GSE in Trigger*Ed Magazine

We did an interview with Trigger*Ed Magazine at the Explore! Singapore gig a month back.

Click here to read about it.

Motorola Street Style Street Choice Award

GSE is the Motorola Street Choice Award winner for 2006. The award ceremony happened at Zouk on 15 December 2006, the night before I left for Thailand. It was a huge surprise to the band that we won the overall popularity award. Thank you so much to everyone who voted for us. Thank you. It was a magical moment for us and we would like to share the joy with the other nominees, especially the nominees from the music category, like Astreal and Tiramisu.

Koh Samui

The weather at Koh Samui was bad. It was cloudy in the day and chilly in the night. When we got back on Christmas Eve, Aunty Carol asked us about the flood in Koh Samui and it appparently happened the day after we left that place for Bangkok. We stayed at this nice Balinese-styled beach-front resort called Al's Resort. The place is well-maintained and is located in the middle of Chaweng Beach. Most importantly, it was clean. It gave us the comfort we needed after the rough boat ride from Koh Phangan. Chaweng Beach is the most developed area in Koh Samui, where you can find a concentration of vendors and shops. If you need your urban fix, there is Burger King, Starbucks, Swenson's and even Pizza Hut. The one thing about Koh Samui is that there is no metered taxis or transport you can take on the island so it is really up to the driver how much he thinks his ride is worth. There is the songtaew, a dark red, covered pick-up which hoots its horn about every 10 meters. Prices can vary depending on the mood of the driver. We only took a taxi to the Samui Airport on our last day. We walked the whole time we were at Chaweng.

Bangkok.Bangkok.

5 days in Bangkok and a whole load of shopping damage done. We covered all the usual areas. Our third time here together helped us to be focused in our planning of our time rather usefully. We stayed at Baiyoke Sky Hotel this time and got a king suite room. It was wicked. A huge living and dining room to hold our countless shopping bags. But I can't say much about the service though. We got together with Gene and Oh, the guys from Futon on our last night and partied at this place in RCA, called Club Astra. It was their 'Electro Night'. It is a pity we did not get to meet the drummer, Simon, who is formally from Suede. So... sorry Mike, didn't manage to get the autograph you wanted.

Koh Phangan

The weather on the second day is so much better, with the sun shining fiercely. The beach was filled with sun worshippers. Infront of our hut is a hammock, which I have never used in my life. I tried it and the feeling is just awesome. Here in Koh Phangan, we stayed at Phangan Bayshore, Haad Rin, where you can find great, friendly staff, a cute little dog, whom I miss dearly, and a crazy, angry boss. The air-con in our room didn't work on our third night. We had to sleep on the hammock and feed ourselves to the commando mosquitoes. I got bitten badly on my hands and Khai had his fair share on his feet. We asked for a change of room but the key press was locked. The poor guy could only helplessly looked at us and kept saying, 'sorry'. Khai borrowed the guy's acoustic guitar and serenaded me to sleep. What a night.

People only started to come in to Koh Phangan on our second day. I did foot massage last night. It was done traditionally, with the wooden stick and all. I like it. Khai did his usual Thai traditional massage. We watched 'Borat' and 'Team America' at this restaurant which serves wicked banana milkshake. Right now, he is undergoing his reiki and chakra balancing treatment at this cool massage school we found at Sunset Beach. They offer courses in the different massage techniques as well as reiki healing. If I could stick around longer, I would go for the 30 hours course.

Our four days in Koh Phangan ended with us, attending their Black Moon Party, in the jungle of nowhere, at Bann Tai. It was like Zoukout all over again. We only got there at about 1am in the morning, after a long, dark, bumpy ride from Haad Rin, all the way to Bann Tai.

Day 1 @ Koh Phangan

Koh Phangan Finally!! Weather here is cool, not much sun though. It can get rather chilly. The weather is pretty much the same, the past 2 days in Bangkok. Arrived here from Koh Samui in the morning. Now the place is slowly coming alive and they were showing 'Borat" at this restaurant we walked past just now. Will update soon. xoxo..

Bangkok/Koh Phangan

Going away for another well-deserved holidays. Woowee! Most exclaimed, "Mag! Bangkok again?!!" Oh well.. I just can't enough of the retail therapy and the yummy Thai Iced tea at Bangkok and it will be my first time at Koh Phagnan. Hmm.. that reminds me. I have yet to update the pics I took at Bali. They are taking up way too much space in my camera. So.. if I can get hold of a computer there, I will update. To everyone out there, HAPPY HOLIDAYS! =)

Muse in Singapore (16 Jan 2007)

Muse is coming to Singapore for a one-night only concert at Fort Canning.

Sounding different in their new album, 'Black Holes and Revelations'.

