Samplers
Wei Wei has posted some of the last night's concert songs in the forum (or more accurately, in his SoC account)! Yey.
So for those who missed the NUS Choir's Varsity Voices concert last night, here's a couple of songs. :D (Click the links to hear the files)
Te Quiero ("I adore you")
A beautiful song that can be easily mistaken as a love song. It is a love song, really, but about love for country. This song portrays Argentina's hope for justice, freedom and love.
I'll Be There
Pop classic! It was first performed by the Jackson 5, but was widely popularized by Mariah Carey. Yan Ting sings some spine-tingling solo vocals! :D
I'm singing bass, so you can try to listen to me among the lower voices. :)
I'm still waiting for someone to upload the Tarimbaba! And That Lonesome Road! And The Continental and Guantanamera and all other songs of course! But I don't think they'll upload everything (nor will I), since doing so could ruin orders for the CD! Hehe.
Okay, Probability test coming up. Maybe another hiatus is in order?
Off-putting
Off-putting
I am suddenly saddened.
I cannot help but notice the malicious tone in a piece of commentary in Wayne's blog. I'm sorry, but I think the writer was also playing it a bit safe.
As much as I sincerely appreciate brutal honesty, I hate it when implied are malicious intentions on my part.
A few things:
The tickets were really worth $15.
I do not resort to tactics to sell tickets. I don't tell people to come BECAUSE ticket sales are poor. And if my persistence in asking people to buy tickets comes off as (forcing) "persuading" people, I'm sorry. What I tell people is to come if they're free and interested. I personally like the repertoire, and I thought it was potentially enjoyable for people.
During the course of the conversation, it may follow that I tell them that ticket sales are bad, but I NEVER INTENDED to use this as a reason for them to come. If they come because they pity the ticket sales, then so be it.
And yes yes, the "flimsiest reasons I've ever heard" line is mine. I used it in a totally different context though.
And what's more, never did I once think of the Czech Republic trip subsidy when I sold the tickets. I wanted us to save face by having a decent audience, so we can, as the Choir president says, hope to break even (Victoria Hall is expensive to book). We may get increased subsidy from the profit (if it exists), but I never used it to motivate me to sell, or persuade people to buy.
So as much as I thank you Wayne for coming to the show to support me, may I please request that you think less maliciously of me.
I am suddenly saddened.
I cannot help but notice the malicious tone in a piece of commentary in Wayne's blog. I'm sorry, but I think the writer was also playing it a bit safe.
As much as I sincerely appreciate brutal honesty, I hate it when implied are malicious intentions on my part.
A few things:
The tickets were really worth $15.
I do not resort to tactics to sell tickets. I don't tell people to come BECAUSE ticket sales are poor. And if my persistence in asking people to buy tickets comes off as (forcing) "persuading" people, I'm sorry. What I tell people is to come if they're free and interested. I personally like the repertoire, and I thought it was potentially enjoyable for people.
During the course of the conversation, it may follow that I tell them that ticket sales are bad, but I NEVER INTENDED to use this as a reason for them to come. If they come because they pity the ticket sales, then so be it.
And yes yes, the "flimsiest reasons I've ever heard" line is mine. I used it in a totally different context though.
And what's more, never did I once think of the Czech Republic trip subsidy when I sold the tickets. I wanted us to save face by having a decent audience, so we can, as the Choir president says, hope to break even (Victoria Hall is expensive to book). We may get increased subsidy from the profit (if it exists), but I never used it to motivate me to sell, or persuade people to buy.
So as much as I thank you Wayne for coming to the show to support me, may I please request that you think less maliciously of me.
I <3 NUS Choir
I *heart* NUS Choir!
I just came from the Varsity Voices Concert, and yey, the turn-up was good! But more importantly, we sang well too! But then again, I'm biased, so believe what you want. :)
We were practising like mad the past few days. Midterm break, supposedly for studes to prepare for our tests, was spent singing and singing. On Thursday, in fact, I remember going for Choir practice in the evening, rushing to KR for IRC (Int'l Relations Comm) meeting, then going for KR Choir practice till past midnight.. and I had class at 8am the next day + presentation at 11!
But I feel much much better now that NUS Choir's yearlong efforts (at least 6 hours/week excluding voice classes) have borne good fruit in the form of this concert. We were gathered at the Moot Court at NUS Law Fac at 11am, was at Victoria Concert Hall at 3pm to do a quick run-through, and performance was at 7:30pm.
I was worried a bit when they were finalizing the arrangement at around 5pm, since I was suddenly moved from the third row, in which I've been singing between Yi Yong (damn good bass newbie), and Kurien (haha what can I say Karen? ;P), to the second row, beside Bass SL (sectional leader) Ling Wei. Yi Yong is particularly good in catching this very low E flat in the Credo, and I almost always just follow him. I was worried a bit since I was singing beside the SL, so.. pressure! I didn't know if it was a demotion or promotion of sorts. :) The third row platform was too small apparently for five basses, so I was chosen to move forward because of height (which is quite not-too-convincing too hehe).
I discovered that Ling Wei made a couple of booboos! Yey, he's human too! And even when he tells basses to sing better, he also makes some mistakes, and admits to doing them! Yeyness. He dutifully tried to memorize the songs, see, and as scores were allowed for some songs anyway, I checked that he was a bit off. Not that I wasn't off a number of times too! Haha.
Anyway, we were able to pull off Tarimbaba! It's this tribal melody from the Molbog tribe in the Philippines, and it's the ABSOLUTE TOUGHEST to coordinate! It sounds like gibberish when we sing in sectionals, but it sounds terrific when we all sections combine. Actually it sounds terrific only when all sections pay extra close attention to the timing, and although we failed to consistently make it during practices, we were able to pull it off on concert night! Yey!
I'm glad that the parts that we were quite off weren't obvious, and the choir held together in the end. First half we did very well. The English folk songs went smoothly, we pulled off the Missa Brevis (which always leaves me out of breath.. and my first minor error was in Kyrie), the two nice Jap songs, and Tarimbaba! Second half was good as well! The Spanish songs were well-liked by the choir, and we sang them with much emotion, the Chamber Choir (seniors) sang a livelier version Gloria and Sanctus, and the selection of contemporary songs turned out good! Many people like the last song, I'll Be There. Hehe I'm quite glad the altos' quite unsteady intro for it wasn't too obvious. :D
I'm so mighty glad to be part of NUS Choir. It's rewarding and fulfilling to perform one year's worth of hard work, into a decent performance. It's not just learning the notes and singing according to the music score's dynamics, it's about the emotion involved see. And as a choir, we sing together -- sing well together, or sink together. Yan Ting our Student Conductor told us during practice that the essence of choir is not singing with your own voice, but lending your voice to your fellow choristers, such that one sings the voice of the rest. It's quite hard to fathom, but it simply means that there is a sense of unity and a special bond among choir members so they can produce good music.
Thanks Ling Wei for the yummy yummy cake exclusive to basses! Thanks basses! It's been terrific singing and laughing with you all! People have commented that the basses did exceptionally well tonight! Yehey! And to the rest of the choir, wooohooooo we did it together!
AND OF COURSE! Thanks to those who came down to support! Ticket sales were very poor the first few days, but we managed to get a decent audience in the end! Special thanks to the Pinoys who came! Thank you for the card! I was looking for that promised banner though... hehe joke. But really, thanks for coming! And thank you thank you for the card. I truly appreciate. :D
Finally, after this I can rest. But not for long! As there are the killer Probability midterm test on Thursday, the NUS Hall Choirs' concert Amplitude on Wednesday, Hamlet for Lit class, and IRC's International Relations Night the week after next!
But thank you good Lord for getting me through the first of these tasks. :D
P.S.
I'll post photos when the photos have been uploaded by the photographer in the NUS Choir forum. :)
Music of the moment: Varsity Voices songs!
Currently feeling high.
I just came from the Varsity Voices Concert, and yey, the turn-up was good! But more importantly, we sang well too! But then again, I'm biased, so believe what you want. :)
We were practising like mad the past few days. Midterm break, supposedly for studes to prepare for our tests, was spent singing and singing. On Thursday, in fact, I remember going for Choir practice in the evening, rushing to KR for IRC (Int'l Relations Comm) meeting, then going for KR Choir practice till past midnight.. and I had class at 8am the next day + presentation at 11!
But I feel much much better now that NUS Choir's yearlong efforts (at least 6 hours/week excluding voice classes) have borne good fruit in the form of this concert. We were gathered at the Moot Court at NUS Law Fac at 11am, was at Victoria Concert Hall at 3pm to do a quick run-through, and performance was at 7:30pm.
