Having a car to get around town is a necessity for Kuala Lumpur dwellers like me. My car gives me the convenience I need to travel to work and of course let me hang out at my favourite places.
When I was going out with my father as a kid, I noticed him parking his car illegally and caused inconvenience to both of us. Once I missed my music class because his car got towed away. At other times he brought home parking tickets worth RM 200 - 300. My mom has been rebuking him a number of times already.
It's no fun losing your money to offences like that. I can eat at luxurious restaurants with RM 200 - 300! The choice is always yours! When I grew up, I decide not be like that.
Whenever I arrive at my destination, the first thing to do is to find a parking spot. I follow a few simple rules when it comes to parking my car.
Park at legitimate parking bays. In the city, it is very hard to find free parking spots so don't expect one. Unless I am familiar with the place, I'd rather pay a few bucks for peace of mind rather than parking illegally. Parking illegally not only incurs hefty fines when caught, what more imagine the hassle if your car get clamped or towed away.
Consider getting a season pass if you come to a place regularly. For a monthly fee, you get to park as long as you want, and it's cheaper than parking on an hourly basis.
Don't skip paying for parking! This applies to parking spots at business areas under jurisdiction of local governments. You'll never know when officers are on duty. There was once I saw an MBPJ officer issuing fines [to cars without ticket] right after I got out of my car. Don't give them any reason to issue you summonses.
Take a look at the fee structure before you press for a ticket. If you are not happy with the fee structure, you have the right to backtrack. Once I reversed my car out of the car park; cars behind me gave their way to let me go.
If you must double park, make sure you leave your mobile phone number on the dashboard. But even that is not fail safe - once I had people unable to contact me due to my dad switching telco [my number is a supplementary line], the other time I didn't receive calls when I was in an area with poor cellphone coverage.
So, I shared with you 5 pointers on parking. It's not hard to follow, right? By being law abiding citizens, I can enjoy all I can without causing unnecessary incovenience to others. The peace of mind to me and others is priceless. No one wants to be angry over parking issues right?
These days, Malaysian Ringgit is falling day by day. I talked to people around me on how the falling Ringgit is affecting them.
A confectionery vendor lamented how prices of kiwi and strawberries have gone up and increasing their cost. However, they dared not to increase their price for fear that customers will stop buying.
For me, I am badly affected. As a PhD student myself, I buy chemicals and other lab consumables for my experiments. Most of them are sourced from the US/UK and have prices quoted in US Dollars. Since the Ringgit began to weaken when I started my PhD, I have seen prices doubled or tripled for the same item. To add salt to the wound, my research grant is quoted in Ringgit Malaysia and does not get topped up under all circumstances. It is possible to manoeuvre here and there I am very sure that everyone in the research community feels the same. To be honest, I actually envy those who hold grants in US Dollars and having access to good facilities.
Whatever it is, no one is going to compromise on standards and merits whatever the circumstances is. I'll still have to complete my PhD under the stipulated time frame despite waiting weeks for my order to arrive.
This is the type of stuff I have to buy for my lab work. They're not cheap I mind you.
None of us academic foresee the worsening economic circumstances when we submitted grant applications. While my supervisor is taking all the steps to mitigate the economic situation, I am taking steps to reduce the cost of doing my experiments.
All of us want the Ringgit to go back up, aren't we? That means regaining investor confidence in our economy. I am no expert, but what I can say is, when we start to get our economy right, many issues will find their solutions. It's time that we treat people fairly and make everyone more productive.
For me... money is hard to come by. Is anyone keen to sponsor my experiments? #shameless #bold #Askandyouwillgetit
I was fortunate to have a chance to catch A Pink live at MTV World Stage 2015 at Sunway Lagoon. After A Pink's performance, a fan told me how Bomi was taken aback by the amount of interest she received. I was steps away from my goddesses, but my mind was so overwhelmed with stimuli that it was not possible to catch every antic of A Pink on stage.
I must wonder why are we enthusiastic about foreign artists even though they speak in a language we do not understand. We are indeed crazy about them [foreign artists], but shouldn't the world should be crazy about us too?
Bomi's episode showed that language is no barrier to enjoying music. Likewise, Malaysia should be able to do the same. We have the colours of Malaysia to show the world, but what's stopping us?
My blog has been accumulating dust since I last updated it for MTV World Stage in Malaysia. Life has been pretty busy indeed.
One year has passed since I started my PhD at University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus! When I entered my program, I had high hopes. There were a number of PhD students in my previous institution, and they looked fine doing their project. It turned out that I went through countless frustrations through the process, for problems I have unaware of. That went on for one year. On top of that, there are progress requirements to meet, and at a point I was pushed to my breaking point. That feeling is not a joke.
