And the Competition Heats Up....

Ladies and Gentleman:

I introduce to you....

My Lovely Mother

you now know where I get my maturity level from! Hahah! My mom came to see me perform since she promised at the beginning of this competition that she would come back to Taiwan IF i made top 10 in Super Idol, and luckily i MADE it! It was great to have mom watch me from the audience.

Unfortunately, this time, I didn't really have a lot of time to spend with mom because I had to practice and such, plus she spent a lot of time with my aunt. We spent most of our time together when I practiced my routines until 3AM in the morning every night and she always applauded after each practice run. It was very mother-like and was comforting to have someone sit there and encourage me. I'm usually used to silence *cricket chirp*

It was so nice seeing her again and it was really sad for me to see her leave, but I'll see her again soon, so I just gotta keep fighting on!!!

Alice Rong with Alice Ng, my friend from Hong Kong who came to surprise me at the TV station. She said she felt it was necessary to come support me after I got into top 10 and I was so shocked to see her sitting in the audience. Thanks for coming Alice!!!

Best buddies!

After mom left to America, I had to run to Hong Kong for a VISA run (can't stay in Taiwan for more than 2-6 months at a time). I called up my friend Corrina, her husband Nicolas (not pictured), and old pals Kavi and Stephanie. It was nice to see old HK friends and they said I lost weight! YAYY!!! hahahah of course, I celebrated by eating a lot at Tsui Wah, my favorite tea restaurant in HK. Meal D Pork Chops with Red Onion Sauce with a side of Borsch soup. Yum yum!

Kavi and Stephanie. Remember them from way back? (circa May 2010) We did Teresa Carpio's concert together. It was nice seeing them, even though Stephanie had to skip school to come meet me. My bad

So came back from Hong Kong, and it was another crunch time to practice for the next round. I was given the song "Sorry That I Loved You" by Anthony Neely, a mixed singer of Taiwanese and American descent who has recently been taking the Taiwan music charts by storm. My performance wasn't that well-received by the judges and I ended up getting the lowest score of the day. Don't worry though, I still have a chance to pick that store up in the next round!! Gotta keep fighting! It's not over until it's over and I'm not giving up without a good fight!!!!! February 19! BE READY!!!

The outfit this time wasn't too bad, and someone said I look better and better now. YAYY!

maybe it's cuz I didn't have to wear that pink outfit again....

So one of the things i've had to get used to since being in Super Idol is the increasing number of people who recognize me on the street. 5 out of 10 are middle-aged woman who step out of their way to grab me by the arm and say "ADD OIL! YOU CAN DO IT!" It's really cute and encouraging. But it also means I can't go out looking fugly, be a douche, or pick my nose in public. Ups and Downs, right?

The other day, I went to Starbucks with my Aunt and after I ordered, I noticed the clerk didn't ask for my last name. So as I waited for my coffee, the barista called out "Mr. Rong!" and I was a bit surprised they recognized me, but she also wrote on my cup "Add Oil!" which means Good Luck + You can do it! That was really sweet of them, and it was definitely much needed to have encouraging words after my low score last round. Little surprises like that throughout the day always put me in a great mood!

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!!! The year of the rabbit! I helped my grandmother make dumplings (with shrimp meat). She is a master at making dumplings and it makes my mouth water whenever I think about her amazing dumplings!!!!!

My try at making dumplings was rather successful! Doesn't it at least seem like i know what I'm doing? haha

Inside some of the dumplings, my grandmother put in some special somethin somethings. If you were lucky enough to bite into a dumpling with one of these four objects, they each represented something of your upcoming year. Milk candy (which made the dumplings taste SO gross- I heard last year she used chocolate which was ALSO disastrous) represent being sweet for the upcoming year. Sticky rice means stepping closer and closer to your goals and sticking with your family. Jujube signified early success or...early birth of a baby (hopefully not, not right now please, dear god), and money obviously means ARRIVING FORTUNE! Woot! I bit into 4 dumplings with money, so hopefully that means good news for me this year! I tried to avoid the milk candy ones, but unfortunately i bit into like 3..... At least I'll be sweet in 2011..

