My day is about to end though from another perspective it is about to begin. I have just finished "The Great Leap" press conference in HK and returned back to my hotel room. I'm finally alone after being surrounded by my company and media for most of the day. I am quite tired though there is a "high" and rush still within my body and mind. I don't think I can yet give you a summary of my feelings and emotions on today's events but I can give you brief rundown of what happened today. I haven't had any time to eat dinner today so after I came back from the events I had some spaghetti. Eating late is something I rarely do or like to do because it's unhealthy and a burden for your already tired body. But I'm a bit hungry and don't want to sleep on an empty stomach so I'll have to break the rules tonight. The reason why I said my day is about to end is because I'm finally going to bed now. The reason why I said it's about to begin is because I need to wake up around 5am (I can only sleep about 3 hours!) as I have to catch the earliest flight to Beijing in the morning. I'm not so much worried about not getting enough sleep more so than the fact that I don't have enough rest to recover from this annoying cough I've been having. My morning began well as I had a nice breakfast and then went to the gym for about an hour. I slept well though I wish I didn't sleep so late yesterday (3am). Sometimes you get enough hours of sleep but because it's so too late the quality of sleep is compromised. I put in a nice workout and felt quite fresh afterwards. After that, I ate a small lunch and then proceeded to meet with one group of media and press members in a nice presidential suite upstairs from my room. It went well and we all had a nice chat about the album and my feelings about it. They hadn't heard the album in it's entirety so many of the questions were general though I did share with them quite a bit about why I wrote certain songs and what happened in my life during this past year. After that, it was time to leave the hotel and head over to Times Square to standby for the press conference. After arriving at the venue, I met up with the hosts and press conference production team to go over the rundown and details of the show. Of course, I had to use the restroom (my style!) a few times and then I was ready for show time! The press conference went well and it was great to see all the wonderful fans there from HK, China and possibly other parts of the world. It was a live broadcast so many people from all around the world were watching. I haven't seen my fans and friends in HK for quite some time and it was really touching to see them. Like them, however, I was a bit disappointed I couldn't spend more time chatting or interacting. Sometimes, it's really difficult to interact with the fans and audience because of the environment and situation. Often times, as much as I would love to, I can't even walk down the stage and shake their hands because of security reasons. People panic, get excited and start pushing and before you know it people are getting hurt. Media and press from five regions including HK, Taiwan, China, Malaysia and Singapore were there which made things exciting yet challenging for all of us. It was truly a first to have so much media gather in HK for an album press conference! The show went smoothly and I just hope all the attendees had a good time. Now, after the "show", came the hard work which most of you never will see or know about. I shouldn't call it "hard work" as it isn't painful or entirely without gratification but it is indeed quite demanding mentally and physically. What I'm talking about is the interview part of the entire press conference rundown. That part usually occurs after the "onstage show presentation" where I meet all the media and press members one group at a time for either group or one on one interviews. In today's case, we met up with four groups of media each representing one region (Singapore, HK, China and Malaysia-we had already met up with the Taiwan media earlier in the day. Each group was allotted approximately 45 minutes give or take a bit. Do the math and you'll realize I had to talk non-stop often repeating myself for virtually 3 hours! It's especially difficult to concentrate when you are hungry and have a cough. There were points where my voice would simply constrict and I just couldn't talk. Mind you, at the same time, people around me were talking, eating, taking photos, walking around yet I have to remain focused and totally in tune to what I was being asked or what I was trying to say. After these interviews, we had to do a few more TV show interviews to cap it all off. We finished around 12 midnight and by that time my mind was simply a blank. As we drove out of the Times Square parking lot, I couldn't help but notice some fans still standing outside waiting for me. I felt a bit sad and bad that I couldn't stop and talk with them as the car drove off. Fans can often misconstrue these situations as their artist not caring about them but often it's just that the environment and situation doesn't allow for any interaction. I hope you guys understand that I do appreciate your efforts and that I'll reciprocate your love through my music.
