Whew
After a gruelling week, it's finally finally the weekend. Good job Jose, you've proven, once again, that you can still manage to keep your sanity in crazy times (although Karen still thinks I've already snapped).
Today was mad actually (but so were the previous days), and it started with me waking up at 8:15am. What's wrong with that? My Intro to Literature class test was at 8:40! I yanked myself out of the bed with that horrible thought, and the grim realization that I fell asleep studying again. In fact my study time was drastically short (as in I never got to finish reading half the lecture notes) because I was typing away my essay all day yesterday. I panicked and washed my face (I didn't have time to take a bath yes yes) and brushed my teeth and fixed my hair and skipped breakfast and gathered my notes and books and briskly walked out of the KR backdoor. Forgot my Miss Jean Brodie book. Went back to my room with a new wave of panic, and headed toward the backdoor again. Excuse me, someone called. I turned around. It was this guy I'd never seen before in the block, but he was there near the lift. Did you drop something? he says, holding out a crisp $50 bill I had carelessly dropped. OH YESSSS. Careful next time, he called. Thanks thanks to him and I rushed out again.
The bus would take so long, so I climbed the uphill path to Lecture Theatre 8. Thank God LT8 is just walking distance (although not too short) from KR. Was sweating when I arrived, but a good 8 minutes before the test. Sucked in all the names of characters like MacBeth and Duncan and Banquo and Jane and Elizabeth and Bingley and Darcy and Miss Jean Brodie and Jenny and Sandy. Never mind the poems lah, they were sure to replicated in the test anyway.
Two questions, answer one. One hour. The first question was about poems.
1]
i) What is a simile? (2 marks)
ii) Comment on the ways in which similes and other figures of speech in 'Ars Poetica' evoke the uniqueness of poetry. (8 marks)
*Macleish's poem followed*
First part seemed easy, but that's tricky, you know. Just when I thought that similes always have "as" or "like", Dr Yeo changed all that and said that it may not necessarily be so.
Tricky tricky question lah, decided not to do.
2]
1) Comment on the ways in which imagery in this soliloquy from Macbeth reveals the speaker's state of mind. (7 marks)
2) How does sound help to convey the atmosphere and mood of the moment? (3 marks)
*Macbeth's famous soliloquy followed*
This question was surely Dr Ang's. I know she has memorised this bit by heart, and I could even hear her saying it aloud, in the distinct British accent she got from Cambridge, and at the lightning-speed speaking rate she is known for, as I was reading the text. "If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well / It were done quickly: if the assassination could trammel up the consequence, and catch / With his surcease success; that buy this blow / Might be the be-all and end-all here, / But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, ... "
(Side note: YES I'm such a dork for posting the test questions here. Haha. I like literature.)
I did question two. It was quite okay, I guess. Except I missed out on some important images, as I learned when I checked this useful Macbeth book after the test. I forgot the imagery produced by "trammel" (a net used to catch birds or fish), and the horse imagery produced by "rider" and "striding the blast" and "couriers". Oh well. I think I did a good description of other meaty stuff, so it should be okay. The sound part I think I managed to find a few, so should be good enough.
At 9:40, I passed some one and a half sheets of paper, and rushed back to hall (walked downhill this time) for some breakfast consisting of cheese and bread and milk. Fixed up my essay, but was unable to finish, and then took the bus to my Lit tutorial. It ended at 11:40, and because I stupidly forgot my wallet (I told you this was mad season), I walked back home again (yes down the slope still), for lunch of cheese and bread and milk (sounds familiar?).
Typed my essay like mad, just doing the fixing up formality and reference part, and tada, finished! It's only a draft actually, so I can't understand why I'm devoting too much time and effort. But it would be critiqued by a peer, so it should be of some level of decency. (I wanted it quite high :P )
Rushed to my favorite small-group class of Evaluating Academic Arguments at 1pm, and yey the CA2 papers were out. That's the critique we did of a paper in some journal or something. Got my paper, and I saw an 80. Not bad, I thought, since and 85 is already considered very high in university standards. Later, Ms Chan told the class that we may refer to the papers of Kay Ping, Ramon and Joseph. Haha. Apparently I was one of the top scorers. Nice to see my hard work has paid off. Highlight of my day. Yahoo.
