Friday, October 28, 2005

Twenty Seven Years Old

Well, I have turned 27 and nevertheless I can feel the blistering 'mellowness' sinking in. Last night, I had a small conversation with my housemates as I was telling them it has proven somehow that we will die close to our birth dates, this phenomenon is something that we can never understand. Then everyone started to think of friends or families who have passed away, well, its true...we stopped and ponder for a while...

I got a nice birthday gift, a good soul posted this on Tiramisu blog:

At 10:00 PM, look at me i'm an artist said…
how about quitting whining about "oh-we're together so long that we've gone thru so much shit"... maybe you should save everyone the trouble of listening to your crappy music and stupid stage antics ("performance art")and just disband? just an idea... :)

At 11:24 PM, Anonymous said…
i totally agree with the previous comment. its never gonna be the same again. you should probably change the name of band instead of shaming it. tiramisu will never be the same again. you can choose to heed or ignore, give it a thought...


My greatest wish is to be a wiser person, never take things for granted, especially for the people/person I have cherished most, and learn not to hate but to love. Not to be angry but be calm, stop whining, be strong, find ways to understand myself better, focus on living a positive life...reconcile, rekindle, reevaluate, revamp, rejoice and recess...

Complimenting a Desolated Heart

To Sleep Near The Sky, 10 LED lights on a pair of aluminium wings.

A tribute to Fridae.com


A tribute to Fridae.com
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
Politician in a Rave Party happening on a cultural desert.

Back to Work!


Back to Work!
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
A scene from 'Not Available On Print Date', September 2005.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Sing Your Pore

I haven't been writing much since I got back from Berlin, before I left, I was in such a crumpled stage that I thought I needed some kind of therapy. The trip helped me to solve certain complexities in my head, well it definitely did somehow.

Berlin was inspiring at a certain level, it made me realised how are we in Singapore still neglecting the fact that life evolved around everything that we see. Hearing stories about the reunification and the abolishment of the wall were poignant and important, on how we have to realise the virtue of living in democratic society.

I guess at the end of the day no matter how bad the situation you are in, there are ways to resolve it, its never about the problem, finding the solution is more worthwhile.

I hate to compare 2 different cities, but a city with a long history and culture is different from a small city who is trying to compete with that. We can never be like those cities, but what we can do is to understand the methodologies of how it works.

Well, I am back here again constantly reformatting my life like a brand new hard drive...

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Berlin Habitat


Berlin Habitat
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
I love the buildings, they looked so flat, but in the buildings there

are a thousand lives.

Stay... Far Away, So Close


Stay... Far Away, So Close
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
Miami, New Orleans, London, Belfast and Berlin...

Seeing Sight


Seeing Sight
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
One of those ancient relics, I think its the Berlin Church.

Monday, October 24, 2005

Tiong Bahru Strafze


Tiong Bahru Strafze
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
This could be in Tiong Bahru, but one of those cute apartments in Berlin.

Goodmorning Berlin...


Goodmorning Berlin...
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
This was taken in the morning, when I woke up at Micha's for the

Berlin sunrise..

Follow Them Was One


Follow Them Was One
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
The remaining of the Berlin Wall.

Sunday, October 23, 2005

The Berlin Diaries

Notes from Berlin:

12th October 2005
06:58 hours
Sorat Hotel, Berlin

The second day in Berlin was pretty much a working day affair, from the hotel to HDW is about 10 minutes walk along the river. The chilly walk was pretty nice actually, only that the cold wind makes my hand numb.

Upon arrival, all the video production was already up, the space is so huge that at times you will have difficulties in locating people. Zul and myself were busy setting up the graphic sticker prints.

The P.O,P Station has been highlighted as some kind of a main event, I am just worried that the costumes might not be enough or too small for the German participants.

As the whole building is covered with wireless internet system, I could not find a way to get connected, except for Ka Fai’s powerbook. I have to get an airport soon.
The Germans are so efficient in their working processes, they are so organised that getting a pair of scissors you need to go through several channels. The exhibition is quite wholesome I think, with quite a number of works by South East Asian artists in all the galleries.

While browsing the bookshop, I stumbled upon Force Vomit and Boredphucks cd, I was surprised, I think Philip Cheah brought them in or something. He is one of the curators for this event actually together with Keng Sen.

