The Edge Of The World (Part 1): Taylor Swift's Concert

It is exactly a month since we embarked on our adventure to Australia. December 2013 seemed like one of the longest and most eventful months since a long time ago - and it is testament to the fact that time is actually luxuriously slow when we relish and enjoy every single moment.

Anyway, I wanted to tell you a little story. Our story in Australia which started with a bet. A bet between a mother and daughter...

After confirming our holiday plans in Melbourne, we realised that Taylor Swift will perform in Melbourne a mere 4 days before our arrival! Of course, Big Bee was quite beside herself, so I cheekily betted with her that I would bring her to Taylor Swift's concert - on the condition that she scored certain targets in her final exams. These targets were set deliberately high (so I could wriggle out of my bet!), and I was confident that Big Bee would not be able to achieve these targets.

However, the carrot that I dangled in front of Big Bee was truly alluring and highly effective. Throughout the months before the exams, Big Bee was diligently burying her nose in revision independently. I had never seen her devote so much zeal nor passion into her studies. And when the results for her final exams were out, she was jumping around, squealing that she would be going to Taylor Swift's concert! And that was when I knew I lost the bet.

We left for Melbourne 4 days before Hubby and Little Bee - which was heartbreaking. The instant our taxi drove off towards the airport, Little Bee called me and sobbed, asking me why we had to leave earlier than them. My heart shattered into a zillion pieces :(

On the positive side, Big Bee and I were like giggling best friends going on holiday together. We took the red-eye flight to Melbourne and were gossiping eagerly on the plane about how we should dress up for the concert.

We arrived in Melbourne, bright and early, full of excited anticipation for a big big day! Big Bee spent a large part of the day brainstorming on how she can get to meet Taylor in Club Red. Essentially, fanatic concert go-ers who are dressed up in all kinds of bizarre costumes are invited for a private session with Taylor after the concert. Of course, one can imagine all the young girls dressing up outlandishly, just to attract Taylor Swift's mother who is usually on the look-out for these creative costumes throughout the concert.

So, here was what Big Bee's outfit looked like, with her home-made posters and hairband :)

When we reached Etihad Stadium 2 hours before the designated time of the concert, there was already a flurry of excitement in the air. There were also lots of mothers with young ladies (and younger girls!) there, and many concert-goers were decked out in brilliant red, fairy lights and self-made posters.

That electrifying sense of anticipation and exhilaration was dense, and Big Bee was totally overwhelmed. It was quite an eye-opener for me as I had never been to a concert where people really decked up in lights and costumes.

These lucky girls were invited into Club Red after the concert, where they could hug and converse with Taylor Swift!

We spent a lot of time people-watching and strolling around the entire stadium. Lots of girly gossips and excited giggling. This stage of parenting - where we can finally be friends with our children and enjoy all sorts of activities together - is truly one of the most fulfilling and rewarding.

Taylor Swift appeared on stage at 8.30pm, and the entire stadium became an intense hive of pure, unadulterated elation. It was a rousing concert where the spectators screamed, sang along to every ounce of lyrics, danced endlessly. The energy was overpowering and invigorating.

Taylor Swift is an admirable public figure - one of the youngest and certainly one of the most wholesome. It was heartening to hear her talk to her fans about life, about respecting yourself, about dispelling emotions positively. All really good values for her devoted fans who are mainly young girls.

Big Bee never sat down throughout the concert - preferring to dance, sing and scream all throughout. Even this mum here sang and revelled in the jubilation of her daughter's adoration. Big Bee was thrilled that her own mum is fast becoming a "Swiftie" just like her!

We ended the memorable night with a midnight train ride home and gushed like good buddies until 2am. What a night indeed!  

The concert merchandise!

Nutcracking Fun

We always try to watch a full-length ballet performance towards the end of every year, usually by Singapore Dance Theatre. Last year, we treated ourselves to a 3-hour performance of Sleeping Beauty, where the Bees were entranced by the familiar storyline and beautiful costumes. I remember Little Bee was dancing and pirouetting to the music in the dark, emulating the sinewy ballerinas! 

2 years ago, Big Bee and I were fascinated by the popular Christmas ballet of the Nutcracker. And this year, the entire family of 4 trooped out early on Sunday morning to watch this year's version of The Nutcracker again. As always, the haunting and mesmerising Tchaikovsky music captivated us and immersed us in a spellbinding cocoon of rapture. 

