Faye Wong - Rilkean Heart

It has been a long time since I was so overwhelmed by a song and it’s lyrics.

An old friend tagged me to this song “Rilkean Heart”. It was performed by Faye Wong, aka Her Royal Highness, Asia’s Queen of Pop at her concert in Shanghai.

No one. No performer can do what she does – singing with minimal interaction with the audiences, stand still with hands on her hips throughout the song. Displayed through body language, she showed that she still own the stage.

Her voice brought back a lot of memories. Rilkean heart was originally a Cocteau Twins song. Faye had filled it with Chinese lyrics in one of her albums. It never occurred to me all these while that it was a covered song. 

I like the English lyrics better. They are very profound and intriguing. “Rilkean” refers to the Austrian Poet Rainer Maria Rilke’s writings, ideologies, history and characteristics.

The thing which makes me love Faye Wong is that she can still inject her own style into a song which already had a strong style of the original singer. She often gives covered song an extra edge.

For those who wanted to listen to the original version, here it is!

Rilkean Heart

Rilkean heart I looked for you to give me transcendent experiences
To transport me out of self and aloneness and alienation
Into a sense of oneness and connection, ecstatic and magical
I became a junkie for it
I come looking for the next high and I'm sorry I've been
putting the search on the wrong place

I understand that you're confused, feeling overwhelmed
Well that's a feeling state from then, the reality

With cleaning up my emotional life and getting in touch with myself
I'm beginning to ground myself in my own sense of being as an entity
One entity on the planet,
Become truly self reliant
And become connected with something beyond me
That is where I have to go
I'm so sorry I've been putting the search on the wrong place

You're lost and don't know what to do
But that's not all of you
That's your reality today
And that is all okay

I understand that you're confused, feeling overwhelmed
Well that's a feeling state from then, the reality

I'm lost I don't know what to do
It's not all on you
That's the reality today
Right now it's all okay

I understand that you're confused
Feeling overwhelmed
Love's a feeling straight from then
The reality

What to eat in Johor Bahru - Bah Ku Teh

I thought it will be interesting to do a series of postings on Johor Bahru eateries.

We are only separated by a few kilometers, but the food is distinctly different from Singapore’s. Some of them are really nice.

First post of the series – Shun Fa Bah Ku Teh

I had eaten at this Bah Ku Teh place before. However, the time when I took this photo, I had merely passed by.

 

It was one of my favourite eateries in Malaysia. They served traditional Malaysia Bah Ku Teh i.e. herbal style soup and in claypot.

 

The difference between Malaysia’s Bah Ku Teh and Singapore’s lies with the broth. Singapore’s famous Bah Ku Teh has a simpler taste and lighter coloured broth. They are usually Teochew’s style i.e. flavoured with garlic , pepper and meat only. Malaysia’s tend to have a richer broth and heavier in colour i.e. rich brown.

 

Between them, I prefer the Malaysia’s style better.

 

The eatery is situated at Taman Sentosa, Jalan Sutera Satu, about 10 minutes drive from City Square.

 

Do try it when you are in JB.

Lady Gaga – Stand By Me

Stand by me is one of my favourite song and Lady Gaga covered it during one of the tour!

Will you stand by me?

Stand by me

When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see
No I won't be afraid, no I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh now now stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me

If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
And the mountains should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me, stand by me-e, yeah

Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me, oh now now stand by me
Oh stand by me, stand by me, stand by me

Darlin', darlin', stand by me-e, stand by me
Oh stand by me, stand by me, stand by me

Tanpopo Deli Desserts

I hardly have much leisure times these days. Most of the free time I had were spent on school work.

 

I did however manage to go out with friends on several occasions for “normalcy” purposes . Hence just imagine the disappointment I had, when we ended up having some rather dissatisfying ramen for dinner at Liang Court!

 

It almost spoilt my special night out!!! I will not name the shop here (for now).

 

We decided that we need something good to get over the disappointment.

 

There is no better mood-lifter than dessert, we thought.

