THIS POST IS MAD BELATED!!!! ZoukOut 2014 happened last December from the 12th to the 13th. Though I'm often at Zouk, this year was my first year at ZoukOut! I often receive exclamations of disbelief or surprised expressions when I tell people I haven't been to ZoukOut. I am just disinclined to join in throngs of sweaty people in non-airconditioned areas, or so I thought.... Anyway last year I decided to give it a go because of the possibility that Zouk might be shut down (remember the whole being denied rental of the location issue?) but mostly because the lineup was AMAZING.
Day 1 FACE: SUPER STOKED!
Here's the lineup. I didn't give two hoots about the Moon Stage; the Star Stage acts were the ones which enticed me to go!
For Day 1 I really wanted to go for Hong and Richie Hawtin. Maya Jane Coles, Dubfire and Nina Kraviz for Day 2!
With Cormac, Ann and Adriel!
YEAAAAAAAA. My photos are all blurry. Hahahahahaha I apologise in advance :3
Thank you for accompanying me to 7-11 to get a sandwich, friends! And yes, that was my dinner for the entire night... *-*
Cormac kept asking more and more people to get into our group shot...
Lol
Hong was on!!! :D
Went to drink with my brothers for a bit
My elder brother posted this on FB and one of his friends commented "Ah bengs and ah lian. Gangsta family" LOL
Popped over to Star Stage to find our cousin and I think Above & Beyond were playing then... Heard Sun & Moon being played.
Adriel and the rest preferred the DJs at the Star Stage so basically I was at the Moon Stage by myself most of the time!
photo credit: Colossal Photos
See, here's the proof. LOL. While browsing through the ZoukOut album I realised that.. I was the only one who was alone in the photos. Hahahahhahahaha. Evidently I am a loner.
Even this girl, with whom I have a photo, is a stranger. LOL. She just happened to be standing nearby and one of the Colossal crew asked us if we wanted a photograph.
Hahahaha I'm kidding luh it was really alright to just be dancing alone at the Star Stage, sipping my gin&tonic. Also I had Rino close by to keep a lookout for me!
(: Thank you grumpy cat.
Also, bumped into other friends as well, like Benny and Max heh. Thankfully some of my friends also love the music I love!
I was really surprised that I enjoyed Magda's set a lot because I don't really listen to her sets and music, but I only belatedly discovered that she's part of the Minus crew (the label that Richie Hawtin owns) and she played this monster of a tune, which is my favourite tune for the entire festival:
Play with me! by Matador, who also is part of the Minus crew. Richie Hawtin played the same track during his closing set as well! This track is so ENERGISED it made me feel like I was running on high octane.
While I attempted to shazam/soundhound tracks, my slow Internet connection was unable to search for tracks.... So in a bid of desperation, I took to recording the tracks I liked! I must have gone home with about 20+ recordings.
Here're a few more that I liked:
I think Magda played these!
Techno all the way baby. *beams*
I think Richie Hawtin also played this track, but I'm not entirely sure if it was him:
This baby was played as well (:
I ended Day 1 with this FB update: "Zoukout day 1: hong, magda, loco dice, richie hawtin. Got dropped on my arse onto the sand. Feet are aching from dancing to all that good music. That is all. DAY 2 TMRW!!"
To which Adriel commented "#pickupfail Literally" LOL. Some dude tried to carry me but I resisted and hence floundered and ended up on the sandy ground. He bought me a gin&tonic to make up for all the sand getting into my phone crevices and bag.... Actually, it's pretty tiring dancing on sand! The dancefloor keeps moving and shifting hahahaha.
Day 2 arrived! Went to Amara Resort for a bit because Adriel wanted to find his friends and I got to meet more people! Hanging out with Adriel's pretty cool 'cos he's such a social butterfly and many of his friends are really cool to chill out with as well. (:
Then... I got a hot dog from 7-11 as my dinner again. I realised for the amount of alcohol I was having, I was definitely not having enough food ;_;
With Adriel, Ann and Juju!
Cutieeeeeee
Cutiessssss
I've never heard Damian Lazarus play live, but he played this track that night and I almost died of happiness!
First heard this on Pete Tong's Essential Selection radio show :D I REALLY LIKE IT! I let Nick listen to it and he said "I couldn't get past the first 30s of Indian music" -- I like it for how folksy it is man!!!
He also played this funky track. I really dig how Damian Lazarus plays his set because you can really tell that he's enjoying himself immensely - he's dancing around, grooving away with his arms and swaying to the music! (:
And the ever sophisticated Nina Kraviz. Who played these two awesome techno tracks:
WE MADE IT TO SUNRISE!!!
Whilst leaving, the bunch of them walked past the Star Stage and spotted me so we snapped a photo together!
And yes, I was still on my g&ts till 7am in the morning hahahahaha
With Hong before he started his sunrise set! (: It ran a little late 'cos Nina Kraviz had arrived slightly late.
