Performing in NYC checking off from bucket list!

My blog has been abandoned by me for MONTHS!! I am sorry!!!

Being a “part time performer” back in Malaysia.. Of course I miss the feeling of standing on stage, holding the mic and just sing!! 2 minutes on stage took a long time to practice.. That’s a great feeling of success if you did well..

Every performers dream is to step on a huge stage in New York/LA or any other big cities.. For me.. I just wanna get a chance to step on stage again.. and yes.. Performing on a stage in NYC!! Sounds huge, isn’t it?

I have been joining a K Pop Dance class for a year.. I knew that they have a student show case every year.. Of course I took the chance to fulfill my tiny little dream..

Had been rehearsing for 4 months.. Every dance takes up to a month to learn it.. It’s tough especially I am working right now.. Remembering dance step used to be easy for me but not any more.. My mind might just go blank sometimes when I am stress.. Anyway.. It’s still fun to SWEAT and burn some calories with my hobby..

I was involved in 4 dances + opening and ending.. Total 6 dances.. I was exhausted already.. I really don’t know how some performers were able to perform 8-10 dances.. Anyway, the dances that I am involved were:

• We are a bit Different – EVOL
• BANG – After School
• Ice-cream – Hyuna
• tarantallegra – Junsu

Each and every dance was different.. EVOL reminds me of cool & fun; Bang gave me a feeling of sexy, hot school girl; ice-cream by Hyuna is definitely cute,sexy (& a little slutty :P).. Junsu’s dance is definitely hot and sexy in a cool way.. I was slightly disappointed that I couldn’t sign up for more dance because of my schedule but at least I still had fun with only 4 dances..

Standing back on stage, even though is not my individual performance made me really happy. At the end of the performance, I was extremely happy yet sad that it’s over.. I hope that I have the chance to perform again next year.. Wanna thanks to my friends that came over to support me.. There were many families came over to support.. I know that my family will definitely be here if the performance is in Malaysia.. Thanks to my parents that still supporting me to sing and dance..

I had joined so many dance classes and ILD is the class that I wanna stay and continue taking classes.. not because it’s K Pop but because of the people I know inside.. Our instructor MJ worked so hard to open up her studio in Flushing.. She started her own class 6 years ago.. and now, everyone just love her.. Never ever have I see everyone in the class that will not look down on you even though you are a newbie.. I am not a professional, I just wanna dance for fun.. MJ made the class so fun! Whenever I have questions, the students in the class will help me and I am not ashamed to raise my hand.. every steps to me is a learning process.. and Yes.. I am not a professional dancer but I have to say I improved A LOT!! (I might still look funny with some moves tho :P)

At the end of the performance, MJ wrote everyone a note.. THANK YOU MJ!! I would have to say I can’t find any instructor that will be as lovely as you!!!

I will continue taking class.. If you wanna see my silly dance video, you can see it on FB.. Also, check out the latest dance class by ILD:

https://www.facebook.com/ilovekoreanhiphopdance

Bensonhurst – A Beautiful Neighborhood during Sandy for a City Girl

Life of a city girl. Every since the day I was born, or perhaps every since the day I had my memories, I have always been living in the city. A busy and convenient city, just like manhattan. Walking to work in less than 10 minutes, being spoilt to the commute in Malaysia which only takes me half an hour to drive to class or work.

Even though I had 3 years living experience in Des Moines, Iowa, That doesn’t count towards my 1 month experience in November in New York City. Yes, during Sandy. Who will even predict that miss Sandy had brought so much damage to the city where everyone dreams to come here? Furthermore, living 20 years in Malaysia doesn’t even help because we do not have any natural disaster. A storm is a big deal to me. Since Irene wasn’t as bad as everyone thought. I was being really optimistic during the storm and I believe that electricity will be back in a week until my roomie, Andres came back from a run (after Sandy, also to check the situation) and yelled “FORCED EVACUATION!!” still being optimistic until we receive a notice that our apartment will be close till March!!!

So enough of my story. Sandy has brought me to this beautiful town, name Bensonhurst in Brookyln. Well, to me, commuting from Brooklyn is such a pain. I really respect everyone in my company that takes more than an hour to commute to work. I was literally complaining that the 45 minutes commute. Why do I choose Bensonhurst?? Sandy damage my apartment and also my company. I have been working from home and why pay more than 1000 in Manhattan? So, I decided to look up on craigslist and I found an apartment on 85th street, which is one street away from 86th street.

