The UrbanWire      

The Bizzare Young Things

^{All images courtesy of The Bizarre Young Things}

For this party trio, coming together was pure coincidence and fate. The 3 go-getters met in school, tuition and even at the National Day Parade in Singapore, without suspecting how much they had in common – the love for fashion, music and parties.

With a fantastic business idea to redefine the partying scene, the threesome met over coffee one day and decided to start an events, party and lifestyle company. They call themselves, The Bizarre Young Things (TBYT) and their only aim is for others to have awfully good fun while they gain experience in the clubbing industry.

The group said: “We want to infect people with our love for music and fashion interests through the parties that we organise.”

As young (they’re all under 21!) entrepreneurs, being pro-active is a must. TBYT for instance, started out emailing and meeting up with the management of clubs in the hope of creating a collaborative business effort. Joanna Tang said: “No money was needed as we just helped them promote the event and come up with fresh, unorthodox ideas to attract crowds to the club.”

Despite school being their major priority, they made it a point to meet before every party and get the necessary logistics ready. Joanna said: “I guess it’s more of an overall effort to keep it going, as we have the passion and interest in it. Once you have that established, the commitment factor is no longer a problem.”

Time to Differentiate

^{(Left to right) Ngeow Jiawen, Joanna Tang, Darren Foo}

These 3 good friends may be inseparable, but they’re each defined by their own striking personalities and forte in contributing to TBYT’s success.

Ngeow Jiawen may look like the average person on the street but the party beast inside her loves partying, shopping and most things decadent. Vices aside, she spends most of her time juggling school projects, her social life and planning events for TBYT.

This rather reserved lady is the creative mind behind all the arty-farty graphics and posters by TBYT. However, under the influence of alcohol, she epitomises what living life to the fullest means. As the saying goes, you only live once right?

Joanna Tang exudes confidence, charm and charisma when speaking.  Language is no barrier to her as her strength is in writing and churning out write-ups for the group. Apart from all that writing, this brainy miss-know-it all takes charge of all things financial of TBYT.

Her sporty glow radiates both excitement and passion that she translates into everything she does in life – even when it comes to partying. Just beware of her tongue when she’s loaded up on the booze. Joanna has varied tastes in music and hopes that people can share her enthusiasm through events like OMG! It’s pop! Her motto: Live it up!

Darren Foo may seem like your crazy party boy raiding the clubs on weekends, but he means business. He loves fashion, art, music and anything beautiful and believes in taking chances in fashion by dressing differently to show his individuality. Expect to see his flamboyant sense of fashion and chunky necklaces when he parties the night away.

Darren says: “Why blend in with the crowd when you can stand out from them?” There’s more to him than being that alcohol heavyweight. As the only male in the group, his undying energy means he is always hard at work mingling with the crowd and improving TBYT’s public relations with current and future working partners.

OMG! It’s Pop!

What got them started? The current scene was too dull for them and as Joanna said, “it is the same old boring thing going on in clubs every week.” Music and drinks don’t amount to a successful party. In fact, their idea of a good party is an experience with something new and fresh each week. This gave rise to the launch of their pop extravaganza party, OMG! It’s pop! The first official party planned by TBYT that’s held every fortnight at Home Club.

At OMG! It’s pop! you can expect unusual fashion theme parties (Think fairytales, pumpkins and Black and white parties) with crazy POPpin’ music and props courtesy of TBYT.

This pop party is about reliving your old school days with a twist. From electro pop to mainstream pop, these guys will party to anything. According to Joanna, OMG! It’s pop! differentiates itself from the usual club parties where being normal is overrated and they target a niche market of outstanding individuals to gather in the friendly atmosphere at Home Club.

To usher in the New Year and bid 2009 goodbye, join TBYT with a star studded night of OMG! It’s pop! on Dec 31. The party trio fully expect you to “come dressed up as bald Britney or Queen Madge to leap ludicrously into 2010! Boy bands, dysfunctional single moms, bimbotic blondes – all are welcome! We love psycho people cuz normal is so OVERRATED!”

