The Best Things Pre, During and Post Concert

Before

1. When you buy your tickets weeks in advanced and mark the official date on the calendar

2. Getting excited the moment you step in the entrance and checking people out to see the crazy variety of people who came to see the same singer/band

3. Getting there 8 hours early for your favorite band and finding it was worth the wait because you are centre stage and front row

4. Finally entering the arena and you already get excited seeing the singer/band banner on stage

5. Testing of sound and lights

6. Singing along to the music they play before the show starts

7. The random moment where a chant of the artist starts

8. Guessing what songs they will start and end with

9. When the background music stops, everything goes dark and everyone screams at the top of their lungs with excitement

During

1. The moment you lay your eyes on the artist. Even if you are so far back you need a telescope, seeing them magnified ten times on the screens, you still go mental.

2. When you feel a sudden push from the crowds (this isn’t necessarily the best thing)

3. When the artist attempts conversations with the audience

4. When they do an arrangement of a song that is different from the CD, especially the slower songs.

5. When they steal someone’s camera and take a picture of themselves on it…only a 0.000000001% chance of this person being you, but still.

6. When they pick people to go on stage.

7. That really annoying but effective ‘prank’ they pull when they thank everyone and you think it’s the end of the show…but then they come back on stage for one or two more kick ass songs that ‘they definitely have to sing’.

8. Seeing how passionate they are about what they do and how grateful they are for all their fans.

After

1. When you leave the arena still singing their songs

2. When you sing their songs and you find yourself singing their songs for the next three weeks

3. You can’t get over how amazing/awesome/mind blowing/effing awesome the concert was

4. Overpriced but so-worth-it-at-that-moment merchandise

5. Putting their songs on your playlist on your ipod

6. Posting all the pictures on facebook about how awesome the concert was

7. When you are pleasantly surprised that your video recording sound isn’t distorted

8. It never felt so good to lose half your hearing, constant buzzing in your ear for days and your voice all at the same time.

9. You will never forget the feelings and moments you had during the concert

 

Orchestral Broadway with The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra is set to perform classic Broadway numbers where audiences can tap their feet, hum, whistle and even sing at the top of their lungs along to the recognizable tunes. Conducted by Gerald Steichen, the two-day concert is completed with the talented vocals of Lisa Vroman (Soprano), Gary Mauer (tenor) and William Michals (baritone).  What more can you ask for than to have a mixture of Broadway classis in one concert? With timeless classics including Phantom of The Opera, The Sound of Music, Oklahoma!, Wicked, Les Miserables and the list really does go on forever, be sure to warm up your vocal chords so you can sing-along with your favorites.

The concerts will take place on Friday 25^th January and Saturday 26^th January 2013 at 8pm at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall.

Purchase your tickets now before they are sold out at all urbtix ticket outlets or book online at www.urbtix.hk

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra Go Festive

It’s that time of the year again where Christmas decorations are not only displayed in the comfort of peoples homes, but also out and about the city. We all know that Christmas would not be complete without the abundance of carols. You know it’s the festive season once every store in shopping malls play a CD consisting entirely of Christmas songs, many leaning towards the tacky category in terms of arrangement. Why not go for something a little different this year? Harry Wong and The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra invites you to attend the two-day concert on December 23^rd and 24^th for a dazzling way to get you into the Christmas spirit if you have not done so already. With a mixture of both orchestral and vocal performances, in which vocal performances call for audience participation, the event will be a fun way to celebrate with the family.

The Sunday 23^rd December concert commences at 4pm with an additional performance in the evening at 7:45pm. The Monday 24^th December concert commences at 7:45pm. All performances will be held at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall.

Tickets can be purchased at urbtix outlets or purchase tickets online at www.urbtix.hk

For more details of the event, visit: http://www.hkphil.org/eng/concerts_and_ticket/concerts/concertdetail.jsp?id=342

For more information on the orchestra and upcoming concerts, visit their official website at: www.hkphil.org

Stereotypes Some May Find Weird with Girls

1. When a girl is into sports or knows a sport inside out and is a loyal supporter of a team

2. She loves cars. And I mean down to the real technical and mechanical aspects

3. Not all girls claim they are hungry and then proceed to have one fry, count calories and say theyre full. When we are hungry, we can chow down a feast

4. COD, Halo, Assassins Creed, Skyrim, Need for Speed, Fifa, NBA, NFL etc.

5. Owning a video gaming console

6. Not all of us get up extra early to spend time on our hair and makeup. There’s this thing called the ‘roll out of bed look’ – literally

7. Beer, whisky, jaegermeister not cosmopolitan, sex on the beach or pina coladas

8. When a girl is independent and doesn’t need anyone to constantly look after her. We can take care of ourselves, thank you very much. We can make decisions on our own and make it on our own

9. When women have particularly ‘male dominant’ jobs (not entirely sure why people find it odd), especially when it comes to hands on work– mechanic, technician, electrician…the list goes on for a quite a while

10. When a girl watches a tv that relates to science, cars, things that relate to “how things work” and technology

11. When a girl plays with typical boys toys when they’re younger – action figures, guns, swords and cars

12. Apparently it seems like some people think that girls are born with a domestic gene. Have we set our clocks back 50 years?