One important thing I've learnt about doing science in Malaysia: the environment is hostile. Not to say scientists in Malaysia are unfriendly people but buying supplies to carry out my work can take up much time. I had to watch the exchange rate, because chemicals are quoted to local (Malaysian) vendors in US Dollars. Orders take weeks to months to arrive, compared to next day to a maximum of two weeks in Western countries. Now with the falling Ringgit, it's reflected in every item I am to buy and that's going to affect the number of things I can do.
If you have followed me enough, you'll know that I'm into K-pop. I'm following mostly cute girl groups, and I do occasionally watch sexy concepts. Indeed I'm a big Pink Panda when I went to MTV World Stage to watch A Pink performing live.
By chance, I stumbled upon Minx ๋ฐ์ค and remarked the unexceptional talent of the members. They are a sister group to Dal Shabet and belongs to Happy Face Entertainment.
No one was doing a fanbase for Minx in Malaysia, so I started a Facebook fanpage for the girls without a second thought. The next thing was to promote my fanbase to other Minx and K-pop idols' fanpages.
That night I was contacted by a fan after the admin of Minx Taiwan told him about it. We talked about our interest for Minx. It turned out that he had the idea of setting up the Minx fanpage for Malayisa, but he was busy following Minx's activities in South Korea and I went ahead of him. In that conversation I appointed him as the second admin of the page.
I hope to step on Korean soil one day but meanwhile, I am focusing on bringing timely updates from Minx!
At the initial stage, I approached AOA and Dal Shabet's Malaysian fanbases to help me promote. I am grateful for their help and mentoring indeed!
At the time I created Minx's fanbase, I couldn't find quality English translations of the girls' updates. There is Minx Taiwan translating from Korean into Traditional Chinese. There is Minx Philippines using Google and Bing Translate and clean up the result. There is Minx Turkey eagerly craving to make updates accessible to their fans, but couldn't do so due to language barrier.
So I came in to translate Minx's updates from Chinese into English. Slowly, the fandom of Minx is being transformed. Filipino fans have access to quality English translations. Minx Turkey is beginning to have more frequent updates thanks to my translations.
My role model is Apink Malaysia, the top Malaysian fanbase for A Pink. I really admire their consistency and breath of content, and their passion for the girls.
My organic likes plateaued at 68. I needed to reach out to more potential fans. So I approached Josh Lim, now the boss of LikesBeforeLove. I am aware that I am spending hard cash on this.
Thanks to his mentoring and effort in creating Facebook ads, my Minx fanpage has hit 1000 likes when I wrote this. This is a feat I've never achieved before, and I couldn't do so on my own strength.
The fact is, Josh Lim has worked with clients from celebrities to businesses to help them gain fans and generate sales leads.
What have I learnt through creating a fanbase for Minx?
Whether you are creating a social media page for work or leisure, it'll end up as competitive as a business. People come to your page with expectations that you're able to provide them something.
Spending money to promote so that people notice your work is equally important as your hard work itself
Work with people to achieve a common goal. While I strive to secure my leadership position in the fandom, I share my expertise and be receptive to collaborations to achieve the common goal, that is to make Minx a success in K-pop.
I wish to talk about many other things I've gone through, but my main limit is time. Before I sign off I'd like to encourage you to have a blog to share your interest and thoughts on things. Yes, there's Twitter and Facebook to talk about the short stuff, but nothing beats the versatility of a blog to fully express yourself. As Daphne Charice has said it, please continue to read, respond and contribute to blogs. Don't let blogging (Malaysian scene) die.
On 12 September 2015, I had the excitement of seeing A Pink performing live right in front of my eyes! On that day, I felt young again. It was definitely an experience to remember for a lifetime. It involved a lot of sweat to seeing these lovely girls in my life, and I don't regret it.
#ApinkinMY #worlstageMY #MTVWorldStage
I shall break my post into three sections: Before, During and After World Stage.
Prior to MTV World Stage
The moment A Pink was revealed as one of the performer for MTV World Stage, I was so excited. The last time A Pink in Malaysia was on 29 September 2012, at that time I was busy with my Honours year in Australia. Knowing that getting international celebrities to my home country is very hard, I made sure I didn't miss this chance.
I followed the link to try my luck winning passes, but I had no luck in winning. Fortunately, a Pink Panda (name for fans of A Pink) offered to help winning passes on other's behalf. I put my name in, but at first I didn't trust a complete stranger to handle my personal details especially my IC number. After seeing others praising her efforts, I gave my details upon her request. She won a pair of passes for me and the rest was history.
A Pink Malaysia Community and Team Apink began doing fan projects to show full support for A Pink. I downloaded a fanchant guide to A Pink's songs and memorized them. Elsewhere on the Internet, I saw people selling MTV World Stage passes.
