nine inch nails + hammock

I have an absolute trust in R for his music recommendations. So when he shared me the Nine Inch Nails and Hammock albums, i expect it to be faring straight to my ear candy list. But what i didn't really anticipate is how each artist's works can set the pace of how i really feel towards a good music. Good is an understatement. It's been almost a couple of months now, but my brain is still silently raving at how awesome these albums are in the great sense of the word awesome.

Nine Inch Nails: Ghosts I-IV

Hammock: Kenotic

Hammock: Raising Your Voice... Trying to Stop an Echo

I have a habit of playing songs over and over, "digesting" it - like a good food, like something tasty i can chew and savour in my system. And words cannot express how satisfying an experience is listening to these albums. There are some tracks that moved me close to tears. Something so damn good, it leaves a poignant taste in the senses. And then, comes the prickling goosebumps.


I listen amidst the stirring mess of crowded people while leisurely walking in the city. Between the interesting and non-interesting juncture of the city's nightlife, it took me quite a while to figure out how i felt about one track and the other. Though, I think the getting-to-know did it. And in between the places i was at and phases of each track, are moments that i just paused in my walk to inconspicuously look around. The sound of chatters, rails, and engines remained inaudible to my ear but in between every track's transition, i felt like i was joining in. It was a great feeling and i felt less lonely. And when the tempo transcends anew, i felt like moving on again.

image from Ghosts I-IV, 9 Ghosts I

turn it well

My friend Pierre just sent me this awesome track.

"when i was there at the Capacities album launch, I thought,
THIS IS WHAT YOU'RE MISSING, GRACEY.
THIS IS WHAT YOU'RE MISSING BWAHAHAHA.

Capacities launch the best concert i've been to."

True enough...

One of the best tracks i've heard from Up Dharma Down. 

I will always miss the Philippines. Especially seeing this video.

Seeing places where i lived and worked for so many years. The lights and sounds of Metro Manila. 

Pierre, i will wait for the shipping conditions. PLEASE.
And here's the struggle of singing and the little giggles :D ---> TORN it well, hahah!

rainy day survival tips

Starving? Alone in the work place? Cannot go out to buy food?

Try this anti-emo-survival tips.

1. Refrain from eating plastic and paper. Raid the pantry cabinet and fridge for anything edible to eat. If you are socially-inclined enough, befriend the neighbors for free snacks. But since i'm a shy person (and lucky because we got cooker hahah) i can survive being anti-social. And I also found chicken ramen. Hunger games - 100 points! 

2. A little entertainment: sing a nice song while stirring the noodles.

Since you're alone, nobody will hear anyway. It turns the simple ramen into a special meal: 

Just so you know... I made a Depeche Mode Ramen.

3. Massage the part that hurts. Elbow, arm, head, stiff neck...

In my case, my injured left wrist..

Hope that helps.

:)

haim, itsnotyouitsme

Current morning playlist

Haim's Send me down

"Fallen Monuments" by itsnotyouitsme

but for now we are young let us lay in the sun

What a beautiful face I have found in this place

That is circling all round the sun,

What a beautiful dream that could flash on the screen in a blink of an eye

and be gone from me soft and sweet

Let me hold it close and keep it here with me..

And one day we will die and our ashes will fly from the aeroplane over the sea,

But for now we are young let us lay in the sun,

And count every beautiful thing we can see,

Love to be in the arms of all I'm keeping here with me.

What a curious life we have found here tonight,

There is music that sounds from the street,

There are lights in the clouds... 

beautiful lyrics, haunting song

{Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane over the Sea}

plays of the week

Just like the air that i breathe...

Hammock's Kenotic 

Absolutely great album. I cannot count how many times the tracks shuffle in my ipod.

It is now in my rotation of “I should play that song more often again, it’s really good.”

Thanks to R for another awesome addition to my playlist. :)

3.7

This evening, i‘ve ran my longest record of 3.7 km. The weather is cold, perfect timing to sweat out and go around Canberra and Sembawang. Also, a good chance to let go of my frustrations, ponder about the meaning of life (hahah), and enjoy the cool breeze of autumn. Passing by the football field under the faint moonlight and the street lamps, i noticed my shadow on the pavement - my legs are really filling and shaping up.

Current running track:

 Drifitng In and Out - Porcelein Raft

This cute playful fur ball made my night. :)

breaking the speed of sound

Insane, amazing, and brave!

14th of October - Austrian Felix Baumgartner set new records for the highest freefall jump,
the fastest freefall speed, and the highest balloon flight by a human. 

"When I was standing there on top of the world, you become so humble,
you do not think about breaking records anymore, you do not think about gaining scientific data.
The only thing you want is to come back alive."

(Read more from article)

Patiently waiting for the freefall, watching something like this on a live feed is terrifying and exciting
at the same time. I feel an indescribable desire to fly, too. :)

*  *  *  *  *  * *

Speaking of "sound" , here's another awesome video, not a 128,000ft supersonic skydive
but gives me another kind of high vibe. Love listening to it. This guy is also amazing.

Sources: Felix Baumgartner - Telegraph Co UK

       Modular Synth Tekno 2 - Ipnoteca

chairlift

For sure Pierre would love this! :)

Chairlift released a Japanese version of I Belong In Your Arms. And honestly, i love the Japanese version than the English. It's soooo cute! Also won a betting game because of it. >:P

surreal

You've got to hide your love away

End of the Road

I was listening to my Sir Eddie Vedder‘s playlist the whole night. The Into The Wild soundtrack have really nice lyrics.