13.  Not all girls are attention seeking and drama-fueled. We do, however, like to gossip about the attention seeking and drama-fueled.

14. Just because she has a lot of guy friends, it doesn’t mean she goes around and sleeps with all of them

Get into the Festive Spirit with “The Nutcracker” Ballet

A classic Christmas tale returns to the Hong Kong  stage this December for all families to celebrate the festive season. “The Nutcracker”, composed by Tchaikovsky has proved to be a classic story for all ages to enjoy over the past few decades. Whether if you recognize certain tunes or your favorite characters, there is no reason to tantalize both your eyes and ears for a spectacular production by the Hong Kong Ballet. The music will be performed by the noted Hong Kong Sinfonietta and conducted under the baton of Judith Yan.

A quick sypnosis for those who haven’t yet been exposed to this holiday goodness.

Set on Christmas Eve, where house after house is decorated with Christmas ornaments.  At the annual party of the president, presents are given to his two children. But the most unique of all was from their godfather, a toymaker. A nutcracker carved into a shape of a man and is given as a present to one of the daughters, Clara. Fritz, who is jealous of the present purposely breaks the nutcracker but is repaired by her godfather and falls asleep with the Nutcracker in her arms.

As we all know, all things magical happen at the strike of midnight and Clara finds that everything around her is increasing in size, even the nutcracker. Out of nowhere an army of mice led by the Mouse King appears in attempts to destroy the Nutcracker. Clara is quick to save her precious toy from permanent damage and claim victory. The Nutcracker transforms into a human prince and takes Clara on a journey she will never forget. They encounter enchanted and beautiful creatures as they make their way through the snowy forest.

More peculiar characters appear when they reach their destination at the Land of Sweets, where the Sugar Plum Fairy is impressed with Clara and Nutcracker’s bravery and heroism to defeat the Mouse King and celebrate with an array of music and dances.

The ballet ends with a spectacular final dance with Clara and the Nutcracker to conclude the night and bid farewell to the Land of Sweets.

Clara wakes up the next day from her sleep with the Nutcracker in her arms.

The first performance of The Nutcracker will be held on December 14^th 2012 and will run until the 26^th December 2012.  All performances will be held at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and commences at 7:30pm and 2:30pm for weekend matinees.

Tickets can be purchased at all URBTIX outlets or book online now at http://www.urbtix.hk

Visit the Sinfonietta Orchestra website at http://www.hksinfonietta.org for more details of upcoming concerts

Reasons Why Coffee is Essential on A Daily Basis

1. If you know you’re going to have a long, drawn out day that starts before the crack of dawn, a good cup of coffee is essential to start the day to give you an energy boost.

2. Coffee is the perfect ‘in-between’ drink for any activity whether it’s before, during or after. There is never a wrong time to load up on caffeine.

3. It’s a great way to be social. Friends you have seen in weeks and updating each other with your happenings in life. Not to mention a good time to catch up on gossip.

4. Studying for an exam or trying to get a paper done the night before its due? Enough said

5.  Winter drinks at Starbucks

6. It’s one of the best additions you can ever have in life

7. There are so many varieties to choose from

8. Flavored syrups and/or with cream on top

9.  The more coffee you have, the more antioxidants benefits you get. Is that how it works? That plus the other medical benefits coffee claims to have on your life

10.  The smell of freshly brewed coffee in the morning is enough to make drinking coffee a daily habit

11. If searching for a future boyfriend/girlfriend and they like coffee as much as you do, they’re definitely a keeper

12. A can of redbull to give me energy? Please, I’ll have a shot of espresso

13. Taking your work to a small café with a laptop sipping on your favorite coffee beats working in a cubicle at the office

14. Checking people out at cafés

15. Cute baristas

16. There are an endless amounts of cafes with their own blend of coffee and you go café hopping to find that perfect cup of coffee and become a loyal daily visitor

17. You can add alcohol in coffee too

18. Planning on working out? Coffee is a great way to reduce fatigue and gives you a slight boost for your workout session

When You Feel that Your Relationship is on Slow Motion

Is it normal to get bored easily? Do we all have acute ADHD disorder and can’t seem to concentrate on something for a long period of time? When you a show gets boring, you have nothing to do all day so you are bored, talking to someone you find boring and the list goes on. That’s all the small everyday things, but what about the big things…like relationships. It’s the one thing I’d hate to happen to me because it would seem like either I am not putting in as much effort or I feel that the other person should try harder. Perhaps you become used to each others’ behaviors and characteristics you just end up going with the flow and forget to make it relatively exciting.

Unfortunately, sometimes you get that feeling where you feel that you may be getting a bit bored/unsure/second thoughts about something. Sometimes it isn’t even a specific reason, it just feels that it’s been going a little flat lately. Did the excitement of the chase finally wear out? Do you have your eye on another person? Do you think your significant other has their eye on someone? Maybe. But even then, it shouldn’t mean that either of you stop trying despite you being so used to each other and getting comfortable of certain habits. Brain, stop feeding me with insecurities and making me paranoid, it gives me headaches.