In the evening, met up with Truong, a Vietnamese friend of mine who has been living in Berlin for 12 years. I met him in Hanoi 3 years ago while he was doing his soul-searching; he brought us to central Berlin (they call it mitter here) for some Vegetarian dinner, a hippie-eating place with loads of Hippie deco.

Oh yes, finally my luggage is back, after 3 days and finally I will get the chance to wear fresh underwear. Yay!



Friday,14h October 2005
07:08 hours
Sorat Hotel, Berlin

Well, I still woke up early again, finally managed to twist the tap in the toilet for some hot water. Hooray! The instant noodles I brought can finally be devoured with conscience. The reason for the lack of an electric kettle in the hotel room is because of some fire safety.

Yesterday, we managed to finally settle the technicalities of all the stations. We managed to get Karin to test run the whole process, after which Mo (stylist) and Fowlker (camera Assistant) jumped in for the Happy Song.

Anyway, that irritating James Blunt song is one of the hit list here, right now while I am typing this, he’s on MTV.

We had a hilarious interview with an American journalist yesterday for the Kultur Radio programme, I was blabbering nonsense again (my bad habit), all in the name of POP I guess. She asked me whether POP Station transform people into Asian or Western Pop stars; I told her it makes no difference at the end of the day, we are using pop culture as a device to find access for the inaccessible.

Its funny how POP station started out as a joke, have made its way to Deutschland and London. That is the irony of it all, displacement of silly/kitsch/campy of an idea slotting them into the context of art.

There’s this band called Bloodhound gang with a song title ‘Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo Hefty Fine’, a song about fornication or sort, also one of Berlin hit pop songs right now. And the video has this scene of a car dressed up as a big banana going through a tunnel, and pretty girls in drilling the road. (warped)

Last night, Karin brought us to a nice bar that was surrounded by lighted aquariums. After two weeks of not smoking, she picked up again, the reason was, her throat was not getting better.

As we walked the street in Mitter, we realised the number of small galleries displaying contemporary art works. Art is a way of life here, you can see giant art posters everywhere whether it is by a renown or unknown artists.

‘How I wish you are here…we are just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl… year after year…running over the same old ground…how we found…same old fears…wish you were here…’

This is the line from Pink Floyd that will summarise this whole trip, Micha told us about The Palace of Tears the other day, back in the segregation days, people from the west who fell in love with the people from the east. The West lovers can only see the Eastern lovers for a few hours, till which they were only able to see each other for the next 24 hours.

Regular visits would lead to further investigation by the Eastern officials, for both parties. The Palace of Tears was where lovers come to meet and depart with tears.

Love is a universal language that is recognised throughout the world. Whether it is in modern or rural state, no matter how hard we try to resist it, at the end of the day, all of us have the desire to love.




Sunday,16h October 2005
08:26 hours
Sorat Hotel, Berlin

It’s the last day of production, there are good and sad part of it, the good part is that I don’t have to listen to the 5 template songs anymore. The sad part is of course leaving the fantastic crew we’ve had for the past couple of days.

On the second day of production, things ran a bit slow but everything was smooth and nice, a couple of people came asking about the songs, some even wanted a copy of the POP tracks.

Here in Berlin, we get all sorts of people; we had a Celtic Priest who came all the way from West Berlin just to participate in the event. A strange man who came with a costume all prepared just for the shoot, a young man who wanted to do the station with his own songs and bunch of families.

In the evening, Micha brought us to a nice restaurant over a railway track called Brewbakers, the reason for the name is because the guy who owned the place brews his own beer, and he got a degree in brewing. It is a nice cosy place, which was not so crowded with a kitchen smack in the middle of the restaurant.

Right here, to eat in a restaurant is pretty normal, not like in Singapore where you could find hawker centres or foodcourt, here the cheapest food is doner or kebab where you can find them all over the streets.

The guys got pretty tired, so Micha brought me to a really nice place where he started out his career, so to speak. It was this old building which was a former slaughter house in the second world war where the Germans used to abolish the Jews.

How it started out was the place was vacant and they invaded the place and transformed it into an art/music/theatre independent venue, all lo-fi. With a cafeteria, theatre/cinema and a club.

He said everything was run independently, and till now, it is still running by the younger generation. A band called ‘Monsters of Song Making’ was playing their last song, and I was there smack in the middle of all these big Germans.



