Wishin' Upon The Stars

Did you know that human beings like us can grant wishes as well? If you made your wishes known, it just might come true ...

Following the previous post that I wished for a more personal contact from Leslie, I woke up to a very pleasant surprise from him, saying:

"Surprise ! When you wish upon the star, here I am to grant you this little wish - a personal mail from your busiest and oldest friend."

Leslie and I have been friends since our secondary school days in 1984, and he is indeed one of my "oldest", definitely the busiest (hands-down) and one of the dearest. Leslie likes to introduce me to his friends as the "culprit" - the one that got him hooked onto Japanese music. Like him, we were both misfits at school. Not particularly sporting bodies, we found solace in Japanese music as we share so many good and sad memories together. I am eternally grateful for the friendship and connection that we share and in spite of his busy schedule, still occasionally catches up whenever he can.

He also wrote to thank me for the plug on his work and why wouldn't I? I am every bit as proud of his achievements as everyone else who cares about him. It was also so nice to get the following compliments from him and I wanted to share them here:

"I was having a great time going through it. I am sure the fans of Akina, as well as 80's J-Pop lovers are all so thankful to you for the passion you put into making this blog. Great work, please continue to share all these thoughts and information with all your friends and your fans!"

It is a pleasure to be able to share my thoughts and my feelings here because this space allows me to be as honest as I can and as revealing as I want to be. Since I am not very good with keeping diaries and I love writing, this format has allowed me to chronicle my brain movements in a colourful fashion and share my experiences with everyone. Through this act of giving and sharing, I am the true benefactor. So, Thank you everyone, for taking the time to read it.

Onto more updates about Leslie, his biggest book SUPERSTARS will be out soon in the middle of April 2006. From May 2006 till end of 2006, he will be launching this big book in all the major Asia cities, and a big exhibition as well. From Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo and then Singapore. Unfortunately, he is not having one in Australia, so I will have to find out the dates and possibly plan a holiday around then to give him my support! I will also keep everyone updated on his schedule of events, so that those of you who are there might want to go and show your support as well.

He also wanted me to share the following extract, which is his interview from the latest issue of Harper's Bazaar Japan, in regards to his next book SUPERSTARS, for the Charity towards World Vision Organisation, to help the kids who suffered from the last Tsunami Disaster. I think this is wonderful that he is so caring and that fame has not changed him. We definitely need people in fame to bring the world's attention to more worldly causes because the leaders are not doing enough for this world. Keep up the great work too, Les!



It is so nice to see some of the familiar faces on this shoot and you can click on the picture to view it full size. I was most surprised and delighted to see 安室奈美恵 and 石川さゆり in the collage presented and I would be looking forward to getting my hands on it when it is published and autographed.

Lastly, in my own "biased world", he shared the best news with me that:

"I am now working on the possibility to photograph our Superstar Nakamori Akina, as I am going through Ayumi Hamasaki to help me contact her."

Hopefully, he will make it in time to include her in his new book. Thank you Leslie, for taking the time to share with me and everyone else. I just wanted to say I am so proud of you and I love you. Till we meet or share again ...