i spent my weekend in Hong Kong doing the obligatory tourist-y stuff which included a trip to The Peak, Repulse Bay, Stanley Market, the floating Jumbo Kingdom in Aberdeen, The Giant Buddha & Po Lin Monastery in Ngong Ping and Temple Street. i had to miss both Disneyland and Ocean Park because i did all the above while feeling marginally feverish and by the time i got back to the hotel, i was sweating even though the air conditioning was on full blast. i’m glad i decided to power through the two-day tour, because despite not being able to breathe through my nose for the most part, i thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

a shot of Hong Kong’s skyline from The Peak.

Two IFC – one of Hong Kong’s tallest skyscrapers.

the relic-looking, vintage-inspired boat just off Stanley Market. i wished i had money to burn for the 40 minute ride.

the Ngong Ping 360 cable car experience. i opted for the ‘Crystal Cabin’, which had…

… a glass floor! it took a good few minutes to get accustomed to the glass floor but once i did, i was standing and pacing around the cramped cabin to the annoyance of the other passengers.

i found this at Ngong Ping Piazza, hung on a ‘wishing tree’ of sorts. amongst the more pointless and cliche wishes (for example ‘world peace’ and ‘lots of riches’), i thought this wish was rather sweet.

had to slide this one in, because i don’t think it’s too often that an MTR station is empty. surely enough, a large crowd filled the frame within minutes after the shot was taken.

so what about Hong Kong, eh? i love it and would be open to any opportunity to work and live here for a bit. the downside would be the difficulty in communicating with the locals. from my experience, India had a higher concentration of English-speaking locals compared to Hong Kong, which i thought to be rather peculiar since Hong Kong is one of Asia’s largest financial centres. but if push comes to shove, i wouldn’t mind learning the language just to get by. owh, one more thing – the city is rather expensive so i’d probably have to make some serious cash to survive here.

on the plus side, the city is super clean, the public transport system is on par with any European city, the people are civilised, the malls/stores/shops will most likely have anything you could ever want, the body of water between Kowloon and Hong Kong island makes for great evening walks and to top it all off, you can smoke whilst at it (unlike bloody Singapore!).

i’m forgetting something… ahhh, of course! the women are pretty and insanely stylish. the best part is, they dress flirtatiously – as if the Government had brainwashed every single woman over here that ‘long legs will only work with hot pants’, yearp. i’ve been absolutely loving it.

and since this is primarily a guitar ‘blog’ (which i reckon gets frequented by boys, mostly), i’ll leave the next two ‘stalker-approved’ photos for your personal enjoyment, as a gesture of thanks for supporting thehindsight. haha.

rock.on

View from Harbour Grand Hotel, Hung Hom.

Another one from the same viewpoint, after the rain.

Street view of Mong Kok.

“That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

beautiful.  rest in peace, Steve.

now, speaking of ‘simple’, my name came up top in the Ethos waiting list.  but since i didn’t have much money on me (the total cost of owning one of these, plus shipping, is around USD510 if you want the full version), i decided to offer it to moderneagle.  you can get more detail on the Ethos by clicking the link, but basically it is the pre-amp section of a Dumble amplifier made by this company called Custom Tones.  it’s got more knobs and toggle switches than a spacecraft control switchboard, which gives you the ability to fine tune your guitar’s tone to the letter.  the other cool thing is, you can plug it in direct into a flat-band power amp and get a consistent sound at any gig, which is handy.

anyways, here’s a clip of moderneagle having a go at the Ethos.  shot on the iPad, so you’ll have to excuse the quality.  i just hope that whoever is taking over from Steve Jobs will take the iPad to greater heights in terms of high definition recording, that’s for sure.

we had a small Bass Buka this year compared to last year’s.  probably because it was such a last minute thing.  but i think it’s fair to say that what we lacked in numbers we made up in style and skill.  just watch the video (haha!).

