I wish upon a star...

I just wish I have more than 24 hours in a day and that I don't have that many exams (or progress tests,they call it) but that ain't the reality. The reality is (in this programme that I chose to study) I've got to be well prepared and constantly revising (which I'm trying to do now) because the syllabus is just so wide and once you stop revising for a few days, the pile of things you've got to read and practice is just crazy. I've been trying to 'bring back the old Liyana' who was dedicated to her studies and would go all out to just pass exams. Since June last year (if you've been reading my blog), I got so distracted by music. It just took over my whole control system and I just got lost in it that I couldn't focus on my studies. The only way for me to get closer to music is to 'get out' of college (as in complete my studies and not stop halfway). That would be my biggest motivation right now to pass exams.

Photos at the BBQ in the rain :)

On the music side, I finally accomplished one of my dreams which was to record a song in a professional recording studio. I was so overwhelmed when I eventually entered the recording studio. It was like a goal of mine for the past 6 to 7 years and it finally materialised. I controlled myself well emotionally but yeah there was that slight nervousness in me when I was recording. It was a valuable experience that cannot be expressed unless you're in my shoes. I have to thank Alan Thoo for giving me this golden opportunity that I've been waiting for so long! Eventhough it's a charity project but I'm glad that I can help the patients at the National Kidney Foundation by contributing my voice and hopefully the sales of the CDs will be able to fund their treatment. In April, the NKF group (the divas,I call them) will be meeting up to record the Music Video and I'm so excited for that! I miss them so much already!

 The whole gang with Alan! :)

With the music producer :)

I also am in the midst of attending vocal classes with Aaron Khaled at the Enfiniti Academy which was set up by one of my many inspirations, Tiara Jacquelina. I'll be performing after I complete my classes which would be somewhere at the end of March.

There you go, a real long update of what has been happening. Oh yeah, another Progress Test on Monday. Back to studying I guess. Goodbye folks! Wish me luck! Take care of yourselves,people!!

BOOM SHAKALAKA !

How can you not fall in love with this song? I really want to get their album but I'm too broke and not in the state to 'demand' it from my parents. So...I shall just imagine that I own their 'ALIVE' album. On another note, I hope they make a stop in Malaysia for their world tour coz I only got to see GD,TOP & Seungri last year at the Korean Music Wave concert. VIP for life!

Recording of 'Make A Difference'

Recently I got selected along with a few others to sing the theme song of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF). Here's a video of the rehearsals which was done at Giant Ants Talent Hub's office.

And finally my dream of recording in a professional recording studio got realised! The feeling I had when I entered the recording studio was just undescribeable.

While we were waiting for Phoebe and Zoey to record in the studio, we went outside to chill for a bit and came up with this idea to jam a song. Here's the result! We decided to call it Pumped Up Voice :) Enjoyy!

Monday the 13th and a special Valentine's gift :)

Recently I got addicted to Brian Joo's songs from his new album and it led to me google-ing and youtube-ing nearly everything about him to find out more. To my surprise, I was missing out on a great artiste who just cared so much about his fans and he's such a nice person whom I feel I should support. Then, February came and Brian posted on his Twitter & Facebook account telling us (his fans) that he'd be uploading a video on Valentine's Day (which is kinda normal for any artiste right?) but in return he wanted us to upload a Valentine's Day video for him and post it up on his Facebook wall. 

So I was excited to record the video but 'results day' came on Monday (a day before Valentine's) and the results kinda made me hit rock bottom. I failed 2 papers out of the 3 papers that I attempted and that means I'd have to repeat those 2 subjects this semester and resit the exams in June. There was so many things running in mind and that night I cried myself to sleep because I just held on to those tears for so many hours not wanting to show my parents the tears. Luckily I had already signed up for a short 6 week vocal class with Aaron Khaled at Enfiniti Academy and had a class on that result night itself so that really changed my mood for that day. I had so much fun with Aaron and my 2 classmates that it made me forget about my troubles for a bit. 

