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Part 3: InterContinental Grand

pardon for the long wait
here you go, the stories and photos
click here for full post, now going to bus station….

halo everyone, finally finally finally…

the stories and photos are up…

i have uploaded over 300 photos (gradually) and details of our adventures and misadventures in Japan.

please feel free to comment and enjoy browsing while i continue rebuilding and upgrading my site, some links may not work yet:

http://michael-one.com/yamaha-asianbeat-asia-grand-finals-yokohama-2009-part-1-ohaiyo-arrival-and-first-taste-of-japan/

i am using pay-internet from hotel, super difiket to use the interface again.
we will be departing tomorow back to malaysia by evening.
everyone is very happy and satisfied after FISHING so many products…
take care everone. we took over 1000 photos and will blog the stories and events slowly for the next few weeks, as tai suan and me will be starting to work like dog again from thursday morning…
bye…

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k@eVin RoXXX

(updated 10.40am 8th Nov Yokohama Grand)
The show is finally over. and here are the results for you, more updates in detail when i get my ass back to malaysia.

best guitarist: singapore (black)
best vocalist: indonesia (WAR)
best keyboardist: japan (sonoda band)
best bassist: korea (Paran Byeon)
best drummer: malaysia (Wind rising)

Champion: Indonesia (WAR)
runner ups: Korea (Paran Byeon), Japan (Sonoda band)

i have to pen off now becos i have to pen off.
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(updated 1.42am 8th Nov Yokohama Grand)

morning after breakfast, wind rising went to International Convention Hall for a morning briefing on the whole day schedule. intially, we were not allowed to the room where the briefing was going on bcos of Our Yamaha Representative (hereby referred as OYR). OYR told us that no other people were allowed to assist or into the venue except the country representative (OYR). We stood outside but decided to ask for permission…and easily entered the venue.

****************

during rehearsal it got worse, we were told by OYR we CANT go onto the stage to help wind rising, so i asked whether we could talk to them from below. OYR said try not to, bcos wind rising need to learn themselves. and off course they are just kids and emotion got the better of them. and they did not voice any thing to the stage manager regarding sound or positioning. their rehearsal was very very under utilized and made a mess of their positioning. then…. the astonishment of the year came, ALL OTHER contestants’ teachers, assistants, photographers, tom, dick, and furry went on stage… wat the fxxx!

as we were walking back to the hotel, question marks appeared in our thoughts, we couldnt hide our anger on how wind rising screwed up the rehearsal. so after a short discussion, tai suan and me decided to go straight back to the hall, and have a talk with the yao yeng stage manager Mr Steve in the most diplomatic and courteous way in our entire life thus far.

he was most helpful and after discussing with the light manager, sound manager, stage coordinator, he granted us another stage check on positioning, and we summoned wind rising asap and did a better position check. but wat a shame, they were not allowed to do another full sound check.

thank you OYR!

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(updated by Tai Suan)

tomorrow is the big day, and after watching most of the bands went through the rehearsals, i can say that the standard of Yamaha Asian Beat in Japan this year is the highest for many years by. and about japan, it is one of the countries that you will want to visit before you leave this planet… 

only stupid malaysian will put a malaysian band at risk at an international band competition. never seen so stupid jack bitch person in my life.

if michael and i dint make any effort to help malaysian representative band WIND RISING, we would have been swallowed in a gutter at the competition. we cant help much but at least some parts were salvaged at the last moment. chow chee bye… we cant even get a decent sound because of that bitch. traitor!

stupid malaysian only put their counterparts at risk. damn upset with the stupidity that we shown at international level. they should have put either me or michael as the representative so that AT LEAST the band has something to EAT (dinner) during pre-competition day. i am writing now from our hotel where the rest of the family is staying (hotel near the ISHIKAWACHO station in yokohama).

the most stupid thing i heard from the bitch was “let them learn and do it by themselves”. i think i was speaking to a retarded person who cant even think properly. tolonglah orang malaysia… janganlah bodoh sangat lah kat negara orang… kita buat bodoh dekat kita sendiri sahaja.

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Updated: 4am 7th November 2009

its now 4am in Yokohma, for the first time in two years i found my nokia E90 is so so so useful. the scenary from Yokohama Grand is unbelievable, one of the nicest hotel i have ever put up at (anyway, i dont normally get to stay in classy hotels)

however, the wifi here is sux to the lowest, it disconnects every 2 or 3 minutes and the signal strength is extremely super sipek low.

we dint really get to know the other contestants from other countries (yet), as for some weird reasons, we (tai suan and me) were not allowed to join the welcome party, infact, besides the members of Wind Rising, all of the reamaining entourage (mr, mrs ng…) did not manage to socialize with others at the official event. HOWEVER, eye brows raised when we see managers or representatives from other countries were joining the event.

*************
what the heck, anyway, we had even better times, roaming, inhaling fresh and cooling yokohama air all the way along the bay and in the town while the orientation party went on.

Wind Rising is scheduled to perform 3rd in the order of appearance, surprisingly no drawing lots taken place as the orders were pre-arranged and even full-coloured booklet with appearance order were printed prior to the event.