When I mentioned living in Brooklyn, my friends from other states are concern about my safety. I will never thought that I actually love Bensonhurst because it’s like a small town full with different culture. I guess the Asian took over the street and it’s like living seconds away from mini chinatown.

First reason that I love about Bensonhurst, it’s of course.. FRIENDS!! What more can you ask for? “It’s not about where you are, it’s about who you are with!!” I guess that totally makes my life in Bensonhurst great and I am being really sad leaving the beautiful town. I am surprised that many of my friends live around me and because I have move to Bensonhurst, we hang out more and I can definitely see myself coming back here during weekends to hang out with them.

This brings my topic towards FOOD!!! haha… Food is IMPORTANT!! Yes, it is!!! Mentioning about mini chinatown.. There are lots of great food around here. I am only gonna mentioned a few that I really enjoy!!

1) Audrey Concerto – A really cute bakery opened by 2 pretty sisters. All of their cakes are really pretty and unique. I have tried “green tea red bean tiramisu”, “chocolate green tea mousse”, “chocolate, coffee, pistachio macaroons”, “black sesame crepe cakes”, and “Earl Grey creme brûlée. Since I am working from home, I have been coming here really often, ordering tea and sitting at the coffee shops working for HOURS!! I have to say, they have the BEST MOUSSE CUP!! I hated mousse. Since they are famous for it.. I figured, why not give a try? So I ordered dark chocolate green tea!! Holy molly!!! It’s AWESOME!! They also have the best chocolate macaroons I have ever had!! Their jasmine tea, especially yuzu jasmine tea is awesome!! I never expect that there is such a cute bakery in Brooklyn.

 

2) Hi Tea Cafe – I still prefer Kungfu tea. However, hi tea cafe attracts me to get my “morning coffee” fix here every morning. They have free wifi as well and it’s like a student hang out place (for me I guess, cause they accept student ID). I love their coffee bubble milk tea. They have different kinds of unique flavors as well. I guess it’s cheaper here compare to Kungfu and it’s not a chain. That’s why it attracts me!!

 

3) Bread Zone – I prefer Bread zone compare to many other famous bakeries such as FayDa, Daipan in Manhattan. Every morning when I came here for breakfast. Their bakeries are warm and fresh. It’s also huge for less than a dollar. I came here in an afternoon as well and I am also surprised that their bakeries are still warm. It means they just took it out from the oven. I guess.. lol..

4) Chikurin – DAMN!!! Fresh sushi, lunch special for less than 6 dollars??? A roll is only 2.50-3 dollars?? WTH!! Really?? Soup, salad, 2 rolls.. I paid 7 dollars including tips.. How can you find this deal in Manhattan?? A roll in Manhattan might be 5.50 already. Or even more.. Special rolls are price around 7.50.. Really??

I don’t have many pictures here. Living in Bensonhurst made me appreciate..

• my usual daily life without commuting
• stop complaining about commuting problems
• exploring other neighborhood in Manhattan
• being optimistic.. knowing that everything will be alright
• FRIENDSHIP!!!

I am really thankful that I received so many calls and text from all my friends worrying about me not having an apartment or place to stay. Thanks for everything.. This is where I see… TRUE FRIENDSHIP!! I start learning how to appreciate what I have right now.. (If you hear me complaining.. It’s just for the sick of complaining. :p oops)

True Sister Forever!!

 

I know I have not been talking to you or even message you for a long time. It doesn’t mean that I have forgotten you. We have been roommates for 1.5 years. You are the longest roommate I have ever had. Walking over to your room crying, laughing, “bitching”.. lol.. with Crystal Wang. How can I forget all of our memories in college. Anyway.. It has been the craziest week for me here in NYC when one of my besties AMY SOON is here.. So here are the highlights of the week..

1. Day 1 – Getting bubble tea at Chinatown, head to a bar and met up with my friends, dinner at Hakata Tonton, Cocktail time at Angel Share’s with one of your high school friends.
2. Day 2 – Meeting up with our college friends for dinner till 12am
3. Day 3 – Meeting up with another college friends (my other roommate who came to NYC for a few days of training) for dinner and desserts
4. Day 4 – K Pop Dance
5. Day 5 – Lounge
6. Day 6 – Dinner at a High end restaurant (Maze by Gordan Ramsay), Champaign at Flute Midtown, Friday night party
7. Day 7 – Stunt Class at Brooklyn, Walk across Brooklyn Bridge for ice-cream, Dinner with Amy’s friend, Saturday Party
8. Day 8 – Brunch time at my favorite place (JANE)
9. EVERYDAY – STAYED UP LATE TO UPDATE EACH OTHER

That’s our schedule. It’s gonna take sometime for me to post every single pictures here so I am just gonna write.

