Sunday, October 03, 2010

Gleeky me!

Yes, I'm a Gleek.

I like Glee so much that I always replay the favorite parts over and over again, and this can go on for more than 20 times. I like Glee so much that I can't contain my feeling and hence I gotta express by blogging about it. (I wish I have such passion in study =.=)

Have you watched the latest season (S2)? Whoah surprise man! Charice joined the cast as Sunshine Corazon. And the interesting part is, she is gonna rival Rachel Berry and New Direction members hahaha. This is gonna inject a lot of excitement to the show. I'm looking forward to more great performances from her. Btw, I kinda wonder, who will be the lead singer in Vocal Adrenaline then? I mean Sunshine Corazon is great, but Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff) is just as awesome, if not better. Man he has a wide vocal range! Love his rendition of Highway to Hell and Bohemian Rhapsody... ...


Then in the episode 2 of S2, Glee brought us another surprise. Britney! This is a brilliant theme. The choreography in "I'm a slave for you" and "Me Against The Music" was almost 100% adapted from Britney's music video. Despite the purposeful adaptation and hence the lack of originality, I actually enjoy it a lot! It is refreshing to see someone else doing all the Britney moves. Besides, Brittany (Heather Morris) can dance!! In season 1, she had barely any standout performance. In this episode, she was so impressive in her dancing that I watched her performance for like 20 times already. Ah I wonder why she only get to shine so late? Producer, more air time and solo performance for her please!! 


Glee redeemed itself in terms of originality when they performed Toxic. Love the rearrangement they did to the song, which make it sound more seductive, addictive and erm, toxic. Will Schuester's (Matthew Morrison) voice is so smooth and silky and incredible, and he can make any songs better to listen to! In short, Britney/Brittany is one of my favorite episode to date.


The strength of New Direction is certainly not their choreography, but the singing itself, and also the unity and the inspiration they brought. Yesterday, I re-watched certain parts of previous season, and I gotta say, I can't get enough of Vocal Adrenaline's performances! Love the choreography in "Rehab" and "Mercy" especially. "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Highway to Hell" were great too.


Another surprise I got earlier on was the appearance of Neil Patrick Harris as Bryan Ryan and his singing capability. Wow, the duet with Will Schuester in "Dream On" was amazing! I went insane when they both hit the high note at the end of the song. I was like "What? Neil Patrick Harris can sing? He can hit Adam-Lambert-like falsetto?! I thought he can only act!" I replayed that performance so many times.

Strain!
Another character that I GOTTA mention here is April Rhodes (Kristin Chenoweth). Ah, another Broadway performer with crazy vocal range! She impressed me the most when she sang "Maybe This Time" against Rachel. April won hands down! This song was looped in my music player for an extensive amount of time =)


Of course, Glee is not just all about sky-high falsettos and spectacular choreography. There were many ballads and slow-tempo renditions that really hit my soft spot. My top two favorites in this category: Lean On Me & Smile. These two songs were well sung and were incorporated into the right scenes. Everytime I listened to those songs, my frustration and unhappiness will be relieved, albeit temporary. Apart from these two songs, Sweet Caroline, Somewhere Over The rainbow, True Colour, Don't Stop Believing, Somebody To Love and Dream a Little Dream Of Me were among the songs I really liked.

Lean on me
In short, I am a Gleek. I love the song selection, and their interpretation of the songs, and not to mention the choreography. The themes are highly variable and well-presented. I can't deny the fact that sometimes, the storyline are over-the-top and cheesy. However, there were certain scenes that were genuinely hilarious/ inspirational/ almost tear-jerking.

Yea, you can call me shallow or whatever for watching and being obsessed with Glee. I don't care, because I have found something that I really enjoy - a good musical that suits my taste. 

Thank you Ryan Murphy. Keep it up ya.


Sunday, September 19, 2010

If I Ain't Got You


Widely known fact 1: Maroon 5 is a pop rock band.
Widely known fact 2: Adam Levine's voice is distinctive, melodic

Not-so-widely known fact 1: Adam Levine can sing R & B.
Not-so-widely known fact 2: Adam Levine can sing it WELL!

Listened to Maroon 5's live cover of Alicia Key's If I Ain't Got You. Very nice! I really didn't expect him to sing R & B so well. Love the part where he hit the high note with his falsetto near the end of the song! Too bad none of the videos available in Youtube is clear, and don't do Adam Levine justice. You can get the song from Maroon 5's latest album - Hands All Over.

Adam Levine's voice to me isn't the strongest, but it is very unique and distinctive. Maybe 'whimsical' is the word for it.

Gonna loop the song in my player for quite some time. Adam Levine FTW!

P.S. I like the first verse of the song. Very true indeed. What do you live for?

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Burgers!

I am a sucker for burgers. When it comes to burger, I have a penchant for beef. I have been to several places to try out burgers. So I'm gonna do a little comparisons here.

1. Tony Roma's  - Big Stack Burger

Went to Tony Roma's at Mid Valley Mall for the second time yesterday. The first time, I ordered quarter chicken and I was let down. This time around, as the set lunch promotion was still available, I decided to give it another try and ordered a burger. The name "Big Stack Burger" was rather justified. The portion was big, with a mix of beef patty, cheese, bacon, and some greens forming a big stack! It tasted good. Love the juicy patty, the cheese and the bacon on top! Overall a satisfying meal, which changed my initial impression towards Tony Roma's.


2. Cristang  - Pork Burger

Went to Cristang at 8 Avenue, Petaling Jaya with friends as we all had never tried pork burgers in our life. This burger was an all-rounder! Totally enjoyed the juicy pork patty, the tasty bun which can be eaten on its own, the very delicious pork chilli con carne and the Cajun wedges, which I dubbed as the best potato wedges I had ever tried. You should try this some day.


