Ron Ng (吳卓羲) at Penang Christmas Charity Food Carnival (槟州圣诞慈善美食)- PISA ,26 Dec, 2010

Although the event was for a good cause (to raise funds for the needy and destitutes in Penang island), I couldn't help but feel that things were done in a shabby manner. The turnout was poor, considering the state govt and organizers spent 3 months (since late Sept) promoting the food carnival and charity banquet. Ron even flew to Penang to lend his support to this function back then. If the intent was to turn this into a yearly event, I'm not optimistic at all. The advertisement claimed that 100 food stalls featuring the best of Penang delicacies would be set-up but I beg to differ ! What met my eyes were worst than the food stalls you find in night markets. During the banquet, I was gobbling down clumps of shark fin soup (apparently way too much cornstarch)! Add to that, the whole ambience of the night felt like I was actually feasting in a down and out village, rather than a so-called international gourmet festival.

I was there for Ron, of course. I had expected banners and lighting boards but there wasn't any. I know he has a pretty strong following in KL and I thought many would make their way to Penang since this is a long weekend (X'mas) but.....none in sight. Poor Ron. All is not lost coz those in attendance gave rousing applause to Ron and I guess that kinda lifted up his spirit. The last I saw Ron in action was during "All About Men" concert and he looks a little too beefy then but ooh la la ! hottie Ron is back in shape ! In total, Ron performed 3 songs (grrr.....Thomas and Jack did 4 ! How can that be ??!!) and it was total chaos when Ron went down the stage during the final number - "Red Butterfly." It ended way toooooo soon !

Adrenaline rush, sweat and glory filled the air when local tenny bopper group - "Thomas and Jack"'s took to the stage. Young teenage fans went into a frenzy when the duo belted out their trademark bubblegum pop songs. No further comment - they are certainly not my cup of tea.

The last act for the night is Taiwan's very own Stevie Wonder - Ricky Hsiao (蕭煌奇). Many may not be familiar with his name but you may have heard of his song - "你是我的眼" (You are my eyes) which is popular in karaokes. He also happens to be the composer of Taiwanese pub queen, Tiger Huang (黃小琥)'s runaway hit - "沒那麼簡單". Not suprisingly, many Penangites knows the lyrics to his songs by heart, eventhough his albums were not officially released in Malaysia. Ah...the power and magic of on-line download.

I was all geared -up for the curtain call, hoping that all the artistes would appear once again but that wasn't to be ! I only saw a group of gals yelling out loud "吴卓羲" and Ron was already rushing out of the exit door. Darn !

Ray Lam - Ali Cafe Promotion at 1 Utama (《林峯Power Root Alicafe Malaysia Tour》)-16 Oct 2010

After 20 hours of flying, this event wasn't something pre-planned. Once again, it has proven that my stamina never falters when it comes to HK stars. Fighting jet-lag and being sleep deprived for the last two weeks, my body was begging to get a good rest but like a true blue starz stalker, my mouth uttered "yes" when a friend called to asked if I'm back in town and is game to catch Ray's Ali Cafe function.

While waiting for Ray to arrive,my eye lids became real heavy...luckily, I was all perked-up the moment Ray came on stage. By then, the queue to get his autograph (Ray is to sign on an Ali Cafe's eco bag, which I must add is more than nice) is too long to be seen. Can't blame them, afterall I tried to get the bag too after the event but ran out of stock.

When the two ladies from 988 radio station announced "Here's....Raymond", the dude was no where to be seen. Everyone was glancing side ways, up and down, wondering where would Ray be making his grand entrance. After a few false alarms, heartthrob Fung finally appeared, decked out in black attire. The already skinny Ray has lost even more pounds and wearing black only serves to make him thinner.
Having said that, dishy Ray certainly has not lost his sex appeal and is still pretty "yummy yummy", judging from the crowd's response. At one point, I thought that the organizer would halt the autograph session but kudos to the them, they allow every single one up the stage. They were also pretty accomodating when an auntie (around 60 years old or so), made her way to the stage, in a wheel chair. With the help of her relative/son, she mustered all her strength to slowly walked in baby step, up the stage. She actually went through so much trouble, just to get a glimpse of Mr. Lam for a few seconds and his autograph.

Ali Cafe has now expanded its presence to HK and China. Knowing the massive market that Ray has in the mainland, it's not suprising Ali Cafe is willing to fork-out 7 digit pay cheque to entice Ray to be their spokesman. Other than that, Ali Cafe has also launched its latest line of coffee beverage - their very own white coffee. Ray's new movie with Miriam will also be released soon. Wonder if there's gonna be any gala premiere for this movie in Malaysia. Ray will be swinging to our shores in Feb (save your red packets) for a concert at Sunway Beach in Feb 2011. The venue sucks. Since there are a few more months to go before the big day, I hope EEG makes a last minute switch to Genting instead. Also, fans better pray hard that the concert organizer is not Galaxie. If it is,it'll be double whammy (unsuitable venue and bouncer-style, yucky organizer).