Hard at work! or...hardly working

Grandma's dog, Le Le (Happy Happy), wanted a bite of the dumplings. Cute dog, he's sitting on my lap as I type.

Our 200 or so dumplings! Looks good right?

My aunt's sister-in-law just got a cute baby chihuahua. ADORABLE OVERLOAD!

I really want a dog! I want a lab or a husky. Can't wait for the day I'm financially stable and know where I'm going to live cuz when that day comes, I will get myself a dog!

Alright, the next few weeks after Chinese New Year and a trip down to Kaoshiung (the second largest city in Taiwan in southern Taiwan which I will blog about later), it's going to be crunch time for the next round. You better believe it'll be an amazing performance!! this I PROMISE YOU!

GO ME!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! MAY ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE!!

2011 Off to a Good Start。。。

2011. Already?

Jesus, the time flies. Also hate how it takes like 6 months for me to get used to writing "11" at the date section of forms/checks instead of "10". Well, I'm determined to make 2011 just as amazing as my 2010. So far? It's been quite good!

Nicole, one of my best friends in Taipei, took me to Hua Shan (華山）an open space off Zhong Xiao East Road where there are many art exhibitions and what-nots. They change frequently and I recommend a visit if you're in Taipei. It's a nice place to chill with friends, look at art, act sophisticated, shop, and eat.

Just an example of some of the cool scenes at Hua Shan

One of the art exhibits that Nicole wanted to see was "Ji Mi" a Taiwan-based artist who is quite popular within the country.

The inside was well-decorated, even on a seemingly limited budget. They seemed to want to capture a child dream-like atmosphere with cool decor dispersed throughout the maze-like set-up.

Examples of Jimi's characters

His/her art is very colorful, yet there's an underline tone of sadness and loneliness in his work. I think I heard he/she had a very sad childhood growing up. I don't know if that's really true, but I wouldn't be surprised judging from the art work. But overall, I really do love the artwork and his/her sketching and coloring technique. Simple, clean, yet deep

Nicole and I, camera whores

Having fun with an art piece.

Another example of sad, emo Jimi's work

Look! Nicole is disappearing into THIN AIR!!

So anyways, start of a new year. Also, got into TOP 10 of SUPER IDOL competition. So what's the best way to celebrate both of these events?

A MAKE-OVER!!!! WOOOHOO!!! sponsored by Super Idol

This is me, before the transformation...

The contestants for top 10. We are all really good friends and it's kinda cool how all of us are very different in terms of our style of music/performance. I'm the Singer/Dancer of the group

Everyone getting ready to get purttty!

The Make-over Team!

Getting my hair bleached and colored. The last time I got my hair colored was in 6th grade and my dad yelled at me saying "ONLY GIRLS COLOR THEIR HAIR, CHANGE IT BACK TO BLACK!!"

and ever since then I never colored my hair....until now.

Bleached! So weird seeing myself blond for the first time in my life. I'm also sad my hair loss it's smoothness....

but a small price to pay in order to look different and sexyyy (hopefully)

the Transformation is almost done！！！ The color is a blend of dark green, yellow, and brown. So what else needs to be done?

Well, they thought my eyebrows were too dark (like 'black fuzzy catepillars' as my stylist put it) so they dyed those as well.

In front of each contestant's station was a form and picture of each of us telling the stylists about our appearance pros and cons.

Pros: 1) Sunshine (meaning happy and optimistic) and cute (thanks!) Boy-next-door look, and Dance King of Season 5

2) Exercises regularly, noticeable toned arms.

Cons: 1) Jawline is too obvious and strong, need to be aware of camera angles and accessories in drawing attention away from it

2) Legs and Butt are quite FAT, don't give him tight pants. (THANKS)

**I remember when I saw this for the first time, I scoffed and glared**

Complete!!! Super Idol Top 10! HERE I COME!!!! I realized after I got my hair done, more people on the streets recognize me. I think it's cuz they look at my hair and think "weird" and then they look at my face. hahah

It's kinda cool that people are starting to know my name and recognize me more and more. I'm not too used to it, and constantly need to make sure I'm not picking my nose or a wedgie in public.