On Nov 20, Heineken held its ‘by-invitation-only’ party at the Police Coast Guard Headquarters (former) at 5 Stadium Lane, just right beside the Kallang Water Sports Centre.

Promising to deliver an entirely new and irresistible music experience, the highlight of this party event by the Heineken Green Room series was the presence of two revolutionary DJs, The Gaslamp Killer and Tayo.

Before the DJs came and blew the crowd away with their unusual dubs and mixes, we checked out the unusual location Heineken chose to hold this event at.

This is the former Police Coast Guard Headquarters, where the party happened inside the room with the red lights. This location was chosen on purpose because it also has the element of being ‘unknown’ or ‘unusual’ which gels in with the whole event theme.

This room located inside the location was definitely interactive. Anyone could go in, and there were battery-operated torches hanging from the ceiling by chains. If you switched one on and shone it at the wall, there’ll be graphic butterflies, which are sensitive to light, following the direction of your flashlight. Pretty cool way of showcasing another element, ‘movement’!

Slightly after 11pm, The Gaslamp Killer arrived and got the crowd wild by his unusual yet powerful taste in music mixes.

The invitation card for this event introduced him as: “The Gaslamp Killer: Heavy dub step meets freaked out soul meets whatever twisted sounds are playing in his head. Welcome the Gaslamp Killer: Joint-resident DJ of LA’s infamous Low End Theory club with Flying Lotus. Now he’s bringing his ultra-intense, hands-on set to Singapore. Prepare yourself. It’s going to be a killer night out.”

Indeed, it was. Merely 10 minutes after he took over the stage, he already managed to get people in the crowd grooving to the beat of his unusual music style. People on the dance floor could feel the vibrating beats of the music, and that itself, upped the mood!

What’s a Heineken sponsored party without Heineken beer? Stationed at both ends of the location, Heineken sold their original beer at S$12 each. For those who preferred other alcoholic drinks besides beer, they also sold Vodka mixes and soft drinks.

All in all, this instalment of the Heineken Green Room series lived up to what it promised; Darkness, Light, Music and Movement. Keep a lookout for its next installment on their website!

^{Ben & Jerry’s the Halloween Way}

With a flavour graveyard, reminiscent of the one in their ice cream plant tour in America where unpopular flavours are killed, and free flow of ice cream/i-scream madness, Ben & Jerry’s re-opened the frosty gates of hell for Halloween in Singapore on Oct 31.

Vermont’s favourite export presented their very own “2 Scoops 2 Scary” tour of mischief and mayhem. This tour comprised of endless treats of frozen dessert for a deadly “brain freeze”, but only if you survive their evil tricks.

50 lucky contestants had earned a chance via lucky draw to be on board the “2 Scoops 2 Scary” tour bus. They were among the thousands who had bought 2 scoops of any flavour between Oct 12 and 25.

^{(Image courtesy of Bates141 (SG)) On Board the Ben & Jerry’s “2 Scoop 2 Scary” tour bus.}

Blame it on promise of the sugar rush, even the rain didn’t dampen the mood of the ones on this spook-a-licious tour. Return of Halloween Horrors at the Night Safari was just ahead.

^{Evil Pumpkin at Night Safari}

Imagine a fairytale disaster where all your favourite characters turned evil. Picture Snow White all bloodied and dead from eating the poisonous apple. What about Cinderella murdered by her own glass slippers? Or a decapitated head found in the bamboo basket of a terrifying dim sum seller’s trolley?

^{The dead Snow White after eating the poisonous apple.}

^{(Image courtesy of Halloween Horrors Official Website) A Fairytale disaster}

^{Is anyone interested to buy some steaming dim sums?}

Well, you don’t have to imagine as these dead and not to mention, blood-curdling characters were eagerly waiting in the dark corners to spring an attack on their unsuspecting victims. This Train of Terror is definitely not for the faint-hearted!

