One More Night

I'm going to miss playing already...

I met Andrew, he's one of the cast! haha, both he and I were shocked to see each other holding an Esplanade pass for the same production. Except that I'm in the pit, he's on stage. I wear black and light makeup, he wears a dull assortment of colours and thick makeup.

Bwahahahahaha....

Hmm... but I'll be glad when everything is over. Just tiring... travelling EVERYDAY to the same place, and playing the same music over and over again. Thank goodness, mistakes are rarely the same. hahahaha...

Tonight the stage production were over enthusiastic with the smoke machine. They made so much smoke/mist, that it spilled over the stage into the pit! hahaha... Similarly, the falling fake flakes made of paper, were flying into the pit. Guess they know that with one night more to go, it's time to use up most of the stuff? hahaha...

I realised that my bass section tend to be the most enthusiastic lot to get onto the pit. Much to my embarressment... okay okay, I know there's nothing to be embarressed about, but honestly it's really awkward to sit facing a lot of empty seats, and the audience staring down at you, wondering where is the rest of the orchestra.

My conductor likes to do funny things with the gong that starts the Chinese dance. Not content with a mere gesture for a soft gong, he later requested for a loud bang on the gong. Unfortunately, we were using the smaller one that resulted more in a CLANG~! rather than CHIANG~! Later on the percussionists brought the bigger gong, which made a more impressive and deeper CHIANG~. The funny part was seeing the conductor's range of gestures, from the finger pointing, the mere dipping of the tip of his baton, the sweeping arm, the swinging fisted punch and finally... everyone's favourite, the exaggerated dramatic nod of the head... though that did cause a split second of confusion for the percussionist.

I got my first Christmas present! A little teddy bear which I demanded from Y. the 1st trumpeter. Cos last night he gave one to K. and I was so fascinated with the soft fur I tried to kidnap it. So to keep me from stealing K's, Y said he'd get me one. hahaha Yay! The little teddy sat on our stand the ENTIRE ballet. So adorable!

I'm getting better at getting my way, I realised. bwaahahahhahaa...

I was still coughing, but it's healing already. At least now my coughs are once a while and not a series.

I think it came with the realisation that I need to STOP talking. So for the past few days, before my performance I've been diligently cooping myself at home and just watching tv. You don't need to talk to watch TV. But my parents esp. dad found me strangely unwilling to talk. Daddy even tried to irritate me by watching me surf the internet. *please, I'm old enough to vote and can therefore govern myself. But then again, they can always blame it on my PMS. hahahaha....

Tomorrow's going to be a long day, got a training session on the bass guitar in the afternoon, the performance at night and finally the cast party. I hope I get a ride home. I think I'll do something nice for E. hahahaha...

NutCracking officially

Tonight was the 2nd night of performance. My cough is still there, but at least it's much better tonight. Sigh... suddenly feeling a bit depressed. I guess cos night after night of rehearsals and performances I realise that come next week, it'll be all over. Hmmm... it's just probably the busy feeling?

I know I'll be relieved and happy when it's all over, but at the same time I'll miss all the excitement and just making merry music with friends. Ahh well... anyway

Yesterday was the opening night. I coughed terribly during the performance. Thankfully only the people near me heard me. It was funny cos in the middle of the performance, I'd nearly choked and SH (my principal bassist) was so concerned that we both missed the first beat of the sugar plum fairy's dance. :p

Last night was quite exciting. We took several of the dances at a MUCH faster speed. gosh... I wonder if we were too fast for the spinning dancers?

Later after the performance, I went with SH up to our conductor's room and the SDT's GM's room to give them flowers. Apparently it's a PCO tradition, giving the conductor and the GM flowers on the first night. Funnily enough, though it was not the first time but our conductor was touched when we handed the bouquet over to him. Perhaps previously the bouquets were left in the room, so he didn't notice? SH and I felt that in the future we should give the bouquets personally; it's just such a delight to see him smile like that. Aww...