Something worth checking out will be Matthew Bellamy's arpeggiated guitar. A chaos pad on the guitar? Hmm..
Have you bought your ticket yet?

The invites are coming to your mailbox soon, my friends.

Proudly brought to you by rumballsnpeaches. =)

Oh wee.. We are going to have a partee!

Funding for SXSW in March

GSE has been invited to play at SXSW, one of America's biggest music festival, in Austin, Texas in March 2007, together with Electrico. The band is extremely excited and is really looking forward to playing to an international crowd. However, funding is an issue.

There is an article on The Straits Time Interactive (2 December 2006): Building a buzz about Singapore's pop culture, which mentioned us. Though it is a small paragraph of 39 words out of a whole long article on the local music and film industry, I hope it catches the attention of potential sponsors:

"Electrico and The Great Spy Experiment, for example, have secured spots next year to play at South By Southwest, one of America's biggest music festivals in Austin, Texas. But getting the money to go there is now a problem."

She is The One.

She is the one who inspired me to draw;

the way she glides the drawing pencil along the paper,

the way she transforms a blank paper to a piece of art.

She is the one who taught me the element of texture;

how I can't stop touching everything I see.

She is the one who gave me her aesthetic gift;

the quirky perspective to seeing things.

She is the one who sat next to my hospital bed patiently while I did my treatment when I was ill.

She is the one who boils the best birdnest soup ever.

She is the one.

In so many ways.

She is the one.

Happy birthday, mummy.

Onitsuka Tiger shoe shopping spree

Yes. That's right. Sweetie and I bought 5 pairs of Onitsuka Tiger shoes at one go. Put two shoe fanatics together, this is what you get. Every woman's dream: a guy who loves his shoes as much as she does. Hee.

ZoukOut 2006

Zoukout was madness. Our set was at midnight. Killing time between soundcheck in the afternoon and the actual set was a bunch of bored people playing insane games and laughing like hyenas. The set wasn't something the band is really proud of but it is the experience that we sought and it is worth every second of it. Churning down chicken wings, hotdogs and pizzas at the beach, walking to and fro the different arenas. Party ended at 6am in the morning. It was just insane. Right now, I am still recovering from that insane night.

I heart The All-American Rejects

The All-American Rejects is the band of the moment for me. When I first heard this song some time back, I had it stuck in my head. The piano intro is brilliant. I saw the music video on MTV a while ago and without fail, I sang aloud, shamelessly, on top of my lungs, to this song. I love the bass guitar Tyson Ritter used in the video. I love his voice. Sigh... Keke.. It haunts me right now. So I decided to log on and I just have to post the lyrics. I love the video. Go check it out on youtube.

The All-American Rejects' "It Ends Tonight"

Your subtleties

They strangle me

I can't explain myself at all.

And all the wants

And all the needs

All I don't want to need at all.

The walls start breathing

My mind's unweaving

Maybe it's best you leave me alone.

A weight is lifted

On this evening

I give the final blow.

When darkness turns to light,

It ends tonight

It ends tonight.

A falling star

Least I fall alone.

I can't explain what you can't explain.

You're finding things that you didn't know

I look at you with such disdain

The walls start breathing

My mind's unweaving

Maybe it's best you leave me alone.

A weight is lifted

On this evening

I give the final blow.

When darkness turns to light

It ends tonight,

It ends tonight.

Just a little insight won't make this right

It's too late to fight

It ends tonight,It ends tonight.

Now I'm on my own side

It's better than being on your side

It's my fault when you're blind

It's better that I see it through your eyes

All these thoughts locked inside

Now you're the first to know

When darkness turns to light

It ends tonight,

It ends tonight

.Just a little insight won't make this right

It's too late to fightIt ends tonight,

It ends

When darkness turns to light

It ends tonight,It ends tonight.

Just a little insight won't make this right

It's too late to fight

It ends tonight,It ends tonight.

TonightInsight

When darkness turns to light,

It ends tonight.

GSE does Zoukout 2006

Come catch us at Zoukout 2006, Siloso Beach, Sentosa this Saturday, 09 December 2006. Other lineup bands inlcude Electrico, Astreal, Futons, Plain Sunset and Stars don't fall. And of course, not forgetting, the international acts. Woohoo... It is going to be such a riot!

Men vs Women

A recent meeting with friends spurs the writing spree on this topic of the differences between men and women. It is extremely common to have guys complaining that their girlfriends are making bizarre demands like asking for way too much quality time and infringing on their personal space. One of my guy friends once told me that he broke up with his girl because she was cramping his style.

And of course, it is also common to hear the girls complaining that their boyfriends are meeting up with the boys way too often, hanging out almost every night, wasting their time when they could be out with them, attending to their needs. Half the time, I hear women wishing for an honest man, a man who is truthful and a man who don't tell big, fat lies. To women, honesty is telling "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” To men, truth telling is to tell the truth only if it doesn't make anyone uncomfortable and doesn't cause a conflict.