I’ve been a relationship for just over two months. To be honest, there is seriously nothing wrong or anything I should worry about (*touchwood*) but I get those occasional thoughts about what I really want. I know I want to commit and I am assuming that it’s the number one reason to even stay in a relationship….right? I also hate talking about ‘how I feel’. Might be a pride thing but more to the point, I am more scared of feeling vulnerable and how they could possibly just turn their backs and walk away. It doesn’t help if your significant other is the same way. But who likes to talk about feelings all the time? Not me anyway, or the people I’ve come across. With that being said I don’t think I could last with a person who constantly needed reassuring of where we stand because even though it shows theyre totally committed, I would feel that they don’t trust me around other people.

One crash and burn experience happened before my current girlfriend when I had a brief thing/fling/flirtationship with a girl which lasted about a month. She was hot as hell, had the exact same humor as me – insults and sarcasm right off the bat, good music taste, played the guitar and loved coffee.  It was only after a couple of weeks did I realize that I didn’t actually know much about her. Her stories, past, friends and how she felt in certain situations whether it be relationships, school, friends, whatever. Both of us didn’t like talking about feelings and we knew we liked each other even though we didn’t talk everyday but in the end, I liked her for who she was and she liked me because I was convenient. I think so anyway, even though she asked me first if I liked her more than a friend…How do I know? After we hooked up, bam! She disappeared from the face of the earth. Bitch.  To this day I will never know why she just vanished. Don’t you just hate it when people leave without a reason?

So if you’re feeling that you’re in the relationship blues and don’t have a damn clue what is going on anymore and what you want from the other person, I can only think that you have to talk it out eventually, especially if it is a feeling you have been in for a while. Everyone needs to be reassured now and then. Do something you know would make your special someone feel more ‘special’. Go to the place you went for your first date, plan a trip together, buy flowers/chocolates, any gesture will be appreciated no matter how big or small. If you want out, don’t be a dick and mess people around because it’s the easy option. You know how to go about it. It will be difficult and it down right sucks, but they deserve to be treated with respect (most of the time) because you’re essentially breaking their hearts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Relationship Realization

Over the past few years, I’ve had friends be in and out of relationships and hearing about various rough patches throughout the course of their relationship. As for myself, the singleton, I often found myself as the go-to person for advice on what to do and I guess just offer my opinion on the situation. Did my relationship status get lost in translation somehow? How the hell do I, the singleton, give relationship advice when I have never been in a relationship myself? My solution was to go for the general and typical advice without going into too much detail. Pretty much the equivalent of reading your weekly horoscope in a magazine or newspaper. I tend to go for the logical as opposed to the emotional response. Good thing and a bad thing. They could have told me every single detail of their problem and I’d still feel extremely useless because I wouldn’t know what to say. So I resorted to my favorite  words of wisdom- “these things take time…just go with the flow and see what happens from there”. I should really get a gold medal for “nice try”. I really wish I could give them more than that but I draw a blank and mutter the occasional “ugh” under my breath when the same friend goes on and on about the same thing. Another gold medal for “supportive and good friend”.

Fast forward a little and bam! I am in the relationship position. Thankfully not going through any rough patches. Touch-frickin’-wood. All that time I’ve been giving my friends general tips without really meaning what I said and it really is difficult putting yourself in someone elses shoes if you haven’t been in that position before. So now when a friend calls me in distress over their relationship, I have a better grasp of what they are actually talking about and put more time and effort into my answer as opposed to them explaining everything at the speed of light and me responding with a half-assed and a less than convincing “yeah”.

It seems like a no-brainer when people say things like you shouldn’t be in a relationship because it is convenient or god forbid, you’re in a relationship because you enjoy free dinners and presents. You are officially a douche. What about enjoying each others company, being able to work things out when you hit a rough patch and be able to communicate honestly with each other – also known as the foundation of a relationship. All the other stuff is just a great bonus. Basically, if you think that you should get with someone because everyone else in your group of friends is in a relationship, you can’t imagine yourself spending a lot of time with just that person or even to make someone else jealous…then perhaps its time to re-evaluate what you really want. Don’t go around sleeping around with people and then thinking your reputation for being a ‘heart breaker” or whatever term you want to give it, is cool because reality check, it’s not. Maybe it makes you feel good at first that you have that many options but in the end, not only do you end up alone, you end up lonely.

Funny how your perspectives change a whole lot from being single to when you are in relationship. You realize a lot more and that it takes a lot of work to keep the relationship going. It is a constant two-way street. It may take you a few bad experiences and heartbreaks, but each one makes you aware of what you want and what you want to avoid. I have next to zero experience when it comes to relationships and it’s not like I slept around when I was single, but I’ve come to realize that if I want to be in a relationship, I have to jump in with both feet, even if I have no idea what will happen afterwards. It’s you and your significant other that have to work that part out!

Sunset Post 2

Continuing on from my first sunset post! Everyday is different. Just wish I had a better camera…but these are not too bad I suppose. I can’t complain with this view almost everyday!