Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Official Opening of Pasticceria Ferrero with Joanne Peh and Qi Yuwu‏

Ferrero Rocher is one of my favourite chocolate treats since young. I love the delicious hazelnut and nutella chocolate taste. This is why I always savour it layer by layer. Therefore I get excited when I know that Ferrero, producer of the world’s most celebrated praline Ferrero Rocher, has launched its first Southeast Asia boutique Pasticceria Ferrero at Wisma Atria. 

The Ferrero boutique is the only store of its kind in the world this festive season. Pasticceria Ferrero will offer exclusive Ferrero Pralines variants never before available in Singapore. I can't wait to check out the store.

The newlywed Mediacorp artistes, Joanne Peh and Qi Yuwu, were at the Ferrero boutique to grace the opening ceremony.

Fans of Joanne Peh and Qi Yuwu also gathered outside the store to get a glimpse of their favourite Mediacorp artistes.

Rudy Sequeira, Managing Director, SEA, Ferrero Asia Ltd was joined in the cutting of the ribbon by Leonardo Perrone, Marketing Director, South East Asia and launch headliners Joanne Peh and Qi Yu Wu, to officially launch the store. 

Leonardo Perrone de Almeida, Marketing Director, said that as the number one chocolate brand in Singapore, Ferrero certainly has a special place in the heart of Singaporeans. They wanted to offer Singaporeans the opportunity to bring a piece of their tradition and heritage to South East Asia and  continue creating precious moments with their loved ones.

Joanne also shared her fond recollections of always looking forward to eating Ferrero Rocher at special occasions like Chinese New Year and being mesmerized by the television commercials. She felt that being able to mix and match from the range of exclusive pralines at the Pasticceria makes it a great gift for loved ones especially in the festive season.

Qi Yuwu saw the TVC when he was young and Ferrero Rocher always gave him the impression that it is luxurious and elegant. He also revealed that he has never bought chocolate for Joanne before. So that night was his first time making chocolate together with Joanne. It is a special gift and a precious experience.

There was a a live demonstration by Ferrero’s own master chocolatiers, Chefs Luca Dellapiana and Alessandria Davide, flew in from Italy. Followed by Joanne Peh and Qi Yu Wu constructing their own precious moment in a hands-on creation of Ferrero Rocher.

Qi Yuwu and Joanne Peh were out for photo taking after the chocolate making.
So lucky to get this shot where both of them looked at my camera at the same time.

With so much going into creating that precious moment, Ferrero Rocher truly brings the fine art of Italian creation to life. Ferrero Rocher is made only with the highest quality ingredients, beginning with the hand-picking of the finest of hazelnuts which form the heart of Rocher. The creations are then covered with decadent chocolate that reflects the elite taste of those who gift them.

Customers at the Pasticceria Ferrero will be able to customise their gift boxes with a range of variants, including the special pralines available only this Christmas.

The Pasticceria Ferrero is only available for a limited period during this festive season starting from 27 November 2014. 

The choice available are Ferrero Tenderly White, Ferrero Cappucino, Ferrero Tenderly Nougat, Ferrero Manderly, Mon Chéri, Pocket Coffee, Kusschen White, Kusschen Milk, Kusschen Dark, Raffaello and Ferrero Rondnoir.

Other than that, Ferrero Rocher will once again bring in its all-time Christmas Limited Edition Rocherone and the Christmas Pyramid. The new range of Ferrero Rocher will be available for a limited period only.

The two of them are so lovey dovey.

Time for photo-taking.
Here's a photo of me with Qi Yuwu and Joanne Peh.

A group photo with my lovely friends and the artistes.

Visit Pasticceria Ferrero at Wisma Atria this festive season from 27 November 2014 till the end of the year to get the limited edition Ferrero Pralines and customize a unique gift for your precious loved ones.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Skechers Sundown Festival 2014 Concert

Feeling super excited when I know I have the opportunity to attend Skechers Sundown Festival 2014.

Music plays a part in my life. It is there to accompany me when I feel bored and it helps me to relax myself from the stressful work. I also love watching live concert where I can enjoyed the live performance put up by the artistes, sing along with the artistes and immersed in the atmosphere.

Finally I was here at Marina Promenade, F1 Pit Building, for the 6 hours long of music put up by artistes from 11 countries. Reaching the venue at 5.45pm, we went to Asian Food Village to have some quick bites before we moved to the front to look for good standing spot for the concert.

Steffi and I, both of us love music and live performance. Both of us were here to support different artistes. I was here for CROSS GENE and WEAVER while she was here for Olivia Ong.

With the awesome companions at the concert.

Opening performance by Shigga Shay from Singapore.
He has brought us his English-Chinese-Hokkien rap song "Limpeh". This song was topped the charts in Singapore in June 2013.

