What do you do when you wake up to an invitation to the largest and most anticipated rumble in the jungle yet to shake the grounds of South East Asia?

You roar with delight and swing from tree to tree to the party grounds with your favorite Tarzan in tow, of course.

 Super-pumped for the safari-themed rave party that is Future Music Festival Asia 2014.

Thank you, Asahi Malaysia!

 En route to the Bukit Jalil National Stadium!

Look what greeted us the moment we entered the vicinity?

It’s GUY the pink Corntoz horse mascot!

Picture time with (half) the giant pink horse!

The jungle awaits us all!

Despite the haze, we partygoers still soldiered on. 

But I was glad the amazing organizers, Livescape Asia, took precautionary measures and provided face masks for us all.

To my surprise, I found a selfie of the boys wearing their face masks in my camera, so I’ll just post it up LOL

Who takes selfies from the bottom angle anyway? Selfie-noobs 😛 😛

Haha kidding! You know I love you both!

Photo-ception! So this is Joseph taking a photo of us with Prashant taking a photo of

Omer and Maisa doing the exact same pose as we are LOL

Another pretty sight that greeted us. Just like FMFA 2013, this year’s installment

also featured a Ferris wheel for its party animals.

Outfit of the Day! I was terribly indecisive of what to wear on the first day

as all of us decided to go in black so I ended up in this.

I initially wore this but then it struck me that nobody wears long pants to a rave.

Plus, my top wasn’t black. It was very dark green and I didn’t wanna be the odd one out from the group!

Anyway! We all got to the showgrounds of Bukit Jalil by 5PM, and waited for the rest to arrive.

Selfie time! 

Guess what happened when Stella and I were busy taking selfies?

Photobomber alert!

A selfie (or two!) in peace without the photobomber!

Chilling by the Ferris Wheel!

Maisa and I.

When we finally managed to round the entire herd up, we dived straight in to explore the safari! 

 Group shot with the mates! Men (and women) in Black yo!

So glad to bump into my other buddies right at the entrance.

Music really brings long lost friends together! 

Wahid and I

Theresa and I

Grabbed a beer at the Asahi counter.

Save water; drink beer! 😛 😛

By the time we finally got to the stage, the sun was almost setting and I didn’t manage to catch the first two acts.

This was what I missed! 

The first act of the show: Local DJ Eva T!

The second act of the show: Local DJ duo, B.A.T.E

Pretty sure they did a fantastic job at hyping the crowd up for the international acts

Canadian electronic dance duo  Adventure Club was already on the decks as we kick-started our first rave of the day at 7.45pm!

Adventure Club droppin’ us some sick beats

Influenced by the sounds of Flux Pavilion and Skrillex, the duo comprise Christian Srigley and Leighton James

I loved Adventure Club’s set as it was right up my alley with dubstep, electro house, drum step and all the 150bpm and above. If I remember correctly, I think I ended up shuffling with a random guy wearing an anonymous mask during their set.

Whoever you are, you dance well! 

By 8.30pm, Aussie-born Will Sparks took to the stage and gave us a dash of his fine electro-house works.

Melbourne-based Will Sparks spinning on stage.

I watched him play LIVE back in Aussie too! He was just as good tonight, if not better!

 His tracks got the crowd jumping all with our arms in the air!

 Quick shot with the boys mid-raving!

 TheJaanu and I

Trippy smiles are the best smiles! 

Since we’re already at it, why not have another group shot, eh? 😉

And another! The Asahi glow sticks were just too pretty.

There’s even switch for you to choose the mode of lighting for it.

At 9.30pm, R3hab stole the limelight and swept us off our feet with his darker tracks, which reminded me a lot of psytrance and industrial sounds. The popular Dutch house act also entertained us with his energetic stunts on stage. 

R3hab didn’t only make us jump; he got into the action too!

 Waving our arms from right to left with R3hab who interacted with his crowd superbly well!

Shutting our eyes and letting the music save our souls!

Took a short break from all that raving as I was drenched in sweat from head to toe.

Selfie time! 

Stella and I

Fun fact:  I usually only selfie when I’m bored.

So the number of selfies of myself I have in my camera represents a scale of how bored I am at an event.

Can’t believe this is the only selfie of myself the entire night!

This means that I was enjoying myself way too much at FMFA – it’s a given!

  More party pictures of the night

Clinging on to my Asahi glowstick! So many people tried to snatch it away from me.

Get your own! ROAAAAR! 

We were so exhausted at this point of time.

R3hab never gave us a rest! His tracks were way too progressive and got us head-banging to no end. Woots!