“I was really happy when I won the chance to be at the 2 Scoops 2 Scary tour and I felt that the highlight of the night would definitely be the Train of Terror,” said Rina Tan, 23, a teacher.

^{Death by i-screams. The Flavour Graveyard was aligned with tombstones of different scoop flavours.}

The almighty sinful ice cream makers conquered 6 out of their 13 scoop shops, namely – VivoCity, Raffles City, Dempsey Hill, The Cathay, Great World City and Night Safari with some trick or treating.

The scoop shop at Raffles City stood out, as their staff members were hungry and waiting to skin the winners of the “2 Scoops 2 Scary” tour alive.

The theme for All Hallows’ Eve here was Corpse Bride and the staff of this outlet were dolled up as gory brides in search of a husband to wed them. They even had a wedding cake prepared to celebrate the moment of nuptial ‘bliss’.

^{(Image Courtesy of Bates141 (SG)) The soon-to-wed brides.}

^{A wedding cake to complete the ‘perfect wedding’.}

The tour got spookier and definitely more challenging with obstacles and a higher scare factor every scoop of the way. However, local moosicians Jack & Rai were present, and ensured that the winners had a music therapy in between their trips to ‘hell’.

^{Jack & Rai clad in their flashy costumes impersonating the kings of music (Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley).}

Ben & Jerry’s is definitely all about fun and ice cream. Ben & Jerry’s Brand Champ Benjamin Tng told UrbanWire, “The aim of the 2 Scoops 2 Scary tour is to have fun. Ben & Jerry’s has always been a fun and quirky brand and this will help establish our brand further.”

All you thrill seekers, watch out! Next year’s will be bigger and better.

Till then, peace, love and i-scream.

^{Flower bowl sundae from Ben & Jerry’s.}

^{Video by Janelle Li}

The UrbanWire attended the ION Orchard Gala Dinner held to mark the retail centre’s official opening. Big names like talented singer-songwriter Wang Lee Hom, model Gaile Lai, MTV VJ Utt, and local actress Michelle Chia graced the red carpet just a few hours ago.

Gaile Lai appeared in a Valentino dress from the latest collection and answered questions about her married life with husband, Leon Lai, one of Hong Kong’s heavenly kings.

Dressed in a Burberry suit, Wang Lee Hom talked briefly to the media about Big Soldier, Small General, a movie in which he stars alongside action film legend Jackie Chan.

By Verena Lin

When one’s nightlife is mentioned, partying the night away at the latest club in town immediately comes to mind. Such decadent lifestyles are novel at first, but eventually leaves you bored and tired, with a big hole burnt in your pockets for splurging unnecessarily on cocktails and Martinis.

With a shoestring budget in mind, some young people are redefining their night activities by kicking it old school with simple yet quaint picnics at some of the most scenic sites around. The night breeze, affordability and quality time with loved ones make picnics at night the better alternative to loud trance music at the clubs.

1. Marina Barrage

9 steel crest gates, each 30 m long, are built over the 350 m wide Marina Channel. The barrage includes a green roof, which doubles up as a recreational space and is open to public access. The roof overlooks the city and serves up a magnificent view comparable to that of the Singapore Flyer.

Full-time National Service man Justin Kong, 20, says, “My girlfriend will bring the food and we will lay out a mat and just chill out. It is a nice place to relax and appreciate the city lights.”

Besides the picturesque view of Singapore’s skyline at night, the Marina Barrage is extremely breezy and surprisingly quiet, providing that much sought-after privacy in the concrete jungle of Singapore.

Singapore Management University student Ashwin Tiwari, 21, says, “I had a wine picnic with my friends there. People don’t disturb each other and everyone is practically doing their own thing. It’s surprising how much privacy you get.”

Moreover, the barrage chalks up extra points for its high standards of cleanliness, appealing to students like Vanessa Lim, 23, who prefers Marina Barrage over other picnic sites like East Coast Park due to its hygiene.

