Today is the Hairband’s happiest day of his life.
He’s hugging her elbow as she commutes to work.
It’s been a full month since he left the factory. Thirty-one days spent sitting at the back of the dusty shelves in the supermarket. Out of all the bags of hairbands on display, she picked the one he is in. And out of all the hairbands she could have picked this morning in the bathroom, she picked him.
It’s destiny.
…
The world is amazing. The world is beautiful.
All these sights and sounds.
All these busy people going to mysterious places.
…
Just travelling with her wrapped around her elbow, exploring the world, and going on this adventure is just bliss.
The world is wonderful and exciting again. He has great expectations of his life with her from now on.
He will hold her hair while she is eating, keep her hair neat in meetings.
When she is bored, she will play with him in her smooth hands and make little shapes.
He has great expectations. The world is beautiful.
…
She reaches out to the Hairband and pulls him out of his embrace of her arm, preparing to tie her hair.
The Hairband drops into the gap between the train and the platform.
…
She reaches into her bag and pulls out another Hairband.
I don’t remember when I first heard Lee Sojung’s voice. Unique, Husky, Sincere, Honest, Gentle. It would have been most likely this video of her singing “I Don’t Love you” by Urban Zakapa from YouTube and I was mesmerised. There is a strange painful and melancholic quality to her voice. She looked like she meant every word she uttered and her facial expressions just reinforced that.
Slowly I went to check out other songs she did.
She did a collab for “I don’t want” by Jung Key and it’s the same heart wrenching quality that makes you want to be honest to yourself and cry your heart out. Maybe I’m weird, but I don’t know how better to explain the feeling when I hear her sing.
One of her latest song “Better than Me” again slows you down and just like in the music video, makes you look into nothing and focus on nothing and just soak in the melancholy.
After getting all the lyrics translated, the powerful phrases made the songs immediate classics in my mind.
How does her voice have this quality? Who is she? What are her life experiences?
I set out to investigate.
Lee So-jung, one of the finalists on The Voice Korea 2012, main vocals of Ladies Code. Then I read up more about Ladies’ Code and I cried…
The band Ladies’ Code was formed by Polaris Entertainment and the band originally had 5 members. Ashley, EunB, RiSe, Sojung, Zuny. On 3 Sep 2014 the group returning to Seoul after a performance at Daegu ran into a fatal accident. The back tire of the van they were in fell out and the van ran into the wall. EunB was dead at the scene of the accident and she was 21. RiSe had 4 surgeries but doctors had to stop when her blood pressure fell and she went into a coma. 4 days later RiSe passed away, she was 23.
Sojung had major injuries as well and underwent surgery for her arm and fractured skull. Sojung reportedly apologised for her inability to continue with their current performances with Ladies’ Code when she regained consciousness not knowing that her bandmates have passed. She then suspected something when all her visitors came in black.
The other two members Ashley and Zuny did not have any major injuries, but were said to be treated for their severe shock.
How did this accident turn out so terribly horrific? The ambulance worker stated, “While saving the lives of those who were collapsed after going out to the site, I do not recall undoing any seat belts.”
*sob*
How would you feel if you were 3 of your 5 band mates that had an accident and needed surgery, but you were the only one that survived?
The accident was on 3 September 2014. Sojung’s turned 21 that fateful day.
*tissues*
A week after the tragedy, a music video for Ladies’ Code’s song “I’m Fine Thank You” was released showing Ladies’ Code having fun, working hard, and talking directly to the camera. The song had become a rallying cry by fans after the tragedy. It also became the memorial song for Ladies’ Code after the accident killed two members.
Then one year later, Ladies’ Code released “I’ll Smile Even If It Hurts”. It’s painful just to see the lyrics knowing what happened.
*breath*
Anyway, Sojung have amazing talent and I’ll continue to watch out for her music.
UPDATE
Sojung released two new songs around the 5th Anniversary of Ladies’ Code. ‘Crystal Clear’ and ‘Stay Here’.
The trip we have all been waiting for. We head to Japan and will be at Osaka and Kyoto. There will be lots of sightseeing, shopping, food and cultural immersion.
Rather than doing a big blog post, I’ve been journalling our journey in Instagram instead and here is the full collection of our best photos.
My last post I asked everyone what dance should we do at the top of Shears Bridge. A resounding “Coincidance” was requested. As promised, we Daddy Matters DANCED to it! WHOOP WHOOP.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bbp3HZrFyMf/
We started super early before sunrise and met everyone at our planned start point which was near our secret prata place. Every prepped their bikes and we headed to the starting point.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbqKF1kluf_/
Along the ride, strangely I hardly took any pictures. I was really enjoying the ride and the company of good friends. At the end we posed for an epic shot and it truly was a power shot.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbqMNOHFeEb/
We all had fun, spent time together as good friends and ended the day with prata for everyone. Till next year OCBC Cycle. :)
ARE YOU READY FOR #OCBCCYCLE2017!! 18 – 19 NOV 2017 @ Singapore Sports Hub! Some of us Daddies from Daddy Matters have started training for it.
Having attended the past year’s OCBC Cycle, a few Dads from Daddy Matters are going to do it again this year! #MuchExcites as we had fond memories from last year and I’m quite sure we will end with Prata too. (Secret location don’t tell you where unless you ride with us)
This year’s route will continue to showcase our wonderful city and lots of nice places to take selfies and wefies with you cycle kakis.
OCBC Cycle 2017 Route
I’m trying to convince the other dads riding together to do some silly stuff (but safe), please let me know which you think would be best and I’ll try to sell it to them. It should be some silly activity / actions we can do to make a great photo OR video AT THE TOP OF SHEARS BRIDGE. Here are a few Ideas I have:
