Here I am back again with you after getting sick of playing the “Gone Girl” for the whole year. My blog has been covered by a thick spider’s web. I am here to tell you that I guess the Chinese fortune is right about me that 2018 does seem so wrong to me that even when I crossed the whole ocean to make my way to Australia, the Unlucky God is still able to chase after me and spread misery whenever I go. Forget about that, I will make – this time, I hope not to go back on my promise – another post to conclude my 2018 and begin a new 2019. (According to the fortune, it is better than the previous year but still not good).

So where can you find a good story? From books? From films? True. You can also find it in music. There are actually some songs that tell brilliant stories in their lyrics. From that, you can some clues of the mind and the life of people who wrote them. I think it would be a terrific debut of me after a long time hiatus.

I make it as clear as day that I love Last Kiss (Pearl Jam’s cover) till the day I die but I am not going to include it in my list because I already did before. My readers please refer to my old posts if you want to read my review about the song. The amazing story featured in the song should be on this list but I am not going to repeat myself.    

Noted that this post deals with subjective interpretations which could be either right or wrong. So take it as a grain of salt. But I am very happy if you can share your interpretation as well. 

Is it a coincidence that I always update my posts on this blog around December?

#4. Fast Car – Tracy Chapman

You got a fast car. Guess what is that fast car? Lamborghini? Mercedes? Ferrari? No, you have got all wrong.

It is just a car mentioned in the song which received two Grammy nominations for Record of the year and Song of the year in 1988, a normal car that can function well. In my own interpretation, the car is the metaphor of escaping ways of so-called poverty cycle. Dealing with that matter, when it comes to lyric debates, some say it is depressing but some say it is full of hope and optimism. The folk-rock song tells a story of a woman who gave up academy to take care of her alcohol-abused dad since her mom left. Living in a poor condition like this makes her feel as if anywhere else was better than her current situation, even when she had to start from zero. She worked in a convenience store to save a bit money everyday and dreamed of driving away out of the city with her boyfriend. The fast car was treated a ticket to her new life where she may get a better job, promotion, a bigger house in the suburbs and actually live the life of a person.

I am in favour of the latter argument. It could be because of its typically sad folk melody that people feel heartbroken. According to her narration, the idea that she held high hopes for better things in her life never stops running through my head. Some people lose to the battle of fighting poverty but it never happens to her.

It is just a quick fact that I got emotional outbursts in the middle of listening to the song. It reconnects me with some old memories that my mother used to tell me. Back to 1980s, when my dad just graduated from the medical school and my parents got married. I could never imagine how hard it was for a young couple to settle down in a new place without any clues how life would turn out to be, starting from nothing because everything they had was a just a bicycle. My dad would ride my mom anywhere in town in the bicycle. One day, it got stolen and my mom was sad. They may have got a new one but the stolen bicycle contained sweet memories of their tough beginning.

#3. The Less I know, The Better – Tame Impala

Have you ever loved so much that you blindly choose to ignore the bitter truth about them and love them with your eyes and ears closed? There are many faucets of truth, the one I talk about here is cheating which, without a doubt, drives to break-ups immediately as it is too hard to bear. This is not the first time songs talk about cheating, take Whitney Houston “It is not right but it’s okay” as an example (This song tells a good cheating story and how she catches him lying), but this is one of rare cases I have seen someone call out his rival’s name straightly, which sounds brave enough to me. I give credit for it.

As I skim through comment sections, I find some common ones:

“This song is my theme song now”

“This song is relatable”

“This song makes me sad for no reasons”

The guy, nevertheless, did not go down the must-happen break-up path that many people would expect him to do with his cheating girlfriend. You have a guy who had a girlfriend who had a secret lover whose name was Trevor. The lyrics highlights that their affair went as far as the rumours, from holding hands to living together. His friends told him to move on, forget the cheater and get to see another girl named Heather for his own good. What is the best for him? – The less he knows, the better. Much to people’s surprise, he did not listen to their advice. Rather than that, he desperately tried every single way to get her back. While she was young and unsure about her love, he willingly waited for her for 10 years because to him, late is better than never. He convinced himself that he was better for her than that dumb Trevor who was, in the end, as useless as fantasy Superman using faking charm to say stupid lines to make girls fall for him.

You may get a bit annoyed because firstly, you have to confirm your age before Youtube allows you to watch the music video due to their age restrict law and secondly, you may take it as a typical teenage love sick with explicitly sexual content. I highly appreciate unique art in Tame Impala’s music for their 80s-disco inspirations to different layers of meanings that they deliver, even in their music videos.  There are so many questions left in me after 5.43 minutes of the music video.

#2. Don’t You Want Me – The Human League

The Human League’s super hit was released in 1981 and has remained one of the English synthpop band’s most successful recordings. That is why it comes as no surprise when we have many cover versions of it, for example: Glee, Neon Tree, Atomic Tom, Mandy Smith, etc.; not to mention a thousand of unnamed karaoke versions.

This is the song that drives me crazy for choosing the best version (original or re-works) as itself is exceptionally, remarkably brilliant and also, this is the song that we can hear from both his and her perspectives.

He started his story first…

He met her when she was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar. It never said it so frankly in the lyric and that made me come to my own conclusion that he could be an agent in an entertainment company looking for potential singers or actresses, or at least, he was someone significant with powerful shields behind (*coughing* mafia). He played an important part in turning the small-town waitress’ poor life into a new chapter, bringing her success that she could have never imagined she would have without him. Now she wanted to leave him after spending 5 years with him and using him as a stepping stone. I feel like the guy is bit arrogant and dominant and it quite shocks him when someone who he took for granted now felt so suffocating when he was round that running away from him was her last option. His love for her seemed quite selfish and possessive as he counted his credits on her life. He did not mind repeating that she owed him the world and let him repeat one last time: ”I made you what you are now and can put you back to where you began”.

Before it is too late, change your mind now – This is his last warning before he makes his move. How did she respond?

Then she stroke back…

She never denied the fact that she had worked as a waitress before she met him. We all think that the Cinderella finally can get her prince and live happily ever after with him, but it did not happen that way. Opposite to his intimidation, she said 5 years spending her life with him was a happy time and she acknowledged that he mattered to her. And the most important thing is “she still loved him”. But I think the confident woman made it very clear that if she had not even met him and still worked as waitress, her life would have been turned better, so 5 years in the relationship was a bit long, I suppose.

So “Don’t you want me?” – he asks. I would bet a penny for a “No” from her. With his background like that, her life could be at risk. You’d better run, girl! Now, it starts to get disturbing.

#1. The Chinese Francolin’s Chirp – Quang Linh

Down to the earth, I am only a human being who is proud of my country.

There are two matters concerning with this Vietnamese song. First, it is regarded as “golden music” which is also known as “cheesy music” in me and Cheese’s language (I hope you my readers will not forget Cheese – it is not because Cheese has been not mentioned in my blog recently, it does not mean she stops being a significant part of it). Suddenly, there is an inner voice in me that wants Cheese to be here, even though she would tease me until I ran away in embarrassment, locking my door. Those old sweet memories!