How to get there:

1. Public Transport: There is a free shuttle bus every 30 minutes from the Marina Bay MRT station. The last bus is at 6:30pm on weekdays and 8:30pm on weekends and public holidays.
2. Drive: Drive along ECP and exit at Marina Bay. Follow the signs to the barrage. The two car parks are located at the entrance and beside the barrage-viewing pad.

2. Henderson Wave Bridge

Found at the southern ridges, the bridge connects a 9 km stretch of gardens and parks from Mount Faber Hill to Telok Blangah Hill.

The charm of the bridge is hard to ignore; it’s made from Balau wood slats that are intricately cut and arranged, while undulating shells litter the snaking deck that serve as sheltered seating areas. Colourful LED lights light up the place from 7pm to 2am daily, dressing the bridge in a ravishing and illuminating glow.

Rachel Lynn, 20, a Mass Communication student at MDIS says, “I find the bridge a work of art. It’s even better than eating at some restaurants because the ambience is wonderful.”

As the highest pedestrian bridge in the country, it is erected 36 m above Henderson Road, providing a bird’s eye view of the traffic activity below and a sense of detachment from urbanisation as you sit at the apex of the bridge.

Dannel George, 20, a student from Singapore Polytechnic, regularly has picnics with his friends at the Henderson Wave Bridge for “its breathtaking night scenery,” adding that they “always end up having a good time”.

To spice up your picnic, bring along board games such as Monopoly, Twister or Taboo. Useful picnic equipment includes a battery-operated light, a packet of wet wipes, and a picnic mat big enough for everyone to sit on.

How to get there

1. Public Transport: Take bus service number 131, 145, 176 or 648 and alight at the bus stop along Henderson Road. Take the staircase up to Mount Faber Park.
2. Drive: Parking is available at Mount Faber Car park D, and Telok Blangah Hill Park Car park 1 and 2.

By Alicia Lee

Inquisitive’s career in deejaying and turntabling did not begin with him in the clubs and aspiring to be the one on the decks. It acutally started with inline skating.

“I used to skate and normally when you watch the skate videos, you hear the soundtrack where you have people like, scratching to the hip hop beats and stuff so I was like ‘Wow, I like this kind of music’… I like the noise so I started [from there].”

Just 24 years of age and Inquisitive has already garnered an impressive portfolio, being named DJ of the month by JUICE magazine, a three-time DMC champion, playing alongside the famed Steve Aoki, and earning a residence at popular local club Butter Factory. For those of you not yet in the know, the DMC Championships is the Olympics equivalent for turntablists and has crowned DJs such as Andrew Chow of Zouk, who is incidentally the only other DJ in Singapore with a triple win at the DMC, and also Inquisitive’s first mentor.

When asked whether he would consider another round on the DMC decks to claim a fourth title, Inquisitive muses, “It is really stressful, practicing for DMC [because] DMC is like, you can practise for 10 hours a day, but on that day if you make one single mistake, that’s it. I mean, [yes it is] fun, but I’ve already won three times so I want to go do my own music. But I will definitely come back.”

For most other popular DJs, the next stop would be superstardom, world tours, autograph sessions and an entourage. But when hype asked Inquisitive about his list of things to do, he says, “I’ll set up my own music label to sign friends and stuff, hopefully!”

Contrary to expectations, a day in the life of Inquisitive is surprisingly normal.

“I wake up at 1pm, go on Beatport to find new music and read my friend’s blogs. Because I need to read a lot on music and try to source for it and know about it, I spend about two to three hours online reading up… and then nothing much. I’ll just start making music till about dinnertime. You can find me at the skate park at Orchard, at home, or at a friend’s house chilling. Nothing special. Or you can find me at Butter [Factory]!”

It was Friday the 13th, but I was anything but unlucky.

The queue outside Zirca at Cannery stretched almost three corners while I waited for the show to start, at the comfort of having my own table, with the perfect view of everything about to happen.

As soon as the finals for Cleo’s Most Eligible Bachelor 2009 started, deafening cheers and catcalls filled Zirca. Deborah Tan, the editor for Cleo, talked about this year’s theme: Campaigns. The bachelors, split into Teams Dreamy and Steamy, had to duke it out in an election drive, with each team making campaign pledges and going through online debates to garner Cleo readers’ votes.

