The UrbanWire      

Life’s a ride for 20-year-old Benjamin Say, defending champion of the Mens Wakeboard Freeride in the West Side Jam. Benjamin shares with us his tips and tricks and how he’ll be preparing for the upcoming West Side Jam 2010!

Name: Benjamin Say
Age: 20
Occupation: Student at Ngee Ann Polytechnic

Hi Benjamin! Tell us what is your training like?
Well, there’s actually no fixed schedule. I work at Maxout so I probably wake about 2-3 times a week, each time about an hour or two. Usually I do it after school on most days, or when I have no classes… Closer to competition days I train every day

Do you have to watch your diet? If yes, what do you do to watch your diet?
On season I have to try to keep within healthy weight, so I try to eat healthy food. Off-season, I just eat everything.

Why do you like wakeboarding?
There’s just a certain stoke that comes when you ride. When you’re moving on the water, it’s a feeling you can’t explain! There’s adrenaline, and it’s so crazy it just gets you hooked. And also when your friends are pushing you, and when you learn more tricks… It’s a social thing.

What is the wakeboarding community in Singapore like? Is it small and close or is it competitive and political?
The wakeboarding scene in Singapore is definitely growing. I’d say it started in the 90s with varsity people and expats who bring it here. It’s competitive, yet still friendly at the same time. Everybody seems to be pushing each other to do better.

Would you say that seeing beach babes are an added motivation for you to go for training sessions?
For sure! It’s never a bad thing. Guys and girls on the boat, by the sides, and it’s fun to watch people having fun. I’d say there are about a balanced number of guys and girls in the scene though.

How are you preparing for the competition? Are you keeping any secret moves to wow the judges?
Well, on competition day, it really depends on the water conditions and the mood, and whether I have the ability to perform then. Sure, I do have new tricks but there are also more restrictions, so go there to find out about it. West Side Jam is a pretty friendly competition where people push each other to their limits and mostly it’s to encourage local riders to participate.

What was it like winning the title in the Men’s Wakeboard Freeride category?
It was my first win, so it was a surprise win for me. I’ve previously had placings in other competitions but Maxout is my home ground so it was a great feeling to win a title at the West Side Jam! I hope to do better this year.

Other than winning the title, what did you win last year?
Ah. Products, a life jacket… things that wake boarders use.

Was it a close fight with the other competitors?
It was, it was a pretty close fight! It was pretty tough competing with all the ‘ang moh’ kids… haha!

At what age did you start wakeboarding? How many years have you been in competitive wakeboarding?
I started wakeboarding when I was 17, and I’ve been in competitive wakeboarding for about 3 years now. I started competitive wakeboarding about 3 months after I picked it up

Could you imagine a day without wakeboarding?
Yes, I could. But it’ll be super different! Wakeboarding is really a lifestyle…

Other than wakeboarding, what do you like to do in your free time?
I really like music and I play the piano, guitar and drums. And like any other student, I study in my free time too.

What is your dream job?
I have no idea right now, and maybe it won’t be related to wakeboarding at all, but I’ll still be wakeboarding for sure.

Catch Benjamin in action on 5 and 6 March at the West Side Jam 2010!

The West Side Jam will feature more than 30 regional and international pro-riders, free-to-watch competitions over both days and fringe activities such as a Roxy Beach Babe Contest, festival-exclusive sponsor booths, banana boat rides, discover wakeboard introductory riding sets, party yachts available for private charter, a fiesta party on the docks, as well as music throughout the day featuring local and international DJs.

For more details, visit West Side Jam 2010’s official website and their facebook event page!

When it comes to great advertising, the Heineken Walk-In Fridge really nails it. The advertisement hardly has any dialogue or jingle, yet the message is crystal clear. This ad about the age-old differences between the genders is clever, funny, and drives the message across beautifully.

What this ad nails is the moment – the Heineken moment. The moment of realisation that you have a walk-in fridge that has enough beer to last you for a long, long time. There’s just Heineken and more Heineken, and more Heineken…

This festive season, you can get as close as you want to feeling that Heineken moment! The Heineken pop-up boutique bar on Orchard Road is classy and innovative and allows visitors to quickly grab a Heineken before carrying on with their festive shopping or merrymaking.

