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.
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.
Lazy Day
Lazy Day
Lazy day today. Did virtually nothing! Nothing productive at least. Haha. Went to church at Clementi, had lunch at KFC, did a bit of grocery, went back to hall after dropping by Karen's room, watched the OC, cheered for the KR Volleyball team at the EH courts, then back here.
I'd have to thank someone though, for sharing something with me over MSN. I can't stop laughing, really. Impossible people. XP
Tomorrow I get to go for Lee Kuan Yew's ministerial forum, where he'll talk about what of the past is relevant in a fast-changing world. I was late for the online sign-up, but since I queued for the ticket collection, they let me register and gave me a ticket. Cool. I was always interested in hearing people of power or position or achievement talk. Always interesting to know what's in their heads. (Or anyone's head too, for that matter.)
I actually had two free tickets as of last Saturday: one for the the Chingay Parade and one for LKY's forum. I told my friends over lunch that I would gladly swap both of them for just one MTV Asia Awards ticket! It's gonna be on Thursday, in Thailand. I could be earning now, dammit. Why should I be broke?
But it's impossible too, that MTV thing, because it's in Thailand, and on a schoolday! Wanted it as one of those birthday gifts that are so good they're impossible to get. Oh well. I wanted to keep my birthday a secret, but walau, people have a terrific memory and the bridging kids apparently will surprise me again at midnight, so I told them I'd be going away that day. Birthdays always have me stumped as to what I'll do.
Argh.. I feel so lethargic. It gets tiring doing nothing, really. And you know what you do when you're tired, you beg for more rest. Vicious cycle. Better drag myself out of my bed and do some happy mugging. Ciao!
Music of the moment: Red Hot Chili Pepper's Scar Tissue
Currently feeling sleepy.
Lazy day today. Did virtually nothing! Nothing productive at least. Haha. Went to church at Clementi, had lunch at KFC, did a bit of grocery, went back to hall after dropping by Karen's room, watched the OC, cheered for the KR Volleyball team at the EH courts, then back here.
I'd have to thank someone though, for sharing something with me over MSN. I can't stop laughing, really. Impossible people. XP
Tomorrow I get to go for Lee Kuan Yew's ministerial forum, where he'll talk about what of the past is relevant in a fast-changing world. I was late for the online sign-up, but since I queued for the ticket collection, they let me register and gave me a ticket. Cool. I was always interested in hearing people of power or position or achievement talk. Always interesting to know what's in their heads. (Or anyone's head too, for that matter.)
I actually had two free tickets as of last Saturday: one for the the Chingay Parade and one for LKY's forum. I told my friends over lunch that I would gladly swap both of them for just one MTV Asia Awards ticket! It's gonna be on Thursday, in Thailand. I could be earning now, dammit. Why should I be broke?
But it's impossible too, that MTV thing, because it's in Thailand, and on a schoolday! Wanted it as one of those birthday gifts that are so good they're impossible to get. Oh well. I wanted to keep my birthday a secret, but walau, people have a terrific memory and the bridging kids apparently will surprise me again at midnight, so I told them I'd be going away that day. Birthdays always have me stumped as to what I'll do.
Argh.. I feel so lethargic. It gets tiring doing nothing, really. And you know what you do when you're tired, you beg for more rest. Vicious cycle. Better drag myself out of my bed and do some happy mugging. Ciao!
Music of the moment: Red Hot Chili Pepper's Scar Tissue
Currently feeling sleepy.
Flamed!
Flamed!
I finally got flamed! Yey.
Flame, by the way, is one of my Words of the Year 2003 (blame my less than amazing vocabulary). Not the typical flame = fire sense, of course. Merriam-Webster tells us that flame, as a transitive verb, means to send an angry, hostile, or abusive electronic message. Still unclear? Click the comments link in my previous post to see the perfect example. And of course, I must thank fake plastic tree, for I can never take the credit from him/her.
_____
fake plastic tree @ 01/29/2005 16:32:
what a pathetic blog. and your article for ridge is even more pathetic. Do us all a faovr [sic] and stop blogging.
joseph @ 01/29/2005 22:29:
fake plastic tree: why thank you for visiting! this blog is meant for me, you know, not for you or anybody else. so think whatever you want. i couldn't care less. here's the door, thanks for the visit.
_____
Hehe, I guess that reply speaks for itself. Although for a while there I entertained thoughts about the validity of that claim, nah, I'm so thick-skinned and calloused now. And I know better.
* * *
God I am so freakin' exhausted. Had less than enough sleep last night once again, and that corresponds to a new zit and bigger eyebags. Woke up early to Google stuff for my sister, slept again, googled again when I woke up, had lunch and attempted to read Pride and Prejudice for my Lit class, to no avail. Had lunch, and later killed more braincells (hopefully it pays off).
Rushed to room to email Kai, then ran to bus stop at 5pm to go to the Singapore Chinese Orchestra building in Shenton Way. Sang with NUS Choir till 10pm with the orchestra, and I must admit it was way cool to see and hear those unique Chinese instruments! There was this violin-like thing (no English term for it apparently?), this wind instrument made of large bamboos(?), and some string instrument that reminded me of the Philippines' banduria. And of course there were the usual orchestra stuff. We didn't sing quite well, since it was tough blending with the Orchestra and finding our cues. But Maestro Tsung Yeh seemed quite pleased and considerate, so that's okay.
What was sad was that I was starving! Cheese sandwiches + banana at 4pm didn't seem to do the trick. And practice ended at 10pm too! Walau. Rushed to bus stop, reached KR past 11pm, turned on my laptop and began preparing Quaker Oats for dinner/supper. Then Chicken messaged me through MSN, Have you read the comment on your blog?
Haha. As much as I'm drained and exhausted and stressed(and loads of work coming up too), I'm perfectly fine. I have John Mayer and Jason Mraz playing in my head, and God by my side of course, so what could possibly go wrong?
Music of the moment: Jason Mraz's 1000 Things
Currently feeling hungry.
I finally got flamed! Yey.
