Tag: mylene farmer

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Mylène Farmer’s “Timeless” Concert Recording

Mylène Farmer and I have come a long way.  When I first started working as a management consultant, I was posted to Paris and worked at my client site. At times, for months. I would stay in a hotel, which contrary to what some may think, it is not really that much fun to stay for long. There is a home. And there is a hotel. The two are distinctly different.

Every morning, before having my shower, I would turn on the TV and listen to the latest music videos. Mylène Farmer was on MTV all the time! I did not know who she was but I like her music. I love her videos. Whenever I hear of her music many years from then, I feel as though I am being transported back in the late nineties, Paris, La Défense, Société Générale, champagne and cheese, and more.

And more.

And that breakup. It was Paris. La Défense. Long story short, my then-girlfriend sent me a letter informing me of a breakup. There was heartache. Sleepless nights. And there was Mylène Farmer.

Mylène Farmer and I have come a long way. I was used to listening to her music on my Sony Discman. Paris metro. Singapore MRT. Hong Kong MTR. I don’t understand the lyrics. But I am drawn to the emotion. While I was working in Paris, I even bought her music videos on LP’s (Laser Discs) knowing very well that I did not have an LP player (back then, no YouTube I think). My ex’s family had one though. But because of the breakup, I had the LP’s but I could not watch them. Years later, I bought the DVD version of the LP’s. I have no idea why I bought the DVD’s back then. They are still unwrapped, I think. That sense of owning something tangible.

Fast forward to today, there is YouTube. I did not expect to find her 2013 Timeless concert on YouTube but I have. The resolution isn’t that good and I was prepared to import a Bluray version of her concert from France to Singapore. I was hoping to find a trailer. I did not expect a full concert.

Mylène Farmer is 57 years old this year. At the time of recording, she was 52 years old. She looked young and radiance. She put up a stunning performance well connected emotionally with her music and the audience. I don’t know all the songs she sang. But I know enough to hum along. The stage was amazing. There were dancing robots as well. She arrived at the stage as though she has stepped through a time machine. And she left as though she was on a rocket leaving many fans at awe and in tears.

 

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From the Attic Memorable Events

I Hate Goodbye

Farewell party.  I have invited 25 people and it was pretty crowded.  Sophie and they all have bought me some presents.  A pair of “waist cuff”, one brace and Mylene Farmer LD.  And of course, one card full of writings from the 7th floor.  I shall miss them all.  Very much so.  I hate “Goodbye”.

And then, we went to a Brazilian Restaurant and had a great time.

My emotion is so intense and I really don’t know what to write anymore.

I will miss Paris.

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Diary From the Attic

My Obsession with Mylene Farmer Continues

Claude has finally left for Cairo and I took over his desk.  Just too relax nowadays.

My long awaiting Mylene Farmer Live album has finally arrived.  Just tell you how much I obsess with it.  Went to Rue Montmatre wanted to dine at TGIF.  Instead, I walked into a record store, Extrapole, and discovered this beautiful album.  As I always buy CD from FNAC (for tax return purposes), I travel all the way to Chatelet and found that I was five minutes late.  Knowing that the FNAC in La Defense closed at eight, I rushed back to La Defense and walked into FNAC five minutes before it was closed.

Quite an exciting and interesting day for me.

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Diary From the Attic

What Have I Gained in Paris?

Monday.  First day in the “new” office with two FX guys as Eric (the third one) is having a one week holiday.  Pretty quiet and made a few phone calls.  First one to UOB and finally found out that one of my card’s mailing address has not been changed.  That is why.  Second phone call to IRA and extended my deadline til June 27.

Francis called me up and I am sill very undecided about my future.  As he said that I will “shine” if I stay with VTF.  Oh god, really don’t know.

Nope, Mylene Farmer’s new concert album has not been out yet.  Felt really lonely today.  First, spent one hour at FNAC and went to a Tunisian Restaurant.  What have I gained in Paris?