However, I was a wee bit disappointed by this year's adaptation - which was not as elaborate as the version 2 years ago, with the storyline a little thin. The techniques were not particularly striking as well, and the leads were relative unknowns in Singapore. 

But still, the Bees were enchanted and this annual ritual gave them some fodder of inspiration for their ballet journeys. I am also thankful for Hubby who is usually more than happy to join us. 

After the performance, we had the wonderful opportunity to stroll around Esplanade, admiring the beautiful skyline and revelling in the cool, year-end weather. 

The Bees in pure glee on the rooftop of Esplanade

We also made our wishes at the wishing spheres of Singapore, with the Bees writing down their wishes for the imminent new year with excited alacrity. 

Big Bee's nice simple wish

Little Bee thought that these spheres are presents to the fishes in the Singapore River, so wrote something for them! It was hilarious to me. 

We showed them where their spheres will be, and we all looked forward to the countdown to the new year! 

Time passes so fast every year - it is definitely good to take stock of the year and look forward to another brand new year, while learning to wind down towards the end of the year :) 

Fan-Spotting

Thanks to Hubby, he dragged us out of the house on Saturday morning to queue up and watch one of Little Bee's favourite bands - Hi5! Big Bee used to be a fan when she was young as well, and I remembered bringing her to the old Hi5 concert. Now, this is a new Hi5 with brand new band members, and Little Bee is now their little fan! 

We reached Millenia Walk at 11.30am (for a 1pm show!), and saw a little queue forming beside the stage. Apparently, the first 60 kids on the queue can have a meet-and-greet photo session with all 5 members of Hi5. I had never queued up for any band tickets before, much less queue up to do celebrity spotting - so can you imagine the things we parents are willing to do for our kids!? 

I am normally an impatient person and would avoid long waiting times and meandering queues at all costs. However, strangely, I find queueing up on Saturday morning rather therapeutic! I was sitting on the floor, while Hubby brought the girls around, and I enjoyed observing the people around, analysing who they were. I guess time slows down when we are caught in the web of a waiting game - hence allowing us to fully live in the present and observe the world. 

Hubby and I also took turns having lunch with the Bees, so I brought Little Bee to MOS Burger for some yummy Tsukune Rice Burger. She loved it! It was really enjoyable spending solo time with Little Bee over lunch, and I am sure Hubby had a similar pleasant experience with Big Bee too!

Soon enough, we were being ushered into the sitting area around the stage, and needless to say, Little Bee had a first-class seat at the front row nearest to the stage! She patiently sat and waited for her favourite bandmates to come strutting out onto the stage, and boy, was it a happening and super boisterous party when Hi5 pounced around on stage, singing the favourite songs of the kids! 

Check out the look of glee on her face! 

I must say their songs are very catchy and danceable, so it was no surprise that all the kids around me were screaming away excitedly just like fans in some adult rock concert, and many - including Little Bee - were at the frontline, bopping and jiggling away! 

She was one bold kid as usual, dancing right beside the stage and incessantly waving at the various Hi5 team members vigorously until she got a couple of Hi5s and smiles from some of the band members. 

Serious dancing in action

It was really amusing watching her dance and gyrate to the tunes. And the fact that she tried several times to attempt climbing up the stage plus her persistent waves at the singers was testament to the knowledge that she is one gregarious kid alright! 

During the meet-and-greet after the concert, she was smiling broadly at them, hi5-ing away with them and daringly sitting on one of their laps for a photoshoot. She did not display any signs of shyness at all, and I worry she will become an uncontrollable party animal when she grows up!

In the meantime, we were just content to sit back and let her revel in the physical closeness of her favourite characters - for now :)  

But We're Trash...

It was electrifying. Dazzling. Sensational.

Hubby and I were rapturous. Delirious. Euphoric.

For we were experiencing the thrilling exhilaration possible only by watching one of our favourite bands performing 'live' passionately on stage. To our favourite indie rock tunes from the 90s. Transported back to a seemingly recent era of carefree, idyllic simplicity.

On 3 August, Hubby and I yet again attended a concert that rocked our old, jaded world, thanks to my Mum who agreed to stay the night with the Bees.

We joined a few thousand fans in the Singapore Indoor Stadium to watch Suede perform all their glorious songs - and we were bedazzled to a frenzied mania. Yes. Even at our grand old age. This is what the brilliant vocals of Brett Anderson and the resplendent music of the rest of his Suede band can do to us.


