May’n one more time……….last time out she gave us 7 songs but this time the concert was gonna be bigger and I was most looking forward to hearing songs from her new album.

Let’s start of with some of the official pics. Thanks Mr Shawn Chin, Festival director for the pics so I can blog them. So here we go…..

The song Pink Monsoon already has quite abit of a hip hop feel to it but the intro was slightly modified perhaps to allow more pop locking from her dancers in the opening performance. She wore this shiny black number which looked absoloutely stylish on her……….damn I was in love from the start…..LOL!

More from the official lens with May’n changing outfits halfway to a brighter green look. Still performing many new tracks before…………..Northern Cross!

Just to give you a view of what it looked like on stage and from the back of the hall……….massive and colourful I tell you. In most ways a Japanese anime come to life.

Other highlights of the big concert was the legend himself Yoshiki Fukuyama in his first ever unplugged concert. How the heck do you perform anime songs unplugged………well he did and that’s why he’s the legend. He of course is the singing voice Basara Nekki from Macross 7.

This guy has a heck of a vocal range but the biggest treat of all was when he performed a duet with May’n. Now the duet was anticipated, everyone kinda knew it was coming but what we didn’t expect was the song they would perform……..Diamond Crevasse. Instand OMG!

It was one song from my anime and one song from your anime as the 2 perform 2 duets……….ahhhh my year is complete. And as Shawn Chin put it………..”many world first”.

He’s a very sporting guy as 2 cosplayers dressed up as Mylene and Basara from the Macross 7 series went up in full gear and got their guitars autographed

Hey I gotta have my picture with them for keeps sake……….I was really impressed with their costumes and that’s what makes a festival. All this colour, music and passion.

One last time from my Kawaii K-on babes……

Danker out!

A key point to every…..and I mean every major festival will always be the hosts and as a professional host I was looking forward to see how the organisers would approach it this year.

Last year was interesting but it didn’t quite hit home presentation wise……….this year however was an entirely different story.

Of course first up we had Calista who somewhat functioned as the link between her Japanse co-host and the English audience. And she did a great job on stage engaging the crowd in what would be a rather intimidating place. Hey you try standing on stage with a few thousand screaming fans waiting for a concert and you tell me if theres pressure or not……damn I love the pressure!

But there was one lady who stole the stage for me and she is none other than Reiko. Speaking beautiful Japanese and the English to blend she really has grown from strength to strength this year.

I wish I knew her personally but since I don’t, if anyone out there does please send her my highest compliments. From one presenter to another, Reiko, you were fantastic on stage. An excellent bridge between Japan and Singapore.

Once again on behalf of the Kawaii K-on babes…..

Danker out!

I love toys and I’m running out of space at home……hahahahah! But come on AFA without toys would be so wrong. So away from the main stage area the rest of hall 4o1 was filled with Japanese toys from our favorite animes.

Yes Gundam, without a doubt Gundam has been one of the signatures of Japanese toys and anime. Fair enough if you mention other titles but when you say Gundam, everyone goes……….JAPAN!

Just look at the detail on this rocker chic……how cool is that, shes got her very own padel to go with that electric guitar.

More Gundam with 00 raiser and Dragonball below. The one thing that attracts me to toys so much really is the colour, I like how all the colours have to match and theres this standard matching format to it.  Like the lead Gundam is usually white and blue.

And then I stumbled upon this…………00 Raiser perfect grade! Woah!…………I Master Grade already damn shack imagine a perfect grade. Perhaps since I have no where to go for my coming xmas holiday I should buy this and spend the week working on it.

What a sense of achievement man…………if I can complete this.

Anyway, on behalf of the Kawaii K-on babes…..

Danker out!

It’s been a year already and the big bang Japanese culture was back in town in full force for AFA09! The action unfolded at the Suntec City Convention Centre on 21 and 22 Nov 09 in vibrant colour and sound. A coming of culture and creativity.

This year the main stage / concert area was blocked off which kinda gave it that mysterious feel to the entire place. Of course on display were your regular toys and anime on display.

The Cosplay competition was a particular highlight and the standards were definately UP-ed from last year. Hey no joke just check out some of the pics courtesy of my friend Kenneth.

Now the thing about this cosplay competition or most cosplay competitions is that it’s not just dressing up like the particular anime character but also to portray his behaviour. You not only gotta look the part but act the part as well.

Dropping by Singapore to add a little bit of Japan was celebrity cosplayer Kaname who was one of the judges for the cosplay competition.

This of course is his portrayal of Cloud from the Final Fantasy games. I know what your thinking, celebrity cosplayer? Hey look at it this way, the dude is good……..so good he’s celebrity material.

I always look forward to seeing Gundam, he’s been Exia, Strike Freedom and now 00 Raiser…….man this guy is good.

May’n to perform second night and with Macross fever still riding high one year on, you can bet there will be Sheryl Nomes and here’s one of them.

On behalf of the Kawaii K-on babes………

Danker out!