 Stella and I taking a rest by the adorable pink leopard print phone booth.

By 11pm, the crowd was already summoning our favorite mouse up on stage.

There was a moment of silence as the lights and lasers turned up a notch for the star of the night.

Our king of the safari – Deadmau5!

Deadmau5 also got down from his throne to party with us.

T’was awesome  to be watching the legendary mouse of the EDM scene up close!

The progressive house DJ-Producer had us all caught up in his mouse trap.

Bolts of red and blue lighting flashed through the arena as Deadmau5 pounded his crowd into nothing but what I would call grated cheese to fuel his insane energy levels!

 Raise your weapon!

[youtube url=”http://youtu.be/1xCB8KOOtCA” width=”700″ height=”400″ full=”no” ]

Here’s a video from Deadmau5’s set!

Do we see some Ghosts n’ Stuff in the arena? 

Deadmau5’s set really shot us into a frenzy of electro house delights!

By the end of the night, we were reduced to piles of sweat and in dire need of an energy boost! After 8 hours of hardcore raving, jumping and catapulting ourselves to the skies, one can only expect us to crave for more. 

Ironic, right? But hey, it’s only because Future Music Festival Asia 2014 certainly exceeded our expectations.

Looking forward to Day 2, featuring A State of Trance 650. Looks like we’ll have to recharge our depleting energy levels for another night of mayhem!

Thank you so much, Asahi Malaysia, for the invitation to such wilderness!

I had a fantastic night. 

Definitely kept my thirst quenched with your ice-cold beer, considering the fact that mineral water costed 10 bucks. (Yeah, I don’t know why either). 

Exhausted and lumbering around like dehydrated zombies but here’s a final group shot.

Yup, one for the road! See ya’ll tomorrow for a trance-tastic night!

Music Conference Asia (MC Asia) 2013 is back for its 5th year to celebrate global electronic music in Malaysia!

Apart from the amazing local acts hand-picked to perform, last year's instalment brought us international acts such as the legendary Dash Berlin, Richard Durand, Jerome Isma-ae and Julie Thompson on LIVE PA!

My awesome party-ravers and I at last year's MC Asia 2012!

Music Conference ASIA is an event unlike any other music festivals.

It fuses both education/knowledge in the music industry as well as a grand after party with some of the world’s most respectable talents and trendsetters from the dance music scene worldwide!

WHAT Music Conference ASIA 2013 – A Global Electronic Music Celebration

WHEN 27 April 2013, Saturday @ (time to be confirmed)

WHERE Sepang International Circuit: Welcome Center

HOW MUCH RM109 (early bird) & RM129 (pre-sale) AirAsiaRedTix (VIP tickets to be announced!)

[This ticket includes both admission to the conference event & the rave party]

With thousands of fans gathered over the past years, Music Conference ASIA has united revellers from around Malaysia and also the Asia neighboring countries under one unison rhythm.

Now, in its 5th edition, Music Conference ASIA continues to inspire the future with the introduction of a fresh new look – an interpretation of unity, along with the birth of its official festival stage – Global Sound System. 

During the day: Music Conference ASIA

Music Conference ASIA will continue its tradition as a pivotal platform for the advancement of electronic music industry in Malaysia, and also the region.

With the highlights on: Keynote Interview, Workshop Session and Masterclass, Music Conference ASIA will bring together international delegates such as prominent electronic music artists and producers, technologist from the music industry, media and enthusiasts to explore more on the current trends of electronic music.

(Topics and schedule will be announced prior to the event date.)

During the night: GLOBAL SOUND SYSTEM

The brainchild of Global Sound Masters, purveyor of Music Conference ASIA, brings a new flavor to the local music festival.

For a perfect build up electronic music journey, the night focuses on a fully intense audiovisual adventure with top of the class, legendary electronic music acts and  flared with high pulsating beats to rev the crowd, along with state-of-the-art lighting and sound production.

Music Conference ASIA marks new milestone on its 5th edition with the birth of its brand new official festival stage – GLOBAL SOUND SYSTEM.

The highlight of the event will be featuring many talented international DJ spinning right here on our Malaysian soil.

For the first wave of line-up announcements, here are the details!

Brian Transeau (BT)

BT is a highly reputable Grammy-nominated music producer, platinum-selling artist, film composer and technologist from the USA.

Dubbed as “MacGyver of electronica” by Wired magazine, he has consistently been crafting dance-floor destroyers and has since received massive support from prominent DJs around the world. 

Ranked at #5 of America’s Best DJ of 2012, BT will be dishing out his enigmatic electronica sounds at the forefront of the Global Sound System stage action! 

