Party 'R' Us to 2009!!

Hi everyone, its been a good n blessed year for me. Here's wishing one n all a safe n better 2009. I will be playing at Forbidden City for the NYE party. Come join me for the countdown to 2009. Cheers!!

My new album is out!

Its taken me 2.5 years to finish up this album-AUDIOBIOGRAPHY. An international collaboration effort with friends from around the world. 20 tracks, 2 discs, flavored with house,electro,hip hop, downtempo and much more. The album features Tweeky(Sweden), Celcius 7(San Francisco), GXR(UK), Scott Tibbs(L.A), Christine Sham(SG), The New Law(Seattle), Plutonic Lab(Melbourne), Madison Park(Atlanta), ielo(Paris) etc. AUDIOBIOGRAPHY is released by Warner Music. Available at all good music stores. Take a listen to the full album : www.quadmix.com

Posibly the Best Coffee!-Trung Nguyen Legendee

When i heard that Trung Nguyen opened their outlet at Liang Court, I was excited and was yearning to try out their coffee. I actually had the opportunity to meet one of the family members of this esteemed coffee brand a couple of months back and we talked a lot about coffee in general, how Vietnam is the world's second biggest exporter of coffee and their developments. He actually handed me a pack of Legendee which I have yet to open till today(he did tell me its their most expensive coffee!)

So when i arrived at Liang Court, i was determined to try the "weasel coffee". As i read the menu-i realised that the Legendee sitting in my home is actually their top end "weasel coffee". Basically the Legendee is a unique enzyme-treated coffee that releases flavors often bound in the beans and not released under ordinary processing.

Apparently this special grade of coffee has to do with stories about natives who drank a brew from washed coffee beans that had been partly digested by small furry animals(civet cats). In Indonesia its popularly know as the Kopi Luwak or Civet coffee which is made from these coffee beans. The Vietnamese version is called weasel coffee. In actuality the "weasel" is just the local version of the Asian Palm Civet. The "real" weasel coffee is said to be incredibly rich, mellow and chocolatey. The price is also exorbitant. Being scarce in supply, Trung Nguyen then went on to develop a special process of using natural enzymes that duplicate this process and not from the weasel(civet cat). Apparently Trung Nguyen is the pioneer of this process and it produces a coffee unlike any other in the world, with a wide range of rich flavors.

My friend and I had ordered the "Legendee" and when it arrived, we couldn't wait to taste it. It was served Vietnamese drip style with condensed milk. My friend asked for the milk at the side as he wanted to try the real taste of the coffee. After waiting for about 2 minutes for it to drip and sit, we took off the dripware. The portion was like an espresso and well the taste is heavenly. It has a strong nice bitter aftertaste. Almost like there is some chocolaty taste to it. All i can say is its a very nice yet explosive flavor and very different from the espresso or typical Vietnamese coffee. My friend said this is undoubtably the best coffee he ever had in his life and yes he does know his coffee.

The next time I will try it iced. Apparently some people claim that it is the best iced coffee. That I need to verify!

About time!

I have been busy in the studio mixing my new album-AUDIOBIOGRAPHY. So its been very intense. This album took me over 2 years to record and features some of my very talented friends from around the world. I will update you on this space when its ready but some interesting developments have taken place.

Well, the weekend is here, time to party and reward yourself for the week passed. I will be playing at Bar CoCoon, Forbidden City at Clarke Quay this Saturday 8th November. Come on down for a nice blend of music. I will be mixing on LUSH FM the same night-broadcast time is 9pm and repeat on Monday 8pm. Hope to see you and have a good weekend!

DaScratch-A class on its own!!

Being a gadget freak and a techie, I love to incorporate technology into my DJ setup and studio rig. I recently got myself a Korg Padkontrol. Didn't have a good start with it as the installation package had problems and the soft synth packages were bit iffy. The local music store couldn't help much except for getting me the right drivers as the installation CD couldn't work. So that's been a good 2 months and I hadn't played much with it since.

2 weeks ago I had the privilege of being the selected few globally to receive DaScratch aka Scs.3d. Now this is what I call a controller that is super easy to use-almost plug and play. All I had to do was install the middleware called the DaRouter in my Macbook, plug in the USB device, hit the sensor pad and choose "SERATO Single Deck". I fired up my Serato Scratch Live software and in less then 15 seconds, I was triggering away samples, cutting up beats, looping tracks and even loading my tracks without having to touch my laptop. The StanTouch technology that is incorporated in the touch panel is truly highly responsive. For others using it with Tracktor and Ableton, you will be able to use the presets or remap midi actions for effects, eq and even scratch emulation.