On Tuesday itself I was home alone the whole day so I told myself to just record the video and upload it in hopes it would make my mood better. And it resulted in this.....

I checked my video on Brian's wall every hour or so hoping that Brian would like or even comment on the video. There were a few likes from fellow BFFs (Brian's Family and Friends) and I decided to just go to sleep and check it out the next day. Sure enough I had a like from Brian and a comment (a very long one)! I was such a happy girl the whole of that day and still am having the after effects like as if I had met Brian in real person. 

That was my small little gift for Valentine's this year. :) 

The One That Got Away - Katy Perry

A cover of The One That Got Away, my current favourite song. 

One less shining star in the sky

Watching this video brought tears to me. It showed me how someone loved the stage and performed one last concert when she knew her time here with us is coming to an end. Despite the pain she was going through and her physical condition, she managed to put up a memorable concert for her fans. If you do not know her, please do look her up on Youtube as you are missing out on a lot as she was THE DIVA and I believe it would be very hard to find someone as talented and committed as Anita Mui Yim Fong. One of my many inspirations in music. Mui jie, how I wished I was born earlier so that I could have attended one of your concerts and feel the vibe you gave to your fans and audience.  

I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairytale

I remember my friend introducing this song to me back in my last year of high school. At that time I wasn't a huge fan of Taylor Swift (yet). Fast forward 2 years, a day after final exams, I decided to just record a tiny bit of this song and dedicate it to Taylor Swift on her 22nd birthday. She's one of the main reasons I 'came back to music'. Hope you enjoy the video. Share it with your friends and I'll love you even more :) Merry Christmas & Happy New Year (just in case I don't blog in the next few weeks). I'll be in Melbourne with my family to visit my cousin. 

Oh Hello November!

Hello November! It seems like it was yesterday I said hello to November and now one whole year has passed. November has always been a month dedicated to studying and revising because in high school we had our year end exams and now in college I have my final exams in December. So yeah this month will be filled with revision classes and lots of catching up on what I've been missing especially when I was kinda lost in my own world for a bit. I've overcome that whole emo thing I was going through and hope to stay strong at least until finals are over. I'm going to work my butt off for finals just coz I want to pass those subjects and not meet the lecturers anymore next semester (for classes i.e resitting the paper). I just hope it's not too late.

On a brighter side, I'm looking forward for finals to be over because I'll be heading to Melbourne for 2 weeks to celebrate Christmas and New Year with my cousin and her family who are residing in Melbourne. Finally, I'll be heading to the Land Down Under! :) Hoping to catch up with any of my friends who are in Melb. I'll have to message them on Facebook to see if we could meet up. Got a few people on my mind like the Tham sisters : Kar Mun and Wai Mun and also primary school friends perhaps. Will see who is free to meet up.

To all those sitting for finals exams, Good Luck! Keep the spirits high and don't give up! We can do it people! :)

Broken Strings

I've got a new Youtube collaboration project coming up :) I really hope we make it. I was approached by a fellow Youtuber from the US who say my cover of IU's version of 2AM's Can't Let You Go Even If I Die. She's got an idea in mind and it is inspired by Dream High, whereby there will be a group of people who will cover a few Kpop songs. The people consists of rappers and singers from all over the world. Not sure about the acting or dancing part because we're all in different countries so I think it would be quite hard to coordinate that bit so for now it's only singing. The idea is really cool! I want to thank Ri (Korean residing in US) for giving me a chance to be part of what I've always wanted to be (eventhough it's only something small) but it's interesting! I'll get to 'work' after my trial exams to record my parts in the songs and Ri will edit and mix them. It would take some time because there are so many people involved so I'll be patient for the end result. Kpop all the way babeyhh! Btw,the title of this project is Broken Strings.

Temptations

I want these shoes! It will be out in Adidas Korea branch stores in November. Wearing these shoes in my next music video cover singing a 2NE1 song would be so cool! Anyone kind enough to buy it for me? XD Hahaha. Yet another item added to my wishlist. It seems to be getting longer. 

Credits : allkpop