A Teenage Dream Come True ....

It all started early Sunday 3am in the morning, after several hours of brain-cell killing thinking playing our new favourite strategy board game, PowerGrid; that I saw a video posted on Facebook by my Sis-In-Law, of my favourite boyband 15 years ago, one that I remember skipping school one day to see - 911. Do they still exist? I asked. Yes, she said...they are on a reunion tour. And so I googled and found out that they are performing LIVE in the O2 on Tuesday - 1.5 days away!!! So I went into a panic mode and made my loving husband Mr T, buy some concert tickets online at 4am on a Sunday morning. :):)

The concert is called The Big Reunion, where several old bands came together to put on a concert  - Five (Baby When the Lights Go Out); Atomic Kitten (Whole Again); Blue (All Rise, Sorry Seem to be the Hardest Word); B*Witched (Cest La Vie); Liberty X; Honeyz and of course, 911 - the reason I am even here. 






Atomic Kitten



Liberty X

B*witched

 Mr T with his nerdy, geeky childhood, has not heard of any of the bands before ....but commented that Blue is his favourite of all the bands that performed.



When 911 performed, think I almost went mad......a dream born 15 years ago came true!! Seeing them perform 'Bodyshaking' LIVE... never thought this day would come...and the way it came too, so suddenly. They also sang "Party People", "Love Sensation" , "A Little Bit More" and "More Than A Woman". The shocking thing is....I could still remember the lyrics to all these songs even though it is a whole decade and a half ago that I first learnt them!

And of course, seeing how the boys have grown!! My favourite, the cutie Lee Brennan, is not so much of a cutie pie anymore with his dark hair....Jimmy and Spike still looks pretty much the same as they did....

Wow, what an experience....if not for that one facebook post by sis-in-law, I would have missed having this teenage dream come true! Saw it just in the nick of time - So, thank you Elaine!

BackStreet Boys

Dear 16-year-old D,

Today, I gave you All I Have To Give. I made a dream of yours come true. 

Thinking back, I laugh at how you choose to Get Down and dance in the living room to songs of Backstreet Boys when you need a break from studying. You would drop everything you were doing to stand in front of the TV if any of their video clips were playing. Gosh, how you use to gush over the boyband and sing their songs with like-minded teenage girl friends.

Did you ever think that one day, you could see the Backstreet Boys LIVE,  on stage? You, a penniless little girl living in a kampung, attending a world class music concert?  It was beyond your wildest imagination :)  

I'm writing to tell you that on April 29, 2012, ...you were there in person....at a BSB concert. That's right, the Backstreet Boys were there, Larger Than Life...in the same building as you, the O2, London!!!

Well technically its more then just a BSB concert, its a concert featuring the two biggest pop bands of the last 20 years... New Kids On The Block (NKOTB)  and BSB....( but yes, you know which band you were there for). 

BSB (minus Kevin)

The NKOTB

I went with Ms G, and Mr T (you won't know them yet but Mr T is the sweet guy whom when he's not by your side, you will feel just a teeny weeny bit Incomplete). He will go Anywhere For You. Its funny how he's willing to accompany me to a boy band concert...hahaha. It was a full house, and the crowd is 98% female. The few guys there looked a bit out of place. There were 2 guys in front of me, who stood as still as a rock, hands crossed over their chest even when the whole stadium is dancing along to the BSB music.....me and Ms G keep giggling about these stone-still guys in a music concert.

As for Mr T, I guess he was really amused at how fully grown adult women (including me) can scream and shout and act like star-struck teenage girls. Bet he was more entertained by the crowd then by the performers on stage.....although he happily obliged when I nudge him to wave his hands to a song, or dance with me because I Want It That Way. 

You must have spent so much time learning the BSB songs really well because 15 years later, you still know the lyrics to every single one of their songs. When they started singing 'I'll Never Break Your Heart' ..... I became you...I sang every single one of their songs with them. 

You got to see Joey Mcintyre and Jordan Knight from NKOTB too....I bet you never ever thought you would see them in person, eh? Nick Carter and his long blonde hair, although much fatter and older will have the same effect on you in 15 years time. Perhaps, its cause we are The Perfect Fan, ignorant of his wrinkles and weight. 

Nick Carter :)

But gosh can the 'kids/boys' still dance and jump..... They are like what? Some are in their 40s probably...but still very muscular, strong and full of energy.....that's right, tell Everybody, Backstreet's Back...in 2012. :) 

Its funny how dreams can come true...... so dream big, enjoy your life, never Quit Playing Games, make yourself 10,000 Promises and yes, you still have a few more years to be crazy before you grow to understand the Shape of My Heart and turn into boring old me. I'm joking, ...I am positive you will Stay The Same.

A Friend In London (the concert's opening act)

Do write, I Don't Wanna Lose You Now that I am in touch with you again :) .

