My 2011 Music List

I still think I missed out on a lot of bands this year, as the 2011 list looks more pop than usual.

This is the first half of the list, and the Top 25 songs I will reveal slowly, before the year ends :)

26 One Republic Good Life
27 Atomic Tom Take Me Out
28 Kings of Leon Radioactive
29 Nicki Minaj featuring Drake Moment for Life
30 Alphabeat DJ (I Could Be Dancing)
31 Sara Bareilles Hold My Heart
32 Crystal Castles featuring Robert Smith Not In Love
33 Cut Copy Take Me Over
34 The Wombats Tokyo (Vampires and Wolves)
35 Rihanna and Calvin Harris We Found Love
36 The Script Science and Faith
37 The Naked And Famous Punching In A Dream
38 The Wombats Anti-D
39 Frankmusik featuring Far East Movement Do It In The AM
40 Gotye featuring Kimbra Somebody That I Used To Know
41 Selena Gomez Who Says
42 Kesha We R Who We R
43 The Downtown Fiction Thanks For Nothing
44 Calvin Harris Feel So Close
45 The Wombats Jump Into The Fog/1996
46 Tim Berg featuring Amanda Wilson Seek Bromance
47 Arcade Fire Ready To Start
48 Cut Copy Need You Now
49 Enrique Iglesias and Nicole Scherzinger Heartbeat
50 Martin Solveig The Night Out

A new blog!

Yes, I have a new blog - Two Vacations A Year dedicated solely to travel. I haven't posted much here, as I have been quite the busy person lately. Shouldn't be calling it lately as I'm halfway through my postgrad program, but meh.

Soooo....I'll still be keeping this blog, though I foresee that this will only hold the year-end music countdowns (something I've kept (though not in blog form) since the late 90s). Which reminds me, that should be in a month's time.

See you guys at TVAY, it's a listing of pocket itineraries for the business traveler, or for that has no time and would like to modularise his/her trips.

China and Japan, Heads Up!

Similar to what I did in 2007, I'm running a poll where you decide where I will be heading for a vacation. I've already booked Korea this year, plus pending trips to Indonesia, India, and wherever our team meeting will be in Europe. I'm no longer counting Singapore, Malaysia since I never do anything there anyway.

So. The last poll ended with Brisbane winning over Hobart (Queensland vs Tasmania). This time, the poll is China vs Japan. My friend's miles are expiring, and I'd like to use it. I've been to both, spending almost a month in each in total.

Option 1: Japan in January 2012.

The thing with Japan, is I spent almost a month there during Hanami and generally did the major highlights. However, since it's my favourite country to visit, why not do it all over again. The planned itinerary is:

Kyoto for 2 days (no shortage of temples to visit there), skiing, and a visit to Ghibli Museum (missed it the last time). Sapporo up north or Hiroshima down south is an excursion option.




Option2: China sometime in 2011.

Xian has always been on my list, pity that I didn't have the time during my last visit. So, time to work on that. Though the terracotta army is not really on my list of things to see, I might as well.

My itinerary will be a short Beijing-Xian-Chengde.




So, what will it be? Vote away at the top left of this blog - I need to decide by 20th March as the miles are expiring!

AO 2011: Quarterfinals

Well looky here, a little chance to blog on how awesome the first Grand Slam of the year is. I can't believe that it's been 3 years already since I got to wander around Melbourne Park, and the landscape (of players) has changed immensely.

Just in case you haven't noticed. The ladies have been stealing the show all week in Melbourne: From Caroline's interview candor, Fran & Svetlana's epic match, Kim's dominance, and even Andrea's little jig. What Serena, you weren't there? I think we already forgot.

Men's QF
Nadal vs Ferrer
Dolgopolov vs Murray
Berdych vs Djokovic
Wawrinka vs Federer

Really nothing to worry for Nadal's SF spot, until he runs into Murray. That should be an interesting Friday match, too bad I'll miss it! Murray is in fine form, with no troubles winning a set, and so has been Nadal. We'll see how that goes.

I'll also miss out on the Federer-Djokovic showdown (no thank you night classes!). Hope Federer wins, but rooting for Djokovic. I want a new winner to Aussie Open 2011, but wins by the top 3 players are also welcome.

Women's QF
Caroline vs Francesca
Na vs Andrea
Agnieszka vs Kim
Petra vs Vera

At least by this time, we already know that a new Queen in Melbourne will be crowned Saturday. It would be a vindicating one for Caroline, a long-overdue one for Kim, a geographically-appropriate (and political statement) one for Na, and a surprise for the rest. My guess is a Na-Kim for the most Korean-sounding final in Melbourne.