7 Village Noodle House 七廊粿條湯 @ Abu Siti Lane

This is my final period of stay in Penang before I officially start working in Singapore.

Fortunately, I managed to catch up with some of my high school buddies this time (namely Chee Wee, Wooi Siang, Wei Chung and Yeu Cheung).

I was sort of the one who invited them for the meetup and gosh, I hate to use my barely-surviving Nokia 6300 to SMS, but I had no choice because I have no other phone for my Malaysian SIM card.

The place where we had dinner is 7 Village Noodle House 七廊粿條湯, as recommended by some of them, which I hadn't heard of at that point of time. Kway Teow Soup or Guo Tiao Tang is one of the most common Chinese hawker food in Malaysia, which I've been occasionally eating since young.

The restaurant is originated from the other side of Penang - Butterworth. The saturated taste from the Kway Teow Soup accelerated my urge of finishing the entire bowl of the noodles. They have both dried one and another with soup. I usually prefer eating noodles with soup as I sort of have my own philosophy that the soup is the essence of whatever that is in the bowl, and at that night itself I almost wanted to order another same bowl of Guo Tiao Tang.

廣將 Kwan Jiang @ RM1.00/piece


滷肉 Lobak @ RM1.80/roll


七廊粿條湯 Guo Tiao Tang (Large) @ RM4.70

37 Lorong Abu Siti
10400 Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia.

Bruno Mars - It Will Rain (Cover by Cynthia Ng)

Cynthia Ng Yi Xyann, the name one always heard in primary school (Penang Chinese Girls' Primary School), owing to her title of the 'flower of the school' (校花), whom I have not been keeping in contact with for 11 years!!! ever since Primary 6, whoolala. We're in the same class for 2 years (4H, 5H) anyway.

I guess after watching my Happy Birthday A Cappella, she intended to do a cover with me when I got back to Penang, and thankfully when I flew back to Penang from Singapore during my recess week, we managed to make one cover in one night at her house. It's a cover for Bruno Mars - It Will Rain.

Can you imagine how insane Bruno Mars is? The key I played for Cynthia (D major) is the original key Bruno Mars sang in, without her realization. He's just totally singing a female's key. I bet none of his songs is probably comfortably singable by normal guys, except The Lazy Song, I supposed.

Recording the audio was quite an impromptu. Luckily the clavinova at her house which she hasn't been touching for ages is a Yamaha clavinova, I know how to record the playback. Well, the reason of recording the playback is basically, the keys are making too much noise, it could've been louder than the musical notes produced by the keys.

The next fortunate and unforeseen thing was, she has a karaoke system at home. So having no mixer and stuffs, the smart way (or rather unprofessional) is to record her voice with my iPhone, by placing my phone in front of the one of the speakers. But sadly she has no pop filter, and it took me a while to bring down the volume of the 'p' and 'k' air.

Editing the video transition was another pain in the ass, as she kept having different postures (of the way her hands were holding the mic stand) when I was shooting her lip syncing with our first successful recording.

Well, I love collaboration, when you get to halve your effort for publicity.

And I have to say that she has a very voice, which she utilizes well. That's why I didn't even want to harmonize, because my voice just won't fit hers in any way.

So please do check out our cover for It Will Rain!

The More We Get Together (Piano & Harmonica Cover)

There's a Chinese phrase that I've been hearing since young, 「吃飽沒事做」, lit. eat full nothing do. Wow, they rhyme.

So this time it's the retarded me playing instruments in the unusual way.

I just need to play the harmonica by biting without moving it horizontally because this nursery rhyme (a British folk song actually) uses only two chords. So I just blow for a C chord and draw for a G chord (although it's actually a G^7add9 without G itself).

I crossed my arms and faced away from the piano to play and that's really obstructive to my movements, but if you noticed, my right hand was still on the side where is should be and so did my left hand, so it's still not too challenging, unlike those performed by professional entertaining pianists who're able to switch their hands' role.

But still, it's not easy for mine. You can try and see.

---

[The More We Get Together]
The more we get together, together, together,
the more we get together, the happier we shall be.
For your friends are my friends,
and my friends are your friends.
The more we get together, the happier we shall be.

