MTV World Stage Malaysia '15

Huge morning to you all lovely humans! Last night was such a blast it felt like I was in some deep hallucination.

From the evident title, you guys probably know where my night was spent yesterday aites! One word to describe it - unbelievable. The crowd was flooding Sunway Lagoon's Surf Beach, music was super invigorating, and the ones who performed were awe-inspiring. To me, I attend this once-a-year music fest to meet Sekai no Owari, Carly Rae Jepsen & Jason Derulo! Oh gosh I don't even know where to start, they were tearing the stage into pieces. Sekai no Owari made me love them more (the piano performance is heart melting I swear), Carly's performance was perfectly executed & her songs were soul-satisfying, Jason Derulo literally stole the show. His dancers were sight-killers my jaw remained open while they did hysterical moves. Plus the songs he chose to present? Yaassss.

Ah, almost forgot to mention the crew that I went with. They were Nedd (of course), her sister Gienne, and Michelle. What a night of our lives we lived. On top of that, we even met cool people during the event - Benjamin Kheng, JinnyBoy & Mark O'Dea! Hmm there were definitely cons too besides the pros, for example the heartless smokers who are doing an excellent job teaming up with Mr. Haze. I don't care if it's a cigarette or an e-vapor, you're still smoking shit in public, godammit.

Tickets for four.

With JinnyBoy!

Sneakers Squad.

Stage from far view.

View from sitting down *pants*.

Chilling in Pyramid after it ended.

Soon after the event came to an end, we had a sleepover in Nedd's house (or slumber party as she would have it). But well, I'm just going to keep this post until here, obeying the title's accent. The crazy sleepover part will have to wait for tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Hope you peeps had a fun Saturday night too!

Rock on, Alanis xx.

Beats Before Talent

Memories pulled me back to when I was five, I remember randomly hitting objects with stationaries such as pencils and crayons because I feel like to. Annoyance was the term teachers and adults pinned on me besides weird and noisy. But the truth is, I don't know why. Why are my knuckles always hungry to knock, why are my fingers so playful to play the piano even when the keys aren't present. Mom & dad used to say it's a bad habit of mine that I need to get rid of, which I found hard to understand back then. How is knocking objects a negative addiction?

Question marks continue to hunt my immature mind when I hopped onto elementary school. As usual, I drum my desk with out-of-ink pens or sometimes fingers when I wasn't aware of my physical side. Students dislike my company in class because of the distractions I create. Of course I felt down for some time, but I was pretty fine with such an unexplainable habit of mine. At least it's better than grinding my teeth that produces a sandy resonance, which I told no one before.

Things began to clear its rainy clouds above my head when I got enrolled into high school. My addiction sort of 'improved' through years of heedless practice I perform everywhere I went. Soon, my beats got noticed by a true friend of mine. She referred my convention as a talent which gently blown my mind away. During the time, I discovered an amazing musical expertise from my classmate. As you guessed (or not), it's a thing named "Pen Tapping", which is creating fruitful beats by only one or two pens on a desk. I was staggered by such a rare informal performance my friend played in class and decided to get my itchy hands on it. With a month, Pen Tapping was a flair I could include in my casual application.

Yup, just two pens & a desk.

Very unexpectedly, this stage of mine became my main spotlight of my YouTube channel. My first cover went viral within the humans I know in days. Subscribers click the button more for pens than piano, proving that something I learnt in a month was attractive than a skill I took years to master. I admit I feel down sometimes watching my piano covers lose gas while on their way shooting to the stars, but a long lost invincible spark managed to drag me back on stage. 

I never knew my randomness in knocking solid objects could turn into my spotlight till now.

The focal message I want to send to you all amazing humans is real simple: Everyone owns a talent that allows each of us to shine in our own unique ways. Hidden or not, never give up on cultivating it even if you may meet harsh barriers on your hilly journey. 'Cause trust me, you're going to need that talent with you one day in order to permanently frame that cheeky smile on your face.

Meow. (Yup this cheeky smile)

Subscriber or not, thank you for the support on YouTube from the bottom of my heart. ;) 

Piano Covers: Behind The Scenes

Helloooooo! As you peeps know, I'm a rookie YouTuber and own a YouTube channel full of instrumental covers and weird crap.

Wait, you don't know? Here you go, my awe-inspiring channel. youtube.com/pawslikeaboss

Hmm back to the topic. Ever wonder how I capture my piano covers? Thing is, they never once gave me a smooth time. For every piano cover, random crap happens at least once. That one wrong note when the end was near, camera falling off my window pane (ouch), camera battery dies out of the blue, piano sheets got blown off the stand onto my face, all types of crap. Believe me, I explode every time it happens even though it happens all the time. Sometimes I got so frustrated I 'delayed' my cover for a week. That's how bad it is.

Won't it be splendid if I show you peeps the bloopers? Sadly, I can't find all my past failed videos in my phone or laptop. Guess I deleted them all during last winter, welp. But on the bright side, here's something I got from my recent piano cover. (Warning, random alert)

1.  Before I start filming, a hair swift is very essential. 

Do I look good on camera?

2.  Next, a Grimmie Salute as a respect to my idol, Christina.

#TeamGrimmie

3.  Hmm how 'bout a wave to the fans? Oh gosh this never ends huh.

Heyyyy.

4.  Why not do a hoodie flip if I have a hoodie on?

Hoodie is love. <3

5.  And when your song is near the end, your finger decides to tackle an incorrect key.

F. M. L.

6.  Finally, the 'unicorns & rainbows' feeling when you achieve a cover you find satisfying.

Yayyyy in silence.