Flame, by the way, is one of my Words of the Year 2003 (blame my less than amazing vocabulary). Not the typical flame = fire sense, of course. Merriam-Webster tells us that flame, as a transitive verb, means to send an angry, hostile, or abusive electronic message. Still unclear? Click the comments link in my previous post to see the perfect example. And of course, I must thank fake plastic tree, for I can never take the credit from him/her.
_____
fake plastic tree @ 01/29/2005 16:32:
what a pathetic blog. and your article for ridge is even more pathetic. Do us all a faovr [sic] and stop blogging.
joseph @ 01/29/2005 22:29:
fake plastic tree: why thank you for visiting! this blog is meant for me, you know, not for you or anybody else. so think whatever you want. i couldn't care less. here's the door, thanks for the visit.
_____
Hehe, I guess that reply speaks for itself. Although for a while there I entertained thoughts about the validity of that claim, nah, I'm so thick-skinned and calloused now. And I know better.
* * *
God I am so freakin' exhausted. Had less than enough sleep last night once again, and that corresponds to a new zit and bigger eyebags. Woke up early to Google stuff for my sister, slept again, googled again when I woke up, had lunch and attempted to read Pride and Prejudice for my Lit class, to no avail. Had lunch, and later killed more braincells (hopefully it pays off).
Rushed to room to email Kai, then ran to bus stop at 5pm to go to the Singapore Chinese Orchestra building in Shenton Way. Sang with NUS Choir till 10pm with the orchestra, and I must admit it was way cool to see and hear those unique Chinese instruments! There was this violin-like thing (no English term for it apparently?), this wind instrument made of large bamboos(?), and some string instrument that reminded me of the Philippines' banduria. And of course there were the usual orchestra stuff. We didn't sing quite well, since it was tough blending with the Orchestra and finding our cues. But Maestro Tsung Yeh seemed quite pleased and considerate, so that's okay.
What was sad was that I was starving! Cheese sandwiches + banana at 4pm didn't seem to do the trick. And practice ended at 10pm too! Walau. Rushed to bus stop, reached KR past 11pm, turned on my laptop and began preparing Quaker Oats for dinner/supper. Then Chicken messaged me through MSN, Have you read the comment on your blog?
Haha. As much as I'm drained and exhausted and stressed(and loads of work coming up too), I'm perfectly fine. I have John Mayer and Jason Mraz playing in my head, and God by my side of course, so what could possibly go wrong?
Music of the moment: Jason Mraz's 1000 Things
Currently feeling hungry.
Last Song Syndrome
Last Song Syndrome
Sometimes I wish that I was the weather
You’d bring me up in conversation forever
And when it rains
I’d be the talk of the day
...
And there could be no other way
‘Cause you're so, you're so lame
Your tired words are all, they're all the same
And I would walk, I’d surely walk away
If I wasn’t such a sucker for you
-John Mayer, Sucker
Lately I've been stuck with John Mayer ringing in my head. Not that I'm complaining, actually. I'm enjoying it, in fact, because for some weird reason, it ties up with my EN1101E (Intro to Literary Studies) class quite nicely! Bloody brilliant lyrics! Hah. If only to prove to Dr Yeo that not all pop songs aren't quite poetry in the truest sense. Hehe. I'd like to have Jason Mraz and John Mayer be exceptions. ;) And Alanis and Vanessa Carlton too, perhaps.
But it's not just one John Mayer song that's replaying over and over in my head. There's another, and it's this cool song about, of all things, daughters.
I know a girl
She puts the color inside of my world
She's just like a maze
Where all of the walls all continually change
And I've done all I can
To stand on her steps with my heart in my hands
Now I'm starting to see
Maybe it's got nothing to do with me
Fathers be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers be good to your daughters too
...
Boys, you can break
You'll find out how much they can take
Boys will be strong
And boys soldier on
But boys would be gone without warmth from
A woman's good, good heart
- J Mayer, Daughters
Maybe it's just me, but I think it's one of those "Aww.." songs. Hehe. The melody's the typical J Mayer lazy, laid-back tunes, and the lyrics are the usual feel-good, insightful ramblings. Yey, just nice. The songs are poetic-looking enough for me, but if they don't look quite the part yet (at least based on my Lit module's standards), then maybe they should be sung and heard. Soft yet powerful melodies, with that unmistakable sincerity and feeling in his voice. Quite the songs that would make you feel good about the world.
Daughters is such a nice song! (Nominated for Song of the Year too, in next month's Grammys!) And, even if I've never done this sort of mushy-mushy thing before on her, I dedicate it to... tada, my sister! Yey. My pretty laughing sister Kai is graduating from High School in March, see. And unfortunately good big bro Joseph can't make it because he's being enslaved by schoolwork in SG during that time. But you do get your grad gift though, courtesy of Dad, which I shall search for at Funan sometime soon. ;)
I've read in some forum that Daughters has quite a sad meaning, about Dads leaving their families and neglecting their daughters, but walau, of course I don't mean that! It's just a simple moving song about daughters and parents and the L word. Or something. The thing about poems, anyway, as I've learned from today's class, is that they can be interpreted in every which way (as long as you can tell how you arrived at that interpretation of course), and that makes them all the more interesting.
Anyway, I'll try to find Kai a nice grad gift of my own (if I manage to save up), but for now, I'm granting one of her requests. Haha, to surf the net for the perfect prom dress! Fit for prom queen! Hah. It's a gruelling task, trust me, but what the heck. Well at least I can say I didn't maximize the free internet at NUS.
***
Tomorrow NUS Choir's going to practice with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra! I'm quite excited. I mean, singing is one thing, singing in public is another, and singing with an orchestra is yet another. I try not to be overwhelmed, too much though. Hehe, lest they discover I'm not exactly one of the "strongest links" in the Choir. But I'm not too lousy and I blend quite fine! I think. :)
Okay, that's about it! Mighty glad to have survived another day.
P.S.
And oh yeah, The Ridge finally came out today! Yey, and my article finally sees the light of day! Hehe. And it's about you, blogster, of all things. So.. now that you have your birthday gift, what about mine? =P
Music of the Moment: Go figure!
Currently feeling contemplative.
