Inked

When I still had my Nude Singer Facebook page, I put out a poll question asking if people would prefer to see tattoos on me. As expected, I got mixed replies. With regards to the merit of this permanent form of (oft-ritualised) self-beautification that dates back to ancient times, the jury is still out. Some people think that I shouldn't taint flawless smooth skin with tattoos but some feel that it satiates almost a fetishistic part of their sexual fantasies.

Personally when it comes to permanent decisions that have little or no regret-room, I always proceed with utmost caution. This applies to major financial decisions, career moves and yes, whether or not to don an indelible coat of ink on my skin. And when I know I wouldn't be able to decide without taking an infinite amount of time, I resort to half-measures and temporary ones. They are not the real deal but I know I wouldn't be forced to co-exist with something I do not want.

With this in mind, I engaged a photographer who has an assistant who does body-painting. So in the studio we went after selecting the two designs I'd like to be photographed in. The first one was simple and all that was needed was to roll a bicycle tyre dipped in black paint all over me. Done and done. However the next one was far from easy. I had to withstand a four-hour long session of painstaking artwork with my skin as the canvas. But it was well worth the wait and all the effort because I think the result speaks for itself.

The first picture is my favourite but that is just me. The jury is still out on tattooing but why don't you be the judge on body-painting and tell me what you think?

A-Men

Hey guys, in case you are not aware, the Gay Asian Men Project of ACON (AIDS Council of New South Wales) will be launching an all-Asian gay male photo-essay book in 10 days' time in an event titled "Unmask", which is part of the program line-up for this year's Sydney Mardi Gras. I am very proud to be part of this project which from its models, photographers and writers to its graphic designers and publicists are all gay Asians! This project has many objectives but I identify with one of them the most, that is to put a masculine and healthy image of gay Asian men out there for all to see. We are most certainly not all weak, pale and effeminate beings, and we come in all shapes and sizes.

This publication relies heavily on pictures to promote its message and I must say from the models I worked with on this project, you are most definitely in for a treat. And have I mentioned that it is a FREE publication? What more can you ask? Here is a sneak peek. Guess which of these three is me?


I am super excited about the launch event which will feature a fashion show, performances and lots more, all-gay, all-Asian and all-fabulous! I am however very disappointed that I wouldn't be able to partake in the excitment of all that because this new work position in Melbourne is crazy and is not allowing me to free up time to fly back for Mardi Gras. I would have loved to be marching in the parade with the A-men float! Yes, they have a magnificent float as well!!! Here is the list of events celebrating the diverse gay Asian community in this year's Mardi Gras. And here is another report by the Gay News Network.

This photo-essay book and its launch is the first-ever of its kind in Australia and is the brainchild of my dear friend Min, the Asian Gay Men’s Health Promotion Officer at ACON whom I really want to thank for his vision, energy and tireless commitment to the project. We need more people like him in the community for sure.

An official teaser has also been spreading on Facebook and is creating quite a bit of buzz for the publication and launch. With all this anticipation already brewing before the big night, I know this entire project will be a wild success. I simply cannot wait to lay my hands on a copy of the book! So here's to all involved in it and all gay Asian men in Australia—you have done a great job and it is now time to show the world what we are made of!



(PS: Two-thirds of the pictures in the teaser came from you-know-who!)

(PPS: Newsflash! A-Men has been featured on SX a week before the launch! The article has been attached below. *Groan* Why is my picture not selected?)

Musical journey (22)

Love is in the air. And it is the season when the cash-hungry retail industry spares nothing to woo your dollar, all in the name of love. Take this advertisement for example. It starts with telling you how cheap these two pieces of jewellery are (cheap-looking too) and then says "spoil her this Valentine's Day". What conflicting messages. Unless a cheapskate is trying to impress someone out looking for cheapskates, that commercial doesn't really make sense. Yes, it is the season again when lovers all over the world scratch their heads to think of an object that can disguise itself as love.

For me, I buck that trend with personalised self-made gifts even though not every recipient appreciates that like I do (I am talking about my past crushes and loves). I don't know if people in this age of apps and YouTube still do romance like the good old days writing poems and songs but I still do, and I know that I will never give that part of me up.

In this Valentine's Day edition of my musical journey, I express the same feelings I have in two languages with the same tune. I am quite proud of the fact that I can write songs in both English and Chinese but I am even more proud of the fact that this is the 5th Valentine's Day I am spending with my bibi. Somehow through music, even the mushiest words can come across as the sweetest things, or at least I hope that is how these two songs will be received.