The song is very catchy, especially the chorus, you just repeat "wa si lim peh".
Shigga is also described as “Singapore’s Kayne West”.

Other than "Limpeh", he also sang us "Lion City Kia" and "Grizzle Grind Anthem".
This was my second time watching his performance. The first time was at Zouk for fashion show party.

The second performing artiste was Jeremy Teng from Singapore.

Jeremy Tang did Singapore proud by scoring the champion in the Nodojima The World Spring 2014 singing competition, held in Japan earlier this year. 

He was talented, he even sang us 2 Japanese songs.

Third performing artiste - S.O.S from Indonesia.

S.O.S is the only girls group that night. Being trained in South Korea for a year, their performance in term of vocal and dance is on par with kpop group.

I love the song - "Cherry Love". 
It brings out the liveliness in them.

This was their first time performing in Singapore. They shared that they are falling in love with our local cuisines.

Fourth performing artiste - Regina Lin from China.

She is an all-rounded artiste, not only is she a popular DJ-Singer, she also hosts various car shows.
She has ended her performance with her hit song “Qing Ren” (情人), a cover version of the Hong Kong band - Beyond’s song. She has received rave reviews for this song.

Next up was who I'm here for - Cross Gene from Korea.

Kpop indeed dominate the world. Their appearance has resulted in the fans cheering and screaming out loud. They kickstarted their performance with their latest single released "I’m Not A Boy, Not Yet A Man". Instantly, the fangirl mode in me was turned on.

And here is my favourite boy - Shin.

Cross Gene is a multinational boys group with members from Korea, Japan and China.

Shin and Casper.

Cross Gene wow the fans with their stunning performance and the atmosphere went high.

The boys expressed that there were very happy to be able to come to Singapore and performed in such a big scale concert. They hope to have more opportunity to come back to Singapore and perform for their fans.

I hope to see Cross Gene back soon too.

Shin trying to interact with the fans by coming close to the stage and waving to us.

Cross Gene ended their performance with "Dirty Pop".
Missing the boys now.

Another artiste that I was waiting for: Weaver from Japan.

They are a group of talented Japanese rock band. They took off the stage by showing the fans the instrumental version of a familiar Mandarin song - 甜蜜蜜.

Weaver shared that though this was not their first time performing in Singapore, this was their first time performing for such a big crowd in Singapore.  

Weaver is able to communicate with us in English, they have went aboard to London to study English.

The boys continued the instrumental keyboard version of numerous familiar songs like Coldplay's "Viva La Vida", Singapore National Day song by Kit Chan "Home" and Frozen's "Let It Go".

They deserved a big round of applause, especially for bringing the song that is closed to our heart.

Yuji taught us a new Japanese word - Saiko. It means "awesome" in Japanese.

Here was Weaver's conversation with fans:

Yuji: Singapore?
Fans: Saiko!
Yuji: Skechers Sundown Festival?
Fans: Saiko!
Yuji: Weaver?
Fans: Saiko!

Weaver ended their performance with a thank you message and commenting that the fans were saiko (awesome).

Next performing artiste - Kanika Kapoor from India.

"Are you ready to have fun with Bollywood?"

She has brought us the song "Baby Doll". This song “Baby Doll” was featured in Bollywood thriller “Ragini MMS 2”, released in India to a great reception.

Right next was Pupil from Philippines.

When Pupil came out, a group of Filipino fans rushed to my side to catch a good view of the artistes. Pupil has lots of supporters from Philippines. They grooved along with the music.

The female artiste I was waiting for - Kate Tsui  (徐子珊) from Hong Kong.

Kate greeted the fans in fluent English, Chinese and Cantonese. Prior to this festival, I didn't know that Kate is actually a singer, but I  do watch her drama. The last drama I watched starring Kate Tsui was "Highs and Lows - 雷霆扫毒".

Kate has sang 我的歌声里, a song by Qu Wanting. The fans sang along with her.

你存在 我深深的脑海里 
我的梦里 我的心里 我的歌声里

Another familiar that we know - 爱很简单 by David Tao. She has sang the first part in English and second part in Chinese. This is the song I started to like very much after watching 单身男女2.

Kate was good at singing too. I enjoyed her performance very much.

Another rock band performance, Big Ass from Thailand.

The band has bagged numerous accolades and topped music charts in Thailand. 

The lead vocalist, Daycha Konarlo, went high that night. 
Get high with Big Ass with their song "Tow Tee Mee".

Our local artiste - Olivia Ong from Singapore.

She became a big hit in Singapore after she sang the theme song of the Peranakan-themed drama serial “The Little Nonya” in 2009, and since then she has expended her presence to Taiwan.

Olivia was so funny. She was holding this guitar while singing, pretending to play the guitar. She was imagining herself to be a great guitarist and singer.