A day before the actual show, I went to Carly Rae Jepsen's fansign at Sunway Pyramid. She was set to perform at the show the next day, and we exchanged a few lines! She asked me about my age, and she didn't believe I'm actually 26! At last, she asked me to support her during her stage. After that, I went to Joyce Chu's appearance for a contact lens launch.
On the day of MTV World Stage
The weather was hazy due to open burning in Indonesia.
I came in the morning to Sunway Pyramid and met up with the leaders of Team Apink and A Pink Malaysia Community (ApinkMY). A fellow Panda asked if I want to join him in claiming the fan gear by ApinkMY. So we made our way to Starbucks, but ApinkMY got into problems with permission to use space around Sunway Pyramid. So, we were issued queue numbers as the makeshift solution. That still didn't help, and we were escorted in droves to a kerb outside of Sunway Hotel. There I got my fangear containing an instruction sheet, a baloon, a placard and a sticker.
I returned to the entrance of Sunway Lagoon only to sense my low blood sugar. I left my phone number with the fellow Panda and then rushed to buy food. In one go, I ate two doughnuts at Starbucks and a plate of fried rice at a vegetarian restaurant. I reserved an extra serving of fried rice just in case I got hungry at the queue.
By 2 o' clock in the afternoon, I joined other fans at the queue for Normal Pass holders. It will be hours of wait before we got to enter the venue, braving the heat of the sun and taming my upset stomach. Hours I sat on the ground, and chatting up with other fans. I was offered a drink because I helped to buy a drink :) A marshal instructed us to not bring food and drinks (not even water) into the venue, so I had to discard the rice I've bought earlier.
As the moment approaches, the hosts of the show appeared to give a few interviews and entertained us. My heart jumped when the gates were opened. After going through security check, I ran my way to the surf beach with other fans to secure my best spot for the show. People were filling up the mosh pit quickly. It would be another two hours before the actual performance starts.
The first artist of the lineup was Sekai no Owari! I knew nothing about the Japanese band, so I listened attentively to their song and got to know them. The vocalist was good! The band totally blew me away with their standard and earned my respect. A Japanese girl was spazzing loudly like nobody's business, but I can't judge because I'll be doing the same when my turn comes.
The next was... A PINKKKK!!!! At first, the opening of NoNoNo was played, and I was filled with disbelief... why so soon???? I had no time to reason, next was the members lifted onto the stage, and I had to get into action immediately. It felt like six goddesses descending upon the Earth. The moment came - I told myself in my heart that my sole purpose was to give my best to A Pink and nothing else matters, even if I acted like a fool.
My focus was looking at the members and doing my fanchant like any dedicated fan would. I had to tip toe to get a good view because many were raising their hands to take fancams with their smartphones.
Bomi started singing the first line and I threw my "Oh NO!" into the air. As the song ran, I lipsync to make sure I don't miss my part. I started chanting my lungs out, on the top of my voice.
Then came the short talk by A Pink. Their speech was inaudible due to screaming from the crowd, but I didn't mind. Next up was Mr. Chu. The main part was singing "Mr Chu" and chant "Chu!!" right after that.
Then came LUV. The loud army chant of "L-O-V-E LUV!" was so awesome!
The last song was Remember. I was gradually losing my voice from the intense chanting, but I refused to give up. I gave my best "Hana, dul, set" (Korean for one, two, three) when the part came. I knew it was important because I treated myself as part of the performance, I must made the fanchant audible in the actual broadcast as seen in Music Bank, Music Core and the likes.
Throughout the entire span of the performance, there were confetti filled ballons passed among the crowd. Sometimes they ended up on stage, and A Pink had fun with us! Eunji actually kicked the balloon like a boss during Mr. Chu (I only noticed it in retrospect).
I felt the members sounded a little different from what I usually heard. The infantile tone was heavy during live. I bet it must be on the sound system.
A Pink ended their performance and I bid my goodbye with an "annyeong". An intense feeling satisfaction came to me for seeing A Pink in real life, in close proximity. So far, I've only got to see them on screen all these while, by myself. I felt a sense of community because there were so many Pandas sharing my love for A Pink, and we did all of these together. I felt proud giving my all to A Pink.
A Pink stayed a total of 18 minutes on stage. Given their short song list, they came like a wind, and the whole experience felt like a dream.
The mosh pit was an unfavourable place to be, considering that I went for a few hours without toilet and drink. I made my way out after A Pink finished their performance, and did not return to the mosh pit during Carly Rae Jepsen and Jason Derulo's performance. I've seen my A Pink, and I felt done.
The crowd size in the photo above is 20,000, setting the record for attendance in the history of MTV World Stage Malaysia.