Funny thing is, 6 out of 10 people who say "Are you Rong Zhong Hao from Super Idol 5?" are mid-aged mothers. It's so cute, cuz they always pull me aside or go out of their way to say "ADD OIL!"

It's also funny that the first few days, everytime I passed a reflection, I would be startled by my own reflection and automatically think "who's that?!" I guess I wasn't used to my new hair color

So, my MOM promised to visit me if I got into top 10, so the moment I got in, she kept her promise and booked her ticket and actually CAME!! She also asked me if I wanted anything from the states, and the only thing I could think of was:

Krispy Kreme donuts. (what a fatty)

F*cking Heaven. Original glazed, Chocolate covered, and Jelly donuts exploding in my mouth. I engulfed them with no guilt. Nom nom nom

Our outfits are all chosen by a wardrobe director now and this was my outfit for our advertisement coming up for Chinese New Year (hence the red). If you have a Taiwan mobile, you can vote for me by making my performance your ringtone! Too bad most of you reading this are in the states :( Bummer!

Link to voting:

http://www.ciaomobile.com/service/DMK-100-W01029/508.html

On the other hand, on the downside of having a wardrobe director dress us, sometimes we end up with outfits like the one pictured below.

Don't let the smile fool you, behind it is me crying...

Actually I'm just kidding, the more I wore it, the more I told myself, "hey, it's different, but sometimes you just gotta trying something new" in this case, being completely pink and Easter-y was my deep, shameless plunge into something new.

So, I don't know if you guys remember last year, but I got to perform behind Teresa Carpio as a back-up singer and dancer on Hong Kong's biggest stage (Hung Hom Stadium) in front of 8,000+ people. This year, Harlem Yu, a famous singer in Taiwan/China, asked us (previous and former Super Idol contestant) to dance behind him in a performance in Xiao Ju Dan (Little Egg Stadium) the largest stadium in Taiwan. In just 2 years, I've been able to perform on the biggest stages of HK and Taiwan. Isn't that really cool? I know it's not a big performance or a big deal, but to me, it's a start and I'm grateful that I had the chance to do it! Thank you, God!

The "Artist" Break room. Hear that? ARTIST! haha

The stage during rehearsal time. That is JJ Lin on stage. I snuck in to take this picture. So ninja

I got a employee pass! I feel important haha. The show was called "Super Red-White Concert" where they split artists into two groups and did a friendly competition to see which color's artists performed better. It was a cool night! We got to sit in the front row and got to be on TV. My favorites of the night were Wilber Pan, A-lin, and Elva. I saw Wilber in the hallways backstage and I said hello. He then waved back and said "HEY!" as if he knew me, but then he realized he had reacted too quickly and had no idea who I actually was. Then it got awkward cuz I knew he recognized the wrong guy, so we both scurried in opposite directions. hahah

I don't think I look like him, despite what a lot of people say. He had a cool performance that night.

Us, getting ready for the performance backstage

SHINEE, famous Korean boy band, came to perform!

Look at all those people!!! I don't know the count, but I'd say at least 5000+?

Yay! Great show! Confetti Explosion everywhere! Elva and Show closed the show

We then got to eat at the celebration dinner. Some people didn't go cuz it was late and they were tired. I go where free food goes, so of course I was there.

So, competing for top 8, I'm starting to get more and more nervous. However, having support from friends and family means a lot to me, especially in the form of gifts. One of my fans from Kaoshiung (which is a city in southern Taiwan) couldn't come see my performance, so instead, she sent flowers to wish me luck. It was a great surprise and made me really happy to see the support! Thanks Alina!!!

At the end of the night, Wang Jing Han was voted as Top 9. We will miss you!!!! She is also known as "Kung Fu Girl" cuz her personality is really cool and calm and obviously, she knows kung fu, so it's weird to see me holding her in what the Chinese call "the princess lift"

TOP 9 of Super Idol!! Go Go GO!!!