Second, I have zero idea about that species of bird – Chinese Francolin. My poor biology knowledge only allows me to distinguish owls from the rest of bird kingdom. Anyways, it is not the purpose of this post to supply some biology knowledge to you and I am not biologist either. I, as a result, will not respond to any questions regarding this two-legged animal.

Oh, by the way, I know peacocks and I know they can fly.

The music video and lyrics highlights the means of transportation – “boat” so I guess the background takes place in the Mekong delta – the South-Western region in Vietnam where boats are frequently used. Back then, this area was under-developed dealing much with low literacy and restrictive customs.  There was a teenage girl, aged around 15, and a guy, perhaps a couple of years her senior. The guy played the guitar so well and the girl usually came to hear. That repeated too many times that in my own interpretation, it became their accustomation. I guess, without words, deep down, they were in love with each other.

Then one day, that girl stopped showing up in the boat to listen to his guitar. Left with much confusion about her disappearance, he blamed her for her changing and tried to move on with an excuse: “She is a free cloud the sky that I cannot catch”. Several years later, they encountered in a small boat and drove through lanes of old memories. Devastatingly, he learned that she had got married to another guy in a different far-away town. As it was a forced marriage, her wedding day seemingly happened on a blue day. The lullaby also intensified her dead-inside sadness when she could not even say goodbye to her real love before getting on the red boat to her husband’s house.  All to their realisation was that what they just once had no longer existed. They parted their own destiny; only the chirp of the Chinese Francolin remained there, crying for her.

The sentimental singing voice of the Quang Tri province – born singer made this song a sad love story ever. We feel so sorry for the love that failed to have a happy ending but for the life of a young girl that could have had a brighter future if it had not been for her marriage at a very immature age.  In a wider perspective, the song deals with concerning social issues at that time which many songs fail to do it. That enables it to go beyond my definition of a “cheesy” song and makes me come back to listen to it countless times.

What are yours? Share now.

It’s time to show your support to the nation’s music industry *waving Vietnamese flag*

#1. Trua Vang – My Linh (Empty Afternoon)

My Linh rose to public prominence as one of 4 divas in Vietnam (besides Hong Nhung, Tran Thu Ha and Thanh Lam) so there is nothing we doubt about her technique skills. What I like the most about this Hanoian singer is her effortless balance between singing technique and ability to deliver the song’s sentiment. When she goes high note, it does not sound so stretched. It is apparently proven in her music works and you can see it in Trua Vang – which was featured in her album Toc Ngan (2000). I do not know if it is because My Linh has built her image as top diva, I see unmistakable classiness in her singing, which somehow sets her apart from mainstream singers.

Leave alone My Linh’s golden vocal, the success of Trua Vang lies in the song itself. My Linh’s hit is composed by Huy Tuan and its lyrics is written by Duong Thu- two respectful figures in Vietnamese music industry, a music work of high quality in terms of melody and meaning is expected consequently. Huy Tuan is close to My Linh and her husband – composer Anh Quan. Knowing his friend’s vocal range, he created music tailoring for her. We are Vietnamese, we understand that Trua Vang has sad lyrics about a break up couple: He fails to fulfill his promise to her and walks away. She chooses to wait for the one she loves but when she looks at the beach they would spend time together in every afternoon, it is a bitter fact that it is not the same anymore without him. But with all ingredients created the song, I feel like having “faith” and so much relief inside of me. I guess that 10 years later, this song is still able to captivate me.

I know that most women do not like to tell their age but I have no hesitation in revealing mine. I was born in 1991 and that means that I will turn 30 years old 4 years later (*cry*). But I never feel happy enough that I was born in a generation when there was no interfere of technology, when people paid more focus on music quality rather than MV visual effect. That all results in my decision to put My Linh’s original Trua Vang MV here. It contains so many beautiful memories of my childhood. But if you want, you can youtube her new acoustic version of it released last year.

#2. Chan Tinh – Le Quyen (True Love)

Chan Tinh and Trua Vang share one similarity and one difference. The former is that I listened to both songs when I was a kid and the latter is I never liked Chan Tinh back then – really HATED. This song was first recorded by Van Truong but back in 2000s, there was a trend that many singers had the same name “Truong”, notably we had Lam Truong and Dan Truong. It ultimately led to me thinking it was just another version of these two top singers, I refused to hear more songs from any singers named “Truong”. That’s why Chan Tinh never got my attention at first.

It was until my mother introduced me Le Quyen’s version that I gave this song a place it deserved. The song is composed by Tran Le Quynh, a music composer that not too many people know. As a former graduate of University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, the 1978 liner composer undoubtedly has a great language skill and his word usage in Chan Tinh made it an unforgettable power ballad song. I even appreciate Chan Tinh’s lyrics more than Trua Vang’s one. In Vietnamese music industry, we do not feel strange when a music composer uses a poem for lyrics of his song and Chan Tinh never needs to base on any poems to have poetic lyrics nevertheless. You my loyal readers all know even when I am not quite patriotic, this song made me so proud of my mother language. I have to be a Vietnamese to understand what the song wants to say. Let take the name as an example: Chan Tinh is roughly translated into English as “True Love”, but when we take True Love to Google translate in reverse, we have “Tinh Yeu Chan That”, not something elegant like “Chan Tinh”. Similarly, we are able to easily find in Tran Le Quynh’s work impressive words, e.g. “trong ngan mat em” (your innocent eyes) and “hoang tan lang quen” (forgotten ruins),etc.

Le Quyen is known for a special voice full of emotion. With this typical 90’s ballad song, along with instrument, Le Quyen has brought to us a beautiful piece of music – emotional, classy yet not cheesy.

Bonus my favourite line in Chan Tinh:

“…Nhung con duong anh di roi cung dua anh ve ben em”

“Every path I take eventually leads me to you”

-You are my guiding star when I am lost.

#3. Can Gac Trong – Lil Knight (Empty Rooftop)

Can Gac Trong is Ung Hoang Phuc’s official come back single after his long time vanishing out of the music industry for his injury. Lil Knight composes this song but it is his version that makes me insanely in love with the song.

People in Vietnamese underground music call Lil Knight “god of rap”. As one of first people who created foundation base for Vietnamese rap genre, the Hanoian rapper has brought to public purely high quality music and contributed to success of many singers. Can Gac Trong’s Ung Hoang Phuc version is a dance one while Lil Knight’s is a slow RnB. Actually Lil Knight has a nice and warm voice, making it so fit with RnB slow jams.

A sad vocal, depressing lyrics and slow melody, Can Gac Trong is definitely not a song for a sad raining day as it can kill your mood instantly. It is no secret that memories hurt us and sweet ones do it faster. Imagine we are alone in a room full with sweet memories with the one we used to love but now they are nowhere to be seen. That makes our heart bleed.

I am not good at translating but I might give partly it a try to Can Gac Trong’ lyrics.

