Charismatic

太陽 Sun (Cover)

高中會重覆聽100遍的歌就是‘普通朋友' 和 ‘流沙‘ ☺️ 很開心可以和  森林ㄌㄜˋ園 團長阿綠把這兩首百聽不厭的歌串在一起，重編成band sound的歌；然後和  N-Ray 胡恩瑞  &樂手朋友們呈現出來。謝謝有才的朋友們的參與！也再次謝謝負責攝影間接 Rick Lin 。希望你們會喜歡～歡迎分享、留言、訂閱、按 💗  ！也可以跟我們說你們要接下來聽的歌 （那些點‘沙灘’的朋友我已看見你們的留言！) I remember re-playing 'Regular Friends' and 'Everything's gone' so many times on the way to school. They were such classic hits! Here's the 2nd David Tao mashup video we produced. My gifted singer/songwriter/keyboardist friend Green Lee sat down with me to re-arrange it together (guess which other song we used as a base for the two tracks 😁 ?). Had lots of fun recording and shooting this with my talented pals! Please help us share around, and do subscribe if you haven't yet!

Lauren Daigle  - Rescue  Lauren recently released the official video for Rescue (although the song was part of her full-length album released a while ago). When I heard the song, so many images of friends going to through incredibly tough times came to my mind. I wanted to record this as a declaration over their lives (and also my own) that God is our ever present help in time of need. He is our shield and rampart, our 'ezer kenegdo' (powerful and suitable helper).  Be blessed!

- Wake up 8.15am in the morning and make sure LO gets up, pees and gets dressed. Time to take him to pre-school. It takes him at least 5 minutes to put on his socks and shoes by himself. It's raining so we drive him to school, otherwise we walk 5-10 minutes. - Check basic emails. Post pics of the day on IG/FB accounts. Snooze for a while longer to catch up on sleep. - Breakfast time. Make eggs for hubby and I, or make yoghurt bowl with nuts and fruit for myself. Hubby makes his hand-poured coffee. - 30 min devotional time with passage of the day, which may lead to the occasional intercessory time which will stretch out to an hour.  - Work time. Start opening up music files that need to be finished, read work emails and check to-do lists. Start work on the most pressing project. Reply to a bunch of messages concerning available dates and upcoming rehearsals.  - Pop first load of laundry into the washing machine.  - 12.30pm. Order lunch for 2 on ubereats or skip outsi...

I stumbled upon some news today about the developments on the abduction cases of Ps Raymond and Amri Chet Mat ( https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2019/04/476516/govt-open-new-investigation-disappearances-amri-che-mat-pastor-raymond ).  What shocked me was not really the content of the news but the content. The last few weeks I had been reading quite extensively about prayer. The books on my list included:  & & I remember having a long prayer session about a week and a half ago. On my mind were so many of my own things to pray for, but whenever I launch into a serious prayer session I always start with praying for the governments of Malaysia, the USA and Taiwan, representing all the countries my family belongs to. And then I pray for all my immediate family members (on T's side and mine) individually. Next, I pray for those already on my prayer list. If there's time left I will list out my own concerns. That particular session last week foc...

相信很多人跟我一樣喜歡盧廣仲的直白和溫暖，所以這個禮拜選擇翻唱這首歌。對於婚姻已邁入第5年的我們，‘愛情怎麼了嗎？‘這句話會讓人反覆思考，檢討自己的關係。愛真的需要栽培才能更深，更新鮮，更永久。祝福大家在愛裡一直成長！ Sweet ballad by Crowd Lu. He mourns the loss of love that sounds young and innocent, but the lyrics make me reflect upon the long hard slog that relationships can be. 'What is going on with love?', he sings. As we head towards the 5th year of marriage, that's a question we often ask ourselves too. The harshness of daily life easily brushes away the bloom of first love. But with intentional watering and fertilizing, with lots of fun and forgiveness, love can definitely get richer, deeper and much more lasting. Hope you like this cover! 