Judge Jules

Voted #1 DJ by Mixmag reader’s poll and charted in DJ Mag Top 100, the legendary DJ, producer, well-known radio presenter and the brain behind Ibiza’s busiest night – Judgement Sundays, Judge Jules will return to our shores for a musical bedlam. 

His DJ sets are the epitome of what DJing is about; passion and crowd-connection, amazing tunes and a set of hands capable of the most nimble of mixing.

A high profile radio personality of the then Kiss FM, BBC Radio 1 and now internationally-syndicated Global Warm Up show, this British talent is set to drop bombs at Global Sound System stage. 

Alex Kenji

One of house music's latest and hottest property from Italy, Alex Kenji exploded on to the scene in 2011. He will be taking over the Global Sound System stage to belt out his infectious blend of an impeccable house selection ranging from bouncy Italo house to tech sound style. 

His breakthrough chart-topping hit ‘Pressure’ has scored Best Progressive Track at the 2012 International Dance Music Awards and became a #1 track on Beatport Top 100. This adds to his other chart success ‘Get Funky’ nominated as Best House Track in the 2012 Beatport Awards. 

Sitting under the global spotlight with over 100 releases, don’t miss this overwhelming talent!

There are only three announced DJs for now, but more will be announced in due time!

Stay tuned 

With a huge vibe for the upcoming Music Conference Asia and Global Sound System, I can already forsee another huge electronic music festival to look forward to this year!

Here are some photos from last year's Music Conference Asia 2012 :

My buddies & I on our journey to Sepang for MC Asia 2012

We are…

Ready!

We arrived early at the scene

Jerome Isma-ae on the decks!

It was my first time listening to his tracks. He was really good!

BuddyPam and I raved the night away!
 

Julie Thompson singing LIVE for us!

I've always only heard her on DJ's tracks, but not a LIVE performance! 

Happy ravers!

Richard Durand takes the stage!

Look at him go!

Konzy and I dropping sweatbombs!

And guess who was the final act of Music Conference Asia 2012?

It's trance-meister Dash Berlin from the Netherlands!

Such an honour to have the World #7 DJ-Producer perform here in Malaysia!

I've always loved his tracks – for a long time now!

And so did several thousands of other fellow partygoers

Final photo before the four of us left!

But here's your chance not to miss this year's edition! 

Last Friday was a night of mayhem! Actually, my whole weekend was pretty much a radical one.

But wait, let's talk about Friday first, hey?

Just one look and it's no guessing who they are!

As we all know and having also said in this post, our favourite EDM juggernaut trio Swedish House Mafia have decided to go their separate ways to concentrate on their solo careers. 

Embarking on a farewell around the world to personally bid their fans a heart-warming goodbye, they have, among a few other countries, chosen Malaysia to perform for one last time at their aptly named, One Last Tour. 

Thanks for the ticket, XPAX! I was all geared up and excited to go already! 

I'm sure you can tell. I was impatiently bounding up and down while waiting for some friends!

We got there pretty early, just before 9PM. 

It was a long walk towards the Surf Beach, as though hyping us up all month isn't enough already!

En route to the Surf Beach!

We were getting closer and closer to the party zone

Took some photos with the mascots of Greyhound!

Some photos with the fellow partymates. 

I figured we ought to grab a few shots first before we all disappeared into the crowd so here they some of them!

Remember this post I wrote which included something about the death of my friend, Elizabeth? 

She clearly didn't make it for this Swedish House Mafia's gig that she wanted to attend so badly. So, her friends and family alike gathered in her name tonight and had it all planned to make this her little tribute.

Some of the heart-shaped helium balloons they had brought along to release into the night sky

the moment her favourite song 'Don't You Worry Child' came up. 

Are we ready to see Swedish House Mafia LIVE before us for the first and last time?

And so, after all the opening acts, DJ Nikki, Mr. Fluff and DJ Eclipse (Singapore), had finished their set, Swedish House Mafia made their grand appearance half an hour before their scheduled time at 9.30PM sharp.

Steve Angello, Sebastian Ingrosso and Axwell opened their two-hour set with 'We Came, We Raved, We Loved'

Their opening drove us on high suspense with drumming bass and lightplay on the white veil, before finally dropping those curtains to unveil our favorite Swedish progressive house trio. 

The laser show was nothing short of amazing! 

Laser beams comprising a psychedelic fusion of colours shone haphazardly into the sky and back throughout their set.

Here are the blue and green ones

Some of the skinnier laser streaks

They had lots of LED animation in the background too. I liked the skull best!