【當我們同在一起】
當我們同在一起，在一起，在一起，
當我們同在一起，其快樂無比。
你對著我笑嘻嘻，我對著你笑哈哈。
當我們同在一起，其快樂無比。

---

李佳薇 - 煎熬 (Cover)

哇，N年沒用中文寫部落格了。

好了，話說回來，這次要分享的是我小弟譚耀明翻唱李佳薇首張專輯主打《煎熬》的視頻。我則幫他彈吉他伴奏。

耀明的音準對我來說，真的比其他和他同年紀的小朋友好多了。很久以前我就注意到了，可是媽媽就只為他學業操心，學鋼琴也有了半途而廢的過去。有時就聽到他唱嘛，起初是想：“ㄟ，《煎熬》的音他還唱得上，反正如今尚未變聲，就趁現在讓他秀一秀。”

不過他可真忙啊，好不容易百忙中抽出了時間來錄影，錄完之後又得馬上就寢養神了。

下面兩個視頻分別是原曲和翻唱之後上載到YouTube的視頻啦。
以C調演奏（比原曲高一個Key），其實這樣子和弦按法就簡單多了。

原唱：李佳薇
作詞：徐世珍/司魚
作曲：饒善強

早知道　你只是飛鳥　擁抱後　手中只剩下
羽毛　當初你又何必浪費
那麼多咖啡和玫瑰　來打擾

我想要　安靜的思考　天平上　讓愛恨不再
動搖　一想你就平衡不了
我關燈還是關不掉　這風暴

心一跳　愛就開始煎熬　每一分　每一秒
火在燒　燒成灰有多好　叫思念　不要吵
我相信我已經快要　快要把你忘掉
跟寂寞　再和好

得不到　也不要乞討　怎麼做　不需要別人
轉告　在陷得太深的海底
我也只剩下我自己　能依靠

心一跳　愛就開始煎熬　每一分　每一秒
火在燒　燒成灰有多好　叫思念　不要吵
我相信我已經快要　快要把你忘掉
跟寂寞　再和好

我相信我已經快要　是真的我快要
快要可以微笑　去面對　下一個　擁抱

視頻是在我房間裡錄的。影音文件是從相機裡取出存進電腦的。聲音素質有些怪，因為經過了Adobe Audition CS6的雜音消除過程，而視頻是經過Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5編輯的。歌詞輸入真的要人命，而且也是最麻煩又耗精費神的了。

我們都不是專業的，所以根本不算是什麼很出眾的表演，當然耀明也有好些部分唱走音，尤其是第二副歌那裡，假音也有些虛。與其評估這翻唱的水準，不如看看我這快要12歲的弟弟多可愛唄！

也希望大家會喜歡這個Cover（我們可是只錄一次從頭到尾的喔）。

PS：李佳薇真是我們大馬的驕傲！^^

Maxim Dim Sum @ Taman Pekaka

Maxim Dim Sum 美食之家

Having caught up with Emilia and Alex last month at VivoCity in Singapore when I came back from Sweden gave me the warmth I yearned for after staying in Europe for 5 months.

Now they're back in Penang for a few days and I was able to meet the exact same people again coincidentally, but in Penang this time. Maxim Dim Sum Restaurant shall be the place 3 of us congregate for the last time in Penang, as Alex's going to work soon in Subang while Emilia and I will continue our final year in NUS. Oh, and because 3 of us are from NUS, we have relatively more common topics to kaypo about. It's therefore definitely a good time to cherish, we don't usually meet friends from NUS in our hometown.

Having breakfast in this dim sum restaurant at 10am was suggested by Emilia because it's nearer to her home, however in spite of that, I was asked to pick her up and drop her back home.

Har gow 蝦餃 (Shrimp dumplings) @ RM3.00


Shumai 燒賣 (Pork dumplings) @ RM2.00


Fish balls 魚丸 @ RM2.60


Chee cheong fun 豬腸粉 (Rice noodle roll) @ RM3.00

Tieguanyin 鐵觀音 @ RM0.80


Egg tart 蛋撻 @ RM1.50


Shrimp rolls 蝦捲 @ RM3.50


Lo mai gai 糯米雞 (Steamed sticky rice with chicken) @ RM2.80


Custard buns 流沙包 @ RM3.50


Yong Tau Fu 釀豆腐 (Stuffed bean curd) @ RM3.50

Delicious and affordable are the food, so make sure you check it out whenever you feel like yum-ing cha with your buddies. Location wise, if you know where Tesco Extra Sungai Dua is, you'll find Taman Pekaka - due south from Tesco Extra.