With the Boss man of Colossal Photos, Afiq! I'm so happy to have met him in my life. There're a few select persons whom you just know in your heart are positive figures for you in your life and Afiq's really one of those persons for me! I really cherish the advice he gives me about life and work; he works really hard and has a good head on his shoulders. :D
One more with Rino!
Hehehehe :3
One with Nicholas! (: I'll never forget how the two of us first met (in Zouk, of course), HAHAHAHAHA
Captioned this photo: "SO HAPPY. I don't think anyone quite understands, but electronic music and dancing is quite a solitary experience for me. I'd go with friends and if they enjoy the same music I do, it's good. If they don't, I just go ahead for myself. It's nice to have that connection with people whom love the same music I do. But more importantly, that connection with the DJ makes me the happiest. The way they pick the tracks, the way they dance, how they smile - it all makes me really fucking happy. I'm quite the loner when it comes to electronic music and dancing. I like to explore different genres of music and discover tracks that are so deep, hard and raw that sometimes, no one gets it. This is my first ZoukOut experience, and it is really really awesome. Zouk was the one whom opened my eyes to electronic music, and for that I'm thankful. The people at Zouk are really passionate as well, which makes for a better experience for punters like me. So happy for this, really. So glad for these two memorable days, yay!"
I can't begin to describe the extent of gratitude I have for Zouk, and the Zouk team to be honest! It's the first place that exposed me to electronic dance music, and I'll forever hold a special place in my heart for it.
My initial worries of the festival being overcrowded, disgustingly warm and full of queues and sweaty people were all rather unfounded. At the Star Stage where most acts are underground, the crowd is smaller. With the breeze and (extremely) light attire (ahem, bikini, shorts), it doesn't really get very warm. The queues for drinks and toilets were all bearable! I managed to top up my g&t pretty regularly. (:
To top things off, I didn't have to fight crowds to return home; on the first night, we copped a lift from my brother's friend, and on the second day, my elder brother came to fetch me!!!
:D Hehe love you kor.
Got home such a happy but tired girl at 9ish in the morning with BREAKFAST awaiting my ferocious appetite (thank you again kor!!!), fell asleep for a couple of hours, then woke up and took a hour and half long's bus journey to Nick's place to hang out. It was a good bus ride with good mellow music.
That really was a brilliant weekend. My favourite Asian festival so far! (: Can't wait for this year's!!!
freq'ender 2014, pasta, truffle fries and miam miam, little matthias
Here're some overdue photos from last year that I refuse to just keep in dusty folders in my laptop because 1) They're keepsakes of awesome memories 2) I need some reminder of happy times right now to stop myself from sinking into a funk.
So I'm not much a Halloween person because I'm terrible at arts and costumes and just holidays in general but for last year's Halloween, I went with Yihan to Freq'ender! It was a 2-night event organised by kyo.
We only went for 31 Oct's but that's because the first night's lineup was AMAZIN'. Also, it was a birthday present from me to Yihan. The both of us were excited for Hot Chip and 2manydjs!
Here's the lineup for Day 1.
My photos are all pretty much of this blurry quality.... I do not apologise because I was more preoccupied with shazaming tracks! Yihan and I don't even have a photo together hahahahaha.
Sante played this.
Hot Chip played Sasha's remix of their track Flutes, and I was positively beaming from ear to ear because I could tell that they were playing it a long way ahead. Like, they were just playing the bassline for a long time and creeping it in into the next song - I remember grabbing Yihan and being so excited. Lmao
I didn't know much about Doorly besides his remix of Corbu's We Are Sound but for me he played the best set that night! Really groovy yet deep enough. He also played his remix of Tiga's Bugatti, which was unreleased at that point of time but has now since been released on Turbo Recordings!
I went absolutely bonkers when this was played because IT'S SO GODDAMN DANCEY, HARD AND STACCATO just the way I like it! Yihan says he has yet to warm up to it because it's too "raw" for him.
Here're some other tracks I really liked from that night! 2manydjs' set turned out to be just alright for me. I still feel like Doorly's was the best.
I love the strings on this track SO. MUCH.
I really had so much fun. The location was great; Infinite Studios is at Buona Vista, so a little far but Yihan and I managed to drive there (though we got lost a few times). IT'S SO AMAZINGLY SPACIOUS THOUGH, and it was air-conditioned so it was lovely to have space to dance around and be kept chilled (it is as if we are meat packages). I didn't manage to get a disco nap before the event so I was really tired and slept on the way back but we got my phone to work with the car's stereo and upon waking up, Orbital's Belfast was playing and that I feel, was the best way to end the night. Since it had already turned into morning and that track is simply magical for early mornings.
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This gathering occurred earlier than Halloween, I think:
We went to Old Street Bak Kut Teh at Upper Paya Lebar Road for dinner! Thank you friends for agreeing to meet there for me (I was heading for my driving lesson after work and only had a short 1hr 15min period for dinner)!
