for this game___`` i make the rulez

this year is different

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:02:00 +0800

this year is different.

and it is going to be even more radically different.

if that even makes any grammatical sense.

this year is going to end with a blast.

wait for it.

can you feel the heat?

i reached here earlier than i expected

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 19:19:00 +0800

i once decided that i have to reach a moment that 24 hours a day is not enough for me. thats when i know that most probably im making full use of my day.

i have quitted twitter and kpop. and all the 100 shows that i used to watch. and spend less than 30 min a day on fb. but i still dont have enough time.

how many hours of sleep a day is enough?

i knew a day when 24hrs a day is nt enough would come by. but i didn't know it will come so soon.

not enough time.

and the clock is ticking.

really superhuman

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 07:51:00 +0800

nah. im fine. it was just that the first 15 hour midnight shift that kind of killed me. because i was initially supposed to end work at 11pm but i ended at 7am instead. o_o and i didn't sleep in the day before my shift.

after that were all 9 hour midnight shifts. by the time i did it for the forth night, i kind of got used to it.

dont think im gonna do 15 hour shifts again. lol.

didn't work last night and not working tonight. ended work at 8am yesterday and just slept the rest of my day. i woke up at 11pm and felt kind of lost. wtf was i supposed to do? its too late to do anything and too early to sleep (i just woke up!?) in the end i just ate and went back to sleep.

woke up at 7am today and amazed myself. i actually woke up that early. tried to sleep but couldn't really sleep anymore.

i know this irregular sleeping pattern is damaging to my health. but zzz. lets see what i can do about it.

any idea how to get rid of these eye bags?

just had breakfast. think im going back to bed. heh.

superhuman

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 08:13:00 +0800

this is ma de effing shag.

okay not kpop

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Sun, 15 May 2011 20:15:00 +0800

I saw this MV on facebook. I think this was the one of the first non kpop music video i have watched for a long long time. well, junjie commented on the video: 'they are back' and 'they are really really back'.

what i like about this MV or song for the matter is that it has F.I.R. written all over it. if you were to close your eyes and listen to this song for the first time, you have this unexplained familiar feeling that it is from f.i.r. well at least i did. it has f.i.r.'s flavour or colour. what a minute, since when can you taste or see music? this song has that distinct sounds from the guitar that is found in most of their hit songs. it seems that this song is worthy of the reputation of f.i.r. in this ever competitive music industry, too many tracks are being churned out for the sake of purely releasing new music or mony. good music are hard to come by these days. well, in this case, f.i.r. themselves, even though they are celebrities or singers, they are also artists or musicians. they have 陳建寧 who is also a producer himself. so it's kinda hard for their record company to sneak in any crappy songs into their album.

even though im well immersed in kpop, i think that maybe its just a phase. who knows. instead of saying that i have been blogging too much about kpop these days, i choose to see it as im talking about music in generally. after all, *points up* music was the very theme of this blog from the beginning isnt it? and i must add that it is especially disappointing now that 2 of the founding members have left paramore. what the freakk.

one of my goals in life is to listen to paramore live in their concert. now it seems thats quite an impossible dream, at least if i want to listen to the old paramore.

music is an indirect apt expression of self.

its abit late for mother's day

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Thu, 12 May 2011 10:12:00 +0800

but that's the freaking point. we should remember to pay tribute to our parents during any day of the year beside mother's day/father's day.

even though there are bad examples of maternal relationships, i still truly believe that maternal love is boundless and infinite. from a scientific point of view, it is partly due to hormones for ensuring the survival of the human species as a whole, so they dont really have much of a choice. but that does not belittle their contributions and sacrifices they have made for their children. (at least i dont intend to.)

as their children, we will forever be in their debt. all we can do is to be eternally grateful and make sure that their efforts do not go wasted.

those who say that snsd cant sing can suck it. they sing better than your mother. okay that was uncalled for and way too vulgar but i just find it funny in the context of this blog post. i apologise. i dont play 'mother', it's just a harmless yet crude joke targeting no one.

