Sunday, November 14, 2010

MP of Buskebulan album review = KINGS OF LEON - Come Around Sundown (2010)

Music Police of Buskebulan album review = 
 Kings Of Leon Come Around Sundown (2010)
                          
      Whats the name of the game people?  Continuation.A constant deliverance system of  great electric outputs for the world. This would be KOL's 5 studio album. Its always a pleasure to listen to an album and love all the tracks at one listening session. .This 5th album doesnt disappoint at all. Neither did the previous 4. Putting them far apart from a lot of other bands and in a category that not many share that is great albums. Now lets see , for me , the Music Police at Buskebulan , says this band should be given land on the moon. For the continuation of great great songs . Lets try to do this write up in a non-bias manner. I always tend to get too excited bout bands that mean more than much to me.

       The band's distinct style has rejuvenated my senses once again. Yes , All the tracks are good ones. The vocals on all is good. The wailing pulling of Caleb is very well put on the tracks.  So are the guitar works , bass sounds and drum beats for all the songs. There are no personal favorites yet , but i gotta say ,track 2 ( radioactive) and track 9 ( no money) got me jumping about in my seat while driving. All the songs are awesome. The ones that gets you 'tersengaja-terdisko' and the ones that get you lost in their enthralling spell. They truly work magic . 


Album length = Around 50 minutes
Tracks = 13

Track List =                  Length=
1. "The End"   4:24
2. "Radioactive"   3:26
3. "Pyro"   4:10
4. "Mary"   3:25
5. "The Face"   3:28
6. "The Immortals"   3:28
7. "Back Down South"   4:01
8. "Beach Side"   2:50
9. "No Money"   3:05
10. "Pony Up"   3:04
11. "Birthday"   3:15
12. "Mi Amigo"   4:06
13. "Pickup Truck"   4:44

         If you want more great songs in your life , please download this album. Thanks Shamil Yusof for the heads up. This is a MUST to download or buy. Thank you Kings Of Leon for great songs since 1999.

         Here is  "Radioactive" ! :)



     
          Here is "No Money" ! :)



         Thats all for now , I am just so happy that they made an album this year. Its been a delight listening to their previous albums. So many great songs that has made its way to me. Its done binding , trust me.  Now to listen to it again.







Tuesday, November 9, 2010

A trip to Vietnam Part 1

Asha and I were pretty excited bout the prospect of going to vietnam for a holiday months ago. So when we finally got onto the Air Asia plane to Saigon on the 29th of October , we knew that we were in for a great holiday adventure...panning out even better than great , here is Vietnam , in a blog on this page.

Asha and I on board Air Asia on our way to Vietnam
Asha, my cousin bro and i at ramana hotel saigon

We reached Saigon at night on the 29th. Already being cheated by a local taxi driver named Mr Kim , we arrived in Ramana Hotel Saigon kinda pissed off. :)  But at the end , it was a blessing in disguise. That was the only 'MAJOR' incident that we faced. Hehehe...We stayed at the Raman Hotel Saigon ( for free! ) , and after some food we went out to check out Saigon City at night. We checked out some bars that night , Saigon Saigon Bar and Apocalypse Now and headed back for some sleep
apocalypse now
a very nice toilet/bath

birthday dinner
the neighbour's puppy
ben tanh market
The next day , we stayed at a local ipoh lad's mum in laws place in downtown saigon. He married a vietnamese lady and they both live happily over there. Loved the house. It was so simple and beautiful with an exceptional toilet/bath in our room! We spent the day buying asha a new bag and checking out Ben Tanh Market where we also tried their local famous food called Pho. ( noodles) . We also got our train tickets from the Saigon Train Station to Mui Ne. Its way cheaper than the busses and a more reliable service for some routes. We spent the night at a birthday party for the ipoh lad's wife's sister. :)

6.30 am saigon
 On the 3rd day , we woke up early to take the train to Mui Ne , a beach front . Its amazing how bright vietnam gets thats 5.30 am in the morning! And it gets dark pretty early too - around 5.15 to 5.30 pm !
People here really start on their daily lives here early. There is a big difference to the way we malaysians start our day.

vietnam trains rocks!
mui ne beach


traditional boats
We took the 6.30 train to Phan Thiet station where we took a cab to Mui Ne. Checking into a laid back and very clean budget hotel called Hong Di , we knew that Mui Ne was the right choice.  Nice beaches , cool people ( travellers and locals alike ) , very very stong wind and crazy waves. It is known for the kitesurfers that this beach has killer waves and wind for the ride. Good food and chill out places too when the early night sets in. Particularly Joes and ProDJ Bar. Good food at Mister Tams , and many more yum yum restaurants.
hotel's security dog Coco

5.30 pm!