And most importantly if you have love in your relationship, that warm hug and that tender kiss you give and get everyday as you leave for work and come home from the office is the pure distilled essence that no amount of flashy gifts or money can buy. I hope that all of you can feel that love today.

So without further ado, let me once again express this love with my music. I love you bibi. Happy Valentine's Day.


[献给你]

/ 词 / 曲 ： 锦泉 /

忙碌的旋律
疲惫的身躯
就快走不下去
你让我靠着你
倾诉一点一滴
让我继续呼吸

从你的眼里
找到我自己
你怀里我栖息
你双臂的力气
手心里的暖意
让我在冬夜里也能身在夏季

真爱因你存在
一片纯净洁白
你胸膛我依赖
我伤痛你淹埋
我的心盛满你的爱

真爱为你永在
直到我俩双鬓斑白
没人能把你取代
值得我一生等待
献给你全部的爱

多亏你的忍耐
我有时耍的无赖
你真把我宠坏
歉意与谢意超载
回馈你悉心灌溉
我愿意为你赴滚汤蹈火海



[For You]

When my day is long
When all things go wrong
When I'm too weak to go on
You'll be there to care
With shoulders there to bear
My pain melts into air

With that gentle gaze
With that adoring face
And with that warm embrace
You'll never let me feel cold
Your hands are there for me to hold
You're the only one with the strength to touch my soul

Your love in my heart, I know
In your hug, let us grow old
Hold me close tonight, till darkness turns to light
Your arms make everything right

With what I can return
This gift of infinite worth
Baby you deserve, my all unreserved
I'm all for you, my love

Sometimes I make you mad
But you forgive and forget
And then you smile right back
I want to give more than thanks
I want to do more than that
'Cos your love makes me want to be a better man

Musical journey (21)

I have always felt that one of the most difficult (pop) musical tasks is to write a dance song that has the ability to infect masses of people with the dance virus. Although most of the songs of this genre on the airwaves these days seem like mindless drivel on the surface (think J-Lo’s “On the Floor”), I personally think that it actually takes considerable skill and market-knowledge to craft something good enough to pander to the valuable clubbing community (valuable because this community is willing to fork out wads of cash to attend expensive dance parties, even with the looming recession).

And seeing that I like to experiment with different genres when my composition-nerves twitch and my lyrics-writing hands become itchy, this month’s musical post shall contain a piece in the dance genre a.k.a. my brave new world. The lyrics of this song has been sitting in my archives without a tune for some years now and as soon as I found the backing track online to write with, I tweaked the words to fit the music and voila, a dance song was born.

One characteristic of commercially-successful dance songs is a good beat, a catchy hook and tune-repeatability. To this end, the words have to be kept to the simplest, both in vocabulary and meaning so as not to steal focus away from the sole purpose of the song—to make people want to dance their brains out. However this song has slightly more sophisticated lyrics (not that it is at the level of any commercially-successful song in the market). It is about two people with perfect chemistry who met for the first time on the dance floor and later parted only to reunite on the same floor. This time they both know that they cannot let the moment slip away again.

I know the tune is not that great but at least now I can finally tell myself that I have written a complete dance song.


[一秒钟]

/ 词 / 曲 ： 锦泉 /

当我第一次贴近你的时候
我心里头波动着无数喜悦的颤抖
然后又第一次躺在你怀中
我的心简直就这样跃出了我胸口

这到底是什么感觉
怎么我一点也不懂
似幻似真也似个梦
狠狠刺进我心坎中

当你第一次把头靠我肩膊
我心里头循环着一股强劲的暖流
当我第一次说再见的时候
我的心渴望时间它会为我而停留

这到底是什么感觉
为何它让我直升空
似虚似实放肆汹涌
像阴晴不一定的气候

舞池角落， 无处闪躲
爱我不必说， 只要你亲我

这到底是什么感觉
让我彻底失去掌控
汗水混合萤光闪烁
过高的体温急须急冻

这到底是什么感觉
你我心跳频率相同
身体继续紧贴着我
闭上眼沉醉这一秒钟
一秒钟


[One Second]

When I came close to you for the first time
Trembles of happiness rippled through my heart
Then when I laid in your embrace for the first time
My heart literally leapt out of my chest

What feeling is this
Why can’t I understand it
It seems unreal yet genuine, yet dream-like
Strongly piercing my heart