this is a song by g.o.d, one of korean's first generation boy groups. this is a music video made more than ten years ago so pardon the cheesiness. lol. they debuted with this song and shot into fame. it tells the story of a rebellious son expressing his regret and gratitude to his mother who brought him up single-handedly.

these are not just random kpop songs with cute girls wearing short shorts smiling at the camera dancing to some tacky tune. kpop, like any genre of music, has been used to express emotions and to tell stories that people cant articulate. i.e. these songs have meaning.

happy mother's day. everyday is mother's day.

heres a kpop video with no korean words

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 13:46:00 +0800

For the korean illiterate, which is all of us. Well, this isnt technically a song. It is just a dance video.This girl group is called AfterSchool. They stand out from the rest of the kpop scene due to their everchanging concept and experiments with music. Their previous concept was military drummers. Check out their drumming below:

They have performed live more than a couple of times and I saw one of the members perform in a variety show which was filmed in an isolated, secluded village so they are pretty much the real deal, not some CG gimmick with the sound effects cut and pasted. They also sang my favourite kpop song: Because of You. Nah, it has nothing to do with the english song of the same title.

I fall in love with the song the first time I heard it on my friend's ipod. Back then I didn't even know who sang it. I had no idea who AfterSchool are. I like it when the soothing sad melody is accompanied by the strong fiery beat. Not to mention the fierce rapping overlapping the sad vocals. I think it signifies the similarities between sadness and anger as emotions. They are just different points on a same spectum. I didn't understand a single word they sang. I just knew it was a sad, sad song and that sadness turned into anger halfway through the song. Have you guys experienced it before? When you were so sad that you started feeling angry instead. Well, I cant seem to remember any moment I felt that way, so that's a relief. lol.

Well, just thought that this is more interesting than the animal behavior assignment I am doing right now. Or you guys rather I blog about my assignment?

P.S. The first tap-dancing video was just released. So somehow, you guys are more well informed than some kpop fans out there. rofl. sheesh.

go ahead and tell me that this song isnt nice.

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 12:05:00 +0800

Fiery rapping, amazing choreography, soothing vocals (especially all the high notes), addictive fast electric beat, alternating transitions between fierce and calming tunes, most importantly, LIVE singing. What's there not to love?

And you wonder why I converted.

Korea Got Talent

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 17:38:00 +0800

Since the theme of this blog has suddenly turned towards Kpop recently, I shall continue with that trend.

Well, the purpose of this blog is to let me share stuff that I am uncomfortable sharing elsewhere. Stuff like my thoughts, opinions, views etc. (duh!)

Even though trivial, kpop is one of those things. I would love to share them on FB but not everyone is a kpop fan and I dont wish to spam the crap out of them. That said, I have been clearing my friends list on FB. I have like 900 plus friends on FB but I dont really know them?! I mean, we are acquaintances and all.. I really wish to make my list smaller. This large random group of 'friends' is also the one of the reason why I prefer to share stuff here instead.

Where do we draw the line? What makes someone a facebook friend? A random 3 minute introduction? A meal?

Dam. I dont care shit about being 'popular' and it really makes me uncomfortable in using FB to communicate. Imagine there are strangers who understand you so well, they know where were you last Friday night, they know that you dont eat chilli, love strawberry ice cream and has classes at 8am every Monday morning. wtf. My mentality has certainly changed. I used to be want to heard by as many of possible, I somehow liked the attention. Now I just want to mind my own business and do my own shit. Do we call that maturity?

I think I deleted like 30 'friends' but the list is still so.. big. Will try again next time.

Crap, I deviated from the Kpop topic and this post is slowly resembling a normal blog post lol! That's a pleasant surprise.

Oh yea, this is a cover of Tesha's Tick Tock by a Korean singer. It's an acoustic version recorded using a guitar and ipad's garageband. It is pretty cool. She used garageband to play the drums, bass etc, kind of like a one-girl band.

So yea, korea got talent. I am not saying elsewhere doesn't have any but korea sure got talent, just saying. *shrugs*

Comeback!

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Fri, 8 Apr 2011 11:22:00 +0800

It has been awhile and a lot of things have changed while a lot of things have stayed the same.