Monday,17h October 2005
22:41 hours
Sorat Hotel, Berlin


Everything is settled more or less, finally get to wake up late, and spent half of the day resting and watching load of German TV, there is CNN, BBC and MTV here. But I really love their late night movies, the other night I managed to catch this film about a man who eat all the women he dates.

I am not sure if its B Grade, but its damn hilarious, you can see him biting of bits and pieces of flesh from all these helpless people, and the blood was like a bad mixture of acrylic and water. Then there was this part where he couldn’t find a date and ended up eating his dog.

There is nothing much around the place where we are staying, all the happenings are in Mitte, from the 2nd hand stores, designer boutiques, clubs and galleries.

This afternoon Zul and myself decided to be adventurous, Karin dropped us off in the heart of Mitter and we pondered around the streets. I managed to get gifts and stuff but some of the clothes were really expensive, well simply just couldn’t afford it.

After a couple of lattes and some cheap doner kebabs, we decided to get back to the hotel. Yes, me knowing me, who did not bring a map, navigated the way in which it brought us to a complete opposite direction. Walking in the cold breeze, we chanced upon the alley of some nice Berlin neighbourhood and shops closed really early here at around 5-ish to 6. By 7, it is all so quiet and cold.

In a foreign land, walking aimlessly in a state of loss can be quite a meditative moment, but when the legs start to fell wobbly, that is where you have to find a cab, and show the address to your hotel.

Tonight is going to be our last night at this super-luxurious hotel after which we will be moving out to Micha’s which is not far from here, just a couple of blocks away. The price of staying in Sorat for 8 days for 3 rooms is equivalent to getting 2 powerbooks. I guess it has been quite a comfort for all of us.

Plus a wonderful assistant who drives us around to dinner, getting call cards, cheap Vietnamese dinner and a sight-seeing tour guide specialist.

The Instant Stars


Instant Coffee art collective from Canada who are doing their residency at Sparswasser HQ doing the Happy Song.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Guns N Roses in Transcultural Medium



From left; Mo, Micha, Manic, Ka5 and Andre.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

The Last Day of Many New Days

Well, I am spending the last few hours here in Berlin at Micha's, which is not far away from the hotel. It has been a fruitful, exciting trip for everyone of us. Its getting colder as winter is coming near, the leaves on the trees are changing colour and everyone is beginning to put on their winter coat.

We kinda like got adjusted to walking in the cold at night through the streets of Mitte, Berlin has a certain kind of charm that I couldn't find in London, I guess the people here are more tolerant somehow.

Nevertheless I decided not to buy a 'Misfits' printed shoe that would have cost me SGD$200, but I guess for myself the price of experience is more important than anything else. Meeting new people and going to places I would never have imagined.

Till then, Danke Berlin!

The Happy Singaporeans in the cold

This was taken outside Sparswasser HQ by our reliable prooduction manager Mr

Ming Wong.

A Paul's Boutique in Berlin

We came across a 2nd gand store called Paul's Boutique where they selll

loads of good 2nd hand goods...

Kill Your Television 2005


Kill Your Television 2005
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
Ka5 saw a park and we decided to shoot a pseudo Groove Armada pose...chey!

Hamburger Bainhoff (Museum of The COntemporary Arts)

We spent half the day at the museum, and I saw Anselm Kiefers' works, I was

blown away!

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Zul Sticking 'em Up!


Berlin Day 2 & 3
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
The Vinyl Stickers were the killer of #em all!

The Basement of Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt


Berlin Day 2 & 3
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
The Space at the house is so big that to go from one station to the other was quite a task.

The Recording Station


Berlin Day 2 & 3
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
With the help of Super Micha, we managed to transform the media lounge into a makeshift recording studio within a few hours.

Learning Mobility


Berlin Day 2 & 3
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
Imported from SIngapore, presenting the portable learning station where you can do it at your private moment...

Truong and Choy


Berlin Day 2 & 3
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
Truong and Choy at the anti-McDonalds Restaurant, where we had fusion vegetarian food.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

At Tiegel Airport, Berlin


The Arrival of The Fittest
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
Walking on cold cemented land...Berlin 2005.

On The Way Back to Sorat Hotel


The Arrival of The Fittest
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
Dailw walk by The river in meditative mode.