Alex, we wish you 開工大吉!!! (and wait for your treat ^^)


Maxim Dim Sum Restaurant
Bangunan Lip Sin 2-G-11 & 12, Lebuh Pekaka 1,
Sungai Dua, 11700 Gelugor,
Penang, Malaysia.

Just Caffe @ Green Hall Road

Excuse me Min Yao, that's mine... ^^

A tiring badminton session at Permata Sports Complex in the morning and lunch at the Esplanade coffee shop are followed by a chit chatting session in Just Caffe at 3:45pm, with Min Yao, Jung Chin, Li Ting and Wei Ching.

After a while I realized who's the one that came up with the idea.
Just Caffe is operated by one of Min Yao's friends, acquainted in her college (Carleton College) in the U.S.
That tells why they have a number of Caucasian customers despite being a small cafe in quite an isolated neighborhood. Well, one certainly knows if he/she can tell where SEGi College Penang or Penang House of Prayer (PenHOP) is located.

We only had drinks there and the prices of food & drinks are considerably reasonable taking into consideration that it attracts foreigners.

It's cozy inside and if you feel too cold, you can have a seat outside. But don't pay your visit too late as it closes at 5pm.

Besides, it's quite new as it just opened on 30 June 2012.

Latte @ RM8


Jasmine Tea @ RM6 & Caramel Iced Latte @ RM11

For some reason, Min Yao and I actually ordered the exact same drink (Caramel Iced Latte) but hers was a glass and mine was a plastic cup although I've mentioned that I'm having in. My English accent isn't American enough eh?

While drinking, we were discussing about some more in-depth topic - Christianity, religions, beliefs. Apparently Wei Ching was interested to know more about these subjects and the philosophy of them.
Min Yao first astounded Wei Ching by bringing her loads of readings and books related to these topics, which surprised me because I guessed that's a bit too overwhelming. Jung Chin, Min Yao and her were more involved in the conversation while Li Ting and I were rather listeners.

I thought it's a meaningful discussion as Wei Ching was willing to listen and more susceptible to the teaching than I expected, and I learnt the way to start a topic about Christianity to first tackle the general doubts a typical non believer has. Having talked over these once again touched me spiritually when I recalled the works He did on earth.

The discussion went on for an hour, which brought us to the closing time of the cafe, that's when we got dismissed. Li Ting who's having headache needed to take a rest; and I'll have to drop Min Yao at her aunt's place.

Just Caffe
Ground Floor, 52 Green Hall Road,
10200 Penang, Malaysia.

Hatsune Miku 初音ミク - Dream Light

やっと、僕の初めて作曲した日本語の歌ができて、Vocaloid 2で初音ミクに歌わせた「Dream Light」っていう歌。嬉しい！！

その上、ビデオも作ってYouTubeにアップロードした、Dreamみたいなぁと思う。

NUSで取った日本語五の永見先生に歌詞をコメントしていただいて、忠祥さんに歌詞に目を通してもらって、どうもありがとうございました。

僕の日本語能力でいい歌詞の書くことはあまりできなくて、ごめん。

お楽しみくださいね。

I've finally finished composing my first ever Japanese song, and by using Vocaloid 2, I made Hatsune Miku sing this song, which I named "Dream Light". I'm damn delighted and satisfied!!

Besides, I made a video (not an MV actually) and uploaded it to YouTube, ah... it's like a dream to me, never thought I would manage to complete such project.

I wanna hereby thank my Japanese 5 teacher, Nagami sensei for commenting and correcting my lyric and Theong Siang (also from Chung Ling High School) for looking over my lyric.

Too bad my current Japanese proficiency doesn't allow me to write too fancy lyric.

But anyway, enjoy!!

作詞・作曲・編曲：譚凱升

雨雲を通り抜けると　不思議なこと起こるはずよ

あのオーロラは　夢　希望の種を　照らす
まだ消えてしまわないうちに　よく祈る　明るい場所で

微笑みの裏に　瞳の叫びが　涙をぬぐうように

青空にドリームの心　朝日が昇ってるところ
雨雲を通り抜けると　不思議なこと起こるはずよ

そのオーロラは　夢　未来の道を　点す
暗闇に負けそうなときにも　思い出せ　あの笑い声を

頭に残った　記憶のメロディは　笑顔を取り戻すの

青空にドリームの心　朝日が昇ってるところ
雨雲を通り抜けると　不思議なこと起こるはずよ

青空にドリームの心　朝日が昇ってるところ
雨雲を通り抜けると　不思議なこと起こるはずよ　起こってるよ

このオーロラは　夢


Streetvoiceでも聞くことができるよ！＾＾

Penang Bowl

After visiting the charity bazaar in my secondary school, Chung Ling High School (in line with its 95th anniversary), Wooi Siang, Jia Horng, Leong Chye and I continued our day playing bowling at Penang Bowl.