The boys playing one of my favourite songs, 'Antidote' for us!

Anyone knows what those Japanese words say? 

They performed a powerful two-hour set for us.

A perfect blend of remixes and various original tracks as individuals and from their two albums (as Swedish House Mafia), Until One and Until Now.

They climbed onto the DJ console to rave with us!

In the first half of their set, they performed 'Nothing But Love' by Axwell, 'KNAS', 'Lights' and 'Show Me Love' by Steve Angello, a remix of 'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger' by Kanye West, 'The Island' by Pendulum, and their original singles 'Leave the World Behind', 'Calling (Lose My Mind), 'Greyhound' and 'The Island'. 

Sebastian Ingrosso playing LIVE drums while 'Resurrection' played

Can you spot me in this rowdy crowd? 

"It's good to be here together for the first time with you in Malaysia.

What a beautiful place! Are you having a good time?"

As if things couldn't turn up any higher, Swedish House Mafia began playing a remix of Coldplay's 'Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall' and surprised us with a massive thank you to our country, Malaysia, for hosting them and their One Last Tour here.

What's behind the blast of sparks?

Ta-daa! It's our very own Malaysian flag, the Jalur Gemilang!

The boys began waving it in the air throughout that track

That moment itself was truly a wondrous sight.

Needless to say, patriotism ignited within me and I felt a certain sense of pride for my country all over again.

Thousands and thousands of Malaysians screamed in unison

Another touching, poignant moment for some of us was when the progressive powerhouses began playing the beautiful track, 'Don't You Worry Child', the forth single off their latest album, Until Now.

Yes, Elizabeth…it's time.

This is for you, Eli.

Letting go a pink heart-shaped helium balloon with the words

'RIP Elizabeth with ♥, you're heaven sent'

What really made me burst into tears while singing along to 'Don't You Worry Child' was when that ONE pink balloon didn't make its way up into the sky like the rest of the balloons, but floated directly to Swedish House Mafia during this song.

It was almost as if Eli wanted to be closer to her idols and get the best view of all of her friends gathering there on her behalf. 

Steve Angello releasing her into the sky

Even after Steve Angello caught that pink balloon, held it and let it go into the sky again, that pink balloon wasn't ready to leave us all just yet. Guess she still wanted to enjoy herself partying with us all and Swedish House Mafia.

The pink balloon refused to go anywhere and stayed on top of the DJ console.

I recall crying like an emotional wreck. Dang! During a rave? That's a first! 

Look at my mascara all smeared. Argh!

Anyway, I soon cheered up again when Swedish House Mafia continued taking the party to the next level with harder, progressive tracks in the second half of their set.

Here's a video I made encapsulating my night. 

httpv://youtu.be/rcOC5JGu9eM

Enjoy! I took a while to make this 

Make sure you watch till the end to catch them performing all their best songs, fireworks blasting, amazing pyrotechnics (fire), crazy laser shows, helium balloons floating in the air and ONE very special pink heart-shaped helium balloon that floated its way directly to Swedish House Mafia when they were performing.

More laser lights shot through the party, fireworks burst out at the stage and into the sky!

The show came complete with pyrotechnics, descending sparks of fire and combustions of flame shots in perfect sync with the heavy beats and bass drops too. 

The blue and yellow flames literally turned up the heat where I was standing!

The second half of their set saw them dropping tracks like 'Sweet Disposition' by The Temper Trap, 'Sunrise' by The Aston Shuffle, 'Resurrection' by Michael Calfan, Axwell's remix of 'In My Mind' by Ivan Gough as well as their originals, 'Miami 2Ibiza', 'One (Your Name)', 'Save the World' and yes, again..'Don't You Worry Child'.

An estimated number of more than 22,000 fans were given a spectacular one last show tonight.

We sang along, jumped, danced and partied long and hard despite the sporadic downpour.

Yup, no amount of rain can dampen our spirits.

Certainly not in the name of Swedish House Mafia.

Dear Angello, Ingrosso and Axwell, are you proud of us? 

And thanks for the confetti burst.

I had to spend a while getting all the coloured paper off me as I was soaked to the core.

The paper somehow was a chore to peel out LOL

Thank you for choosing Malaysia as one of the few countries to perform your One Last Tour.

If there ever was another chance to party and rave with you boys – even in the rain – I would do it all over again. The show was marvellous, you guys did not disappoint, not even one bit! 

Ending the night with a blast!

I wish you well in your solo careers! 

A possible collaboration or reunion in the future would be nice. Just saying. Heh. Heh. Heh.

Goodbye Swedish House Mafia, I love you! 