I was worried a bit when they were finalizing the arrangement at around 5pm, since I was suddenly moved from the third row, in which I've been singing between Yi Yong (damn good bass newbie), and Kurien (haha what can I say Karen? ;P), to the second row, beside Bass SL (sectional leader) Ling Wei. Yi Yong is particularly good in catching this very low E flat in the Credo, and I almost always just follow him. I was worried a bit since I was singing beside the SL, so.. pressure! I didn't know if it was a demotion or promotion of sorts. :) The third row platform was too small apparently for five basses, so I was chosen to move forward because of height (which is quite not-too-convincing too hehe).
I discovered that Ling Wei made a couple of booboos! Yey, he's human too! And even when he tells basses to sing better, he also makes some mistakes, and admits to doing them! Yeyness. He dutifully tried to memorize the songs, see, and as scores were allowed for some songs anyway, I checked that he was a bit off. Not that I wasn't off a number of times too! Haha.
Anyway, we were able to pull off Tarimbaba! It's this tribal melody from the Molbog tribe in the Philippines, and it's the ABSOLUTE TOUGHEST to coordinate! It sounds like gibberish when we sing in sectionals, but it sounds terrific when we all sections combine. Actually it sounds terrific only when all sections pay extra close attention to the timing, and although we failed to consistently make it during practices, we were able to pull it off on concert night! Yey!
I'm glad that the parts that we were quite off weren't obvious, and the choir held together in the end. First half we did very well. The English folk songs went smoothly, we pulled off the Missa Brevis (which always leaves me out of breath.. and my first minor error was in Kyrie), the two nice Jap songs, and Tarimbaba! Second half was good as well! The Spanish songs were well-liked by the choir, and we sang them with much emotion, the Chamber Choir (seniors) sang a livelier version Gloria and Sanctus, and the selection of contemporary songs turned out good! Many people like the last song, I'll Be There. Hehe I'm quite glad the altos' quite unsteady intro for it wasn't too obvious. :D
I'm so mighty glad to be part of NUS Choir. It's rewarding and fulfilling to perform one year's worth of hard work, into a decent performance. It's not just learning the notes and singing according to the music score's dynamics, it's about the emotion involved see. And as a choir, we sing together -- sing well together, or sink together. Yan Ting our Student Conductor told us during practice that the essence of choir is not singing with your own voice, but lending your voice to your fellow choristers, such that one sings the voice of the rest. It's quite hard to fathom, but it simply means that there is a sense of unity and a special bond among choir members so they can produce good music.
Thanks Ling Wei for the yummy yummy cake exclusive to basses! Thanks basses! It's been terrific singing and laughing with you all! People have commented that the basses did exceptionally well tonight! Yehey! And to the rest of the choir, wooohooooo we did it together!
AND OF COURSE! Thanks to those who came down to support! Ticket sales were very poor the first few days, but we managed to get a decent audience in the end! Special thanks to the Pinoys who came! Thank you for the card! I was looking for that promised banner though... hehe joke. But really, thanks for coming! And thank you thank you for the card. I truly appreciate. :D
Finally, after this I can rest. But not for long! As there are the killer Probability midterm test on Thursday, the NUS Hall Choirs' concert Amplitude on Wednesday, Hamlet for Lit class, and IRC's International Relations Night the week after next!
But thank you good Lord for getting me through the first of these tasks. :D
P.S.
I'll post photos when the photos have been uploaded by the photographer in the NUS Choir forum. :)
Music of the moment: Varsity Voices songs!
Currently feeling high.
Something's gotta give
Something's gotta give
Before anything else, I'd like to invite one and all to the NUS Choir's annual Varsity Voices Concert!
VV '05 will be on Saturday, February 26, 2005, at the Victoria Concert Hall. Tickets at $15. Contact me at 90745231, or email me for tickets. Please support! :D Good stuff, I tell you.
* * *
Ticket sales have been not too good, too, because we haven't been quite aggressively selling tickets for the past few days. And the performance isn't all too polished just yet (and the songs not yet memorized), mainly because of last week's Lei Yu performance, which, although a success(!), killed much of VV time. So we die this week practising. Practised all day today and I'm pretty beat.
* * *
Some of us NUS Pinoys went to Sentosa, by the way, yesterday afternoon. Quite fun, although it was a very short stay for me and Korinna. Arrived there at around 5pm, and were back before 11pm. In that short time, I managed to swim a little, play in the sand a little, lie down a little on the sand, watch the stunning laser show at the Musical Fountain ($4M for the equipment I hear), and have lots and lots of photos taken.
* * *
Okay, let's get back to the title of this post. Needless to say, I'm swamped as ever. It's midterm break, and I'm supposed to be studying for my upcoming tests or finishing my required readings. Instead, we're rushing the songs for the concert, which is stressing me out, as much as practices are damn good fun sometimes.
Something must unfortunately be sacrificed, so I can focus more on the more important things.
Moonstruck Inc. will be down until further notice.
Before anything else, I'd like to invite one and all to the NUS Choir's annual Varsity Voices Concert!
VV '05 will be on Saturday, February 26, 2005, at the Victoria Concert Hall. Tickets at $15. Contact me at 90745231, or email me for tickets. Please support! :D Good stuff, I tell you.
* * *
Ticket sales have been not too good, too, because we haven't been quite aggressively selling tickets for the past few days. And the performance isn't all too polished just yet (and the songs not yet memorized), mainly because of last week's Lei Yu performance, which, although a success(!), killed much of VV time. So we die this week practising. Practised all day today and I'm pretty beat.
* * *
Some of us NUS Pinoys went to Sentosa, by the way, yesterday afternoon. Quite fun, although it was a very short stay for me and Korinna. Arrived there at around 5pm, and were back before 11pm. In that short time, I managed to swim a little, play in the sand a little, lie down a little on the sand, watch the stunning laser show at the Musical Fountain ($4M for the equipment I hear), and have lots and lots of photos taken.
* * *
Okay, let's get back to the title of this post. Needless to say, I'm swamped as ever. It's midterm break, and I'm supposed to be studying for my upcoming tests or finishing my required readings. Instead, we're rushing the songs for the concert, which is stressing me out, as much as practices are damn good fun sometimes.
Something must unfortunately be sacrificed, so I can focus more on the more important things.
Moonstruck Inc. will be down until further notice.
Woohoo
Woohoo!
Happy day!
My sister Kai passed the UPCAT! It's the entrance examination for the University of the Philippines system. And she got her first choice! Los Baños campus, Food Technology. Yey proud of you Kai! I told you you have to believe in yourself more. :D
Productive morning! After the euphoria of Lei Yu last night, I woke up feeling tired, but knowing there wasn't time to waste, I set out to do my tasks. So I've roughly finished my Ridge article (never mind if I can't submit it anymore for the feb/march bumper issue though! next issue!), I've done the Noteworthy Composer file for this Chinese song for KR Choir (yey Chinese song again!) before noon, and early afternoon I was able to let Jayson do the Pin Yin of the song so I can get started singing it!
And terrrrrrific KR Bash! "Bash" refers to a clubbing session of sorts here in SG, and it was coool to have partied the night with the KR people! Korinna, Ivy, Tuk and I left NUS at around 8, but due to some mishaps, it was about 10:30 when all four of us were at Rouge at Orchard. (Chingay Parade too tonight so some roads were closed). Ivy had an interesting "Mentos" moment with her sandals, see, and had to go back somewhere, but she managed to settle things eventually, and it was back to happy clubbing.
The Rockers and the Dance groups easily put up one helluva show, and with a preview of the Pageant contestants, what more could you ask for? The music was technoish/trance, and as it was easy to get lost in a packed club, I found myself dancing with everybody! I found Korinna and Ivy with partners eventually, so good little me was dancing like crazy, hovering from one spot to another. Lemme make clear though that when I say I "danced with everybody", I don't mean I danced with everyone individually. Group dance, more like it. Although for a while the random motions of clubbing brought me quite adjacent to this girl, who seemed to be, like me, dancing with everybody too. We were almost like partners, though not quite. I didn't mind, really. For all I know the guy behind her could be her boyfriend, and I wasn't interested anyway. I was dancing around, moving wherever there was an opening in the sweaty crowd, till I finally quite stayed in one place, because the floor was virtually filled. There were these guys behind me who were dancing like crazy too, and he didn't seem to notice that in his wild dance moves, he was pushing his butt against me too many times already. But I guess that's how it goes. I didn't even seem to mind too much that my good Hush Puppies were stepped on so many times, or that the lady at the counter seemed to be deaf, consequently taking me 30 minutes at the queue to get a drink, or that the whole place reeked of smoke.
There was this guy dancing alone behind Korinna during the earlier part of the night, and man, what dance moves! The dance floor wasn't too packed yet, and he had a good stretch of floor where he showcased his moves. Cool. Someday I'll dance like that too. ;) I seriously think there's an art to clubbing, and some people just get it, and some people don't quite. I don't think I get it too much myself yet, but most definitely I like letting the music get through me, such that when I close my eyes its rhythm takes control.