Sometimes I wish that I was the weather
You’d bring me up in conversation forever
And when it rains
I’d be the talk of the day
...
And there could be no other way
‘Cause you're so, you're so lame
Your tired words are all, they're all the same
And I would walk, I’d surely walk away
If I wasn’t such a sucker for you
-John Mayer, Sucker
Lately I've been stuck with John Mayer ringing in my head. Not that I'm complaining, actually. I'm enjoying it, in fact, because for some weird reason, it ties up with my EN1101E (Intro to Literary Studies) class quite nicely! Bloody brilliant lyrics! Hah. If only to prove to Dr Yeo that not all pop songs aren't quite poetry in the truest sense. Hehe. I'd like to have Jason Mraz and John Mayer be exceptions. ;) And Alanis and Vanessa Carlton too, perhaps.
But it's not just one John Mayer song that's replaying over and over in my head. There's another, and it's this cool song about, of all things, daughters.
I know a girl
She puts the color inside of my world
She's just like a maze
Where all of the walls all continually change
And I've done all I can
To stand on her steps with my heart in my hands
Now I'm starting to see
Maybe it's got nothing to do with me
Fathers be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers be good to your daughters too
...
Boys, you can break
You'll find out how much they can take
Boys will be strong
And boys soldier on
But boys would be gone without warmth from
A woman's good, good heart
- J Mayer, Daughters
Maybe it's just me, but I think it's one of those "Aww.." songs. Hehe. The melody's the typical J Mayer lazy, laid-back tunes, and the lyrics are the usual feel-good, insightful ramblings. Yey, just nice. The songs are poetic-looking enough for me, but if they don't look quite the part yet (at least based on my Lit module's standards), then maybe they should be sung and heard. Soft yet powerful melodies, with that unmistakable sincerity and feeling in his voice. Quite the songs that would make you feel good about the world.
Daughters is such a nice song! (Nominated for Song of the Year too, in next month's Grammys!) And, even if I've never done this sort of mushy-mushy thing before on her, I dedicate it to... tada, my sister! Yey. My pretty laughing sister Kai is graduating from High School in March, see. And unfortunately good big bro Joseph can't make it because he's being enslaved by schoolwork in SG during that time. But you do get your grad gift though, courtesy of Dad, which I shall search for at Funan sometime soon. ;)
I've read in some forum that Daughters has quite a sad meaning, about Dads leaving their families and neglecting their daughters, but walau, of course I don't mean that! It's just a simple moving song about daughters and parents and the L word. Or something. The thing about poems, anyway, as I've learned from today's class, is that they can be interpreted in every which way (as long as you can tell how you arrived at that interpretation of course), and that makes them all the more interesting.
Anyway, I'll try to find Kai a nice grad gift of my own (if I manage to save up), but for now, I'm granting one of her requests. Haha, to surf the net for the perfect prom dress! Fit for prom queen! Hah. It's a gruelling task, trust me, but what the heck. Well at least I can say I didn't maximize the free internet at NUS.
***
Tomorrow NUS Choir's going to practice with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra! I'm quite excited. I mean, singing is one thing, singing in public is another, and singing with an orchestra is yet another. I try not to be overwhelmed, too much though. Hehe, lest they discover I'm not exactly one of the "strongest links" in the Choir. But I'm not too lousy and I blend quite fine! I think. :)
Okay, that's about it! Mighty glad to have survived another day.
P.S.
And oh yeah, The Ridge finally came out today! Yey, and my article finally sees the light of day! Hehe. And it's about you, blogster, of all things. So.. now that you have your birthday gift, what about mine? =P
Music of the Moment: Go figure!
Currently feeling contemplative.
Speed blogging
Speed Blogging
Five minutes.
Long day today. My God, virtually from 12-12 of intense work.
Probability lecture, Chinese cooked food with ex-hallmate Zhou Yang, Robs and Arthur, back to hall to email and THINK, then back for sleep-inducing Calculus lecture. Rushed to bus stop, ran to dining hall for dinner, ran to room to get scores, then ran to bus stop to catch A2 bus.
Missed the hired bus going to Singapore Chinese Orchestra place at Tanjong Pagar. Thank God there was another hired van. Was panting like crazy. Cool place, soooo "professional"-looking? Met the orchestra conductor, who'll conduct us NUS Choir + Victoria Chorale during the Lei Yu performance for Chinese Arts Festival. Worried a bit since we were told he once walked out after 30 minutes of hearing a choir, and that was the end of it. He turned out to be extra friendly and witty, and phew, we got past thirty minutes. Safe. Waited for bus 10 bus, 10:pm. The other choir from KR was calling me on my handphone, walau, the tenors severely lacked manpower. I arrived at 10:30pm, running to the KR music room. Walau, no tenors! Benny was waiting for me outside. I called everyone on their handphone to come, but only Johni, who had an aching back, came (thanks a lot Johni).
Paiseh, I screwed up my singing. Haha, we lost our notes many times. Good thing we did much better when the real conductor arrived at 11:15pm. And only three tenors! Yey, thanks Benny and Johni. Sorry I'm learning to be a tenor still! (I should be bass!)
1:07am now, and I have an 8am class! I. am. beat. Good night!
7 minutes overtime! Tsk.
Music of the moment: John Mayer's Sucker
Currently feeling like hibernating.
Five minutes.
Long day today. My God, virtually from 12-12 of intense work.
Probability lecture, Chinese cooked food with ex-hallmate Zhou Yang, Robs and Arthur, back to hall to email and THINK, then back for sleep-inducing Calculus lecture. Rushed to bus stop, ran to dining hall for dinner, ran to room to get scores, then ran to bus stop to catch A2 bus.