The amazing performance artiste - Shila Amzah from Malaysia.

She participated in “I’m a Singer”, a reality singing competition in China where she captivated audiences with her linguistic talent and powerful vocals.

She has sang us Jay Chou's "最长的电影", John Legend "All of Me", EXO "Overdose" and "想你的夜".

Of all, I love the song "All of Me". This song touches me everytime I hear it. This was the first time Shila has sang it. I am looking forward to her cover of this song.

I felt overdosed after listening to her songs, her voice was too powerful. I want more songs please.

The last performing artiste - Chang Chen Yue (张震岳) from Taiwan.

He has brought his band along with him, it was a grand sight and great performance.

Thank you TIN for the tickets to this wonderful Skechers Sundown Festival 2014. It's been awhile since I last went for a concert.I enjoyed myself to the fullest. 

Friday, November 21, 2014

Skechers Sundown Festival 2014 Press Conference

Feeling excited for the weekend to arrive because it's gonna be a star-struck day for me. 

I got the opportunity to attend the press conference for Skechers Sundown Festival 2014 where I get to see the performing artistes upclose in person.

The press conference was held at PARKROYAL on Kitchener Road, the official hotel sponsor for Skechers Sundown Festival 2014.

All the good spots have already been taken when I reached. 
Next time gonna go early for such press conference.

The press conference started off with the first artiste appearance, ShiGGa Shay from Singapore.

ShiGGa Shay is our local hip hop artist, songwriter and music producer. He will be performing the opening act in Skechers Sundown Festival 2014.

The next group of artiste, Cross Gene from Korea.

Cross Gene is a six-member multinational boy band based in South Korea, comprises of members from South Korea (Sangmin, Yongseok, Shin and Seyoung) China, (Casper) and Japan (Takuya).

I'm a big fan of kpop music, they are part of the reason why I came to the press conference. 
They are so charming, I couldn't resist myself from snapping photos of them.

From left to right: Casper, Seyoung and Shin.

Takuya and Yongseok.

The artistes also signed their autograph on the Skechers Sundown Festival T-shirt that will be available for sale.

Upclose of Cross Gene.

Shin (the one in middle) is my favourite member in Cross Gene.
The boys are feeling excited and look forward to Sundown Festival tomorrow. They are thankful to Skechers for the invitation.

Cross Gene's interacting session ended with a group picture at the photo wall. 
I can't wait to watch the boys' performance.

After which was WEAVER from Japan.
From left to right: Shota Okuno, Yuji Sugimoto and Toru Kawabe.

WEAVER has went aboard to London to study English so that they can immerse themselves in an English-speaking environment. Now they can use English to communicate with us.

WEAVER will be performing an English song for the concert. I look forward to their performance too.

The 4th artiste was Regina Lin from China.

Regina is a popular DJ-Singer based in Guangzhou who is well versed in Cantonese, Mandarin and English.

Next was S.O.S from Indonesia.

S.O.S (abbreviation of Sensation of Stage) is an Indonesian girl group whose members composed of the finalists from the Galaxy Superstar talent show.

As a band, they were trained by K-pop artist incubation company in south Korea last year. They are the only girls group performing.

Here comes Kanika Kapoor from India.

Her looks has also landed her modeling roles on the catwalk for famous designers including Emilio Pucci, Moschino, Amrapali, Louis Vuitton and fashion maestro, Karl Lagerfeld or “Uncle Karl” to Kanika.

She also told us that she is a mother of three children. So unbelievable!

Big Ass from Thailand was next. Sawadee kap.

They were a pop rock band in 1997, Thailand-based five-piece setup Big Ass has since moved toward hardcore punk in their recent works.

Another rock band, Pupil from Philippines.
From left to right: Wendell Garcia (drums), Ely Buendia (lead vocals) Dok Sergio (bass) and Jerome Velasco (guitars).

The band is known for their eclectic mix of genres, such as post-punk revival, alternative rock, and new wave revival.

The well-known TVB actress and singer, Kate Tsui from Hong Kong.

Kate amazed us with her fluent English. Seems like she was enjoying her short trip in Singapore, she was captivated by the local food in Singapore like laksa, chicken rice, pandan cake and etc.

Our very own local talent, Olivia Ong from Singapore.

Olivia shared with us that she is now based in Singapore, wanting to spend more times with her family after being aboard for 10 years.

There will be a collaboration between her producer and her in the concert. Stay tuned.

Last but not least, Chang Chen Yue from Taiwan.

Also known as A-Yue, he is a songwriter, singer and guitarist, and also a dance music DJ under the name DJ Orange.

A-Yue also shared his future plan with us on his music.

This marked the end of the press conference.

For more information, please visit www.sundownfestival.sg