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Diary From the Attic

An Unexpected Dinner Invitation

It was Monday morning and I was so glad that I was back to work.  At least there was someone I could talk to.  Miracle happened and I woke up at 6:30 am.  And I couldn’t go back to sleep.  Therefore I replied a few emails to my friends and sister and went to work at 8:30 am.  Anyway, I had a very important status report to write (to all the SocGen big bosses this time).  And I promised to give Nicholas and Willie a SIR to work with.  Spent the whole afternoon doing the BG transaction advice SIR and probably will spend the next two days doing the BG reversal advice.  It’s so boring, but that’s work.

Unexpectedly, Michel invited me to have a dinner with his wife.  Initially, we were talking about Chinese Food and I told him that I can never find a good Chinese restaurant in Paris.  And he told me that there were quite a few good ones near where he lived.

So I said, okay I would come with you if you don’t mind.  By the time we arrived at the train station near his place, his wife was already waiting in the car.  And they drove me to their place and had aperitif (whisky for me).  And we drove down to a Chinese restaurant.  That waiter didn’t speak Cantonese at all.  What a disappointment.  The food was good and we chatted quite a fair bit.  Michel was a good translator (as his wife, Mirela, doesn’t speak English at all).  We talked a bit about Romania as well (where they are from).  They planned to take me out one weekend.  How nice! (And they played Mylene Farmer in the car, just perfect)

One of the happiest night in Paris.

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Coincidence From the Attic Other People's Lives

A Weekend Full Of Online Chat

What a weekend !  A weekend without daylight.  The chat line is very additive.  I just hooked onto it for hours.  So ended up going to sleep at 7 in the morning and woke up not seeing the daylight.

First night I logged in as “New Wilf 97”, toured around and nothing really fantastic.  Second night I logged in as “Etoile 97” and that caught most attention from the French (as Etoile means star in French).  I intended to hide my sex and see what happened.  Guess what, most of them thought I am a lady !  Glad to talk to the French about Mylene Farmer and they told me that she is a bisexual.  Doesn’t bother me really.  And my favorite topic of that night was relationship.  One guy told me that he worked in a pub before and met this waitress in the same pub.  I guess they kissed but according to him, still not sure.  So I gave advice like go shopping with her, buy flower and so on.  In the end, he was certain that I was a “she” and I didn’t tell him in the end. (Note : few weeks later as I chatted with him again, he managed to get more attention from her.  Thanks to me!)

And I was chatting with someone called “Paris”.  In fact on that night, I dined in Planet Hollywood and coincidentally he was one of the waiter.  He is from UK and we chatted quiet a fair bit.  Talking about long legs waitress in Planet Hollywood and so on.

And the most fun was last night in which in nicknamed as “GoodBoy”.  In the room of “Mr/Ms Right”, I chatted with an American girl named “Lilly”, a British called “Tugger” and a New Zealand guy called “Alan”.  It was so much fun and I missed them all.  I called Tugger Fish & Chips and called Alan, Kiwi.  Our topic ranged from movies to music to cycling to books to relationship.  Tugger told me that he is divorcing and I asked how come.  He told me that he and his ex-wife were very good friend and they marred for the wrong reason.  I asked, “Child ?” and he said yes.  But he felt a long better now and still go out with he ex as good friends.  Hard to believe, isn’t it ?

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Diary From the Attic

Choosing between Mylene Farmer and a Night Out with Friends

I woke up in the morning, on my TV and guess what?  I saw one Mylene Farmer’s music video one after the other.  It is a cable TV, MCM, and today was supposed to be Mylene Farmer Special Day (or something like that).  I watched until I have missed my breakfast and I was late for 15 minutes.

I was supposed to dine with Claude and Mohamed tonight and I was contemplating on whether I should stay at the hotel and watched the Mylene Farmer concert at 7:30 pm.  In the end, I chose to go out with them as very seldom I can dine with someone.

It was Arabic food.  A very small but popular restaurant.  Claude was treating and Mohamed insisted on giving him back FF100.  As for me, I “treated” them the desert at Haagen-Dazs. 