View from Sorat Hotel


The Arrival of The Fittest
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
The river that runs through it...

View from the Hotel Room


The Arrival of The Fittest
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
Opposite my room, is the Ministry of Labour, how nice!

The Admin View


Berlin Skyline
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
Between leisure and politics...

The House of World Cultures


Berlin Skyline
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
The Pregnant Oyster (view from the side...)

SORAT Hotel


Berlin Skyline
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
The jet flew above my head...

Berlin Day One

Travelogue: Berlin
10th October 2005
13:00 hours

We arrived in Berlin at around 08:45 hours, but before that we had some luggage problem at Changi Airport. Exceeded more than the normal weight, well, basically the equipments were the fault of it all.
Everything had to be improvised; we managed to get Zul to leave his bag in Singapore. Everything was minimised, I had to leave a set of clothes, and some of the merchandise were left behind as well.
All in all we managed to cut the excess price by half, which was enough damage for us.

The flight was long, tedious and boring, first and foremost we had no personal TV (damn), food was terrible, I had to make do with watching Monster-In-Law, with Jennifer Lopez and the jaded Jane Fonda. 15 hours was long enough to make me have neck aches and disrupted sleep, and they woke me up for ice cream at around 4 in the morning. It was my fault actually; I had a choice between ice cream and instant noodles, but I was to sleepy to make a choice.

Now, I would like to rate KLM and Qantas as my least favourite airlines.

The transit in Amsterdam was blurry and hazy, but I remember it reminded me so much of Melbourne Airport, the best thing when you are in transit is to find a place to smoke. So monkey-see-and-monkey-do, people were just streaming into this closed pub with ashtrays, so we just went with the flow. After 15 hours, you can’t complain…

It takes about an hour from Amsterdam to Berlin, the skyline was amazing, a mixture of orange, red and purple, a fantastic photo opportunity for the sedated souls alike.

Upon arrival, in Berlin, we were greeted with another disaster; they left my bag (which contain my clothes) in Amsterdam. Amazing! There you go, as I am writing this I am still waiting for that bag, my sweater and all my warm clothes are in that bag. SO its important, if not I will freeze to death. Its about 10 – 15 ˚c here, not so bad actually. It’s the beginning of autumn, but still, the distance from the hotel is about 10 minutes where we have to walk along the river, which I assume will be freezing in the morning and evening.

Apart from that, I hope all will be good in the next couple of days or so. Berlin is a beautiful city as for now, House of World Culture, where we will be presenting POP Station used to be a congress/governmental building that was a gift by the Americans to the Germans 30 years ago. The Chancellor office is just around the corner; the whole area is actually part of the government administration district if I am not wrong.

I managed to catch a glimpse of the Victoria Tower; the one Bono stood on in ‘Stay’, and of course, the monument where the angels hung out in Wim Wenders’ ‘Wings of Desire’. So everything is a little bit surreal here and there.

After lingering/German channel surfing in the hotel room long enough, Karin our assistant from HDW picked us up in a HDW van.(awesome!) We met Doris, the officer in charge of this project, she brought us on a tour of HDW, I think it is about the size of 2/3 of the Esplanade Dome.

The meeting in the evening was laced with jetlag, hunger and technicalities, but thank god Ka Fai was there in full consciousness to explain the detailed technical jargon which I am always lost with. So all was good! And met Ming Wong, our Singaporean assistant who is currently meditating in Heman’s studio here in Berlin.

After the meeting, Karin drove us around the city, I saw the Reichstag, the oldest Synagogue, old ancient churches, East Berlin which you can actually tell from the architecture of old socialist buildings.

We decided upon a Turkish restaurant recommended by Ming, pretty nice Turkish interior complete with the décor. Ming ordered kebabs, turkischer tee, kizartma and all that jazz. All I knew I was too tired to even chew but managed to fill in some meat into the system, my body is still in Singapore time.

Reached the hotel and asked about my luggage that has not arrived yet, so I am still wearing the same set of clothes I wore 2 days ago. Hopefully it will come by today. The evening chill can go down to 15˚c, not sure what it will be like the next couple of days.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Wake up and breathe

Rizmonica Qinky has developed a certain kind of macabre interest amongst the net community, so from now onwards I will reveal a character each month for our viewing pleasure.

