Category Archives: Music

Heartsome Hong Kong Day 2

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The Hong Kong Adventure Day 2 begins with this scenery at 7:00 in the morning:

With the 15° Celsius temperature, it’s really a good idea to just stay in bed and curl up around a warm blanket all day. But then, we were all jolted up by just hearing this coming from the other side of the door:

“Change of plans for Day 2. Let’s go to Disneyland!”

The kids shrieked and jumped with joy and joining them, we couldn’t contain the giddiness and excitement that we all felt that we skipped breakfast for this activity. Ready for this long post? Well then, read on!

Going from Hong Kong Island to Lantau Island (Disneyland) went like this: From the hotel, we rode the airport shuttle to the MTR Hong Kong Station (Tsuen Wan Line) going to Lai King Station. From there, we alit at Sunny Bay station going to the Disneyland Resort Sounds about complicated but it’s actually not but it could take a while to get used to the MTR System in Hong Kong though. It took us almost about an hour for this trip including all the walking and transfers itself.

The park is divided into seven attractions: Toy Story Land, Mystic Point, Grizzly Gulch, Adventureland, Mainstreet, USA, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. An overview of the Theme Park using the Disneyland Mobile App:

✱ Toy Story Land– Of course, who else would you want to see in this area? Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jessie, Rex, Mr. Potato Head, the Aliens, Hamm, Toy Soldiers, Zurg! Name it, they’re all there!

✱ Mystic Point-We weren’t able to explore this part of the park but according to the provided map, it is where Lord Henry Mystic manor is located along with his collection of arts and antiquities acquired from around the globe.

✱ Grizzly Gulch- Just like the Mystic Point, we were not able to explore this part as well. But I think that’s just fine, nothing to miss out on this though.

✱ Adventureland- This area has so manny attractions to see such as the Festival of the Lion King, Rafts to Tarzan’s Tree House, Tarzan’s Treehouse, Jungle River Cruise and Liki Tikis.

✱ Main Street, U.S.A– Travel back in time as it takes you to experience and enjoy the colorful architecture of the 20th Century set in a small town in the USA.

✱ Fantasyland- Oh boy! Where do I even start?  Fantasyland is the heart of the Disney World after all. There is so much to see in this section and I have to say, the Disney Imagineers really did a great job on this one. It’s the perfect go-to for kids and kids-at-heart.

✱ Tomorrowland- This area is for the techie ones housing the Hyperspace Mountain, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, The Orbitron, THE Star Wars Command Post, Jedi Temple and soon to open- The Iron Man Experience.


So there you go, a glimpse of the huge Disneyland Theme Park!

But before anything else, we needed something to fuel us up for the day: Lunch at Tomorrowland at the Starliner Diner:

Now that we’ve been prepped up by that sumptuous meal, we immediately lined up to the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster! It was such a treat because I have Lia with me, my travel buddy for the whole trip, to tour me around the area. So before going inside the room, she already gave me some pointers on how to beat the evil Emperor Zurg and how to save the Universe!

I must say, I got a bit emotional during the show as all of the songs that were played reminds me so much of my childhood. I knew all the songs WORD. PER. WORD. We were welcomed by Beauty and the Beast’s Lumiere as he sang “Be Our Guest”, Snippets from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Ariel from Little Mermaid (I find myself waving my hands in the air whispering “Bubbles, Flounder, Bubbles!” as Ariel sang Part of Your World and oh yes, I want more!), Peter Pan, the Lion King and Aladdin and Jasmine! I’d love to watch it again! I also felt so happy to see Lia enjoy the show as well!

After the show, Anthony and I decided to go aboard  the Jungle River Cruise as the kids went to their kiddie realm. So here’s what we got to see but only took a few shots cause we really took time to enjoy each and every moment of the cruise!

After the River Cruise, we immediately went in queue at the Starwars Command Post where we got to meet and greet R2D2! Was kinda hoping we could meet Chewbacca as well but he was scheduled at a later time.

At 3:30 came one of the highlights of the trip: The Flights of Fantasy Parade where we saw our favorite Disney Characters come to life and our dreams take flight!

After the show, everyone lined up for the 28-minute Mickey and the Wondrous Book show that featured Mickey as he travels through the pages of a Wondrous Book where Disney stories and characters come to life in a spectacular musical. There was Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Tiana from Princess and the Frog, King Louie from the Jungle Book, Genie from Aladdin, Rapunzel from Tangled, and Anna from from Frozen!.. and yes, I, once again, sang along with them! It’s like watching a Broadway show, only, Disney character are on it!

And now on to our last performance for the day before the Disney Paint the Night Parade start: The Festival of the Lion King! Such an amazing, amazing, amazing show!

And for the Finale for the Day? The Disney Paint the Night Parade!

