Skip to content

Serena Chen｜颐

Singapore

Acoustic Band
Sela Cajons
World / Poprock
City Buskers
Electronic
Orchestral
About
Contact

8B74170E-64F8-40A6-8554-8EC1563D1966

March 14, 2018 Return to: ElectronicFull resolution (402 × 604)

Image navigation

Serena Chen is endorsed by Sela Cajon, firm believers of their statement: “the soul of sound”.

•
WHERE IS SHE?

Mondays : Switch by Timbre on cajon w Kexin & Bryan (acoustic)

-> Follow @serenachenyi or search for #playallthepercussion on Instagram for gig updates!

Instagram

immortalizing the day of survival for this perm. styling by @eineinlee 😘 mad curls by @gigi_shink @chengigi918 😘😘

"Ingonyama nengw' enamabala..." 🦁🐆It was hours of me chanting this and listening to my favourite Lion King song "He Lives In You" to keep my faith before we actually saw the 🐆 (although he was so far 😭) and 🦁 and even played a drum solo for the king with my mummy! Whether he liked it or not... 🙃 It was like being in my own TLK musical; a huge pack of hyenas, a field of wildebeests, baby lion cubs with their mothers, a teen leopard, the failed impala hunt of a cheetah mum and finally the celebrity lion, Scarface. Yes, that's actually his name! He was quite the rockstar 5 years ago before his accident which blinded him and broke his leg; now he's sad and scared of 🐘🐘. 😢 Being in the Mara was pure magic but I'm not gonna lie, we were extremely lucky to see so much more than just 🦓🦓🦌🦌. Nothing beat listening to TLK songs in my safari van in the Mara, the place where Pride Rock was based upon. Bucket list checked, heart is full. 🧡💛 . tldr: the real bucket list checked – YAY I PLAYED DRUMS FOR THE ACTUAL LION KING irl 🦁!!! ✅ . #flyserenafly #nanax妈

Annnnd we are finally at Masai Mara National Park after a stop at the Great Rift Valley and 7 hrs of bumpy ride!! We were so lucky to spot so many animals 🦒🦓🐘🐆 just on our first 2 days, will keep hunting for the elusive leopard and male lion tmr. I have a new found love for 🦒 who loves 🌈! Also, who knew cheetahs made that sound?? He was calling their 2 other brothers cos they are 5 brothers!! But best of all, seeing the families of 🐘🐘🐘 grazing in the wild, especially the one with the 3 month old baby was unreal. 😭❤️ . #flyserenafly #nanax妈

Ladies and gentlemen, any one of these moments might have been *the* moment a flea made a glorious break for my shirt and feasted on my blood all night. I highly suspect the 🦁 skin hat they made us wear. 🥺 I would love to have good things to say about these Maasai warriors but. As you can see from some of their body language, they are so sick of this tour – most of their hearts and souls are not in it. Then I found out at the end that the ladies who were holding me and my mum's hands were only nice to us so we would buy their expensive souveniers at the last stop. 🧐🙃My guide, James, barely spoke English except for the script he needed to conduct the tour; pretty impressive seeing that he didn't go to school and only picked up the language from tourists. I went for the tour cos our driver said the money (US$20/pax) went to fund the Maasai school they set up themselves without gov help. Seeing the dilapidated condition of the town where the national park is, I don't blame them for being this way. The money is coming in from tourism for sure, but not going back to the Maasai ppl who own and live on these lands since forever because, well, corruption. I suppose "making a quick buck" off tourists has become the only way they can see some returns and improve their lives. I feel sad and conflicted, they have so much to share with the world – if only their lives were taken care of enough so they can actually even start to think of genuinely sharing their roots because they are proud of it and not only to make money off it. tldr: I did decide to make the best of this since we were there already (missing a leopard sighting #ragrets). The jumping part was fun cos I had a good laugh at my mum (yes I'm terrible🤭) and we got to wear 🦁 skin hats! . #flyserenafly #nanax妈

Kissed a Kenyan named Kelly cos she's the gentlest 🦒 ever! (Was actually forced by our guide at the giraffe centre, but he was right to do it!) Of all the giraffes there, she has the sweetest temperament - doesn't slober your hand up greedily or mind you touching her cheeks. 🦒❤️ 👉🏻🐘 *sound on!* Also visited the 🐘 sanctuary and the smallest guy you see here is only 3 months old. He's only been there 3 days so you can see him desperately trying to make friends and annoying the older kids 🤣🤣 and finally gets taught a lesson. Don't worry, he's fine!! Super cute!!! 🐘❤️ . #flyserenafly #nanax妈

Because mummy never stayed in a suite and I found a good deal on booking.com, I tot we'd live it up a little before "roughing it out" at the safari. Africa is such a vibrant colourful continent, and everybody says hi to you (whether they want tips or not is another story 🤭😅). 👉🏻 Finally got to visit a coffee farm where we even plucked and roasted our own coffee. The poor plantation has no harvest this year due to climate change, it's so sad. I guess they are glad to do these tours! 👉🏻👉🏻 last 2 swipes: the Nai Nami street kids who showed us the rougher parts downtown and life in the city – cop bribing included unintentionally. 👉🏻 vid of a school in the slums of Kibera. So grateful for these eye-opening experiences, poverty is a huge problem in Kenya, deeply perpetrated by corruption on all levels. It's amazing to meet ppl like my guides who want to give back to the community by starting schools and educating the next generation. . #flyserenafly #nanax妈

bye bye SG! please let me spot all the 🦁🐆🐆🐘🦏🦓🦒 in the motherland. ingonyama nengw' enamabala!!! . #flyserenafly #nanax妈

because the IG feed is a great place to keep track of Life, this set is dedicated to the very intense past few months of mine. today I complete my 2nd 100 Day plan (this time with @stephensdrumshed's Bass Drum Bootcamp and Better Singles) and just realized my body and brain is craving a break so bad. Tmr bye-bye SG! Ingonyama nengw' enamabala. 🙏🏻🦁🐆

because the IG feed is a great place to keep track of Life, this set is dedicated to the very intense past few months of mine. today I complete my 2nd 100 Day plan (this time with @stephensdrumshed's Bass Drum Bootcamp and Better Singles) and just realized my body and brain is craving a break so bad. Tmr bye-bye SG! Ingonyama nengw' enamabala. 🙏🏻🦁🐆