Teenage Vampire fairytales…….they never fail to amaze me. Perhaps I’m too old or insensitive to get it. In all seriousness Twilight the first film was not bad although slow at times. There was a sense of purpose in it………

So being a sequel and all that, how would New Moon pan out? Just about the same really………it was slow la, I couldn’t handle that. Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand where it was coming from, all that mood swings in the film had to happen.

It’s just I find it incredible that Bella could forgive Edward for ditching her like that and likewise, Edward you love Bella right? So what the FRAK do you gotta leave her like that? Cause you don’t wanna hurt her? Hey man your a strong dude so why not put that to good use.

Ok ok I’m being insensitive………I’m sorry, I understand it’s a teen romance novel to begin with and believe me, if it’s anyone that wish love and forgiveness were that simple, it would be me………..truely.

But there you go, perhaps we need to let go of the complexities of love to understand and accept true love the way Edward and Bella do.

Danker out!

I’ve decided……….I’m leaving…..

Thanks for the memories, thanks for everything but I’m going to New York……

Wait for me Alicia baby……..I’m coming home……

Danker out…..

Korea heads to the big screen one more time. We last saw him in Speed Racer………..which he did not bad I must say and now this time Rain takes the lead role in Ninja Assassin.

Apparently he had to train in martial arts till he managed to attain 0% fat……….how the hell is that possible??? Anyway back to the film, NinjA Assassin provides for stunning action sequences but please, leave your brain at the door. No this is not a movie where the plot is awesome, it’s a mindless action film just the way it should be.

Raizo (Rain) is one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. But haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them…and vanishes.

Now he waits, preparing to exact his revenge. In Berlin, Europol agent Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) has stumbled upon a money trail linking several political murders to an underground network of untraceable assassins from the Far East. Defying the orders of her superior, Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles), Mika digs into top secret agency files to learn the truth behind the murders. Her investigation makes her a target, and the Ozunu Clan sends a team of killers, led by the lethal Takeshi (Rick Yune), to silence her forever. Raizo saves Mika from her attackers, but he knows that the Clan will not rest until they are both eliminated. Now, entangled in a deadly game of cat and mouse through the streets of Europe, Raizo and Mika must trust one another if they hope to survive…and finally bring down the elusive Ozunu Clan.

Yup, typical plot…….but hey if your a fan of action, go for it man!

Danker out!

Happy birthday to US, Power98 celebrated it’s 15th Birthday and Timbre celebrated their 4th anniversary over the weekend at Timbre Mobile East Coast Park.

There’s no other way to celebrate a birthday than with a big party where everyone’s invited for FREE! Hahahaha and so the Power crew gathered as early as 3pm to start preparation for the big party.

As you can see Harry the stage manager had already started on his booze……while the  rest of us got into our new get-up for the event.

We had a photoboard where you could write your birthday greetings and also take photos with the DJs and you would get the picture printed out for you as a souvenir.  

We had the top local bands performing for us from the likes of Fatskunks, The fire fight, West Grand Boulevard, EIC, 53A and Electrico.

And of course there were prizes to be won, hosted by all the jocks from Power98.

So we had good music (stole Sara for a photo below)……

We had Danny (from Timbre)……..

And a nice big red birthday cake (courtesy of Polar puffs and cakes)…….

Not to mention the free booze, which cause alot of noise that night I might add.

Behold a scene of DJs trying to fight for the mic…………..haiz, DJs these days……

Oh we also had lot’s of friends turn up to support us.

Even my dad came down and had a heart to heart with my on-air partner…….

And of course, my lovely record label ladies…….muacks muacks!

All in all, I was mostly drunk and so was everybody else! Hahahaha!

Till the next big party, we’ll see you around!

Danker out!

Disaster movies are awesome because everything gets destroyed! Wooo Hoooo! ……….sorry, got carried away. 2012 is basically your modern day Noah’s ark type of tale.

The world is coming to and end and the story focuses on a family that’s going through some tough times. We have a father whos doing his best for his kids but they prefer their soon to be step father……..oh lovely, another one of those but hey that story arc was neccesary for this film and you will understand why at the end.

As much as things getting destroyed, this is also a tale of hope and the survival of humanity. Will humans behave like animals or worse……….just care for themselves? As far fetched as this movie may be, there are lessons to take away from it.

Danker out!

I’m on a day’s leave today just sitting at home relaxing and not wanting to think about anything right now. You know how life can be real hectic and a thousand and one things can be happening at the same time and really you don’t know where to put what particular emotion to? Yup…….that’s the shit I’m going through right now.

One way to deal with it is to smiply change your schedulle. This week I hosted Power Cruisin’s again with Penny on Monday. It’s different from the usual 10am to 2pm routine……..a change would do you good.

So at the start of the week it’s always Love Songs Monday’s on Own Time Own Target. Emo classics on Total Recall and I picked the songs myself this week…….I actually just left my cans on and belted out while they were playing.

At one point, I actually felt like crying…….

Danker out!