 “…Anh khong muon thay mot ngay mai

Tung trang giay trang da xoa nhoa mot niem tin

Anh biet se mai chi la mot giac mo

Ton tai song song ben can phong

Cung thoi gian mai buong troi…”

“…I do not want to see a future

When my faith gradually fades away

I know that is just a dream

Existing in this empty room

As time goes by…”

What is your favourite among 3 songs? Please comment

Thank you for reading *bow head*

Life is not always rainbows and butterflies. After her sweet Europe vacation, Dorayaki got so overwhelming with her job. So various factors cause me to get truly stressful; say it client complaints, new briefings, new training sessions and credit card billings (oops, off track, it stresses me though). But the hardest one is I have become a part of the closed process in which like a Domino effect, I fail to do one mission, it negatively affects the others, slowing down the entire universe as well. I feel like being buried alive. While I am just a short girl with an average height of 1.57 m, pressure is too big to handle. At times, I think breaking down to cry is the only thing I can do. As we have it “Difficulties break men but make others”, if I do not want to go down the path of a loser, I need to get rid of my vulnerability and carry on what I need to do. I need to stay cool.

How to do that?

“Download these songs and put your headphone on”

Stay calm, my dear loyal readers! I still remember my promise that my blog may be shifting partly to movie and travelling in my previous blog posts; not to mention that I just got back from a wonderful Europe trip that you have ever longed to read what I had been through there. I do not mean to cheat you guy with a post seemingly indicating life-hack tips but in fact another music post in disguise. But think about that. Rather than a post about me running 1000 meters from Gate 40 to Gate 17 in Frankfurt airport in less than 5 minutes and that made my menstrual cycle go crazy, the one about songs that Dorayaki has been listening to lately when she is stressed is without a doubt more useful.

But I will not let you down. In every song, I leave my tips on how to deal with stress.

Cannot wait to share with my dearest readers now.

Of course, I have no problem if you take this post as “what songs have been on Dorayaki’s iPod lately?”

#4. Issues – Julia Michaels

Fortunately I get a strong sense of music from Dad. That genetic ability helps me remember the song’s rhymth twice or three times listening, once sometimes even though I do not know how to play any instruments. I knew this song several months ago and my impression about it was almost blank. There is nothing special about this song that drew my attention at the first place until several weeks ago when my managers started to assign me some little technical tasks as first fundamental steps for beginners. Actually, in IT world, we do not call it “issues”, we call it “bugs”, but anyways, it means “flaws”. Right after I got the list of “issues” that need to be fixed, I started to sing “I got issues, you got them too. So give them all to me and then I give mine to you”; of course, with a low volume.

No one is perfect and Julia Michaels’s Pop Rock song is all about couples who have their own issues but are still able to keep their love going on and walk through issues.

These technical tasks are obviously huge obstacles to me and I have not been trained on that before. When it just started off, it was a nightmare in real life. My heart jumps out of my chest when receiving issue list but Julia Michaels’ hit is like an “Expecto Patronum” to me. It quite eases the nerves in my brain and keeps my spirit up. Now none of tasks matter to me. Why? I got issues, but you got them too.

Tips: Relax and take your issues openly.

#3. Stolen Dance – Milky Chance

This song proves that only a guy on his chair playing the guitar has a power to make your body move as much as EDM. “Stolen Dance” of the German duo is mysteriously beautiful with contribution of rusty vocal, acoustic guitar rhythm and debatable lyrics. Why reading the lyrics led me to think it is about a forbidden love? In my opinion, it is the story of a couple who are separated by “them” (the girl’s family). The guy wants the girl back and to have a dance with her – basically, a guy missing his loved one and feeling without her. There is nothing special about that, but what hits me hard is this line:

“I hope they did not get your mind

Your heart is too strong anyway”

Is it me or sometimes we are just particularly fond of a part rather than the whole song itself? These lines are special to me because it reminds me of a past event that went down in history of my life. At the age of 25 years old, I hit my first mid-life crisis and thought I would never recover. I still recall how I felt back then. Imagine one day you wake up and everything you have once had just slips out of your hand. The terror you are facing makes you feel like being drown in the ocean. The only thing you can hold on to is faith in yourself. Regardless of what people say, your faith leads your way in the end. Oops, you may think why I sound like same old clichés taken straight from teen movies in 2000s Hilary Duff starred in? I once thought like that but once you have got through it, you have ideas how those words are precious.

Tips: Have faith in yourself.

#2. With you – Beasts with no name

Have you ever felt so bored that even a shitty horror movie film like “Wish upon” is still able to entertain you? With holey plot, the 2017 American film is to me a more disappointed version of “Final destination” I, however, admittedly like songs featured in the film, and Beasts with no name’s “With you” is one of those. Brilliant lyrics, smooth vocal and perfect arrangement, the Indie pop song is so good that I needed to purchase it on Itunes immediately. The song just comes in time when I am quite into Indie music.

Indie music is shortened for “Independent music” which has something to do with “DIY” ethic (Do it yourself). With indie music, artists freely express their own colour in music without being framed in defined music style. Indie music bands will have to do everything on their own from music production to promotion. It sounds tough as we easily see that if they have a major label, it will increase the likelihood of greater success, but some still want to go down the Indie music path as it offers more freedom to be creative.

Perhaps it is why I get inspired by “creativity” that Beasts with no name delivers in “With you”. I am not a professional graphic designer but a part of my job more or less gets involved with designing things in which I have to apply creativity to make final photos and banners for clients’ websites. Their “I’ll wait up with you I’ll stay up with you I’ll wake up with you” gives me so much relief. Pressures can be taken into many forms and pressure to meet deadlines is one of the worst nightmares. It messes up your head, blocks your creativity, making you unable to think through. Sometimes you think it is more important to meet the deadline first that you submit final two-bit products to clients.

Take your time. I guess your clients will be less happy if they receive low quality products from you even though you send them on time. But I do not mean that you keep them waiting for two or three days; otherwise, you may receive complaints from them.

Tips: Be more creative.

#1. I touch myself – Divinyls

“I don’t want anybody else

When I think about you, I touch myself”

Needless to say, you know what the song is about – about the business of you and your hand. Stay calm, loyal readers. I never say that I jerk off to have a stress-free mind. Without a doubt, with sexually provocative lyrics, “I touch myself” – released in Divinyls’ self-titled album – sparked controversy in the music industry at the time and yet it did not stop the song from landing top positions in international music charts. I actually have that one “chemistry” with the song after a few times listening to “I don’t want anybody else”, I was able to sing it well.

The Australian band’s 90s hit is apparently a beautiful song. Why I say that when it directs to a subject that people would feel uncomfortable discussing? Chrissy Amphlett, Divinyls’ lead vocal, died at 53 after a long time battling with breast cancer. “I touch myself” project, upon Chrissy’s dying wish, was founded to raise the awareness of breast cancer for women. Just because of that message, “I touch myself” is more than just a masturbatory song to me, but rather self-appreciation. With that in mind, I love myself more listening to the song. No matter how busy I may be, I never skip my meals, always remember to order milk teas twice a week and use lubricant eye drops (my mom would cry her eyes out finding it out, she technically begs me to use it for the sake of my eyes :P)

Tip: Do not forget to love yourself.

 Any tips you want to share? Leave them in comment fields.