Brett Anderson and the rest of Suede performing their magic

At the first song, She, followed by my absolute favourite Trash, we were up on our feet, dancing, singing, waving our hands and utterly immersing ourselves in the magic of their exquisite music. The concert peaked to a crescendo at one of the last songs, the crowd favourite of The Beautiful Ones, which got the entire stadium singing and dancing on their feet. But to me, every single song performed that night was bewitching.


Amazing crowd...

At times, I looked at Hubby in the middle of their songs, and we grinned foolishly at each other like we were crazy teenagers, unabashedly vellicating our bodies, contorting our mouths and gesticulating wildly to every song they sang. It had been quite a while since we had lost ourselves in this abyss of frenetic bliss, of sweet madness. But we relished the fact that somewhere deep within the recesses of our wearied middle-aged souls, there is still a sliver of youth waiting to be unleashed in such occasions.

This was our second Suede concert in Singapore, but we both agreed that this was our best concert ever, yes, better than Tears For Fears, Duran Duran and even Suede themselves back in 2000! Perhaps comparable to Depeche Mode for me, but that is another scale altogether :)

It was first-class performance by Brett Anderson, who amazed us with his 44-year-old sizzling, sexy energy and captivating showmanship! The rest of the band played magnificently as well. It was just pure, great music and total magic. Nothing else. No corny, flashy costume changes. No majestic stage backdrops. Just. Simple. Mind-blowing. Music.

The splendid 90s. A decade that remained in my memory banks as the years that I entered young adulthood from junior college to university. To getting to know Hubby in university.

From graduation to the first inklings of a career. From learning about books to learning about office politics. From university jam-and-hops to weekly clubbing sessions with wonderful girlfriends. To the ravishing songs of Suede.

From bohemian singlehood to Hubby's marriage proposal under the stars, amongst the mountain tops of Nepal. From living with parents to purchasing our first home together. From being a singular "me" to a double "us" after we registered our marriage as the 90s drew to a close.

All the while listening to Suede.

I do miss those times.

Sowing The Seeds Of Love

For those of you born in the 70s, you will recognise the song title above. Last Tuesday, Hubby and I took some time off to attend the Tears For Fears concert at Resorts World. To say that we had been anticipating their arrival for 25 years is somewhat an understatement.

The very first music video that I set my eyes on was Tears For Fears' "Shout" at a grand age of 12 - from an old rickety TV set that fizzled between faded colour and black and white. I remember listening to "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" from my trusty black Walkman, immersing with exuberance in the lyrics - a whole journey of life truly ahead of me back then. I remember gushing with excitement and empathy over the bittersweet lyrics of "Head Over Heels", with the blossoming of sweet, innocent teenaged infatuations all around me. And I remember thinking, "Oh how wonderful if Tears For Fears can come to Singapore, but they will never ever come." For back then, we lived in a time where we did not have the luxury of such concerts in Singapore.

And now I am here, in front of a stage that screamed their name - with the love of my life beside me, hands entwined together, and 2 beautiful offsprings asleep peacefully back home, with half a lifetime of journey behind me, and another half ahead in the murky unknown. Together with some new wrinkles as well as jaded eyes (and I do not refer to just Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith!), the same band that helped us come of age a quarter of a century ago rocked our world again.

They sang all their greatest songs, to a gigantic crowd of adoring fans. Roland Orzabal's vocals is as strong and powerful as ever, and Curt Smith is as sweet and pleasant as before.

For 2 deliriously blissful hours, the entire crowd of 4,500 folks of considerable age sang to the familiar songs and roared with zeal at every comment Tears For Fears made. It may be evident that the crowd was somewhat middle-aged, but in the dim light of the concert hall, the dancing and gyrating silhouettes - many of whom had arms and hands up in the air - could easily pass off as young, nubile teenagers again. Physically, we may reach our biological ages. Mentally, we travelled back to the years when life was ever so simple and idealistic. It was beautiful that we could escape in the songs that Tears For Fears played and sang so well, and be transported back into the recesses of our splendid memories again. Years past could never be lost, for they live in our memories forever, indelible and ineradicable.

More importantly, I was elated that I was there with Hubby, experiencing the same exhilaration, loving the same songs and dwelling in the same past as him. What a night to remember indeed.