Thristhan

I’m about a week late in writing this blog. It’s about the top 24 who made it to the Americal Idol. The photographs below were taken from AmericanIdol.com’s facebook page and all copyrights belong to americanidol.com. That week, my favourite was Andrew Garcia, and I mentioned to bet all my stakes on him after his “Paula Abdul - Straight Up” performance. But he has been performing very bad the weeks after. I hope he does something to step it up.

After the top 24 week, my favourite girl singer is Crystal Bowersox. She has an amazing story and a cute little baby and she is very motivated to perform week after week. Crystal Bowersox takes criticism and learns from them, infact Simon Cowell mentioned that one of her performance was very “Subway” singing style. It was funny because she did actually perform in a subway before to make-ends meet.

My favouride dude would be Lee Dewyze. His performance last week was superb, and that made him go up to the Top 16. He his very humble and even without performing experience, Lee Dewyze is very capable in nailing this competition. Girl fans are already on his side.

So now we are left with the American Idol Top 16 this week. They will be performing tommorow on the official American Idol channel in Malaysia which is the Starworld at channel 711.

Below are the photographs taken by American Idol, copyrights remain with them for the top 24 performance.

I was watching the telly yesterday and I happen to flip to 8TV and there were playing some music videos. A new version of the We Are The World amazed me. It was a modified version from the original featuring all latest artist. Mostly were RnB and Hip Hop artist. The video was really touching, frankly I felt like being in tears, but machoness had me control it. They remade this song for the victims of the Haiti earthquake on January 12, 2010.

We Are The World 25 for Haiti

Some of the artist that I remember being in that video are Will.I.Am who seemed to have a big part in this video, he must have produced it or something (Later found out that Wyclef John was the producer of this song), then there were Akon, Wyclef John, Kanye West, Busta Rhymes, Miley Cyrus, Jamie Foxx, Janet Jackson, T-Pain, LL Cool J, Snoop Dogg, Fergie, Pink, Usher, Barbra Streisand, Michael Buble, Jason Mraz, Rob Thomas, Celine Dion, A.R. Rahman and many more.

“We Are the World” is a song and charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and co-produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album We Are the World. The song was recorded in fourteen hours by over eighty artists on February 1, and was released on February 12, 2010, during the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics. “We Are the World 25 for Haiti” was released as a CD single and a music download.

A few singers couldn’t make it for the recording because of the timing or they had other things to do. One of them was Taylor Swift who was on going to tour in Australia.

Check out their official video on Youtube:

The first MATTA (Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents) Fair this year will be held in March from the 12th - 14th. And working with Holiday Villa gives me to opportunity to experience MATTA Fair twice a year. I will be on duty on the last day which falls on a Sunday the 14th March 2010. MATTA FAIR 2010 will be held at Putra World Trade Center (PWTC) Kuala Lumpur.

MATTA Fair 2010

Their official website is http://www.mattafair.org.my which seems to be updated in terms of design compared to last year. But there are still alot of information that are still pending. Frankly I think that there are other websites out there that has better information and pictures on the MATTA Fair event compared to their official website.

THe MATTA Fair is also to be said as the Malaysian’s first Travel Fair and holds a record in the Malaysia Book Of Record.

The MATTA FAIR debut in 1991 as an annual event with 80 booths and a visitor turnout of nine thousand.  It has since evolved into a bi-annual event drawing crowds as high as over 100 thousand visitors during one of the fairs. This year the MATTA Fair will feature 141 Exhibitors.

What I hate about this fair is the credit card companies that seem to flood the area, especially near the entrance and they are very forcefull in trying to get you to sign up. Even when you’re said that you’re not interested.

For those who are going to this fair, do come and meet me at the Holiday Villa Hotels & Resort booth.

2 weeks ago, just before the Chinese New Years, a bunch of colleague decided to try out something different for Lunch. And since there was a new cafe around our office area on Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, we decided to give it a try. This cafe is knows simple as FullHouse, or their full company name is Fullhouse Lifestyle Store & Cafe Sdn Bhd. Their website is www.fullhousecafe.com.my, but currently it seems to be under construction.

The first impression when I first entered the cafe was that everything was sparkling clean. Everything in there was white in color, the tables, the chairs, even the utensils. It was as though Macintosh opened this cafe. We were sitted almost immediately, and the store at that time was running half full. This is a very nice place to held any sort of event, whether being a wedding reception, or a company outting.

The concept is you are entering a House, that has all the rooms including the kitchen, bedroom and even a bathroom. They serve western and Local Malaysian delicacies. They had a great selection of Cakes and Tarts. Their lunch set are very affordable, ranging between RM15 and RM20.

Below are some of the photos I took during our Lunch.

Yesterday I got home roughly at about 10pm after work, after dinner Straight went to bed with a note to my mum to wake me up at 11pm so that I can catch a shower and watch American Idol which repeats at 12am.

This was the first series of the Hollywood week. I see some people who are quite eligible to be the American Idol 9 winner. One particular person that I’m sure will be on the top 10 is Andrew Garcia who sang Paula Abdul’s song. He intelligently sang the song in his own style. Randy Jackson gave him a good comment and that he reminds him of Adam Lambart. Andrew Garcia also showed us his skills with his guitar.