Thank for reading *Bow head*

#4. You know I’m no good – Ash Riser

I came to know that Amy Winehouse song in high school but it was until I got to university that I started being into it. Actually you can find this song quite often in singing competitions like The Voice, X factor or [Insert nationality] Idols, so that means if you want to listen to a cover, there are a lot for you to browse through. I did not have any problems picking up Ash Riser version to this list because of its brilliance. You know that the song’s creator before she died had a troubled life and that comes as no surprise that her music which reflects her own life has darkness, bitterness and heartbreak. With a bass voice of a hip hop artist, Ash Riser introduces us a “drunk” version of “You know I’m no good”. This cover is so hypnotising that I can imagine myself in a corner of an old bar in 1960s with a glass of whiskey in hand (I do not know how to drink, I have no problem trying to act like I can though). When first listening to it, I found the guitar part not really interesting and quite irrelevant, I mean it was too modern for slow and classic feels that the song brought all along but I do realise that it intensifies darkness in Amy Winehouse’s original: chaos, confusion and deep-inside sadness.

Staying faithful to the spirit of the original, Ash Riser has successfully brought us a hauntingly beautiful cover. In other words, it is a nice tribute to Amy Winehouse. One little surprise for my loyal readers, click on Setting and change the speed to 1.25 or 1.5, you see another magic.

The original:

#3. She will be loved – The Flying Pickets

“Just another cover of Maroon 5 “She will be loved” – You may think. It cannot be denied that there is a huge maze of Maroon 5 hit’s covers available on Youtube but Flying Pickets succeeded in bringing their own colour to differentiate themselves from others. With this English a-cappella band, I had hard time choosing my favourite song as they have many songs covered in a-cappella style. Believe me, “She will be loved” used to be my favourite song and I listened to it so many times that I am quite convinced that it was enough for my entire life. When I was 12 years old, I was crazy for the Maroon 5 hit and now when I am 26 years old, The Flying Pickets make me fall in love with the song again but in a very different way.

Leave alone the emotional vocal, the harmony that The Flying Pickets made is perfect that we feel so connected to the song. One of the most prominent points is the hook part which I highly appreciate for its smart arrangement. I cannot help wow-ing when hearing “She will be loved” from back vocals. This is a beautiful cover that I think I am so lucky to have found.

The original:

#2. The tide is high – Blondie

Oops. Perhaps some of my readers think that Blondie’s is the original of Atomic Kitten’s “The tide is high”.  As a matter of fact, this Blondie’s US/UK number one hit is a cover of John Holt’s written in 1966. The older I get, the more reggae genre starts growing on me. So it came as no surprise when I quickly fell for the Blondie’s version in spite of the fact that I grew up with Atomic Kitten’s one.

It is said that reggae makes us feel happy that we really want to make some moves. Saxophone and strings were used “The tide is high” by Blondie, I am particularly fond of the instrument parts in the introduction and counter-melodies. They are really addicted and I cannot help shaking my shoulder.

The original:

#1. Believe – DMA

What should you expect from a man in his stripped T-shirt and beat up old cap? A deep and touching voice of typical rock punk genre? No way! Yes, you should because that man brought us a perfect cover of Cher’s “Believe”. With her goddess beauty and strong electronic beat, her signature auto-tuned hit makes you “believe in life after love again”. This song means so much to me. I have been in love with Cher’s super hit since I was 7 years so there is no way that I can take it easy and give low expectation for its version.

As a matter of fact, many covers experiment new takes on old songs for their person touch with completely different re-arrangements, for example: Dancing on my own (Original: Robyn, Cover: Calum Scott) but I never want to see my favourite song turned into super-ballad versions of other artists who over-sing it. Cher’s mega hit actually deals with different emotions; from anxiously waiting, confusion, heartbreak to moving on with your head held high. So I expect to see a cover that can project strength underneath vulnerability after a break up. Since I do not feel connected to it, “Believe” super ballad versions that reflect one only emotion aspect fail to bring me “belief” and that strong message from the original. I have nothing else to choose, except from continuing looking for the one I like.

With the cover of this Australian band, I can see it. This acoustic version, indeed, has no interfere with auto-tune technology but instruments, plus the slow-down melody does not make it lost in a thousands of conventional Believe ballad covers. It is nothing different from an oasis in desert. Admittedly a fan of Cher’s “Believe”, I could not help falling in love with this version though and I can listen to it forever. Sometimes, I even doubt myself “Am I listening to an original or just a cover?”

With silky smooth voice, DMA got a fan, and please release the mp3 of Believe. I feel like waiting forever for it.

Noted that when watching the video, you may notice the main vocalist is having chewing gum while singing.

Updated on October, 12th, 2017: I finally found the DMA’s Believe on Itunes.

The original:

 Thank you for reading *bow head*

PS: I have just found out that my blog recently has no posts on movies but music and travelling. I need to write more movies posts. Please look forward to them.

This tour was completely free and led by a local. Remember the ajusshi I met on the day 3? He said that he would be around Insadong area in the morning, if I wanted to join him, he would pick me up at my hotel and we would go together. On my initial plan, I would spend this morning strolling around Ssamzigil to get more postcards. So walking around would be a good idea to keep me away from spending money again.  

It came as a surprise that the ajusshi was a former Korean Nation University graduate. How could he manage to get there?

The place we visited was Bukchon Hanok Village, a home to traditional houses. Photos look flawless. No Instagram filter, I swear – only a Iphone 5 creates magic haha.

One funny thing about my plane back to Ho Chi Minh city. The plane I booked was on May, 1^st, 2017. In Vietnam, holiday lasted from April 28^th, 2017 to May, 2^nd, 2017, I guessed a lot of people would take the May, 2^nd plane. So my plane was quite empty. Nobody sit in the other two seats in the same row with me. The plane did not have LCD to watch movies so there was nothing I could do except for sleeping. I just laid down, stretching my legs in the row of 3 seats – feel like flying on the business class.

Safe and sound got back to Ho Chi Minh city.

Day 1: Kimchi Museum – Insadong – COEX Aquarium – Han River Cruise – Gingseng centre – Jogyesa Temple

Day 2: Nami Island – Petite France – Gingeng Centre

Day 3: Jogyesa Temple – Gyeongbokgung Palace – National Folklore Museum – Korean Folk Village

Day 4: [PHOTO only] Bukchon Hanok Village

I am truly sorry for keeping you waiting for this third part of my Korean trip series so long. I have been through a pretty tough week after I came back so unable to get this and the final parts done. Imagine people’s brain is a memory on which if we store too much information, will be exploded very soon. I; as a matter of fact, had some difficulties trying to recall sweet memories of my Korean trip by scrolling hundred photos I took. Before they are completely replaced by 19 eastern suburbs of Melbourne, I have to finish writing them down as soon as possible.

Why do Melbourne’s 19 eastern suburbs have something to do here? You will find the answer down in my post.

Life is absolutely a chain of challenges when you have to excel in your career, maintain a social life, drink enough water, exercise, text everyone back and be happy. But I still manage to be too pure, too cute, too fresh and too young haha.

Could not get my joke? That is OK, not your fault. Just sometimes my sarcasm is hard to get.

Day 3: Jogyesa Temple – Gyeongbokgung Palace – National Folklore Museum – Korean Folk Village

On this tour, Sunny was my tourist guide.

Jogyesa Temple

Jogyesa temple, along with Gingseng Centre, is one of the places I visited more than once. Jogyesa Temple is near my hotel, which took 3 minutes walking. This was chosen to be the meeting point of the tour. I was the last one to get there and saw a bigger group than previous days. The day 3 group, without a doubt, was the biggest group with different people from different nations: Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia, Germany, Turkey, Philippines and India.