I'm sure many of you watched or heard of this year's Oscar's :) Like many people, I was quite moved by Lady Gaga's passionate speech about her musical journey when she received her Oscars. Life in music can be really hard work, as she said. Pursuing ANY dream or goal in general is hard work, but the growth it brings to our lives is immeasurably precious. So let's not become weary of doing good peeps! Have a great week! 親愛的朋友最近有看今年的奧斯卡金像獎？沒跟到的朋友可能也有看到網路上傳女神卡卡得獎的感言：「你們可能不會知道走到這一步有多難，真的很辛苦」。要追求夢想或要認真生活的確需要堅持和努力，很多時候會很辛苦。但旅程的成長和抵達目的地的感受是非常寶貴的。我自己很多時候都有想到要放棄想要擺爛，但感謝主祂總是陪著我們往前走。今晚分享「 #一個巨星誕生 」電影裡我最喜歡的歌:'Always Remember Us This Way'。

上個月在 LA 看到藝術區的很多有趣的塗鴉。 塗鴉 ... 有些人會說是醜的是破壞環境美觀的東西。也有很多人會說是很幫的藝術作品。 剛好覺得這首歌非常適合： “ 誰說錯得對說美的醜的 ～若問我我看我說 ～怪美的 “ 。   New video of 2019: Jolin Tsai's latest hit single "Ugly Beauty". J olin has recently released an album of the same name and has been THE diva of the moment.  "Ugly Beauty" talks about her struggles with the perception of beauty in the industry and from the public. J olin is finally at a place where she can look back at all the criticism (whether it was coming from critics without or her own self) and poke some fun at it, even if it was painful at the time.  We decided to do a an acoustic cover and shoot it while we were in LA since there is so much 'weird beauty"on the graffiti-filled walls of the Arts District. Do helps us like, subscribe and share!

Mary Did You Know? (Cover by Charis蔡佳靈， Sam黃銀山，Shaun陳聖恩)

2018年過得很精彩，但也充滿挑戰和挫折。 我為很多恩典的時刻獻上感恩，但也很常很常面臨沮喪、 失落和挫敗的情緒。 最近常唱這一首來鼓勵自己：有時候會看不見或看不清楚， 但要提醒自己祂的愛已經拯救了我而且會繼續引領我往前走。 2018 has been an eventful year with much to be grateful for. But as I've stretched out and stepped out, there have been many moments of doubt and discouragement as well. This song has been on my devotion list for a while, both in English and Chinese. I sing it to remember that the stars of promise are still in the sky, even if there are dark clouds(or haze :P) often blocking my view occasionally.

Yup. I managed to get T to sing with me. A very very rare occurrence because he seems to think his voice sounds terrible. Whereas I think he sounds decent :P. With more practice he'd be awesome.  But I totally understand. I started off as a piano/keys player that ventured into singing because I wanted to interpret my own songs (and also because I just liked singing. Lots of people do). I remember shaking when I auditioned to do a minor in jazz voice during the second year of my degree. I am quite sure I sounded 'bleaty', shaky and quite horrible. But my voice lecturers were the kindest souls in the world who encouraged me every step of the way, even during the audition. I remember one of them, Irene gave me a huge hug right after I sang because she could see how terrified I was.  Singing can be so vulnerable. If people don't like your voice, it's very hard to shrug it off because you can't really change a part of you. It's easy to take rejection...

今天翻唱這首溫馨的歌曲 “ 慢慢喜歡你 ” （演唱 - 莫文蔚 。 詞曲 - 李榮浩）。 我從小就渴望非常真實的關係。 我寫的第一首創作歌曲就是 “ 愛我的所有 “ ，歌詞裡面講道的是希望沒有化妝，披頭散髮還是有人可以愛我。希望有人可以知道並且接受我的缺點和優點（因為很多時候一個人的特質可能是優點，在其他狀況之下也可能會變成缺點）。 對我來說，愛情一定要從認識和做好朋友開始，一定要慢慢來。如果你的伴侶是你最好的朋友 / 最認識你的人，那個愛裡就不會有恐懼和隱瞞。   要徹底認識一個人需要時間和耐心。 個人認為：慢慢發展，以尊重和友誼為基礎的親密才能夠長久。 因為愛是選擇。我認識 / 了解你才能夠真的選擇愛最真實的你，而不是追求一個夢幻的對象或童話故事而已。這樣才能 # 一路愛到底 ：） Next in the #Keepyourloveonseries is a lovely little ballad called “Growing Fond of You”. Since I started writing songs, I’ve often expressed the almost universal need to be loved as I was, with braces and messy bed hair.   Which human being does not want to be accepted and loved, talents warts and all? (Point to ponder: our unique characteristics can be both a strength or a weakness in different circumstances.   Relationships with genuine friendship as a foundation rarely falter midway. Why? Because in getting to know each other as we are (with no fantasy-colored lenses on), we elimina...

