I (heart) Yanzi

Yesterday was a difficult day. I left the production at 9am, and went off to work at Republic Poly till 6pm, and survived without sleep for 42 hours before I finally collapsed in bed. But what made the day all worth it was Yanzi!

Thanks to NTU Corporate Communications Office (being in Union has never been better), Chaoyi and I had the chance to go to Yanzi’s concert, the one that I hadn’t intended to go to cos I was too broke to get the best tix when it was opened for sale, and it didn’t seem worth it to get the other ones. But I was wrong. No matter where you sit, Yanzi fills up the entire stadium with her presence!

It was definitely the best night of my entire life thus far, and I just can’t begin to describe how magical the concert was, nor how surreal it was to be sitting there, listening to her belt out song after song, clapping along to her songs (cannot wave cos I didn’t get a lightstick, dang) and singing along. I wanted to dance! Especially when she sang Di yi tian. That’s my favourite song from her new album, A Perfect Day. And Kai shi dong le, and Wo yao de xin fu, and Yu jian, and Wo de ai, and Tong lei, and The Moment, and Silent All These Years, and Tian hei hei. And alot of other songs. I (heart) Yanzi! She is my ou xiang! I still can’t believe that I went to her concert. I fell asleep thinking about her and woke up this morning with a smile, remembering the previous night.

Magical. That’s how I’d describe the night of 14 Jan 2006. Yanzi was magical. I wanted to dance and scream “Yanzi wo ai ni!” but the whole block where I was sitting was so subdued that I felt that if I did, everyone would stare. But still, I had fun, and I screamed and sang and was happy. I felt more high than I actually showed (I think it was equivalent to 2 glasses of Long Island Tea – anyone who’s been out with me before would know that I get high after just 1) and I’m still smiling to myself at this very moment. My colleagues think I’m crazy cos I keep smiling to myself. The lighting was fantastic. There were green, blue and violet spotlights, and two very strong laser beams forming a V-shape that met at the place she stood on the stage.

Her dancers, as always, were dressed very dramatically. Two most memorable ones to me were the tribal outfit (not much of an outfit cos they only wore loincloths but they carried those huge shields that depicted tribal masks) and the silver pants for one of her earlier numbers. Yanzi herself was dressed in some really weird outfits, but she still looked pretty.

Guest performers were F.I.R. and Tanya Chua. When F.I.R. came onstage to sing Di yi tian, I was ecstatic. I really love that song, and it cheers me up when I’m feeling down. It’s the happy beat. I so wanted to stand up and jump around. Haha. Faye sang A-Shin’s (of Mayday) part. Yanzi played the piano for Wo yao de xin fu and I could feel in my fingers the urge to play that song too, at that very moment! I wish I memorised that piece better. It’s not even here with me, the piece I mean. It’s at home. I (heart) Yanzi – did I say that already? Hehe. 

When she was singing Tong lei there was a staircase suspended in mid-air from 4 thin pieces of metal. It was lowered from the ceiling, and as she stepped onto it, it ascended into the air. My heart nearly stopped cos I was like imagining things and well, I was scared for her. But then that was a stupid thought cos they would definitely make sure she is safe, right? 🙂

She had the entire stadium singing loudly along with her during several songs, particularly Yu jian and Tian hei hei. I remember the lighting during Tian hei hei. There were vertical beams shining onto the stage from above, and it looked like a forest to me. I can’t explain it, but it suited the mood of the song and was beautiful, though it was just white light. I teared while singing along to Tian hei hei cos it was the song that made me fall in love (for want of a better term) with Yanzi back in 2000. It was so nostalgic. I wish she played the piano for this song too.

Yanzi is one of those rare successful female singers who has never tried to portray herself as a sex symbol. She is really my idol! I’m not as crazy about any other singer as I am about her. Don’t insult her okay, I’ll get very pissed off. Yesterday before the concert, Chaoyi said he’ll fall asleep, but you know what? He got so excited during the concert anyway (act cool only lah this guy, say that he don’t like Yanzi and all, bleah) Haha.

During the encore segment, she sang another 3 or 4 songs (can’t remember, I have poor memory and I was too excited), which was more than I expected! It was so good. I just can’t stop talking about her today, and I’ve taken to replying to people who talk about things that I don’t want to talk about in this way:

Friend: bla bla bla bla.
Me: So? Doesn’t matter. Cos Yanzi rocks.

Haha! So totally unrelated but I don’t care. I’m just so high from the concert (yes, still) and I love Yanzi! Haha. I was just talking to Kaiwen and next time I will buy tickets earlier, plan earlier, save up earlier. And sit with the fanclub! Then I can scream and dance and make banners! Haha.

After the concert, Chaoyi brought me to this Chinese restaurant at Lorong 13 Geylang. It’s Chinese as in, China! I told him I’ve never been to one, then 1 second too belatedly, I remembered that I went to Beijing before, and said “Except when I was in China” and somehow that sounded so stupid and duh that we laughed. We had buffet steamboat, which was different from any other steamboat that I’ve had before. First of all, the soup was a murky whitish colour, with spring onion, ginger, garlic and some other stuff. Then we added in the raw food, and when it was cooked, we dipped them in a sauce that we could make with the materials that they provided. It all looked and sounded so weird (to my inexperienced and unadventurous senses), so I didn’t know where to start mixing them. But Chaoyi made a bowl for me and it tasted good. I think it was peanut sauce with vinegar, chopped spring onions, and something my mom calls dao zho (I have no idea what it is in Mandarin or English). It was really fun. A totally new experience for me, but I enjoyed it. The place was warmly decorated in simple wooden furnishing and those kind of lamps that I like; the Zen-ish type. I enjoyed the company more than the food though (not that the food wasn’t good, but I don’t eat that much; though I was famished after having skipped so many meals), so thank you for being with me on this special special night!

It was almost 2am I got back to my room, and I wasted no time in taking a shower and tumbling right into bed, still smiling. (I am so mad about her, I added a whole new category just for her) On Thursday when I got the call about the tickets, I could hardly contain my excitement. I ran to the Corp Comm office in the rain to get the tickets. When I arrived, Christine (of CCO) said, “You sure look like a big fan. It’s raining so heavily!” And I was beaming and saying, “I am a big fan.” Hehe.

And I’ve decided to dye my hair red.

PS: (Sorry no pictures cos they have to be published in Tribune first. Anyway, they’re Chaoyi’s, haha)