I will skip this one since I already mentioned it in my day 1.

Gyeongbokgung Palace

I had to copy the name of the palace from the tour information, but actually, except for Nami island, I copied almost all tourist destinations I had been before in Seoul. Still I have no ideas how to write them correctly.

We were taken on a bus to Gyeongbokgung Palace, which is the first palace built by the Joseon dynasty and the largest out of 5 places. We came just in time for the royal guard changing ceremony. I heard that there are two shifts – day and night. Get the opportunity to see the guards in their traditional costumes.

I was in Taiwan before and saw military solder changing ceremony which is somehow similar to Korean one, so was not impressed much this time.

Inside of the palace, it looks quite similar to Vietnamese ancient palace.

Sunny told me some funny yet interesting facts about Korean history. Back then when there was no medical technology advancement, the only method that doctors used to check on the king’s health condition was to taste his poo. We all eww-ed but Sunny said it was a highly prestigious job at that time. Also when the king did his private business, there were more than 2 servants besides him. OMG, how could they bear that? They could sense awkward sound and smell. When I do my private business in the restroom, I just want my phone with me. Haha.

National Folklore Museum

This is inside the palace.

I got some nice stuff there

Dorayaki’s making friends

First is the Turkish guy who travelled to Korea on his own. He has been to a great number of countries, including Vietnam. He loves Vietnam and Vietnamese people a lot and that’s why he took good care of me. He showed me photos he took in Vietnam and I could tell that he went from the North (Ha Long Bay) to the South (Sai Gon and Mekong Delta). He helped me take nice photos and bought me water. He went around, telling people in the tour that I am his daughter and I could sense people’s eyes staring at him with a big question on their face “But you are Turkish and she is Vietnamese”.

I also met a nice Japanese guy who is a medical doctor on the tour that day. On Nami island, I could see  Japanese people there but did not have an opportunity to talk to them. And this was my perfect time to boast my Japanese ability.

 Me: “Hello, what’s your name?” (in English)

Yuuta: “My name is Yuuta. What’s your name?” (in English)

Me:”… watashi…” (What kind of language is that?)

Yuuta: Yes…watashi… go on… go on (*encouraging voice*)

Me: “…no…” (Still could not get the kind of language here)

Yuuta: Yes… no (*still very patient)

 Me: “…namae” (???)

Yuuta: Yes… yes.. good… namae

Me: “Oh forget it. My name is Dorayaki” (in English)

That is how I failed. I took a Japanese course in August last year since my then company was Japan-owned one but I got a new job offer in an Australian company. There is no point studying Japanese but I made a promise to Yuuta that I would get back to studying Japanese again, if I have time (it sounds impossible though).

We passed by Blue House. Since Park Geun Hye was impeached and is in jail now, the vice president was in charge; that means the Blue House was not left empty. On the previous day, I was told that the former president was Korean’s embarrassment since never before did they have a president who was currently in office and had to be served in jail. Though some people, just like my father, still believed that she was only used by people with bad deeds. This is still being debated in South Korea.

Suddenly, I feel like missing my dad. I have never found such a kind hearted man like him, always choosing on the positive side to believe. That is unfortunate that his daughter could not inherit his good characters. Some loyal readers who are also Dorayaki’s friends will help to defend her by saying that she has bright and cheerful character too but Dorayaki is just narrow-minded and does not expect bad things to come haha.

National Folk Village

After lunch in a local restaurant in Insadong, we split into 2 groups: one went to the National Folk Village and another stayed in Insadong and Myeongdong district for shopping.  I had to say goodbye to Yuuta and my so called Turkish daddy to go to the National Folk Village with a German guy and an ajusshi.

And I was very happy to have Winnie as my tourist guide the second time.

Ajusshi told me that Samsung is among the largest corporations in South Korea and if a family has a daughter/son that works for Samsung, it is the family’s pride (*For your information, my Cheese used to work for Samsung in Vietnam, I am so proud of my Cheese). The National Folk Village was built by Samsung to enhance awareness of Korean’s traditional culture to local and international people. It is also a film location of many well-known Korean dramas, e.g.: “My love comes from the star”, “Sungkyunkwan Scandal” and so on.

There were 2 must-see performances: martial art on horseback and Jultagi (tightrope walking).

We spent an hour there discovering pottery making, basket weaving and the hand-making of winnows, musical instruments, embroidery and bamboo, wood and brass wares.

Highlights of the day

Self discovery at Myeongdong

I left one night to go freely where I would want to go. On my first day, I asked Lena if there were any bookstores near my place, she told me “Yongpong” and “Kyobo”. I visited these two places, expecting to buy some cute stationery for onee san. When getting there, I was a bit disappointed as there were no scrapbook materials available. Both of two bookstores were huge and filled with a thousand of Korean books.

Leaving the bookstore, I passed by Gwanghwamun Square where you would see a huge statue of King Sejong – the creator of Hangul writing. By the time I got there, it had already been almost 18.00, so neon lights were lit. The square is home to a memorial of victim of Sewol Ferry in 2014. We may have known about Sewol – one of the worst maritime disasters in South Korea– that took the life of 304 people most of who were high school students. The Sewol sinking disaster deeply traumatised South Korean people. Even me felt so hurt when walking by the square.

I read the news that Jo Eun Hwa – one of nine missing passengers was finally found after 3 years. From the news, I learnt that the 17-year-old student, when she was still alive, was a nice girl who always thought of her parents first before herself. Today is Mother’s Day, so I wish the best to Jo Eun Hwa’s mother. Even though her daughter could not get back to life with her, at least, her body was brought out of cold and deep ocean.

I continued to go to Myeongdong. Previously, I went to Lotte Department Store, this time I would go to Avenue and Lotte Young Plaza. I found at B1 a whole place dedicated to SM lovers. Did you know that I was a big fan of Dong Bang Shin Ki and even went to 2 of their concerts? I saw a lot of DBSK merchandise and believe me if I had been 5 years old younger, I would have found every single way to bring all these stuff back home with me. But the 25-year-old Dorayaki still stood there calmly, took photos and left the place. That’s why growing up sucks, I hate it when all passion has died out.

Imagine if Yunho appeared in front of me now, OMG. I. WOULD.DIE.

Dinner at Myeongdong

End of day 3

#photowithyourtourguide

 So you have found the answer for “Melbourne’s 19 eastern suburbs”? Not yet? Yeah, congratulations, you got trolled.

Day 1: Kimchi Museum – Insadong – COEX Aquarium – Han River Cruise – Gingseng centre – Jogyesa Temple

Day 2: Nami Island – Petite France – Gingeng Centre

Day 3: Jogyesa Temple – Gyeongbokgung Palace – National Folklore Museum – Korean Folk Village

Day 4: [PHOTO only] Bukchon Hanok Village

It somehow reminded of another film locator I visited previously which is The Hobbit in New Zealand. Oh my New Zealand feels~

Day 2: Nami Island – Petite France – Gingeng Centre

Nami Island

Winnie was my tour guide on my second day. This time, I went with a group of 5 people in the family who are all Filipino. One thing I love the most about my trip is that I do not need to wake up so early haha and we started at 8.20. Since it took us more than 1 hour to get to Nami island, we had fun time chatting on the car, from showbiz to politics. I really like Winnie, she is cute. She spent one year studying in the US and met a Vietnamese lecturer named Van. That is why she loves me so much. Her knowledge of Kpop/Kdrama is so great that I think I can spend hours after hours talking with her. How could we skip Sandara Park? She is an iconic figure in Philippines and of course, my bias in 2NE1. If you want to know how old you are getting now, just ask a simple question: “Who is your favourite Kpop band?”. You lovely readers do not know how embarrassed I was when telling that DBSK, Super Junior, 2NE1, and Girls Generations while the little Australian girl said “BTS”. I had no ideas who they are. Oh I feel so old now.