Blessed  - Daniel Caesar 本人安靜了一段時間，但 還是默默地忙忙忙 😅 先報告一下：專輯還是繼續進行當中，要開始收尾了... 好興奮啊！ 然後最近也想再次開始分享翻唱的歌或影片給大家聽聽/ 看看。我真的不太想只為了翻唱而翻唱， 因此就特別選了一個主題，照著主題挑歌來詮釋。 這一次的主題是......  #KYLO  (Keep Your Love On)  #一路愛到底 💓 這一系列的情歌都會談到正常人想在關係堅持遇到的狀況和 情緒：愛的酸甜苦+"柴米油鹽醬醋茶“的日子。 喔耶！希望你們會喜歡！ I've been laying low for a little while but things have been as busy as ever.  Firstly the album is progressing and we are starting to wrap things up which is uber exciting!   Secondly I've been wanting to start sharing covers or rather reinterpretations of songs on a more regular basis. But I really didn't want to sing a cover for the sake of singing a cover itself. Soooo, I decided to pick a theme and pick songs I really like within that theme. And this time the theme is #KYLO (Keep Your Love On). For those familiar with Danny Silk's book, KYLO is about a committed love that weathers ups and downs and the everyday life faced by normal people everywhere. Pretty stoked abou...

Bubby turns 2yrs 9mnths in a couple of days. Today, I measured him and he was 3ft 2inches tall which was a pleasant surprised. Just 2 weeks ago he was 3ft 1.5inches, so apparently he's had a bit of a growth spurt.  I'm having a 3 day weekend alone with him at the moment as T is in China with Yoga Lin. We are just grateful that he has a steady stream of work this second half of the year due to unforeseen circumstances with my job with CTC.  --------- I just put a extra-hyper kid to bed but he hasn't fallen asleep yet. If I could redeem all the hours I've spent trying to put this little munchkin to bed I'd be a year younger I think. That's the horrendous amount of time I've spent tussling with a little man who sleeps as little as he can, yet still manages to grow and thrive. Sigh. This is the sort of day that fries my brain cells.  Signing off because he is not going to sleep without me. BOO

Nursing. Breastfeeding. Something one can only experience as a woman and as a mother. One of the most miraculous things God ever created the body to do.  I haven't been blogging much but I thought a brief write up about my experience nursing Bubby would be worthwhile.  I was fortunate to start off with a lot of support from T and from a very experienced Mom. Also, it helped that most of my muso gal friends were also committed to nursing, and most of them nursed till their kids were 1.5-2 yrs of age.  Bubby was a good feeder from the start. Almost too good. His latch was strong I had to be careful to position him right all the time so I wouldn't get injured. He ate a lot and often, and he has never had any formula milk. The first 2-3 months he would feed for 30-45 mins at a time every 2-3 hours. Unlike most infants that feed often but for short periods of time, he was eating throughout the 30-45 mins. That was how he grew from lanky 3.5kg at birth to being fat 6...

A FB memory popped up today. It was a collection of photos from my first time recording with GOODTV. Looking back at the photos I don't think the styling was that great (in hindsight), but I had a bunch of supportive friends from OZ-land who cheered my baby steps forward.  It's been almost 7 years since I've first moved to Formosa-land. It's pictures and memories like this that remind me how fresh, expectant and naive I was when I first arrived(despite being a lot less naive than when I was 18 and first moved to Ozland).  Yes, I do cringe at a few things like some of my fashion choices (and those of the makeup/styling artists that I've worked with); like some of my performances and recordings that could have been much better. But sometimes I wish I could always remain that expectant and keep that 'wonder'. Ravi Zacharias wrote a book about the importance of wonder in our walk with God. Been doing some examinations of my own heart and I find that jad...

I wish blogged more regularly about parenthood and kept milestone records more diligently. But life happens...Whoosh and we're into 22 months of official parenthood (plus the 9 months of expectant parenthood).  Bubby turns 2 really soon.  Everyone we've met has commented that he's grown to be such a big boy. No longer a baby, not even really a toddler anymore. He's 2 feet 10 inches tall, and weighs a hefty 13.1kg. He's muscular with a comfortable padding of cute baby fat, has round eyes with double lids, a cute bowl cut, and a smile that lights up the room. He can walk like a pro, and run around quite efficiently now. He climbs like a monkey, has great arm and leg strength, good balance, a startling sense of direction.  Bubby is quite an early talker, especially considering that he's a boy. Also a clear enunciator. Some interesting scenarios lately: Currently he can say, 'C'mon man' (obviously imitating T)  whenever T hits the brakes, or...