Meet me, The BBQ Nuisance
Tuesday, June 07, 2011 @ 12:19 pm leave a comment? | 0 shed some light
I handed in my termination form for my guitar classes on Sunday. This will be my last month with the class; it has been a long ride. I first joined at the end of 2007 and there were initially ten of us in the class. One by one, all the boys left and only Eugenia, Tammy and me were left. New students from other classes transferred in and out over the years and now that the three of us girls are leaving, I think they are going to transfer another few more students into the class.
I feel bad for leaving. The teacher has taught me a lot and I must admit he has been an extremely patient and understanding teacher. Each time anyone stumbles in the middle of a piece, he would ensure that he or she would be able to play that part or at least know how to figure out the chords or fingerings by the end of the lesson. However, the course fee increases as I move on to higher grades. Maybe it would have been worth it if I'm able to practise more and have drastic improvements in my guitar playing. The fact is that I don't feel as passionate about the guitar as I was about singing. Sure, I enjoy it. But I doubt I'm as passionate about it as my teacher. It is also getting quite expensive to continue. I doubt I'll regret my decision.
On a lighter note, the barbeque at Chuan Ying's house yesterday was fun! I was more of a hindrance than help to anyone, to be honest. I tried to help out but ended up playing with the skewers and food: The epic war of the plates, skewers and rice cooker cover! Then I tried to help fan the fire. I felt really bad afterwards though, since I didn't do much to help. Oh and I stuffed myself full of marshmallows. It's been such a long time since I had them! The last time my mum bought a bag of marshmallows home...I went on a marshmallow rampage, I think. I kind of finished the whole bag in one night and went really hyper. At least I didn't take that many yesterday - well, I don't think I did.
We later cleared up and went back up to Chuan Ying's house to play Wii. It was really amusing watching the rest play the Mario game. Matin crowned himself the 'CareBear Princess' too. After watching others die many times (in the game), most of us decided to head home, save for the few who are staying over. I don't have any photos with me because I left my camera at home. Maybe when the photos are uploaded on Facebook, I might edit this post and pepper it with photos of last night!
Sidenote: My craving for marshmallows has not been satiated. Yet.
Sidenote: My craving for marshmallows has not been satiated. Yet.
Labels: CASS, classouting, guitar
The Acoustic Neck
Monday, October 18, 2010 @ 8:37 pm leave a comment? | 0 shed some light
It's decided: Sungha Jung is my favourite finger-style guitarist, and he is only 14 years old.
I've been listening to (or more like getting awestruck by) his songs on Youtube. This is just one of the many songs he covered: Twilight by Kotaro Oshio. I don't know what I should feel: envy or admiration?
His skills are incredible! He takes only three days on average to learn a new piece. That's what I call raw talent.
Should I get fingerpicks?
Labels: guitar
Fingers on Nylon
Thursday, September 09, 2010 @ 12:34 pm leave a comment? | 0 shed some light
My fingers hurt, especially my little finger. After not practising for such a long time, it does hurt when I play the more challenging pieces. I'm still trying to slide properly, since it can be a pain sometimes. It's also frustrating how I'm really bad at barre chords. I really need to improve on my skills since we are advancing one level as of October. Meaning to say that there will be new techniques and more tough pieces to learn.
I've been to listening to quite a few of this guy's pieces. (click on the titles to listen)
I especially love 天空の城ラピュタ and 千と千尋の神隠し. This guitarist is really good in my opinion. I don't really like to listen to professional classical guitar players most of the time. Instead, I usually listen to guitar covers done by these kind of talented Youtube guitarists.
Labels: guitar
Peek a Booo
Wednesday, June 09, 2010 @ 1:00 pm leave a comment? | 0 shed some light
I've not been here for quite a long time...
Well, right after Chinese Language written paper for the O' Levels, I have been out all week.
After my exam on Monday, I went to VJC with Yi Bin to submit our application forms before going for ACJC's 'An Evening With Friends' concert. This is my second time attending their choir concert, and they are still as good. I especially liked Sons of Jacob.
We met Juniper and Claudia for dinner for the concert and the smoked salmon sandwich I had was really filling. The hour spent in Papermarket with Yi Bin before dinner gave me ideas for my mum's birthday card too. Otherwise, our time at Raffles City before heading over to Esplanade was quite uneventful. Oh, but Juniper nearly got off the train at Raffles Place instead of alighting at City Hall just because we asked her to meet us at Raffles City Shopping centre. Heh.
Tuesday was spent filing all the Chinese Intensive notes, and tidying up my desk. Sad to say, I didn't really start on much homework...
Wednesday on the other hand, was quite a painful day. My mum and I bought new shoes the week before, and I decided to wear my new stilettos since they complement my outfit for that evening. I managed not to trip for the entire day but the walking to VCH from Raffles City with Anna was excruciating for my poor feet. It was good that we went to Raffles City before the concert however, as I got to buy all the materials for my mum's birthday card.
TPJC's 'Plaisir de Chanson' is the first concert I've watched for TPJC choir. They have a really different sound from ACJC. And while ACJC sings more of sacred pieces, TPJC focuses more on folk songs. TP has a brighter tone too - probably due to the Sopranos having such a bright colour. And this is the first time I've seen so many sopranos in one choir. I won't compare both choirs since they sound so different. But I still kind of prefer the songs in ACJC choir (also because they sang The Sons of Jacob). Anna said she likes TP more though, since she doesn't like sacred pieces and finds them more boring. Oh, but the song with all the sounds in the forest...that was awesome! There was this girl in TPJC choir who could imitate the sound of an ape. And a boy who could mimic the cricket sounds!!!
After the guests choirs performed, the choir went on to put on a musical when intermission ended. I wonder when will I ever get the chance to be able to take part in a musical. I don't really think the ABBA medley we did in Musical Evening could be counted.
Thursday morning was then spent on my mum's birthday card. It's finished now, and I really hope my mum will like it! I went to visit Crez choir that afternoon. It's really scary how they are just a week away from their overseas performance and they still have three more songs to learn. I really don't understand the slow progress and they all seemed to be in agony while singing the songs. But I think the worst news was that Mrs Lim chose all the challenging pieces to make up the repertoire. As much as I wish to help them and learn the pieces with them, we do realise that we should make the juniors independent instead. Somehow, the juniors have come to rely on us a lot. I'm not even sure what to do now.
I had dinner with Ms Ong, Ariel, Juniper, Yi Bin, Claudia, Timothy and Ms Ong's other student from Wild Empire on Friday night. We ate at Modesto's. We talked loads about the different choirs. Dessert from Fruit Paradise wasn't really my cup of tea although the rest seemed to love it. Yi Bin also went on to take plenty of candid shots of everyone.
Saturday came and I met Yi Bin to revise on our singing techniques with Ms Ong. It was really a last minute decision and a crash course. I did badly.
Guitar lesson on the next day was alright I guess. I managed to play the entire piece in its tremolo version. But I still can't do the tremolo technique nicely. Well, the teacher said it takes years to master it. Waltz is the next song we have for homework.
I won't be surprised if I fail the auditions actually. Sure, I have lots of CCA points, I have a few leadership positions since my first year in my school. But my singing is not all that outstanding. And to add on, I'm having a sore throat and I can't reach the high notes nicely anymore. My support techniques are weak. I can't kick my diaphragm as fast as last time. The list goes on and on. I guess, I must start doing leg lifts and crunches again? Oh the horror.
Labels: choir, Crez chorale, guitar, School Days
Comeback
Sunday, March 14, 2010 @ 10:09 pm leave a comment? | 0 shed some light
I have way too much to post about, but too little time to note every detail.
Directly after my last paper ended, we had a little break before setting off for our Learning Journey field trip to the Singapore Discovery Centre. I managed to play a bit of Foosball - wonder who made that orange newspaper ball.
After setting off for the place, I got a little groggy on the bus, but no, I did not puke. I think I'm getting better at controlling my headache and pains nowadays. Who knows, maybe I will not even have the problem of motion sickness in the future (is there a cure for it anyway?)
The trip was fairly interesting. They gave us a talk in an auditorium and showed us a video which revealed some gruesome acts committed during war. There was also another video showing a little of how NS life is like for the boys in their first three months. I have always been grateful that the boys are serving the nation through their national service but after watching the videos, I think my admiration just increased.
Right after the talk, they let us taste a bit of the standard Army rations and let us hold the two rifles placed on the table in front. I now know that holding a rifle is definitely no joke - not when it weighs a tiring five kilogrammes...just how do the guys carry it while they run in their trainings? Oh and I really like the biscuits and the rice dumpling!
We had lunch after that but I was really full from eating the biscuits. Somehow the biscuits were really filling. I shouldn't have eaten the biscuits though because I could have bought the pizza in the cafeteria. I remember buying the pizza from the cafeteria over there a few years back and it was delicious. Ah well. Angela didn't eat much too. I was trying to find a water cooler in that place, but to no avail,
Our SAFTI tour then started. Charmaine TTT helped me take a few photos from her side of the bus. While we were walking to the tower, I spotted this little scooter which had a basket in the front! And there was this rear mirror in the plastic cover of a 'Victory' sign hand. It was super cute! Rosi and I went back to take a picture with it afterwards.
Despite having gone to SDC thrice before, I have never gone up the tower - the previous three times always ended with heavy rain and the guide never let us out of the bus because of the bad weather, so I'd always settled for staring at the tower from a distance. Finally, I got to go up the tower and the view is magnificent, although the height is a little scary when you look down. I think my mum would be freaking out if she went up. When we went down, everyone in the lift greeted the two guys waiting outside with a "Good afternoon, sirs!"
I think they were really amused by us. We also took a class photo at the grassy slope at the bottom of the tower.
We then went to the Army museum. Where everyone took lots of photos. But because the guide moved too fast and didn't really give us much time to take them, I took more photos of people and plants than artifacts.
After the trip I fell asleep on the bus and woke up with an ache in my neck. Somehow I felt really tired.
Right after that day, we had our "I Am Gifted, and So Are You!" programme in school. It starts at 8am and ends at 9pm. When I first got to know the schedule, the first thing which entered my mind was: Wow, are we able to camp in school secretly instead so that we can get more sleep?
But yes, the programme was fun. There was a session whereby the trainers listed scenarios which made us question ourselves about how much have we done for our parents despite their unconditional love. Everyone cried really hard. I started crying way before that though. Somehow, when I watched the video of this guy who remained really positive despite having no legs, I couldn't stop my tears from flowing. The rest of the night was spent with our eyes red and tired from all the crying.