Man, I love these guys! Haha. After 6 months of competing and performing with each other, we are bound to become more attached so when one of us gets eliminated, we all get really upset ;(

Top 8 is split into two episodes (one is coming up this Sunday, January 30) and the second is a MONTH later (2/19) because of Chinese New Year (most businesses close-up and everyone goes on vacation)

I myself will be taking a trip to southern Taiwan, to Kaoshiung with my friends for the holiday, so i'll make sure to blog about that! ;)

Until then, take care and Happy Chinese New Year! Year of the Rabbit! Leap to Great Success and Great Health! (i'm so fob now)

The End of a Great Year!

2010.

This year was full of experiences and memories I will never forget. For instance, living in Hong Kong and Taiwan, getting to sing on one of the most competitive singing competitions in Taiwan, and performing on Hong Kong's biggest stage (Hung Hom Coliseum). Most of all, I really need to thank my families and friends. Without you guys, I definitely would not have been able to do all these things! Hard work, dedication, and courage to chase a dream really DOES pay off!!

So, December, let's see what I did:

Wayne's Birthday! He is my "Taiwan brother" because he really takes care of me like an older brother, it was his birthday which we celebrated over Tonkatsu (Japanese Pork deep-fried cutlet)

and the MOST amazing Chocolate cheesecake. I had multiple foodgasms.

This is Xiao Ha (Little Laugh), one of the "babysitters" that takes care of us contestants of the show. She is uber cool and super fun. Plus she has an amazing sense of style. Look at her hair! Not many people can pull the look off, but she does it amazingly well. Also, a funny thing about her is EACH round, before I go on stage, I HAVE to get a hug from her or else I get nervous. She is like my safety blanket! haha or safety hug, in this case.

Made lunch for myself one day with leftover ingredients I had lying around. This was one of my more creative creations: Large Green Chili Pepper stuffed with chili-fried eggs. I basked the outside with oyster sauce and fried the peppers until they were well done and stuffed them with eggs stir-fried with red chili peppers. Was rather spicy, but good taste!

So the day before competing for Top 14 and 13, my friend Fanny thought it would be good for me to let off some steam, so she took me to her home about an hour away towards Taoyuan to attend her friend's baby shower. Cute baby!

Year of the Tiger! He is exactly 24 years younger than me. I am an old tiger -__-

His parents, who were very kind and treated us to a great dinner of stinky tofu, oyster pancakes, and other Taiwanese dishes. They are also from the Atayalic tribe, the same as my other, but just a different village. It's weird, whenever I meet other people from the Atayalic tribe, before knowing they are from the same tribe, I always have a very family-like feeling towards them.

Fanny! Took me to see her parent's and relatives for a quick visit. Literally. "hi dad, hi mom! bye!" hahaha

Also in this part of town, there is this UBER creepy castle-like building that was created by a rich man who lived in this area. He wanted to create his "dream building". Only, he has REALLY bad taste in color and structural design. It looked like a circus mixed with Count Dracula's house. Wish you could see it clearer, but the top is REALLY creepy looking. And there's even a full-grown tree inside. I only know this cuz it was once on the news.

So, competition time for top 14 and 13. Here is the judge's panel, only this was taken the day before competition, during rehearsal time. The guy is the producer of the show who watches all of us perform and tells us our flaws after rehearsal. The two ladies are in charge of knowing what lighting and camera angles to use for our performances. They hold a timer and time the performance and jot down notes.

My outfit for Top 13. I really liked it, although the pants were REALLY hard to walk in.

Right after competition and successfully making it to top 13, my friends took me on a 2 day trip to Tai zhong (mid-Taiwan) for a stress-reliever. Only I didn't really get a chance to relax cuz I had to start choosing a song for the next two rounds, which were due 2 days after our last round. Stressssffulll.

But we did get to check out some cool spots. Look at this piece of work...

After eating hotpot at a famous restaurant, we headed to the Art Museum of Taiwan. A lot of nice pieces and also a great lawn to relax on. Makes me with miss my lawn back home in Midlothian, Virginia. 804! Represent!