As you can see, everyday is full of events. FUN EVENTS!! Especially Saturday.. I have no idea why don’t I enjoy my Saturday afternoon with an awesome afternoon tea.. instead of enjoying, I went all the way to Brooklyn to take a stunt class with Amy. WOW!!! If wordpress allows me to insert my video.. I will.. The video is way too funny not to watch.. How am I gonna do bungee jumping and I can’t even jump down from a 30 feet platform and land on a mattress.. It’s really scary when you are trying to jump. i rather you push me down.. omg..

Anyway.. It’s always fun hanging around with Amy. She makes some sort of boring things into fun things.. lol.. I haven’t been talking to her and Crystal (our sister) for a long time but everything just seems to come back when we just met each other. It works like a magic.. I guess it’s really lucky for me to have a few sisters in my life who I can talk to and share our problems together. Someone might said that we are fake friends because we do not contact each other for a long time. To be honest, I haven’t even contact my best friend for half a year but I do know that once we meet up, we can talk for hours, even for days without sleeping.

This post is not about what I did during the week but I just wanna write how much I treasure you Amy!! You helped me a lot when I was in college. & here am I getting a job in NYC. You and Crystal.. You both are my sisters for life!!! It’s always hard to find an amazing connection!!!

You are probably one of the person that will not judge me no matter what I said. You are just AMAZING!!! Let’s promise to keep each other updated all the time.. I know I have not been doing that really well.. so that’s not gonna happen again!!! 🙂 Please do come back again because there are still lots of places that I haven’t bring you to!!!

Summer 2011 – Fun! Laugh! Memories!

Looking through my pictures. Never thought that summer is coming to an end. 😦 I kinda miss those days with 90 degrees, sweating and wearing shorts, and enjoying a cup of smoothies.

Flipping through my memories. I can’t forget summer 2011, which is my best summer. I remember I was stressing out through my internship, worrying about doing bad, but I met a group of friends. In fact, they gave me the most memorable summer.

To me, summer wouldn’t have been great without them. We went out every week. Well, almost every week. Highlights of the summer:

• waiting & seating at chelsea pier to watch the July 4th Fireworks
• went to flushing but went into the WRONG MALL!! (OMG.. I can’t forget that)
• waited for an hour to enter Grimaldi, and finished the pizza in 5 minutes
• went to Yankees together
• biking at Governor’s Island
• GOING NUTS!!!
• Went crazy without alcohol in Karaoke
• filming some silly video when we were bored
• baking with Celia Zhang (this is how I got my baking skills.. no Kidding)

Now, I am back in NYC for my full time job. I am really happy about it because I LOVE LOVE LOVE NYC!! But come to think of it, nothing can beats my 1st living experience in NYC.

To my friends: I miss those time when we were planning our weekends. All those fun, crazy, happy.. moments.. will just make me laugh when I watch the video. I hope we can have a reunion some time in the future!!

I wish you all the best!! 😀

❤ Below is my favorite picture. Celia, Jeff, me, & David.. We call ourselves the Fantastic 4? Superdry? Whatever.. ha..

K Pop – 1st Dance Video Shooting

I have abandon my blog for MONTHS.. Sorry blog.. I have exam and I decided to just stop writing..

However, during my study break.. I need something to release my stress.. I did a K Pop Dance workshop with I Love Dance in NYC.. I have been taking some classes for quite some time.. Songs that I have learned:

• EXO-K – History
• 2NE1 – Fire
• BOA – Energetic
• Infinite – Paradise

Every Dance is really unique and totally different from American Hip Hop.. I love dancing so much and I have been to Broadway Dance Center to take some classes as my “workout” of the day.. My favorite instructor, CHIO is from Japan and she is really friendly and I find it really challenging in her class..

Since this post is about K-Pop dancing.. I am gonna talk more about it.. I Love Dance was founded by MJ Choi, my lovely instructor.. Her classes are always FUN FUN FUN!!! I am always looking forward to her classes and trying to be there as early as possible so that I can grab a front spot to learn..

The video that we shoot at Time Square and Bryant Park is call “Like This” by Wonder Girls.. Everyone in the video was having fun time and we totally forget that we are dancing in the middle of the street and many people gave us a really weird stare.. At least some of it.. lol..