What you can expect at the boutique-bar: Beer will be for sale on one side of the bar (that’s the bar side), and at the ‘closet’ side, Heineken has partnered with Fred Perry to display their fashionable apparel. Not only that – visitors stand to win Fred Perry discount vouchers too. And then of course, the boutique-bar makes a great opportunity for taking photographs of you and your friends re-enacting your very own Heineken moment!

The Heineken Boutique-Bar is situated outside Orchard Building until Dec 27.

You can visit www.heineken.com.sg for more details.

These days, John Mayer is popular just for being popular.

He’s everywhere. The media closely watches the details of his relationships, life and music career, and his online presence is phenomenal – he has over 2.6 million followers on his twitter feed. He gives the media something to be interested in, and there’s so much to like about this snarky, enigmatic, anti-hipster.

And it’s at a time like this when he’s at the peak of his popularity that he releases his fourth studio album, Battle Studies.

The album has a total of 11 tracks, with one bonus track if you pre-order it from the iTunes store. With track titles like “Heartbreak Warfare”, “All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye”, “Perfectly Lonely”, “Friends, Lovers Or Nothing”, Battle Studies seems to take a more reflective tone as compared to his last album, Continuum.

While Continuum contained themes about war and politics and is said to be the album that helped to establish John Mayer as one of the guitar greats of this generation, Battle Studies is, in a nutshell, a melancholic chronicle of relationships past and heartbreaks.

Not that John Mayer has lost his touch, because Battle Studies contains gems like his remake of “Crossroads” (originally by Robert Johnson), a fast and catchy melodious work of his guitar, and “Perfectly Lonely”, featuring a long guitar solo at the beginning that seems to really hit the spot with heartbroken souls everywhere.

Other tracks like “Do You Know Me?” don’t quite do justice to John Mayer’s portfolio of deep and emotive songs. The song is decent, but isn’t memorable or quotable.

However, the single, “Who Says”, manages to be a huge hit with his fans. With lyrics like “Who says I can’t get stoned” and “I don’t remember you looking any better, then again I don’t remember you”, John Mayer seems to channel a modern day Holden Caulfield, the rebellious teenager from JD Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. The music video is set in New York City at night, and the scenes are of him carelessly living his life as if it were a party.

Battle Studies may not be John Mayer’s best work, but it’s packed with tiny anecdotes in every song, revealing a very boyish and emotional-at-heart John Mayer, but hey – he’s still brilliant at making music.

Title: Battle Studies
Artiste: John Mayer
Language: English
Record Label: Columbia
Release Date: Nov 17

Tracklist:

All songs written by John Mayer, except “Crossroads” by Robert Johnson and “I’m on Fire” by Bruce Springsteen.

1. Heartbreak Warfare
2. All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye
3. Half of My Heart (feat. Taylor Swift)
4. Who Says
5. Perfectly Lonely (feat. Taylor Swift)
6. Assassin
7. Crossroads (Robert Johnson cover inspired by Cream)
8. War of My Life
9. Edge of Desire
10. Do You Know Me
11. Friends, Lovers or Nothing

iTunes pre-order edition

12. I’m on Fire (Bruce Springsteen cover)

Designers of 4 labels came under one roof at Blackmarket’s inaugural standalone fashion show – the Blackmarket Manifesto 2010. And how apt the name of the event was, for the show spoke volumes of how the Blackmarket brand, despite being only a carrier of labels, has carved such a good reputation for its loyal support to local and regional designers.

UrbanWire takes a closer look at the 4 labels who presented at the launch.

FrüFrü & Tigerlily

There’s something intriguing about the trio behind FrüFrü & Tigerlily . Constant to their style, their label seems to take upon a demeanor of nu-rave girls hanging out in clubs and being madly obsessed with electronic music. Take for example this collection – a notable fluorescent purple triangular shape was juxtaposed against a background of black on 2 outfits (so reminiscent of glo-lights in a club), making the collection so subtly relevant to the music-loving audience at Zouk. The other outfits in the collection featured mixing different shapes while keeping a sharp and prim silhouette.

Gian Romano

It’s easy to tell that Gian Romano has big ideas behind the clothes he designs. This Spring 2010 collection, being his second show with Blackmarket, was very well-presented and paired, with all the outfits related to an emphasis on sex appeal. Citing his references to ideas of S&M and the red light district, it’s no wonder that his collection was a show of grommets, string detail, skinny pants and leather.