And thanks to Jolene's dad, I got to arrive home on both nights in less than an hour. Because she lives in Simei, her dad was really nice to let me take a lift from them. Thanks!
On the last day there was also the Parents' Seminar where most of our parents came and learnt a portion of what we did from the programme. I think I was the only one who didn't cry when I spoke in front of the whole crowd to my mum. Maybe it's because both of us are close, I guess. I thought I would've cried too, but somehow I managed not too. And I actually needed the toilet, but was afraid to leave the place because the atmosphere was really sombre. Ah well.
My guitar teacher just gave us the song Mary Had a Little Lamb and wants us to finish re-arranging the piece by the next lesson. But he spelt the title wrongly: Merry Had a Little Lamb. Well, Merry sure is a nice name anyway. I'm sure it is a cheerful name. Anyway, I really ought to start on the task!
Directly after my last paper ended, we had a little break before setting off for our Learning Journey field trip to the Singapore Discovery Centre. I managed to play a bit of Foosball - wonder who made that orange newspaper ball.
After setting off for the place, I got a little groggy on the bus, but no, I did not puke. I think I'm getting better at controlling my headache and pains nowadays. Who knows, maybe I will not even have the problem of motion sickness in the future (is there a cure for it anyway?)
The trip was fairly interesting. They gave us a talk in an auditorium and showed us a video which revealed some gruesome acts committed during war. There was also another video showing a little of how NS life is like for the boys in their first three months. I have always been grateful that the boys are serving the nation through their national service but after watching the videos, I think my admiration just increased.
Right after the talk, they let us taste a bit of the standard Army rations and let us hold the two rifles placed on the table in front. I now know that holding a rifle is definitely no joke - not when it weighs a tiring five kilogrammes...just how do the guys carry it while they run in their trainings? Oh and I really like the biscuits and the rice dumpling!
We had lunch after that but I was really full from eating the biscuits. Somehow the biscuits were really filling. I shouldn't have eaten the biscuits though because I could have bought the pizza in the cafeteria. I remember buying the pizza from the cafeteria over there a few years back and it was delicious. Ah well. Angela didn't eat much too. I was trying to find a water cooler in that place, but to no avail,
"Hey, have you seen any water coolers anywhere?"
"Have. There!" *Points to the water fountain thing in the middle of the pond/lake/water body outside*
How typical of Yimin to be so smart.
Our SAFTI tour then started. Charmaine TTT helped me take a few photos from her side of the bus. While we were walking to the tower, I spotted this little scooter which had a basket in the front! And there was this rear mirror in the plastic cover of a 'Victory' sign hand. It was super cute! Rosi and I went back to take a picture with it afterwards.
Despite having gone to SDC thrice before, I have never gone up the tower - the previous three times always ended with heavy rain and the guide never let us out of the bus because of the bad weather, so I'd always settled for staring at the tower from a distance. Finally, I got to go up the tower and the view is magnificent, although the height is a little scary when you look down. I think my mum would be freaking out if she went up. When we went down, everyone in the lift greeted the two guys waiting outside with a "Good afternoon, sirs!"
I think they were really amused by us. We also took a class photo at the grassy slope at the bottom of the tower.
We then went to the Army museum. Where everyone took lots of photos. But because the guide moved too fast and didn't really give us much time to take them, I took more photos of people and plants than artifacts.
After the trip I fell asleep on the bus and woke up with an ache in my neck. Somehow I felt really tired.
Right after that day, we had our "I Am Gifted, and So Are You!" programme in school. It starts at 8am and ends at 9pm. When I first got to know the schedule, the first thing which entered my mind was: Wow, are we able to camp in school secretly instead so that we can get more sleep?
But yes, the programme was fun. There was a session whereby the trainers listed scenarios which made us question ourselves about how much have we done for our parents despite their unconditional love. Everyone cried really hard. I started crying way before that though. Somehow, when I watched the video of this guy who remained really positive despite having no legs, I couldn't stop my tears from flowing. The rest of the night was spent with our eyes red and tired from all the crying.
And thanks to Jolene's dad, I got to arrive home on both nights in less than an hour. Because she lives in Simei, her dad was really nice to let me take a lift from them. Thanks!
On the last day there was also the Parents' Seminar where most of our parents came and learnt a portion of what we did from the programme. I think I was the only one who didn't cry when I spoke in front of the whole crowd to my mum. Maybe it's because both of us are close, I guess. I thought I would've cried too, but somehow I managed not too. And I actually needed the toilet, but was afraid to leave the place because the atmosphere was really sombre. Ah well.
My guitar teacher just gave us the song Mary Had a Little Lamb and wants us to finish re-arranging the piece by the next lesson. But he spelt the title wrongly: Merry Had a Little Lamb. Well, Merry sure is a nice name anyway. I'm sure it is a cheerful name. Anyway, I really ought to start on the task!
Labels: guitar, School Days
Why We Sing
Monday, December 14, 2009 @ 9:30 pm leave a comment? | 0 shed some light
I have been busy for the past few days.
Every year, I look forward to November/December choir practices as we are usually preparing for a concert and we get to have rehearsals almost daily. I really wish we could be like what Mrs Lim said about those Swedish schools - they have 'singing schools' where great emphasis is placed on singing instead of academics. Ah, the joy of singing everyday in a choir.
I felt really proud of my juniors after hearing them improve the week before the concert. It was good that Laura, Melanie and Jia Ying came back to help us. The techniques they introduced to us reminded me so much of Mr Albert Tay. Somehow, I still think all the techniques taught by him are the most effective for me. Ah, my Secondary One days, when we had Ms Jennifer Tham and Mr Tay.
Being so proud of my cute, lovable juniors (Hahaha), somehow this just makes me feel old. Especially the thought of leaving them next April. I will miss them all so much!
I'm a little worried for my section though. What Juniper said is true: the bulk of our section's voices come from the Sec3s. Meaning to say that the rest must put a teensy bit more effort to train their voices more so that they can coach the new people next year. The rest of the sections improved by leaps and bounds this holiday however. The Alto two section now sounds really strong and expressive. The Soprano two section can pretty much survive without Yi Bin or Claudia now. Alto One still needs to be more strong when coming in but they have improved nevertheless!
This time I bought candy canes and chocolates for the choir to thank them for working so hard for this performance. The section leaders all bought something for their own sections - except Soprano One..Hahaha. Well, that's okay. I managed to get gummies from Winny. Maybe what Zi Yu said is right, I keep bullying her. Well, I don't think I'm a bully...But I do pester her a lot. But she is such a nice person!! :D I'm so sorry for always disturbing you online, Winny! Hope she reads this.
I managed to apply make-up for myself for the performance fairly well. The eyeshadow has never been a problem but lipstick and blusher are the tougher ones to tackle. Anyway, I helped a few of the others to apply the eyeshadow. But dear Winny just refused to have a single layer of cosmetics on her face. Therefore, IF we ever have a concert before I step down, my main mission will be to make sure everyone has a decent amount of makeup. That clever girl managed to wash off the blusher. Tsk.
Our Saturday's performance went well. We sounded awesome. I think. Personally, I think we look better in the purple lycra shirt and black pants when compared to us wearing the gowns. Oh, Ying Ting only returned her gown last week, when SYF was right in the first half of the year. We were all really surprised to see her return with the gown.
My mum bought me a penguin plushie on Saturday. It's turning into a little tradition: Her buying soft toys each time I perform. I don't mind it at all. This penguin is really plump - well, fat. But it's just so cute! After the concert, mum and I went to the Niwa Sushi shop at Tampines MRT Station to eat some sushis. Those were delicious!
Sunday was indeed a busy day. Since I woke up pretty late, I had to rush through my practising for my guitar lesson. Considering the fact that I had rehearsals the whole week for choir and reached home late and didn't practise at all till an hour before lesson, I think I did pretty well. I relied solely on sight-reading this time and the only thing the teacher remarked on was that I need to try to minimise any non-guitar sounds while playing. Oh, and that I must not turn my wrist like what I did when I was asked to play the A Minor scale.
Right after lesson, I went to change into a skirt since I can't wear shorts to Espanade. I was the first to reach City Hall. After the rest came we set off for the KBox branch at Marina Square with Cynthia leading the way. My first time at a Karaoke lounge made me feel a little apprehensive when I stepped in. All of us had lots of fun though. Ms Ong and Claudia joined us a while later.
Since the concert started at 7.30pm, except for Cynthia, all of us rushed over to Espanade minutes before. Since Zhuo Min, her mum, Juniper and I were the only ones who bought the $35 tickets, we had to separate from the rest who bought the $20 tickets. When Juniper and I got to the Circle seats, we were a mere three minutes from the start of the concert.
SYC and Friends concert was awesome! The SYC Ensemble Singers sounded really good. Every section is really strong and the balance was good. We got to see Ms Tham and Mr Tay sing too! There was this guy who is singing in Baritone or Bass - he's just so expressive that it's so outstanding! All the soloists were really remarkable too! I especially like the Cantate Domino by Vaclovas Augustinas and the Light Mass part after the Intermission. Benedictus sounded beautiful :D
Juniper and I shouted "You rock, Jollin" or something along that line afterwards. I think Jollin heard it since we were sitting almost directly over the stage.
After the concert, I met Ee Faye and a few of the Sec1s who attended the concert too on my way to the station. They found the songs long. Well, I'm not sure...I was just blown away by the beauty of the songs that it didn't really matter to me how long there were. While passing by New York New York restuarant, I saw Yi Bin and Claudia. I didn't join them for supper though - since it was kind of late. Since I only had breakfast the whole day, I had a cup of yogurt and seaweed crackers upon reaching home. I was just so tired...
Today was the 6/9 gathering. I was really worried when Juniper initially said that we were going to meet Ms Ong today. But since my activities didn't clash with each other in the end, I got to go for today's gathering. Not many people actually went. We just loitered around at Changi Airport's Terminal Two and ate at the McDonald's there. After which all of us could not agree on a place to proceed to. Some wanted to go bowling, some wanted to play pool. In the end we just went to Kai Ho's house. Everyone just played cards or Wii. I didn't get the chance to watch them play Guitar Hero since I had to go home for dinner. Which is kind of a pity since my school's Wii games don't seem to include Guitar Hero.
Walking to Tanah Merah station from Kai Ho's house would not have been possible without Priscilla. I would've most probably gotten lost somewhere and Michael said he has a poor sense of direction. Indeed because we almost went off in the wrong direction at some road if not for Priscilla asking us to cross it. Anyway, somehow I just don't know how to talk to my ex-classmates as easily as how I talk to my choir people or my present classmates. Maybe it's because I used to be so shy and timid. And to think that people from Crescent will most probably not use those two words to describe me now. Ah well.