The SDT GM was also pretty pleased to have recieved our bouquet. But then again she was emotional that the opening performance got off and run successfully and smoothly. The GM is really sweet. I still remember when she treated me to tea with SH and the conductor at this posh cafe in Esplanade last year. We were all tickled by the way the waiter gave us our serviettes. He did it in a really delicate manner, using a little pincer to place the serviette next to us on the table. Apparently it is so that the customers won't get serviettes that have been touched by his fingers!! Gosh...

Tonight my brother's friends from the Sydney OCF came down for the performance. It is so good to see them again after about half a year. Though most of them had to go back home after the performance I still got to have supper with Shiimei, James and Bryan. Turns out Bryan's brother is also performing! He's a cellist. hahaha they don't look alike. So I didn't make the connection till Bryan mentioned his brother.

My bro and I don't look alike also. hahaha except that for us, most people would mistake us as a couple when they see us together. I wonder why? I mean I look so much classier than him! Who'd expect my taste to be like that?? Bwahahahahaha...

So anyway...it was such a good time catching up with them. We decided to go the Lau Par Sat and show James some city sights of Singapore. hahaha... we stopped by the Fullerton hotel where we admired the Christmas decoration, and I got to use my favourite public toilet in SG. hahaha...

Later we walked down the Singapore River along our way to Lau Par Sat.

I don't have any photos to put up... :p but we did take a couple of photos in front of Fullerton using Bryan and Shiimei's cameras. Maybe I'll get them and post them. hee

Tomorrow's a matinee performance. So for once... I'll get to sleep earlier hahaha... nah, I'm posting this late cos I can't sleep. My cough keeps me awake. Sigh...

I've seen the doctor twice but I'm still coughing and though my voice is getting better, it still sounds hoarse. Yeah, I just have a sexier voice now. hahaha...

Darn... why does MSN keep kicking me out?? Oh vell... I'm watching a touching chinese movie about a mother's love, except that this movie's got cheesy computer effects which are suppose to be dream like...

Woke up mummy and she's gotta get up at 4am to be ready for work. Sigh... feel so guilty. I'm already so old and yet still cause so much trouble and worry for my mummy. Gotta find some way to be even more independent. :p anyone wants me to give tuition or music lessons? hahaha... but then again, my schedule is so screwed up, I don't know if I can fork out the time to do part time work for a long period. Sigh... but I really feel bad that mummy is working so hard for my sake.

I guess also cos I've worked before, so I love that feeling of being financially independent. Plus mummy gets to keep more of her earnings for those mini treats like short holidays to Batam.

I'm still learning to stand on my two feet. Well to give my parents credit, they did teach me to be independent since young, so basically I'm used to making my own decisions and taking responsibility for my own actions. Just feeling a bit inept for not being more capable or more street smart.

hahaha...

haaaiii...

yar, incredible huh? JT this down? Looking down on herself? Afterall I'm famously self-confident. but then again, not really. I'm just confident that God would take care of me. I just want to be more useful, more of a credit to my parents, to Him.

hehehe, it's late, so probably that's why I'm talking a bit more emotionally. Or maybe it's the steroids I'm taking for medication. Playing tricks with my hormones. hahaha...

okay okay, I'll end off here. Sorry about the LONG posting. heeheehee...

Nutcrackers

I've been coughing crazily, voice is back but still hoarse. I told the doctor today, cough is bad, but got meetings and am performing at night, can give me non drowsy medication? Thank goodness it's a relief doctor, and not the usual one... otherwise I'd get a scolding... i.e. "You should be resting your vocals! Didn't you tell me your camp has ended? Are you not on holiday?" So the relief doctor just said, "okay." Bwahahahahaha...

Nice to have young doctors around once awhile, from the old cranky ones. hahaha

Pit rehearsals for the ballet has started. I like where I'm sitting. Can see some of the action. haha.. we had fun at one point in the ballet, where they popped the streamers into the pit! It's was pretty! But a bit chaotic cos we weren't prepared and the streamers fell on our heads, our instruments on our scores... etc...

But brilliant to see the dancers move with the music. Every nuance and jump in time with the music. You can even hear them land heavily when the music ends with a pomp. hahahaha...