Salam Syawal & 1Malaysia.

yes, we missed last year’s raya video, didn’t we?  well, this year, in conjunction with the arrival of Syawal as well as Helen and the Paisley Drive, i thought it was as good an excuse as any to put one together.

since Hari Raya is a time for food, family and forgiving (not necessarily in that order, mind you), here’s me wishing everyone out there a Selamat Hari Raya 1432 Hijrah.  it is with humility and good faith that i seek your forgiveness for my wrongdoings, whether done through this ‘blog’ or in real life.  and above all else, let’s look forward to the gorgeous gastronomical goodness that awaits come August 31st!

damn, i’m gemok.  and if i’m not, i soon will be. (=’.'=)

for the benefit of those who don’t know what K-Line is, well K-Line is headed by a man named Chris Kroenlein who assembles guitars to custom specs that stay true to the good vintage recipes of the old Fender company back when they were churning out hits like Stevie Wonder in the 60s.  so Chris and his cohorts procure Fender-licensed parts and (re)build vintage-inspired, immaculately-made instruments that play great and sound even better.  or at least that’s what they set out to do.

first things first…  i’m naming this guitar ‘Helen’ for a wealth of reasons that won’t be of interest to anyone else.  as shallow as this may sound, i bought it because of the colour.  Lake Placid Blue (or ‘LPB’, in geekspeak) is the new black, yo!  the thing that struck me at first was how ‘comfortably-broken-in’ it felt the moment i straddled it across my lap.  the weight distribution is perfectly balanced when digging into my right rib.  the neck is sliiightly fatter than what i’m used to but it gives rise to better grip of the guitar.  the workmanship is… how should i put this?  you can’t say it’s ‘flawless’, because it was made as a relic piece, so i’d have to settle for ‘authentic’ or ‘honest’.  the chipping of the paint and dings to the body were tastefully done and do not look contrived whatsoever.  to top it off, there’s that dark, sensual rosewood board which i prefer  (so much better looking than the faded brown rosewood boards of recent  years.  yuck.)  aesthetically, it’s such a beauty that i can’t stop caressing its warm body over and over again…  that last line sounded wrong.  moving on.

the guitar is fitted with Lollars (i don’t know which make or model), but maaannn… this is the second time that Lollars slayed me silly.  i’d go so far as to say this – FOR MY TASTES, i think the Lollars beat the Sliders, albeit marginally.  sure, i’m not comparing apple to apple here (Tele vs Strat pickups), but there’s that certain ‘sheen’ to the tone from Lollar pickups that makes me dig ‘em just that slightly bit more.  it’s somewhat more ’rounded’, and there’s less harshness to the attack.  this comes in very handy when you recklessly stab at the strings to get that crunchy, keropok lekor sound.  i might be converting to Lollars from this point forth.

since i had to pay for shipping anyways, i ordered a Wampler Paisley Drive to go along with it.  i’ll be honest and admit that i bought it because i’m a fanboy of Brad Paisley, whom which the pedal was originally made for (it’s the dark blue pedal to the right of the mighty green Ibanez Tube Screamer).  what about the Paisley Drive, then?  i dunno, man.  i’m afraid of saying too much because i’m probably still in the honeymoon period.  but what kind of life would this be, if all one does is to scurry in the comfort of dark shadows with no semblance of conviction to light the way, right?  so here goes…

‘Best damned overdrive pedal ever made.’

yup, even better than the mighty green giant, brus.  even better than that.

- – - – - -

p.s. happy birthday to Luluboo.  i guess you and Helen share the same birthday of sorts!

that question ‘are you fun?’ scared me shitless.  i think i am… kinda.  sureee, gone were the days of waking up at 3p.m. in soiled pants while partly submerged in a pool of blood and vomit , with no recollection whatsoever of what transpired the night before.  but people get older, and more responsible.  nowadays i enjoy a quiet night in with a Penguin classic and a pot of freshly brewed  chai on standby.