In life, things are not permanent, everything is temporary, that is how it works. And no matter what, we have to constantly accept changes and not cling on to the past. We are humans and we have feelings, but I have learnt not to get drown in my emotions because not only it will eat my inside, but it makes my well-being seems jagged and out of shape.

At the end of the day, we find solace in the company of friends, families, cats, music, books or anything that we could ever grab on. Positivity keeps us going, living and progressing, once a while, yes, definitely there will be 'cock-ups' here and there. But we still pursue in the name of living, devastation only last for a while if you have learnt not to get drown.

The chunk of words above are not meant to make me feel better, but I think I am in my healing mode. Life is not cruel, things happened for a reason, that's all. Accept it or face the doom of self-mutilation.

Let's all face tomorrow like the last day you will ever live...wake up, breathe and walk on...

All not packed but Ready to Go!



A few hours from now, we will be on our way to Deutschland, but things have yet to be packed, but knowing the show must go on, the best time to pack is at its very last minute. Will update whenever I can in Berlin.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

The Pop Station, last stop: Berlin

I would say, this is it, finally it has come to an end, The P.O.P Station will finally rest in peace in Berlin next week at House of World Culture. It is going to be a year anniversary, somehow or rather we are all so familiar with the system or structure of the preperation. But I am not sure of what to expect from Berlin, I watched 'Wings of Desire' recently to understand Berlin better and I have to visit the Berlin wall definitely and sing 'Winds of Change' silently.

From the weather report, it is autumn, temperature will be 5/15 degrees, it should be alright. If I survived a -5 in London, I think this would not be a problem. But nevertheless, will bring some extra clothings for back up. Like what happened to me in Melbourne last year, my ignorance got me into cold fits and dried lips.

I have changed the entire hard drive in my Ibook, so I guess there is a reason to live, will try to post some photos in Berlin. These days my love affair with Knowledge Bookstore down at Bras Basah is getting more and more intimate, found a bio on Henry Miller by Erica Jong for a mere $8, such a brilliant piece of work.

There are loads of great classic in there, you have to be really patient in browsing through the collection; and newer titles cost only about $15, that is like about half the price of what Borders is offering. Cheaps Books are always the best!

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Presenting the Wanderlust, Rizmonica Qinky




Photo shoot for Lilin's upcoming film, "Gone SHopping".

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

The Cracker Joy





After 5 years, we have grown somehow...

Sunday, October 02, 2005

Bringing back the vision in television



3 a.m. with Hetty Koes Endang playing at the back, I am thinking about a master plan. The plan to unleash the tiger from the cage of deceit...hur hur hur, in the history of popular music its either ska stole from keronchong or vice versa.

We Only Come Out at night

Suddenly I realised when you move to a thumping beat and move your limbs, your mind becomes really active, these are the few ideas I have for the INTELLYPOP project.

'How to Dance In A Club and Not Looking Stupid At The Same Time'
- this is like an instructional aerobic programme we used watch in the morning back in the 80s, like 'Aerobic Oz Style', 'Aerobics with Richard Simmons/Jane Fonda'. But this is more like an instructional method of how to move your body in a club but yet feel the sophistication of a sensible individual.

'The Aggro and Naggy Show'
- a one hour talk show where we get 2 individuals in a space and simply start talking about anything, it could be about religion, philosophy, art or computers etc.

'Survival Cooking Show'
- A cooking show of what do you do when you can't afford to buy food, and make do of what you have at home and prepare yourself an awesome dish.

'The Future News'
- basically its news about the future, predictions and the voice of tomorrow.

'Our Renaissance City'
- this program seeks to understand the difficulties of Contemporary Art, Contemporary People, Contemporary Place, Contemporary Music, Contemporary Food, Contemporary Ideas etc.

'STEREOTYPEFACE'
- an in-your-face info-tainment/game show on how much we understand about each other in terms of race, religion, tradition and heritage.

'Bridging_Gaps'
- A reality tv format: How much do your parents know about you? And How much do you know about your parents?


There will be more to come I believe so...

Night Shift Workers at 10 Siglap Close

These days, people will be up working late till we hours, bless you

all the restless souls...

When things fall apart make art...

Space Escapism:jagged interior

The ARTIVST PRESENCE


The ARTIVST PRESENCE
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.
Bringing street art into a habitat...