Last night has been difficult. I felt a hard kick on my chest, indescribable feeling i have never felt before. Like i got knocked out of my breath and the world came spiraling down. Like i wanted the ground to swallow me as the air left my lungs. Like i was being sucked into a black hole.

On my way home, i was in a deep thought, instead of going down to Bishan, i got down to Nicoll Highway. Hahah, that deep darn it! I guess i was staring outside the window so hard, staring at the city lights or staring into nothingness, and didn't give much thought of the train door opening and closing. I was silently chuckling about my stupidity when i came out from the wrong station.

Sixteen train stations! :P Ten additional stations. Surreal. Love is evil. The beer is good anyway.

strange feeling

Traveling from North-South to East-West means twelve train stops and two train transfers. Trying a different route, i took East-West to North-South by the circle line, three train rides through the same twelve train stops. It's funny how the three train transfers seemed like a faster way than the two. Or maybe i just got  quite entertained by my own nerdiness of observing my surrounding, taking mental notes, looking at city lights, the flicker of lights from the speeding cars and the speeding train crossing the Khatib lake with the water reflecting the city in the evening.

It kindles a strange feeling. I feel like an absolute stranger. Today was a scenery of cultures inside the train. I lowered down the volume of my ipod, letting the noise of my surrounding merge with the music i was listening to.

The effect is so amusing. My right ear focused to this track from WFAFNC:

While my left gave way to faint noises of:
           French guy talking to someone over the phone
           Two Italian men laughing and talking to each other animately
           Two Indian girls getting excited over something
           A German or Dutch woman (i'm not so sure) cooing her baby in the stroller
           A Singaporean humming some K-pop tune

Even if i close my eyes, i heard distinct sounds of everything right at that moment. It's like a scene forming in my head accompanied by a good music. Then when i opened my eyes again, i saw a Myna bird speeding its way as the train rushed by, just in time with the climax. What a splendor.

It gives me a strange feeling.

running might be the answer to some girl issues

 {Sembawang sunset}

I have never been so badly conscious about my body built, until now. I've gained weight many years ago (due to stress eating hahah) and i didn't mind. When i have shrunk back to my thin self after moving to a new job, i started to realize that it made me look teeny. No matter what i eat i don't gain weight. There are days that i stood at the weighing scale wondering what have gone wrong, am i cooking the right food, am i not stacking enough. I want to have woman curves, girls, if you know what i mean, right? I am twenty-six but i still get mistaken as twenty-lower due to my body built.

I tried googling and my curiosity landed me on pages with thorough instructions on how to make hips bigger. Just looking at all those procedures makes me want to dive to bed and sleep. I am lazy when it comes to exercising. Then a friend of mine suggested running. Obviously, i will not gain weight, but i can tone up my body and fill-up to some curves. So far, the effort of running around Canberra for thirty to forty-five minutes (3 to 4 kilometers) has been worth it. My hips and legs are getting bigger. I'm shaping up. :)

Ps. Winna, you'll be so proud of me, i finally moved my limbs from deep slumber for some sexy :P

Current running track :

The Naked and The Famous' Young Blood

*album image from wikipedia

plays of the . . .

... (T＿T)

Cruiser

Souvenir

This song is my favorite of the EP. Dreamy and cute chorus.

Blackbird Blackbird
Happy With You

and lastly, the best...

Nine Inch Nails
All the Ghosts like this awesome track

*all images came from the links.

alone again, naturally

The train arriving at Braddell Station. Such a very quiet ride.

Random thoughts: I can't wait to go back painting again. I want to make pizza.

I missed my furry alarm clock in the morning ~ Mori.

And train soundtracking:

Trying to remember a song lyrics of Afterhours.

Bye Bye Bombay

Something like... "che la paura e una cicatrice

che sigilla anche l'anima piu dura" ~ that fear is a scar that seals the soul harder...

i'm not very sure about the translation though. :)

Hannah Georgas

Enemies

Guster

Satellite

Elevator to the moon, Whistling our favorite tune

Trying to get a closer view

*all images came from google images

while the world is still sleeping

4am. Waking up early to study for an exam.

 Sunday Girl

Where Is My Mind (The Pixie's Cover)

We Are The Willows

A Funeral Dressed As A Birthday Party

Night Fruit

Bittersweet

 

Coldplay

The Scientist

*all imgs came from google images

i hope it won't rain today, i don't want to bring an umbrella

Electric Light Orchestra

Mr. Blue Sky

Carousel

Where have you gone

plays of the week

 Ametsub

Cloudsfall

And this is just soooo awesome. Heart-meltingly awesome.

Thanks for sharing this, R...
 and  for the Mansun too. :)

Mansun's Attack of the Grey Lantern

Wide Open Space

Desire

Under Your Spell

College & Electric Youth

A Real Hero

 Electric Youth

The Best Thing

Chairlift

I Belong in Your Arms

Goldroom ft. Chela

Fifteen

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Hidden in Snow

*all images came from google

plays of the week

Pearl Jam

SSLYBY's Let It Sway

Working For A Nuclear Free City

And this cute song from Imago

Trying to translate first few lines of the track:
So long have I searched the whole wide world just to find you…just to find you
I’ve travelled the district of your melancholy to help you up, to help you up
I’m here now, taking you home... 

{images from google}

NU 107

Visiting Shan on her shift.

Photos by Uma.

plays of the week

Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record

Afterhours -- love the album, thanks R! :)

And this one goes to my wisdom tooth...