One of the cool art pieces, consisting of flip flops and sandals. This was taken 0.2 seconds before I was stopped by an employee saying pictures weren't allowed. I STILL WON! MWAHAHAH

Street performer outside. These are like...Chinese dradles. You have to tie a string around a "dradle" and release it in an angle and speed to make it spin. It's an art, but not one I'd particularly get into... But he was very impressive indeed

Liz (second from the right) was another contestant of the show. She can speak French, English, AND mandarin Chinese. It's really amazing. But this was her last night in Taiwan, for she is leaving me AS well :( Everyone's LEAVING! but I am thankful for the chance to meet her.

Eve, another contestant from the show, singing at a pub (Zee) in downtown Taipei. She really is amazing.

The next day, I told my friends Chester and Nicole that I've always wanted to ride the Taipei Ferris Wheel, so despite our fear of heights, we still ventured out and took the ferris wheel in Neihu. Nice view from the top.

Nicole, trying not to look down!

The next few days, I started getting busy from rounds Top 12 and 11 which would leave us with Top 10. I was going to make my own costume for top 12 and so it was time to get busy. Aside from the hours of dance practice, I also had to run around for my needed materials. As I was running to a store before closing time, I ran across this creepy little underground crossing area.

I think it was a combination of the darkness and creepy Pans of Labyrinth-inspired artwork that made it creepy, but of course I had to take pictures. This is located near Fuzhong Mrt Station

This way ..... to more creepiness

This is just a sneak peek of what my costume for Top 12 will look like. The song is very futuristic-electronic, so I came up with the idea to include blue eyes, hair, and of course LED lights! I had to run around Taipei again, looking for the materials, and of course, I know NOTHING about LEDs, it took a stroke of luck and asking around to find what I was looking for

Nothing a bit of handiwork can't do! Here I was taping the LED strips together and to my outfit, which I was first designed by sketches. I managed to make almost exactly what I wanted!

Wiring? Please don't let me eff this up! cutting through the clothes to make a passageway for the wires

Cool, future-looking glove my dance teacher lent to me.

Day before competition, one of the judges treated all the contestants for a Christmas Eve Dinner. The rounds for top 12 and 11 were ON Christmas Day (so getting into top 10 would be THE most amazing Xmas gift ever). The food was delicious. Every round, the person with the highest score gets an MVP prize. One of the contestants, Eric, won on the round themed "Judge Song Choice" Since he got the MVP, the judge had to decide what to give him as an reward so he decided to use his restaurant to feed us all. YES PLEASE! The food was great!

One of the desserts, called "Tender Heart" because the outside is ... I forgot what it's called, but it's sweet and tough hahah and the inside is warm and tender, hence "tender heart"

Picture with judge Wang Zhi-Ping. He is really tall!

His restaurant is called Ji Yuan Xiao Fan located on Fu Jin Jie 富錦街 Number 489. Give it a try if you're in Taipei! （02）2747－5886

Competition time! we had to get there 9:30Am because we were going to take some studio shots! I am getting more comfortable modeling and being in front of cameras. Not as awkward, which is great! hahah

My high school friend, Jacinta, came to Taipei! It was nice seeing her after 3.5 years. Last time I talked to her on the phone, it was right before I left and I told her "I'm leaving for Asia to follow my dream" and she thought it was really random, but she saw me this time and she said "at that time I thought it was so random, but look at you now, you're doing it what you wanted to do"

It was very encouraging hearing those words. I guess I didn't realize how quick time flies, but luckily I actually am getting to do what I REALLY wanted to do. What more could I ask for? This is a great year

So, I end the year with family and friends as I will be heading up to the mountains to see my relatives in my mom's village. I thank again, ALL of you for your support and love and care. I will forever continue to follow my dream, and 2011 will be another great year for me, I can FEEL it!

Plus, my mom promised me she would come watch me compete if I got into top 10. She said this when I started competing, I don't know if she really thought I could make it, but I did, and so her promise was kept!!! I get to see her after 1.5 years and it will be amazing to be reunited.

I leave you with a picture of an amazing Oreo Float I had> Also reminder of the night I laughed so loud, that the employee had to tell me to keep it down... awwwwkkkwwarrddd
Happy New Year Everyone! Be Safe!!!! Love you aLL!!!!! Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011!