The whole finals event showcased this theme, with games such as ‘Form Your Campaign Slogan’, where some lucky readers get to paint their own catchphrases on the shirtless bachelors, and talent showcases where the bachelors get to perform onstage and impress the audience.

The most memorable performance would have been the Eligible Bachelors Band, where bachelor 23, Bronson Chan (on vocals) was the most charming performer of the evening. This reporter tried to get a recording, but alas, the screams of the girls in the audience drowned out the whole performance.

The bachelors’ supporters were kept on their toes the whole night; as the hosts announced changes in the vote leader board every other segment. From where I was, the audience were whipping out their phones, and fingers were flying across the buttons, sending sms-es continuously throughout.

Finally, the teasing ended after almost two hours, when several bachelors came out to do a striptease, before the winner was announced. Throughout the night, the crowd seemed to have been split two ways, between bachelor 45, Vivian Dawson and bachelor 1, Lim Yaoxiang, but Dawson seems to have had the more text-savvy fans, and was crowned Cleo Singapore’s Most Eligible Bachelor 2009.

Pictures:

(More pictures and videos to be uploaded soon!)

How often do you see a group of young people without a bottle or two? Well, almost never. Not just that, the hardcore ones down alcohol like they haven’t had a drop of water in days.

Whatever happened to the good ol’ days of sipping martini? Ng Yan Hong of hype magazine finds out.
(Read more)

The rain may be erratic, and sure, the weather seems to be getting colder these days. But while it feels like the usual year-end monsoon is certainly hitting us, nothing’s going to dampen the spirits of the good people at Heineken, who are prepping us to get into the season of celebration and festivities this December.

With less than 10 days to Christmas and ZoukOut 2008 just over, what about gathering your buddies and heading down to Singapore’s most happening nightspot? Here, at the heart of Clarke Quay, you certainly can’t miss the lights of Heineken’s Lite Peg Greeting Wall in the Fountain Area.

This first if its kind wall here in Singapore, which is similar to an LED screen, lets you create your own greetings by pegging in small ‘Lite Pegs’ on the special wall surface.

Put your own special greeting up

How innovative! This UrbanWire writer was definitely enthralled by the idea of creating a personalised greeting on the wall and snapping photos of it and posting it up on Flickr and Facebook for all to see. If only one had more hands to speed up the process… But then again, that’s the point of bringing friends along to work on this little ‘holiday’ project if you’ve run out of fun ideas after a day out together.

Be seen on UrbanWire

Send in your pictures of you and your friends at the Heineken Lite Peg Greeting Wall and we’ll have them up right here for all to see. Spread the love and joy this festive season.

Simply email your greeting pictures to urbanwire2.0@gmail.com with: your name, age and contact details (contact details will not be published) from now to Jan 5, 2009 and you just might see yourself published right here.

And check this: You’ll be able to count down to Christmas right down to the precise second here and even join everyone else around the world in counting down with the various clocks synced to other global cities’ time. What’s more, this wall not only display a countdown to Christmas, it will reset itself to countdown to New Year’s Day, doubling the celebration as well as to usher in 2009 with a bang.

This piece is part of the UrbanWire’s Christmas New-Year supplement.

“Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit.”

If you wondered, those are the lyrics of a traditional German drinking song that translates into “a toast, a toast, to happiness.”

(Read more)

Now that the 2008 Olympics are over, SIN PHUAY HIANG shows you where else you can spend your evenings in the world’s new playground- Beijing.

Chill Out

If you want to chill out at local bars, visit the Hou Hai bars, which have prospered greatly over the past few years. In the area, you can find quaint teahouses, modern pubs with live music and the traditional Hutongs (alleys where traditional Beijingers live), with peculiar designer shops tucked within. A 25-year-old student from Shandong, Li Juan, comments, “It’s [Hou Hai] quieter and classier… the ambience is better.” Her favourite pub is Blue Lotus (Lan Lian Hua). On its draw to her, “It has nice lights with the floating lanterns, a lake and great scenery,” says Rebecca Lewis, 27, a teacher from London.