Remember how I said I wanted to take up yoga, or at least give it a try?

I did. One Monday morning, I set off to my gym at Celebrity Fitness for a session of Vinyasa Yoga.

I was all pumped up.

But instead of feeling like I've unleashed a load of stress off my shoulders or looking like a calm-spirited soul who has just achieved inner peace and arriving nirvana, I ended up feeling like this :

All my limbs & joints felt somehow twisted and entangled to the point of no return.

And while all the elderly ladies and my yoga guru effortlessly got into odd, mind-blowing positions without so much as a giggle or even toppling over, I reckon I looked something remotely like this:

I'm not even joking.

I was sweating buckets, had so much difficulty and felt five times older than that 50 year old woman beside me.

But I did enjoy myself. My Body Combat session right after yoga was a breeze as I was already all warmed up and stretched to the maximum. 

Ergo, I forsee myself returning to Yoga more often. Let's just hope my flexibility increases by tenfold!

I was supposed to head straight back home but being a girl, I couldn't resist some shopping beforehand.

Guilty as charged. Heh. Heh. 

Bought these amazing pair of gladiator wedges from Nose!

And another because I realized that in my collection of 70 pairs of shoes,

I don't own a plain pair of black strappy heels. Yeah, I can't believe it either.

Spent some time in one of my all-time favourite restaurants, Delicious.

I absolutely love the food they serve there. It can be a little pricey, but nothing too expensive for top quality food!

I had : Pumpkin Soup, Caesar Salad, Smoked Salmon Angelhair in cream sauce & Iced Chocolate

Yeah, I know I'm a fatty and a sucker for good food. Sue me.

Took a random photo of babyChivas being silly

Dinnerdate with Konzy at Sakae Sushi. It's our usual haunt now!

I'm such a regular that I don't even need the menu anymore.

If you're looking for a healthy bite like I am, I highly recommend the Soft Shell Crab Crepe, Ebi Crepe and the Aburi Salmon Carpaccio. The Dragon Roll is pretty good too! 

For this fortnight's manicure, I decided to do something neon and funky for my weekend of rave-partying

I used lemon yellow, turquoise and OPI's Black Shatter

Guess what? A new Mediterranean restaurant is coming our way this end January.

(exact location : between Mid Valley & The Gardens. Beside the fountain!)

I was invited to sample some of the dishes from their menu. They are:

Carpaccio of Hirame with Wild Rice & Aubergine,

Spaghetti Tomato Sauce with Sea Bass & Grilled Vegetables

Appetizer: Buffalo Mozzarella & Plum Tomato Caprese,

Luis Felipe Edward Sauvignon Blanc

Dessert: Expresso Panna Cotta

Full blog post containing the full review of Blu Med restaurant & its meals coming soon!

After the food tasting session, I set off to The Butter Factory to attend Future Music Festival Asia's pre-party.

Just a little selca fun in the car

Jessicat wears: Asymmetrical dress from Bangkok | Shoulder bag by Coach |

Spiked necklace by Topshop | Brown Leather Heels by Pedro

The party was fabulous! If you missed, full blog post – here

As this week was Konzy's final week in Malaysia for the next two months, we decided to grab some authentic street food in the city. Jalan Alor was our pick! 

Some of the stuff we had. Spicy Clams, Barbequed Ribs in Sesame Sauce, Barbequed Shrimps,

Wan Tan Mee (Wanton Noodles) and… the Barbequed Mushrooms & Broccoli were my favourites! 

It's quite a good place to bring your tourists/foreign friends here for food, to be honest.

The choices are endless! 

Friday afternoon was a sweltering one. So, Konzy surprised me with this 

Usually, I would refuse ice-cream due to my diet requirements but I made this an exception!

My Friday night was mind-blowing. 

'Nuff said. Full blog post – here

If Friday wasn't epic enough already, Sunday was the We Love Asia rave party featuring…

Joachim Garraud

 LMFAO

Steve Aoki

Full blog post coming up shortly! Yes, I'm still so stoked that I got to see one of my idols, Steve Aoki LIVE. IN. THE. FLESH! 

To end today's edition of The Sunday Times, a friend introduced a beautiful video to me and here it is:

httpv://youtu.be/WbdVEwbUL40

He has an amazing voice, ain't it?

Have a great week, folks! 

Much love,

Jessicat

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The Sunday Times is a weekly series; published every Sunday night to recap the highlights of my week, capture what piques my interest and to briefly highlight my recommendations for to-go and to-eat places!

Some of the photos in this edition are posted instantly on my Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr & Facebook

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