My position paper (i.e. the essay I've been writing) is getting into some bumpy parts though, as I think organization will be an issue. I think I've spent too much words on the background, and Ms Chan apparently doesn't think it's sound to lump up all the reasons in one heading. Haha. Major reconstruction to take place soon. :)
I accompanied Hui Xian to the Central Library as she wanted to photocopy my critique (ahem) along with Ramon's, and since I lost some blue paper with necessary stuff, I photocopied her blue paper too. It was 3:20 already, and was already late for my calculus tutorial, so I skipped it and took a decent LUNCH at the Arts Canteen.
Ahhh.. nothing like Japanese food to relieve me of stress. Feels good (and tastes good) to eat Katsudon after a loooooooong week.
Went back to hall, and got myself some much-needed sleep.
The stress isn't about to let up, actually, but I'm mighty glad to be still alive and kicking, and woohooo it's the weekend. Happy birthday Jayson! And my favorite High School Bio teacher Ms Tenchavez! And of course, Happy April fools!
Mad season
Mad season
Ahhh.. the madness of this week. =P
I've successfully(!) finished the lab report collection and the heavy genetics assignment (Thanks to all those who helped!), sat through an excruciating midterm test in genetics (in which I learned that my statistics background could have theoretically helped me, except that Dr Chew apparently won't give me full marks for my use of a creative mathematical/commonsensical backdoor approach in tackling the Mendelian ratio problem), and now I have a Literature test and 1200-word position paper due tomorrow!
Haha, it so stressful it's making me laugh. Is that weird? Or maybe, as Karen says, the thread by which my sanity hangs may just have snapped. Hah. You're just too happy Karen. :D
And oh yeah, poor little me has had to fork out 450 dollars from my savings account (and with some help from Arthur) for the Czech competition. So tada! I'm officially broke.
Last night was formal Command Dinner and definitely-NOT-formal Command Performance. I didn't know that KR gave such a big tribute to the final-year seniors! They even have a valedictorian, among a host of other awards. And the Command performance was MAD. It was so long it lasted around 3 hours, but it was MAD fun, where they put the final-years (the people) into very interesting situations. KR indeed is a family hall, and the absence of the final-years next year will be affectionately felt by the KR community.
OK, now that I've succumbed to the blogging temptation, it's time to get back to churning words and words on racial profiling in the Singapore context. So help me God. Wooooooohoo.
Ahhh.. the madness of this week. =P
I've successfully(!) finished the lab report collection and the heavy genetics assignment (Thanks to all those who helped!), sat through an excruciating midterm test in genetics (in which I learned that my statistics background could have theoretically helped me, except that Dr Chew apparently won't give me full marks for my use of a creative mathematical/commonsensical backdoor approach in tackling the Mendelian ratio problem), and now I have a Literature test and 1200-word position paper due tomorrow!
Haha, it so stressful it's making me laugh. Is that weird? Or maybe, as Karen says, the thread by which my sanity hangs may just have snapped. Hah. You're just too happy Karen. :D
And oh yeah, poor little me has had to fork out 450 dollars from my savings account (and with some help from Arthur) for the Czech competition. So tada! I'm officially broke.
Last night was formal Command Dinner and definitely-NOT-formal Command Performance. I didn't know that KR gave such a big tribute to the final-year seniors! They even have a valedictorian, among a host of other awards. And the Command performance was MAD. It was so long it lasted around 3 hours, but it was MAD fun, where they put the final-years (the people) into very interesting situations. KR indeed is a family hall, and the absence of the final-years next year will be affectionately felt by the KR community.
OK, now that I've succumbed to the blogging temptation, it's time to get back to churning words and words on racial profiling in the Singapore context. So help me God. Wooooooohoo.