 

We therefore adjourned to the basement level where Meidya was located.

 

Tucked at the other end was Tanpopo Deli, where they served a selections of salads, take-ways bendo sets and delicious looking cakes and desserts. 

 

 

My friend, Mindy ordered this Custard Pudding which comes with Caramel Sauce. It was a very smooth pudding, with a light and fragnant eggy, milky taste.

 

The slightly bitter-sweet caramel sauce gave it a special character. Every mouthful tasted so comforting.

Another of my friend – Celine ordered this Green Tea short-cake with strawberries and cream.

 

It was probably the best testing cake among the three desserts which we ordered. The cake was light and fluffy, permeated with a light green tea flavour.

 

As you can see in the picture, there were hidden nuggets of azuki beans in between the cake which compliment the green tea flavour so well.

 

Strawberries and Cream – Do I even need to say more? Match made in heaven!

 

Last but not least, I ordered this Chiffon Cheese Cake.

 

I had never seen such a well-raised Chiffon cake before. You see, I bake cakes occasionally and I know how hard it is to bake a perfect Chiffon.

At the first look, I knew I had to order the Tanpopo’s Chiffon cake by look of the cake size. They are so well-done. I was speechless looking at it.

 

This cake does not have an exciting flavour. In fact, it is a simple chiffon cake, topped with a very lightly sweeten whipped cream topped with some sheds of Parmasan Cheese.

 

I love it, actually. I think the saltiness of the Parmasan Cheese brought out the subtle sweetness of the cake.

This is what I like about Japanese cakes and desserts. They are not overtly sweet or as rich as their Western cousins. Like Japanese culture, it has a hint of subtleness which leave you craving for more…

 

But before you stuffed yourself silly with more desserts, check the time first.

Tanpopo Deli sells bento sets at a discounted price after 8 pm!

 

Since you have a relatively light dessert, you will definitely have room for supper!

 

Do try!

Lion hugs and kisses its lady rescuer

My eyes turned red when I saw this video. This lady rescued a malnourished lion six years ago. She managed to nurse the lion back to health and eventually made an arrangement with a Zoo to take it in.

When she visited the lion at the zoo, it remembers her. Like a cat (ok a giant cat), it gave its rescuer a big hug, trying to rub some scents onto her. Awwww… Mimi does that too sometimes. She will react very excitedly when I visited her after a long while.  

That is why I always have a soft spot for animals. I never believed theories that argue that animals are not conscientious. On the contrary, they are aware of human feelings and sentiments. But unlike humans, they are much more genuine.  

While searching the video on YouTube, I chanced upon another video of lion remembering its owners. I felt very touched watching these videos.

Love knows no limits. True friendships last a lifetime... How true! 

News clipping of the lion and its lady rescuer.



Another story of a lion remembering his owners.

Mimi in lomotion

Mimi in lomotion – I haven’t see her for a long time. I miss her!

Efforts and hard work are intangible…

A brain storming session for one of my individual assignments

Some see it, many do not....

Lady Gaga – The Fame Monster

If I could summarise a period of my life with music, one period of my life be represented by Lady Gaga’s. I am quite into her nowadays.

I have heard you. A lot of people have commented that she is scary, weird and her music is dark. But I could relate this period of my life to what she is trying to communicate with her music.

"Be yourself. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't achieve your dream!"

Lady Gaga

“…I want your everything as long as it is free…”

“Sorry, I cannot hear you. I am kinda of busy…Stop calling, Stop calling, I don’t want to hear anymore. I got my head and my heart on the dance floor…”

“…I can’t be with you like this anymore…”

“You popped my heart seams and all my bubble dreams. I will never talk again. After all the drinks and the bars we have been to, would you give it all up, give it all up for you? Why are you so speechless?”

“She’s a mess… She’s a mess… she falls apart.”

“The monster ate my heart and brain!”

“I am your biggest fan. I will chase you down… I will not stop until it is mine.”

“Can’t read my, can’t read my poker face. You can’t read my poker face… Can you?…”