Kien Lim

I’ve been passed on this award by Rolynda who’s sharing her Honest Scrap Award with me. Rolynda was instrumental in my writing of the words for “Black Cat Red”. I had read her blog and the images flowed forth. A thousand thanks Roly:)

Ok, so……..

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The Honest Scrap Award rules are as follows:

1. “The Honest Scrap” award is not one to hold all to your self but it must be shared!

2 .The recipient has to tell 10 true things about themselves in their blog that no one else knows.

3. The recipient has to pass along this prestigious award to 10 more bloggers.

4. Those 10 bloggers all have to be notified they have been given with this award.

5. Those 10 bloggers that receive this award should link back to the blog that awarded them.

10 Honest things about me:

1. I love coffee. Strong coffee. And I can drink too much of it. And when I do, I break out with a mouthful of ulcers. I gave up coffee once to replace it with tea. Then the tea got stronger. And instead of the 1 tea bag for a cup, and 1 tea bag for the pot, I used 3 – 4 tea bags. The ulcers returned. Now I have 1 pot of medium strength coffee a day, and not too many citrus fruits as that contributes to unbalance me too. Guess I’m pretty much an all or nothing sorta guy and have to watch it.

2. I wear my jeans on my hips because it makes my body look longer. I have long legs and think it’s too long for my body. Or rather, my body’s too short for my legs. And also I feel like my hips are too wide for a guy. The physique I’ve always liked is my brother’s. Wide shoulders, body in proportion to his legs, and small hips. A real “V” man shape!

3. I don’t have a baseball cap head!: I love baseball caps but have thus far in my entire life only found one that did suit me. It was white, fatigued, and looked great on my head, but, it had A&F stitched all over it. I really don’t mind using A&F gear, I have done, and currently do own a pair of army shorts and a belt that I bought in San Francisco 3 years ago that I have used nearly everyday since. It’s just that I don’t like advertising the fact that I do. The search for a cap that fits goes on. Perhaps I’m better off with a new head….!

4. I was a crap electric guitarist for 20 years. Then all of a sudden, overnight, I was transformed. Well, by most standards I’m an ok electric guitarist. But the difference now is that I just don’t care. For 20 years I cared and I was crap. The day I gave up caring was the day my true self emerged. Now I am comfortable with my electric guitar playing, being confident that I am competent enough to communicate what I feel in the way I know best. And if you don’t get the message, then so what? It’s ok. I’m just not speaking your language:)

5. I once suffered from G.A.S! Gear Acquisition Syndrome. I used to work in a used musical instrument shop where musical gear could be acquired very easily. All manner of interesting pedals, gadgets, amplifiers and guitars, old, vintage and high tech resided in the shop and of course, the shop assistants had first choice. And acquire I did. I woke up one day and freaked out. I looked around my 20 by 15 foot room and noticed I had about 30 guitars hanging on the wall, averaging about £1000 each. Not only that, I had about 17 valve amplifiers (in the living room), a 24 track mixing desk, 3 eight track machines, racks and racks of outboard effects units, several vintage synthesizers, sound modules, samplers, Neumann, AKG, Shure microphones, and boxes of guitar effects pedals. Not forgetting the boxes of leads and looms of cable. I had at least about £60,000 worth of gear that was not insured! Oh, did I mention the drum kit?

6. I am a crap swimmer. I can just about swim 100 metres and no more. When I was in my teens, I decided that I would conquer this inability and just practiced swimming in the way I knew. The idea of lessons never occurred to me. This was something I would achieve on my own. Another reason for swimming was to develop a physique. The “V” shape I so envied that swimmers had. So I spent countless numbers of hours swimming lengths of the pools. But I never ever made it past 100 metres. Or develop the “V” shape.

7. I can’t float on my back in water. I tried for ages just to relax, as everyone said that that was how it was done, lie back and float. I just could not do it. I would find myself sinking and gulping mouthfuls of water. But I managed it when lying face down in water!

8. I live in a mess. A 30 minute mess. A clean mess, I am told. Not a dirty mess.

A 30 minute mess?

Yes, if I tidied up my mess, it would take 30 minutes to do. It used to be a 10 minute mess but now it’s usually a 30 minute mess. It seems as though I don’t have 30 minutes to spare. What usually happens is that when it gets to a 45 minute mess, I can’t stand it and so spend time tidying. But I don’t seem to be able to do it for more than 15 minutes. Don’t get me wrong, I have managed to completely tidy my room. It’s just that it takes me seconds to undo it to a 5 minute mess. And then it just adds up again……!

9. I take one and a half hours to get ready to face the day. I can’t understand it when people say they only need 15 minutes to get ready. I just can’t do it! I like to take my time and just to do my bed, say my prayers, and make a coffee and toast takes over 15 minutes! Then what about meditation time, a shower, errr….. morning thingies, and getting dressed! Then there’s email, FaceBook etc cetera. And sometimes one just can’t decide what one wants to wear…. And even with one and a half hours, sometimes I’m late…..!

10. When I was young, a long time ago, I was terrified of loud noises. Especially of firecrackers and, balloons popping. During Chinese New Year, loads of firecrackers were lit and I could not bring myself to light one. The Chinese are fond of setting of long streams of crackers, some 20 – 30 feet long, hung from poles or buildings. The last few crackers to ignite would usually be thunderously loud, to end with the biggest bangs. Those were the ones that rattled me most. I would have to tighten my stomach in anticipation. Of course my ears ached, not only from the loud bangs, but also from the cuts from my fingernails with my fingers stuck deep and firm in my ears.