Before sunrise + Easter Thoughts
Before sunrise
OK, so I've procrastinated long enough, and yet I'm still blogging.
Good Friday was a holiday, and I swore to myself I'd finish my lab reports that day. I was up all night, and finally slept at 7:30am. And yet, no lab reports yet! Sigh, must learn to control my bloghopping/choir forum/Friendster/MSN messenger/good ol' surfing and googling/staring-into-nothingness-while-listening-to-music addiction.
Black Saturday came, and I vowed to finish the stuff before sunset, but then I fell asleep all afternoon! And now, after Diana's small birthday party (organized by Steph.. thanks for the yummy Swensen's ice cream cake!), I have finally decided to give myself an ultimatum.
So it's that's before sunrise. 2:07am now, so that gives me about 5 hours (since sunrise here is at 7) to do 6 pages of lab reports.
I was feeling a bit disappointed in myself too, for not being diligent in my studies (especially since the mountain of work is too BIG to ignore), and at these special times too, these few important holy days, when I'm (presumably) supposed to be more willing to sacrifice my pleasures, more than anything. My attempts to skip meat for all meals, all forty days of Lent (I try to, as much as I can) now seem to lack significance as I could not even control myself on these very important days.
But today I was thinking, that maybe, precisely because of JC's death on Friday and Saturday, the two days I was most yielding to pleasure, that I was unable to sacrifice. They say that upon Jesus death the bad spirits abound and, yeah, maybe they got into me and lured me away from the tasks set for me to do.
Or maybe that's just a lousy excuse to justify my stupidity.
Anyway, hopefully by posting this entry I will be reminded of the ultimatum I have set for myself, and stick to the freakin' job and stop sleeping!
* * *
Easter thoughts
Thanks to Fiona for sending me this inspirational flash presentation about JC's death and the gifts of the cross. Although the craziness of schoolwork and hallwork are no doubt keeping me from observing the solemnity of the Holy Week, I still manage to be thankful to JC for the tremendous sacrifice He's made.
There's this thought that lately comes to mind when I think of JC. It's the "Franny and Zooey" description of him. That's the other (some say better) brilliant story by JD Salinger.
Here's an excerpt I got from here (jump to page 28 though), when big brother Zooey, 26, forcefully confronts sister Franny, 20, about her recent behavior. For weeks she’s been inconsolable, on the verge of an apparent emotional collapse. She refuses most food and is making life miserable for Bessie, their mother. The only thing Franny does is recite the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a miserable sinner” over and over again in the hope that over time, quantity will turn to quality. Zooey is a popular TV actor, and Franny, still in college, was an aspiring actress up until this period of remorse and spiritual seeking.
“The part that stumps me, really stumps me, is that I can’t see why anybody ... would even want to say the prayer to a Jesus who was the least bit different from the way he looks and sounds in the New Testament. My God! He’s only the most intelligent man in the Bible, that’s all! Who isn’t he head and shoulders over? Who? .... Who besides Jesus really knew which end was up? Nobody. Not Moses. Don’t tell me Moses. He was a nice man, and he kept in beautiful touch with his God, and all that — but that’s exactly the point. He had to keep in touch. Jesus realized there is no separation from God... Who else, for example, would have kept his mouth shut when Pilate asked for an explanation? Not Solomon. Don’t say Solomon. Solomon would have had a few pithy words for the occasion ....