Like a fairy tale, the night must come to an end. This was such a memorable day for me for my childhood dream has come to reality. The kids and the young at heart who were with me today did surely had a blast and made their dreams come true too- on Christmas Eve! Thank you for making this day a reality! Until next time!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

 …to be continued

Disney Playlist Cram Beater

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Loving the Walnut Ink!

Loving the Walnut Ink!

It’s a busy Sunday afternoon and I really have to submit two overdue papers. Read: Late submission and this sucks. I loathe not beating the deadline! But today, to extract the creative juices, I turned on Spotify and tuned in to my all time Disney playlist and I ended up with these calligraphy doodles.

Oh boy. Now back to work.

xoxo,
Deanne

Shut Up and Dance with Me

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The first time I heard this about five months ago, I instantly knew that it would be my summer anthem. It’s simple, catchy and fun! Can’t even help but write the lyrics along with the music.

This just in from the Washington Post:

A few years ago, it was “Call Me Maybe,” played so relentlessly that an alternative title materialized on YouTube: “Call Me Never.” This summer it’s “Shut Up and Dance.”
“This woman is my destiny,” Walk the Moon croons, “She said ooh ooh ooh . . .” and you can hear the rest by opening the door to any mall: “Shut up and dance with me.”

Tunes have spun on repeat since the days of Greek choruses, but now social scientists are trying to explain how these songs become so viral and addictive. Some studies pin it on background singers. Others tie it to high pitches. One attempted to find a link to our gross domestic product.

The newest explanation — and one attracting considerable scholarly interest — looks at lyrics and how the brain processes them. After studying every Billboard hit since 1958, researchers at the University of Southern California have discovered that a song’s popularity is tied to the simplicity of the lyrics and how often they are repeated, exposing the brain’s weakness for plainness.

“Tempo does not appear to matter,” the USC researchers wrote in the April issue of the Journal of Consumer Psychology. “While every artist strives to create a catchy hook, they may also consider striving to write a coherent song in which the chorus is repeated frequently while utilizing a limited vocabulary.”

Walk the Moon seems to have hit upon the perfect lyrical lexicon in “Shut Up and Dance,” four simple words repeated 12 times, though for DJs, lifeguards and mall security guards, after hearing it for the 60th time, it can feel like an echoing albatross.

Evan Reitmeyer, a Washington-area DJ, is asked to play the song at almost every wedding he works.

“It’s so simple and so repetitive,” he said. “The first time I heard it, I said, ‘That’s a hit.’ You can just tell right away.”

Source: Rosenwald, M. (2015, July 16) Why do you keep hearing ‘Shut Up and Dance’ everywhere you go? Here’s the scientific answer. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/why-do-you-keep-hearing-shut-up-and-dance-everywhere-you-go-heres-the-scientific-answer/2015/07/16/32c921f8-2655-11e5-b72c-2b7d516e1e0e_story.html

Music and Architecture

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Music. Ahhh. One of my first loves. It actually runs in the family. Growing up, we were expected to master one or more instrument. Be it piano, violin, harp, guitar, harmonica or whatever it is that produces music. We had to regularly practice and read the solfeggio after. I remembering growing up playing the piano and my mom would be in the garden and when I hit the wrong notes, she would yell “WRONG NOTE!” or “AGAIN!” or “That’s my girl!” when I play the piece right. As I grew up, the less time I had to engage in music, except when I listen to the radio, MTV, YouTube and the likes. But as I continued to pursue my career, little did I know that music would still play a big role in creating good architecture. Good thing that in the university that I stay in now, they offer a subject in the curriculum named “Arts in Architecture”. It is actually a study on the aesthetic and creative foundation of architecture through integration of architecture and fine arts particularly literature, poetry, music and dance. It aims to poetically explore creative possibilities in engaging to the origin of the said disciplines and their architectonic translations for the students to develop an understanding of the aesthetic and creative foundation in architecture and to provide opportunities to explore creative possibilities in engaging to the rudiments of literature, poetry, music, sculpture and dance and discover the different architectural morphology through the appreciation and study of the different forms of arts and to promote poetic attitude in creating architecture and to develop competence in creating architectural works with true artistic meaning.

In the age of K-Pop or J-Pop or whatever they call it nowadays, music has somewhat lost its meaning to some of the younger generations. That is why I had to reintroduce them to one of the worlds revolutionary bands during the ’60s in the music realm, The Beatles. Who wouldn’t know John, Paul, George and Ringo?

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What they had to do was to dig into the lyrics of the songs they were assigned to. They have to study its rhythm, the notes and its melody. After that, they have to think of a way to come up with an architectural sculpture that is close to their understanding of the song assigned to them.

So they have come up with the following models.

Voila! Music in Architecture- The Beatles Collection!