I managed to change my ear studs today! It was incredibly difficult at first and I was wondering if I will have the same ear studs for the rest of my life and die with them. But I got them changed in the end!! But my right earlobe hurts now. I don't know why. DD:
Every year, I look forward to November/December choir practices as we are usually preparing for a concert and we get to have rehearsals almost daily. I really wish we could be like what Mrs Lim said about those Swedish schools - they have 'singing schools' where great emphasis is placed on singing instead of academics. Ah, the joy of singing everyday in a choir.
I felt really proud of my juniors after hearing them improve the week before the concert. It was good that Laura, Melanie and Jia Ying came back to help us. The techniques they introduced to us reminded me so much of Mr Albert Tay. Somehow, I still think all the techniques taught by him are the most effective for me. Ah, my Secondary One days, when we had Ms Jennifer Tham and Mr Tay.
Being so proud of my cute, lovable juniors (Hahaha), somehow this just makes me feel old. Especially the thought of leaving them next April. I will miss them all so much!
I'm a little worried for my section though. What Juniper said is true: the bulk of our section's voices come from the Sec3s. Meaning to say that the rest must put a teensy bit more effort to train their voices more so that they can coach the new people next year. The rest of the sections improved by leaps and bounds this holiday however. The Alto two section now sounds really strong and expressive. The Soprano two section can pretty much survive without Yi Bin or Claudia now. Alto One still needs to be more strong when coming in but they have improved nevertheless!
This time I bought candy canes and chocolates for the choir to thank them for working so hard for this performance. The section leaders all bought something for their own sections - except Soprano One..Hahaha. Well, that's okay. I managed to get gummies from Winny. Maybe what Zi Yu said is right, I keep bullying her. Well, I don't think I'm a bully...But I do pester her a lot. But she is such a nice person!! :D I'm so sorry for always disturbing you online, Winny! Hope she reads this.
I managed to apply make-up for myself for the performance fairly well. The eyeshadow has never been a problem but lipstick and blusher are the tougher ones to tackle. Anyway, I helped a few of the others to apply the eyeshadow. But dear Winny just refused to have a single layer of cosmetics on her face. Therefore, IF we ever have a concert before I step down, my main mission will be to make sure everyone has a decent amount of makeup. That clever girl managed to wash off the blusher. Tsk.
Our Saturday's performance went well. We sounded awesome. I think. Personally, I think we look better in the purple lycra shirt and black pants when compared to us wearing the gowns. Oh, Ying Ting only returned her gown last week, when SYF was right in the first half of the year. We were all really surprised to see her return with the gown.
My mum bought me a penguin plushie on Saturday. It's turning into a little tradition: Her buying soft toys each time I perform. I don't mind it at all. This penguin is really plump - well, fat. But it's just so cute! After the concert, mum and I went to the Niwa Sushi shop at Tampines MRT Station to eat some sushis. Those were delicious!
Sunday was indeed a busy day. Since I woke up pretty late, I had to rush through my practising for my guitar lesson. Considering the fact that I had rehearsals the whole week for choir and reached home late and didn't practise at all till an hour before lesson, I think I did pretty well. I relied solely on sight-reading this time and the only thing the teacher remarked on was that I need to try to minimise any non-guitar sounds while playing. Oh, and that I must not turn my wrist like what I did when I was asked to play the A Minor scale.
Right after lesson, I went to change into a skirt since I can't wear shorts to Espanade. I was the first to reach City Hall. After the rest came we set off for the KBox branch at Marina Square with Cynthia leading the way. My first time at a Karaoke lounge made me feel a little apprehensive when I stepped in. All of us had lots of fun though. Ms Ong and Claudia joined us a while later.
Since the concert started at 7.30pm, except for Cynthia, all of us rushed over to Espanade minutes before. Since Zhuo Min, her mum, Juniper and I were the only ones who bought the $35 tickets, we had to separate from the rest who bought the $20 tickets. When Juniper and I got to the Circle seats, we were a mere three minutes from the start of the concert.
SYC and Friends concert was awesome! The SYC Ensemble Singers sounded really good. Every section is really strong and the balance was good. We got to see Ms Tham and Mr Tay sing too! There was this guy who is singing in Baritone or Bass - he's just so expressive that it's so outstanding! All the soloists were really remarkable too! I especially like the Cantate Domino by Vaclovas Augustinas and the Light Mass part after the Intermission. Benedictus sounded beautiful :D
Juniper and I shouted "You rock, Jollin" or something along that line afterwards. I think Jollin heard it since we were sitting almost directly over the stage.
After the concert, I met Ee Faye and a few of the Sec1s who attended the concert too on my way to the station. They found the songs long. Well, I'm not sure...I was just blown away by the beauty of the songs that it didn't really matter to me how long there were. While passing by New York New York restuarant, I saw Yi Bin and Claudia. I didn't join them for supper though - since it was kind of late. Since I only had breakfast the whole day, I had a cup of yogurt and seaweed crackers upon reaching home. I was just so tired...
Today was the 6/9 gathering. I was really worried when Juniper initially said that we were going to meet Ms Ong today. But since my activities didn't clash with each other in the end, I got to go for today's gathering. Not many people actually went. We just loitered around at Changi Airport's Terminal Two and ate at the McDonald's there. After which all of us could not agree on a place to proceed to. Some wanted to go bowling, some wanted to play pool. In the end we just went to Kai Ho's house. Everyone just played cards or Wii. I didn't get the chance to watch them play Guitar Hero since I had to go home for dinner. Which is kind of a pity since my school's Wii games don't seem to include Guitar Hero.
Walking to Tanah Merah station from Kai Ho's house would not have been possible without Priscilla. I would've most probably gotten lost somewhere and Michael said he has a poor sense of direction. Indeed because we almost went off in the wrong direction at some road if not for Priscilla asking us to cross it. Anyway, somehow I just don't know how to talk to my ex-classmates as easily as how I talk to my choir people or my present classmates. Maybe it's because I used to be so shy and timid. And to think that people from Crescent will most probably not use those two words to describe me now. Ah well.
I managed to change my ear studs today! It was incredibly difficult at first and I was wondering if I will have the same ear studs for the rest of my life and die with them. But I got them changed in the end!! But my right earlobe hurts now. I don't know why. DD:
Labels: 6906, choir, Crez chorale, guitar
And this will be your homework today...
Sunday, December 06, 2009 @ 9:38 pm leave a comment? | 0 shed some light
I just saw this on Facebook:
Student + Dying = Studying
Somehow, the pleasure derived from just plainly studying had long vanished along with pretty much of my childhood. Teachers all have a common sentence that must be said: Pay attention, this is how they will usually ask during the examinations, this is how you should answer, so that you can get the full score for that question.
It's a little sad that students now just learn for the certificate they will get upon completing their education in order to get a job with a decent pay. Whereas students used to learn just for learning's sake, and just to enjoy school life. More students also suffer from depression or other stress-related issues now.
Today's lesson only had the presence of four people in the room. The teacher, Owen, Tammy and me. I kind of prefer it this way though. It feels more comfortable because there are fewer people around. We couldn't escape playing the ensemble piece as there were still four of us though.
While Owen was playing the solo piece We Wish You a Merry Christmas, I made a small discovery. I was remarking about how his playing would most probably be better than mine considering the amount of time I spent on practising this week. And I continued how it seemed a tad embarrassing since he is much younger than me. Tammy then told me that he was only a year younger than me. And I'd always thought that he was still in Primary school. Ah well. Anyway, my playing was alright - definitely much better than last week's. The only problem was the chord changes which could have been better if I kick the habit of detaching my fingers too far away from the strings.
Alas, there came the next piece to learn by next week: Moderato by M. Carcassi and to play the A minor scale flawlessly. Sigh. Tammy and Eugenia won't be present next week. So I'm most probably going to be the only Secondary Three there.
Homework. Somehow, I get the feeling that if 'homework' were to be a person, it would a my nemesis - some monstrous, evil, scheming creature which intends to take all the joy out of my life.
Student + Dying = Studying
Somehow, the pleasure derived from just plainly studying had long vanished along with pretty much of my childhood. Teachers all have a common sentence that must be said: Pay attention, this is how they will usually ask during the examinations, this is how you should answer, so that you can get the full score for that question.
It's a little sad that students now just learn for the certificate they will get upon completing their education in order to get a job with a decent pay. Whereas students used to learn just for learning's sake, and just to enjoy school life. More students also suffer from depression or other stress-related issues now.
Today's lesson only had the presence of four people in the room. The teacher, Owen, Tammy and me. I kind of prefer it this way though. It feels more comfortable because there are fewer people around. We couldn't escape playing the ensemble piece as there were still four of us though.
While Owen was playing the solo piece We Wish You a Merry Christmas, I made a small discovery. I was remarking about how his playing would most probably be better than mine considering the amount of time I spent on practising this week. And I continued how it seemed a tad embarrassing since he is much younger than me. Tammy then told me that he was only a year younger than me. And I'd always thought that he was still in Primary school. Ah well. Anyway, my playing was alright - definitely much better than last week's. The only problem was the chord changes which could have been better if I kick the habit of detaching my fingers too far away from the strings.
Alas, there came the next piece to learn by next week: Moderato by M. Carcassi and to play the A minor scale flawlessly. Sigh. Tammy and Eugenia won't be present next week. So I'm most probably going to be the only Secondary Three there.
Homework. Somehow, I get the feeling that if 'homework' were to be a person, it would a my nemesis - some monstrous, evil, scheming creature which intends to take all the joy out of my life.
Labels: guitar, School Days
Ding Ding Ding
Saturday, October 17, 2009 @ 11:22 am leave a comment? | 0 shed some light
It's been quite a while since I last played the guitar.
I finally went through the music sheet that my teacher sent me through mail. It felt kind of good to play chords - at least this piece doesn't require me to strum for the chords. I just have to remember to hit the strings with the back of my fingernails every second and fourth beat. :D
I'm playing More Than Words by the way - well, only the intro actually, since the teacher only sent me that part. I guess the more difficult parts will come tomorrow when I go for the lesson.
However, my fingers and muscles hurt now since I haven't been practising much...it hurts to type.
SHINee's 링딩동 (Ring Ding Dong) music video has finally been uploaded onto YouTube by SM!
I think they look much better in the MV than in their Comeback Stage performance on Music Bank last night. Minho and Taemin's permed hair looked quite awful on Music Bank. Their hairstyles look tons better in the MV. Onew looked better during Juliette's period.