DaScratch works with both Mac n PC environment. It uses USB for easy plug n play. Its class compliant, which means that drivers are never needed and is bus powered by design to ensure that no external power is needed. The creative ways to use DaScratch are endless. You can use it to control video, lighting effects etc as long as MIDI mapping allows it and DaScratch can come into play taking it into another level of manipulation for your shows. It also allow users to manipulate scripts that can do various kind of programming or controllerism to create special pre-sets, even actions via Borne's MIDI Translator. So if you are a programming freak, then here's a product that can show your programming skills to the world.

DaScratch is well built, with nice material used to make it look like a spaceship panel. It's one that will stand out in your set-up and create a wow effect. So if you have been thinking about tactile buttons, virtual faders, mappable functions on a touch sensitive environment, i think your fantasy just came thru.....at a very affordable MSRP of USD299. Coming to a store near you at the end of the month. By the way anyone interested in a Korg PadKontrol?

F1 Parties

The much awaited F1 will be happening this weekend and there will be lots of parties. I will be playing at Empress Place on both the 26th & 27th at Indochine Empress Place. On the 28th, I will be rocking the closing party at Forbidden City(Clarke Quay) after Ibiza's DJ Jose Padilla. Have a great weekend and hope to see you at one of the parties!

Party This weekend!

Its been a hectic week for me.....and its gonna get more so for Friday and Saturday. Friday night, I will open for a good friend of mine from Miami,USA-DJ B-Side. We will be playing at the newly renovated CAMP at HOUSE@Dempsey Hill. Its gonna be house groove driven and some surprises with the latest technology from STANTON, featuring the world debut of DaScratch Midi Controller. This piece of gear is gonna change the way we DJ forever-by adding more flair and finesse in the way we manipulate our DJ sets. The guy who is the product designer Jim Mazur will be at CAMP as well. So drop by and lets kick off the weekend with some quality music served by DJ B-Side & me. Oh! by the way, CAMP B-Side Shooters will be served all night for just $10 nett. I think its gonna be a rockin' nite!
P/S I rock the decks from 10pm-1:30am at CAMP on Saturday as well(20th Sept)

Yours truly will represent the little red dot at the Asian DJ Showcase on Saturday, 20th September at The Forbidden City, Clarke Quay. I will be playing from 7:30pm-9:00pm and from 2:00am to 4:00am. The cool deal is the first 500 MasterCard holders will enjoy free flow of Tiger Beer from 7.00pm to 8.00pm. It doesn't stop there-MasterCard holders get one for one housepour all night. So all 4 Djs from the region is set to rock the house with RnB,House & Retro tunes. Be there or be square!

Sarawak Kon Lo Mee

I've tried quite a few of these Sarawak and Kuching Kon Lo Mee but this one is totally authentic. The Sarawakian owner actually makes his own noodles and they really looked like maggi mee-super curly kind. When i was served, it didnt look like any ordinary. First the noodles looked like maggi mee, then it looked very plain, next i see mayonnaise on the fried wantons. Hmmmm...nothing beats the taste test. As i digged in......the noodles tasted really good. It had a very unique flavor. The chili oil was very well balanced and texture of the noodle was very springy but not tough. It wasn't like some of those that I had tried with black sauce in it.

Apparently the couple make their own noodles at a secret hideout. The char siew was not made by themselves. However, the full flavor of the noodles is something that you will really enjoy as a whole. You wont have time to nick pick on the char siew cause the taste of the shallot oil n chili makes a deadly combination in flavor. The normal servings is priced at $3 and bigger bowl that comes with minced pork is priced at $3.50. They also serve their special Sarawak Laksa on Mondays only. The shop is tucked away right at the back of a coffee shop at Macpherson. They are sold out usually by around 2pm. So if you are near the area do check it out. Highly recommended!!

Sarawak Kon Lo Mee
Sing Li Coffeeshop
177 Macpherson Road
Mon-Sat 8am-2pm

Old Skool In A Can

When i first saw this in a coffee shop i had to look twice to be sure. If you are Chinese and had been given cough syrups by your folks to ease it, you will be familiar with Pi Pa Gao. I didn't have the courage to try it the couple of times i saw it at local coffee shops. It wasn't till recent when the bartenders at CAMP where I play a regular gig at, offered me a mocktail called "Pi Pa Gao". I was taken aback and laughed it off as I thought they were pulling a fast one on me. When i had a sip of their concoction, it brought a smile to my face.