I was disappointed with Skiibo Ski being voted out. I thought he had style and a very nice voice. Ellen DeGeneres mentioned that he gave a stare that was like Leopard and that he was scaring away his audience. Ridiculous.

80+ auditions went through and tonight will be the 8 a team group singing where they can either do a Acapella  style or use an Instrument. We will see what happens tonight.

Those interested, catch the American Idol on our local Astro on channel 711 (STAR WORLD).

I decided to write this article as I’m not really in a relationship, or would rather consider as being in an open relationship. Having some free time in office, I decided to come up with the following list. Do add on to the list by commenting on this blog.

1) This year, Valentine’s Day falls on the first day of the Chinese New Years. So make a date with your school friends, colleague and go visiting all the chinese mates.

2) Pamper yourself with a few hours at the Spa, spend some cash shopping and probably Indulge yourself with some delicious authentic food.

3) For those who are kind-heated, they could probably go and visit some orphanage or the disabled centres and spend time with them.

4) Take a short trip, go to the sea-side, spend time at the nearest Island. This is a very good thing to do for those who are working at a hectic place of work.

5) Log onto facebook, friendster, myspace or any of the social media and start sending random message to any beautiful girl that you meet. Who know’s you might after all get a date on Valentines Day.

6) Celebrate with friends. Go clubbing, have a drink at a happening bar or visit a nice soul lounge for some live entertainment.

7) Spend time with your parents, take them for a movie, or for an expensive dinner.

Be creative and artistic on this day. Sit in your room quietly and start writting poems, interesing stories or even draw some beautiful art. For those who are musically inclined, compose some nice romantic songs.

9) Buy a couple of pizza, buy a good DVD and spend time in front of the telly. Better still plan a movie-fest or a movie marathon.

10) Cook yourself a meal, try something new. Since you’re alone, there’s no one to critice how it taste

Well, it was easy coming up with that list, but most probably I will be visiting my friends on valentines day. Or might just bum around facebook for a lucky last minute date. Below are some snipets form wikipedia regarding Valentine’s Day.

Saint Valentine’s Day (commonly shortened to Valentine’s Day) is an annual holiday held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions.The holiday is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Valentine and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as “valentines”). The holiday first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

Modern Valentine’s Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards.

Sometimes we go crazy and decide to chill over at our mates place in Subang. That night we decided to have a few drinks (I quit alcohol so I was high in Vanilla Coke). As soon as we arrived at the crib, I thought Snoop Dogg was around, cause it did say “Smoke weed everyday”. Sure enough our white friend was high on weed. I always enjoy mixing with this bunch because the conversation we come up with is always very Hilarious. We can talk about absolutely anything and there’s always a funny come back. This dudes have designed their walls with some grafitti. Check our the photos below.

Well, as I was updating my blog on the Thaipusam celebration in Kuala Selangor, My friend Segaran uploaded his bunch of photos that he took during his trip to Batu Caves. This location is one of the best location to celebrate Thaipusam. I’m in the means of getting approval to upload his photos here :). Give me a minute.

In the meantime, he uses a Sony Alpha System A300 DSLR, Lens used SAL50F1.4 and Tamron 17-50/2.8 camera to capture his photographs. The color it captures is very vivid.

Ok, Mr Segaran allowed me to publish his photos of the Batu Caves event. All copyrights to this photographs are to himself. Do also visit his website for the full individual shot details http://www.fixthebrains.com/thaipusam.

I also found out that Batu Caves Received a certificate from Repley’s Believe It Or Not! for the “World Tallest Lord Murugan Statue“. Enjoy the photos.

Thaipusam is a event that is cepebrated by Indians throughout the world. Last year, I was the only person to be entitled for leave during this event. This year somehow the government has also allowed Kuala Lumpur to be one of the states to be entitled for this leave.

It’s been ages since I’ve gone for a Thaipusam event at a temple. The last I remember I was at Batu Caves. I don’t really enjoy being in crowded places and the “Kawadi” that they carry can be scary at times.

This year, I had to go to Sitiawan to visit an aunt who is suffering from cancer. During the journey, we passed Kuala Selangor and this is one of the locations where they celebrate Thaipusam. Below are some of the photos that I managed to capture during that journey.

According to Wikipedia:

Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai (Jan/Feb). It is also referred to as Thaipooyam or Thaippooyam in the Malayalam language. The word Thai-pusam is derived from the month name Thai and Pusam, which refers to a star that is at its highest point during the festival. The festival commemorates both the birthday of Murugan (also Subramaniam), the youngest son of god Shiva and his wife Parvati, and the occasion when Parvati gave Murugan a vel (spear) so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadman.

It’s already the next Decade, this new year I was too busy to even think of a resolution. I was at Cherating Holiday Villa training for the new Property Management System, my Christmas and New Years just passed by in a tick. Anyhow there are a few things that I decided to do for 2010, first thing was to quit drinking alcohol. I used to spend thousands of ringgits just for clubbing last year, and by quitting drinking, that should save me alot.

There are a few more things that I would like to achieve this year, but it’s too soon to list them down. I want to take each step as it comes, instead of having a list like every year before this.

It might be a little too late, but I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

I would like to hear from you about your resolutions for this year.