Before getting to the island, we had to take a 5-minute ferry. Winnie told me that Nami island is just a like a small country (Naminara Republic) that has their own stamp, currency and even flag. We arrived at around 10 and had 2 hours there before having lunch at the local restaurant. Nami island is such a nice place for a stroll. As a matter of fact, people come here to go camping as I saw a lot of groups sitting on the grass, preparing their meals and chatting. This place is beautiful, peaceful and huge. I bet that when autumn comes, it will be extraordinary. One of the biggest shames is that I missed the signature Winter Sonata statue, which is nowhere far but on the right of Janggang and Hwangha statue. I watched “Winter Sonata” more than 10 years ago so was so unsure if the main couple had their first kiss. In the Nami map, I was supposed to see that famous place right after the ostrich cage but failed to do it. Anyway, it could have been that I passed it without any ideas.

I took a walk by the lake to get back to the meeting point. It is so great.

The downside, however, of going travelling on your own is that you just can have photos of your half body, unless you ask for people’s help for photos.

Do not believe it? Let me show you. All is my face and my pink sweater.

Selfies:

Photos taken by people:

Got a lot of nice cards

Lunch at the local restaurant. That was chicken; it actually tasted like frog though :P.

Petite France

We continued our tour to Petite France which was 10-minute driving from Nami Island. Winnie told me that everything in Petite France, from building materials to decorative items, was imported from France. That’s why it brought me my French feels. I took a couple of photos and bought nice postcards to friends. There was a puppet show at the central stadium but there were too many people, I was unable to see. I left the show, as a result, and continued to take more photos.

Oh scary doll

Gingseng centre

No, I came to this place again. Not fun at all *cry a river*

Tour ended.

Highlight of the day

Sushi and Nanta show.

Instead of my hotel in Insadong, I request the driver to drive me to Myeongdong, which is the shopping district in Seoul. In Vietnam, as netizens highly recommended a performance “Nanta cooking show” as it is internationally acclaimed and has come to many countries around the world, I booked the show on 20.00. I was dropped at Lotte Department Store and got 2.30 hours before I got to Myeongdong Nanta theatre. There were a lot of international and local brands that I really got dizzy.

And here came my sushi. Walking from 1^st floor to 13^th floor only for sushi, you must have some ideas that I was desperate for sushi.

I came to a conveyor belt sushi restaurant. It was based on the colour of your sushi dish that you would have different prices. I finished 5 dishes and got the bill of 24,000 won. OMG

Leaving Lotte Department store, I passed through the underground way to get to the other side of the street for Nanta show. I had to get there by 19.30 to get my ticket and my google map told me that I was close to the theatre, so I strolled around the street, dropping by some cosmetics store until 19.15. It, however, turned out unexpectedly that I was lost for direction. How can I put into words my situation? It was not like I was lost, I just could not find the Myeongdong Nanta Theatre. I asked for local help as my last resort, but I asked “Can you show me the way to Myeongdong Theatre?”. Yes, they showed me it. Myeongdong Theatre, which is also another theatre next to the Nanta theatre but closed at 18.00. I felt like being cheated. I continued to count on my google map. It took me back to the place I was before and the Myeongdong Nanta Theatre is actually located on 3^rd floor of a building. It showed on a tiny board, if you do not pay careful attention, you would never see it. It was too bad that I did not bring the book guide along with me. If I had done that, I would not have freaked out that like.

Something a bit unforgettable to me is that I happened to see a group of Korean girls on Myeongdong who crept me out with their heads covered with bandage, with only eyes and mouths visible. According to Winnie, plastic surgery clinics concentrated in Gangnam district so I did not expect to see these people in Myeongdong. I got so damn scared. Perhaps you have no ideas that even though I am a big fan of horror movies, I could not dare to watch “Goodbye Mommy” because the mother in the film had plastic surgery and had a bandage-head. This just activates my imagination and I could not help thinking what is underneath the bandage, a face full of blood? NO!!!

The show lasting for 100 minutes is exceptionally good, worth the money. It is hilarious and relaxing. I admire how Korean people cleverly promote their traditional culture in the form of musical performance. It is indeed of an awesome show which tells the story of three chefs receiving an unplanned wedding dinner by 6PM from their manager who also requests them to teach his nephew on how to cook. Oh it is non-verbal show, so completely comprehensive to foreign audience like me.

Some cut parts of the Nanta cooking show

Thinking that I may have missed the show really scared me haha.

Oh, I came to Seoul in the event of celebrating Buddha birth, so the street was crowded with people, lanterns and of course, the performance.

End of day 2

#photowithyourtourguide

Day 1: Kimchi Museum – Insadong – COEX Aquarium – Han River Cruise – Gingseng centre – Jogyesa Temple

Day 2: Nami Island – Petite France – Gingeng Centre

Day 3: Jogyesa Temple – Gyeongbokgung Palace – National Folklore Museum – Korean Folk Village

Day 4: [PHOTO only] Bukchon Hanok Village

Before getting down to the Seoul trip, let me explain to you a bit why I chose to travel alone. After conducting several surveys which I would take as conversations with interviewees (friends), I categorised into main 3 theories:

Theory A: “Dorayaki has a secret boyfriend with whom she promised to meet in Seoul, Korea and they planned on going a trip together”

Theory B: “Dorayaki desperately needs a full package of a face job (nose job, jaw job and eye job, blah blah). She must go to Seoul, taking plastic surgery to save her face and even her future”

Theory C: “Dorayaki has become a psychopath recently. She is filled with hatred towards the world that she needs to leave to another country to find peace”

Which one do you think of among 3 theories? Let’s come to the answer of each one.

Theory A: “You overestimated me. Perhaps I get one once I finish my trip”

Theory B: “The only problem I have found with my face is my excessively unnecessarily disgustingly big eyes which are the result of my wearing thick glasses since secondary high school. If I can find a way on how to reduce it, I will do it, otherwise, no plastic surgery”

Theory C: “Hmmm… 50/50”

My loyal readers, I am trying not to make you feel like you are reading a blog of a mentally unstable but sometimes I just feel lost and even, broken. I had no ideas where negative emotions came, and they came like a flood that I just stood still, feeling helpless. I had a couple things in my life that went off track and felt nothing but tiredness. So I think of a way to get rid of it and that is travelling to another place, to feel “me” again.  Now you have learnt that Dorayaki is much more complicated than you think she is!

As a matter of fact, Seoul is just an alternative plan after my plan to Tokyo failed. I am not going to mention it here though :D.