What I gained from this video shooting.. FRIENDS.. Yes.. How can I survive without a friend in NYC right?? and what more to ask since all of us love to dance.. (I am not going to post pictures here since most of it are on Facebook) 🙂

Hip Hop is my favorite dance.. It’s always a great workout to me as you will move, shake your body.. Currently learning my favorite band, SUPER JUNIOR “Sexy Free Single” and Miss A “Touch”. Both are great dance..

A little side note.. K Pop Dance are held at Dany’s Studio located at 38th street and 8th ave. You can check out their Facebook.. http://www.facebook.com/ilovekoreanhiphopdance?ref=ts

Japanese Culture – An exploration at Brooklyn Botanical Garden

This event happened a month ago.. I find it really interesting to exploring different culture in NYC.. Allthe way at lower Manhattan, we have Chinatown, Little Italy.. Midtown, we have Koreatownand lots of international cuisine you can find it here..

On a Sunday, I decided to head to Brooklyn Botanical Garden for the “Cherry Blossom” Japanese Fair.. Since, it was Spring.. Flowers are blooming.. Brooklyn Botanical garden is definitely a perfect place for it.. What a great day for me to get out of busy Manhattan and enjoy the fresh air here..

There are many events, performance held on that day.. These are a few events/performance that I find it interesting.. Japanese Tea Ceremony, Samurai Sword performance, and Japanese cosplay..

Best event of the day.. JAPANESE TEA CEREMONY! My friend find it really boring.. butfor a tea lover like me.. I find it really interesting.. They first start of by inviting 4 volunteers to join their performance.. Sadly I was not chosen.. The 4 volunteers get to taste the tea and sweets that they served with their ceremony.. 

1. the assistant will bring out the sweets. You are not allow to have the sweets till the assistant said.
2. Once the assistant said you are allow to have the sweets, the 1st guest has to bow to the 2nd guest to show respect and get their approval, he/she may then get the sweets and pass it on to the 2nd guest.. the 2nd guest and so on will do the same practice as the 1st guest did.. the final guest will bow to the food to show respect as well.. The narrator of the performance Kyoko, gave everyone a piece of “napkin”.. I don’t remember what was it supposed to call in Japanese..
3. When the tea is served. It will start by serving the 1st guest.. the 1st guest has to bow to the 2nd guest as well.. the practice is exactly the same.. In Japanese culture, you are fine to slurp as loud as possible on your final sip to show that it’s tasty.

Before drinking the tea, I saw the guest was rotating the bowl 90 degrees. It made me curious to ask a question at the end. Kyoko explain to me that, it is to avoid the center(hot) by rotating the bowl. 

There are a lot more happening in the tea ceremony.. I might write a few pages of it.. I will stop here. From this performance, I am amazed by how Japanese has such a beautiful practice.. I am actually planning to take a class to learn the culture in a few weeks.. Kyoko told me to take it as a meditation class.. A great way to explore a culture and meditate.. Great Idea?

Samurai Sword Performance. This performance was hilarious.. they made a short story line with the Samurai sword. by showing that there shouldn’t be fighting in the world. Nowadays, everyone who love Japanese cartoon will know Samurai.. This performance reminds me of all the Japanese shows and cartoons I used to watch it when I was a kid.. such as doremon..

Cosplay is a BOM now in Japanese Modern Culture.. People were dressed up with their favorite character in any movies.. it kinda means that “by bringing them to the real world”.. One of the famous costume that caught my eyes.. YES.. BUMBLE BEE!!! from transformer.. the crowd went crazy for it.. There are many more such as Sonic the super hero, some princesses.. Some of the dresses are HANDMADE!!!

SOME OTHER HIGHLIGHTS!!

• I met the person who invented SUDOKU!!! I remember how much I used to love sudoku in Malaysia and I used to challenge my mom.. I guess she is definitely better than me now.. I got a signature from him by buying a game book and gave it to my mom as a “challenge” gift during mother’s day.. My mom likes it.. 😀
• Board games from Japan was taught in the event.. This game was really difficult.. Idon’t think I can even explain it by looking.. the line was way too long to learn it so I just took a picture of it and stood there hope to at least gain something.. you cansee this game in many olden movies..
• There are many more display such as doll making. These are all handmade.. I saw them painting it and putting it piece by piece..
• Stores that were selling kimonos, hand made hair bands, kinokuniya books, manga..
• Tours in Brooklyn Botanical Garden; manga for dummies; Japanese culture dance performance; Japanese drum performance; and lots more events that were held..

