My Very First Blog

Over here in Malaysia, it never snows. But it has been raining quite a lot lately. The rain gave me some inspiration when I sat down to play on my piano. I made a recording of my impromptu playing and here is the result. I'm naming it "The Morning After". After Christmas Day, that is. 

Have a listen. Try to listen in a quiet environment as this piano piece is soothing and relaxing and will not work in a noisy place. Alternatively, listen using your ear phone for best sound quality. Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed playing it! :) 

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So here is the result. The song starts with the first five notes that were suggested to me and I continued from there. As it is a spontaneous playing without any preparation or correction, expect some errors and not so smooth execution. Hope you enjoy my song which I shall just call "The Five-Note Melody" :)

Do let me know what you think of this song by leaving a comment here. And if you like, follow me on SoundCloud for my future performances.

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I decided to title it "My Beloved Malaysia". Have a listen, shall we? Hope you like it! :)

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Do you reminisce about the good old days too? Well, I do indulge in this habit, though not excessively, and I don't know if it's healthy. But I don't think there's anything wrong as long as you don't indulge too much, right? 

As they say, the present is what really matters. The past is gone, and the future has yet to arrive. But what you do now will determine your future. So yes, the present is most important. But there's no harm in going back into the past once in a while and reminisce about some of the memorable events that happened to you. 

And while you are reminiscing, perhaps you want some music to accompany you. Well, I have composed just one song on the piano for this purpose. I titled it Reminisce. And I composed it while reminiscing about my childhood days! If you listen to the song carefully, you will hear that not everything that I thought about were happy thoughts. Some were sad, but they were all part of my memories which I treasure. 

To appreciate this song, you will need to choose a quiet time, away from all the noise, away from work stress, away from the TV and radio, and even from Facebook or Twitter. You need to just close your eyes, relax, and immerse yourself in the song. I hope in this way, you will find it a beautiful experience. 

Thank you so much for listening. I had a great time composing it, and I really have no idea where I got the inspiration from - perhaps it was God that brought the music to me - for this I am very grateful. Happy listening and do leave a comment if you like it :)

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This conclusion was based not on hard evidence - in fact, the plane or its wreckage had not been found so far - but on analysis of satellite data by a British company and an aviation investigation agency. Obviously, this had provoked much frustration and skepticism. 

I feel so sorry for the families and relatives of the passengers and crew on board this fateful flight. After waiting for more than two weeks hoping against hope for some good news, this was what they got. It was heart breaking.

With no physical evidence of the plane, it would be hard for those affected to find real closure. To the Chinese (two thirds of the passengers were Chinese citizens), the possibility of not finding the bodies would be unthinkable as their burial and funeral traditions would be disrupted. 

Anyway, I would like to dedicate a song in memory of the passengers and crew of flight MH370. Although I have named the song "In Memory Of MH370", this does not mean that I have stopped hoping for a miracle as I do not think we can assume "beyond reasonable doubt" that the plane had crashed into the Indian Ocean and that there were no survivors - although I must admit chances of them surviving were getting slimmer with each passing day. 

This song is also dedicated to all those who are working hard to locate the plane. May the plane be found soon and the black box retrieved so that there will be closure to this horrible incident and so that one of the world's most puzzling aviation mysteries is solved at last.

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FIRST COMMENTER

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FIRST COMMENTER

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Perhaps it's the people, the food, or the culture that attracts me. Or perhaps it's the combination of them all. Anyway, here are 5 amazing things I like about Thailand. 

Last January, I was in Bangkok again for a short holiday. If you have been following my blog, you would have already read about my visits to Terminal 21, Madame Tussauds Bangkok and Mansion 7.

During this latest trip, I discovered a new thing that I like about Bangkok. Can you guess what it is? Well, every night, when I returned to my hotel room, I would switch on the TV and watch Thai dramas! Yes, believe it or not, I suddenly found myself addicted to Thai TV! LOL!

Me, who grew up watching Hong Kong TVB dramas are now into Thai dramas? It must be quite a shock to anyone who knew me. Haha!

I think the Thai drama I watched is called Tomyam Lamsing, if not mistaken. I googled and managed to find this show on YouTube! Here's an excerpt from one of the episodes of the show.



The show did not come with any English subtitles so I was actually quite amazed with myself for being glued to it for a few consecutive nights! LOL!

Maybe it's the good looking actors and actresses that made me watch, but really, I thought they had pretty good acting skills too! Like these two pretty Thai actresses! I think they are both singers as well.



And after the Thai drama, I would stayed up till 2am, just to watch Thai MTVs! Yes, there's something about Thai music videos that made them so interesting to watch. Luckily, my friend is a night owl like me and he did not mind. Haha!

Here's a Thai music video for your enjoyment.



There was one night at about 2am when I heard and liked this particular song a lot and I wanted to record it using my iPhone. I turned up the TV volume so I was able to have a clearer recording. Guess what happened halfway my recording?

There was a sudden loud thud from behind the wall! The guest in our neighboring room must have gotten annoyed with our loud music and threw something onto his wall in frustration! Oops! I immediately lowered the volume after that! LOL!

Here's another Thai music video you might enjoy.



I have tried to search for the music videos on the Internet for some of the songs I heard during my stay in Bangkok. Unfortunately, due to not knowing how to read Thai language, I could not find them.

But one of the songs I heard inspired me to compose a Thai-flavoured pop song on my piano. I recorded my own playing one afternoon and here it is! I have no title for it so I simply called it "A Thai Pop Song." Haha! But I think it's a song about love between a boy and a girl just like the music videos you saw above.

Please excuse the sound of car horning towards the end as the room where I did the recording was not sound proof. Hope you enjoy my composition! : )


Note : The above recording is copyrighted. 

Now all I need is a lyricist to come up with the lyrics, a musician to help me add in other instruments and a good singer and I have a song ready for the charts! Haha!

By the way, anyone from Thailand reading this? If you feel that this song sounds like a Thai pop song sang by a female singer, you are correct! I think I was influenced by the first two lines of the chorus from that song as that's the only part I remember! LOL!

But if you know the name of the song and the singer, please do let me know. Thanks a million! : )

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One evening, I was at my piano and suddenly out or nowhere, a tune came into my mind. I played it out and then realized I had just composed a short song! I decided I had better record my own composition before I forgot how it sounded like. You know, without writing the music notes down (which is a tedious job!) that melody can be gone forever!

I am thankful I have my iPhone by my side all the time - it's a lifesaver! The recording function of the iPhone is really pretty good so I quickly whipped out the iPhone, clicked on the recording app and recorded my own playing.

I wonder if musicians do the same whenever they are hit by a sudden inspiration - a sudden tune that appears in their heads - that they know will be a good potential to be the next major hit on the charts?

Although this was not really my first composition (I had composed a few songs before this), it was my first RECORDED own composition. I do not even have a title for it! Care to suggest a title? : )

Since it was played spontaneously on the piano with no retakes, and no hi-tech gadgets to cover the mistakes, please excuse my occasional slips and also the not-so-acceptable direction the way the melody went! LOL! I may write down the music notes when I am free but I think I will be too lazy to do so. I wonder if there is any software that I can use that can automatically write out the score for me? Hmmm....

Don't be surprised if you hear people talking or whispering in this recording. You did not imagine it! Haha! During my playing, I was interrupted by two naughty kids but thankfully, I was able to play the whole song without any major disturbances! So please excuse all the unwanted noises, but then again, I thought they blended in with the music quite well. LOL!

Well, hope you like this composition of mine. Don't forget to suggest a title for this song. ENJOY!!

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