Missed the hired bus going to Singapore Chinese Orchestra place at Tanjong Pagar. Thank God there was another hired van. Was panting like crazy. Cool place, soooo "professional"-looking? Met the orchestra conductor, who'll conduct us NUS Choir + Victoria Chorale during the Lei Yu performance for Chinese Arts Festival. Worried a bit since we were told he once walked out after 30 minutes of hearing a choir, and that was the end of it. He turned out to be extra friendly and witty, and phew, we got past thirty minutes. Safe. Waited for bus 10 bus, 10:pm. The other choir from KR was calling me on my handphone, walau, the tenors severely lacked manpower. I arrived at 10:30pm, running to the KR music room. Walau, no tenors! Benny was waiting for me outside. I called everyone on their handphone to come, but only Johni, who had an aching back, came (thanks a lot Johni).
Paiseh, I screwed up my singing. Haha, we lost our notes many times. Good thing we did much better when the real conductor arrived at 11:15pm. And only three tenors! Yey, thanks Benny and Johni. Sorry I'm learning to be a tenor still! (I should be bass!)
1:07am now, and I have an 8am class! I. am. beat. Good night!
7 minutes overtime! Tsk.
Music of the moment: John Mayer's Sucker
Currently feeling like hibernating.
A little motivation
A little motivation
Yey, I have a new top score in Triple Pop! It's this game in my handphone that basically requires the player to pop differently-colored bubbles as they hit a user-controlled rotating stone at the center of a circular playing area. If at least three bubbles of the same color are adjacent to each other, they "pop", and points are awarded. Aim is to pop as many bubbles as long as bubbles don't go out-of-bounds of the playing area.
My score's at 1435 now, and I'm glad because it was the first time I played it in months! And first (and only) try too this session. Well, trust on handphone games to keep you busy while waiting for the 9:00PM bus. I'm especially surprised with myself, for keeping the playing area clear around the score of 900, when usually (at least in my triple-pop playing history), this is the time when all the bubbles fly from nowhere, and threaten to (and eventually) go out of bounds.
The secret, I'd like to think, is a little motivation. I tried a different mindset as I was starting the game, and it worked.
I guess that's also why we Cheer Team are being constantly told that we are important in the games of KR in the ongoing IHG. We were told that "we have to ra-ra the crowd during every match," and this means a lot to the sweaty players playing their hearts out for our dear KR.
That's the reason, btw, that I was outside at around 9pm still. We were at the SRC courts for the very exciting handball (male) semis. KR came in full force, like the other day, to cheer on the players as they tackled Sheares Hall on Monday, and Raffles Hall yesterday. I left a few minutes after halftime during yesterday's match, since I had to rush for tenor sectionals for KR choir (yes, I'm surely losing my voice).
I arrived at 9:05pm at the lobby, and wa lau, no tenors! We were supposed to meet at 9pm punctually. I waited till almost 10pm, and only Johni, who had earlier told me he was gonna be late, and Adrian, who was also late because of Bible study/cell group, were there. A few other told me they couldn't come for valid reasons, but I PLEASE wish the others will tell me beforehand if they couldn't come. I scheduled the sectionals, by the way. It's tough being tenor SL, I now realize.
The handball supporters came at around 10pm, and, I didn't need to ask if they won or lost that very important match. It was a very close fight, and we lost. Keith, the cheerleading head, even told me the handball captain had been in tears, apologizing to the crowd for not bringing Kent Ridge to the finals. I missed all the drama! Hehe. KR's hall spirit is something I appreciate quite a lot.
So I went to my room and finished making the tenor scores of All Things Bright and Beautiful using this program Noteworthy Composer (a must-use in any choir). Just as I was finishing at 11:45pm, Kevin, the Logistics guy from NUS choir, whom I am under for the coming Varsity Voices Concert, requested me to make the scores for the tenor parts of this really difficult but beautiful song, The Continental. I hesitated a bit, but since I was in NWC file-making mode, and with a little motivation too, I finished it in another hour or so. Proud of myself.
Thank you Lord for getting me through another day. And yey, here's another one! Good morning!
Music of the moment: Barbie's Cradle's Every day
Currently feeling like taking a shower!
Yey, I have a new top score in Triple Pop! It's this game in my handphone that basically requires the player to pop differently-colored bubbles as they hit a user-controlled rotating stone at the center of a circular playing area. If at least three bubbles of the same color are adjacent to each other, they "pop", and points are awarded. Aim is to pop as many bubbles as long as bubbles don't go out-of-bounds of the playing area.
My score's at 1435 now, and I'm glad because it was the first time I played it in months! And first (and only) try too this session. Well, trust on handphone games to keep you busy while waiting for the 9:00PM bus. I'm especially surprised with myself, for keeping the playing area clear around the score of 900, when usually (at least in my triple-pop playing history), this is the time when all the bubbles fly from nowhere, and threaten to (and eventually) go out of bounds.
The secret, I'd like to think, is a little motivation. I tried a different mindset as I was starting the game, and it worked.
I guess that's also why we Cheer Team are being constantly told that we are important in the games of KR in the ongoing IHG. We were told that "we have to ra-ra the crowd during every match," and this means a lot to the sweaty players playing their hearts out for our dear KR.
That's the reason, btw, that I was outside at around 9pm still. We were at the SRC courts for the very exciting handball (male) semis. KR came in full force, like the other day, to cheer on the players as they tackled Sheares Hall on Monday, and Raffles Hall yesterday. I left a few minutes after halftime during yesterday's match, since I had to rush for tenor sectionals for KR choir (yes, I'm surely losing my voice).
I arrived at 9:05pm at the lobby, and wa lau, no tenors! We were supposed to meet at 9pm punctually. I waited till almost 10pm, and only Johni, who had earlier told me he was gonna be late, and Adrian, who was also late because of Bible study/cell group, were there. A few other told me they couldn't come for valid reasons, but I PLEASE wish the others will tell me beforehand if they couldn't come. I scheduled the sectionals, by the way. It's tough being tenor SL, I now realize.
The handball supporters came at around 10pm, and, I didn't need to ask if they won or lost that very important match. It was a very close fight, and we lost. Keith, the cheerleading head, even told me the handball captain had been in tears, apologizing to the crowd for not bringing Kent Ridge to the finals. I missed all the drama! Hehe. KR's hall spirit is something I appreciate quite a lot.