Most of all, above everything else, who in the Bible besides Jesus knew — knew — that we’re carrying the kingdom of Heaven around with us, inside, where we’re all too ... stupid and sentimental and unimaginative to look? You have to be a son of God to know that kind of stuff. Why don’t you think of these things? I mean it, Franny, I’m being serious. When you don’t see Jesus for exactly what he was, you miss the whole point of the Jesus Prayer. If you don’t understand Jesus, you can’t understand his prayer .... Jesus was a supreme adept, by God, on a terribly important mission. This was no St. Francis, with enough time to knock out a few [songs], or to preach to the birds, or to do any of the other endearing things so close to Franny Glass’s heart .... How can you miss seeing that!? If God had wanted someone with St. Francis’s consistently winning personality for the job in the New Testament, he’d’ve picked him, you can be sure. As it was, he picked the smartest, the most loving, the least sentimental, the most unimitative master he could possibly have picked. And when you miss seeing that, I swear to you, you’re missing the whole point of the Jesus Prayer. The Jesus Prayer has one aim, and one aim only. To endow the person who says it with Christ-Consciousness. Not to set up some little cozy, holier-than-thou [meeting] place with some divine personage who’ll take you in his arms and relieve you of all your duties and make all your nasty [pain and heartache] and Professor Tuppers go away and never come back. And by God, if you have intelligence enough to see that — and you do — and yet refuse to see it, then you’re misusing the prayer, you’re using it to ask for a world full of dolls and saints and no Professor Tuppers.”
I like it when Zooey says these things the in-your-face semi-harsh sort of way. After all, I never was a fan of the highfalutin flowered up style of speaking/writing anyway. Here it's raw and direct, and it hit me, made me think.
There. Some philosophical thoughts just in time for Easter! Happy Easter everyone.
OK, so I've procrastinated long enough, and yet I'm still blogging.
Good Friday was a holiday, and I swore to myself I'd finish my lab reports that day. I was up all night, and finally slept at 7:30am. And yet, no lab reports yet! Sigh, must learn to control my bloghopping/choir forum/Friendster/MSN messenger/good ol' surfing and googling/staring-into-nothingness-while-listening-to-music addiction.
Black Saturday came, and I vowed to finish the stuff before sunset, but then I fell asleep all afternoon! And now, after Diana's small birthday party (organized by Steph.. thanks for the yummy Swensen's ice cream cake!), I have finally decided to give myself an ultimatum.
So it's that's before sunrise. 2:07am now, so that gives me about 5 hours (since sunrise here is at 7) to do 6 pages of lab reports.
I was feeling a bit disappointed in myself too, for not being diligent in my studies (especially since the mountain of work is too BIG to ignore), and at these special times too, these few important holy days, when I'm (presumably) supposed to be more willing to sacrifice my pleasures, more than anything. My attempts to skip meat for all meals, all forty days of Lent (I try to, as much as I can) now seem to lack significance as I could not even control myself on these very important days.
But today I was thinking, that maybe, precisely because of JC's death on Friday and Saturday, the two days I was most yielding to pleasure, that I was unable to sacrifice. They say that upon Jesus death the bad spirits abound and, yeah, maybe they got into me and lured me away from the tasks set for me to do.
Or maybe that's just a lousy excuse to justify my stupidity.
Anyway, hopefully by posting this entry I will be reminded of the ultimatum I have set for myself, and stick to the freakin' job and stop sleeping!
* * *
Easter thoughts
Thanks to Fiona for sending me this inspirational flash presentation about JC's death and the gifts of the cross. Although the craziness of schoolwork and hallwork are no doubt keeping me from observing the solemnity of the Holy Week, I still manage to be thankful to JC for the tremendous sacrifice He's made.
There's this thought that lately comes to mind when I think of JC. It's the "Franny and Zooey" description of him. That's the other (some say better) brilliant story by JD Salinger.
Here's an excerpt I got from here (jump to page 28 though), when big brother Zooey, 26, forcefully confronts sister Franny, 20, about her recent behavior. For weeks she’s been inconsolable, on the verge of an apparent emotional collapse. She refuses most food and is making life miserable for Bessie, their mother. The only thing Franny does is recite the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a miserable sinner” over and over again in the hope that over time, quantity will turn to quality. Zooey is a popular TV actor, and Franny, still in college, was an aspiring actress up until this period of remorse and spiritual seeking.