I guess Jonghyun and Key are the ones that look much better than during the Juliette promotion period. I really love Key's outlook. Those violet streaks and maroon tinting on his hair really makes him look so cool. It almost made me swoon hahaha.
I still remember my surprise and delight when SuJu came back in the first half of the year too: Eunhyuk looked (and still looks) really cool with his new hair style and the eyeliner. I prefer Donghae with straight hair though...too bad it was permed after that.
Oh and I realise I'd forgotten to mention about F.T. Island's Raining MV. I really like Jaejin's singing! And it's great that Jaejin has finally shed that geeky outlook: Gone are the black-framed glasses and bowl cut. I hope he lets his hair grow a little longer. The rest look as good too, like they always do. And this is the first time I listened to their Japanese songs too. I usually just listen and watch their Korean releases.
Strangely, it's quite the opposite for TVXQ. I started listening to Tohoshinki and bought their Japanese releases. It was only in the second year of knowing them that I started listening to their Korean songs although I knew they were a Korean male group from the start.
This morning, as I was rubbing my hair dry with my towel, a loose thread got caught with my right ear stud. Unfortunately, I didn't realise it and just pulled my towel away. My ear lobe hurt quite a bit after that. Otherwise, I think both sides are healing quite nicely. I don't really know how to clean though. All I do is to try to spread the alcohol around the stud and pull and twist the studs. Let's just hope I won't get ear infection.
I watched thirteen episodes of Shining Inheritance/Brilliant Legacy yesterday. However, I still have another thirteen more episodes to go till the end. Somehow, Han Hyo Joo resembles Song Hye Gyo at certain angles. Both are as pretty though. =]
I finally went through the music sheet that my teacher sent me through mail. It felt kind of good to play chords - at least this piece doesn't require me to strum for the chords. I just have to remember to hit the strings with the back of my fingernails every second and fourth beat. :D
I'm playing More Than Words by the way - well, only the intro actually, since the teacher only sent me that part. I guess the more difficult parts will come tomorrow when I go for the lesson.
However, my fingers and muscles hurt now since I haven't been practising much...it hurts to type.
SHINee's 링딩동 (Ring Ding Dong) music video has finally been uploaded onto YouTube by SM!
I think they look much better in the MV than in their Comeback Stage performance on Music Bank last night. Minho and Taemin's permed hair looked quite awful on Music Bank. Their hairstyles look tons better in the MV. Onew looked better during Juliette's period.
I guess Jonghyun and Key are the ones that look much better than during the Juliette promotion period. I really love Key's outlook. Those violet streaks and maroon tinting on his hair really makes him look so cool. It almost made me swoon hahaha.
I still remember my surprise and delight when SuJu came back in the first half of the year too: Eunhyuk looked (and still looks) really cool with his new hair style and the eyeliner. I prefer Donghae with straight hair though...too bad it was permed after that.
Oh and I realise I'd forgotten to mention about F.T. Island's Raining MV. I really like Jaejin's singing! And it's great that Jaejin has finally shed that geeky outlook: Gone are the black-framed glasses and bowl cut. I hope he lets his hair grow a little longer. The rest look as good too, like they always do. And this is the first time I listened to their Japanese songs too. I usually just listen and watch their Korean releases.
Strangely, it's quite the opposite for TVXQ. I started listening to Tohoshinki and bought their Japanese releases. It was only in the second year of knowing them that I started listening to their Korean songs although I knew they were a Korean male group from the start.
This morning, as I was rubbing my hair dry with my towel, a loose thread got caught with my right ear stud. Unfortunately, I didn't realise it and just pulled my towel away. My ear lobe hurt quite a bit after that. Otherwise, I think both sides are healing quite nicely. I don't really know how to clean though. All I do is to try to spread the alcohol around the stud and pull and twist the studs. Let's just hope I won't get ear infection.
I watched thirteen episodes of Shining Inheritance/Brilliant Legacy yesterday. However, I still have another thirteen more episodes to go till the end. Somehow, Han Hyo Joo resembles Song Hye Gyo at certain angles. Both are as pretty though. =]
Dango Family
Monday, July 06, 2009 @ 8:30 am leave a comment? | 0 shed some light
It's just a one day holiday, but it's much better than nothing. I suddenly feel thankful for Youth Day this year.
So it's back to school once more:
Homework, projects and lessons are piling up. Free time has been greatly reduced. Sleep deprivation has started to make its presence felt. The scheduler is getting filled again.
Ohhh, how I miss the holidays.
One of my tablet batteries is spoilt. It can only last up to thirty minutes. And I don't think I can get the faulty battery replaced anytime soon since a lot of people have the same problem. The TAs just asked me to write down my particulars and the battery's serial number. D:
Yesterday's guitar lesson was per usual, everyone was pretty quiet. It was pretty amusing when it came to Kai Ming's and Cheng Meng's turn to play though. I think all of us have pretty much forgotten how soft Kai Ming plays since he had to stop playing due to his right hand injury last month. The teacher then said that his fingernails are too short to play that's why the sound produced is so soft. But the thing was: Kai Ming's fingernails are quite long. It was only when the teacher came nearer to inspect his nails did he understand why we were giggling. Kai Ming was also staring at his nails, thinking how much longer and sharper must they be. That was when the teacher corrected himself and asked him to play with more strength.
As for Cheng Meng, he forgot to bring his book, so he had to share with Owen. But because the song we were playing is a revision for the exam, he could memorise part of it. Till he had to stop halfway just to see what is the next bar. And he had to stick his head out to read from Owen's stand. It looked pretty comical.
After my class, my mum and I went to take a look at the annual Hokkaido Fair at Tampines Mall atrium. I bought a melon bun, Hanami dango, and Kinako kushi dango. It was quite a mistake though since I felt really full after eating all of them. My mum refused to eat them because they were too sweet for her. Sheesh.
Oh, in a bid to improve my Chinese language skills, if it is of any help at all, I have decided to have a Mandarin blog. Hahahahahah, let's see how long it can last!
So it's back to school once more:
Homework, projects and lessons are piling up. Free time has been greatly reduced. Sleep deprivation has started to make its presence felt. The scheduler is getting filled again.
Ohhh, how I miss the holidays.
One of my tablet batteries is spoilt. It can only last up to thirty minutes. And I don't think I can get the faulty battery replaced anytime soon since a lot of people have the same problem. The TAs just asked me to write down my particulars and the battery's serial number. D:
Yesterday's guitar lesson was per usual, everyone was pretty quiet. It was pretty amusing when it came to Kai Ming's and Cheng Meng's turn to play though. I think all of us have pretty much forgotten how soft Kai Ming plays since he had to stop playing due to his right hand injury last month. The teacher then said that his fingernails are too short to play that's why the sound produced is so soft. But the thing was: Kai Ming's fingernails are quite long. It was only when the teacher came nearer to inspect his nails did he understand why we were giggling. Kai Ming was also staring at his nails, thinking how much longer and sharper must they be. That was when the teacher corrected himself and asked him to play with more strength.
As for Cheng Meng, he forgot to bring his book, so he had to share with Owen. But because the song we were playing is a revision for the exam, he could memorise part of it. Till he had to stop halfway just to see what is the next bar. And he had to stick his head out to read from Owen's stand. It looked pretty comical.
After my class, my mum and I went to take a look at the annual Hokkaido Fair at Tampines Mall atrium. I bought a melon bun, Hanami dango, and Kinako kushi dango. It was quite a mistake though since I felt really full after eating all of them. My mum refused to eat them because they were too sweet for her. Sheesh.
Oh, in a bid to improve my Chinese language skills, if it is of any help at all, I have decided to have a Mandarin blog. Hahahahahah, let's see how long it can last!
Labels: guitar, School Days
Follow your pulse. Follow your heart.
Monday, June 08, 2009 @ 9:54 pm leave a comment? | 0 shed some light
'Dance, Subaru!' is a touching movie about a woman's passion for dance and the many obstacles in her path. It may sound cliche but I think the characters were portrayed very well in all aspects.
I vaguely remember a younger me pleading in vain with my mother in my bid to become a ballerina. Pity the only response I got from her was that I was too fat. I stopped any valiant attempts at unleashing my inner dancing self since then. Dancing is still an enjoyable activity when I get the rare opportunity to do it though.
Saturday's lunch at Shokudo thereafter ended on a sour note unfortunately. My mother was displeased with the staff's serving etiquette. I could only smile sympathetically while the poor guy listened to my mother's complaints. Her complaints were not totally unfounded however. It took them twenty-five minutes to take our orders and another twenty minutes to serve us. The waiter also forgot to give us our cutlery and we did not get any serviettes. Most appalling fact was that they forgot to serve us our dessert after the main course. Which was why I did not try to help or argue with my mother while she unleashed her frustrations onto the poor soul. It was the wrong person she scolded though. The one who 'promised' to serve us vanished after that and we had to get another person to take our order. That poor guy had many other orders and if I'm not wrong, he'd asked his colleague to take over. Someone who displayed a suitably unprofessional working etiquette that caused my mother to start fuming. The least they could do was to apologise profusely and deduct the service charge from the total cost of our meal. At least their food was good.
Guitar lesson yesterday was alright I guess. I somehow managed to miss that 'F' note in the last few bars though. The teacher also taught us how to tune our guitars by the ear even though he went through that two years ago if my memory serves well enough. This was the first time he tested us on it though. I took some time because I kind of got mixed up and ended up tuning to the wrong string although I got it sorted on my own in the end.
I immediately proposed for us to start from the other end of the class instead so that I could buy some time before my turn. Cheng Meng's rasgueado was really good. And Gabriel was also pretty good at it and could play it at the normal tempo. He really is good I guess, since he is supposed to be one grade above all of us. I did alright at my turn although I got lost halfway and had to start all over again. Tammy had a little difficulty with the 'aggressive' sound thing that applies to all flamenco pieces. Somehow, Soon Yee and I could not stop laughing once Ji Xuan (I think that's his name) played. It was such a contrast. He was playing it too aggressively in my opinion. I was a little afraid that the strings would snap. I felt kind of bad for laughing though.
I also went to Bugis after this morning's classes with Mandy and Jolene. With more than two hours to kill before the movie, we went to Takashimaya after buying our tickets. Also, due to the limited choice of movies to watch, we ended up watching 'Monsters VS Aliens'. Lunch at Mos Burger was going along pretty much normally until Mandy almost threw down the plastic basket that Mos Burger provides for its set meals. She didn't know they were not disposable and were reusable, much to our chagrin.
A huge portion of time was spent at Kinokuniya, whereby Mandy held a great internal debate as to whether she should buy the new manga.