Just wanted to share this somewhere! 4minute comback! I really quite like the choreography of the performance, especially the second song!

If you notice not all the girls are the 'ideal pretty' type. So I am not just watching it for the pretty faces! Tsk. Believe it or not.

Dont know if I should share this on facebook due to all the judgmental people out there. TSK. Kpop is such a misunderstood genre. The artists are as hardworking, or even more, as any other celebrities out there.

If you have no idea whats going on, dont belittle other people's hard work!

Didnt realise when I started only penning trivial thoughts in this blog.

KPOP CRAZE

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 13:52:00 +0800

I am starting to take a real liking for the Kpop genre. Well, I have always been a listening to Kpop but it was mostly SNSD songs. No, it is not because of the pretty girls. Well.... maybe. But right now it is not just because of the pretty girls! I have explored the rest of the genre. Okay not really. I am still listening mostly to songs from Kpop girl groups. That is simply because there are too many freaking Kpop groups. Too many for me to follow already. It is a freaking saturated industry. omg. So I just stick to the girl groups for now. But hey, the songs are really nice!

Never mind that I dont understand what they are singing most of the time. lol. Most of the time, I have have a certain liking to the song after I watched the MV. Watching the MV gives me an idea what the song is about and allows me to appreciate the song a tweeny little bit more.

Ohyea, anyone who still reads my blog can you say something? Give me a shout out/tag. Rofl. So that I dont feel so lonely. ):

To proof that it's not all about the pretty girls, here is a very very nice song by a MALE korean artist.

if I cry out like this,
the rain of love will come down.

Oh BTW

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:42:00 +0800

It really has been quite a while since I last updated my blog. I am back in my home land and having quite a good time.

It feels surreal to be back home and it seems only yesterday that I left for Melbourne.

I have wasted too much time and not fulfilling my personal agenda in my latest trip back home.

There is this personal secret project of mine that needs to get done.

I shall leave you guys with Michael Jackson's new song: Hold My Hand.

Because a legend never dies.

Do you ever dream? How important is your dream to you?

open my eyes

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 13:58:00 +0800

Christina Grimmie is really really pretty. Maybe it is just the lighting or her eyeliner or how her fringe covers her face but ohmyyygosh. She is pretty alright. Ahh, now I can die a happy man.

I think I am in love, again. LOL.

Her beauty takes my breathe away. I think I have watched this video more than 10000 times. I watch it before I sleep and when I wake up. I can watch this video on loop all day.

I think I am dying a single man. Crap.

It was only just a dream.

Oops..

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Sat, 6 Nov 2010 20:55:00 +0800

Dont ask me why the hell am I watching Gossip Girl but Jenny Humphrey is so freaking my type. Like se-ri-ous-lyyy.

I know this isnt exactly the best photo representation but she is just so cute! Omg! (Melts.)

Okay, exams are next week.

Oops.

Ciaos.

Birthdays

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 00:21:00 +0800

What do you think about birthdays? What significance do birthdays have? Yes it is the day that you make your grand entrance to this world. Every birthday after that is the anniversary of that fateful day. Besides that, what other significance does it have?

So it is a day for us to celebrate our birth? Sounds great to me. But do we really need a day specified for us to celebrate our birth? To celebrate our lives?

Isn't it kind of sad that we need to find so desperately a reason to celebrate anything when in reality every reason we ever need is right here in front of us.

Do we have to wait till a specific date to celebrate anything? To show our care, concern and love for someone?

Hmm.. but if we dont even celebrate when we specified a date for it.. Isn't that even sadder?

So.. you know what is the saddest part? Apparently I managed to justify our reason for being so sad in the first place. Or did I?

Don't choose the path of convenience. You get what I am trying to say?

Let's all skip all the social obligation crap and go on with our lives, seriously.

Edited: This is may sound like a bitchfest, it is not. What I am trying to say is, there is no need to compel to social obligations, at least not for me.

After all, I haven't done any of my part to deserve it either.

Any birthday is only as important as the birthday boy/girl think it is.

