The Japan Soundtrack

First things first, as usual, most trips have the sights, smells and feel; and it's always up to me to provide the sounds. This year's vacation is has been aurally brought to you by the BBC Sound of 2010 (see previous article below) plus some old goodies.

Recommended tracks for your summer listening pleasure:
1. Let's Go Surfing, Saddest Summer, and I Felt Stupid by The Drums.
2. I'll Hold My Breath, Under The Sheets, and Your Biggest Mistake by Ellie Goulding
3. Fireflies, Hot Air Balloon, and Vanilla Twilight by Owl City (just saw the concert before I left - an excellent way to spend a warm summer evening)
4. Giving Up The Gun, Run, Cousins by Vampire Weekend
5. Mountains, Bubbles and Many of Horror by Biffy Clyro
6. Remain, Doubt and Red Lights by Delphic
7. And I played pop hits from Jay-Z/ Alicia Keys, 5ive, Lady Gaga (featuring Marilyn Manson! Who knew that a collaboration might actually exist!), and Dominos by The Big Pink.

So that completes my summer soundtrack for 2010. As a parting shot, here's the happiest tune of them all for this year. To the basement people, so many surprises await you!

Summer Music MMIX

No, not a typo, but if you were listening to your Grade IV math teacher, that's Roman numerals for this year. What's burning up my portable music player?

1. Skeleton Boy by Friendly Fires
2. The Festival Song by Pez
3. I Love College by Asher Roth
4. Better Off As 2 by Frankmusik
5. Lovers In Japan by Coldplay
6. The Saltwater Room by Owl City
7. Fascination by Alphabeat

No Time To Blog Yet...

But here's what's going to be large this summer on my music player:

Frankmusik's debut album fighting off the return of Calvin Harris and Just Jack. Rounded out by indie-altronica from Owl City. That Saltwater Room is just darned cute!








In the next issue: Breaking a promise, then breaking legs.

Hongkong My Love

Going back few blog posts earlier, what did I do in HK? I walked, battled 95% humidity, and had a fantastic time. Sorry Singapore, but Hongkong kicks your ass big time. Despite having terrible, terrible humidity (as if you're being slapped by a warm, damp piece of cloth as you emerge from an airconditioned room), my HK experience was definitely awesome.

Let me count the ways Hongkong trumps Singapore's bum. The battle of an amazing skyline goes hands down to where IM Pei, Norman Foster, and Pelli have laid their works. And with HK tearing down more heritage buildings as we speak (or type), expect more shiny high rises to sprout in the future.



Transport is their well-machine. The airport has a convenient check-in counter right at the heart of the city, the ferries are numerous, plus Chek Lap Kok is absolutely gorgeous. They link nearby locales such as Shenzhen, Macau and the rest of China so easily.



To be fair to Singapore, Changi is chock-full of amenities, so despite the carpeted, stuffy interior, it wins the "Most Useful Airport". Plus, the cultural diversity around the city (Little India, Arab Street, Peranakan lane) is much to be envied.

Still, HK gets my two thumbs up as my favorite SE Asian city (if it counts as SEA), trumping Bangkok, Hanoi, Saigon, Phnom Penh, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur. Manila, my love, you are exempt, of course.

A Hundred Islands of No Rain

So, not to be oblivious and insensitive, but when Typhoon Frank tore apart Manila, we were busy with an impromptu adieu to summer. I've never been Pangasinan for more than 4 hours (just passing through!), and reaching one of the westernmost points of Luzon was indeed an interesting sight.



I've been meaning to return to Hanoi and take a boat at Halong Bay, but a day at Hundred Islands suited me just fine. So as a mini-review, the place was awesome not just because of the great natural wonders surrounding you; but I loved it because I felt that it was an easy thing to do. Let me explain, if I was backpacking across SE Asia, and wanted to see Hundred Islands, it's such a breeze to take a bus to Alaminos, hire a trike to Lucap (the seaside barangay), then hire a boat for the whole day. All rates are fixed and posted at the tourist center, so you don't have to worry being ripped off. Rates for the boats go lower if you stay at one of the nearby lodges. Total expenses for the 2-day trip? 2.1k, very reasonable.



There are a bunch of (developed) islands to choose from, but the pic above was where we had our packed lunch: we had it half-swimming in the water, and under this cove. It's really one of the more unique, local, and most enjoyable vacations I've had in recent memory. The summary? See below:



ps. As a parting shot, we jumped of a cliff into the water in one of the islands. Good thing a friend was sissy enough to chicken out and take the video.

Juuuump!

Summer Mix 2008

It's a bit late, but here's what my MP3 player was playing during the past couple of months; it my Summer 2008 mix.



1. Gavin DeGraw - His sophomore, eponymous outing, sadly feels like some showpieces from American Idol, a swagger here, then a belt-out finale. Gone are his self-righteous declarations, enter an angrier, slighted singer. Yet, the album is still catchy, almost like the debut, but some riffs just sound like taken from a hillbilly roadhouse. Anyway, I like the album enough to keep it on rotation.




2. Arctic Monkeys/Favourite Worst Nightmare - Admittedly, the first one took quite a while for it to grow on me. After several repeats of Put on your dancing shoes, you dirty little swine!, it was a headbanging, awkward-dancing affair. Their second album didn't take much acclimatisation, this one caught on fast. Teddy Picker, D Is For Dangerous and Flourescent Adolescent stand out to be really listenable. Full credit to Arctic Monkeys for bringing the pop into indie; and like their swipe at Brian in Brianstorm, top marks for not even trying.



3. Scouting For Girls - This year's summer anthem is brought to you by this UK act. I'm always on the hunt for for a zippity, skippity, boppity (I'll stop now) song that defines the energy, and carefree attitude of summer. Summery. (I have got to stop inventing words.) They sound like Counting Crows, with more piano that feels like taken from a stage musical. There's even a quirky tribute to Sean, Roger, George, Timmy, Pierce and Daniel at the end of the album. The entire album is pieced with short happy tunes that you'll enjoy walking under the crisp yellow sun while listening to it.




4. Red Jumpsuit Apparatus/Don't You Fake It - I don't like the emo-shouting at all. However, their slower pieces Your Guardian Angel and Cat & Mouse warrant some airplay. Probably some self-emoting in the car. But no shouting! Kids in America, tsk, tsk, tsk.




5. OneRepublic - Don't let Timbaland's popular remix of their hit Apologize throw you off. There's a lot more on offer from the band, and I am reminded of the time I used to listen to The Calling, matchbox20, and the sort. The music is way different, but alternative rock nonetheless. The falsettos aren't exactly my cup of tea, but hey, the melodies work out all right.