On the 4th day , we rented a motor bike and just biked all around the area. There were so much to see , and we did see so much!

Passing by the fishing town of Mui Ne , we ventured onwards , passing by the red sand dunes and miles and miles and miles of coastal roads. I believe the coast is called Hom Ron and it stretches for miles and miles. It was pretty amazing riding over there at that time cos there wasnt many vehicles on the road at all. Even managed to teach Asha how to ride a motorbike on the way back. :) We also saw the red canyon which really isnt anything at all. Its just erosion of the earth and the earth is red in color. Hehe. No biggie there. But our next stop - The White Sand Dunes , was awesome. Made our motorbike ride worth the time and distance.

Once again , there was miles and miles of white sand dunes ( giving you the impression of a desert) and next to it is a lake with lotus flowers and all ! It was beautiful. Walked a bit around and even slid down the sand dune with a makeshift board that you can rent. That was cool.Went back to the hotel and had good food and booze , once again , hopping from here to there on the coast of Mui Ne.The next day , we just chilled and hanged out by the beach. Having already book a bus ride to Da Lat ( a mountain town) for the next day , we just spent the day hanging out , drinking and eating. Gonna miss Mui Ne. Nice people and a nice feeling here. Met good travellers too , 2 dutch dudes Martin and Harm , who lived next to us. Its another early morning for us tomorrow.

local kids.

the map

the ride

fishermen boats

the coast

white sand dunes forest

the white sand dunes

the white sand dunes

the white sand dunes

drinking with martins and harm

On the 6th day , we took the morning bus to Da Lat and reached at noon. The bus ride was scenic. at least 4-5 hours on mountainous roads. That was a small bus on a small road on big big mountains! Heheh. Plus there was landslides and water rising around the area. Not moved by that , we soon found ourselves in cool and chilly Da Lat. We checked in a cheap hotel called Phuong Hahn . The room was huge and very very clean. Da Lat is a very pretty town. It rained most of the time and throughout our 2 days stay there , we just walked around , eating and drinking hot drinks. Nice fruits and flower stands at the marketplace and the roads and small and windy. Beautiful waterfalls outside the town but we didnt get to see it. On our 7th day , we spent the day doing the same which was walking about , eating and driking. And by midnight , we took the midnight bus back to Saigon. Travelling in a big bus down the mountains at night did seem scary to us , but coming into this town, we can surely get back down safely whenever! Saigon , here we come again!


da lat town
the bus ride to dalat
dalat town
having dinner with Mr Binh , a monk in a vegan restaurant



da lat town

asha enjoying her hot cocoa

telecom tower that looks like the eiffel tower

Happy Deepavali !! The midnight bus back to Saigon was comfy and we proceeded to Saigon on time. Reaching there in the morning , we walked around pham ngu lao area in district 1 until we saw Ngoc Son Budget Hotel which had very home-like comfy rooms. Yay !  Bought some food , and went to sleep a lil before we ventured out for the day. We then walked around and went to the Vietnam War Remnants Museum. Among on display was the US Army machines used ( helicopters, anti-aircraft guns,tanks, weapons etc) and also the horrifying and gruesome photos snapped by journalists during the war. It was a very emotional experience. We hanged around district 1 area and bumped into Martins and Harm , whom we met at Mui Ne ! That was fun. Spent the night drinking.



near the saigon river

war remnant museum

pic from the war remnant museum
pic from the war remnant museum

uncle ho's message!
drinking drinking drinking!


On the last day , saturday , we just chilled. Me and asha that is. Hanged out at buy vien street and went back to ben tanh market for some last minute shopping. Got some awesome old propaganda posters too. Sigh... Gonna miss her like crazy. Asha is off to cambodia for selfless volunteering at a few different places. Never have i met someone as special and as meaningful like her. A spirit that's full of purpose. She is an angel , my angel. She is also my lifesaver and , my life. 


the kwan yin shrine outside our hotel

me and my baby



Overall , we cant wait to get back there. The country is lovely and the people friendly. Being apart of vietnam for 10 odd days has left a strange warmth in me. There is so much more to do over there! So please stay tuned in for PART 2 !!! :)