When you rested your head on my shoulder for the first time
A powerful surge of warmth circled within my heart
And when I said goodbye for the first time
My heart wished that time could stop for me

What feeling is this
Why does it raise me up to the sky
It seems blurry yet definite and it pulsates wantonly
It is as capricious as the weather

In the corner of the dance floor
You have no place to hide
You don’t need to say you love me
As long as you come and kiss me

What feeling is this
It makes me lose all control
Our sweat glistens in the spotlight
Our overheated bodies need a cool-down urgently

What feeling is this
Our hearts beat at the same frequency
Continue to push your body into me
And close your eyes to immerse in this very second

Mummy's in the country

Now that I have fully settled into this new city called Melbourne (which really deserves an entire post), I now have time to give my attention to this blog again.

I have written about my stays in the country and when mummy’s in the house but what happens when these two events are combined? In this post, I shall share with you the highlight of my mum’s recent Sydney visit—a trip up-state to Ision’s parents country home. They ABSOLUTELY loved her and kept reminding my mum that their doors are always open for her. We all had great fun together.

The trip was off to a light-hearted start when we saw the Jetstar flight menu. With such small portions of lousy food at such exorbitant prices, is it any wonder why people are starving off their hunger?

I was put to work very soon after our arrival—my first-ever attempt at digging up potatoes. The area we had to cover wasn’t huge but I was rather surprised at how many potatoes we dug up! From the ground to the dinner table—that is the country way of living.

 

My bibi was also as busy as a bear… oops, a bee. He did a great job cleaning the interior and exterior of two cars, as commanded by the taskmaster—his dad!

 

Months before the trip, I have asked my mum to list down the ingredients for the dishes she would like to prepare for the in-laws and thus she was well-prepared. The two cooks worked together very well despite the frequent communication-breakdown—I guess good food never fails to be the universal language.

 

A sample of the feasts prepared by mum. I must say the in-laws were pretty pleased (and impressed) at mum’s cooking—it was of no surprise that they kept asking her to come visit again.

 

As a diabetic, mum was overjoyed when she found a snack she could nibble on that her diet permits—beech cherries. On the last day of our trip, she picked three containers full to take back home and there was still plenty left on the trees. She intends to try growing the fruit in Singapore.

 

Mum getting acquainted with the Aussie barbeque. The neighbours were invited over one night for the traditional Australian social event. Ision actually broke his no-beef rule that night and ate a hamburger. GASP!

 

One of the biggest joys of living in the country where there is ample land (and the perfect weather) to cultivate the fruits and vegetables you will ever need is the convenience of stepping out of the kitchen to pluck fresh ingredients and throw them into the pot a minute later.

 

Of course growing one’s own greens needs much tender loving care. I was given the task of watering the crops one day.

 

Living in the country means you’d have to live with the country’s other inhabitants as well. Roger had to remove a wasp net from the veranda’s ceiling. Subsequently several wasps flew into the house trying to look for their removed dwelling—fortunately I had my bibi there to chase them all away. My hero!

 

Not all inhabitants of the country were chased away from the house. Feeding a kookaburra bits of beef is a dangerous game—mum (and her finger) only knew too well.

 

After dinner one night, a very loud thud was heard and the truth was revealed the next morning—a lorikeet could not see the glass wall and tried to fly through it at full speed. The result? A dead bird, colourful nonetheless. Apparently this is quite commonplace.

 

Mum brought lots of nice clothes for the trip in preparation for plenty of photo-ops. It was fun being her photographer for a few days.

 

Roger took us out to the estate around the house for a quick drive. Much to Roger’s amusement, mum started to pick flowers he regards as weed. We also drove to Yamba and spent some time by the beach.

 

What would a relaxing country holiday be without a facial? With Nu Skin’s Galvanic Spa, the beauty parlour was brought into the house.

 

How well do you think the DIY spa-treatment worked? The before (left) and after (right) shots say it all.

 

The unseasonably-cold summer throughout the state was observed in the country as well. Whenever there was sun, I seized the chance to do some tanning. One HUGE advantage of living in the country is the ability to tan in the buff and I did (shots were taken but will not be posted. Hehe).

 

Wiling the time away on the veranda with afternoon tea, featuring home-made cookies baked by Jenny and gourmet coffee prepared by Roger. This is the life.

 

I had to play the role of translator for the entire trip for my mum and in-laws but from this picture, I can’t see language as being a barrier at all.

 

The customary snap of the whole family. It was a really fun trip for all and it was made even nicer knowing how much the in-laws love having my mum there with them. We look forward to coming up again.