The guys at the bar told me they use Pi Pa Mi with vanilla extract. I asked to be shown the can and wala!-It was the can I've been eyeing. So this mocktail has been my fixation ever since. If you like something with menthol and not too sweet, then this is the drink for you. Apparently its good for coughs and the throat. I just bought a dozen today to stock up in my fridge just in case i get an urge for one.

Have you Chromed Your Browser? Fo Shizzle!

Have you surfed the web, visited some sites, found the loading speed was really slow so much so that you can actually take your dog out for a dump and its still loading? Well it happens to me and on my sneaker site which initially i thought was graphics heavy so I took a whole damn afternoon resizing them. However, it didn't do much as it was still loading slowly. The Apple servers were my next blame. So it seems there's not much I can do here. Well do not be fooled by bandwidth problems and slow loading websites anymore. Google comes to the rescue!

The folks at Google have done it again-showing the world how a browser should be. I present to you Google Chrome. They developed their browser and juiced it up with a turbo charged javascript engine aptly called V8 to power the next generation web apps that aren't possible in today's browsers. I had the chance to witness it last night with some pals using a PC laptop(Beta version for Windows available now and Mac version coming soon). The browser looked so simple and streamlined. No separate window for search -URL n search all reside on one window. When you type in the address bar it gives you suggestions for both search and web pages-Brilliant!! You also get to access your fave pages at lightning speed from any new tab. My first user experience hit at me fast and furious, Chrome had etched this on my mind-Clean, fast and gets me where I wanna go and it doesn't get into my way!

The best part of all this is Google will make Chrome an open source browser-meaning all the geniuses around the world can make this browser better, a global collaboration which a lot of companies fail to see the power of and even make people pay for their SDK. Forget that crap this one's going only one way sky rocket high up and at lightning speed! In one sentence Google says"We hope to collaborate with the entire community to help drive the web forward". This is history in the making. Try it and you will know what i mean when i say "Fo Shizzle"

Old Skool for the New Skool

Now does the picture look familiar? Its a familiar vintage looking turntable. Dont let that fool you. This is Sony's unexpected offering- one that has simple technology built in for today's digital generation. This is their USB turntable that lets u transfer your favourite vinyl collection onto your computer system. So I got a call from Sony to evaluate this product and I gladly said yes as I was planning to transfer some of my vinyl collection for my DJ sets. So here's the lowdown: It features fully automatic operation of vinyl playback at 33-1/3 and 45 rpm speeds. Belt driven system for reduced motor noise and rotational stability, static balance tone arm with a bonded diamond stylus for precise tracking and low record wear. The package comes with a PC based Sound Forge Audio Studio software for simple professional-quality audio editing and vinyl restoration to remove clicks, pops and noise. You can save files as MP3 for playback for your portable music players. A supplied moving-magnet phonograph cartridge and built-in phonograph pre-amp allows for compatibility with A/V receivers without phonograph input. So that means even you can playback thru your TV AV input!

All of you who have vinyl collection like me and looking to digitize them for your MP3 consumption then this is a must get. Its easy to use and you can now play out loud your vinyl collection. Its real easy to use-just plug it onto your USB port, open the software for recording, hit start and you are recording your very first vinyl transfer. Its a clever approach for converting vinyl records to digital files, The Sony PS-LX300USB USB turntable will be a toy worth adding to your collection for personalizing your music in the digital realm for both archiving and use on digital players.  Check with your Sony store for availability of this baby!

Singapore Flyer

Today was a beautiful day before 12 noon. The Singapore Flyer was one attraction that I had wanted to take a look at. So today, i paid a visit in the morning just before the downpour and here're some pix from where i could get a good shot from my Sony Ericsson Cybershot Phone.

Ho Peng Restaurant

Shark cartilage soup

Spicy eggplant with minced chicken

Stewed vermicelli with pig trotters

Almond cream with egg white

Today was raining cats and dogs and the weather was cool. I had been wanting to try the food at Ho Peng for quite awhile but didn't have the time to make it there. So I gathered a bunch of friends to try out the food there. Chef Julian Tham used to be head chef of the Chinese restaurant at Furama Palace. He moved out and decided to venture into his own signature Cantonese Cuisine restaurant. A simple no frills restaurant situated at 476 Macpherson Road(Opposite Mazda Showroom)