“The part that stumps me, really stumps me, is that I can’t see why anybody ... would even want to say the prayer to a Jesus who was the least bit different from the way he looks and sounds in the New Testament. My God! He’s only the most intelligent man in the Bible, that’s all! Who isn’t he head and shoulders over? Who? .... Who besides Jesus really knew which end was up? Nobody. Not Moses. Don’t tell me Moses. He was a nice man, and he kept in beautiful touch with his God, and all that — but that’s exactly the point. He had to keep in touch. Jesus realized there is no separation from God... Who else, for example, would have kept his mouth shut when Pilate asked for an explanation? Not Solomon. Don’t say Solomon. Solomon would have had a few pithy words for the occasion ....
Most of all, above everything else, who in the Bible besides Jesus knew — knew — that we’re carrying the kingdom of Heaven around with us, inside, where we’re all too ... stupid and sentimental and unimaginative to look? You have to be a son of God to know that kind of stuff. Why don’t you think of these things? I mean it, Franny, I’m being serious. When you don’t see Jesus for exactly what he was, you miss the whole point of the Jesus Prayer. If you don’t understand Jesus, you can’t understand his prayer .... Jesus was a supreme adept, by God, on a terribly important mission. This was no St. Francis, with enough time to knock out a few [songs], or to preach to the birds, or to do any of the other endearing things so close to Franny Glass’s heart .... How can you miss seeing that!? If God had wanted someone with St. Francis’s consistently winning personality for the job in the New Testament, he’d’ve picked him, you can be sure. As it was, he picked the smartest, the most loving, the least sentimental, the most unimitative master he could possibly have picked. And when you miss seeing that, I swear to you, you’re missing the whole point of the Jesus Prayer. The Jesus Prayer has one aim, and one aim only. To endow the person who says it with Christ-Consciousness. Not to set up some little cozy, holier-than-thou [meeting] place with some divine personage who’ll take you in his arms and relieve you of all your duties and make all your nasty [pain and heartache] and Professor Tuppers go away and never come back. And by God, if you have intelligence enough to see that — and you do — and yet refuse to see it, then you’re misusing the prayer, you’re using it to ask for a world full of dolls and saints and no Professor Tuppers.”
I like it when Zooey says these things the in-your-face semi-harsh sort of way. After all, I never was a fan of the highfalutin flowered up style of speaking/writing anyway. Here it's raw and direct, and it hit me, made me think.
There. Some philosophical thoughts just in time for Easter! Happy Easter everyone.
Please remind me that
Please remind me that..
He will not test you beyond your strength.
That all the world's collective woes are nothing compared to His supreme sacrifice.
That there is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent the resolve of a determined soul. (E. Wilcox)
That mugging is the way of life in the university, and that the happy mugger makes the grade.
He will not test you beyond your strength.
That all the world's collective woes are nothing compared to His supreme sacrifice.
That there is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent the resolve of a determined soul. (E. Wilcox)
That mugging is the way of life in the university, and that the happy mugger makes the grade.
Namesake
Namesake
That last post prompted my mom to email me! Thanks Ma for the motivation! As she pointed out, March 19 (I published that post early morning of it) was the feast day of St. Joseph, Jesus' dad, after whom I was named (that and some other reasons). Ironically, March 19 was a bad day for me! Haa.. where do I start? Maybe the fact that I got lost in the Bus 51 circuit and ended up riding 4 more bus rides and wasting hours of study time? Well, mostly that, so it wasn't so bad after all, really.
Calculus test tomorrow. Another (nick)namesake of mine was amazingly good at calculus. In fact, he invented it, along with Newton. His surname is the nickname my Dad gave me, never mind if the pronunciation's quite tricky. But although I was quite a Math person (at least before university), I was never a fan of calculus. Hmm.. that's another disparity between me and a namesake! Ah the irony.