We played 2 games @ RM9 (RM4 each game and RM1 for shoe rental), no student price after 1pm.
The last time I played bowling before this was, erm.... a year ago or something like that... and then I cleaned the drains so many times for the first game, so discouraging but for the second game...

147!!! Guess what, my best so far, 3 points more then my previous record, although this is definitely not something a regular bowler takes pride in but hey, for a complete bowling amateur who doesn't even have a correct posture of releasing the bowling ball onto the lane like me, it's an achievement right? Haha... Getting a turkey would make me a better day though.

Seriously, I just need to keep the ball straight to the middle pin to score high. But how, the ball is just always so disobedient. Else, scoring >200 wouldn't be of great effort isn't it? I don't know... hmmm...

38 Lebuh Farquhar
10200 Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia
Tel: +604-2634702

Please subscribe to my channel

I took a video of my youngest brother, Jonathan Tham Yao Ming, saying a random quote in January before I left for student exchange programme in Sweden and just finished adding subtitle to the video to make it more laughable.

Enjoy!

Please subscribe to my channel, so that I can buy myself and iPod, and an iPad, and also an iPhone. Thank you!

Panasonic Lumix GF3

Yes!!! I've got what I've been aspiring for recently.

A Red Panasonic DMC-GF3

It's the last day of Gurney Plaza Camera Fair 2011 and my family visited just to buy Lumix GF3 for me.
Honestly, I felt quite embarrassed seeing my dad insistently bargaining for the package discount and freebies (quite proud of him ironically).

For RM2150, I got:
• The camera with a 14mm pancake lens and 14-42mm zoom lens
• 8GB SD Card
• Camera bag
• Samsonite bag
• Toiletries case
• Lumix Exclusive Cleaning Kit with mini tripod, cloth, card reader, SD card holder, blower etc
• Umbrella

Lumix GF3 is so far the world's smallest and lightest interchangable lens camera. Indeed, when I compared it with Nikon D40 which I'd been using before that, I was quite astonished by the difference in size and weight.
In spite of that, the quality of image and video shouldn't be underestimated.
Touch screen is truely also a wonderful feature that makes photo shooting experience easier and fun.

The 6 color effects in Creative Control mode

Here's a test video I've taken using Creative Control: Retro, edited in Adobe Premiere Pro CS3

I'm not actually writing a review for this camera (by the way, there're so many useful reviews outside that there's no need for me to do one), just to share my happiness and excitement.

Thank you dad, I shall make it my Christmas present in advance :)

Check out the Lumix GF3 at Amazon at a special price of US$379!
You can get the body only at US$229!

Delicious @ Straits Quay

Opened in May 2011, Delicious is a café located at one corner of the Strait Quay's dock in Penang.

By the way, it's Joling's 22nd birthday and together with her three buddies, we had a very late dinner over there.

I can say that it's a costly place to dine in for ordinary people.

Five of us waited for quite a moment as it was like fully seated - a good reason to start camwhoring...

After we're seated, we checked out the menu and wow, it's amazing to find that there's no pictures of food in a restaurant menu.


Seriously Delicious Cheeseburger served with Shoestring Fries (RM24.90) ★★★★☆


Four Cheese Macaroni (RM21.90) ★★★★☆


Marmalade Bread & Butter Pudding with Custard Sauce (RM10.90) ★★☆☆☆


Macadamia Cheesecake topped with Crunchy Macadamia Nut Brittle & Caramel (RM13.90) ★★★★☆


Mascarpone Pesto Chicken served with Fried Potatoes & Asparagus (RM39.90) ★★★☆☆


English Fish & Chips served with Homemade Tartare Sauce & Garden Greens (RM29.90) ★★★★☆


Happy birthday dear dear! ❤❤


3C-G-3 & 3C-G-3A, Straits Quay
Jalan Seri Tanjung Pinang, Tanjung Tokong
10470 Penang, Malaysia.