Day 1: Kimchi Museum – Insadong – COEX Aquarium – Han River Cruise – Gingseng centre – Jogyesa Temple

I got to Seoul around 7.00 AM and it took me around 1 hour and 30 minutes to get to my hotel, which is located near Insadong. Since I booked a half day tour starting at 12.15, I got a plenty of time visiting Insadong and some of the places I got to were Kimchi Museum and Ssamzigil. There was nothing spectacular about Kimchi Museum, except for free kimchi tasting samples which were put there in a refrigerator for you to try. I ate many and of course, kimchi’s sourness has exceptional effects on your digestive system, but in my case, it did not come on the right time. I had to stop it before feeling stomachache.

I left Kimchi Museum to get to Ssamzigil. This special place is a shopping complex featuring café galleries, stationery shops, handicraft stores and restaurants. I saw a lot of highschoolers there shopping and eating. So fun!

Lunch in a nearby restaurant:

Lena was my tourist guide on that day. She is so nice and her English is excellent. Before that, I heard a lot from friends that Korean people are not that good at English but I was surprised at how good they are actually. They speak pleasant English accent which is much clearer than Singaporean speaking English to me. So no language barrier here!!

Together in the tour were two brothers from Australia. Lena told me much about the Korea’s current situation now when it has to deal with many political issues that not only come from North Korea but also Japan and China. She mentioned the tension between China and Korea, which could not be left out the Lotte Mart’s being shut down in China. That’s why I did not see many Chinese tourists in Seoul.

But it remained a question for me that how come DMZ (the boundary between North Korea and South Korea) is still one of the most popular tours in Seoul haha.

COEX Aquarium

A huge number of cute sea creatures, including beavers. I had to show Cheese, that’s her haha.

Han River Cruise

Gingseng centre

This place was plain boring and I did not take any photos, not a single one. Oh, hold on, they do not allow taking photos either.

Jogyesa Temple

This temple is the last stop on the tour and it is also opposite my hotel. I came on the event of Korean’s celebrating the birth of Buddha. So they hang colourful lanterns on the tree with wishing papers attached to each. As far as I remember in Jogyesa temple, there are two black and white pine trees which represent Chinese ying yang (“balance”).

Inside the hall are 3 giant Buddha statues and they even have a section dedicated to spirits tablets of people who have recently passed away. People come there, reading Buddha scripts and praying. In Vietnam, we have similar things. It is not my interest so pardon me for skipping this one.

Highlight of the day

Meeting unnie after almost 10 years.

Minkyung sshi was my friend and we went to the same English class together in around 2009 ~ 2010. When I got to Seoul, I wanted to meet her so had her contact through a mutual friend of us. Our meeting point is Jamsil so from Jogyesa temple, I took a train there to meet unnie. After all these times, unnie is still so nice, and even aging backwards. She just got married last month and has a happy life. Unnie took me around Jamsil where I saw Lotter World park and Lotte World Tower, which was inaugurated in April, 2017 and recorded as the tallest building in Seoul. We got a pleasant strolling around the part and stopped by a mall nearby to have dinner. I even got a cute gift from unnie.

I was genuinely happy to see unnie again, but somehow, there was nostalgia in me that made me sad at the same time. Any possible way that I could turn back time to live in 2010 again, but I would not want to wear braces again

Unnie instructed me how to take a train to get back to Anguk station which is 10 minute walking to my hotel. But damn, I safely returned from Jamsil to Anguk station, but from Insadong I was unable to remember my way back to the hotel haha.

End of day 1

#photowithyourtourguide

Day 1: Kimchi Museum – Insadong – COEX Aquarium – Han River Cruise – Gingseng centre – Jogyesa Temple

Day 2: Nami Island – Petite France – Gingeng Centre

Day 3: Jogyesa Temple – Gyeongbokgung Palace – National Folklore Museum – Korean Folk Village

Day 4: [PHOTO only] Bukchon Hanok Village

To my loyal readers who in a second think that their innocent Dorayaki was hacked or possessed, stay rest assured that there is no other, but me. Anyway, this is just for pure entertainment. So are you ready to activate your pervert mind?

I have just found out that this is the first post of 2017. Oh I have been neglecting my website for so long.

#1. Tonight (Best you ever had) – John Legend

When mentioning John Legend, we immediately think of his ever-lasting love song dedicated to his wife – “All of Me”. Leave alone his gentle look, obviously his R&B soothing voice makes your jaw drop and eventually you feel weak in the knee. Only his “Ah, Alright” at the very beginning of Tonight can melt my heart. It is such a brilliant song that talks about sex in a classy way. Even a woman with an iron heart cannot stand strong in front of a man in his black suit, whispering to her “Tonight I’ll be the best you ever had”. What an irresistible seduction! I do not know anyone but take my white flag! I want to tie him up in my bedroom so desperately and feel him now. Having a couple of hours in the messed up (or broken) bed with this guy is a blessing that every woman could ever ask for *cry in laughter*.

Besides Amy Winehouse, John Legend is the only singer that I enjoy watching live performances rather than audio. That’s why I will put his “Tonight” live performance at the Kennedy centre here (plus I hate Ludaris’ rap part, it makes my mood down).

I hit you with the best stroke
Freestyle and then the breaststroke
Til you blowing cigarette smoke
And now the bed’s broke
So what we gonna do now?
F**k it, round two now
Work it out, then we cool down
Cool down

Oh yes, let’s do the round two

#2. Teach Me Tiger – April Stevens

I knew this song from a short documentary film of Brandon Teena, from which the film Boys don’t cry was adapted. My first reaction was like “Hey, this song is interesting. I have to have it on my iPod” and ta-da, here I found it. I could not help laughing at the “Wah wah wah” part and I remember doing it so hard that even my sister at the next room could hear that. But the more I listened to it, the more I felt like my ears were burning (I was putting my headphone on). With kid-like voice, April sang the song in a naughty but seductive way by cleverly adding some words like “ahh, hmm, shh”. You can just imagine a beautiful girl with her red cherry lips doing some cutie kitty scratching movements. So it brings you chilling pleasure and turns you on a bit as well. It is a matter of fact that back in 1959, Teach me tiger due to its sexual suggestiveness did not receive any airplays on the radio. So want to know if this seduction song is able to make you drop your pants? Just try listening to it now.

Teach me tiger how to kiss you.. wah wah wah wah wah
Show me tiger how to kiss you.. wah wah wah wah wah
Take my lips, they belong to you..
But teach me first, teach me what to do..

I remember making effort to imitate her “Tiger, tiger, I wanna squeeze you, wah wah wah wah wah” and looking at my face in the mirror which resembles a monkey’s eating spicy food. I know that I should not do it again.

#3. Keep on loving you – Cigarettes After Sex

Cigarettes After Sex is an American dream pop. As for sexual fantasy songs, the group has another song which should be on the list instead – “Nothing is gonna hurt you baby”, but I still chose their cover of REO Speedwagon’s “Keep on loving you”.

The original “Keep on loving you” is, in fact, a soft ballad power, however, under the magic of Greg Gonzalez’s whispering sing, it turns into a truly dreaming slow jam. Along with feminine vocals, the song’s smooth flow makes me feel a bit drunk and float over the ocean. That’s why when putting this beautiful song into a sexual context, we sense organism exactly.