I am disappointed that I am not able to split myself into 2 pieces so I can watch as many performance as I can.. Overall, I am really glad I attended this event as a break.

Living life to the fullness.. Exploring and learning new stuff.. even if it’s just a small thing! I can see that LIFE IS GREAT!!!

Celebrity Planet – NYC Chocolate Tour

A great way to enjoy my 3 days weekend. Thanks to the memorial weekend. One of my guilty pleasure is definitely chocolates!! Preparing for my exam which is 2 months ahead. I need to make myself happy!! With all these chocolates, I know it makes my Sunday really good!!

Thanks to groupon, I got a tour for 2 for only 30 dollars.. I am gonna show you all my stops.

First Stop, which is my favorite. Jacques Torres!! It’s located inside Chelsea Market.

The owner of this shop invented OREO COOKIES!!! This hot chocolate is really unique.. We get to sample a small cup of the hot chocolate, just like a size of an espresso shot.. Dark Chocolate with nutmeg,cinnamon, and chipotle.. That chipotle really gives a kick to your taste bud.. I dislike cinnamon and nutmeg, but the chipotle totally changes the taste of it..

Second Stop, my 2nd favorite.. well.. I can consider thisas my top 2 favorites because at this stop, we are sampling a dark chocolate with 72% cocoa.. Mmmm.. I am a huge fan of dark chocolate.. this stopdefinitely makes my day..

The name of the shop is Li Lac Chocolate. They are famous for their fudge as well.. the sample that I had was really rich in the chocolate.. I can taste that there aren’t much artificial flavors added besides sugar.. As you can see they have chocolate in cute shape.. the furniture tools and the basket ball caught my eyes..

Walking opposite, we are heading to a chocolate bar.. Here, we get a sample of a 62% dark chocolate with sea salt. This is not too bad to enjoy if you love dark chocolate and have a sweeter tooth.. I personally prefer the one at Li Lac. Sorry I did not take any pictures here.. This is a cute chocolate bar which serves variety flavors of hot chocolate.. A very local shop located in West Village. It might not be as famous as Citi Bakery, but I love this local spot. You can find their rest room hiding behind.

Our fourth stop, everyone knows this. Featuring Sex And the City.. MAGNOLIA BAKERY.. this is not “chocolate” but is more like a cupcake and other desserts. I love the banana pudding. This location is famous because of the movie.. seating opposite of the shop eating their cupcake.. I am not a huge fan of cupcake.. I went in and get a sample of their Banana Pudding..

Fifth Stop, Pasticceria Bruno Bakery.

This place has the BEST Cannoli I have ever had.. You can’t find the cannoli display. You have to ask for it and they will make you a fresh one. We did not get a sample of it and I paid 3.50 for the huge one to share it with my friend. The cream tasted like ice-cream. There is a fruity taste and some chocolate bites in it.. Yes.. It’s fresh. This explains why their cannoli won an award. This is a place that is perfect for desserts. There are plenty of sits. This dessert place will make your day.

6th Stop, Vosges Haut Chocolate. We get to sample, caramel toffee nut chocolate, candied Bacon chocolate, and indian curry chocolate.. Unique? Right… Love sampling different flavors.

The shop does not allow us to take pictures of their chocolates unless I am in the photo. First Time trying candied bacon.  Wow, I didn’t know that it’s actually my favorite out of the 3 chocolates that I have sampled in this shop. The salty taste of the bacon gives the chocolate a little kick, brings out the sweetness instead of just sugary taste. The caramel toffee nut is a little too sugary. The Indian Curry Chocolate is unique that contains coconut and curry. Is a little weird to me but I am glad that I sampled it.

Final stop, Xocolatti. It was opened by a 24 years old entrepreneur. What a huge success. This cute little chocolate place is filled with chocolate boxes on the wall. We get to sample the Mango Paprika chocolate. It’s really unique but not my favorite. It’s a little spicy with white chocolate (if I am not wrong). I do not have a picture of this place. I really love the design of this shop.

Chocolates make people happy. I am happy by taking a break of my studies and decided to share my tour. If you love the tour, you can actually book it through this link: http://www.thecelebrityplanet.com/newyork/the-chocolate-tour-of-new-york.html

I will prefer them to exclude Magnolia Bakery and Pasticceria Bruno Bakery. Since it’s call the chocolate tour. I am hoping to sample more chocolates. Overall. A really nice break and I am glad that I explored so many hidden places in NYC!!!