 

This was the last meal mum cooked for me (which I took to work) before she left. Because I will not have the chance to relish her cooking for some time and so I took a parting shot of it. I will miss you mummy.

PS: A few weeks after my mum went back home, she fell and broke her arm and to date she has had two surgeries but is on her way to recovery. It is still too soon to know if she would regain full mobility of the broken arm but I pray that she will. As our parents are getting older, they really need to be given better care, which is unfortunately something I cannot offer when I am an ocean away. My thoughts will be with her during her period of recuperation.

Musical journey (20)

If you believe in guardian angels, do you think of them as people with raw emotions just like all of us? Do you think of them as a tireless protectors who require no recognition? And if you want to acknowledge them, wouldn't it be great if you could see them flying above and looking down on you?

When a guardian angel falls in love with the mortal under his protection and then gets his heart broken, how would he express his suffering? If his sole task is to ensure the safety of his ward, should he be falling in love in the first place?

In this month's musical journey, I shall try to answer all of these questions and delve a little into the rock genre at the same time. This is sort of a virginal attempt at composing a rock song so be kind to it.


[天使的泪]

/ 词 / 曲 ： 锦泉 /

悬崖边盘旋 狂笑混合眼泪
回音敲得心支离破碎
天空化成灰 狂风继续地吹
没有爱 伤痛已无所谓

守护你的天使流下了第一滴泪
落在尘世却成了汪洋一片
淹没了每一个曾有过的昨天
溅湿你无瑕的脸

天使飞累了 有何处能停歇
光环是否就不会熄灭
甩不掉颓废 它怎能不坠跌
一身洁白染上了断肠的血

天使流的泪

守护你的天使感觉到心力交瘁
有一双翅膀却飞不进你心扉
我不问如今你心中住着的是谁
若他能夜夜守护着你入睡


[An Angel's Tears]

Circling the precipice
His violent laughter mixed with tears
Creating echos that strike the heart into bits
The sky turns to gray
The malevolent winds continue
Without love, the pain no longer matters

The guardian angel has shed his first tear
Causing a deluge as it falls to the mortal plains
Drowning every shred of memory
And wetting your flawless face

When a guardian angel is tired of flying
Where can he seek respite
Will his halo ever be extinguished
Unable to shrug off despair
How can he avoid falling when he has lost his love
The blood from his broken heart
Stains the white with a sea of red

The guardian angel is getting weak in energy and spirit
Even with wings, he is unable to fly into your heart
The question of who now resides in there shall not be asked
As long as he is able to stand by you every night as you slumber




I know this is kind of a sad post but here's a very Happy New Year to all my blog-readers! I am flying off to Melbourne on the 4th of January and starting my life in the new city. A new start means that I'd have to put all the unhappiness of 2011 behind (including the permanent deletion of The Nude Singer Facebook singer) and look at all things positive (my faithful blog-readers and fans). I will be moving on to bigger modelling projects in the coming year and I know I will shine even brighter so get your sunnies out and be prepared. May all of our wishes come true in 2012 (if the doomsday prediction doesn't come true, that is. Hehe)!

Merry merry Christmas!

To all my blog-readers, fans, friends and family, here's a very merry Christmas to you. Give your loved ones an extra tight squeeze today and treasure every minute you have with them. This is the season to love and give and I wish you all the happiness and joy that you so deserve.

In the spirit of giving, here's a little something for all of you. Happy holidays!

Just another guy on Gaydar

This is just a quick post to inform my fans that I have been featured in the Gaydar's December "Meet Him" newsletter. I have been featured on Manhunt before too (in June this year). Hmmm... I wonder what I shall conquer next?


PS: The photographer of my latest shoot is seriously-considering sending some of the pictures to Playgirl magazine. I know there is just less than 5% chance that they will use them but still to be considered for that does say something about my sex appeal, doesn't it?

Triple the hotness

I love doing group shoots but I don't get to do them enough as it is both difficult to find willing models and models who have similar built and musculature as myself. In this post, I will share the pictures from my first-ever group shoot in Paddington with Rick and Don (one of the pictures from this shoot was featured in the last Mardi Gras' issue of DNA magazine).

It is just like what the adage says—why have one hot guy when you can have three?

















If you find this shoot too sedated then you are in luck because I will be in a much more intimate one with another hot model later this month. Will our chemistry lead us to not only elevated visual but physical heights as well? You would have to stay tuned to find out!