We started with soups. We had the shark cartilage soup and fish maw winter melon soup. The taste was well balanced and full of flavor. Prices for the soups were $8 and $12. We then had eggplant minced spicy chicken. The eggplant was cooked just right and the chicken was spicy enough to my taste as I take my food very spicy-I saw some chilli padis in it to attest for the spicy level. For mains we decided to have noodles. One of his signature dish is the baked lobster with ee fu noodle in superior stock but was tempted by something else - the stewed vermicelli with pig trotters. This dish is one my mum used to cook on weekends when I was a kid. I eventually learnt to cook that myself, so was very keen to savor his style of cooking it. Basically I felt it needed a little wee more salt. Other then that it tasted good enough. Apparently this dish is rich in collagen. Will definitely try out the baked lobster noodle next time. We ended dinner with desserts and we all had the recommended almond cream with egg white.

If you like good and simple cantonese soups and dishes, Ho Peng Restaurant is definitely worth checking out. I'd recommend you go in the night as parking would be easier as its by the main road.

Ho Peng Restaurant
476 Macpherson Road
Singapore 67479892
Tel:67479892

The Tippling Club

Last night was the official opening of the Tippling Club at Dempsey Hill. Its Spa Esprit's new venture-a restaurant cocktail bar concept. Offering 5,10 and 15 course degustation menus paired with innovative and unique cocktails. The restaurant is spacious and the friendly staff made the first impression welcoming. I was told its a fun fine dining without the snobbery. Saw Chef Ryan Clift being very personal with the customers, serving them and explaining about the food served. It is as interactive and close as you can get to a fine chef like him.

I had the chance to try some of the finger food that was served- the pumpkin soup served in shooters and the mini pizzas were my favourite for the night. However I was served an excellent dessert on a stick-Strawberry Lollipop. It came looking like scallops from far as it was flat like a big fifty cent coin and coated white. So i didnt expect it to be anything sweet but savoury. It was a pleasant surprise when i took a bite.....frozen strawberry!! Surprise element n innovation. My homies were having a great time drinking 'Kopi-O"...yes kopi-o!! It was coffee mixed with rum n a secret ingredient. They were having it by the 3s n 4s. Swearing that it was the best kopi-o after Yakun..............yeah right and I "believed" them. We had a good laughed when we gave one to our friend and said u ordered take away right?!-cause it was served in a plastic takeaway bag that was reminiscent of the traditional coffeshop takeaway drinks. However if you look closer it truly showed the cross pollination of a drink that cocktail artist Matthew Bax had created served in a rectangular cup placed in a plastic bag. and when you take a sip of it, it will bring a smile to your face and ask yourself-How on earth did they come up with this idea!

The Tippling Club has set the tone-be surprised, pleasantly surprised when you come and experience the innovative food and drinks. Its a combination of taste, visual and emotional experience that will make it a memorable one. For those who think how can you eat 10 or 15 courses...........don't worry. Remember the saying-good things comes in small packages. Have fun when you eat there!!

Remember those 45s?

7" singles or what we call 45s were vinyl singles which we would get our hands on before the 12" singles would hit the stores. The record labels would sometimes just release singles in this format only. Most times these 45s would come with a big hole in the centre making it look like a donut if you view from the top. I had the chance opportunity to bump into the creator of the new funky looking space age 45s adaptor at a local DJ store. Simon Strutt showed me how these fellas work.......he just put one on and threw 45s on it like he was playing a horseshoe kind of game. The singles just slipped easily onto it. I remember then that we had to struggle with the 45s adaptor on my turntables. So if you still have 45s or plan to play like Dj Shadow n Cut Chemist for a 45 set then this is a must. Check out how cool they look! To order visit:45central

Happy Birthday Material Girl-Five Oh!!

Hard Candy Madonna turns 50 on 16th August. Fans of Madonna should head on down to CAMP at House where we're throwing a tribute party on the 15th. All nite Madonna mixes n remixes to keep fans and party people happy. First 100 will get a treat of Sticky 'N' Sweet Vodka Jello....and goodies kind courtesy of Warner Music Singapore(Simon Nassir n Evelyn). I will be rockin' the decks with non stop feed of Madonna hits n rare mixes. Its another excuse to party!!! Hope to see ya!!

Happy Birthday Singapore

I grew up in this part of the world and spent 4 years in the U.S at the University of Oregon pursuing my business degree. It was there that I felt the pressure of doing well in my education and at the same time the need to soak up the positive and creative vibe of the city that I was in. I wanted to maximise my time and it was here where I got serious on the decks and sent in a demo tape to a club on campus-Guidos. I got in the door to my first club gig but had zero exposure to real RnB/HipHop. It was here that I learnt and made the cut. Soon people were talking about my weekly residency. And before long the hit radio station KSND came calling and asked if I would do a weekly mixed show. I said yes but didnt know what i got myself into:)....