To relive the moment, I'd watch this fancam:
After the concert
It was a time for celebration. I browsed through social media to look for news of MTV World Stage 2015. I read fan accounts and found that some fans were doing #ShoppingwithNaeun at Sunway Pyramid (LOL!). The fans decided to give Naeun a surprise so that she and her manager didn't need to spend a penny on their shopping, and in return Naeun treated each of them a cup of ice cream - so kind of her right??? :)
There were numerous fancams, fantaken photos, press photos and news articles lying around the Internet. Pink Pandas collected them all to preserve this precious memory :)
It's now on Malaysia Day that I wrote this. I refused to wake up from this dream of mine.
I just finished MTV World Stage 2015, and it was fantastic! In my next entry, I shall compile all materials available on the Internet to preserve my precious memory of seeing my idols A Pink in real life.
I have not talked about the song Remember. When I heard of A Pink's comeback for the summer girl group rush in June - August 2015, I was wondering what song would it be. Considering that many girl groups come up with sexy or cute concepts, I really looked for more originality of ideas. I knew their piece would not leave me in disappointment because this song is written by Shinsadong Tiger.
When I listened to Remember the first time, the opening with a music box delivers the nostalgia that's meant to be. The part I felt a little weird was when the transition from Eunji to Bomi takes place. Many fans Bomi's part started with a higher key that made it feels like starting a new song. It turned out that Shinsadong Tiger has a purpose of doing that - Eunji's pre-chorus suggests us to escape to the old times, and the hard transition to Bomi's "Do you remember" pulls us back to the present reality. I was not used to the song on my first few listen, but slowly, I liked it.
They have decided to go for a mature concept at the same time, sticking to the innocent A Pink I have known so well. It is proof that the girls have grown so much during the 4 years since debut, just like what we've seen in Girls' Generation evolution of concept. I see history is being repeated here, and I'm more confident that A Cube Entertainment is able to handle growth in their own way. Oh yes, Bomi's blonde is very gorgeous, and it takes a compliment like "her hair is life" to fit.
Time has passed, and all A Pink wants us to do is to Remember the memories we had.
Chorus - start
Do you remember, the sun that shone on us
The wide and blue ocean, just like yesterday
In those memories where time has stopped
Verse
Do you remember the day we walked on the white sand together?
Even when the waves came
We didn’t come apart, yeah
(One two three) Now my smile slowly disappeared, without even knowing
(One two three) We’ve gotten so exhausted, we can’t look back or forward anymore
Let’s leave together, in the cool breeze
Let’s forget today and go back to those times Chorus
Do you remember, the sun that shone on us
The wide and blue ocean, just like yesterday
As if time has stopped, just like we always wanted
REMEMBER REMEMBER REMEMBER
Verse
Do you remember the summer night, the red sun setting
The more the darkness covered the sky
The brighter the stars shined, yeah
(One two three) We kept ignoring the sky and only stared at the ground
(One two three) We’ve gotten so exhausted, not even knowing if it’s day or night
Let’s leave together, in the cool breeze
Let’s forget today and go back to those times Chorus
Do you remember, the sun that shone on us
The wide and blue ocean, just like yesterday
As if time has stopped, just like we always wanted
REMEMBER REMEMBER REMEMBER
Bridge
You, why are you still hesitating
You, forget everything and come with me
Throw everything away in the blue ocean
Before it’s too late
Do you remember, those times in our hearts?
Moments that we can feel like it’s yesterday
Chorus
Do you remember, the sun that shone on us
The wide and blue ocean, just like yesterday
As if time has stopped, just like we always wanted
REMEMBER REMEMBER REMEMBER
I'm super excited for this coming Saturday because I'll be attending MTV World Stage Malaysia 2015!
The main reason I'm attending the show is none other than A Pink ์์ดํํฌ!
The moment I heard A Pink will be performing, I was so excitedddd!!! I die must go there because it's very hard to get a K-pop act with such a calibre to Malaysia. The girls are my idol and seeing them performing live is something not to be missed. The last time they were in Malaysia was in 2012, and I was not even home for them.
Tickets are officially not for sale, they can only be won through contests. But, people selling tickets online is no secret.
I tried my hands to winning the concert ticket but no luck. And I don't have the luxury of time to keep trying for one. Thanks to a fellow Malaysian Panda, I am so thankful she won a pair of tickets for me and other Pandas! We're all in this together for our beloved A Pink!
An integral part of A Pink's performance is fanchant!!! This is my chance to show my love for A Pink so I must do it properly. The local fanclub, A Pink Malaysia Community has even prepared a fanchant guide for me to learn and practice.
So, when you see A Pink fans (including MEEEE!!) shout loudly during A Pink's songs, I'm here to assure you they are neither a bunch of mad/crazy people, nor intending to disrupt ongoing stage performances. Instead, fanchants have evolved to become part of the performance - just watch a Korean music show broadcast and the audible chants gives you goosebumps! What's more, the louder the fanchant, the better it is for the artists.
I'm so happy to be able to attend MTV World Stage this year and I'm going to give nothing but the best for the girls! Are you going there too?
