IamJN

Books. Fields of green. Gentle sunshine. Full moon. Starry nights. Comfortable company. Hot baths. Sunflowers. Turquoise bays. Walks.

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Run Log

2008:
Saucony PAssion Run 10KM
Great Eastern Women 10KM
SAFRA Singapore Bay Run 10KM
New Balance REAL Run 15KM

2009:
Saucony PAssion Run 15KM
adidas Sundown Marathon 10KM
SAFRA Army Half Marathon 21KM

2010:
Mizuno Mt. Faber 10KM

2011:
Nike Goddess 5KM
New Balance Sundown Marathon 42KM
adidas King of The Road 16.8KM
SAFRA Army Half Marathon 21KM

2012:
SAFRA AVventura

Links

Art Sans Rulez:
Chocolarts
Avant Gart

Sites & Sounds:
浜崎あゆみオフィシャルサイト
ayu's Youtube Channel
Divine Ayu
FAIL Blog
FAIL Blog Wins
FMyLife

Coast to Coast:
0.5 Bizarre
RVNPs3'o7
RVNPs2'o8
RVCS
NUS X-Country

Cai Tong
Charlene
Charmaine
Chi Ling
Christopher
Eileen
Faraliza
Gary
Hai Wei
Hester
Joshua
Jun Yi
Kaylene
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Li Xin
Li Ting
Merwyn
Michelle
Roxanne
Sharman
Tze Hui
Wei Kai
Wei Sheng
Wilson
Winnie
Yan Peng
Yee Jin
Ying Ting
Yujun
Zheng Yang
Zhi Yi

Thoughts

23rd December 2009
Reinvent yourself
a kilometre at a time.

24th December 2009
Handphone socks are the new Cool.

25th December 2009
My dress code reads:
Order from Chaos

28th December 2009
Before learning to sing,
one must learn to listen.

7th March 2010
There is only so thin a line between being distrustful and being possessive

12th March 2010
We're special in a different way
and similar in a special way

15th April 2010
Love offers sanctuary,
not immunity

5th May 2010
Examinations are taken en masse
But we're each of us fighting our own, lone battles

16th June 2010
A small wardrobe leaves room for creativity

8th Oct 2010
Falling down is fine. Not getting back up isn't.

19th Jan 2011
The virtual realms which our dreams sculpt are so real, they leave us in wonder at how powerful the subconscious mind could be

30th Jan 2011
You know it's a good book, when the emotions you experience overcome mental weariness, and you find yourself reading into the wee hours of morn!

15th Mar 2011
Don't just have something to look forward to. Have somebody.

23rd Aug 2011
You can lose your arguments,
but never lose your faith!

21st Sep 2011
Mind over mind, then mind over matter

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! / Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Watched the two new Jay Chou MVs and then sat down listening to his new songs with lyrics booklet in hand. I must have eaten only about 20% of my dinner -I was so engrossed in listening!

Before I proceed to review his songs, let me just say that his MVs were great! I was sooo excited at finally having gotten my album after 12 days of extended waiting that I couldn't pay optimal attention to the MVs initially. The digital graphics and animation sequences of his lead single are amazing and I don't understand why and how people could find fault with it (e.g. it's all CG and there's zero Jay Chou! Wth is this?!) I like how certain parts were nicely synchronised with the ebb and flow of the music and how several of his associated trademarks peek out at you amidst the action. I wouldn't reveal them here to spoil the surprise, but I'd recommend that you keep your eyes peeled to the screen! ^^

As for the MV of 迷魂曲, I've heard many criticisms for its use of ideas from Inception. However, if these detractors were to pay attention (not pay more attention, but to PAY ATTENTION) to the lyrics, they would realise that Jay Chou meant for the song to bear links to Inception. The mentioning of "Leonardo" and of "entering one's dreams" in the lyrics couldn't have made the connection anymore explicit! He re-dressed the original idea with melody and lyrics of his own. There is a distinction between plagiarism and innovation.

Okay now let's move on to the songs! The songs this time were all pretty awesome and I found great variety in his new album. I feel that ever since I picked up raps like those in 烟花易冷, 稻香 and so on, his songs have become a lot more accessible. Now I pay attention to all his raps and am interested to master all of them! I've listened to the album only once so far, reading the lyrics as the music played. Hence, it can be said that the reviews following this paragraph are based on my authentic first impressions!

ADD-ON: I apologise for the microscopic Chinese characters, but I can't seem to resolve the HTML problem. I'm also aware of the sad state of my blogskin with its array of unexplainable and increasing frequent image issues. I'll remedy the situation with a new blogskin sometime in the near future!

01. 惊叹号
I like this song a lot! Catchy, cool, fast and furious! Love the futuristic feel created with the electric guitar during the verses and the siren during the chorus. Can't wait to learn the rap and sing it. 靠靠靠靠靠靠靠靠！

02. 迷魂曲
Sorta like an electropop mix, but it's a little too subdued despite him playing with the synthesiser throughout.

03. Mine Mine
Hmm I suppose the auto-tune effects need some getting used to here. Other than that, the melody is memorable and its style is reminiscent of boyband ballads. Gave me quite a warm feeling =)

04. 公主病
Cute song number one! Haha. From the start a fan could recognise that it had the same structure as 阳光宅男, but that only made things more fun as at one point I tried to sing along to it with Sunshine Boy lyrics. Haha! The lyrics of 公主病 are just pure quirky and I like to think of the track as a sequel to Sunshine Boy -having found a girlfriend, he's now complaining about her Princessy attributes! Once I learn this song I can then sing along to Sunshine Boy with 公主病's lyrics! *exciteddd*

05. 你好吗
A soothing and delicate ballad with Jay's self-penned lyrics. Unfortunately I think a 实力派歌手 with more advanced vocal abilities will be able to better bring out the full beauty of this song. The song is nice, but the rendition could be better =)

06. 疗伤烧肉粽
Probably my second favourite! I really really really like the chorus with its uplifting lyrics. It's a blissful song that evokes a sense of contentment and presents a pleasant listening experience.

07. 琴伤
A track veiled with an aura of mystery. He often likes to infuse mystery with beauty and sadness (I'm really not doing justice to his creation here with my overly simplistic description, but my arousal level is far too high after receiving my album after 12 days of waiting, and according to the Yerkes-Dodson law your performance is best at levels of moderate arousal, rather than high or low, and since my arousal level is too high now my vocabulary becomes proportionately sparser so forgive me). If you fancy tracks like 夜曲 and 夜的第七章, then this is one track which you can't miss.

08. 水手怕水
MY FAVOURITE! The lyrics are too too too cute to be true and at some point in time I even laughed out loud. Commenting on anything else would truly be spoiling the surprises the song has in store for its listeners. One thing, though: CAN'T. WAIT. TO. SING. IT.

09. 世界末末日
A very shuai song. I like the atmospheric touches accompanying the verses and the symphony of the guitar and drums during the chorus. Nice!

10. 皮影戏
I wondered quite a few times about where the essential 中国风 track would come in. And here it is! It's quite a cool piece of work and I think it could present a more dramatic auditory experience if Jay contrasted the different singing styles more.

11. 超跑女神
I lost myself in the rap initially but managed to catch up somewhere. What can I say it's a quintessential 把妹 song. =)

It's too late to study Philo now so I'd just shower and then sing some Jay Chou oldies hehe.

JN
8:57 PM