Now you know piano covers don't only include playing the piano. 

Here's the piano cover if you're looking for it. See You Again (Piano Cover)

Cheers! Alanis xx.

Christina Grimmie's Twin!

Hey there fellow humans! Ever heard about the fabulous Christina Grimmie? You probably know her from her original YouTube channel 'zeldaxlove64' or from The Voice Season 6. Just in case you didn't know, I'm a huge 'frand' of her & part of #teamgrimmie!

Yu rawk, Grimmie!

Well, just found out that I could be her twin!

Grimmie Salute!

Hahah pardon my randomness. It sparked my head when I was taking a new profile picture for my YouTube channel with my favourite green-black headphones on. With a touch of the awesome Grimmie Salute, poof! I call it the 'Grimmie Transformation'!

Welp, terribly sorry for exposing the random side of me. Love you all <3

Levels of Aspiration

I hold a soul craving to shine

As everyone around laughed while watching me twine

Lying like death ain't gonna help so why whine

My bold painful fist lifted me up to find what's mine

I began to draw life that exists in my joy

Wild imaginations I opened and deployed

Soon people around me noticed and enjoyed

Something they would read all day without being cloyed

Few weeks later I spread the muse

Music's my spark like feet and shoes

Piano, once a chained-on torturing fuse

Became none but my emotional abuse

Rhythm and beats are somehow my thing

So hidden I never noticed till my friend taught a fling

Thanks to him as it woke me up like a bee sting

It turned into an unexpected specialty I could wing

Confidence then risked myself a bet in red

Youtube it is, which I'm glad I went ahead

A thousand subscribers, rising and never dead

The dream I worked to chase, finally revealing its bed.

Chase your dreams.

- Inspired by real life events I went through. -

Start of Music

“I realize now that dying is easy. Living is hard.” 

Some of you should be familiar with this quote. It's from a book "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman. I haven't read the book yet, but its film was one of my favourite movies. Inspiring & life-reviving, Also reminds me of the start of my early music life. Contrary to Mia's though.

Parents want their kids to learn music because you know, musical kids are better in studies, blablabla and so on. Piano was the path my parents chose for me. I started learning when I was 5. As a kid I enjoyed it a lot, playing 'Do Re Mi' while reading those colourful scores filled with cute pictures. Beethoven Bear & Mozart Mouse was a part of my childhood. But soon I could feel it wasn't as enjoying as I thought. My parents want me to take ABRSM examinations so I could level up & be better. It's cool you know, improving your skills and all, but it felt wrong. Only allowed to play my examination songs & scales. I was forced to practice & practice for hours. 

It was lucky that I had guts as a kid. I told my parents about how I felt about the exams & told them to take it easy on me. But my piano class fees weren't cheap, so my parents can't afford to let me waste time playing songs I want. It soon became torture to me. I often cried on the way to piano class, screaming excuses to skip classes as I was never good enough for my teacher. I tried to not touch the piano whenever I can. Something I used to love became something I hate awfully. Life suck during that period of time, everything seemed to be falling apart.

Please Mia, don't make me write a song.

As predicted, in 2011, my parents stopped my piano classes as they don't want to force me doing something I hate. I felt like I could breathe again, being able to stop playing exam pieces.  At first I always distanced myself from the piano, then I started to cover pop songs we hear everyday on the radio. Play-by-ear is a talent I was born with, so covering songs are a piece of cake to me. I started a Youtube channel with my piano covers uploaded there. Things started to get better, smiles started to appear on me more.

Two years later, I'd decided to go back to piano classes to continue where I left off.  I'm going for ABRSM Grade 8 next, but this time I made a deal, saying that I'll enjoy the journey playing songs I want & also practicing for my upcoming exam. Till now, everything was going smoother than ever. My Youtube career's cool, 245 subs & growing fast, and my Grade 8 exam's in April 2015. 

In the end, I would say mistakes are made for a reason. Without stopping classes, I wouldn't find out what I could do with my play-by-ear talent. I wouldn't had started a Youtube channel, I wouldn't enjoy music the way I do now. I'm glad I never gave up on what my parents had chose for me & instead choose my dream instrument, which was the violin. Still, I'm getting one as soon as I pass my Grade 8 as it's the instrument I would die to master. You won't believe this but yup I learnt how I play the violin in 3 hours. 

Someday I'll be playing it like how Mia plays her Cello, throwing myself into the violin, playing my soul in the wild. Dreams.

Dreams Upon The Sky

When I was a kid, I used to think that stars are dreams floating above the skies. When a dream is achieved, a star blinks & disappears. I don't know where I got this idea about stars, but it was in my head all the time.

Hey there! The name's Alanis, 16 & screwing up my first blog with my weird attraction to stars. Yup I love stars, cuz they are the ones who kept me company when I was a kid. Every night I couldn't sleep, I would look out the window, amaze my eyes with the millions of stars that covered the deep dark sky. For some reason I feel inspired by their uniqueness, it makes me feel less alone.

Not what you expected, I'm just a tiny insecure kid hiding in the shadows, kinda living in my own world, trying to work things out myself. Ain't that popular kid or that smart ass who aces every test, but just that lone kid. But somehow I'm pretty cool with things I'm good at. Music, drawing, stuff like that, and that makes me not that "hidden" after all. Interesting personality, I would say.

So why I started a blog? Was finding a place to hammer down my feelings that are hard to be said, also a place to jot down interesting chapters about my life. Well I hope it'll be an amazing journey, also hoping to get different opinions from you guys out there. A warm new beginning to me. :)

"There is no shortage of fault to be found amid our stars." - John Green