Jackie Miao

Jinx Chin

This morning I’d like to introduce you guys to my friend Jinx Chin.

After he move back to Malaysia from the United States, Jinx poured his heart and soul into composing jingles for commercials. Though you may have heard a few of his catchy tunes if you live in Malaysia, you probably don’t know who Jinx is nor heard of his true melodic prowess.

For the longest time I’ve been waiting for him to put his romantic pop rock music out there. Finally, in November 2009 his music hit the Internet and the airwaves of SBS radio in Sydney, Australia.

Jinx has a YouTube channel where he uploads videos of himself doing beautiful covers and a Jango channel featuring his original songs. He’s already got 543 fans from simply uploading his music to Jango.

Here is his first original song of 2010, Back At The Start:-

Back At The Start by J I N X C H I N

P/S: If you can’t access the widget above, please go to his SoundCloud page.

If you like what you hear, you can buy his music at Nimbit for the sensational price of $0.99 a track. For more information on Jinx’s music and to nosy into his wonderfully whacky world of music composition, visit his website at JinxChin.com

Jacky Cheung's Jazz Album, released on 29th January 2010

Cantonese superstar Jacky Cheung (張學友), one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Hong Kong’s vibrant entertainment industry has selected to use a song my friend and schoolmate Roger Wang wrote as part of his new jazz album entitled Private Corner (Released: 29 Jan 2010).

Roger composed ‘Love Scale’ for Double Take’s debut album, which was released in 2003 with Mia Palencia taking the vocals for the original English version. Seven years later, the track has been rendered in Cantonese to ‘十二個音’ and is finally having its moment of glory in the international scene.

It just blows my mind to think of the idolatry of Jacky Cheung in school, Roger’s lone madness with the guitar and the hundreds of times we’ve heard wannabes at karaoke bars yelp Jacky’s songs…

The fact that the ‘God of Songs’ is now singing a tune written by Roger is amazing and unbelievable! I bet Roger is pinching himself now; he shares how it happened on his blog. I’m beaming with pride for him. Congratulations Roger… you deserve it!

Check out 十二個音 (Love Scale) here:-

Did you know that there’s a deep house music scene brewing in Kota Kinabalu? Last Saturday night, I was invited by Amir Yusoff to attend the Moondance “Groove Your Mind” event at Luna Rossa.

Crowd consisted of local socialites and expats

Surprisingly, the turn out of the crowd was pretty good. When I moved back to Kota Kinabalu in 2002, the city just wasn’t ready to embrace deep house music back then. Today it is a different story as K.K. has grown tremendously and the city is now home to many more expatriates and repatriates. It wasn’t the right time then but it looks like it may be the right time now.

It was a pretty good turnout

Luna Rossa is just a beautiful space for this purpose, spotting a fusion of Indomalay ethnic wood carvings, statues, tactile fixtures and great mood lighting. It has the right ambiance for the delivery of tasteful beats into the bloodstreams of its visitors, a big factor to why people flocked to the dance floor with nothing but funky tunes as their cue.

Deep house lovers getting their groove on

In fact, I heard someone say the event had the vibe of Ku De Ta in Bali, while another person said it felt like he was chilling in a trendy lounge bar in Jakarta. Judging from the success of that night, I wouldn’t be surprised if people are hoping Amir Yusoff will continue to bring high quality groove parties to K.K.

People sitting at the garden area

Here are some more pictures from that night. I couldn’t resist posting the cutest pose yet from Mel C making the Asian peace sign(lower left photo), while she proudly displays the bag she ordered from TheBagBar.com.

Picture of and with people

It takes a special person to be able to pull off a parody of the sacred sign without offending those who swear by it. She kind of just whipped her finger up to her face really fast, half-ashamed of her dorkiness, as if to say she only means it if nobody’s looking (because she actually means it). Haha. This is why I love Mel… she’s such a beautiful person! Meanwhile, Sue was just giving me a hard time with the faces. She left me no choice but to use this shot of her where she’s kind of pulling a dodo face, but it’s better than scaring the children and furry animals away!

Pictures of and with people

Last but not least, here’s a shot of Amir and his partner getting some freestyle acoustic action in as additional layers to compliment the electronic tracks. The percussion just blended so well, and that isn’t always true everytime you see a set of bongos come out at clubs. In addition to being good and having a great track selection, what really sets a perfect routine apart from an “almost” great one is knowing just how much to give the crowd (no more, no less) and this level of groovy can only come from a combination of talent for rhythm and extensive experience in entertaining live, which is where Amir truly shines.

The multi-talented Amir on the bongo

To sum it up, the bad news is Luna Rossa isn’t a permanent lounge bar that offers house music on a weekly basis yet. When there aren’t any special events they operate strictly as a restaurant and wine bar. The good news however, is that Amir works with the most sought-after DJs in the region, and has plans to organize more of these parties in Kota Kinabalu as long as there is a demand for them.

If you missed this great event and are interested in attending the next one, follow Amir’s updates at FreestyleAvenue.com.

Three weeks ago, I decided to come out of the pot of hermetic stew that I’ve allowed myself to simmer in since I came back to Kota Kinabalu. I couldn’t find a better excuse to officiate my first night out clubbing in K.K. than by attending a friend’s repatriation spinning event at Blue Note.

DJ Fine China doing his thang!

DJ Fine China (Jonathan Ngu) is an international DJ who made himself a name in Western Australia’s night scene. Recently relocated back to Kota Kinabalu, Jon has also played in various cities around the world including Kuala Lumpur, Vancouver, Brisbane, and Melbourne. Recently nominated for the Best Breaks DJ at the PDMA’s (Perth Dance Music Awards), his own style of mixing breaks with a charm that inspires sideliners to take to the floor is every reason you should show up in dancing shoes!

DJ Fine China | Photo credits: Amie Stan

After an extended hiatus, I thought I’d be way too blasé and over the clubbing hill to enjoy the thumping, but Jon mixed some boxfresh beats with retro tunes and memories from my raving youth came rushing back to me. Now I wonder if I’m just too old to deal with systematic maltunes instead!?

Good to see friends!

What made the night even better was the fact that I bumped into quite a few friends!

I was really happy to see the spirited Ben Nair, a fellow British-repatriat who started the newly formed events company with Jon Ngu and Eric Wong called the Renaissance of Borneo (will tell you about their awesome plans in the next post!). I just had to get our good friend Mr. Drunken He-man to take a pic of us since we missed each other in the U.K. a few months back! (P/S: He-man was so drunk we had to drive his car home for him. He also hurled on the way home!)

I also bumped into other friends as well. For most of the night I was so busy catching up with people I barely took my cam out for the snappy-snaps. Thanks to the lovely Amie Stan, who was kind enough to take a few pictures for me (in addition to the official photos she was taking for the event). Get her for your event… she’s a great person to work with and an all around fabulous girl!

Amie Stan and Jackie Miao | Photo Credit: Amie Stan

Last but not least, what good would this post be if I didn’t have a photo op with the talented and very fine DJ Fine China at the end of the night?

Jackie and DJ Fine China

Right before we had to send He-man home, Amir Yussof came over and said something so unexpectedly uplifting to me that it changed the dynamics of how I will now use my Best Job in the World experience. One day I hope to be able to share with you what he said since there is no context in which a contrast can be observed at the present moment. For now, enjoy your Tuesday wherever in the world you are!

Natasha Bedingfield’s lyrical expressionism is amazing.