I was super conscious everytime I coughed. Just reverberates across the theatre I think. So i tried to cough in time with the music. I'd try to keep a look out for the brass section's parts and the cymbals crashing. then cough* cough* cough* ahahhaa... But nature is not so structured, sometimes painfully unstructured.

I'm pretty satisfied with the food I catered with Polar Cafe. Actually their service was good. If you ever visit Suntec's Polar Cafe, take note of Lena. She's got really good service attitude. haha yar must promote what I feel is deserving of promoting mar....

Maybe I'll be kind and bring Ribena for Ir_. He's been bugging for Ribena even before we hit the pit. But then again, he's been mean. I shall be mean too. Bugger. Evertime tease me... Bugger.

Oh but someone brought chocolates! Cool... except that I can't eat choco cos of my throat. sigh...

Maybe I'll take some pictures with my trusty phone and post them up tonight. ^_^

Supper after rehearsal

I always like suppers after the rehearsal. Cos that's when I get to know the humans behind the instrumentalists. haha... But of course the most common topic over supper table is music related.


here's k_ trying to see how fast my phone camera is at catching.

C_'s listening intently (or perhaps trying to ignore me, but I doubt that) to the table conversation

R_'s playing around with another person's phone so I play around with my phone.

We had another trying rehearsal... nerves are up now that we are coming close to the pit rehearsals. Plus I think the committee members were disappointed with the poor showing at Monday's AGM.

Que sara sara~ we will just have to gambatei~ neh?

I sound like an old crank car

It's official. I've lost my voice. It's gone. AWOL. MIA. Zich. Nana. etc etc

The best part was that I didn't lose my voice cos I shouted. Debs did most of the shouting. I'm just amazed HER voice is still there and chirpy. Urghed... Sure the Girls' Bridgade Asian Games probably was the venue where my voice official decided to take a leave of absence, but I'm still wondering what happened? Did I offend my voice? hahaha

Nah, the lozenges plus the nin jiom peipa koa, plus panadol might be causing me to lose a bit of sanity... that's all

Everytime I cough, it sounds like an old spoilt cranked up car wheezing. It goes, "krhk krhk krhhhhhh....."

I'm so glad I didn't take up the canvasing job my hall committee were asking me to, I won't be much of a help.

Asian Games was fun, the best part of course was spending time with my post sec mentees. I'm just very proud and amazed at them. They (or rather I) kept them busy, offering their services to the other helpers' stations after our own was done. I'm pretty sure they had fun too, with the flour and jibes at my age. *sigh...

The kids were great fun. To be able to play with abandon without care nor concern about cleanliness or personal safety (which got us all very concerned)... ahhh... to be young again...

It's so sad to think that in about 10 years time, they will change and start asking things like,
"Huh? We have to sleep in a tent in the open? No air con??"
"Yeeew... only one toilet?? Then how we bathe??"
"Huh.... how come the food so oily?!"
"We have to sleep in sleeping bags?? Where are the beds??"
"How come only kaya bread and milo for breakfast??"

Ah... the days of being young and adaptable to change (uncomplaining, lesser sarcasm, less poisonous bitching), keen to have fun and make friends (not moping around, being sulky)

Yes, anyway. The exams are OVER! Yay!!! It's now time to crack some serious nuts.

Snow snow snow....

Em thought that this was an ice bass. After sending the pic over to me, it turned out to be a cello. How'd I know? Errm... you just gotta take my word for it. The proportions are all wrong for a bass and better matching those of a cello.

Photo from Australia again

It's been raining and cold... yup Christmas Monsoon is here. To take my mind off the rain I was looking at some of our nice sunny pictures of my Sydney trip in July. This one was taken somewhere near The Entrance. I just love the scenary.

Sick again

darn... attack of the sniffles again... slept virtually the whole day away...

Actually thought it would just be the sniffles, but after coming back hall from JP with Em, the headaches came on.

Decided to go eat dinner with em and just talk for a while. Instant relief! haha...

Am now back in hall... tiring already... what a bad time to get weak. I still have much more to go, 3 more papers to prepare for.

Maybe Korkor was right... all my galavanting around and the late nights are just not helping. Sigh...

the night before HS103 Paper

When the bunch of us study together in Qian's room, funny things are bound to happen...

Like Qian flushing at the mere mention of Mr. .... *hint* It's not her boyfriend

"Heeheeeheee.... so paiseh"










"heeheeheehee... don't take my picture lah!"

Signs that I enjoy what I study

My MSN message has changed several times today as I studied:

Social Stratification??!!
What are the 5 characteristics of Weberian Bureaucracy???!!
Steps to eradicating poverty - the Don Reeves method???!!
What is more honorable than working by sweeping the roads or cleaning tables? Sitting idle at home??!

Plus some more messages that I thought off but decided not to put up

Singapore: Formal Rationality vs Substantive Rationality, Utilitarianism and Instrumentalism
Who's a feminist advocate?! Not me!!
Inequality - The way of life??!! No way man.

Hokie Dokie, shall stop playing hokey with my studies. hehehe

Quiz from Pea's Blog

You scored as Musical/Rhythmic. You are sensitive to sounds in your environment, enjoy music and prefer listening to music when you study or read. You learn best through melody and music. People like you include singers, conductors, composers, and others who appreciate the various elements of music.

Musical/Rhythmic		100%
Verbal/Linguistic		89%
Interpersonal		75%
Intrapersonal		68%
Visual/Spatial		39%
Logical/Mathematical		25%
Bodily/Kinesthetic		21%

The Rogers Indicator of Multiple Intelligences
created with QuizFarm.com

Rehearsal

Tchaikovsky running through my head. tonight's rehearsal was pretty good for me... noted the passages that need work, that need to pay special attention to the conductor etc oh and the difficult passages (for the basses) didn't all come at once. Phew!

Pretty happy also cos a certain someone came to rehearsal today! heehee, shall not say much except that this is someone whom I've admired for a pretty long time. Honestly, the prolongation of my admiration is only due to that someone's great personality and character. My admiration won't go any further, cos I know it's a lost cause.

Makes you really interested to know who it is, right? Afterall I am famously picky with exceedingly high expectations. But you don't need to know who this someone is, cos he's unimportant. Moreover I still have 1 criteria that he doesn't fulfil. Thank God, really... cos it's a lost cause anyway even if he did fulfil it.

Anyway, another 4 more rehearsals before we hit the pit. I'll be missing two of them, cos gotta prepare for the exams. I honestly don't want to miss the rehearsals, cos during that 3 hours each week in Kallang Theatre, I get to keep my mind from my books and onto music. But I have to rein in my desires for enjoyment and do some deserving HARD WORK.

Had a shock also when my conductor said that this could possibly be our last ballet outing... cos of 'changes in climate'. So all the more to give it my very best. Only... Dear Lord, let this not be the last ballet performance we play for, cos it's truly an experience that I enjoy. Night after night of performing, knowing that above us on stage are people dancing and giving their very best. Each and every performance a unique one, with different special moments and different faults.

Hmm... other than the ballets, I would like to play in operas also. The last opera Madama Butterfly was pretty fun, but I missed my usual conductor. Not to say that the conductor for that opera was bad, he was good too. Just that relationship not there lar...

One Meiji night

One night after staring at computer screen and the television screen for a long time, I decided that MEIJI is in order.

Why have I been staring at screens the entire day instead at my books?? Sigh... random thoughts I guess...

Like, I know that I've changed since JC. Less cynical, less sarcastic, happier, cheerier and more willing to trust and love people. How'd I know I've changed?? Cos when I hear from friends and acquaintances comments and reflections that really (*scarily in fact) give me the deja vu feeling.

hhaaaiiii...

Okie okie... maybe it's late... so it's easier for me to think strange thoughts... time for me to hit the sack, and wake up to hit the books in the morning.

Thou Shalt Not Mug

Just had a little chat with my Ni-san, told him (or rather whined to him) about my lack of motivation to study. Somehow when all the buzz of essay deadlines have died down, studying just doesn't seem urgent now... So when I look at my papers, Thank God they are still interesting to read or re-read. but just not as motivated to commit down into memory lane. hahaha...

So as you can tell, my revision's not making any headway. Think I'm procrastinating as well...

anyway I thought my coversation with my bro was quite funny:

my revision's not going anywhere :(
take a break
I just did!
Have dinner
I just took a shower and had dinner.
watch TV...
tv lounge got muggers
hahaha listen to music
I am
have an early rest
It's 5.40pm leh! When I wake it'll be 1am, I'll screw up my bio clock!
oh okay... it's 8.40pm here. hehe
How to mug for exams huh? I forgot already...
Think... FAILURE>>>>
Aiyah I won't fail one lar, I've got too much brains and I crap too well. hehehe thick skin
Aiyah then mug for what? Just know your stuff and don't stuff up when you enter the exam hall
Yeah but I feel like i ought to mug since everyone else is... you know PEER PRESSURE
do not CONFORM.... instead be TRANSFORMED... lol
-_-; I shall go look at last year's exam questions
That's the S'pore student spirit! Your 10yr series is your best friend.

hahaha... can tell we are siblings right?! though it's my opinion that I'm better at sarcasm than he is. It's a girl thing. hehehe
Although I do agree with my bro that I shouldn't conform but instead be transformed. Dear Lord, teach me to be a smart student instead of a chao mugger!

Testing new Bass!

Ooh, last Monday I followed my Principal bassist to test out a new bass! It's handmade by this European guy, (forgot his name and his nationality), but it was a really interesting place. My first time visiting it.

Yeah, the place is called Le Diapason, it's french. It's a really nice place, a bit ulu though. The moment I walked into the air-conditioned shophouse, I could smell the wood. Hmmm.... gorgeous smell. There were rows and rows of violins, and I spied a couple of celli at the back.

Anyway when the maker brought the bass down, I was itching to try it out liao. A bit paiseh, cos my skills are so-so and to mess around with my principal bassist and the other music experts watching seemed a bit disgraceful. Nonetheless, my principal told me to have fun and try it out. It seems a bit lighter in colour than what I'm normally used to, but it's pretty! hehehe... Okay okay... the sound, the sound, I know, the sound is more important.

I'm no good at telling what makes a good bass or not, but I was immediately impressed by the reveberations. The sonority was super easy to produce and the harmonics are so crystal clear!! Except when I tried to be ambitious and go up further and further down the fingerboard... got a bit scratchy... :p

The funny part was hearing the maker say that he consulted the book while making the bass; darn good for a textbook based double bass I say... anyway, my principal requested for a few adjustments and we'll be getting it sometime soon... maybe next week! Woo hoo!

Maybe I'll take a few pics and post it up.

Preparing for the exams

Yups... it's revision time. I haven't started yet. Am I panicking? Nope? Should I be panicking? Logic tells me that I should but I'm not. so maybe I'm just living in false consciousness.

WATEVER

So here's a couple of pictures to show you what I've been doing. hahaha
Looks pretty good huh? two A5 booklets within a semester. I'm pretty impressed with myself. hehe

Remembering flag day

Ooh... found this in my laptop! Must have forgotten to post it up. Hmmm... well I like Geylang Serai! People there are so ORIGINAL... Really! You meet all sorts of people there! Old, young, hippy, sleazy, down to earth, sleep on the streats and even one crazy old shirtless man who tried to speak loudly (but had a whizzing kinda voice) and gestured to us in some dialect! I just pretended that I know what he was talking and look like I'm agreeing with whatever he was saying. :p

Oh don't worry! He wasn't scolding us! I would have recognised that tone! He was just making some philosophical observations, like most old men like my dad and my tutor. (haha whoops, ok okay~ so my tutor's not an old man. But his habits sure belong to that category!)

It's been a long time since I did Flag. Hmmm must have been like 3 years or more. The last time I did was before I left for Birmingham. Got tips from Mummy; need to be proactive, approach even if the person avoids your eye contact. Speak up loudly and be ready with a big SMILE!

Mummy's track record was filling up her ENTIRE can in less than the 2 hours scheduled. Hey, what was mine? I think my can was about 7/8 full! Heehee so proud of myself.

For myself beyond the 'fill the can up!' objective, I wanted to challenge myself on my approach to people. Most of us don't realise it, but there are certain people we would instinctive want to avoid. Hmm... maybe just because we are uncomfortable and uncertain how to react when speaking to them. For me, I was consciously approaching EVERYONE. Old, Young, poor looking, rich looking, even the busy looking people. Haha, just cut into their path, SMILE and speak to them.

There were kind people who donated again even though they had already donated, students who didn't want the stickers but just wanted to do their part, shop keepers (whose shops I was standing in front of) who came up and plonk in their contributions while taking a break to smoke, then the nice people who apologise for having only small change to contribute.

It's okay! Every little contribution helps!

After the 2 hours, my left shoulder joint was locked. Well, not locked but strained. Guess I've been holding the can in the roughly same position. Ooh I met my friend who also contributed. The funny thing was when she came up to me and laughed,

You very eng uh?!

Hahaha, I still got your money in my can! Bwahahaha...

Debs and Qin were so sweet, bought me ice cold bottled water, and kept hounding me to drink more and not be dehydrated! Love you all! Even Mel! who's future we were collecting contributions for... haahha just kidding, her fiance works in TCS mah... The best part was Mel didn't even wake up in time to join us for flag. Hahahaha...

After all that I was tired. Went shopping at Marine parade before I left for TCT. Gosh! Okay, maybe I was just really tired, but MAN those girls CAN shop! I felt like a guy waiting for his girlfriend. So I slumped onto the sofa outside the Giordano changing rooms and waited for the girls to shop, shop, shop to their hearts content. Took the above picture while trying to stay awake on the couch. After that I gave up and took a quick nap. When I left them, they were still shopping at giordano! What more can I say about their shopping prowress?

Hall Life 2

SPECIALLY FOR MY NI-SAN! (*translation - older brother -_-;)

Bwahahahahaha....!!!!

Okay okay... I'll be good...

Haha! PAPAYA!!! NEH~~~

The New National Library again

Woohoo... went there again, but left with a headache. The essays are killing me slowly. Maybe doing my essays at the library wasn't such a good idea afterall... got too distracted by all the books and possibilities I may find in the many MANY books.

Here's the inner square of the mostly glass structure.
I took this shot from the ground floor. Hmm looks a bit blur... oh well....

Took the scary elevator to the 11th storey - the Singapore and SouthEast Asian collection. The lift was fast... was scary cos it was glass and you could see how fast you were travelling upwards and downwards. Freaked me out. I've resolved not look outwards but just face the metal doors and the buttons.

Anyway you can see on the right side the view from 11th storey. You can see the old St. Anthony's Convent building, the whole middle road. cool huh? And the little cathedral... the whole stretch of north bridge road... etc buildings that I don't recognise.

Okay so here's another view from the 11th storey but its from the lift lobby looking into the Singapore and SouthEast Asian collection section.

Okay, here you can see the fantastic interior. The panels on the right side actually change colours! I was observing them when I was mulling over whether or not to change my essay question again for the upteenth time...

Reminds me of Indiana Jones for some reason... I know! Cos in one of the movies, he goes looking for his father. To get to his
father he needs to retrace his father's steps and ends up in a library. Well, that library in the movie was old and musty, with loads of architectural designs, while the new NLB is new, clean and airy. Dunno why I kept thinking about Indiana Jones...

So anyway, these desks have power points for you to plug in your laptops. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention earlier... the escalators are sensored! Not censored, but sensored! They have sensors that switches the escalators on whenever someone steps on the metal platform.

The New National Library

Woohoo... I think I've discovered my new hang out place! The new national library next to Bugis Parco! Gosh... the wide open spaces, the really fast (and scary) elevators, the great interior decor, comfortable study desks, free internet, with power points for your laptops, and the books! Oh my... the books, the books, the books...

I'm in love.

I shall head down tomorrow afternoon and do more reading!! woohoo!! Maybe I'll take a few shots with my trusty nokia phone and post it up.

Personality Type

Your #1 Match: ENFP

The Inspirer You love being around people, and you are deeply committed to your friends. You are also unconventional, irreverant, and unimpressed by authority and rules. Incredibly perceptive, you can usually sense if someone has hidden motives. You use lots of colorful language and expressions. You're quite the storyteller! You would make an excellent entrepreneur, politician, or journalist.

Your #2 Match: ENFJ

The Giver You strive to maintain harmony in relationships, and usually succeed. Articulate and enthusiastic, you are good at making personal connections. Sometimes you idealize relationships too much - and end up being let down. You find the most energy and comfort in social situations ... where you shine. You would make a good writer, human resources director, or psychologist.

Your #3 Match: ESFP

The Performer You are a natural performer and happiest when you're entertaining others. A great friend, you are generous, fun-loving and optimistic. You love to laugh - and you like almost all people equally. You accept life as it is, and you do your best to make each day fantastic. You would make a good actor, designer, or counselor.

What's Your Personality Type?

Quiz from Lynette's Blog

Bwahaha... this confirms everything I thought about myself...

You Belong in Paris

Stylish and a little sassy, you were meant for Paris.

The art, the fashion, the wine, the men!

Whether you're enjoying the cafe life or a beautiful park...

You'll love living in the most chic place on earth


What City Do You Belong in? Take This Quiz :-)

Hall life - eating campbell soup

heehee, gotta show you this photo...

Recently one night, Shupei went to make soup for us to consume, I was most tickled by her bowl... kinda reminded me of war-time refugee type utensils. She defended her bowl saying that it serves as a cook pot too. True true, I'm not disputing that... The soup's mushroom and potage by the way, if you're interested.

Pictures from Sydney - No.3

Pelicans!! My favourite pelican is from the movie, 'Finding Nemo'. Name's Nigel! hahaha... no relation to Mr. Wong. As you can see, the pelicans tower even above the kids. Big birds, no?

This loner was being fed scraps, and then those darn flying rats came to compete with it. No worries, the pelican held it's own in the battle. No fight really, just compare the size of those beaks!

Hailed as a milestone for Women in Singapore?!

This is too rare... I had to put it up for you all to see.
Check this out... under the page on milestones for women in Singapore. I'm assuming they are talking about the milestones for women's rights in SG.

1983
Government shapes population policies based on the belief that graduates produce better babies. It announced a Graduate Mothers scheme, which granted privileges to children of graduate mothers. Less-educated, low-income mothers under 30 years of age given $10,000 if they had themselves sterilized after their first or second child.

This is a milestone. This misguided presumption of eugenics is still considered a milestone in the 21st Century?

*note if you still think that graduates produce better babies, this is biologically UNTRUE. It would be another senario if you asked if babies born to graduate parents stand a better chance of having a better education than those born to non-grad parents.

Here's the link: http://www.scwo.org.sg/cms/content/view/89/62/

I'll never see ikan bilis the same way again...

During a lecture today, several case studies were shown on child labor. One of which was on the kids who worked on the jermal - something like kelongs. They catch ikan bilis which we in Singapore consume. We are not the only countries Indonesia exports to of course, but I kinda gulped when I realised that those ikan bilis that I hated so much, was caught with so much effort by kids much much younger and poorer than I.

Anyway, I found a link to a similar story.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/asia/1468209.stm

Makes me realise that a handfull of ikan bilis, is soo cheap to us for a reason. And it's not just about currency rates, but that many of these kids are not even paid.

Funny Wrong Call

This is REALLY FUNNY. I just recieved a wrong call and this is how it went,

I answered, "Hello?"

He asked, "Hello? Is this J_?"

I replied, "Yes, this is J_ speaking."

Then he started speaking rapidly in Indian.

I paused for a long time and said, "I'm sorry, I don't speak Indian."

He also paused for a while and said, "You don't speak Indian..."
then he went on, "Is your number 9*******?"

and I said, "Yes."

He asked, "Do you own a prata shop and looking for workers?"

I said, "Err... I'm a student..."

Then he said, "Okay" and hung up.

HILARIOUS right??!

I practised my bass yesterday afternoon!