When i showed up for my first show-we were about to go live in an hour and was shown the control room that I was to be mixing live in. I was in utter shock as the mixer was no Dj setup but a radio broadcast console-hell yeah they were the the longest faders i laid my hands on!! I wasn't sure how all this would turn out but i reckon i will give it a shot. My co-partner Rob Halloway then called me into the room. He was deliberating how I should be addressed on air(in the U.S a lot of the DJs had funky names like Jammin' Jamie, Funky Fresh Freddie etc) It was 5 minutes before we went on air and Rob made a decision-"How does Paul T sound?" Well it sounded not too swanky or funky for me but still had a good vibe to it so I agreed. So Paul T. was officially named in 1986. So for all those who had drop initials like mine.......you know who had it first and its officially documented right here:)

I was then involved in radio production at the station learning from the creative director who had one of the best voices on American Radio. After I graduated I decided to stay and learn all I could for another year. My dad gave me the blessings and I was working for a studio in the Nike building then. It was here I learnt the craft of sampling-we were producing samples for the different samplers in the market-namely the Akais/Roland/Ensoniq etc. I had the pleasure to be one of the first few to use the ATARI Adap which was the DAW that was used in the Simpsons audio posts.

By the end of the tenure I decided to return to Singapore. Even though I had enjoyed my freedom,the American friends that I had made, the numerous exposure and unforgettable experiences; I decided to return home to family and make full use of my experience,knowledge and exposure to create what I enjoyed doing -Remixes. Till today many people still ask why didn't i stay back in the U.S. For me it was to come back to be with my family as my brother had gone over to where i was to pursue his education. I reckon my family will miss us if we were both away. So being old school-I made the decision to come back and hopefully help shape the music scene in Singapore. I had no regrets as I was able to quickly immerse and share my works with record labels, radio sations and made music production that was not heard before back home. I enjoy living here close to friends, family and of course the food! I only wish i wake up feeling more creative every morning. The vibe here is not as conducive but I have learnt to adapt and just hope in time to come it will be.

So its another National Day here on the island and I am sure many of us will be out to soak in the festivities. I will be playing at the Forbidden City(Clarke Quay) tonight. If you have time do drop by-It'll be a nite of RnB. I'll be there in Red n White!!

Plush does RED & WHITE

Come join me on the 8th August, this Friday at Bar CoCoon-The Forbidden City. Its located at 3A Merchant's Court, Clarke Quay. Come in your patriotic best!:) and receive a COMPLIMENTARY Chivas cocktail. HSBC credit cardholders decked out in their most patriotic of red and white will receive 3 complimentary Crown Lagers each!
It'll be fun and a nite of RnB!!

After a busy Saturday

Am sitting by my laptop with a cup of espresso.....now what did i get myself into. My art director was chatting with me last nite about the new album design and the website. She totally took me for my sleepy n tired soul at 2 in the morning and convinced me that I should have a blog. So here I am putting down my first hit!.

Yesterday was action packed, a real busy day-teaching DJ class, meeting up with a friend that had some problems with her music software and a long nite at my residency at CAMP which is at HOUSE@Dempsey. I had a great time catching up with the owners and the staff. My mix for LUSH FM was also due for broadcast last nite at 9pm and will be repeated this Monday at 8pm.

Friday was an interesting day for me. I met up with a friend for coffee and he asked me casually when the new album will be ready. It got me thinking and when I got home it just triggered me that it took me so much time and global friends coming together to be part of it, I just have to give myself that final push to make it all happen. This album is taking me two years to finish. One of the reasons was I was working with guests artists from around the world and the other is the production of writing, programming and reworking them plus i am quite anal with the final product. I am quite happy with the sound thats taking shape now. The album's got a variety of the kind of music that I enjoy working on-HipHop/Downtempo/Breaks etc. I had been putting off the final mix as I was just too busy working on my sneaker custom work and other production...which was a good break from it. So with fresh ears, I have started final touch ups for the mixes. Anyway am gonna have a chill Sunday and catch up on some DVDs. Have a good rest of the week...yeah and i know some of you gonna be at SingFest:)

Here's a quote for the day-"It is not how much you do, but how much love you put in the doing."