HMMMMMMM I think the bkt was alright! Not spectacular but worth the money? I think each of us paid $9 for the dishes you see above.
Went to get some tea (for them) and coffee (for me, 'cos I was EXHAUSTED), and we caught up a little!
It's been quite a few months but thankfully I still see y'all quite frequently. (: Very glad for the effort made to still stay in each other's lives!
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This photo was taken on the 19th of November '14. It is unfiltered. MY SKIN WAS OKAY THEN, OH GOD WHAT HAS THIS PERIOD OF THREE MONTHS DONE TO ME. It's absolute rubbish now and I'm trying my best to save it by double- no, TRIPLE cleansing. And I totally don't touch my spots anymore; your fingers carry a lot of bacteria. My therapist also told me to lay off the makeup and I guess I've been wearing less makeup recently? Still working on that though. I have to wash my makeup brushes later!
Anyway it was a Wednesday and the parents and brother went along with my whim to have pasta thus we found ourselves at Pasta J.
Beers mid-week and extremely yummy food with the family; 'twas a good night!
The Mac n Cheese is a definite must-try! It's now called the Mad Mac & Cheese 3.0 With Pork Sausage Patty ($15.90). My mom prefers it without the sausage patty because she's not a big fan of meat.
Happy Papa
Silly Mama
Here's the Rustic Pork Chops (S$16.90). The price has really gone up quite a bit - it used to be 12.90 I think - but it's still my favourite to eat because the pork chops are really just so succulent and extremely well seasoned! The pan fried mushrooms are to die for, plus if you're a fan of garlic, the roasted ones on this dish really taste so nutty and are so fragrant.
On that particular day, I decided to try the Garlic Herb Chicken pasta but it was a tad too salty for me. I wouldn't recommend this!
Papa and Kor
Anyway Pasta J is really quite a nice place to dine at if you stay in the North! Pretty happy that it's shifted to Upper Thomson Road from Tanjong Pagar because it's nearer to my place now.
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Went out with Boss the other day. He has since flown to another continent sigh. The continent that I want to be on. I'M ON THE WRONG CONTINENT SOBS.
We went to the Five Izakaya Bar outlet at Maxwell without knowing it was the Vietnamese influenced one and were quite surprised by the food choices. Didn't get a proper dinner in the end and settled for bar snacks!
Truffle friessssssssssssssssssss we ordered. They were not bad. I had a craving for it. But no place's will beat P.S Cafe's or White Rabbit's!
Also had Yamazaki on the rocks!!! Whoop.
Also had Calamari rings and you see my second drink of a Gin&tonic there. Kevin has gotten me liking Hendricks and Tanqueray 10s!
We then went to Loof because I still felt like zoning out. I was really tired but just felt like staying out and soaking in the happy atmosphere from others whom did not have to work the next day.
Wearing True Colour Lipstick in Vamp from Sleek
(I generally won't recommend the matte lipsticks from Sleek to anyone with dry/really dry lips, because while the colour payoff is amazing, the lipsticks are EXTREMELY drying. If you really want to try it, do make sure you have a very good lip balm put on way before you apply the Sleek lipstick!)
Miss you already Boss, hope you're not freezing to death in Budapest right now.
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Recently, I went to Miam Miam with Moritza! Miam Miam's slogan is The French Cafe with a Japanese Twist. Everything's so... fusion nowadays. We are surpassing traditional boundaries, people. It leads to good results:
This not really French, not really Italian, not really Japanese pasta was really good! I think the addition of toasted sesame seeds really added a depth of flavour to the entire dish. I also loved the straw mushrooms.
We also shared the Valrhona Chocolate Souffle! This consistency was nice; it was fluffy and the chocolate was not too sweet. Chocolate's always good, anyway!
I also had a peanut butter and banana milkshake. It was yummy.
(wearing NYX Lipstick in Merlot)
We definitely had way too much to talk about but I just want to say that I'm so so so very proud of you for being such a strong lady and for showing so much maturity even though you've been going through such difficult times. I don't think we got to know each other much during our university years but I've always known that you possess a good heart, that you're kind and you care deeply for others, and I just want you to know that I will always be here for you. I know you'll be alright (but if you're not, I will be around if you want to rant/cry/talk/sob/scream/just sit around/eat ice cream/ANYTHING) and you'll be a better person past all these. *HUGSYOUTODEATH*
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More recently, I have been spending Saturdays working out, very specifically, my right arm.
Because I've been carrying this little kid around, and he weighs about 7kg.
(: He's really such a cutiepie and it just makes me happy to be able to make him laugh!
I write about my everyday experiences & pen down my thoughts in this lil' space.
I read, listen to music, have a passion in language, love makeup and most of all, I observe. I really like learning.
I love making a difference.
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