don’t ask me how I know since I am virtually tone-death). Looking back, American Idol is like real life, you feel like you have done the best you could, but when push comes to shove, the powers that be somehow or rather ignore your passionate endeavours and choose someone inferior over yourself. Popularity contests? Good looks? Those are just some features of the good old 21st century stereotypical capitalist conundrum known as LIFE.