And I have spent most of night surfing the net.  It is very addictive.  And it wasn’t anything erotic at all.  It was Mylene Farmer’s Web Pages.

Thinking of getting a flat in year 2000 really excited me as I really sick of renting already.  I want a home of myself, in the very near future.  So far, I still believe in dream hard, hope hard and it may come true.

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From the Attic Reflection

Looking Back on 1996

As I have promised myself on the last day of 1996, I will review what I have done in the last year. And hopefully, I live a better life in the year 1997.

As I was playing my guitar tonight, singing the song “Nobody Knows”, I remembered my days back in the US.  Indeed, that was one of the happiest moment of year 96, or perhaps my life.  Being influenced by US culture (movies, music, and jeans) for so long, it was the first time I have ever stepped into the land of liberty.  I still remember the excitement in me when I first landed at the San Francisco Airport. The limousines. Everything seemed so different – the roads, the buildings and even the air.

I drove into Chicago so many times and I could not remember how often.  I was with Collin all the time. Great friend to be with.  I still remember we got lost initially all the time and eventually, he directed and I drove.

Three weeks in St. Charles.  I hang out with Collin, Yoshito (Japanese man), Mitzi (Korean lady) and another Australian lady.  Great friends to be with. The drinking parties in my room and the lovely conversation with Collin and the beautiful Mitzi.  Life was good.

Vividly I remembered a pub with a large dance floor, country style.  Collin and I left the party without telling Mitzi, who was too busy dancing with all the guys on the dance floor.  And she was not happy when she knew that.  The next day, before she and her friend flew back to wherever they came from (Australia), we had a conversation by the fireplace.  Some random topics and Collin and I saw them into the bus.

And then, I felt a sense of emptiness.  Suddenly all the friends were gone.  And I was back in Singapore, facing the hot sun.  The whole period in US was like a fairy tale.

Yet, there was another fairy tale – my two trips to Paris.  The first one lasted for 5 days and the second one lasted for 60 days.  The BNP promotion with Francis was fun.  We had great food and since we are not the fuzzy type, we can get along very well.  I showed him Paris whenever we had time.  The other trip was for Societe Generale.  During the first 3 weeks, I had Damien with me.  I miss those days with Francis.

Life in Societe Generale was pretty peaceful.  Work started at 9 in the morning and usually ended at 6 in the evening.  The people there were very nice.  Sad to say, Sophie, Claude and Lionel left for Sydney in the middle of my stay.  But my days with Aurore, Noubi and Mohammed was great.  Especially Mohammed, we called each other brothers.

Weekdays after work, I usually went downtown to have my dinner.  As for weekends, I always started from La Defense and ended up in Paris center at night.  One movie and one meal and back home.  During nighttime, I composed electronic messages that captured my feeling and observations during the day.

The food was good.  The MTV in the morning was good.  The French music was good. By the way, I felt in love with Mylene Farmer.  Her music is just fantastic.

During those days back in Paris, someone thought that I was lonely.  But I was not, I was in another state of mind. If I had my guitar with me, I would have composed a lot of great songs.

Back in Singapore, I am glad that I know Sam as a friend.  He has introduced me into his circle of friends (which is big).  Through him, I know a lot of people.  Although they are all men, I don’t really mind.  All the Wednesday night out, cheap dinner, and Karaoke.

Enough of stating what happened in year 96, but that was not the main topic in here.  What could I have done better, hopefully in year 97 ?

The New Motto: To actively pursue what I want.  I have been too passive.  Not determined enough. Always avoid the reality.  Must face it and direct the future into whatever I dream of.

Action: To plan and stick to it.  I must treat my personal life as yet another project.  To self improve or to exercise?  It must be planned and followed.

Beware : Spend within budget.  I have been spending too much money on things that may not be necessary.  This is no good and must change.  I must keep track on how money is spent and plan for future saving.

Goal: Must list out all the goals I want to fulfill this year.  Thought goals, I will have motivation.