So I went to my room and finished making the tenor scores of All Things Bright and Beautiful using this program Noteworthy Composer (a must-use in any choir). Just as I was finishing at 11:45pm, Kevin, the Logistics guy from NUS choir, whom I am under for the coming Varsity Voices Concert, requested me to make the scores for the tenor parts of this really difficult but beautiful song, The Continental. I hesitated a bit, but since I was in NWC file-making mode, and with a little motivation too, I finished it in another hour or so. Proud of myself.
Thank you Lord for getting me through another day. And yey, here's another one! Good morning!
Music of the moment: Barbie's Cradle's Every day
Currently feeling like taking a shower!
Thoughts
Thoughts
I've been thinking a lot lately, and by golly, thinking really took me for a ride! I've been relishing my thoughts thoroughly, though, as they were thoughts of substance (as far as I know), things that are yet to be resolved, yet worth repeatedly pondering over nonetheless.
And what a whirlwind of emotions it was. I don't want to blog about depressing stuff, you know, because.. because. Maybe I'm not sure I'm willing to grant full access into my head. Be my friend, for real, and then I'll gladly open up.
Anyway, I've been quite "off" the past few days, but I still manage (I hope) to put on a genuine enough face when the situation calls for it.
Don't worry, I'm not depressed. I'm just thinking too much! Blame the thought-provoking stimuli around me.
* * *
I wasn't supposed to tell, but since Wayne has shocked me by opening up his side through what else, his blog, I'm gonna let you in on the Wayne file in my brain.
I hate being lied to when I ask a direct (harmless) question (that's only for those Survivor folk). I do not appreciate getting no reaction when I talk to you. Once, twice, how many times? No reaction when I thanked you even. Wa lau. And when I asked you to sign Korinna's card, I never expected nor requested you to come to me to sign it. I knew it was my task to have you sign it. And I did go to KE, but unfortunately you weren't there. Surely you don't want me to go back at 11pm? And btw, some "confrontation" it was. It was more of a polite question from me, and a short two-liner for you. I didn't even think you were paying full attention. End of story.
* * *
Whew. I'm glad to have that out. As much as I hate writing that sort of stuff.
And there's more stuff too inside my head, some happy, some horrible, which I shall not disclose anymore. There's stuff to do of course, schoolwork mostly + choir, which must be attended to more than anything else. My thoughts shall linger on for the next days, weeks, God-knows-when, but they stay in the backseat.
P.S.
Today was an especially fun choir session for NUS Choir. I don't know what, but we were just laughing and singing happily and all like good friends. Later, though, the Student Conductor (and the one who did my audition) Josephine Kang, announced, misty-eyed yet still trying to joke around, that she was quitting the choir. I suddenly felt sad. She is in her final semester as a Law Student, and one of her lectures (with 8 modular credits too) clashes with choir practices, and Mr Lecturer doesn't seem pleased with her skipping class. And, she's been falling sick lately too. Sigh, four years in choir. We were even talking in Sentosa during the Choir Camp about her of course going for the overseas competition in Czech.
She told us to enjoy and love the music. Love the choir in the process.
Now that's another thought for me to digest.
Music of the moment: Third Eye Blind's How's It Gonna Be?
Currently feeling sunburnt.
I've been thinking a lot lately, and by golly, thinking really took me for a ride! I've been relishing my thoughts thoroughly, though, as they were thoughts of substance (as far as I know), things that are yet to be resolved, yet worth repeatedly pondering over nonetheless.
And what a whirlwind of emotions it was. I don't want to blog about depressing stuff, you know, because.. because. Maybe I'm not sure I'm willing to grant full access into my head. Be my friend, for real, and then I'll gladly open up.
Anyway, I've been quite "off" the past few days, but I still manage (I hope) to put on a genuine enough face when the situation calls for it.
Don't worry, I'm not depressed. I'm just thinking too much! Blame the thought-provoking stimuli around me.
* * *
I wasn't supposed to tell, but since Wayne has shocked me by opening up his side through what else, his blog, I'm gonna let you in on the Wayne file in my brain.
I hate being lied to when I ask a direct (harmless) question (that's only for those Survivor folk). I do not appreciate getting no reaction when I talk to you. Once, twice, how many times? No reaction when I thanked you even. Wa lau. And when I asked you to sign Korinna's card, I never expected nor requested you to come to me to sign it. I knew it was my task to have you sign it. And I did go to KE, but unfortunately you weren't there. Surely you don't want me to go back at 11pm? And btw, some "confrontation" it was. It was more of a polite question from me, and a short two-liner for you. I didn't even think you were paying full attention. End of story.
* * *
Whew. I'm glad to have that out. As much as I hate writing that sort of stuff.
And there's more stuff too inside my head, some happy, some horrible, which I shall not disclose anymore. There's stuff to do of course, schoolwork mostly + choir, which must be attended to more than anything else. My thoughts shall linger on for the next days, weeks, God-knows-when, but they stay in the backseat.
P.S.
Today was an especially fun choir session for NUS Choir. I don't know what, but we were just laughing and singing happily and all like good friends. Later, though, the Student Conductor (and the one who did my audition) Josephine Kang, announced, misty-eyed yet still trying to joke around, that she was quitting the choir. I suddenly felt sad. She is in her final semester as a Law Student, and one of her lectures (with 8 modular credits too) clashes with choir practices, and Mr Lecturer doesn't seem pleased with her skipping class. And, she's been falling sick lately too. Sigh, four years in choir. We were even talking in Sentosa during the Choir Camp about her of course going for the overseas competition in Czech.
She told us to enjoy and love the music. Love the choir in the process.
Now that's another thought for me to digest.
Music of the moment: Third Eye Blind's How's It Gonna Be?
Currently feeling sunburnt.
I'm okay
I'm okay
Of course I'm okay. I'm not one to wallow, with or without reason, so ignore the last post because I'm feeling *quite* fine now. That, or maybe I've mastered the art of denial. Hmm..