Although we were initially shocked at our choice of movie too, it must be said that the movie was nice to watch. There was a great sense of humor in the plot and the dialogue between the characters. Especially the last part whereby the blue blob was confused as to who Derrick first dated. Pfft.
I vaguely remember a younger me pleading in vain with my mother in my bid to become a ballerina. Pity the only response I got from her was that I was too fat. I stopped any valiant attempts at unleashing my inner dancing self since then. Dancing is still an enjoyable activity when I get the rare opportunity to do it though.
Saturday's lunch at Shokudo thereafter ended on a sour note unfortunately. My mother was displeased with the staff's serving etiquette. I could only smile sympathetically while the poor guy listened to my mother's complaints. Her complaints were not totally unfounded however. It took them twenty-five minutes to take our orders and another twenty minutes to serve us. The waiter also forgot to give us our cutlery and we did not get any serviettes. Most appalling fact was that they forgot to serve us our dessert after the main course. Which was why I did not try to help or argue with my mother while she unleashed her frustrations onto the poor soul. It was the wrong person she scolded though. The one who 'promised' to serve us vanished after that and we had to get another person to take our order. That poor guy had many other orders and if I'm not wrong, he'd asked his colleague to take over. Someone who displayed a suitably unprofessional working etiquette that caused my mother to start fuming. The least they could do was to apologise profusely and deduct the service charge from the total cost of our meal. At least their food was good.
Guitar lesson yesterday was alright I guess. I somehow managed to miss that 'F' note in the last few bars though. The teacher also taught us how to tune our guitars by the ear even though he went through that two years ago if my memory serves well enough. This was the first time he tested us on it though. I took some time because I kind of got mixed up and ended up tuning to the wrong string although I got it sorted on my own in the end.
I immediately proposed for us to start from the other end of the class instead so that I could buy some time before my turn. Cheng Meng's rasgueado was really good. And Gabriel was also pretty good at it and could play it at the normal tempo. He really is good I guess, since he is supposed to be one grade above all of us. I did alright at my turn although I got lost halfway and had to start all over again. Tammy had a little difficulty with the 'aggressive' sound thing that applies to all flamenco pieces. Somehow, Soon Yee and I could not stop laughing once Ji Xuan (I think that's his name) played. It was such a contrast. He was playing it too aggressively in my opinion. I was a little afraid that the strings would snap. I felt kind of bad for laughing though.
I also went to Bugis after this morning's classes with Mandy and Jolene. With more than two hours to kill before the movie, we went to Takashimaya after buying our tickets. Also, due to the limited choice of movies to watch, we ended up watching 'Monsters VS Aliens'. Lunch at Mos Burger was going along pretty much normally until Mandy almost threw down the plastic basket that Mos Burger provides for its set meals. She didn't know they were not disposable and were reusable, much to our chagrin.
A huge portion of time was spent at Kinokuniya, whereby Mandy held a great internal debate as to whether she should buy the new manga.
Although we were initially shocked at our choice of movie too, it must be said that the movie was nice to watch. There was a great sense of humor in the plot and the dialogue between the characters. Especially the last part whereby the blue blob was confused as to who Derrick first dated. Pfft.
Bumbling Lives
Tuesday, June 02, 2009 @ 9:36 pm leave a comment? | 0 shed some light
Yesterday's concert was good. ACJC choir has always been good from what I heard therefore it was not surprising that they performed well last night. And their concert booklet's cool! With the cover being lightly embossed at the side, it looks really stylish.
I spent the day doing homework at a snail's pace while chatting on MSN. Dinner at TCC with Yibin and Claudia was nice. The sandwich was really delicious albeit a tad too filling.
As for my guitar lessons, I was prepared to be relieved when we finally finish the entire Romance D'Amor piece - only to be intimidated by the new flamenco song we are required to learn. Rasgueado has always been my weakness. I am also dreading learning tremolo since it seems even more difficult to muster than rasgueado. And after doing rasgueado in most pieces, my fingernails are all scratched from the strumming since we are using the back of all our fingers instead of our index and thumb in normal strumming. I have a feeling that after this Sunday, we are going to move on to tremelo, finally, after one year. I must must must try my best for my rasgueado. It's the main reason why I always dread flamenco pieces. Hopefull my rhythm will be alright since I always get thrown off at each new bar. Good bye, my pink, flawless nails. Hello, scratched torn nails. My fingernails have always been my sacrifice for classical guitar playing and I think it's pretty much the same for the rest of those who are learning too.
I was overjoyed upon learning that we are learning 'You Raise Me Up' by, one of my favourite singers, Josh Groban!! Of course, we are singing the choral and not the pop version and hence the rhythm is quite different. But it is indeed a much better song to sing than 'Kalinka' since we still have problems with the dynamics for that song.
I spent the day doing homework at a snail's pace while chatting on MSN. Dinner at TCC with Yibin and Claudia was nice. The sandwich was really delicious albeit a tad too filling.
As for my guitar lessons, I was prepared to be relieved when we finally finish the entire Romance D'Amor piece - only to be intimidated by the new flamenco song we are required to learn. Rasgueado has always been my weakness. I am also dreading learning tremolo since it seems even more difficult to muster than rasgueado. And after doing rasgueado in most pieces, my fingernails are all scratched from the strumming since we are using the back of all our fingers instead of our index and thumb in normal strumming. I have a feeling that after this Sunday, we are going to move on to tremelo, finally, after one year. I must must must try my best for my rasgueado. It's the main reason why I always dread flamenco pieces. Hopefull my rhythm will be alright since I always get thrown off at each new bar. Good bye, my pink, flawless nails. Hello, scratched torn nails. My fingernails have always been my sacrifice for classical guitar playing and I think it's pretty much the same for the rest of those who are learning too.
I was overjoyed upon learning that we are learning 'You Raise Me Up' by, one of my favourite singers, Josh Groban!! Of course, we are singing the choral and not the pop version and hence the rhythm is quite different. But it is indeed a much better song to sing than 'Kalinka' since we still have problems with the dynamics for that song.
Labels: choir, guitar, School Days
the short bout of peace
Monday, December 08, 2008 @ 8:43 pm leave a comment? | 0 shed some light
This whole week has been about choir. And I can say now that I really love WYCF 2008. Especially the pre-festival camp period.
Somehow, I even got a family there. Agnes is my 'mother', with Michelle (bunny) as her husband and many other people being tied into it. XD
Everyone was great and spontaneous and made new friends. I think after this ends I will be at lost with what to do with my time.
It's the first time I've been crammed with nine songs to learn within a week. Each morning will bring a new song to learn and scores to read. It was also really great meeting so many people who are passionate about singing and so friendly to each other.
Although it was only until Thursday that SSA needed to combine with SATB for the combined songs, I didn't really get to mix with Evangeline and Yibin. We go for lunch together though. And Yibin has developed this strange fascination with mayonnaise.
Saturday's combined rehearsal with SNYO for the theme song was cool. We got to see their own rehearsal with Mr Lim Yau and they are really good. Their discipline is also the best I've ever seen actually. Anyway, for once I could sing my very loudest as we were all trying to sing louder than the orchestra. Ms Ong always asked me to sing softer so it felt liberating to sing so loud.
Sunday's guitar lesson was fine and I did some advertising about the festival. Somehow I don't think anyone understood what I said though. Kai Ming just had this really amused expression on his face while the others just looked blank.
After that my mum and I shopped for my concert attire. I managed to get a white blouse before we met Auntie Shirlene and Auntie Clara for a dinner buffet at the Holiday Inn. The buffet was somewhat limited unfortunately. After dinner, we went to look for my skirt and managed to find a black skirt pants at Robinsons. I still find that skirt pants a little weird since I'm not used to such...wide pants.
By the way, if anyone is interested in watching us perform, please get the tickets at $11 from Sistic. I heard that visitors can drop by to watch us rehearse at VCH in the mornings too. =]
Somehow, I even got a family there. Agnes is my 'mother', with Michelle (bunny) as her husband and many other people being tied into it. XD
Everyone was great and spontaneous and made new friends. I think after this ends I will be at lost with what to do with my time.
It's the first time I've been crammed with nine songs to learn within a week. Each morning will bring a new song to learn and scores to read. It was also really great meeting so many people who are passionate about singing and so friendly to each other.
Although it was only until Thursday that SSA needed to combine with SATB for the combined songs, I didn't really get to mix with Evangeline and Yibin. We go for lunch together though. And Yibin has developed this strange fascination with mayonnaise.
Saturday's combined rehearsal with SNYO for the theme song was cool. We got to see their own rehearsal with Mr Lim Yau and they are really good. Their discipline is also the best I've ever seen actually. Anyway, for once I could sing my very loudest as we were all trying to sing louder than the orchestra. Ms Ong always asked me to sing softer so it felt liberating to sing so loud.
Sunday's guitar lesson was fine and I did some advertising about the festival. Somehow I don't think anyone understood what I said though. Kai Ming just had this really amused expression on his face while the others just looked blank.
After that my mum and I shopped for my concert attire. I managed to get a white blouse before we met Auntie Shirlene and Auntie Clara for a dinner buffet at the Holiday Inn. The buffet was somewhat limited unfortunately. After dinner, we went to look for my skirt and managed to find a black skirt pants at Robinsons. I still find that skirt pants a little weird since I'm not used to such...wide pants.
By the way, if anyone is interested in watching us perform, please get the tickets at $11 from Sistic. I heard that visitors can drop by to watch us rehearse at VCH in the mornings too. =]
Babaa Black Sheep
Wednesday, November 26, 2008 @ 9:52 pm leave a comment? | 0 shed some light
I almost got burnt this evening while cooking. In order to wipe off stain for the stove, I used a piece of tissue paper. And it caught fire since I forgot to turn off the gas. The best part was that I didn't even realise it... I was wondering where was the smell coming from. The flame also got pretty big so I just threw it in to the basin where it continued to dance wildly. So I flooded the basin and was left with black stuff and some residue. Well, I didn't get burnt, which is definitely good. 0-0
Choir did really well for Musical Evening. We were much better than our Happening Happenings! concert performance.
I managed to stomp and clap in time for The Joiku and remembered all my moves for the ABBA medley part. For Chiquitita, my painful expression was genuine since I actually "tore" my wound while kneeling down for the first verse. Thank goodness I did remember to paste a plaster on it since it was bleeding horribly when I took it off once I reached home.
Everyone had fun that day I suppose. We did warm-ups in school for the morning. Also asked Evangeline for help with my tying of hair although my hair needed a lot of help since I really have so many layers with different lengths. I used three types of hairspray. Ms Seow also insisted that I tidy my fringe and show my forehead since it covers my eyes. It was good that I didn't die from the smell of it all.