‘That’s what I’m saying, bro!  You’re not…   dangerous!  It doesn’t pique their interest.  I have not come across a hawt girl who would go gaga over a guy who reads Dickens and drinks new age tea.’  he responded.

unhappy with such a blanket judgement of my persona, i went online and toyed with the idea of buying a plane ticket to Osaka, Japan.  why Osaka?  why not?!  i’m spontaneous, i’m mysterious, i’m dangerous and exhilarating…  i’ll be the desire of every 20-something girl with taut milky skin, long legs and ample breasts.  just as i was about to click ‘Buy’ on the AirAsia website, my rational mind kicked in, like Chuck Norris’ knee to my forehead.

what the hell am i doing?!  i barely know anything about Japan besides sushi, takoyaki balls and Moero Attack!  and what about the language?  that’s going to be somewhat of a barrier, right?  even if i could string some rudimentary words together to ask for directions and whatnot, it’s highly unlikely that i’d be able to understand their response.  is this a case of another India?  a place where i pay good money to get myself battered and bruised just so i can learn from the experience?  i decided to call El Spordo (he had lived in Japan for a few years) to gain an insider’s point of view of traveling in Japan.

El Spordo:  Who you going with?

me:  I was thinking of doing it alone, y’know?  Be a bit spontaneous, mysterious, dangerous… [nervous laughter]

El Spordo:  Right.  Is this because someone told you that young girls dig that kinda stuff in a man?

me:  NO!  Well…, kind… mayb…?

El Spordo:  You’re lame, dude.  You’re sooo not hip and/or fun.

me:  I’m not lame!  Argghhh.  You know what?  Nevermind all that.  So are you going to help me out or not?

El Spordo:  Sure.  Osaka’s a very beautiful place.  It’s in the Kansai region, which is cool because it’s right in the middle of Japan so you have strategic proximity should you need to travel east or westward.  But even if you stick to places nearby Osaka, there are some great cities for you to explore, such as Kobe, Wakayama, Nagoya, Kyoto…

me:  Which was where they signed the Kyoto Protocol  in the late nineties!!!

[stunned silence]

El Spordo:  Dude… should I say it or just let it sink in slowly?  Y’know what, Ill say it -  Tell me which 20-something would give a flying pig’s ass where anyone signed a pro-environment treaty in the late 90s?  Better yet, tell me which 20-something would drop her panty at the sound of you whispering ‘Kyoto Protocol’ in her ear?  Do you honestly think that possessing such mastery over historical and/or political trivia makes you seem hip and fun?!

me:  [flabbergasted]  Erkkk!

El Spordo:  You’re lame, bro.  You’re the most un-fun person I know in my life.  Why don’t you plan a trip to the South Pole and quietly die there?

—–

ok, i’ll admit – he does have a point.

please, the only reason i’m posting this is because there were requests from a few who wanted me to upload the Wonderful Tonight performance.  so this is for you guys and girls.  thank you for taking time out to watch the previous one, to begin with.  much appreciated.

p.s. disregard the emcee’s reference to EC at the end.  i think i did bettah.  j/k… seriously. 

i finally got hold of a copy of my performance at Lil Sis’ wedding. here’s ‘Have I Told You Lately’, with moderneagle on bass and Chaan on keys. many thanks to the both of you (despite the Sadowsky going thru the Markbass amp getting lost in this YouTube mix, sorry!) there are two things i feel happy about with respect to the video.

1. i think the guitar setup sounds very old school, classic Fender. and if i may, i simply love the tone once i kicked in the Tube Screamer. that slight hairy breakup which cleans up when i back off my picking pressure. it’s not buttery enough to slip, just snappy enough to sparkle. i don’t make sense anymore but you get the idea.

2. the ‘Saving Private Ryan’-esque cinematography, courtesy of my bro-in-law’s lil’ brother (who’s probably 6 years old or something). God bless your heart, kid. we’ll have an Angry Birds showdown next time we meet.

there’s also a video of ‘Wonderful Tonight’, but takpe lah. being poyo in one video is enough.

i’d like to take this opportunity to wish those who embark on the month-long fasting exercise with a heartfelt ‘Selamat Berpuasa’. here’s reminding myself to make the best of it this time around.

p.s. should you sit through until the end of the video, please ignore any suggestions by YouTube to check out some old hack by the name of ‘Rod (or Bob) Stewart’ or something like that. he’s not that good, honest.