With balloons, I just couldn’t blow any up. Or pop em. Or even get too close to em. I remember when I was in kindergarten, there was a race where you had to run up to a chair that had a balloon on it, sit on the balloon to burst it, then run back to the starting point to win. When I got to the chair, I feigned incompetence at not being able to sit properly on it, which did bring on laughter as they thought it sweet, and just gave up when the race was won. Phew!

This the link to Rolynda’s Honest Scrap Award.

The 10 I’m passing this on to are:

1. APJ
2. lecram
3. Joy
4. Karim
5. Lelly
6. Cosima
7. Katie
8. Solitaire
9. Sarahvz
10. Kamotional

Pic by and courtesy of Marie-Claire.

A friend asked me what I do when not at work. I said “err…. this and that and err….”. I could not give him a straight answer. I didn’t think that if I did that he would understand. But perhaps he would. I guess I felt rather strange to divulge some part of myself that might be of no consequence to him or his world so I thought I’d spare me and him and me the awkwardness. Hmmm….. maybe I’m playing God here…. ooops…. sorry….!

I’ve been busy. With loads of gigs. The gig at the Chapel today was good. The Coolness went on dressed in shorts, the Stars and Stripes and we didn’t know what to expect. One way or the other we guessed. And it was a weird and excellent surprise. Have a listen and tell me what you think. Personally, I think this geezer is a genius!

It's raining! 7:56PM July 23 2009

with some hail mixed in. I don’t want to go to Edward’s to do my set. I just wanna stay in and stuff my face with some good food. But I cannot flake. It just ain’t professional. So go I will, rain and all.

I’ve been experimenting with different keys for some of my songs and found that it has made a huge difference in my vocal delivery. A lot easier and emotive. Playing fingerstyle (my fingerstyle) has also helped tremendously. The one other thing I’m going to try is the Fred Kelly finger pick which I’ve mentioned in an earlier post.

I’ve been performing quite a lot of late. A spot every night since Tuesday, and the same to Saturday. Sunday might see me do the open mic at The Stage Door in Waterloo.

I did think that I might take a break to write new material. But it seems as though I’ve not very much to write about at the moment but I’m not too concerned as I know the songs will come when the time is right. And even if they don’t….. so what? The main thing is to be grateful for the joy that music is giving me.

Oh, check my gigs page for details of upcoming gigs.

Ok, I’m off now….

on Saturday was fantastic! I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The Castle was kickin’ and the music was fantastic. I’ve been a fan of James Ingram for forever and he kicked ass that night.

Some friends whom I hadn’t seen for a long time came to see me and it was fantastic to see them. Yes, I played a kick ass set too!

Portobello Road is fast becoming a place for live music with The Robert James Gang terrorizing the vicinity every Wednesdays and Saturdays and, Kien’s Crew will soon follow suit around The Market Bar one hundred yards down the road.

At SatuKpala. Pic courtesy of Nic Khusairie

I attended SatuKpala on Sunday and was transported back to Malaysia. The vibe was so reminiscent of my home that I half expected to walk out of the restaurant onto a sandy white beach. Situated in the basement below the main restaurant, it soon filled with people. The food looked absolutely delicious. I wasn’t hungry at the time and had a Teh Tarik instead.

Delima Malaysian Restaurant has been open since February and is spacious affair with a great homely vibe. I will be dining there in the very near future.

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I’m tired. Yes, so what else is new?

I got back from the night I am promoting, stuffed my face, got on the computer to check Zee Avi (see previous post) as a mate who came to see my play told me about her after he heard me play a Yuna song over the PA. I eventually got in my bed at 2AM or so. Slept fitfully for a few hours and then tossed and turned and come 7AM, I was too restless.

Why? Well, guess I’m accepting things. Awareness does not necessarily relieve one of feelings. And I felt very triggered last night.

Triggered? You might ask. Yes, triggered into wanting to be saved by the bevy of beauties that seem to be populating the entire City of London. Triggered by wanting to intrigue with em. Triggered by wanting to do more than just have polite conversation with em.

Ok, good, that’s off my chest now. Moving swiftly on……..

I’ve also come to accept that being a promoter means I have to take a backseat as a performer. Which doesn’t mean to say that I don’t perform, or that it is any less an opportunity for exposure, it just means that I change my attitude towards what my intentions are. And that is actually very helpful for me. It means now that as a promoter, I open the night by performing, because no one ever likes to go on first, and by being given the job of breaking the ice, it actually lessens the pressure of having to put on a great performance as it is seen as just an ice-breaker and none more expected. And that serves me well. After all, the best performances are when one expects nothing of the performance, when it is done with no self-seeking motives.

It also means I close the night. Again that suits me well with the same benefits as opening the night.

I’m doing a gig tomorrow, 18 July, at The Castle, 225 Portobello Road, London W11 1LU. Pop in if you are around. 9PM.

Also please re-sign up to my mailing list (Reverbnation Box on sidebar – Privacy guaranteed – makes it easier for me to stay in touch) to get the latest, and join me on FaceBook.

Oh, also on Sunday, I’ll be attending a new open mic session, SatuKpala, at Delima Malaysian Restaurant, Southwick Street, LONDON W2, 8PM, and also to dine there I should think.

I am tired! Did I mention that already…?!