Once we reached NUS, we went to one of their many canteens for our lunch. Mr Tan told us why it's called the 'Central Canteen' when we arrived. Everyone expected a sophisticated explanation but he just said, " It's called the Central canteen because it's in the center of the whole campus. "
Hahaha. Anyway, I ate my Italian butter bread there since my mum already packed it for me.
Once Ziyu finally finished her big bowl of noodles, everyone went of to Yong Siew Toh. We got the same dressing rooms as the ones we had for our last performance there. People then began to tidy their hair and used the hairsprays like there's no tomorrow. And they chose to use the Sopranos dressing room for the hair spray thing specifically. Therefore I decided to become a temporary alto and went next door to put on my make up and breathe in human air instead of inhaling that vile stuff.
By the way, I just read this article on hair spray this week. Apparently, hair spray can affect pregnant women with sons. There is the high possibility of the boy getting some genital defection. This article was found in the Today paper FYI.
I'm not at all prepared for next week's WYCF sessions. Why must I be isolated from the rest of the girls. My mum is also sympathetic - but it's for a different reason altogether. She wonders why I don't get to be with the boys and have to be with the SSA choir. -.-
At least Christel is in SSA too, although I couldn't find her name in my WYCF section name list.
Cheng Meng's ( I don't know how to spell his name ) chosen pop song, 童话 is really difficult to play. Sure, it sounds nice, but I seriously cannot change key in right in the middle of the song. I just get confused and play some gibberish. Hopefully, next week's Christmas songs will be easier to comprehend.
I was actually too lazy to post something but I wanted more people come here for tag-tags. D:
Choir did really well for Musical Evening. We were much better than our Happening Happenings! concert performance.
I managed to stomp and clap in time for The Joiku and remembered all my moves for the ABBA medley part. For Chiquitita, my painful expression was genuine since I actually "tore" my wound while kneeling down for the first verse. Thank goodness I did remember to paste a plaster on it since it was bleeding horribly when I took it off once I reached home.
Everyone had fun that day I suppose. We did warm-ups in school for the morning. Also asked Evangeline for help with my tying of hair although my hair needed a lot of help since I really have so many layers with different lengths. I used three types of hairspray. Ms Seow also insisted that I tidy my fringe and show my forehead since it covers my eyes. It was good that I didn't die from the smell of it all.
Once we reached NUS, we went to one of their many canteens for our lunch. Mr Tan told us why it's called the 'Central Canteen' when we arrived. Everyone expected a sophisticated explanation but he just said, " It's called the Central canteen because it's in the center of the whole campus. "
Hahaha. Anyway, I ate my Italian butter bread there since my mum already packed it for me.
Once Ziyu finally finished her big bowl of noodles, everyone went of to Yong Siew Toh. We got the same dressing rooms as the ones we had for our last performance there. People then began to tidy their hair and used the hairsprays like there's no tomorrow. And they chose to use the Sopranos dressing room for the hair spray thing specifically. Therefore I decided to become a temporary alto and went next door to put on my make up and breathe in human air instead of inhaling that vile stuff.
By the way, I just read this article on hair spray this week. Apparently, hair spray can affect pregnant women with sons. There is the high possibility of the boy getting some genital defection. This article was found in the Today paper FYI.
I'm not at all prepared for next week's WYCF sessions. Why must I be isolated from the rest of the girls. My mum is also sympathetic - but it's for a different reason altogether. She wonders why I don't get to be with the boys and have to be with the SSA choir. -.-
At least Christel is in SSA too, although I couldn't find her name in my WYCF section name list.
Cheng Meng's ( I don't know how to spell his name ) chosen pop song, 童话 is really difficult to play. Sure, it sounds nice, but I seriously cannot change key in right in the middle of the song. I just get confused and play some gibberish. Hopefully, next week's Christmas songs will be easier to comprehend.
I was actually too lazy to post something but I wanted more people come here for tag-tags. D:
Labels: choir, Crez chorale, guitar
Oh, what a night!
Sunday, October 12, 2008 @ 7:57 pm leave a comment? | 0 shed some light
I think my mother is the only one who can watch a movie after shopping at NTUC. Well, she didn't buy any food - just the necessary paper napkins etc. Still, it should be difficult watching a movie with those plastic shopping bags isn't it? Not to mention that my dearest mother actually emptied half of the popcorn onto my lap when she laughed. We were watching the movie 'Mama Mia' and yes, it's a great movie with many funny lines. With the box of popcorn wedged between us, she tipped the thing over while laughing and I found my lap covered with the popcorn. I sort of gave out a little shriek but I think the music should have covered it. Oh well.
By the way, 'Mama Mia' is a really good movie. =]
My mother is keeping a tight control over the number of soft toys I have now. Mummy even said that I should not get any soft toys for this year's birthday since my bed is invaded by them. I don't sleep on my bed anyway - there's no space for me anymore. There's Eeyore I, Eeyore II, Eeyore III, Pooh bear number 30 ( I think ), Piglet III, Baby Tiger, Rilakkuma, Mr. Green Bear, Mother bear, Baby bear, the key chain that Sheree gave me as a souvenir from her trip to Switzerland. There are still a few others but I kind of forgot their names. And the rest have been squashed inside my toy boxes by my mum. I don't mind any new additions to my little family though. =D
This is a failed attempt today
By the way, 'Mama Mia' is a really good movie. =]
My mother is keeping a tight control over the number of soft toys I have now. Mummy even said that I should not get any soft toys for this year's birthday since my bed is invaded by them. I don't sleep on my bed anyway - there's no space for me anymore. There's Eeyore I, Eeyore II, Eeyore III, Pooh bear number 30 ( I think ), Piglet III, Baby Tiger, Rilakkuma, Mr. Green Bear, Mother bear, Baby bear, the key chain that Sheree gave me as a souvenir from her trip to Switzerland. There are still a few others but I kind of forgot their names. And the rest have been squashed inside my toy boxes by my mum. I don't mind any new additions to my little family though. =D
This is a failed attempt today
Me:You know, mummy, that doggy looks so cute!!!!
Mummy: You have enough soft toys to last you a lifetime!
Me: Come on...
Mummy: Any one's birthday coming up? Then can buy for them.
Me: Yeah!! There's mine!!
Mummy: No. You have enough toys.
Me: But my toys need to have friends too.
Mummy: Yah, they have enough friends already!
Me: No, they should network more. Networking is always good for your social well being. And they are so lonely at home.
Mummy: ...
Hahaha, she still didn't let me have the dog though.
Today's class was alright, I guess. The teacher said that I should try to stick to the technique he gave us although my way isn't wrong. Well, I can't play harmonics as well if I use his technique. Eugene took a pretty long time just to produce a sound from his guitar when playing the harmonics today. So much so that Kai Ming had to ask for permission to step outside - to stop laughing. Well, it's kind of funny maybe but not to the extent of laughing to hard...Maybe he breathed in some laughing gas. =D Oh and we got another piece to learn : 'Fly Me To The Moon'. Apparently, only two, including me, out of seven (three were absent) have even heard of this song. It's Juniper's favourite song XD Even Yibin will sing it at random moments. And it's quite a well-known song. And I'm the only one who heard of the song 'More Than Words' in the class. Gosh.
Neopets is starting to be a popular source of entertainment for my classmates. Haha, I find it fun too. I was kind of coerced to start an account. Anyway, I must admit that it's fun and amusing.
Labels: guitar, School Days
hear here
Sunday, September 14, 2008 @ 6:40 pm leave a comment? | 0 shed some light
I wonder what is the cause of a phobia. And I wonder how absurd can people's phobias get. Like phobias of pigeons and flying objects.
Unfortunately, I can say that I belong to this group of people who are terrorised almost daily just because of these ridiculous fears that have found a way to carve a home in our little timid hearts. Of course, I'm not that stupid as to post all my phobias here since Internet is a very dangerous place and I know some will want to scare me. I have all the common phobias: deep waters, creepy crawlies etc. However, I also have weird fears of animals which are within a 5m radius. Unless they got a muzzle on. Cruel as it seems, I am not those cutesy girls who fawn over a cute puppy or kitten.
The trip that TK organised to SPCA five years ago was troubling for me even then. Sure, I didn't run away from the place (it was because I was so afraid the animals would chase after me if I started pushing my chubby legs). They put a rabbit on my lap. Well, I kind of volunteered since I would have to be near that suspiciously looking cat. I was thinking: A rabbit wouldn't have claws as sharp as a cat's right? And they don't look as vicious. I didn't know rabbit had such sharp nails. It dug its nails right into the towel they put onto my lap I was so scared and needed to take deep breaths to calm myself down since they said that animals can sense humans' emotions and they will run wild if they feel nervous. The only thing I could do was to stroke it gently and promise it silently that I will not run and throw it on the floor if it doesn't bite/claw at me.
Funny, I loved animals like crazy when I was much younger. I still remember I almost squeezed a chick to death with my overwhelming love at some egg farm my mum brought me to. Right now, the only animals I love are those animal designs on objects. I can't even remember when it started, this problematic fear. I almost fainted when Klare suggested for us to go to SPCA for SiA last year.
The next most idiotic fear would be calling others on the phone. I don't think it can be classified as a phobia actually. When I call a person, the minute the other party picks up the call, my mind goes blank. Unless the stuff that I want to say is urgent, otherwise I will need some time before starting. My mum thinks that it's a serious problem since I won't call my friends. Therefore she gets happy when the phone actually rings.
"If We Hold On Together" sure is a great song, but it's a tough song to play too. Anyway, we changed to an easier song to play today. All of us were so relieved.
Anyway, on a lighter note, since you are such a loyal reader as to read the whole draggy post, here's a lovely story written by writers Suet Yi and Mei Jun:
It is a good story - considering the fact that we managed to put in all the keywords that Mrs Lau gave us (those in bold. ) and that we did in in less than five minutes.
Unfortunately, I can say that I belong to this group of people who are terrorised almost daily just because of these ridiculous fears that have found a way to carve a home in our little timid hearts. Of course, I'm not that stupid as to post all my phobias here since Internet is a very dangerous place and I know some will want to scare me. I have all the common phobias: deep waters, creepy crawlies etc. However, I also have weird fears of animals which are within a 5m radius. Unless they got a muzzle on. Cruel as it seems, I am not those cutesy girls who fawn over a cute puppy or kitten.