Shopping

Youths looking for good bargains in Beijing should head for the shopping malls in the district of Xidan. This is where you can buy anything from clothes to accessories from around 10 yuan (S$2). Li Wei, 25, says, “This is one of the more famous places in Beijing and the things sold are more hip.” For upmarket brands, head for The Place (Shi Mao Tian Jie) where you havea chance of running into Chinese celebrities such as Zhao Wei, Zhang Ziyi and newly minted Singapore citizen Gong Li. The legendary LED skyscreen, rivalling similar glitzy mega panels in Las Vegas, which is 30m wide and 250m long, and cost a breathtaking 250million yuan (S$32 million), is a huge attraction here.

Entertainment

For those who crave a rush of adrenaline, head for the Happy Valley (Huan Le Gu) Amusement Park which offers stomach-churning roller coasters rides among the 120 attractions and 6 themed areas within the park. “At 160 yuan, we get to go for every ride and experience the adrenaline rush,” says Kang Yan, 22, an undergraduate from Hunan. “So, why not?”

Karaoke-lovers can head to Party World (Cash Box), Beijing’s snazziest karaoke venue, complete with state-of-the-art sound system. According to Li Wei, “The ambience is nice, especially after the renovation.” She also comments on the good service and up-to-date songs. “The prices vary according to the timebelts and the amount of drinks,” she adds. It can cost between 39 yuan to over 300 yuan at a time.

Phuay Hiang was in Beijing as part of a media production and study trip organised by the School of Film & Media Studies, Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

If only he existed, top British spy James Bond could well be sitting at a local nightspot and enjoying his all-time favourite drink, shaken, not stirred. After all, every variation imaginable from an A-tini to Z-tini is being made available at the Martini Innercity Festival 2008 (MIC). (Read more)

It was costumes galore at The Arena on May 31 as revelers dressed up as their favourite celebrities for a night of fun, games and serious partying to the turntable magic of the legendary DJ Cash Money.

(Read more)

Fire Poi in Singapore

A traditional dance by Maori aborigines in New Zealand akin to a fire dance, now has a following in Singapore, with groups springing up and doing their own variation of the dance. Practices amongst the groups vary but Fire Poi fanatics come together at a local Fire Poi website .

Just as the sun sets over Tanjong Beach in Sentosa , the night comes alive with upbeat music, colourful people and a group of locals who fervently perform what is commonly known as Fire Poi .

The dance follows the rhythm of the music played at KM8 , a beach bar by day and a beach club by night.

UrbanWire caught the smooth dance moves of KM8’s Entertainment Manager, Sarong. With his long dark hair, he 42-year-old Javanese is one of the more popular Fire Poi players in Singapore and is the Artistic Director of a group who call themselves the WayangAloes with “wayang” meaning “theatre” in Malay and “aloes” meaning “refined” in Javanese.

Sarong started practicing firepoi on the beach in Siloso beach and quickly became a fan of the sport. He plays the fire poi in KM8 every Sunday at sundown to add to the “atmosphere” in the beach bar.

More often than not, other Fire Poi enthusiasts join him in his performance on the beach every week and they are only deterred by heavy rain.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that this is a male-dominated activity. Female fire poi performers wield the poi just as bravely as the men and are undaunted by the risks of burns from the hot fire poi metal chains.

The acronym WWF is synonymous with the environmental-friendly World Wildlife Fund and the musical treat, the Worldwide Festival. Singapore was proud to be the host of one of the WWFs mentioned above – the Worldwide Festival 2008. Over the weekend of May 16-18, Singapore was treated to 3 days of music heaven created by DJ guru and record label owner, Gilles Peterson (UK). Known as a trend-setter in the music industry, Gilles spear-headed this music festival in France in 2006. (Read more)