In any case, the past two days were interesting. It's Korinna's birthday today! And in true bridging-babies '03 tradition, we wanted to greet her at midnight. Ivy and I were stumped as to what to do, because we have ALWAYS been knocking at the doors of suppposedly unsuspecting bridging-mates at midnight to give them a "surprise" treat or cake or something. After we greeted most everyone throughout last year, the "surprise" became, well, not too much of a surprise. On my birthday last year, I was in fact semi-waiting for them to come, and, in preparation, I already ordered a cake and plates and spoons and forks! (Hehe, but I still was a bit surprised and extremely happy just the same ;) )
Yesterday at noon, Ivy and I still didn't have any concrete plans. My digicam is still at Konica, and so that left us with less ideas. We thought that buying a cake and "surprising" Kor at midnight was "so last year" and so we were stumped again for the most part. Ivy and I were to meet at lunch with some friends to discuss, and she came up the last-minute idea of making a butterfly-themed card for Kor, who apparently has been fond of butterflies lately as evidenced by her blog. Ivy had to go to a despedida (send-off) party in the afternoon, so I took on the task of having people to sign the card, even going to King Edward VII after dinner and going back and forth to Kor's studymate/lunchmate Sundeep and Kor's dinner date Woen Ping's rooms.
Ivy and the rest went ice skating too, and they were to come home late, so she decided that the greeting will be done in the afternoon today instead, and not at midnight as per tradition. I messaged Wayne, and he repeatedly told me he had no plans for Kor's birthday at all (although he came up with something eventually). I finally caught up with bridging-mates Navuth and Tuk, and together we agreed that we wouldn't do nothing at midnight (same sentiment I felt also last year during Kor's birthday which coincided with CNY). I mean, after all, we were there, and it was most sensible that gather and greet her right?
So having let everyone I know Korinna knows sign the card, I packed some of my dried mangoes (the only decent edible stuff I have), a small keychain-like accessory in the shape of a starfish (my tiny gift for Kor), and told Diana, Navuth, Tuk, Nirorn and Rotana to meet up at five to twelve. Everyone was game. We went to Kor and Ivy's block, and before knocking at Kor's room, went to Ivy's room to check if she had arrived yet. She was there already, and after some discussion (whether to give the card now or not since it was still unfinished, whether to even greet Korinna that time or wait for the next day for more people), we decided to knock at Kor's door. No answer. And the door was locked from the outside (most residents usually leave it open and lock it from the inside) We initially thought she was asleep, but could she have gone elsewhere? She wasn't picking up the phone, too.
So we bridging kids had to think of something to do! We couldn't post the card yet, since it was unfinished, so after thinking it through, we decided to record a birthday video and email it to her! Haha, I thought it was brilliant. We did an extended Happy Birthday song, with "happy birthday" spoken in 7 languages! I did the "Maligayang bati" Tagalog part, Diana said something in Hokkien, Laotian Tuk did a Thai greeting, Navuth spoke in Khmer, Rotana spoke in French (some speak French in Cambodia, see), Nirorn had his greeting in Mandarin (fresh from Mandarin lessons last sem too), and Ivy the photographer did it in English. Then we did one long happy birthday at the end, with Diana adding a Tagalog twist. ;)
Hehe, that, plus music videos of sorts. Diana, Ivy and I sang a number of OPM songs (music from Filipino artists), while Cambodians Navuth, Nirorn and Rotana did a Khmer song with clapping, while Tuk clapped along. And oh, Navuth recognized the theme song of the Philippine soap, Pangako Sa'yo (Diana suggested this since Kor is a fan of Jericho, the male lead). It's cool to learn that they showed the soap in Cambodia! How cool is that for a Pinoy soap! It really was a well-crafted teleserye anyway, so I'm mighty glad that it was "exported". =P
We left the video-shoot area i.e. Ivy's room at almost 2am, while Ivy fixed up the videos and finished the card. They had another birthday-greeting session at 2pm, and I'm sure it was fun. Wasn't able to attend though, since I was at Siglap South Community Centre for NUS Choir's practice of the Chinese song Lei Yu with Victoria Chorale.
Over dinner at McDonald's with this year's new bridging kids + Ferron + Jeunesse + Gelo, Jayson gave me a crash course on Mandarin 101! Now the Lei Yu scores make a lot more sense (hehe it's written in hardcore poetic Chinese language some stuff even Jayson and some Singaporeans can't understand), and I learned a lot of useful tips regarding pronunciation of Chinese words written in Pin Yin! I suddenly realized that I was singing wrongly in terms of the pronunciation of words! Tunewise, I still can manage.. somehow. Hehe.
It's the end of a day and the start of a new one soon. I'm seriously swamped again, as usual, my room's a mess once more and I still have mind monsters to vanquish. I'm tired now, but I'm switching to OC mode, and I'll have all of these stuff settled soon.
P.S.
Pardon the incoherence.
Music of the Moment: Nirotanavutuk Jodivy's Happy Birthday
Currently feeling blank.
Of course I'm okay. I'm not one to wallow, with or without reason, so ignore the last post because I'm feeling *quite* fine now. That, or maybe I've mastered the art of denial. Hmm..
In any case, the past two days were interesting. It's Korinna's birthday today! And in true bridging-babies '03 tradition, we wanted to greet her at midnight. Ivy and I were stumped as to what to do, because we have ALWAYS been knocking at the doors of suppposedly unsuspecting bridging-mates at midnight to give them a "surprise" treat or cake or something. After we greeted most everyone throughout last year, the "surprise" became, well, not too much of a surprise. On my birthday last year, I was in fact semi-waiting for them to come, and, in preparation, I already ordered a cake and plates and spoons and forks! (Hehe, but I still was a bit surprised and extremely happy just the same ;) )
Yesterday at noon, Ivy and I still didn't have any concrete plans. My digicam is still at Konica, and so that left us with less ideas. We thought that buying a cake and "surprising" Kor at midnight was "so last year" and so we were stumped again for the most part. Ivy and I were to meet at lunch with some friends to discuss, and she came up the last-minute idea of making a butterfly-themed card for Kor, who apparently has been fond of butterflies lately as evidenced by her blog. Ivy had to go to a despedida (send-off) party in the afternoon, so I took on the task of having people to sign the card, even going to King Edward VII after dinner and going back and forth to Kor's studymate/lunchmate Sundeep and Kor's dinner date Woen Ping's rooms.
Ivy and the rest went ice skating too, and they were to come home late, so she decided that the greeting will be done in the afternoon today instead, and not at midnight as per tradition. I messaged Wayne, and he repeatedly told me he had no plans for Kor's birthday at all (although he came up with something eventually). I finally caught up with bridging-mates Navuth and Tuk, and together we agreed that we wouldn't do nothing at midnight (same sentiment I felt also last year during Kor's birthday which coincided with CNY). I mean, after all, we were there, and it was most sensible that gather and greet her right?
So having let everyone I know Korinna knows sign the card, I packed some of my dried mangoes (the only decent edible stuff I have), a small keychain-like accessory in the shape of a starfish (my tiny gift for Kor), and told Diana, Navuth, Tuk, Nirorn and Rotana to meet up at five to twelve. Everyone was game. We went to Kor and Ivy's block, and before knocking at Kor's room, went to Ivy's room to check if she had arrived yet. She was there already, and after some discussion (whether to give the card now or not since it was still unfinished, whether to even greet Korinna that time or wait for the next day for more people), we decided to knock at Kor's door. No answer. And the door was locked from the outside (most residents usually leave it open and lock it from the inside) We initially thought she was asleep, but could she have gone elsewhere? She wasn't picking up the phone, too.
So we bridging kids had to think of something to do! We couldn't post the card yet, since it was unfinished, so after thinking it through, we decided to record a birthday video and email it to her! Haha, I thought it was brilliant. We did an extended Happy Birthday song, with "happy birthday" spoken in 7 languages! I did the "Maligayang bati" Tagalog part, Diana said something in Hokkien, Laotian Tuk did a Thai greeting, Navuth spoke in Khmer, Rotana spoke in French (some speak French in Cambodia, see), Nirorn had his greeting in Mandarin (fresh from Mandarin lessons last sem too), and Ivy the photographer did it in English. Then we did one long happy birthday at the end, with Diana adding a Tagalog twist. ;)
Hehe, that, plus music videos of sorts. Diana, Ivy and I sang a number of OPM songs (music from Filipino artists), while Cambodians Navuth, Nirorn and Rotana did a Khmer song with clapping, while Tuk clapped along. And oh, Navuth recognized the theme song of the Philippine soap, Pangako Sa'yo (Diana suggested this since Kor is a fan of Jericho, the male lead). It's cool to learn that they showed the soap in Cambodia! How cool is that for a Pinoy soap! It really was a well-crafted teleserye anyway, so I'm mighty glad that it was "exported". =P
We left the video-shoot area i.e. Ivy's room at almost 2am, while Ivy fixed up the videos and finished the card. They had another birthday-greeting session at 2pm, and I'm sure it was fun. Wasn't able to attend though, since I was at Siglap South Community Centre for NUS Choir's practice of the Chinese song Lei Yu with Victoria Chorale.
Over dinner at McDonald's with this year's new bridging kids + Ferron + Jeunesse + Gelo, Jayson gave me a crash course on Mandarin 101! Now the Lei Yu scores make a lot more sense (hehe it's written in hardcore poetic Chinese language some stuff even Jayson and some Singaporeans can't understand), and I learned a lot of useful tips regarding pronunciation of Chinese words written in Pin Yin! I suddenly realized that I was singing wrongly in terms of the pronunciation of words! Tunewise, I still can manage.. somehow. Hehe.
It's the end of a day and the start of a new one soon. I'm seriously swamped again, as usual, my room's a mess once more and I still have mind monsters to vanquish. I'm tired now, but I'm switching to OC mode, and I'll have all of these stuff settled soon.
P.S.
Pardon the incoherence.
Music of the Moment: Nirotanavutuk Jodivy's Happy Birthday
Currently feeling blank.
Short post
Short post
One of those times again. I'm not feeling too super, I've been totally unproductive the whole day (even if it was a public holiday), and I just want to... I don't even know what to do. Heck, I don't even know why I'm feeling a bit.. off.
Even American Idol didn't cheer me up. (And I missed 2 episodes of The Amazing Race already too).
Must be the weather. Always a terrific excuse.
I need an upper, quick.
Music of the moment: Mariah Carey + Bone Thugs' Breakdown (remix)
Currently feeling blue.
One of those times again. I'm not feeling too super, I've been totally unproductive the whole day (even if it was a public holiday), and I just want to... I don't even know what to do. Heck, I don't even know why I'm feeling a bit.. off.
Even American Idol didn't cheer me up. (And I missed 2 episodes of The Amazing Race already too).
Must be the weather. Always a terrific excuse.
I need an upper, quick.
Music of the moment: Mariah Carey + Bone Thugs' Breakdown (remix)
Currently feeling blue.
Not bad
Not bad
Hey blogster. Lalalilala. Free time now, sleep time supposedly. But since I have to get used to sleeping late and new zits and eyebags (that's University life for you), I'm gonna update a bit. It's not gonna be long, since I fully realize too that sleep will be getting scarcer in the next few days so I might as well maximize whatever I can.
So tenors had sectionals with me leading. Haha. And since the music room was occupieed by the A cappella group, good little first-time SL yours truly led the pack to surprise, my room! (Haha, good SL's clean their rooms early in the morning of sectionals day in case something happens, you know) And even Johni, who sometimes passes by my room, was surprised that my room was not in its usual state, if you know what I mean. So we used the musical scores in my PC to practice, and my good ol' Yamaha PortaSound! My PortaSound, ladies and gents, is probably one of my favorite oldest and still functional toys. It's a mini organ for kids, and I've had it since I was in Montessori, I think. It's light and small, only the length of one Joseph shoulder to the other, has two and a half octaves, and a host of buttons for rhythm, and another set for instrument types. And although the keys are yellowing and becoming too small for my fingers, I like it a lot! I use it for practising choir stuff on my own, and now the tenors are using it! Cool. I wanna buy a good keyboard sometime too, so I can finally be persuaded to brush up on my piano skills, but for now I'm not complaining with my little musical toy. ;) Sectionals went okay, I guess. Not bad. I should save my voice though, since I can't hit the high notes anymore.
Before tenor sectionals for KR Choir, we had NUS Choir sessions. The Chinese song is getting more manageable, and I'm enjoying singing lines I don't understand one bit. Apparently it's so hardcore Chinese that even Singaporean Chinese fellas in Choir don't even understand some characters. Lei yu, I learned, from this PRC guy from basses, is the story of a seriously dysfunctional family with incest (mom to son!), seduction, rape, relations with a maid, lightning which kills them second generation, and suicide too. Something like that. And it's gonna be performed at the Esplanade for the Chinese Festival of the Arts on February 18th! I was excited it's currently in the Esplanade's brochure of events! We're just hitching on the performance of some acclaimed orchestra and some musical geniuses, actually, but it's with the Victoria Chorale and the Singapore Youth Orchestra so it promises to be cooooool.
I went for GEM1008: Evaluating Academic Arguments early this afternoon. Terrific module with a great instructor, Ms Peggie Chan. Ms Chan is this fortyish outspoken lady who is altogether witty and engaging and funny. It's a small class of twenty or so too, my group, and it's FINALLY just wonderful to engage in small classes once more where we students and teachers can freely exchange thoughts, in contrast to large lecture groups in lecture theatres.
It was the IHG Opening Ceremony too this afternoon, and of course the cheering team had to be there. I was screaming my lungs out for KR, and the crowd of Kent Ridgeans seemed to be reciprocating with much fervor and energy as well. And why not? By golly, we swept the track and field games! ALL of them, 200m 400m 800m relay or whatever, both male and female. It was one booming cheer after another, and it was a terrific morale booster for our hall, who usually ends up next to Eusoff and Temasek Halls in the IHG. Ahhh.. hall unity! Quite proud of the Cheer team as well! Other halls' cheers were rather lacking in energy or too screechy? Hehe. I try not to be biased.
Okay, so that was a long post. Sheesh. I should try shorter entries sometime. Brevity, Joseph!
So today wasn't so bad. Not bad at all, really. Especially when I expected to explode or implode or burn out or faint. Well, maybe another day. And maybe sooner than I think.
But so far, it's been good, never mind if I'm exhausted. I just hope this will be the beginning of an infinite streak of damn good stuff. ;)
Music of the Moment: Jamie Cullum's All at Sea
Currently feeling hungry for ham and cheese croissants!
Hey blogster. Lalalilala. Free time now, sleep time supposedly. But since I have to get used to sleeping late and new zits and eyebags (that's University life for you), I'm gonna update a bit. It's not gonna be long, since I fully realize too that sleep will be getting scarcer in the next few days so I might as well maximize whatever I can.
So tenors had sectionals with me leading. Haha. And since the music room was occupieed by the A cappella group, good little first-time SL yours truly led the pack to surprise, my room! (Haha, good SL's clean their rooms early in the morning of sectionals day in case something happens, you know) And even Johni, who sometimes passes by my room, was surprised that my room was not in its usual state, if you know what I mean. So we used the musical scores in my PC to practice, and my good ol' Yamaha PortaSound! My PortaSound, ladies and gents, is probably one of my favorite oldest and still functional toys. It's a mini organ for kids, and I've had it since I was in Montessori, I think. It's light and small, only the length of one Joseph shoulder to the other, has two and a half octaves, and a host of buttons for rhythm, and another set for instrument types. And although the keys are yellowing and becoming too small for my fingers, I like it a lot! I use it for practising choir stuff on my own, and now the tenors are using it! Cool. I wanna buy a good keyboard sometime too, so I can finally be persuaded to brush up on my piano skills, but for now I'm not complaining with my little musical toy. ;) Sectionals went okay, I guess. Not bad. I should save my voice though, since I can't hit the high notes anymore.
Before tenor sectionals for KR Choir, we had NUS Choir sessions. The Chinese song is getting more manageable, and I'm enjoying singing lines I don't understand one bit. Apparently it's so hardcore Chinese that even Singaporean Chinese fellas in Choir don't even understand some characters. Lei yu, I learned, from this PRC guy from basses, is the story of a seriously dysfunctional family with incest (mom to son!), seduction, rape, relations with a maid, lightning which kills them second generation, and suicide too. Something like that. And it's gonna be performed at the Esplanade for the Chinese Festival of the Arts on February 18th! I was excited it's currently in the Esplanade's brochure of events! We're just hitching on the performance of some acclaimed orchestra and some musical geniuses, actually, but it's with the Victoria Chorale and the Singapore Youth Orchestra so it promises to be cooooool.
I went for GEM1008: Evaluating Academic Arguments early this afternoon. Terrific module with a great instructor, Ms Peggie Chan. Ms Chan is this fortyish outspoken lady who is altogether witty and engaging and funny. It's a small class of twenty or so too, my group, and it's FINALLY just wonderful to engage in small classes once more where we students and teachers can freely exchange thoughts, in contrast to large lecture groups in lecture theatres.
It was the IHG Opening Ceremony too this afternoon, and of course the cheering team had to be there. I was screaming my lungs out for KR, and the crowd of Kent Ridgeans seemed to be reciprocating with much fervor and energy as well. And why not? By golly, we swept the track and field games! ALL of them, 200m 400m 800m relay or whatever, both male and female. It was one booming cheer after another, and it was a terrific morale booster for our hall, who usually ends up next to Eusoff and Temasek Halls in the IHG. Ahhh.. hall unity! Quite proud of the Cheer team as well! Other halls' cheers were rather lacking in energy or too screechy? Hehe. I try not to be biased.
Okay, so that was a long post. Sheesh. I should try shorter entries sometime. Brevity, Joseph!
So today wasn't so bad. Not bad at all, really. Especially when I expected to explode or implode or burn out or faint. Well, maybe another day. And maybe sooner than I think.
But so far, it's been good, never mind if I'm exhausted. I just hope this will be the beginning of an infinite streak of damn good stuff. ;)
Music of the Moment: Jamie Cullum's All at Sea
Currently feeling hungry for ham and cheese croissants!