Till you become me Step By Step, take care.

As Long As You Love Me, 

Ms D

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2nd time at a Cliff Richard concert

My 2nd time at a Cliff Richard concert, and 5th time at the O2 arena ...that's quite a feat!! Mr T came along to the concert to "assess the crowd" and "offer protection" although he's not a fan. Well, the crowd is as expected I think - a sea of white haired fans....many with their walking sticks, although it is really entertaining to see some of the white-haired old ladies dancing along with the music and songs.




The concert was very enjoyable for me (cant say the same for Mr T who looks bored and keep writing emails on his iphone during the concert) ....Wish my dad had flown to UK to attend the concert with me like he did last year in Melbourne....hehehe.   Sir Cliff sang many of his older songs which are my favourite, and some of the new songs from his new album Soulicious. He also invited many iconic soul singers who duet-ed with him on the album to join him on stage. Guess its a bonus for us as we get to see some other famous singers as well - James Ingram, who also sang his famous " Just Once " on stage and Percy Sledge who sang his all time famous " When a man loves a woman". I must admit, I didn't know who the original singer of that song was or heard of Percy Sledge before this... heheheh.

And just like last year's concert, Sir Cliff, at age 71...was jumping around on the stage!! I got scared watching him dance and jump and sing as if he's a 30 year old man...when he's at the ripe old age of 71!!! Although, seeing him...you cant tell that he's 71...as he had some botox to keep him looking youthful and young-er to keep up with his performances, (Yes I know this because I read the book written by him -  My Life, My Way...). Think I became more of a fan after reading his book...he's also one of the earlier founder / financial backer of TearFund...the charity that does work in the less developing countries...and have been on quite a few trips with TearFund to these's disadvantaged countries.  I know I've bought a few toilets and goats from TearFund group in Australia before.

All in all, a very enjoyable romantic night...

Smirnoff SENSATION 2011

Have always seen people walk past my apartment in Melbourne to get to the stadium for Sensation, the all-white dance party every New Year's Eve but never had the chance to attend it....always felt too old for it :)

(our friends and friends of friends)

Well, this year UK is hosting its FIRST Sensation party in the O2 arena, and a friend magically got some corporate box tickets from her work which she invited us to. So here we are, at an age that is too old to do an all-nighter, attending our VERY FIRST techno dance party....in a corporate box!! (A class away from the wild, young crowd...ahem!! :)  )

The Morgan Stanley corporate box (or suite they call it) is awesome! It is on the 2nd/3rd floor, and has like a living room and a bar inside, with seats at the balcony to see the stage.

 The view from the top is great - we literally see a sea of white. (The dress code, is all white! Both top and bottom - anyone not abiding to the dress code is not allowed in.

The stage / interior design was very well set up inside, with the theme of Under the Sea, hence a few giant jellyfishes deco filled the place. There were a few interesting shows with fireworks and laser lights, but most of the night is just people dancing to techno music... I can never understand techno music - its like a song with just a bar of tune, which gets repeated over and over and over and over again....how can that be in any way enjoyable???

There's one part I really like where they released 7 or 8 very large light floating balls on the dance floor (its suppose to represent pearls of the sea, I think) ...and the balls just gets bounced from groups of people to groups of people...above their heads. There is this one time that a ball got bounced to the corporate boxes and our neighbours are "rolling" it in the air.....i ALMOST, ALMOST get to touch it....if only my fingers are 1 cm longer,,.!!

The night went on well (and we got to know a few more people in London), except for after we left the event (at around 3.30am), when we could not get any taxi to send us back home!! We thought it was poor orgnization that the arena people did not help ensure revellers got home safely.....but apparently due to one of the tunnels being closed taxis couldn't get back to O2 quickly!

Other options were not possible as
- The O2 arena is sort of surrounded by water......so although near canary wharf we could not walk!!
- The tube network only started at 7.45am on Sundays which is a good 4 hours away.....

In the end, after much waiting in the taxi line for like nearly 2 hours, we decided to try our luck and take a public bus and do some heavy walking..(in my new shoes that hurts!!).  We caught a bus at around 5.10am and walked to canary wharf and took a short taxi ride home!! (getting back at 5.50am)

Well, that's a story to tell!

Glee Live - What A Great Concert (For ms D)

Unbelievable that we are able to see the cast of Glee perform live at the O2 arena. T was a bit worried that the concert will be filled with young teenage girls and that we will be the oldest there but...hey, much to our surprise, many adults are Gleeks too!! We were on our feet most of the night because you just want to sing and dance to the music of Glee. Even the Warblers were there! My fav is Kurt...he is just such an amazing actor!! T, who's a non-Gleek, was turned into an instant Gleek during the concert.....Join the club man :):)

End with a video from our camera (does not do the concert justice but yes a small taste of what we experienced)