The trip that TK organised to SPCA five years ago was troubling for me even then. Sure, I didn't run away from the place (it was because I was so afraid the animals would chase after me if I started pushing my chubby legs). They put a rabbit on my lap. Well, I kind of volunteered since I would have to be near that suspiciously looking cat. I was thinking: A rabbit wouldn't have claws as sharp as a cat's right? And they don't look as vicious. I didn't know rabbit had such sharp nails. It dug its nails right into the towel they put onto my lap I was so scared and needed to take deep breaths to calm myself down since they said that animals can sense humans' emotions and they will run wild if they feel nervous. The only thing I could do was to stroke it gently and promise it silently that I will not run and throw it on the floor if it doesn't bite/claw at me.
Funny, I loved animals like crazy when I was much younger. I still remember I almost squeezed a chick to death with my overwhelming love at some egg farm my mum brought me to. Right now, the only animals I love are those animal designs on objects. I can't even remember when it started, this problematic fear. I almost fainted when Klare suggested for us to go to SPCA for SiA last year.
The next most idiotic fear would be calling others on the phone. I don't think it can be classified as a phobia actually. When I call a person, the minute the other party picks up the call, my mind goes blank. Unless the stuff that I want to say is urgent, otherwise I will need some time before starting. My mum thinks that it's a serious problem since I won't call my friends. Therefore she gets happy when the phone actually rings.
"If We Hold On Together" sure is a great song, but it's a tough song to play too. Anyway, we changed to an easier song to play today. All of us were so relieved.
Anyway, on a lighter note, since you are such a loyal reader as to read the whole draggy post, here's a lovely story written by writers Suet Yi and Mei Jun:
The dark tropical jungle smelled full of fear and death. Two brave explorers, Suet Yi and Mei Jun, were very, very hungry. Their food supply got stolen by a gorilla, Ah Ming, the night before.
Nervously, they crept through the muddy, unstable ground, afraid that they might fall. Suddenly, Suet Yi's leg got stuck in the mud.
Trembling, Mei Jun wrinkled her nose and stretched out her hand into the mud to help to pull Suet Yi's leg out. Unfortunately, Mei Jun got cut by thorn which was protruding out from a bush in the mud. Almost simultaneously, Suet Yi and Mei Jun sank deeper into the mud.
At that moment, they could hear chanting from a distance. A group of people clad in tribal clothes were marching towards them. Being stuck in the mud, they were unable to escape when the men tied them up. There was a brief flash of defiance in Mei Jun's eyes, which turned into an aghast expression once she realised that the men were cannibals.
A huge-sized man, presumably the leader of the cannibals, had a smile of pure stunned joy once he knew they had caught food.
It is a good story - considering the fact that we managed to put in all the keywords that Mrs Lau gave us (those in bold. ) and that we did in in less than five minutes.
Labels: guitar, School Days
summary
Wednesday, September 03, 2008 @ 11:09 am leave a comment? | 0 shed some light
Quite a few people forgot to bring their PE shirts to school last week for the ACES day workout. Anyway, I think I failed miserably in the dance workout. I did not know what I was doing... We had to separate into our houses after the workout for the mass dance. We got to see each house dance their very own creation. Although Keller had some initial technical hiccups, we got the first prize!!! Yes, I love Keller the most. Of course, we got our own free class interaction after the mass dance segment. Alas, Ms Li was so busy chatting with her fellow teacher that she was pretty late in her arrival. Mr Tham also had to wait for her as we wanted to blind-fold both of them. It was quite fun though. And we used the councillors' ties as blind-folds. We then led them into their kingdom, where everyone was waiting to crown our beloved teachers.
The two teachers gave us their royal "speech" in the classroom after that. Overall, this year's concert was great =D
Since I told Victoria that I will meet her at TK, I went there after meeting my mum for lunch at Bugis.
It is kind of weird meeting your childhood friends after two years. When I say childhood friends, I mean those that I met since young. Like Cynthia, whom I have known since I think...kindergarden to Primary six? And the rest like Melissa and Don are those that I have known since Primary one. Hahas, They actually look the same to me. I didn't really know how to talk to them since the atmosphere was really tense. Plus, the other three are in the same Secondary school. All of us then waited for Victoria to come while chatting with the teachers individually.
After Victoria came, things became a bit better but I still found communication tough. I kind of feel left out now, hahas. Cynthia and Melissa were friendly though. And I wonder what's with the NPCC trend. Yeow Yang, Weng Lun and Don all joined NPCC. Anyway, Mrs Quek invited all of us to return for the Christmas party at the end of this year. Urgh, I don't know if I really want to go now...
Even after Shermine came, it was still quiet. Karen and I more or less ignored each other since we were not that close anyway. Hahas, and I couldn't talk to Don since it was too strange...what can you say to someone who argued with you over the most insignificant things since Primary one. -.-
Anyway, maybe it's because I left TK earlier than them in Primary six, therefore I'm not really that close to them anymore. Still, it makes me feel so old...remembering the days whereby all of us played together. That was in Primary one to four, I think. After that, most of us were not as close. There was Pei Yi, Hui Xuan, Weng Lun, Qian Yi and uhm, I forgot the last person's name. Oh gosh, am I really that old?
Saturday was spent with Mummy and Auntie Shirlene in Orchard Road. We went to some Chinese restaurant at Paragon for lunch. The chicken was good but I couldn't finish my share. I got sick of the chicken after a while ( most of the dishes had meat ). It was pretty much the usual actually. After lunch, the adults sat at some cafe to chat through maybe two hours. Auntie Shirlene said that I should pack some cup noodles if I'm going to Europe. That's if the trip to Prague really comes true. After all, ten days without rice or noodles may kill me. And I have to remember to bring some medication otherwise I will kill myself during the flight.
We are currently learning "If We Hold on Together" in my guitar class now. Unfortunately, I have no confidence to learn the piece since the page is full of barre chords. At least I have two weeks to learn the chorus =D
Oh well, there's choir later. Ta.
The two teachers gave us their royal "speech" in the classroom after that. Overall, this year's concert was great =D
Since I told Victoria that I will meet her at TK, I went there after meeting my mum for lunch at Bugis.
It is kind of weird meeting your childhood friends after two years. When I say childhood friends, I mean those that I met since young. Like Cynthia, whom I have known since I think...kindergarden to Primary six? And the rest like Melissa and Don are those that I have known since Primary one. Hahas, They actually look the same to me. I didn't really know how to talk to them since the atmosphere was really tense. Plus, the other three are in the same Secondary school. All of us then waited for Victoria to come while chatting with the teachers individually.
After Victoria came, things became a bit better but I still found communication tough. I kind of feel left out now, hahas. Cynthia and Melissa were friendly though. And I wonder what's with the NPCC trend. Yeow Yang, Weng Lun and Don all joined NPCC. Anyway, Mrs Quek invited all of us to return for the Christmas party at the end of this year. Urgh, I don't know if I really want to go now...
Even after Shermine came, it was still quiet. Karen and I more or less ignored each other since we were not that close anyway. Hahas, and I couldn't talk to Don since it was too strange...what can you say to someone who argued with you over the most insignificant things since Primary one. -.-
Anyway, maybe it's because I left TK earlier than them in Primary six, therefore I'm not really that close to them anymore. Still, it makes me feel so old...remembering the days whereby all of us played together. That was in Primary one to four, I think. After that, most of us were not as close. There was Pei Yi, Hui Xuan, Weng Lun, Qian Yi and uhm, I forgot the last person's name. Oh gosh, am I really that old?
Saturday was spent with Mummy and Auntie Shirlene in Orchard Road. We went to some Chinese restaurant at Paragon for lunch. The chicken was good but I couldn't finish my share. I got sick of the chicken after a while ( most of the dishes had meat ). It was pretty much the usual actually. After lunch, the adults sat at some cafe to chat through maybe two hours. Auntie Shirlene said that I should pack some cup noodles if I'm going to Europe. That's if the trip to Prague really comes true. After all, ten days without rice or noodles may kill me. And I have to remember to bring some medication otherwise I will kill myself during the flight.
We are currently learning "If We Hold on Together" in my guitar class now. Unfortunately, I have no confidence to learn the piece since the page is full of barre chords. At least I have two weeks to learn the chorus =D
Oh well, there's choir later. Ta.
Labels: guitar, School Days, teachers' day
原因：不要烫衣服。
Sunday, August 17, 2008 @ 6:52 pm leave a comment? | 0 shed some light
Friday's D&T test was tough. I finally know how great Mr Ho was in making our papers easy. I can see that Mr Chu intends to kill us all with his questions on isometric drawings and orthographic projections. Jessie predicted wrongly about the designing question. She guessed that we would be asked to designed something easy like a flowerpot. No one expected that we would need to come up with three items as souvenirs for the Youth Olympics in 2010. Anyway, I stressed a lot on Singapore's climatic conditions in my anecdotes for my designs. After all, many tourists complained about the heat and the humidity in our sunny little island. With only two minutes left, my last design was a plush toy. No one can resist a cute, hug-able soft toy.
Chinese oral was kind of a disaster. I was supposed to be the first for my group but thank goodness Sarah needed to go for her tuition hence she went before me. Yimin and I went on the same turn. After three minutes, we were told to stop but Yimin kept trying to peek underneath. She didn't finish reading I guess. For the conversation category, everyone expected to be asked about Olympics. However, it turned out to be something about uniformed groups.
很多学生都不喜欢参与制服团体。以你的看法，说出一些原因。
I made up a lot of stuff that were mostly weird. The teacher was the same as last year and she's nice - she's very encouraging. My strangest statement was
“很多家长不鼓励孩子参加制服团体因为他们必须烫很多衣服。制服团体的学生都有很多制服。。。”
Oh well.
English lesson on that day was sort of fun. We had to list out grammatically-sound sentences describing what are the things that annoy us and those don't. Many put people smoking as annoying as the cigarette fumes are suffocating.
I went to the TA after oral as one of the parts of my tablet had been pushed into another compartment. Thank goodness it took only twenty minutes.
Today's lesson was alright. We were given another piece to practise on. I was really distracted by the flickering lights in the room. 'Twas like a solemn version of disco lights.
I shall now proceed onwards - to win the battle against Flash. How I hate creating web pages.
Labels: guitar, School Days
painfully beautiful.
Sunday, August 03, 2008 @ 8:49 pm leave a comment? | 0 shed some light
The fingers on my left hand feel like they are going to split into two each. Romance De Amour is a beautiful yet painful song to play. The barre chords nearly killed my fingers and I couldn't stretch my fingers across five frets and those five frets were all at the higher end, meaning it's tough to press the strings down. Sure, I can stretch my fingers, but I can't produce the note since I can't even press that string down DDD:
We started on the new course book today and learnt another song. Which is easier than Romance De Amour but my fingers were hurting too much for me to play another barre chord.