Seeing the kids (wind rising) enjoying the stay and having virgin experiece (means first time, not go to look for virgins…) in gigging abroad rally makes me happy and proud as an instructor and a friend. for the first time, tai suan and me did not travel abroad for a band show as a contestant or performer, our jobs are to make them (wind rising) as comfortable, relaxed, and assist them in technical or communication issues.

*************
i came back to the hotel around 8pm with kaevin and straight went to bed as the fatigue is unbearable, and now. well, while everybody is snoozing off, i am awake,looking through the window, beautiful, colourful scene, indulging myself in mid air yokohama.

tomorrow is rehearsal day and we have work to do, oyasumi nasai…

p/s: where can i watch MU chop off Chelsea’s head on sunday night???

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UPDATE 6TH NOV 12.27PM YOKOHAMA TIME

KON BANWA OGENKI DESU KA

? HAVE TO TYPE EVERYTHING IN CAPITAL?LETTER? BECOS I DUNO HOW TO USE THE JAPANESE INTERFACE LAPTOP, IT KEEPS ON POP UP JAPANESE CHARATER…

THE JOURNEY WAS TIRING BUT SO FAR SO GOOD, WE DEPARTED FROM KLIA (NOT SINGAPORE) AT 11PM.

WE ARRIVED IN????NARITA??????????????? LOCALTIME? ???? ZONE IS ONE HOUR FORWARD FROM?MALAYSIA.

LATER, WE TOOK A BUS FROM NARITA AIRPORT TO YOKOHAMA FOR AROUND 1.5 HOURS…

 THE WEATHER IS VERY NICE, A LITTLE TOO COLD TO ME?ABOUT 15c?, AND WE ARE SETTLING DOWN IN THE HOTELS AND ARRANGING OUR TRIPS…

MORE TO FOLLOW???

our friends Wind Rising are representing Malaysia and going to Japan in less than a week’s time, to participate in Yamaha Asian Beat 2009 Grand Finals, which will be the GRANDEST of all Asian Beats so far, as it is held in the host country, Japan itself.

expect to see mind-blowing, nail-biting, jaw-dropping performance of super bands from all over asian plus mexico.

There is a side competition prior to the big show down next week, the organiser had set up an online voting through emails for all the bands. as i am typing this post now, Wind Rising stand at number 12th, the second last spot.

so, we hope you can land a little help in voting for them. the steps are relatively easy, please read on:

step 1~
go to: http://www.vibirth.com/competition_details/yamaha/

step 2~
click the vote button on left side of the main page

step 3~
click on the band Wind Rising
(click the link below the photo, NOT the photo)

step 4~
a small web widget will pop up in your window (check whether your browser has blocked it if nothing happens)

step 5~
click the “COMPETITION” button on top left at the web widget,
you will see the following:
there are 2 buttons under the music player menu, the upper button
is the VOTE button, the lower one is EMAIL YOUR FRIEND button.
so you click the upper one.

step 6~
key in your VALID email address (do not key in same email address more than once, the system will trace and delete your vote).

step 7~
a confirmation email will be sent to your email account,
open that mail and click on the confirmation link,
you will see this confirmation in a new window.

please support these 3 little kids in pursuing off their dreams.

thank you from Uglymen.

date: 16th aug 2009
time: 1.30pm
venue: beach club kl

its another milestone achieved, but its not as simple as that. cos in the process of making it happen, many things had occured consequenced from chain-reaction.

in the wildest dream i have never thought wind rising would have bagged the ultimate prize, many congrates to them and they must strive in making the japan trip a worthy enjoyable holiday to be remembered. they have reached beyond what all of us have expected. and they gonna treat the asia grand final as a holiday, but not a competition, a show sharing the same stage with other top bands from aroud asia, especially japan.. its a big shame, i may just, have to skip the trip…

i have coached or contributed ideas to a number of bands down the road namely force 1, poor sapiens, uglyboyz, eclipse, itosii… but to nurture wind rising is the most enjoyable task to date.

~Itosii live on RTM

~Uglyboyz

it all started in early june this year when i get to know the yamaha asian beat will be held in alor star for the first time in 3 years after kedah turned host for the northern region.

with my vast experience of yamaha asian beat competition with uglymen, i guess the ammunition might just be enough to give them some valuable tips and tricks of the yamaha asian beat trend.