Later on, a glass of beer and two vodka (with 7 up) glasses later, dancing continued, although at around 1:45am, I found that the KR crowd seemed to have turned into angmohs all! Apparently, most of the KR crowd made their way home already. Ivy and Kor, who wanted to go home earlier (Tuk had left much earlier because of her work the next day), were nowhere to be found! They had earlier asked me to leave at around 1am, but I gently offered to stay longer since it took forever to get a drink. My phone was dead, and I looked all over the place for them. No sign of them and my phone dead. I went out to look for a payphone, but I stupidly realized as I picked up the phone that I don't memorize their numbers too! So I went back, and surprise surprise, they were back on the dance floor. Of course I didn't mind dancing more, and it was great, since the DJ played some really bouncy reggae music! And there was even this song where the clubbers were to shout along in response to the music.
Apparently, Korinna's partner was enjoying himself too much, and having bought her a drink, Kor felt like she had to dance with him. It was hard to split them up at past 3am, when Ivy seemed intent on going home. I was okay with anything.
So Sundeep and Kor and Ivy and I took a cab and arrived back at KR, shortly before 4am.
I think once in a while I should go out clubbing more. It's therapy I think. Music gets me on a natural high.;)
P.S. Sorry incoherent post again. Try blogging after clubbing. Hehe.
Happy day!
My sister Kai passed the UPCAT! It's the entrance examination for the University of the Philippines system. And she got her first choice! Los Baños campus, Food Technology. Yey proud of you Kai! I told you you have to believe in yourself more. :D
Productive morning! After the euphoria of Lei Yu last night, I woke up feeling tired, but knowing there wasn't time to waste, I set out to do my tasks. So I've roughly finished my Ridge article (never mind if I can't submit it anymore for the feb/march bumper issue though! next issue!), I've done the Noteworthy Composer file for this Chinese song for KR Choir (yey Chinese song again!) before noon, and early afternoon I was able to let Jayson do the Pin Yin of the song so I can get started singing it!
And terrrrrrific KR Bash! "Bash" refers to a clubbing session of sorts here in SG, and it was coool to have partied the night with the KR people! Korinna, Ivy, Tuk and I left NUS at around 8, but due to some mishaps, it was about 10:30 when all four of us were at Rouge at Orchard. (Chingay Parade too tonight so some roads were closed). Ivy had an interesting "Mentos" moment with her sandals, see, and had to go back somewhere, but she managed to settle things eventually, and it was back to happy clubbing.
The Rockers and the Dance groups easily put up one helluva show, and with a preview of the Pageant contestants, what more could you ask for? The music was technoish/trance, and as it was easy to get lost in a packed club, I found myself dancing with everybody! I found Korinna and Ivy with partners eventually, so good little me was dancing like crazy, hovering from one spot to another. Lemme make clear though that when I say I "danced with everybody", I don't mean I danced with everyone individually. Group dance, more like it. Although for a while the random motions of clubbing brought me quite adjacent to this girl, who seemed to be, like me, dancing with everybody too. We were almost like partners, though not quite. I didn't mind, really. For all I know the guy behind her could be her boyfriend, and I wasn't interested anyway. I was dancing around, moving wherever there was an opening in the sweaty crowd, till I finally quite stayed in one place, because the floor was virtually filled. There were these guys behind me who were dancing like crazy too, and he didn't seem to notice that in his wild dance moves, he was pushing his butt against me too many times already. But I guess that's how it goes. I didn't even seem to mind too much that my good Hush Puppies were stepped on so many times, or that the lady at the counter seemed to be deaf, consequently taking me 30 minutes at the queue to get a drink, or that the whole place reeked of smoke.
There was this guy dancing alone behind Korinna during the earlier part of the night, and man, what dance moves! The dance floor wasn't too packed yet, and he had a good stretch of floor where he showcased his moves. Cool. Someday I'll dance like that too. ;) I seriously think there's an art to clubbing, and some people just get it, and some people don't quite. I don't think I get it too much myself yet, but most definitely I like letting the music get through me, such that when I close my eyes its rhythm takes control.
Later on, a glass of beer and two vodka (with 7 up) glasses later, dancing continued, although at around 1:45am, I found that the KR crowd seemed to have turned into angmohs all! Apparently, most of the KR crowd made their way home already. Ivy and Kor, who wanted to go home earlier (Tuk had left much earlier because of her work the next day), were nowhere to be found! They had earlier asked me to leave at around 1am, but I gently offered to stay longer since it took forever to get a drink. My phone was dead, and I looked all over the place for them. No sign of them and my phone dead. I went out to look for a payphone, but I stupidly realized as I picked up the phone that I don't memorize their numbers too! So I went back, and surprise surprise, they were back on the dance floor. Of course I didn't mind dancing more, and it was great, since the DJ played some really bouncy reggae music! And there was even this song where the clubbers were to shout along in response to the music.
Apparently, Korinna's partner was enjoying himself too much, and having bought her a drink, Kor felt like she had to dance with him. It was hard to split them up at past 3am, when Ivy seemed intent on going home. I was okay with anything.
So Sundeep and Kor and Ivy and I took a cab and arrived back at KR, shortly before 4am.
I think once in a while I should go out clubbing more. It's therapy I think. Music gets me on a natural high.;)
P.S. Sorry incoherent post again. Try blogging after clubbing. Hehe.
Lei Yu!
Lei Yu!
The Lei Yu (Thunderstorm) performance was splendid. Yey!
The concert opera was played to a full house, all four levels of the grand Esplanade Concert Hall. The six opera singers were terrific, and the seventh character (arguably one of the most important), the conductor Yeh Tsung was his usual smiley perfect musical self. The Singapore Chinese Orchestra was impressive, and we the choirs, led by the Shanghai chorus (a.k.a. the quintessential choir), the Victoria Chorale and us NUS Choir did quite great despite a few hiccups here and there. The lights were stunning, the highly-charged passionate music was (of course) excellent. It was a performance so stunning you almost didn't mind that it was totally in a foreign language.
Charles was right. Singing at the Esplanade Concert Hall is indeed quite an experience. And this being his sixth time singing there, he still gets excited. You could tell I was in for a blast.:D
And, after the show, we were told to go to an Artists' Party! Coooolness. I never quite considered myself an artist, and here I was rubbing shoulders with these musical geniuses, and eating these yummy yummy first-class food! I got some tasty rice with seafood, some breaded fish with tomato sauce dip, some spinach salad (spinach isn't supposed to taste good, but this was grrreat!), some mozzarella cheese, some potato salad, some sweet fruitty puff with cream, some divine layered chocolate cake, some tortilla chips with guacamole dip. And got myself some red and white wine, and sprite. Fine dining people! And I didn't even finish touring the tables! Ahh.. I could stay there forever.
And the cool thing was, we were snapping away like crazy! Kurien started it, even in the back room, when he asked the lady who played Fan Yi to pose with him. It was like two minutes before the performance, and then I told him I wanted to have a photo with her too using his camera! The bass guys were teasing us at how starstruck we were, but I still think they were just envious. Haha. And then in the afterparty, everyone wanted the stars' autographs! Or photos! Or both. Well, I got both. Hee.
Went home at past midnight, and while we waited a long time at the Fullerton for a cab, we were in such high spirits that Derence, Kurien and I were singing loudly in the taxi queue. Man, we could sometimes even hit the soprano/alto notes. Way to go basses!
What a lovely night. Will post photos after I do some required school task. ;)
Music of the moment: all two+ hours of Lei Yu
Currently feeling like an artist!
The Lei Yu (Thunderstorm) performance was splendid. Yey!
The concert opera was played to a full house, all four levels of the grand Esplanade Concert Hall. The six opera singers were terrific, and the seventh character (arguably one of the most important), the conductor Yeh Tsung was his usual smiley perfect musical self. The Singapore Chinese Orchestra was impressive, and we the choirs, led by the Shanghai chorus (a.k.a. the quintessential choir), the Victoria Chorale and us NUS Choir did quite great despite a few hiccups here and there. The lights were stunning, the highly-charged passionate music was (of course) excellent. It was a performance so stunning you almost didn't mind that it was totally in a foreign language.
Charles was right. Singing at the Esplanade Concert Hall is indeed quite an experience. And this being his sixth time singing there, he still gets excited. You could tell I was in for a blast.:D
And, after the show, we were told to go to an Artists' Party! Coooolness. I never quite considered myself an artist, and here I was rubbing shoulders with these musical geniuses, and eating these yummy yummy first-class food! I got some tasty rice with seafood, some breaded fish with tomato sauce dip, some spinach salad (spinach isn't supposed to taste good, but this was grrreat!), some mozzarella cheese, some potato salad, some sweet fruitty puff with cream, some divine layered chocolate cake, some tortilla chips with guacamole dip. And got myself some red and white wine, and sprite. Fine dining people! And I didn't even finish touring the tables! Ahh.. I could stay there forever.