Max Tan

At first look, Max Tan’s collection is obviously telling of what his collection is about – a new interpretation of the classic white shirt. But by the time the third outfit is revealed on the runway, you’d be much more blown away by his impressive interpretation of the classic rather than how you ‘got it’ upon first glance. Reworking and incorporating current styles such harem pants and one-piece jumpers to styles from seasons ago like the asymmetrical skirt into a single collection gave the audience a unified visual treat that didn’t bore or tire. Max Tan’s collection presented itself as neat, solid, and slightly androgynous.

Tangle

And the last of the collections was the Spring 2010 collection of Tangle, under Christy Chow. This collection featured outfits for both sexes that were set apart by their fresh cuts and shapes. The outfits showed hints of rock and edginess fused with romanticism of floral prints in very wearable daily pieces, styled up with black leather boots and chains, truly bringing out the message of mixed movements.

Blackmarket turns 1 this November.

All labels and runway pieces will be available at:

Blackmarket

Opens daily from 12pm to 9pm

Address: 19, Jln Pisang

Website: www.theblackmarket.sg

Telephone: +65 6296 8512

(All pictures courtesy of Jeri Soh via Blackmarket)

Ben & Jerry’s newest flavour of ice cream, Chocolate Macadamia, goes beyond being fun and tasting good. It’s a cup (or cone) of love and social responsibility.

Launched at all Ben & Jerry’s scoop shops island wide on Monday, Chocolate Macadamia is a scrumptious blend of vanilla and double dip chocolate ice cream, mixed with whole (and we mean whole) chocolate-covered Macadamia nuts.

It’s not just an ordinary scoop of ice cream, and not just because it tastes really good.

Chocolate Macadamia is among one of Ben & Jerry’s fair trade flavours, which include popular favourites like Vanilla, Coffee, Chocolate, Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz and Chocolate Fudge Brownie.

And for the case of Chocolate Macadamia specifically, it means that the ice cream is made with ingredients sourced conscientiously from fair-trade farms around the world, using cocoa from Santa Domingo, vanilla from Indonesia, and handpicked macadamia nuts from Malawi, blended together with dairy from farmers who have pledged not to treat their cows with rBGH, a growth hormone that increases the risk of health problems in cows.

This means that as you enjoy your scoop of Chocolate Macadamia ice cream, you know you are doing some good towards the world through supporting Ben & Jerry’s work.

Chocolate Macadamia is launched under Ben & Jerry’s global campaign, It’s What’s Inside That Counts. This campaign is an effort to raise awareness about how values-led sourcing helps to improve the lives of farmers, families and communities across the world by supporting Fair Trade suppliers.

“You could say that Chocolate Macadamia is the world’s yummiest mission statement,” says Benjamin Tng, Ben & Jerry’s Singapore Brand Champion.

Ben & Jerry’s has also come up with the world’s first ever global consumer contest, Do The World a Flavor, where aspiring flavor-makers can enter their own ice cream concoction. The winning flavor will be produced and launched globally.

From April 14 – May 26, local ice cream fans can log on to the Ben & Jerry’s Singapore website at www.benjerrys.com.sg and concoct a cool new flavour using the online flavour generator.

One winner will be picked from each participating country and the winner will receive a year’s supply of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, and a seven-day trip to the Dominican Republic in November 2009, where they will get a rare chance to hang out with company co-founders Ben & Jerry and witness the benefits of Values-Led sourcing first hand at a Fair Trade farm.

One lucky grand prizewinner will also see their awesomeness in action when their winning concoction becomes Ben & Jerry’s new flavor, available worldwide in March 2010.

Doing good in a scoop of ice cream? Now that’s unheard of.

Taste Test

The ice cream is smooth, creamy and velvety, but not overwhelming.

The savory taste of macadamia matches impeccably with sweet chocolate ice cream, and the nuts also make for a very delightful chewy texture. It’s really akin to having maltesers in your ice cream, but much better.

The macadamia nuts are the highlight in this scoop, it’s unfortunate that the amount you get is left up to luck. While I got three, my friends got five and eight nuts in their ice cream respectively.

Altogether, Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Macadamia ice cream is quite an awesome package. Knowing that you’re saving the world while savoring the chocolatey goodness makes it taste even better.