Oh...on a side note, I read a comment in another blog that the auto-play songs in my blog is annoying and only noobs resort to this. Well, for one, I'm no noob in the cyber world and also, everyone has the option to put the music on silent mode. Besides, the songs on my play list are my favorites. Some bloggers have the mentality that just because they have privilege to attend functions with free invitations from Nuffnang/event organizers or recorded high hits in their blog,they have "arrived" in the blogging scene. How pathetic. My bank account numbers may be dwindling and enduring the long hours/hassle can be such a pain but at least, it's my passion. I don't blog about an event just because I was invited and had to suck-up to the organizer.

Linda Chung Bio Essence Promotion- 2 Oct 2010

Dunno what hit me but I went for this event instead of Rosy Business 2. So regretted my decision. Guess I wasn't thinking straight...too much unforeseen shitty stuff clouding my mind recently. Anyway,after this event, I would definitely think twice before attending Bio Essence function again... unless I really, really, have time to kill. The Q&A session is boring and the whole routine is the same as the one that took place at 1U a few years back. It would have been more interesting if Linda was here to promote her album.

Linda has been out of my radar for quite awhile. Oh, my...her legions of fans have certainly increased. Her flight touched down at 6 pm. After a quick meal of chicken rice, she's off to the Bio Essence event. In her "brides maid" attire, Linda made her entrance, to the chanting of "Chung Ka Yan" from her very vocal fanclub. Frankly, she doesn't look good in this outfit. She wants to project an elegant appearance but somehow....the outfit just doesn't cut it.

My mind was wandering throughout the event,I have to admit. However, I did catch Linda saying that she hopes to release her new album by year-end but looking at ther air-tight schedule right now, this may not be possible. She'll be taking on a "daring" role in her new series, where she will be entagled in a love affair with Laughing Gor and Ron. Expect steamy/juicy scenes, folks ! As usual, Gary (the emcee) brought-up somebody's name (this is getting old) and no prizes for the correct guess. My "CPU" totally shut down Linda talked about her beauty tips (yawn...).

Pixs are scarce...partly because her face is always looking the other way and also due to the fact that I'm not in my usual high spirit when it comes to snapping away.

Sherman Chung Shu Mun Promo Tour in Malaysia (钟舒漫《乐活。道》大马签书会) - 10 & 11 Sept (Sg. Wang Plaza and KLCC Convention Centre)

Hmmmm…..my first ever encounter with Sherman and guess what ? I have only positive comments to say about the singer who started her career after winning 2005 EEG singing contest. Given time, more training, guidance and exposure, Sherman looks set to become the next shinning star of EEG – alongside Joey and Twins. It's a good thing EEG management came to its senses and doesn't "packaged" her into another Yumiko-dance-machine, which I believe was their initial plan. That would have been such a disastrous career move coz Sherman excels in both areas (edgy dance tune and soulful ballads).

Sherman was in town to launch her debut book (乐活。道)and her latest album (5th solo effort)– “Mission.” Let me tell ya,this lady doesn’t disappoint at all with her live performances! She has good vocal control and I luv her low pitch/husky voice. Her sassy short hair seems to bring more spunk and youthful feeling when she performs. Oh..of all her facial features, I have always been fascinated by Sherman's eyes (no, they ain't big or anything but I just like them for some unexplainable reasons) and now that I have a chance to see it "for real", I can vouch that her eyes are indeed mesmerizing.

During the first meet-the-fans session at Sungai Wang Plaza, Sherman woo the crowd with 3 songs - “I Don’t worry” (a fast track) “, ” 童話國” ( a sweet-sweet song that Sherman co-wrote) and the monster hit that made a mark in all the major awards ceremony this year - Angela Aki’s “给自己的信” I was stunned when two elderly guys volunteered to participate in the game session with Sherman. Before I even had time to recover, they were shaking their bod to Wonder Girl’s “Nobody” dance routine with Sherman already ! LOL! One of them even slipped and fell! Even Takki 王若琪 (a new singer signed with Gold Label), who was standing next to me, was breaking into laughter, too. She didn’t stay for long, though.

Sherman is not a just good in singing, she dabbles in composing songs and has a hidden talent in drawing Japanese manga. You can admire some of her works, published in her latest book. You'll be suprised at how well she draws. If I have a bad thing to say about the book, it’s definitely the pictures. They don’t do justice to Sherman at all. If Sherman intends to publish another book, I would strongly advise her to drop the photographer ! The shots and costumes just don’t bring out the best in Sherman.

The next day, I hopped over to KLCC’s convention centre for the annual book fair event, where a few authors were invited to do a short promo for their new book launch, with autograph session thrown-in. Just as luck would have it, the KPI minister, Koh Tsu Koon, who was supposed to officiate the event, ran late and no prizes for guessing who has to pay for it. Anyway, the delay put subsequent schedules in shambles. After Sherman had a brief Q & A with the deejay and 3obligatory songs, she was supposed to go backstage for a short while, before re-appearing for the autograph session. After some poor folks bought the cds and books after getting assurance from those manning the stall that Sherman would sign those stuff,the dreaded announcement came on air - "Autograph session scrapped". Damn! Another boo boo is the dates mixed-up on the promotional poster. The function at Cheras Leisure Mall is supposed to be 11 Oct but printed as 12 Oct !