3. Frontera - Beef Burger

Frontera Bar & Grill at Jaya One, Petaling Jaya serves a variety of Tex-Mex food. During my first visit, I was attracted by a banner promoting their burger and I decided to give it a try. I was impressed by the huge beef patty. Apart from the good size, the patty was juicy and tasted good. Would taste even better if topped with a layer of cheese =). Despite being irrelevant, I gotta mention the Habanero Buffalo Wings here! So goddamn hot man. Both the burger and buffalo wings were worth a try.


4. Chili's  - Oldtimer

I always like to visit Chili's due to the wide variety of foods they offer. I particularly like the Crispy Honey Chipotle Chicken, among others. The honey-chipotle sauce was AWESOME!!! Ok back to burger. I tried the Oldtimer. Wasn't really impressed though. The bun was dry. The beef patty wasn't juicy enough. Maybe I should have ordered medium instead of well-done. The fries, however, was as good as always.


5. New York New York - Juicy Cheese Burger Supreme

Tried this when I was in Singapore. Nothing impressive. Nothing supreme. 

In my opinion, among the burgers I have tried so far, Cristang is the one to beat. Juicy pork patty aside, the topping and the wedges really complement the patty well. Tony Roma's Big Stack Burger and Frontera's Beef Burger was really nice too.

Read from a blog that Pink Sage's American Classic Cheeseburger was superb. Hope to try that out some day.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Time


"Time is very slow for those who wait,
very fast for those who are scared,
very long for those who lament,
very short for those who celebrate.
But, for those who love, time is eternity."
(William Shakespeare)


Received an email containing the above excerpt. And it makes me contemplate.

I belong the the group who think time is moving very fast. I guess that means I'm scared.

I'm scared of the uncertainties I'm about to face as my life goes on.

I'm scared of getting what I don't deserve.

Heck, I'm even scared of the fact that I don't deserve what I want.

I'm scared that I'm not good enough.

I'm scared of the fact that I'm too scared commit mistakes.

I'm scared that I have been doing the wrong thing.

I'm scared that I have been making the wrong decisions.

I'm scared that my personality and my outlook towards life will make me an introvert, making me living in forever loneliness.

I'm scared that I actually over-think and put myself into misery, when I'm actually leading an OK life.

I'm so scared that I wish time will move a bit slowly, so that I have the time to change myself into a more 'ideal' person, before everything is too late.

But time won't slow down.

I guess that means I have to change the way I think, feel and see things. If not, I will forever live in fear, doubts, loneliness and sadness.

FML.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Triple Cheeseburger + Cheese McShaker Fries

Warning: Chilli sauce kills the taste of cheese in the fries!

Double cheeseburger has always been my favourite burger in Mc Donald's. Recently, Mc Donald's launched Triple Cheeseburger. Love the juicy beef patty and heavy taste of cheese in my mouth!

Mc Donald's also introduced Cheese McShaker Fries. The fries are coated with generous amount of cheese powder and the taste is awesome.

I'm a cheese lover. With the introduction of Triple Cheeseburger and Cheese McShaker Fries, I'm not quite sure if I can resist the temptation to visit McDonald's again soon. You know, healthy eating ma....

Cheese + patty + cheese + patty + cheese + patty + cheese-coated fries ---> kinda cure my bad mood of having to come back to KL early.
.

Monday, September 06, 2010

I still love you, SE K810i


You have been with me for the past 2 years, serving loyally and diligently. A few days back, you gave your 10000th shot. This post is intended to highlight what we have gone through together, and to remind me how amazing you are with your powerful Cyber-shot.

Well the most prominent feature of yours must be none other than the Xenon flash you emit. For a small camera like you, that's a pretty good flash you provide. As a result, I can shoot great photos despite being in dim or zero light condition.


Strings of beads, shot with Xenon Flash

Strings of beads, shot with Xenon Flash from below


The next favourite feature is certainly your Document Mode. This mode has given me tremendous amount of convenience and satisfaction. The words captured are so sharp, so readable. You save me all the time and hassle of having to copy everything into papers. With just one snap, hundreds of words are captured, ready to be viewed anytime.


Nice sharp writing
With time, I realize that your Document Mode can do more than that. It can serve as a macro-mode as well, capturing nice close-up photos. I love to experiment the macro mode the most. I love the details. I love the sharpness.


Diligent ants
Beautiful caterpillar
No teardrops on my guitar
Flowers
Another incidental discovery is the effect of capturing an image while shaking your body LOL. Never thought it can be that awesome.


Shake your body. The strings of light are actually created from lamp posts' bulb.


I also enjoy shooting the nature with you. You perform really well under bright condition.


Green leaves
Old trees
You are always there for me whenever there are memorable moments & priceless expressions worth capturing. With your fast reaction speed, these moments are now eternalized.


Meow...
Hahaha
No acrophobia!!
Surgery!!
Come rain.......


Or come shine......

or gloomy day....


Sunrise....


Or sunset...


..., you did your job as splendidly as always.


10000 and counting. I can't believe we have come this far in 2 years. Despite having only 3 Megapixels, you manage to capture images well beyond my expectation. My only complaint is the lack of contrast, which can be overcome with a little tweaking using Irfan View or Picasa.


I am well-aware of the fact that you are not the best camera in the market. Heck, your SE brothers are going size 12! You are no longer the King of Camera Phones, a title you held 2 years ago. Still, you never break down, you never have a major malfunction, and you persistently give me great photos. You also fulfill my occasional urge to cam-whore LOL!


I still love you, SE K810i. You rock!!