Keep on loving you is an ode to a passionate night. With this sexy cover, you can first see yourself in a couple slow dancing and then you hit the main part in your bedroom. He is not in a hurry. He is gentle. And above all he says:

And I’m gonna keep on loving you
Because it’s the only thing I wanna do
I don’t wanna sleep
I just wanna keep on loving you

#4. Body say – Demi Lovato

Demi Lovato – a then Disney princess. I am not a true fan of Disney but Demi’s Pop rock style is so far the best out of Disney kids to me. With “Body Say”, I think Demi is now stepping out of her princess image to get more matured. Demi co-wrote this song, that’s why it shows confidently sexual desires of a woman, just like her strong personality. I like this personal touch, actually.

Body say has all materials of a sexy song: sexually provocative single cover, dreamy beat and sexy lyrics. It is just basically a let-the-body-do-the-talking song. Do not know what to do in front of this beautiful woman? Follow her lead, she instructs you all.

You can touch me with slow hands
Speed it up, baby, make me sweat
Dreamland, take me there ’cause I want your sex
If my body had a say, I wouldn’t turn away
Touch, make love, taste you
If my body told the truth, baby I would do
Just what I want to

Hope you enjoy the post. I am pretty sure that innocent Dorayaki will be back in the next post.

Do I love pomegranate the fruit? Oh forget it. I am never patient enough for it.

The #1 reason: Bà nội has a beautiful name.

Every member of my family has a beautiful name, if not, then it is unique. I have one-of-a-kind name that my friends call me “Ms Global” since my full name is a combination of 4 countries. My bà nội is not an exception. Rough English translation of her name is “scented pomegranate”- An elegant and beautiful name, not to mention that her last name sounds like royal Chinese (she is 100% Vietnamese) and that cannot even be better. My bà nội’s name just makes you keep on telling her name and say “Wow”.

The #2 reason: Bà nội thinks I am perfectly perfect as far as she can see.

“You are so fat that your double chin is so obvious”,

“Your skin looks like burned fried chicken”,

“Your hair is messy, not that curly, not that straight either”,

“You should grow up”,

etc.

These are some examples of what people tell me and I am so used to it that I have gradually become numb. Bà nội is too good for my ego though. I never hear any harsh words to put me down from her. In that old lady’s eyes, I am always a fair-skinned lady (just a bit chubby) who is capable of doing things well. For many times, bà nội has boasted with my relatives how much I make my monthly income. When receiving my salary, I take out a part for her, so she can buy things she wants. That is why she thinks I make much money and am rich enough to buy her cakes two times a week. She does not know and will never know the fact that I struggle to pay the debt of my credit card on a monthly basis. It is enough to boost my self-esteem though. Sometimes the only thing you need is someone’s support this way or another. People see what they want to see and my bà nội sees me as a nice grown-up lady who works hard to make her money – A flawless image that I have always wanted to be. Now I do not feel like trying anymore *crying in Spanish*

The #3 reason: Bà nội makes me laugh hard.

I remember one day I felt so dead bored. I did not know what to do and I could not find anyone else to talk to either. The most powerful lady of the Phan family was my last option. I opened my Ipad, googling “Handsome [insert nationality] guy” and here we go, there was a long list of handsome guys as I wished. I told bà nội this guy was my boyfriend, and that guy was too. Boyfriends lived all around the world (Brad Pitt was included in the boyfriend list). Bà nội padded on my shoulder and proudly said “Good job. Good job”. I laughed really loud. I am a type of person that is easy to laugh, even at stupid things. But when a person makes me laugh hard and naturally like that, I must genuinely love them much.

On another beautiful day, while I was having dinner and reading news on my Ipad about the most dangerous clown on earth that killed hundred innocent boys, the lady walked downstairs to pick up her medicines. When passing on me, she looked at my Ipad’s screen and said “Your boyfriend? Take him home. I will cook for him”

Bà nội asked me to take a serial killer home. She must have a genius sense of humour.

The #4 reason: Bà nội treats me like princess.

Believe or not: no matter how badly life has treated you, there is one person out there who treats you the prince/princess you truly are. It is just a matter of time to find that person and I am one of the luckiest people on earth to have completed that task. Of course, my parents love me but bà nội spoils me as much as she can. We Vietnamese have the famous saying among couple, the boyfriend would say to his beloved girlfriend “You just need to be my girlfriend, I will take care the rest of the world”. And that could not be more true giving the situation of me and my bà nội. When our lovely housekeeper went back to her house for a couple of days, we took care of each other.  Since she did not know how to use the electric stove, I helped her with that and she did the rest. She did not allow me to touch anything, just wait for the food to get ready. The 90-year-old lady brought food to me, asking me if it was hot enough, good or bad. Oh my royal feels! At first, I felt uncomfortable seeing her do all the things, but if anyone offers to help, she will get angry. That is why I let bà nội do what she likes.

Oh yes, the princess had to clean the table and wash dishes after dinner.

The #5 reason: Bà nội teaches me precious lessons.

I believe that every person we meet in our life, more or less, teaches us a lesson that we may thank them later. What does bà nội teach me? She teaches me if you truly care for someone, just tell them. What is the point of hiding our feelings? Is that we have special feelings for someone a thing to be ashamed of? Bà nội has her own way to show her love for me. On my first day to work, I came back and found her sit on the stair waiting for me. Me and my aunt had to stop her from that. She was so worried when I had to travel almost 50 kilometers to work and back (I actually did not drive, so did not feel any tired either). She feels happy when seeing me as if I was “sunshine on her cloud day” (The Temptations’ My girl is my favourite song, FYI). Now she stopped waiting for me but I really appreciate her making me feel happy for my own existence.

So, what I have learnt is that relationship is easy to break, and you do not know if you have missed opportunities to meet people who mean so much to your life. As long as we can live, why not show our love to them? It – however- still has its downside. I think people around me may be getting so damn sick of hearing me say “I like you”/”I love you” repeatedly and unstoppably. So, it is best not to overuse it.

Bà nội uses her money wisely and only spent on necessary things (milk, medicines and food) and I am in process of learning it from her. But considering a large amount of money I have to spend on stationery, clothes, food, perfume and so on regularly, I think it is going to take times to master it *cry*.

The #6 reason: Bà nội turned 90^th this year.

Her birthday is December 12^th. But it was until 2 weeks later that we celebrated her 90^th birthday. Relatives from Australia and America flew to Ho Chi Minh city for a family reunion. It was super fun.

(From left to right: unknown #1, auntie Kec, unknown #2, Bà nội and Helen)

(From left to right: Auntie Kec, unknown #1, unknown #2, auntie Thu, Bà nội, Helen, sugar Daddy, pretty Mommy, Daddy’s friend’s wife, Daddy’s friend, auntie Keo, Chelsea and Cheese) 

(From left to right: uncle Teo and sugar Daddy)

(From left to right: Helen, Chelsea, Jason and Auntie Thu)

(From left to right: Bà nội’s favourite grandchild, bà nội and Auntie Kec)

(Bà nội with her two princesses aka- party late comers *cry in Spanish*- Oh I got to the wrong restaurant)

PS: I feel so much sorry for my misleading title post. I make it up for my readers by my favourite song.