So proud of myself. Here's a pic, in case you people don't know what instrument I play. Quite hilarious the way most of you suddenly forgot what instrument I play. Usually the conversation goes like this:

"Oh yar! You play that... (*cue sawing movement with right arm with left arm held heaven-ward) cello.. is it?"

Okay people, repeat after me: DOUBLE BASS...........

don't forget that.

Photo from Sydney - No. 2

Got this cool shot of my bro. kekeke... I would have gone and join him on the other pole, but I thought I'd spoil the picture. There's my bro looking lean and mean in cool black, then here comes me looking like a bright red tomato... or ripe papaya...?

What we saw before the Schubert In-complete concert last Sunday...

Hey check this out! Spotted over Marina Square!! A HUGE rainbow! Everyone just stood at the steps and gawked. How often do you spot a rainbow in Singapore? Overmore over Marina Square? After standing in the light drizzle, getting our black performance clothes spotty, we decided to head back to Esplanade for our concert! How's the concert? Hmm... I dunno.

No comment.

hehehehe...

What you can tell from the wastepaper basket about me

Okay, looking here you can tell I don't lead a very healthy lifestyle. I love vitasoy, and Mamee, and drinking orange juice. Which is suppose to provide me with Vitamin C and keep the cold away, but as you can see from the fairprice tissuebox and the scrunched up balls of tissue, I've been sneezing lately. If you peer inward a little deeper below the vitasoy and the mamee packet, you'll see the little green cardboard which hopefully only a few of you can recognise. That's the packaging of my staple food. hahaha... guesses are welcomed. No rewards though!

Okay... looking on.... a Nets receipt doesn't say much except that I like using NETS instead of cash?

Umm.... looking away from the wastepaper basket, you'll see the Popular Bookshop's plastic bag, showing that I've lately purchased something big and heavy enough to warrant a large plastic bag from Popular Bookshop. (what it is exactly... I can't recall off hand now)

And if you were to recognise the make of my wastepaper basket and notice the cardboard box at the edge of the picture, you'll know my favourite hang out place. (Actually the wastepaper basket's from a friend and not bought by me... but still a clue's a clue.)

If anyone (other than my roommate) can tell me from this picture (and only this picture alone without going through devious means) what that metal long cylindrical looking thing is... You've have my respect for having the practicality mindset as well as a well-rounded knowledge of everyday life especially in a hostel. If you don't get it, no big loss really... haha I'll have respect for you for other things.

Oh the misery...

The bane of my moment, the cause both direct and indirect of the teasing of my nerves...

Okay, okay... trying to be poetic. The word is 'trying'.

The final concert is this coming Sunday... tension is high, and I mean the strings are highly strung, otherwise how would they produce vibrations fast enough to produce a note? Okay... crapping I know...

Can't help it, I'm awake at 3.23am, so that my eyes will not be red and puffy in the morning. (it's a long story...)

Photo from Sydney - No. 1

Mashed peas in a pastry pie... ooom ummm...

Rant rant

Okay, if you ever call me and I don't pick up, DO NOT leave a voice message! SMS me instead.

The trouble with me and voice messages is that I don't listen. And I can't even remember my pin (which I'm told is a generic pin). So I have to call up Singtel's customer service just to find out what the pin number is!

Anyway, when I find the time (which definitely will be sometime soon...) I'll cancel that darn useless service. None of my friends leave decent messages anymore. Nobody I should say. All I hear are some useless background noise and the dial tone when the person hangs up. No name, no message. ZICH

Okay, if only I had more time, I'll rant more. Thankfully, I don't. So I shall just leave this as it is.

Since the last posting...

Right, my last posting was a picture that says going to Sydney. That was way back in June.

Here now is an update! haha

Erm, no it's not China. Just that the Uni's oldest buildings are 'cheena' ones. kekeke...

I must say though, this blogger.com is really friendly, esp. to people like me with close to zero knowledge of html (cos the last time I studied html was 8 years ago, and 8 years of not doing html can really zap away whatever basic knowledge you had). Look I can even do this!

Look I can even do this!

haha ah well...