I am right here

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:30:00 +0800

There is a particular line in last week's episode of Glee that resonants in me. (I am using present tense because it still is while I write this post.) Kurt was by the hospital bed of his dad as he was waiting for his dad to wake up from coma. He was reminiscing and started crying when his dad moved a finger. He then held his dad's hand and said,

"I am right here, I am not going anywhere."

Fortunately, the same line applied to me in a totally different context and meaning. I just felt that those words are the most comforting words one can ever say. In this vast empty world as the lives of people just buzz by each other day by day, one can feel lonely at times. Facing the uncertainties of the future, responsibilities of the present and bearing the burdens of the past, one can easily feel overwhelmed.

However, one can find comfort and strength when one knows that he is not alone, that no matter what happens, he has friends and families who care. Because at the end of the day, that seems to be largely the only thing that matters. I have come to realise this. Therefore, no matter how daunting the future seems, I still find courage in moving on.

The purpose of this post is remind myself that I will do the same for the people around me. No matter what happens, I will be there. No matter what the future holds, you are not alone.

It is a pity that the person that uploaded the video to youtube disabled the embed option so I can't post it here. You can use the following link to view the video. (:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQPmJahDWl8

I am not going anywhere.

Rah rah ah ah ah

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 15:10:00 +0800

Hate Lady Gaga all you want but she sure made quite an impact in the pop music scene. Yea she is weird and everything but the very same weirdness has inspired many other musicians to break the status quo and join the ranks in weirdness.

For those who are curious, she was an outcast when she was in high school - the freak. That is why she has such a strange taste of style right now. She wants to be the outcast her fans can relate to so that nobody feels left out. Someone she wished she had when she was still a child. At least this was what she said long ago on the Ellen show.

(If only I remember something else more important like.. whatever that is in my biology textbook.)

All this freakish themes may well be just another marketing gimmick but she is talented nevertheless. You have to admit that her songs are downright catchy eh?

This is a video I saw on Collegehumour.com. It shows a bunch of guys doing acapella for Lady Gaga's Bad Romance with a twist. Seriously awesomeeee!

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

I want your love and I want your revenge.

All I have, all I need, she’s the air I would kill to breathe

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Mon, 4 Oct 2010 02:52:00 +0800

My all time favourite scene. Okay fine I let the cat out of the bag. I am watching Vampire Diaries and I dont care. I thought it was a stupid show with a standard storyline too. But the way the story unfolds and how the different characters intertwine.. I wonder if it is the sad storyline that appeals to me.

I know that no one understands what is going on in the video but to me, it is the saddest scene in the series. Sorry for the spoiler too since this is one of the major twists in the story. The song, Breathe again by Sara Bareilles, really tears me inside.

Not to mention that Nina Dobrevedit is dam pretty!

After over a century, it is all but one sad tragic love story.

I am a believer

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 16:44:00 +0800

In case you guys do not know, I quit facebook. Okay, not exactly quit, I am most likely going back. However I have no idea when. I shall abstain for facebook as long as I deem fit.

Wth?!

Yea. The reason behind quitting facebook for now is so that I can free myself from all the distractions and focus better. There are so many distractions in this world such as the media, the Internet, handphones etc. I have quit using msn messenger too. Well, I have not consciously decided to quit but I have largely stopped using it too. If you guys are looking for me, you guys have my email. Ironically, I have been on skype most of the time. This is because I have much less people on my skype. Much much less. The people that I talk to on skype is less than 10.

Focus on what?!

Focus on whatever I want to do? Too long a story. Life is too short a time.

It takes little effort in being a critic and saying that something wouldn't work. It takes real guts and courage to put in your heart and soul in believing and trying to see if something works.

You can stay in your comfort zone and protect yourself from all the harm in the outside world. This way, you will most probably never get hurt but you also will never grow. The only way to find out if anything can work is to try.

Only the future holds the truth.

after the darkest hour

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Wed, 8 Sep 2010 18:57:00 +0800

After the darkest hour in the longest night, the sun peeks over the horizon.

The birds will sing their favorite song.

The trees will cheer as they sway in the wind.

The horses stomp over the pasture once again.

The land rejoices in the sun's embrace.

For victory is finally here and it is here to stay.

mada mada dane.

party crashers

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Mon, 6 Sep 2010 16:58:00 +0800

This year is the year of the 21st birthday parties for the 89s. Yet I have missed tons of parties due to my absence from Singapore. ): I have only attended 4 parties so far:

One is Poyan's back in Singapore.

Another is my ac friend's party over here.

The 2 other parties here where I only met the birthday girl on the very party itself. Both times I only knew one of the many people invited. Both nights ended on a pretty high note too! Last Saturday was one of the parties. I felt kind of bad though. Apparently the party was very exclusive and only close friends were invited.

I must admit it was dam fun though. Meeting all the new people and just chilling out with strangers whom I most probably would never meet again. It was a long night with a lot of happenings. Nah, shall not bore you guys with the details.

My friend described it best, "We are having so much fun that I am almost feeling guilty."

I kind of like this song.

I might get your heart racing
In my skin-tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight.

Because Quotes are the New In Thing

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Sat, 4 Sep 2010 14:51:00 +0800

When I was young I wanted to change the world but all I see is now is how much the world has changed me.

To that, I say:

Hell to the world then.

At Peace with the World

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Sat, 4 Sep 2010 08:50:00 +0800

At peace with the sun,
the gaze and some bait,
with himself and a mate.

His name could be,
likes to fish, likes to wait,
or it could simply be,
man at peace with his world
not worrying about his fate.

Saw this today. So true eh?

no one friggin' cares

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 12:31:00 +0800

This is once again, a brief entry. Too many a times I have come by here to be addressed by a dead blog. Sometimes I hope that someone would update my blog for me. Tsk. Such a chore. LOL.

To be honest, I have been busy. Doing a lot of stuff. Trying to get pieces of my life sort out. Thinking about the future. Etc. Busying being human in a sense.

Well, I found my direction in life, so now I am working towards it. That's essentially what I have been doing.

Let me share something with you guys while I am here. Let the O' Wise One shed some light.

"At the end of the day, no one friggin' cares what you do."

What?!

Yes, you heard me right. Whatever you are doing now, five, ten years down the road, no one will even remember. Whatever dispute or problem that you are facing now that seems so big and important, imagine five years later, in hindsight, it does not even matter.

Think about it, some old issue that was so critical and important that you got so stressed about it, what do you think about that situation right now? It is just some old distant memory.

At the end of the day, you are the only person that you need to face. When you are buried in your coffin, you would be buried alone.

Be at ease with yourself. Whatever you do, do with a clear conscience. Find a direction in life and run with it. No point looking back. No point wondering what others would think.

Your life is yours, isnt it?

Then live it like its yours.

the bro code

noreply@blogger.com (Haoting Chow) — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 15:29:00 +0800

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my utmost honour to present to you...

THE BRO CODE

BROs are equal to GFs.
BROs will not fight over the same girl.
BROs can talk anything out.
BROs will not check each other girls out.
BROs will check with the other BRO if there are ‘grey area’ situation between them.
BROs will do their utmost best to spur each other on.
BROs do not lie to each other.
BROs will always accept one another’s flaws.
BROs will not condemn one another.
BRO-hood is for life.
BROs will tell another BRO off if he is doing or has been doing something stupid.
BROs are both affectionate as well as tough to each other.
BROs DO NOT like each other in ‘that way’.
BROs will always side each other in disputes with external parties.
BROs have nothing to hide from each other.
BROs will not have anything to do with the breaking up of couples.
BROs will give each other constructive, honest and at very least funny feedback.
BROs must understand it is a privilege to be included in the BRO-hood.
BROs will ‘wing’ each other in social situations.
BROs will cry, laugh, go crazy and take the pain together.
BROs albeit not bonded by blood, are bonded by the BRO-hood which is equivalent.
BROs will be as generous as possible to each other.
BROs will adhere to the fishing rod versus fish theory with regard to each other.
BROs will anything in their power to honor promises to each other.
BROs love each other.