About the National Day celebrations, I have no idea how I'm going to memorise ten national songs before Friday. At least I'm proving such great patriotism for my sunny little island here. =]
I stayed back on Friday for nothing. We were going to clear the gowns from the CCA room plus the scores to the Communicative Arts room. Unfortunately, there were literature lessons going on in the Comm Arts room for the Sec4s. It's getting annoying with the number of times we planned to stay back to pack when something just crop up and cause us to go home without doing anything.
Analysing Lady Macbeth's personality is killing me. I hope I will be able to pass Literature...I have no wish to take up pure Geog next year. Sure, I can pass that subject, but most of the time, I have no idea what I'm studying at all...it just isn't my cup of tea. Alas, I have to ace my Lit to get what I want.
There's also Physics...Since Primary five, I can say with much confidence that I dislike learning electricity. I vaguely remember day-dreaming my way through lessons on batteries and stuff. How I got good grades in Science was the fact that I memorised everything I read from the textbooks. I don't think I would be able to do that now though.
On a lighter note;
Due to the insanely humid weather, I'm exerting my utmost tolerance in refusing to cut my hair. Yes, I'm trying hard to keep my hair at a longer length. I don't intend to have it as long as what I had last time though as it was difficult to manage. Geraldine also told me that she wanted to keep her hair now ^^ We shall keep up with our efforts.
Why I want to have longer hair? After seeing my past hair accessories, and after walking countless shops selling such pretty hairbands, scrunchies, ties, ribbons, clips - I got tired of wishing to be able to use them instead of buying and giving them away since I can't use them. Silly as it may seem, it makes sense to me =D
BTW, I saw this really cute toddler at NTUC today. She was so pretty, sweet, wonderfully CUTE. We had a staring contest. I lost though since she can really stare. But she was so cute!!! If I had a sibling, I think I may have a serious complex =/
We started on the new course book today and learnt another song. Which is easier than Romance De Amour but my fingers were hurting too much for me to play another barre chord.
About the National Day celebrations, I have no idea how I'm going to memorise ten national songs before Friday. At least I'm proving such great patriotism for my sunny little island here. =]
I stayed back on Friday for nothing. We were going to clear the gowns from the CCA room plus the scores to the Communicative Arts room. Unfortunately, there were literature lessons going on in the Comm Arts room for the Sec4s. It's getting annoying with the number of times we planned to stay back to pack when something just crop up and cause us to go home without doing anything.
Analysing Lady Macbeth's personality is killing me. I hope I will be able to pass Literature...I have no wish to take up pure Geog next year. Sure, I can pass that subject, but most of the time, I have no idea what I'm studying at all...it just isn't my cup of tea. Alas, I have to ace my Lit to get what I want.
There's also Physics...Since Primary five, I can say with much confidence that I dislike learning electricity. I vaguely remember day-dreaming my way through lessons on batteries and stuff. How I got good grades in Science was the fact that I memorised everything I read from the textbooks. I don't think I would be able to do that now though.
On a lighter note;
Due to the insanely humid weather, I'm exerting my utmost tolerance in refusing to cut my hair. Yes, I'm trying hard to keep my hair at a longer length. I don't intend to have it as long as what I had last time though as it was difficult to manage. Geraldine also told me that she wanted to keep her hair now ^^ We shall keep up with our efforts.
Why I want to have longer hair? After seeing my past hair accessories, and after walking countless shops selling such pretty hairbands, scrunchies, ties, ribbons, clips - I got tired of wishing to be able to use them instead of buying and giving them away since I can't use them. Silly as it may seem, it makes sense to me =D
BTW, I saw this really cute toddler at NTUC today. She was so pretty, sweet, wonderfully CUTE. We had a staring contest. I lost though since she can really stare. But she was so cute!!! If I had a sibling, I think I may have a serious complex =/
Labels: choir, Crez chorale, guitar, School Days
Oops
Sunday, July 06, 2008 @ 10:33 pm leave a comment? | 0 shed some light
I forgot to post about Mr Poon who came in as a relief teacher for our geography period on Wednesday. Apparently, since our lovely oral examinations are approaching fast, he, as an English teacher did not want us to waste any time and wanted to help us practise our oratorical skills. To give an example of what 'monotonous' means, he randomly grabbed a book from the front row. The book happened to be the one lying on Harriet's table. He then proceeded to read. There was just one particular problem though: it seemed that the passage contained some explicit words that was not to be read to a big audience - especially when we are only young adults. I still remember what he remarked after his eyes widened at the choice of words used by the author, "Young people these days...What are they thinking...the choice of books...". Of course, he showed what 'monotonous' meant in the end - by quoting a paragraph on how the brain absorbs information found in a copy of Readers' Digest on Pearlyn's table. "This, is what you people should read." Was what Mr Poon announced, after he finished quoting.
The oral exercise that we did was to change partners every turn, and to expound on the topic he gave us right before our turns to speak. Since we were in pairs, so each will take turns to listen, speak and comment. Unfortunately, I did not get to speak when the topic in question was what I had confidence with. Instead, I got
When I was listening to Deborah explaining why Avril Lavinge was so trashy to her, I could only catch the three words: Like a mop. The rest was lost to my ears as she was TOO FAST. LOL, she later told me that she said that lavinge's hair is like a mop. XD
Oh yeah, about today's guitar class. My mum and I were rushing to Tampines Mall for my class and were waiting for the pedestrian light to turn green. There was this old man who didn't care about the traffic whatsoever and just proceeded to cross the road with his wife. He was saying, “要过，就过。”When my mum heard that, she told me, "What he meant was: 要死，就死。" XD
I made it in time and knocked into this poor soul when I was walking to the place. As both of us were walking towards each other and there was this corner, we just banged into each other. I didn't see him at first coz he was shorter than me. Hahas, poor guy.
I made a fool of myself during the class too. When the teacher called Tammy and me to play Guantanamera, I heard it as "Eugene and Tammy." So when I caught everyone looking at me, I was surprised and asked,"Huh? Wait, ME?". I heard Eugene snicker.
We got a new solo piece again - Speak Softly, Love. It sounds sad and somehow, I felt like giggling when the teacher played it once through for us. I think I'm mad.
The oral exercise that we did was to change partners every turn, and to expound on the topic he gave us right before our turns to speak. Since we were in pairs, so each will take turns to listen, speak and comment. Unfortunately, I did not get to speak when the topic in question was what I had confidence with. Instead, I got
Describe your dream wedding
Describe your dream husband
Give a joke
Explain: Why is ice cream healthy
Why are exams fun
When I was listening to Deborah explaining why Avril Lavinge was so trashy to her, I could only catch the three words: Like a mop. The rest was lost to my ears as she was TOO FAST. LOL, she later told me that she said that lavinge's hair is like a mop. XD
Oh yeah, about today's guitar class. My mum and I were rushing to Tampines Mall for my class and were waiting for the pedestrian light to turn green. There was this old man who didn't care about the traffic whatsoever and just proceeded to cross the road with his wife. He was saying, “要过，就过。”When my mum heard that, she told me, "What he meant was: 要死，就死。" XD
I made it in time and knocked into this poor soul when I was walking to the place. As both of us were walking towards each other and there was this corner, we just banged into each other. I didn't see him at first coz he was shorter than me. Hahas, poor guy.
I made a fool of myself during the class too. When the teacher called Tammy and me to play Guantanamera, I heard it as "Eugene and Tammy." So when I caught everyone looking at me, I was surprised and asked,"Huh? Wait, ME?". I heard Eugene snicker.
We got a new solo piece again - Speak Softly, Love. It sounds sad and somehow, I felt like giggling when the teacher played it once through for us. I think I'm mad.
Labels: guitar, School Days
blup blup
Sunday, June 29, 2008 @ 8:24 pm leave a comment? | 0 shed some light
The trip to Peacehaven was okay. It was quite awkward at the songbird [is that the name?] ward at first. Because of communication problems, it became difficult to understand the people there. Our singing was also, I would say, nice, but still not really great to listen to and I don't think our audience could even understand us. We brought fruits over and made origami for them too. After that, I went off with Pamela, Sihui and Jolene directly from Peacehaven. We took a bus to Pasir Ris MRT station. I didn't know that Downtown East changed so much - as in the entrance area.
I then spent quite a painful evening at home with my poor knee. It took quite a while for me to get to the shower as I was afraid of the pain. Never did I think that I would trip over a loose drain cover [again]. Drains are dangerous, aye.
Today's guitar lesson was good. Jason [ I think that's his name ] was suddenly so hyper and all - he kept volunteering for everything. And he shaved his head 0-0 I thought he became a monk or something. Turned out that he shaved for a cancer donation drive. He was asking Brandon why he didn't shave too [they are from the same school] and joked that Brandon doesn't have any sense of humanity. When teacher asked him to write out the rhythm on the board, Jason got it all wrong - except for the first beat. And teacher asked us, "Who thinks this is correct?". Only Jason raised his hand,"ME!". LOL.
We were given a new piece to learn again and Tammy and I were wondering which note should be sharp. We didn't ask the teacher so it was only until Eugene asked teacher that we knew. It seems to be quite a good thing to sit next to him as he would ask the teacher or if he knows, he would just do a demo. But in the class, there's still no conversation - unless you count those between Jason, Brandon and Nathaniel, or Tammy and Eugenia. And it has been almost eight months.
I then spent quite a painful evening at home with my poor knee. It took quite a while for me to get to the shower as I was afraid of the pain. Never did I think that I would trip over a loose drain cover [again]. Drains are dangerous, aye.
Today's guitar lesson was good. Jason [ I think that's his name ] was suddenly so hyper and all - he kept volunteering for everything. And he shaved his head 0-0 I thought he became a monk or something. Turned out that he shaved for a cancer donation drive. He was asking Brandon why he didn't shave too [they are from the same school] and joked that Brandon doesn't have any sense of humanity. When teacher asked him to write out the rhythm on the board, Jason got it all wrong - except for the first beat. And teacher asked us, "Who thinks this is correct?". Only Jason raised his hand,"ME!". LOL.
We were given a new piece to learn again and Tammy and I were wondering which note should be sharp. We didn't ask the teacher so it was only until Eugene asked teacher that we knew. It seems to be quite a good thing to sit next to him as he would ask the teacher or if he knows, he would just do a demo. But in the class, there's still no conversation - unless you count those between Jason, Brandon and Nathaniel, or Tammy and Eugenia. And it has been almost eight months.
Labels: guitar