Me, as someone who sits and listens through the grievances my friends have and eagerly observing what happens around me, I guess the problem is that both individual sexes have ideas of what they think their partner needs which have no basis in reality. And how do they gather these ideas? It is through their upbringing, experiences and the things that surround them but not their partners. Problems simply arise when we expect or assume our partners should think, feel or act the way we do. It’s not that men and women live in completely different realities. Rather, it is the lack of knowledge and mutual experience which give rise to whatever difficulties that arise in the relationship.

I am a love cynic due to experiences and upbringing but I want to be inspired to take on the love journey of no returns. My prince charming came and swept me off my feet when I least expected it. We went through quite abit ourselves. By going through the relation-shits, we built a steadfast foundation for ourselves; a foundation where respect and communication are the two cornerstones. It made us stronger as a team and calmer as an individual. These days, we agree to disagree and to me, that is most ultimate liaison two persons can ever have. If one wants a relationship, it takes work and one needs to stop catastrophizing.

In this fast-paced world, where time is ticking by faster than before (which is a fact), we forget to stop at our feet and appreciate the simple basic pleasure of life, Love. Love is the catalyst that brings two people together. Two individuals who have no knowledge of each other yet willing to see where their liaison might take them.

Don’t figure out with your head whether you both belong together; in fact most often than not, our heads get in the way and mess up things. Our hearts tells us, if we quiet the analysis, and listen to it. So Live Love, don’t analyze it.

3 things that make me smile at this moment:

****vintage buttons****I saw some really interesting ones when I was at People's Park Shopping Centre (Chinatown)

****toddlers with curly hair**** I saw one today, pointed out by Khai when we were having our dinner at Paragon
****blythe dolls****I was so close to buying one when I saw them in London two years back but they were expensive and it was either the maharishi snopants or a blythe doll. I guess I dropped the idea of owning one

BassDay

It's a BassDay.

::

First, it is an afternoon at Sim Lim Square:: the effects pad, The Westfield

::

Second, the viewing of the bass quitars for sale:: Epiphone Thunderbird Bass, Fender Jazz Bass (Mexico)

::

Third, testing the gadgets and the bass guitars

::

:my first lymphoma support group meeting

I went down to the National Cancer Centre yesterday. The last time I was there was 2 months ago. It was wierd that I was breaking out into cold sweat. I am actually scared been in that place.

The informal sharing/ meeting was to try to create a framework where the members or ex-patients in the room, like myself, can give a helping hand by forming a official lymphoma support group which can provide information, advice and emotional support, for people with Lymphoma and their caregivers.

The sharing started out with each of us sharing our individual experience. It was initially rather queer for me. It seems like one of the help group sessions I see in the movies. The ones for junkies, alcoholics or women who were abused by their husbands. There were 5 of us, ex-patients in that room, accompanied by doctors, counsellors and of course, the loving caregivers. We shared our experiences. Some shocked the rest while some found similarities in their struggles, for example employment issues, self-image or nutrition (what to eat and what not to eat). It is evident that cancer can hit anyone. We have a JC1 student in the group, a girl who is still in Uni, an air-force pilot who was accepted by SIA before he was diagnosed, a bubbly banker and me. The age group is a young one and it hits us at the different crucial stages of life.

But one thing for sure is that we kept the faith and held on to the belief that WE WILL BE WELL. The one reason why we are able to sit in that room, hoping to give back to others. We celebrated life in our own individual ways and for that, we know that every bit of fighting spirit we had put into getting well was worth it.

As much as everyone freaks out when they see the big-C word, I think cancer has given me a new perspective on my life. I thought my life was over the day I was told I had cancer but as I progressed with treatment, I found an inner strength I never knew I had. Sometimes I still do get stressed out about silly things but I am able to stop myself now and think just how lucky I am to be alive.

Peaches @ Zouk

When I first recieved the order form for tickets to watch Peaches at Zouk, my heart missed a beat. I am a huge fan of her last two albums and this Canadian electro rocker was here to promote her third album, 'Impeach my bush'. I thought to myself, the one thing that will make 2006 all so sweet and worthwhile. I enjoyed all 90 minutes of her set. During her set, her energy, her change of costumes, her jumping on and off speakers, it was a night to remember for me. It was her dressed and undressed, dressed and undressed. I had a blast. "Girls wanna be her... Boys wanna be her.." Peaches rocks.

KORG X50 music synthesizer

It's the time of the year again. It was around this time when I got my beloved Microkorg. Now this 61-key baby is equipped with dual polyphonic arpeggiator for even more musical enjoyment. 16 categories of sound and weighs only 4.5kg. Definitely easier to carry around during gigs.