But I'm gonna ace this test, and declaring it is the first step. Next step is to publish this post and get on mugging. :)
That last post prompted my mom to email me! Thanks Ma for the motivation! As she pointed out, March 19 (I published that post early morning of it) was the feast day of St. Joseph, Jesus' dad, after whom I was named (that and some other reasons). Ironically, March 19 was a bad day for me! Haa.. where do I start? Maybe the fact that I got lost in the Bus 51 circuit and ended up riding 4 more bus rides and wasting hours of study time? Well, mostly that, so it wasn't so bad after all, really.
Calculus test tomorrow. Another (nick)namesake of mine was amazingly good at calculus. In fact, he invented it, along with Newton. His surname is the nickname my Dad gave me, never mind if the pronunciation's quite tricky. But although I was quite a Math person (at least before university), I was never a fan of calculus. Hmm.. that's another disparity between me and a namesake! Ah the irony.
But I'm gonna ace this test, and declaring it is the first step. Next step is to publish this post and get on mugging. :)
...
...
I bought my sister Kai her IBook G4 during the IT show last weekend. It's her high school graduation gift, sponsored by Dad (but temporarily I had to cover for a bulk of the expenses). I opened it just moments ago, and now I realize that she'll love it. Mac is the too cool and too funky! I set up the .Mac online subscription, installed the Mac softwares (thanks Kor for the Mac Office!), downloaded some useful programs from the net. Happy graduation Kai. Proud of you, really.
This was supposed to be a short entry, and it shall be. Some developments, though. There's some tension between me and one second floor guy who wants to move down to the first floor next schoolyear. For the first time in KR history, people actually want to move to the first floor! I remember the first floor being described as the D block Dungeon early last sem, and the home of "phantoms", or those who severely lack hall/block spirit and who just stay in hall to eat, sleep and study on their own. Anyway, I don't wanna talk about the details anymore, as it's supposedly over now although it's still bothering me a bit, but I'm determined to stay in my room.
Developments of late include Dr Ng's clarification that Monday's Calculus test would be of the closed-book type, without the one page helpsheet I was counting on. And the sudden announcement that the KR Choir concert will have to be held, however inconvenient and stressful for everybody, next Thursday.
Now I don't want to post such stressful and agonizing entries in my journal, nor do I wish to be pitied, but really, I'm about to snap. If my calculations are correct, unless I do something prevent it, I'm either gonna crack my skull in the next two weeks, or my zits will surface by the dozens and will collectively pop like firecrackers, as part of my body's reflex response to diffuse the mounting tension.
And, by the way, why is it that when one is most burdened, he feels most empty too?
Sigh. I suddenly realize that it's hiatus time once again.
I bought my sister Kai her IBook G4 during the IT show last weekend. It's her high school graduation gift, sponsored by Dad (but temporarily I had to cover for a bulk of the expenses). I opened it just moments ago, and now I realize that she'll love it. Mac is the too cool and too funky! I set up the .Mac online subscription, installed the Mac softwares (thanks Kor for the Mac Office!), downloaded some useful programs from the net. Happy graduation Kai. Proud of you, really.
This was supposed to be a short entry, and it shall be. Some developments, though. There's some tension between me and one second floor guy who wants to move down to the first floor next schoolyear. For the first time in KR history, people actually want to move to the first floor! I remember the first floor being described as the D block Dungeon early last sem, and the home of "phantoms", or those who severely lack hall/block spirit and who just stay in hall to eat, sleep and study on their own. Anyway, I don't wanna talk about the details anymore, as it's supposedly over now although it's still bothering me a bit, but I'm determined to stay in my room.
Developments of late include Dr Ng's clarification that Monday's Calculus test would be of the closed-book type, without the one page helpsheet I was counting on. And the sudden announcement that the KR Choir concert will have to be held, however inconvenient and stressful for everybody, next Thursday.
Now I don't want to post such stressful and agonizing entries in my journal, nor do I wish to be pitied, but really, I'm about to snap. If my calculations are correct, unless I do something prevent it, I'm either gonna crack my skull in the next two weeks, or my zits will surface by the dozens and will collectively pop like firecrackers, as part of my body's reflex response to diffuse the mounting tension.