~uglymen as guest in 2007

~poor sapiens

oceans of fire in Asia Finals.. spotted any uglymen similarities?

here are some of the yamaha asianbeat competition history i went through:

Yamaha Asian Beat Northern Region Finals 2009

Yamaha Asian Beat Northern Region Finals 2007

Yamaha Asian Beat Penang Finals 2007

Yamaha Asian Beat Asia Finals 2007-08 (photos)

Yamaha Asian Beat Asia Finals 2007-08 (results)

Yamaha Asian Beat Asia Finals 2007-08 (journal) part 2

Yamaha Asian Beat Asia Finals 2007-08 (journal) part 1

Yamaha Asian Beat Singapore Finals 2006

Yamaha Asian Beat Malaysia Finals 2006

Yamaha Asian Beat Kedah Finals 2006

Yamaha Asian Beat KL Finals 2006

Yamaha Asian Beat Penang Finals 2006 part 2

Yamaha Asian Beat Penang Finals 2006 part 1

Yamaha Asian Beat Johor Finals 2006 part 3

Yamaha Asian Beat Johor Finals 2006 part 2

Yamaha Asian Beat Johor Finals 2006 part 1

Yamaha Asian Beat Asia Finals 2004-05

Yamaha Asian Beat Singapore Finals 2005

Yamaha Asian Beat Kedah Finals 2005 (result)

Yamaha Asian Beat Penang 2005

initially i thought of using uglymen’s ROBOTz as their compeition song, but cover songs normally will fall in finals, so i suggested them (then uglyboyz) to pen their own composition. so chin sing (guitarist) started to compose a song with kaevin (drummer). but they faced a problem, they did not have a bassist. So we looked through all the options we have and we called up haris.

so we have a new line up with kaevin, chin sing and haris, thus chose a new band name as:

kaevin = Wind
haris = Ris
chin sing = Sing

Wind RiSing was born.

haris chipped in his ideas and they completed a song called Nevermind. while they also penned the lyrics together.

~hard work paid off, best bassist in northern region / national finals

on the process of perfecting the band, tai suan, metal and cikgu badrul also helped in shaping the final product.
it was head-splitting and brain-wrecking in cooking up the best food for the band. many factors to be drafted out.

so, after some tensed practise and preparation for 3 weeks, they headed to the Yamaha Asian Beat Northern Region Finals 2009 heats in muzik sistem. they successfully gained a ticket to the finals in flamingo club the next day.. and eventually won the competition, with haris cliching best bassist award.

however, behind the scene, some people were talking on how wind rising won it, because of the band strong connection with the organisers (muzik sistem), all sorts of stories were coming up such as biased judging. but, to the neutrals who witnessed the show, they know that it was a fair result. my personal opinion was crafttonez were the best of the crop that night, what a shame they deployed a cover song, they are certainly capable of pulling off a winning number of their own.

so, wind rising, brata and rocha went to KL to compete with all the other national finalists for a place in Yokohama.

***********************

here we are in KL.

without our always-reliable “tour-guide” and “band assistant” mr Ric Tan, this trip woundt have been smooth and complete.

~Ric and me at beach club

~this is how wind rising sleep in hotel room

~ as the youngest in the band, probably the entire competition history in malaysia, kaevin gets a lot of caring from his band mates…

~kaevin and chin sing having “some fun” on the bed… activities inherited from uglymen

~getting ready to proof the critics wrong… haris looked like the green barrot??

~met up with uglymen’s good friend a.k.a  UGLY cd producer kenny tay

~panel of judges (far right, john thomas not in photo)

~ best bassist goes to Haris

~john presenting the best drummer award to kaevin

~and wind rising is going to japan….
champion: wind rising
2nd: kyoto protocol (not sure spelling correct)
3rd: brata

brata did a very convincing and powerful show in the finals, and i thought they deserve a better result, guitarist was a joy to watch, power riffing and melodious chord work plus harmonious backing vocals, he was the best guitarist to me that day.

~after the show, wind rising were interviewed and chatted with the judges, all they could utter were…hehe, haha, i duno.. hehe (note the red line spelling checker i forgot to disable… hehe)

~one photo with the judges before departing

~haris showing off his fluent japanese…

~with his head so big, tai suan poured in loads of help to the band

~good luck in japan

guitar student David Chee playing acoustic version of “I’ve Got Rhythm” (George Gershwin) and “Jump” (Van Halen).
he is preparing for a guitar recital tommorrow. meanwhile, he will also be performing on the drums today…
enjoy guys….

click here to watch

the new uglyboyz video featuring haris on bass, playing uglymen’s robotz. haris jammed with uglyboyz after only listening to the billborad hit song “robots” a few times… enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y8vUqxf4qY

not too long ago, i was fortunate enough to be engaged by uum  (northern university of malaysia), to design and start a module under children cognitive development program called children’s creativity through music and arts. i started to design and research for the module back in 2007. where the module focused on  children’s cognitive, behaviour, and growing phases. and at present i am still fine-tuning the material and the way i conduct the whole course.

it is a major leap for me in my music career, and more classes will start soon in the upcoming months. after conducting the courses for over 1.5 yr, i feel that uum is doing a great job in introducing this program, as you know, kids nowadays are really growing too fast, too furious, and some may fall into the wrong path. this program stresses on the moral, behaviour, logic, creativity and self-conscious of what they are doing as they grow. nonetheless this job has taken a huge crunch of my time now, i am still enjoying what i do. as the program is not only conducted in uum itself, i sometimes may have to travel to usm, ukm..

i hearby like to thank a few very important people who supported me in becoming what i am doing for uum today.

dr zahyah
tai suan
hooi
silverisle
jan jan
reena kaur
and others who supported me with material either in physical or spiritual form.

*recent class conducted in uum

*in deep thoughts…