And the cool thing was, we were snapping away like crazy! Kurien started it, even in the back room, when he asked the lady who played Fan Yi to pose with him. It was like two minutes before the performance, and then I told him I wanted to have a photo with her too using his camera! The bass guys were teasing us at how starstruck we were, but I still think they were just envious. Haha. And then in the afterparty, everyone wanted the stars' autographs! Or photos! Or both. Well, I got both. Hee.
Went home at past midnight, and while we waited a long time at the Fullerton for a cab, we were in such high spirits that Derence, Kurien and I were singing loudly in the taxi queue. Man, we could sometimes even hit the soprano/alto notes. Way to go basses!
What a lovely night. Will post photos after I do some required school task. ;)
Music of the moment: all two+ hours of Lei Yu
Currently feeling like an artist!
Let me just say that the Esplanade Concert Hall is simply mind-blowing. And performing in it is just.. wonderful.
Never mind if we're just singing in the background. There's this terrific cast of opera singers acting out a depressing yet powerful story of love, lust, betrayal and family, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra with their coolest instruments, Tsung Yeh the most animated, most cheerful conductor I've ever seen, and there are these professional choir singers from Shanghai, and the Victoria Chorale, two choirs with which the NUS Choir sings.
Performance is tomorrow... er, later at 7:30pm.
It's Lei Yu (Thunderstorm). I finally figured out the story fully yesterday! Coolness. Because finally, they showed subtitles on this screen in our practice at SCH! But in our dress rehearsal hours ago at the actual venue, there was no screen anymore, so it was like watching me watching Channel 8. But at least I know now what exactly is happening in the story as I watch the actors/singers go through their act.
* * *
When I arrived from the rehearsal outside at 11:45pm, I thought I had missed my KR Choir practice at 10pm, but walau, they were still practising! So I ran in the room and as expected, tenors lacked manpower again. But they/we were quite cheerful and in the mood today, so that's okay.
Missed my Ridge deadline. Too bad. Maybe next issue?
Sigh. I am so freakin' swamped these days. As my MSN nick says, "someday I'll pass out and will finally be relieved from all this stress."
Okay, time to go to bed. 8am class later.
Never mind if we're just singing in the background. There's this terrific cast of opera singers acting out a depressing yet powerful story of love, lust, betrayal and family, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra with their coolest instruments, Tsung Yeh the most animated, most cheerful conductor I've ever seen, and there are these professional choir singers from Shanghai, and the Victoria Chorale, two choirs with which the NUS Choir sings.
Performance is tomorrow... er, later at 7:30pm.
It's Lei Yu (Thunderstorm). I finally figured out the story fully yesterday! Coolness. Because finally, they showed subtitles on this screen in our practice at SCH! But in our dress rehearsal hours ago at the actual venue, there was no screen anymore, so it was like watching me watching Channel 8. But at least I know now what exactly is happening in the story as I watch the actors/singers go through their act.
* * *
When I arrived from the rehearsal outside at 11:45pm, I thought I had missed my KR Choir practice at 10pm, but walau, they were still practising! So I ran in the room and as expected, tenors lacked manpower again. But they/we were quite cheerful and in the mood today, so that's okay.
Missed my Ridge deadline. Too bad. Maybe next issue?
Sigh. I am so freakin' swamped these days. As my MSN nick says, "someday I'll pass out and will finally be relieved from all this stress."
Okay, time to go to bed. 8am class later.
Lost and Found
Lost and Found
Thanks Wayne for informing me that I my post wasn't really lost after all. I just mistakenly posted it in the NUSchika blog, simple as that. Can't you tell I'm getting more disoriented by the minute?
I've never posted in the NUSchika blog before, since I feel I don't have anything to say that would merit as chika (it's Filipino for "gossip" in the usual sense, but has come to mean any form of talk, especially of the juicy kind). And since what I talk about is me anyway, why not post in my own blog instead, right?
Besides, the NUSchika blog is more commonly used to check the updates on the blogs of Pinoys here in NUS through these site feeds from our blogs. Something like Kinja or Bloglines, if your familiar with them. So in essence, since I am a frequent blogger, I do posting of sorts too right?
OK, so here's my found lost post. Originally posted yesterday, 16/02/05, at 9:21AM.
_______________________
Not-so-hell Weeks
I never believed in ABSOLUTE hell weeks. I may be swamped, and it may take long hours mugging and banging my head on the wall before I finally catch up with my lessons, but I'm okay. I'm not miserable and on the verge of a breakdown (although passing out would be somewhat a relief of sorts). But as I've said, I'm not tortured yet, and I still find time to laugh and play and be merry and be pleasantly surprised by little things. I still think that God gives us enough happy things to keep us going.
Sometimes I think I'm a little schizo. I get terribly distraught by my burdens, but the next moment I'm okay and cheerful. Funny, some people tell me to loosen up because every time they see me I'm always stressed, and some people say I'm too cheerful every time they encounter me. I couldn't tell how I behave myself, really.
Maybe I'm just one who's more optimistic than I seem, or someone who secretly wishes goodwill to abound! But I don't care much for snobs, bleh.
* * *
Okay, so I've survived the first few days. Cheering is finally over with the IHG Closing last night, I've submitted my GEM1008 argument summary for which I've been killing thousands of brain cells by rereading the article over and over again, I've rushed up making the Noteworthy Composer music file of this nice Beatles song for Choir and conducted the tenor sectionals, I managed to survive my Genetics Lab (much credit to my partner Kathy!), and I've been to the first few practices with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, the opera singers & other choirs. And then there's Varsity Voices '05 next week!
Yey, what I like (though not immediately) about being swamped is that when the stuff's all over, I'm rewarded with a sense of accomplishment.
Now on to the Ridge article, more rehearsals with SCO for the next few days and finally the Leiyu performance at Esplanade on Friday! Then KR Bash on Saturday! Oh, I have yet to make my Power Notes for Probability class!
Needless to say, I'm gonna survive all this. Of course.
Music of the moment: The Beatles' Here There and Everywhere
Currently feeling like doing some room-cleaning.
Thanks Wayne for informing me that I my post wasn't really lost after all. I just mistakenly posted it in the NUSchika blog, simple as that. Can't you tell I'm getting more disoriented by the minute?
I've never posted in the NUSchika blog before, since I feel I don't have anything to say that would merit as chika (it's Filipino for "gossip" in the usual sense, but has come to mean any form of talk, especially of the juicy kind). And since what I talk about is me anyway, why not post in my own blog instead, right?
Besides, the NUSchika blog is more commonly used to check the updates on the blogs of Pinoys here in NUS through these site feeds from our blogs. Something like Kinja or Bloglines, if your familiar with them. So in essence, since I am a frequent blogger, I do posting of sorts too right?
OK, so here's my found lost post. Originally posted yesterday, 16/02/05, at 9:21AM.
_______________________
Not-so-hell Weeks
I never believed in ABSOLUTE hell weeks. I may be swamped, and it may take long hours mugging and banging my head on the wall before I finally catch up with my lessons, but I'm okay. I'm not miserable and on the verge of a breakdown (although passing out would be somewhat a relief of sorts). But as I've said, I'm not tortured yet, and I still find time to laugh and play and be merry and be pleasantly surprised by little things. I still think that God gives us enough happy things to keep us going.
Sometimes I think I'm a little schizo. I get terribly distraught by my burdens, but the next moment I'm okay and cheerful. Funny, some people tell me to loosen up because every time they see me I'm always stressed, and some people say I'm too cheerful every time they encounter me. I couldn't tell how I behave myself, really.
Maybe I'm just one who's more optimistic than I seem, or someone who secretly wishes goodwill to abound! But I don't care much for snobs, bleh.
* * *
Okay, so I've survived the first few days. Cheering is finally over with the IHG Closing last night, I've submitted my GEM1008 argument summary for which I've been killing thousands of brain cells by rereading the article over and over again, I've rushed up making the Noteworthy Composer music file of this nice Beatles song for Choir and conducted the tenor sectionals, I managed to survive my Genetics Lab (much credit to my partner Kathy!), and I've been to the first few practices with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, the opera singers & other choirs. And then there's Varsity Voices '05 next week!
Yey, what I like (though not immediately) about being swamped is that when the stuff's all over, I'm rewarded with a sense of accomplishment.
Now on to the Ridge article, more rehearsals with SCO for the next few days and finally the Leiyu performance at Esplanade on Friday! Then KR Bash on Saturday! Oh, I have yet to make my Power Notes for Probability class!
Needless to say, I'm gonna survive all this. Of course.
Music of the moment: The Beatles' Here There and Everywhere
Currently feeling like doing some room-cleaning.
Lost post
Lost Post
I'm sure I posted a blog entry this morning. Of considerable length too. It was marked "published" and showed up in my "Edit Posts" screen. But for some reason it's now gone!
Hmmm.. someone playing on me ah? Oh well. It was supposed to be a cheerful post too! But nah, I'm still cheerful so bleh, doesn't matter. :)
I'm sure I posted a blog entry this morning. Of considerable length too. It was marked "published" and showed up in my "Edit Posts" screen. But for some reason it's now gone!
Hmmm.. someone playing on me ah? Oh well. It was supposed to be a cheerful post too! But nah, I'm still cheerful so bleh, doesn't matter. :)
Happy Valentine's.
I love you. Really. You all know who you are. I appreciate.
Still, tasks have to be performed, schoolwork to be done, and strength must be put to the test.
Implosion begins now.
I love you. Really. You all know who you are. I appreciate.
Still, tasks have to be performed, schoolwork to be done, and strength must be put to the test.
Implosion begins now.
Send it up
Send it up
Whenever I feel sucky or exhausted or completely stumped to the point of near-resignation, I tell myself to send it up.
Like right now.
It doesn't lighten the burden, but it keeps me moving.
* * *
And oh yeah, if you have a valentine, good for you! Go forth and be merry!
For the singles, aren't we just glad we have more time to do our long overdue mugging sessions?
We all win.
* * *
Word of the day: Zeitgeist. (Scroll down a bit, see left-hand side)
Thanks Kiko for introducing me to a new level of vanity!
Music of the Moment: Vertical Horizon's Send It Up
Currently feeling exhausted, and the week hasn't even begun yet!
Whenever I feel sucky or exhausted or completely stumped to the point of near-resignation, I tell myself to send it up.
Like right now.
It doesn't lighten the burden, but it keeps me moving.
* * *
And oh yeah, if you have a valentine, good for you! Go forth and be merry!
For the singles, aren't we just glad we have more time to do our long overdue mugging sessions?
We all win.
* * *
Word of the day: Zeitgeist. (Scroll down a bit, see left-hand side)
Thanks Kiko for introducing me to a new level of vanity!
Music of the Moment: Vertical Horizon's Send It Up
Currently feeling exhausted, and the week hasn't even begun yet!
The love you give
The love you give
If you've just read the title and thought, "huh?!", lemme clarify. No I haven't suddenly found a valentine (nor I am searching for one, really), it's just one of those solemn moments when you're waiting for the bus at the bus stop after going to Church and you get all these random thoughts.
My not-so-random thought for tonight goes, the love you give is the love you receive. Yes that's a cliche (disclaimer!), and I'm pretty sure I've read or heard or seen it before but.. still. It's a simple truth really, which resembles the Golden Rule, or even the concept of Karma. You get what you give, the New Radicals sing. I speak of the (gasp) L-word now because, I dunno, I'm feeling particularly pleasant tonight? Or maybe the validity of the statement just occurred to me in my observation of things around? Or maybe I'm feeling a little more loved than I deserve to be? I'm not too sure myself. :)
But really, where did I hear that line? Too lazy to google.
I always get a good rush of thoughts every time I go to the Church at Clementi (more so if I'm alone), and tonight especially, was special as it's Ash Friday (although the Catholic Church doesn't want it called that). But it is "Ash Wednesday" on a Friday, as Wednesday was right smack on Chinese New Year, and the Church had to make that critical decision of rescheduling the Imposition of Ashes, so as not to hamper CNY celebrations of a country mostly peopled by Chinese (by race). Anyway, so Gelo, Gail, Michael, and Arthur and I attended the 7pm mass, while I alone proceeded with the Stations of the Cross afterwards.
* * *
Much to be thankful today, really. I rushed reading Pride and Prejudice yesterday (from late the previous evening to noon the next day), crammed a 800-pageword essay on poetry from the afternoon till well into the night (I struggled with trimming down the essay, until I finally gave up at around 820), woke up at 8:10am to miss 30 minutes of my Literature class, borrowed 4 RBR books from the Central Library (one after the other too) to finish up one half of the required assignment for my Evaluating Academic Arguments module. I had a tutorial, lunch with Ferron, quick cramming session again, finally my EAA class, where I narrowly escaped being asked to present the assignment (never mind if the half that I prepared for didn't come up!), and good Dr Ng Tze Beng thankfully did not ask us to present solutions for the Calculus problem set (I didn't have any due to sheer fatigue).
So there. Managed to get through the horrors of Friday, and it seemed but fitting that I ended the day on a more spiritual note by going to Church!
And here goes The Challenge of the next 40 days: NO MEAT AT ALL EVERY DAY. I thought it was only on Fridays, but Arthur seems willing to skip meat every day, so I offered to go with him. So it's gonna be fish and seafood and Yong Tau Foo and vegetarian food for us for the next month. I suddenly admire the Hindus and the Muslims for forever keeping faithful to their diet. :) Okay, so let's hope I don't fall into temptation!
* * *
Just when I thought my birthday was a thing of the past (though very recent), Korinna and Ivy and Brice and Nirorn and Navuth and Rotana treated me to triple ice cream with breakfast munchies Trix! Apparently the ice cream had been sitting pariently in the fridge, ever since I (of course with the help of the CNY holidays) foiled Kor and Ivy's birthday plans for me! I had some yummy dried mangoes, too, so it was nice. It was a surprise to me, really, this plan of theirs, as Kor ultimately led me to the rooftop under the pretense of me leading her around my block for a walk and talk. Haha. I was surprised all right, but not blown-away surprised since, well, my birthday's three days ago? Hehe. But with violent sincerity, THANKS again! Special thanks to masterminds Kor and Ivy!:D
* * *
Lots of stuff to do! And I'm blogging! Sigh. I was talking with the rest of the KR Pinoys over dinner, and seeing the rest eating chicken, launched a conversation about the sacrifices we'll do for Lent. I suggested to Robs that he quit playing NBA Live (which he once played for 16 hours in a day?) and cards (which the bridging kids + some seniors have been constantly playing, sometimes even till early morning). He thought it was unthinkable and impossible. I thought so too. ;)
But he snapped back, how about I try sacrificing blogging? Hmm.. that's a thought.
Music of the moment: New Radicals' You Get What You Give
Currently feeling unburdened.
If you've just read the title and thought, "huh?!", lemme clarify. No I haven't suddenly found a valentine (nor I am searching for one, really), it's just one of those solemn moments when you're waiting for the bus at the bus stop after going to Church and you get all these random thoughts.
My not-so-random thought for tonight goes, the love you give is the love you receive. Yes that's a cliche (disclaimer!), and I'm pretty sure I've read or heard or seen it before but.. still. It's a simple truth really, which resembles the Golden Rule, or even the concept of Karma. You get what you give, the New Radicals sing. I speak of the (gasp) L-word now because, I dunno, I'm feeling particularly pleasant tonight? Or maybe the validity of the statement just occurred to me in my observation of things around? Or maybe I'm feeling a little more loved than I deserve to be? I'm not too sure myself. :)
But really, where did I hear that line? Too lazy to google.
I always get a good rush of thoughts every time I go to the Church at Clementi (more so if I'm alone), and tonight especially, was special as it's Ash Friday (although the Catholic Church doesn't want it called that). But it is "Ash Wednesday" on a Friday, as Wednesday was right smack on Chinese New Year, and the Church had to make that critical decision of rescheduling the Imposition of Ashes, so as not to hamper CNY celebrations of a country mostly peopled by Chinese (by race). Anyway, so Gelo, Gail, Michael, and Arthur and I attended the 7pm mass, while I alone proceeded with the Stations of the Cross afterwards.
* * *
Much to be thankful today, really. I rushed reading Pride and Prejudice yesterday (from late the previous evening to noon the next day), crammed a 800-
So there. Managed to get through the horrors of Friday, and it seemed but fitting that I ended the day on a more spiritual note by going to Church!
And here goes The Challenge of the next 40 days: NO MEAT AT ALL EVERY DAY. I thought it was only on Fridays, but Arthur seems willing to skip meat every day, so I offered to go with him. So it's gonna be fish and seafood and Yong Tau Foo and vegetarian food for us for the next month. I suddenly admire the Hindus and the Muslims for forever keeping faithful to their diet. :) Okay, so let's hope I don't fall into temptation!
* * *
Just when I thought my birthday was a thing of the past (though very recent), Korinna and Ivy and Brice and Nirorn and Navuth and Rotana treated me to triple ice cream with breakfast munchies Trix! Apparently the ice cream had been sitting pariently in the fridge, ever since I (of course with the help of the CNY holidays) foiled Kor and Ivy's birthday plans for me! I had some yummy dried mangoes, too, so it was nice. It was a surprise to me, really, this plan of theirs, as Kor ultimately led me to the rooftop under the pretense of me leading her around my block for a walk and talk. Haha. I was surprised all right, but not blown-away surprised since, well, my birthday's three days ago? Hehe. But with violent sincerity, THANKS again! Special thanks to masterminds Kor and Ivy!:D
* * *
Lots of stuff to do! And I'm blogging! Sigh. I was talking with the rest of the KR Pinoys over dinner, and seeing the rest eating chicken, launched a conversation about the sacrifices we'll do for Lent. I suggested to Robs that he quit playing NBA Live (which he once played for 16 hours in a day?) and cards (which the bridging kids + some seniors have been constantly playing, sometimes even till early morning). He thought it was unthinkable and impossible. I thought so too. ;)
But he snapped back, how about I try sacrificing blogging? Hmm.. that's a thought.
Music of the moment: New Radicals' You Get What You Give
Currently feeling unburdened.
How do you measure a year?
How do you measure a year?
Yes, that Seasons of Love song is still stuck in my head.
525,600 minutes. How do you measure the life of a woman or a man?
In daylight, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee (yesss I need lots of those)? In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife? In truths that she learned? Or in times that he cried? In the bridges he burned? Or the way that she died?
Its time now to sing out, though the story never ends.
Let's celebrate, remember a year in the life of friends.
Take all of that and multiply by 19.
9,986,400 minutes and counting. Yey happy birthday!
Yes I know I should stop greeting myself since it's the day after already, so... happy Chinese New Year instead! Yey! I'm not Chinese, but I can tell it's one terrific celebration for everyone around here. Gong xi fa cai!
But really, how do you measure a lunar new year? Hmm.
* * *
Happy day yesterday (yes it's back to birthday again.. but humor me).
THANK YOU to everyone who remembered. Thanks to the wonders of telecommunication, I've been greeted by most of my loved ones! "Loved ones" sounds to mushy though, so lemme just say they're those in my Circle of Trust. Haha, that Focker movie again.
Anyway, thanks to those you greeted me through MSN, through Yahoo Messenger, through M1 and Globe, through email, through Friendster, through payphone (haha I called home for them to greet me, imagine that ;P ). And of course to those who greeted me through the card in the D-block lift, and cards of their own (woohooo I totally appreciate, Kor, Claire, Siokkah!), and to those who of course wished me well in person. :D
And to Korinna and Ivy, thanks for surprising me. Haha, I thought I foiled all your plans. Next time I'm not gonna forget to LOCK my room. They, btw, cleaned up my room! Haha, how semi-embarrassing. Hehe. And thanks for the "cake", made of cardboard and art paper on top of an aluminum-foil-wrapped metal dish! Yiheee. And of course for the Ferrero Rocher's inside.
Thanks family and friends! Thank you Lord!
* * *
So after the birthday and Chinese New Year stuff, it's back to mugging. I've got so much to do I'm practically drowning! But by hook or by crook I'm gonna finish them all! Yehey!
TV Therapy
Just watched American Idol. Ahhh.. the power of good music and great voices.
Amazing Race finale too! I was thrilled that Kris & Jon and Adam & Rebecca got into the Final Three, but I'm quite disappointed that Freddy and Kendra won. Freddy, who flared up because of some silly accident before, and Kendra, who thought that some spot in Africa was "wretched". I have nothing against models, but pleeease. And what's with the final leg in Hawaii and Chicago? I thought it was gonna get exciting and heart-stopping when they had this particularly devastating 3000-locks-to-1-key challenge in China, and then what? Skydiving in Hawaii and EATING A PIZZA in Chicago? Argh. Skydiving isn't even a competitive challenge, it's not strenuous, and once you're off the plane, you're bound to finish it in seconds. Eating a pizza? Don't get me started naming all the more brilliant final challenges of seasons past. Last season's finale with Chip & Kim, and the one with Reichen & Chip (two Chips I just realize!) were more exciting by miles. I love
But I still am totally glad that the last leg was a happy one for the runners-up. Adam and Rebecca were much more cheerful, and seemed to surprisingly get along quite well. And they weren't bitter at all! And for a formerly dating couple who's had some rocky times in episodes past, they seemed to be getting back together in this last ep. And Kris & Jon, what can I say. My models for when I need cheering up. Ahhh.. lovers in love. And can you believe the petite Kris is 30 already?! Deadringer for Britney too.
Okay. Too much time blogging. I'm gonna work my ass off tonight. Gonna finish Pride and Prejudice before sunrise! That's a promise!
[edit @7.04PM.Feb10]: Unfortunately, I finished reading the book at 2PM. Interesting story, by the way.
Yes, that Seasons of Love song is still stuck in my head.
525,600 minutes. How do you measure the life of a woman or a man?
In daylight, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee (yesss I need lots of those)? In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife? In truths that she learned? Or in times that he cried? In the bridges he burned? Or the way that she died?
Its time now to sing out, though the story never ends.
Let's celebrate, remember a year in the life of friends.
Take all of that and multiply by 19.
9,986,400 minutes and counting. Yey happy birthday!
Yes I know I should stop greeting myself since it's the day after already, so... happy Chinese New Year instead! Yey! I'm not Chinese, but I can tell it's one terrific celebration for everyone around here. Gong xi fa cai!
But really, how do you measure a lunar new year? Hmm.
* * *
Happy day yesterday (yes it's back to birthday again.. but humor me).
THANK YOU to everyone who remembered. Thanks to the wonders of telecommunication, I've been greeted by most of my loved ones! "Loved ones" sounds to mushy though, so lemme just say they're those in my Circle of Trust. Haha, that Focker movie again.
Anyway, thanks to those you greeted me through MSN, through Yahoo Messenger, through M1 and Globe, through email, through Friendster, through payphone (haha I called home for them to greet me, imagine that ;P ). And of course to those who greeted me through the card in the D-block lift, and cards of their own (woohooo I totally appreciate, Kor, Claire, Siokkah!), and to those who of course wished me well in person. :D
And to Korinna and Ivy, thanks for surprising me. Haha, I thought I foiled all your plans. Next time I'm not gonna forget to LOCK my room. They, btw, cleaned up my room! Haha, how semi-embarrassing. Hehe. And thanks for the "cake", made of cardboard and art paper on top of an aluminum-foil-wrapped metal dish! Yiheee. And of course for the Ferrero Rocher's inside.
Thanks family and friends! Thank you Lord!
* * *
So after the birthday and Chinese New Year stuff, it's back to mugging. I've got so much to do I'm practically drowning! But by hook or by crook I'm gonna finish them all! Yehey!
TV Therapy
Just watched American Idol. Ahhh.. the power of good music and great voices.
Amazing Race finale too! I was thrilled that Kris & Jon and Adam & Rebecca got into the Final Three, but I'm quite disappointed that Freddy and Kendra won. Freddy, who flared up because of some silly accident before, and Kendra, who thought that some spot in Africa was "wretched". I have nothing against models, but pleeease. And what's with the final leg in Hawaii and Chicago? I thought it was gonna get exciting and heart-stopping when they had this particularly devastating 3000-locks-to-1-key challenge in China, and then what? Skydiving in Hawaii and EATING A PIZZA in Chicago? Argh. Skydiving isn't even a competitive challenge, it's not strenuous, and once you're off the plane, you're bound to finish it in seconds. Eating a pizza? Don't get me started naming all the more brilliant final challenges of seasons past. Last season's finale with Chip & Kim, and the one with Reichen & Chip (two Chips I just realize!) were more exciting by miles. I love
But I still am totally glad that the last leg was a happy one for the runners-up. Adam and Rebecca were much more cheerful, and seemed to surprisingly get along quite well. And they weren't bitter at all! And for a formerly dating couple who's had some rocky times in episodes past, they seemed to be getting back together in this last ep. And Kris & Jon, what can I say. My models for when I need cheering up. Ahhh.. lovers in love. And can you believe the petite Kris is 30 already?! Deadringer for Britney too.
Okay. Too much time blogging. I'm gonna work my ass off tonight. Gonna finish Pride and Prejudice before sunrise! That's a promise!
[edit @7.04PM.Feb10]: Unfortunately, I finished reading the book at 2PM. Interesting story, by the way.
Nineteen trips 'round the sun
Nineteen trips 'round the sun
Nineteen finally. Yey! Cool, I had a terrific birthday surprise! The twist is that I wasn't the object of surprise, but I surprised Korinna and Ivy by spoiling their birthday plans for me! Wahahaha.
February 7 has been a long day, which started off with me going to Clementi to look for butterscotch or brownies or any sumptuous bite-sized piece of chocolatey pastry, me finally getting an assortment of small yummy yummy cakes from Prima Deli, me coming late for Probability lecture at noon, braving through the Probability tutorial without even having printed the problem set, sitting through Calculus class, and exercising vocal chords with NUS Choir till almost 10pm.
Guess what I learned? I thought finding Sens as a birthday-mate was a big coincidence enough, but as it turns out, I have 2 other birthday-mates all in the same hall block! Cooooooool. So that's FOUR of us February 8 babies in D block alone. And to think I rarely found a birthday-mate in the Philippines. =P
So I was room-hopping and cake-distributing from midnight. Haha. Quite fun and happy and yehey. Maybe tomorrow (or later) I'll reflect more on what it really means to have travelled 'round the sun 19 times over, but for now I'll get some shut-eye first so I can catch the 6.45 morning mass at Clementi.
Yey, thank you Lord for another year! And good job, Joseph, in keeping yourself together. ;) Will call home tomorrow morning!
Music of the moment: Stevie Wonder's Seasons of Love
Currently feeling thankful.
Nineteen finally. Yey! Cool, I had a terrific birthday surprise! The twist is that I wasn't the object of surprise, but I surprised Korinna and Ivy by spoiling their birthday plans for me! Wahahaha.
February 7 has been a long day, which started off with me going to Clementi to look for butterscotch or brownies or any sumptuous bite-sized piece of chocolatey pastry, me finally getting an assortment of small yummy yummy cakes from Prima Deli, me coming late for Probability lecture at noon, braving through the Probability tutorial without even having printed the problem set, sitting through Calculus class, and exercising vocal chords with NUS Choir till almost 10pm.
Guess what I learned? I thought finding Sens as a birthday-mate was a big coincidence enough, but as it turns out, I have 2 other birthday-mates all in the same hall block! Cooooooool. So that's FOUR of us February 8 babies in D block alone. And to think I rarely found a birthday-mate in the Philippines. =P
So I was room-hopping and cake-distributing from midnight. Haha. Quite fun and happy and yehey. Maybe tomorrow (or later) I'll reflect more on what it really means to have travelled 'round the sun 19 times over, but for now I'll get some shut-eye first so I can catch the 6.45 morning mass at Clementi.
Yey, thank you Lord for another year! And good job, Joseph, in keeping yourself together. ;) Will call home tomorrow morning!
Music of the moment: Stevie Wonder's Seasons of Love
Currently feeling thankful.
Fast enough so we can fly away
Fast enough so we can fly away
How fast is fast?
I know Konica Minolta has no freakin' idea what fast is, based on their handling my camera. So I turned in the camera for repair in December, was promised it would be finished by early January, and now, one week into February, the blasted camera's not yet fixed! That response I got, btw, from this lady who took her sweet time doing stuff before finally attending to me. Ugh. I am so irked. For a while there, I suspected they never ever touched the camera until I arrived to claim it. And now they say it will be done in a week or two weeks? Finally you guys rush it because I arrived in your office and showed you my irritation.
I wouldn't be annoyed really, if I don't have an event on the 8th and 18th really. Unfortunately, to my great disappointment, having it fixed by the 8th is impossible, so you guys better fix it by the 18th lest you taste my fury. I'm mad at myself enough for paying a fortune to have it fixed you know, so sourcing for anger is no problem at all.
ANYWAY, nuff of that. I thought I had forgiven them already yesterday, as right after my trip to Funan IT Mall, I walked around the strip of malls that is Raffles City, City Link, and Suntec City. It's sale galore, see, since Chinese New Year (or more accurately, Lunar NY) is on Wednesday. Robinson's even claims their sale is The Sale Worth Waiting For. So I was shop-hopping and searching for good finds all afternoon. I was about to give up, when I saw this U2 sale at Suntec! In the end I got a red U2 sweatshirt (a steal at $19 from $39) and greyish pair of pants/jeans that looks formal but not quite and looks casual but not quite (another steal at $29 from $49!), and Hush Puppies socks. Yey! Ahhh.. what they all say about this retail therapy is true indeed. ;)
* * *
Is 1 page/minute fast enough? I asked Gail on the way to Church this morning. Apparently not. I've been reading Pride and Prejudice forever for my Lit module, and with little success. I am such a slow reader. I aimed for 1 page/min last night, but I couldn't make it! Argh. I get so easily distracted. That, and the fact that I read thoroughly, going back to previous pages for reference, and that other little fact that 19th century dialogue is quite difficult to comprehend! Gelo says 1 minute/page is freakin' slow. He says that if I employed speed reading, I would've finished the 388 page book in two hours or so? Walau.
* * *
I know what's fast though. Time. (No this is not about to get profound haha) I hardly realized, but IHG is almost over, and that means the end of cheering days! Yey, I can finally save my voice for the coming concerts. And It's almost midterm time too! Can't believe a good chunk of the sem has been spent already! And of course, I didn't quite expect the past year to go by so quickly! Goodbye 18.
Okay, hafta go now. I have a date with Jane Austen. =P
Music of the Moment: Tracy Chapman's Fast Car
Currently feeling bookwormish.
How fast is fast?
I know Konica Minolta has no freakin' idea what fast is, based on their handling my camera. So I turned in the camera for repair in December, was promised it would be finished by early January, and now, one week into February, the blasted camera's not yet fixed! That response I got, btw, from this lady who took her sweet time doing stuff before finally attending to me. Ugh. I am so irked. For a while there, I suspected they never ever touched the camera until I arrived to claim it. And now they say it will be done in a week or two weeks? Finally you guys rush it because I arrived in your office and showed you my irritation.
I wouldn't be annoyed really, if I don't have an event on the 8th and 18th really. Unfortunately, to my great disappointment, having it fixed by the 8th is impossible, so you guys better fix it by the 18th lest you taste my fury. I'm mad at myself enough for paying a fortune to have it fixed you know, so sourcing for anger is no problem at all.
ANYWAY, nuff of that. I thought I had forgiven them already yesterday, as right after my trip to Funan IT Mall, I walked around the strip of malls that is Raffles City, City Link, and Suntec City. It's sale galore, see, since Chinese New Year (or more accurately, Lunar NY) is on Wednesday. Robinson's even claims their sale is The Sale Worth Waiting For. So I was shop-hopping and searching for good finds all afternoon. I was about to give up, when I saw this U2 sale at Suntec! In the end I got a red U2 sweatshirt (a steal at $19 from $39) and greyish pair of pants/jeans that looks formal but not quite and looks casual but not quite (another steal at $29 from $49!), and Hush Puppies socks. Yey! Ahhh.. what they all say about this retail therapy is true indeed. ;)
* * *
Is 1 page/minute fast enough? I asked Gail on the way to Church this morning. Apparently not. I've been reading Pride and Prejudice forever for my Lit module, and with little success. I am such a slow reader. I aimed for 1 page/min last night, but I couldn't make it! Argh. I get so easily distracted. That, and the fact that I read thoroughly, going back to previous pages for reference, and that other little fact that 19th century dialogue is quite difficult to comprehend! Gelo says 1 minute/page is freakin' slow. He says that if I employed speed reading, I would've finished the 388 page book in two hours or so? Walau.
* * *
I know what's fast though. Time. (No this is not about to get profound haha) I hardly realized, but IHG is almost over, and that means the end of cheering days! Yey, I can finally save my voice for the coming concerts. And It's almost midterm time too! Can't believe a good chunk of the sem has been spent already! And of course, I didn't quite expect the past year to go by so quickly! Goodbye 18.
Okay, hafta go now. I have a date with Jane Austen. =P
Music of the Moment: Tracy Chapman's Fast Car
Currently feeling bookwormish.
Midnight ramblings
Midnight ramblings
Sometimes I wonder why on earth I chose this kind of life. This kind of life in the university, I mean. (Haha, I'd like to think I'm still happy in all other aspects) My God, lately I've been feeling totally swamped and near burnout point. Sometimes I ask if I'm just too lazy, or if I've accepted too many chores (Choir 1, Choir 2, Cheer Comm, Int'l Relations Comm, the Ridge, Molecular Genetics with Life Science majors, ST2131:Probability to crack my head up, and EN1101E:Intro to Literary Studies, which although fun, is killing me with the readings), or if I just don't properly juggle my stuff, or if I'm having more than my fair share of sociability (not that I have a hyper social life too) that I neglect my studies.
I remember Dr Miranda's speech during the Graduation of Batch '02 (one year ahead of me) in my high school, Phil. Science HS. He said that we can forget everything he said, except the one part he was to say next (which if I'm not mistaken, he quoted from someone else too.. probably the speaker on his own graduation?). Three things in college, he says: (1) High Grades, (2) A Terrific Social Life (3) Lots of Sleep. The reality of it is that one can only get TWO of those three. And it rings true, if you do all the possible combinations (reminds me to study for Probabality).
Funny, I don't have uber high grades (quite decent may be the right term), my social life is so-so, although (I think) I'm more outgoing than the normal person, and walau, yessss, I lack sleep. Maybe I'm being too flexible I'm spreading myself too thinly, that I don't even excel in any one aspect. Maybe I should stop being a chameleon, and finally go figure myself out. (One of my favorite X-men characters was Morph, too, btw, with Cyclops beating him by just a few points)
I can sense I'm not going anywhere, but that's just my tired mind speaking aloud. I skipped my Calculus class the other day because I overslept, had back-to-back Choir practices till almost 1am, the next day Friday had to cram my paper, didn't have time to do tutorials, went on a semi-futile trip to Clementi, and just now came from 4+ hours cheering for KR's Netball and Sepak Takraw teams. And for the weekend, I have to do lotsa stuff! I shall not say them all lest I burden you with my woes. ;)
But I'm not too miserable, really. In fact, I'm not miserable at all. I'm exhausted and sleepy and spent, but more than anything, I'm thankful to have survived the past week. Thanks Lord, for giving me enough laughter and happy little things to keep me afloat.
Music of the moment: NUS Choir's The Continental
Currently feeling reflective.
Sometimes I wonder why on earth I chose this kind of life. This kind of life in the university, I mean. (Haha, I'd like to think I'm still happy in all other aspects) My God, lately I've been feeling totally swamped and near burnout point. Sometimes I ask if I'm just too lazy, or if I've accepted too many chores (Choir 1, Choir 2, Cheer Comm, Int'l Relations Comm, the Ridge, Molecular Genetics with Life Science majors, ST2131:Probability to crack my head up, and EN1101E:Intro to Literary Studies, which although fun, is killing me with the readings), or if I just don't properly juggle my stuff, or if I'm having more than my fair share of sociability (not that I have a hyper social life too) that I neglect my studies.
I remember Dr Miranda's speech during the Graduation of Batch '02 (one year ahead of me) in my high school, Phil. Science HS. He said that we can forget everything he said, except the one part he was to say next (which if I'm not mistaken, he quoted from someone else too.. probably the speaker on his own graduation?). Three things in college, he says: (1) High Grades, (2) A Terrific Social Life (3) Lots of Sleep. The reality of it is that one can only get TWO of those three. And it rings true, if you do all the possible combinations (reminds me to study for Probabality).
Funny, I don't have uber high grades (quite decent may be the right term), my social life is so-so, although (I think) I'm more outgoing than the normal person, and walau, yessss, I lack sleep. Maybe I'm being too flexible I'm spreading myself too thin
I can sense I'm not going anywhere, but that's just my tired mind speaking aloud. I skipped my Calculus class the other day because I overslept, had back-to-back Choir practices till almost 1am, the next day Friday had to cram my paper, didn't have time to do tutorials, went on a semi-futile trip to Clementi, and just now came from 4+ hours cheering for KR's Netball and Sepak Takraw teams. And for the weekend, I have to do lotsa stuff! I shall not say them all lest I burden you with my woes. ;)
But I'm not too miserable, really. In fact, I'm not miserable at all. I'm exhausted and sleepy and spent, but more than anything, I'm thankful to have survived the past week. Thanks Lord, for giving me enough laughter and happy little things to keep me afloat.
Music of the moment: NUS Choir's The Continental
Currently feeling reflective.
Februaries
Februaries
I like Februaries. They're special months. They bear this humble distinction from the rest (and it's not just about the number of days), and this aura of warmth and breeziness. It's almost like December, actually, except for that little fact that people tend to be partial to their birthday months. =P
We just had a terrrrrific KR Choir supper! Now I'm beat, filled to bursting (we played this number guessing game where the one who unfortunately gets it right has to eat the rest of an unfinished dish. I got "lucky" thrice, Sisca of Altos 4 times I think haha), and totally spent. Thanks tenors for turning up for the cooking of the chicken wings and the preparation of the mango ice tea! Yey, we totally unskilled cooks managed to produce decent, edible stuff! Woohooo.
My God, those fried chicken wings stressed me out! Up until last Saturday, no final plans were made yet. Nobody could cook, and good little SL Joseph had to take it into his hands lest them tenors came up empty-handed among the supper-loving choristers who had their dishes all planned.
So I woke up at 7am, had an early breakfast, had a quick nap, rushed to PGP at 9:30am to get some condiments from good ol' Karen, went back to hall, took a bus to Ginza Plaza, returned to hall at 11:30am. Then it was on to chickenwork! Forced chickens to thaw, sliced lemons and onions and garlic, mixed in soy sauce and pepper, and soaked all 2.5 kg of chicken wings. I was more of bathing the chickens actually, one at a time. I finished at 15 past noon, ran to my room to cram my GEM1008 argument-diagramming essay, finished at 12:45pm, and rushed to my 1pm class grabbing a ham and cheese croissant along the way (yum yum). Had an interesting class as usual, went back to hall, did some laundry, and took an hour-and-a-half nap. Woke up at 6pm, just in time to go up to the KR multi-purpose hall to cheer for KR in the Badminton Semis versus IHG champs Temasek. I finished the girls' matches, tapau-ed my dinner, and rushed to the kitchen, where it was cooking till 10pm. And then glorious supper! And then less-than-glorious but quite okay cleanup! And then I'm here again, blogging.
Yey. Talk about a happily productive day.
Choir VP Kenneth told us that one of the reasons we held the supper is that it's gonna be a crazy month ahead, and we needed to enjoy ourselves before the wild days come. Hah, as if preparing the supper wasn't stressful enough! ;)
But really, February is jampacked with events. Aside from the onset of deadlines of papers and assignments, there's my birthday, Chinese New Year, V-day (this isn't stressful actually since there's virtually nothing to do for me), the Esplanade Lei Yu performance, the Varsity Voices Concert, on top of almost-daily cheering chores for KR. And oh yeah, I just got a tickets to the KR bash! Clubbing finally!
I hope today's an indication of what's to come for the month. Stressful and jampacked, yes, but at the end of the day, it feels damn goooood.
Music of the moment: Safri Duo's Baya Baya
Currently feeling accomplished.
I like Februaries. They're special months. They bear this humble distinction from the rest (and it's not just about the number of days), and this aura of warmth and breeziness. It's almost like December, actually, except for that little fact that people tend to be partial to their birthday months. =P
We just had a terrrrrific KR Choir supper! Now I'm beat, filled to bursting (we played this number guessing game where the one who unfortunately gets it right has to eat the rest of an unfinished dish. I got "lucky" thrice, Sisca of Altos 4 times I think haha), and totally spent. Thanks tenors for turning up for the cooking of the chicken wings and the preparation of the mango ice tea! Yey, we totally unskilled cooks managed to produce decent, edible stuff! Woohooo.
My God, those fried chicken wings stressed me out! Up until last Saturday, no final plans were made yet. Nobody could cook, and good little SL Joseph had to take it into his hands lest them tenors came up empty-handed among the supper-loving choristers who had their dishes all planned.
So I woke up at 7am, had an early breakfast, had a quick nap, rushed to PGP at 9:30am to get some condiments from good ol' Karen, went back to hall, took a bus to Ginza Plaza, returned to hall at 11:30am. Then it was on to chickenwork! Forced chickens to thaw, sliced lemons and onions and garlic, mixed in soy sauce and pepper, and soaked all 2.5 kg of chicken wings. I was more of bathing the chickens actually, one at a time. I finished at 15 past noon, ran to my room to cram my GEM1008 argument-diagramming essay, finished at 12:45pm, and rushed to my 1pm class grabbing a ham and cheese croissant along the way (yum yum). Had an interesting class as usual, went back to hall, did some laundry, and took an hour-and-a-half nap. Woke up at 6pm, just in time to go up to the KR multi-purpose hall to cheer for KR in the Badminton Semis versus IHG champs Temasek. I finished the girls' matches, tapau-ed my dinner, and rushed to the kitchen, where it was cooking till 10pm. And then glorious supper! And then less-than-glorious but quite okay cleanup! And then I'm here again, blogging.
Yey. Talk about a happily productive day.
Choir VP Kenneth told us that one of the reasons we held the supper is that it's gonna be a crazy month ahead, and we needed to enjoy ourselves before the wild days come. Hah, as if preparing the supper wasn't stressful enough! ;)
But really, February is jampacked with events. Aside from the onset of deadlines of papers and assignments, there's my birthday, Chinese New Year, V-day (this isn't stressful actually since there's virtually nothing to do for me), the Esplanade Lei Yu performance, the Varsity Voices Concert, on top of almost-daily cheering chores for KR. And oh yeah, I just got a tickets to the KR bash! Clubbing finally!
I hope today's an indication of what's to come for the month. Stressful and jampacked, yes, but at the end of the day, it feels damn goooood.
Music of the moment: Safri Duo's Baya Baya
Currently feeling accomplished.