And, by the way, why is it that when one is most burdened, he feels most empty too?
Sigh. I suddenly realize that it's hiatus time once again.
It's an update!
It's an update!
I remember those days months ago, even a year ago, when finding a new post or update in my blog was nothing to get excited about. My posts came at frequent intervals, sometimes even a number of times a day. Lately, it may seem like I'm a lazy blogger, but really, I'm just a tired and stressed out mugger under pressure. :D
Really, it's mugging time in the university! Everyone's going bonkers, if MSN nicks are to be believed. Tests coming up, papers, the whole deal, but I shan't elaborate much lest I cause you undue stress.
So why am I posting? Hah, let me let you in on a little secret. My dear Mama is one of my frequent visitors. Yey. So since I'm too broke to call home, and, even when I do call, it's always rush-rush because S$10 for 23 minutes is bloody expensive, and I never talk to my mom the longest (relative to Dad and Kai and Lola) since according to her too, she reads my blog anyway. In fact, my dear Mama tells me right before she passes the phone to Dad or Kai, "Keep on blogging!" Hee.
So, because my family loves me and would not mind an update of my life, I shall do the thing I wanted to skip today: I shall blog.
Hmmm..
What more relevant "me" issue than the stuff I told you might possibly cause you undue stress. So I shall say them anyway (haha):
Things that are driving me bonkers right now:
+ Calculus test on 21/3
+ Molecular Genetics (*gasp*) midterm test on 30/3
+ Molecular Genetics (*double gasp*) lab report collection of FOUR due on 31/3
+ Molecular Genetics (*...*) big assignment due on 31/3
+ Intro to Literary Studies midterm test (about ALL of our readings) on 1/4
+ Evaluating Academic Arguments Position Paper of 1200 words on 1/4
+ Payment of $450 for Competition trip on 31/3
Sigh. Even I'm getting stressed just typing those out. But goody, I managed to get through two of my tasks yesterday! My Evaluating Acad Arguments Critique was due yesterday at 1pm, so of course, good little me was able to submit on time... never mind if I was rereading the essay to be critiqued over and over again all day the previous day without enough faults and holes to find, and up to 1245pm, 15 minutes before class, I was still typing and printing the paper (printer conveniently ran out of ink too, btw, at 1250pm).
And of course, last night was International Relations Night! Haha, finally the event that we in the IRC have been preparing for. Yess, it was for this reason too that I was cooking leche flan (very sweet milk and caramel custard) for 150 people 24 hours of Sunday (next time I'll tell the Block to buy a steamer to make my life easier). But the IRN went great! Thanks models Ivy and Robs! And wooohoooo, in the free International Supper afterwards, many people looooovvvvvvvved my leche flan! Yippeee, I was told it was the "best among all the dishes" (the other dishes were mostly spicy and exotic-tasting), "tasted great", "yummy", and some even went back for more servings, and Siaw Ling, a Malaysian friend even wanted the recipe! Ahhh.. that part about hard work paying off rings true once again. Next time I'll work on the presentation! Haha.
And oh yeah, last Monday I confirmed my attendance to the Olomouc choir competion. While my efforts to beg fellow basses Kurien and Charles and Derence to go didn't work, I signed up. It's gonna be fun, I'm sure, and I'm still trying not to appear too excited about the whole thing especially since this is gonna be my first time. Catch is that I'm gonna have to shell out S$1500! The choir is making a great sacrifice too, as they're digging into the funds pool from the previous batches to sponsor about 500 bucks for each one of the 30 or so going. They're sponsoring the choir festival fees and all, while the 1500 we'll pay is just airfare from Singapore to Czech Republic and back. God please let me earn money during the holidays! And, as new President Keng Khoon has emphasized, because they've invested a LOT in this, we have to bring home the gold. Pressure! And my voice "guide" Lyndley isn't going! And incredibly musical Charles! And Bass SL Quee Ming! