Kindly update your rss/bookmarks !! Thank You =))

2008 may not be the best year of my life but i had a good start to 2009

10 days into the new year and i still feel rather positive about it.

i’ve just began term 2 of my year 2 undergrad life,still surviving/struggling.

SMUBE is still very important to me. recording a radio show “That’s Life” with Rach,it’ll be broadcasted every thursday 7-8pm on SMU Campus Radio. More about that in another entry.

decided to pick up Guzheng again,will be teaching 2 students soon.partially to reignite my own interest and also earning some pocket money for myself. It sucks to be 22 and still asking money from parents,hopefully i’ll be fully supporting myself financially by end of 2009.

as some of you may know,my mother has been going in and out of SGH since end decemeber. the doctors just conducted an operation to remove her (i quote) “cancerous tumor”. apparently we’re fortunate that we discovered it early as the cancer cells have yet to spread even though it’s already at its last stage of ..er…growth ? But mom is still ok and under ICU care at the moment. thank you all for the concern and prayers. i really appreciate it =)

i’m thankful for the friends in my life.people who stood by me for the past few months.the online friends (yes you twitters and plurksters and facebookers),the BE gang,the IMDers and someone who is going through these crazy days lately,dealing with a stubborn child with eating/sleeping disorders who tends to have terrible moodswings and indecisiveness. =)

Thank you for the wonderful 2008 and awesome start to 2009.

p.s: i’ll try to blog proper again when things are more or less settled down. any suggestions for themes/what to blog on?

From what I know, Starry Night has been a tradition since the start of SMU and it marks the last day of classes for SMU Students. A night where we can let our hair down and forget about mugging for awhile (though alot of stubborn people were at library mugging while we party our hearts out.lol)

From last term’s experience, it wasn’t very enjoyable because

1) The bands were not very exciting.

2) It was very humid and people were drunk.

3) The only reason I went was to support Nair because he was the emcee.

4) The BE seniors were there,so I tagged along.

This year,it was different because we had an “objective/mission” and it was our very own BE band, TLP ‘s debut gig.

We went down to the Big Steps (where it was held) and the whole BE gang took up the front seats (I told you we had a mission) around 7pm. Our dearest new emcees, Marcus and Seema were doing a pretty good job in warming up the crowd. (I’m so proud of my VPH “babies”, just caught Hui Ying and Michelle on MTV on the Wang Lee Hom coverage as well. *sniff*) Ok, back to starry night.

The featured band was no other than Timbre’s Goodfellas who was awesome. They totally got the crowd moving and everyone was rather high by the time they ended their set. I managed to record their first 2 songs and my handphone died on me afterwards…boo!

The Goodfellas #1 from Ingrid on Vimeo.

The Goodfellas #2 from Ingrid on Vimeo.

After almost 5 songs or so, it was time for the SMU bands to shine. We had

Chordless - Elissa

T Wrecks - Alvin

The Spunkies

and of course our very own TLP !

TLP - Ivee,LN,Lynn,Paul,Jinfu,Anthony,Yi Hui

The atmosphere was awesome. I did not exactly drink and I was quite high already =x Drinks were on sale, thanks to the Treehouse and you could see empty beer bottles everywhere after the event. It was chaos (shall not go into that). So back to the gig, it would be better if the bands knew they won’t be playing repeated songs but it went fine. The crowd was crazy by the time TWrecks was out and there was this indian uncle whom Kelv and Ken nicknamed “Muthu” who drove the crowd insane. He was hilarious !! Till now,we’re still unsure who the hell he was and we couldn’t understand a single word when the gang sabotaged him up stage for a game segment. You may catch him (in white) dancing on stage in this clip.

TLP performance was awesome ! I’m so proud of the guys. They took old school to a whole new level. We had Don’t Say you love me from M2M, Aqua Medley , All Star and the surprise from Yi Hui who sang on that day for encore!

But I think most importantly was the special song from the band/LN to Jacjac =) Yes. Our dearest “grandmaster” proposed !!  (you can watch the proposal in the video) It was soooooo sweet ! All of us wanted to cry and I think LN has become the latest marketspoiler by bringing the girls’ expectations up. HAHA ! Nobody can use the same trick twice – to propose during starry night !

LN's Proposal to Jacjac

Congrats to the couple and we’re really really very happy for them ! The BE people spent hours blowing up balloons and keeping this “open secret” unknown (hur.we’re BROADCAST and entertainment afterall. It was hard for everyone to hush from the female lead) I feel very blessed to share this special moment with the two of them and suddenly, I feel like there’s still hope for true love =) *awww* LN & JACJAC, BE LOVES YOU =) May the two of you have a blessed future together. Don’t forget to invite us to the wedding *DUH*

Alrights. I shall end here. =) Would really love to write in details but I’ve got to rush my term paper =(
I had a great starry night and it was the best night ever spent in school so far. haha.

I don’t know why ain’t my vimeo videos showing and I’m not sure if you guys can view the facebook videoes =\ But try clicking on the link ?

(pictures thanks to Jun Kwang, Anna Vanessa and not forgetting Shah’s FB videos)

No,I’m not talking about me being sexy here but the new adverts on AXN.

Probably inspired by Right Said Fred’s “I’m too sexy” , the ad consists of the various male artistes in the AXN TV series. Namely “House”, “CSI – Miami”,”CSI NY”,”CSI Las Vegas”,”CSI”,”24″,”Amazing Race Asia”,”Chuck” & “Numb3rs”.

Too sexy - AXN

* Allan Wu (Host of Amazing Race Asia) was not included in the video but his wallpaper is available for downloads in the official website.

The first time I watched the ad, I found it pretty hilarious,clever editing.

Especially if you’re big fan of the TV series,that is.

The second time I watched the ad, it was rather annoying because of the repetition.

The third time I watched the ad, I gave up – I switched to the next channel.

(but i admit that the male leads are all hot and sexy despite being in their thirties/forties.)

Take a look at the ad and tell me what do you think ? =)

AXN was banned in India last year for adversely affecting ‘public morality’ , due to the show ” World’s Sexiest Commericals”. This leads to the topic mentioned in one of my Ethnography classes earlier this term – Censorship.

I believe that the way people interpret information is influenced by the values you’ve been taught since infancy. I think censorship somehow rejects a world of different ideas and dimensions as the extensive range of opinions are no longer available.

Of course, I’ve met people who are unwilling to accept criticism or any ideas that challenges their own. These are the people who are unable to develop complex vision that offers new alternatives. And that is why I’m talking about mature audience here – people who are able to form their opinions and do not take other’s opinions as “putting you down” or trying to antagonize you.  Sometimes I feel that people are forced to bow down to pressure and exercise censorship just because a minority disagree to the general consensus. Censorship is a powerful tool that can change the world – be it politically,historically,religiously and socially. Eventually it boils down to receiving information that was given by the ones on top of the hierarchy or what the media is feeding the society with.

This so reminds me of my friend’s ST interview case again. I honestly doubt the accountability of ST lately. Oh wells.

Voice Personality Hunt (which ended all well!),midterms,handing over aka BE AGM.

Just finished my last midterm yesterday and finally had some time to think about what to blog.

Will update this really soon !

VPH is one of the signature event of  SMU Broadcast & Entertainment (SMUBE).Perhaps I should briefly introduce my CCA first. Established in 2003, SMUBE has been recognized as the official media club in SMU. Home to two of the largest media broadcasting platform here on campus, SMU Campus Radio and SMU Campus TV. Under the care of the Artiste Management Team, our artistes which include emcees, VJs, TV& Radio Presenters are the first choice for most student and school events as well as many external functions. In fact, our alumni consists of MediaCorp Artistes such as Jade Seah, Pornsak, Sim Yunn Ying and Jackson Tan. If you think that’s all for what SMUBE can offer, you’re so wrong ! Our club consists of 13 departments and Events & Backstage (E&B) is definitely one of the hottest department as every other club seeks for technical/sound support from us !

By the way, I am currently the Marketing (Design) Deputy Director of the 5th Exco, killing everyone with my voice on air for an hour on Campus Radio as well as PR record label rep for Sony BMG. SMUBE is almost like a media company but student-run aka restricted budget. And I have to admit, without SMUBE, I don’t think I can survive in SMU.*awww

Back to VPH, it has been an annual talent competition where SMU students showcase their talents in emceeing, radio and TV presenting. For the past years, it was held within SMU’s city campus but this year, Terence (my co-partner) and I are bringing it out of school. The finals will be happening on 17th October (Fri) from 7-9pm outside The Cathay! And previously, it has been an internal audition and straight to the finals. As for our 14 finalists, it has been the usual with a twist of an additional semi-finals to make sure only the best stays in the game. After spanning a total of 9 weeks, I am quite sure the finals will be exciting to watch. Not only that, the audience will stand a chance to win Kanye West concert tickets as well as lots of attractive prizes !

The planning process for this event was a pain in the ass due to our budget constraint and balancing school+”work” isn’t easy at all. If you’re from SMU, you will probably understand the frustrations of coping Week 7 (midterm+quizzes week) together with meetings with sponsors,rushing out marketing materials, auditioning the contestants, finalizing details of the events, updating the management, getting permits from school etc, I’ve really learnt alot through the planning – HR management, PR skills as well as nitty-gritty details that usually go unnoticed. (The backstage people are always the unsung heroes, now I really understand it all.)
I am thankful that I had a great team to work with despite the little disputes we have here and there (and the expected “I-am-going-to-kill-XXX” tantrums.) Hopefully the event will run smoothly and let the best man/woman wins !

I would like to invite each and everyone who’s reading this out there to join us for the finals! We want your support !

Date : 17th October 2008 (Friday)
Time : 1900-2100
Venue : Outside The Cathay, Singapore

Do drop by and say HI ! =)

Also, trying out something new inspired by Daryl and his Music Mondays, I am adding a “theme” to my entries.
This will probably be a good way to be more disciplined and motivation to blog. So to start things off, here’s Friday Fives !

Since I don’t exactly have questions to ask myself, am going to rely on last week’s thefridayfive for now !
Feel free to email me five questions for the next entry ! =)

• What did you want to be when you were a kid?

I wanted to be a teacher,veterinarian,actress,pilot,cartoonist, radio deejay,designer,model,chef (yes,laugh all you want!) I have actually managed to get a taste of being a teacher (Guzheng),radio deejay (campus radio!), designer, child model ! Not too bad afterall !

• What is your proudest accomplishment so far?

It has to be getting into Singapore Management University (I kid you not!), you should see the tears in my dad’s eyes when the enrollment letter arrived in the mailbox. (haha ! Just kidding about that) Honestly, nobody really thought I’ll manage to enrol into a local university due to my years of lousy academic results, so I’m actually quite proud of myself !

• What is your dream job?

To be honest, I have no idea what is my dream job. For now, I’ll like to have my own little cafe which is also a design/production firm with my close friends. Who knows, maybe that might just happen in years to come.

• Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Alive and happily working from home. (Married ? I’m not sure. Currently marriage is just not in the picture at all, can’t see it in 10 years from now as well.)

• What does it take to make you happy?

Simple things like a pretty flower or chocolates. Being with my friends and just cracking silly jokes. Getting away from the crowd and chilling out with a drink. Too many to name ! =)

Let’s see how long I can maintain this blog. So far so good !
I quite like the interface and functions.

Switched back to wordpress because Vox is not reader/comment-friendly.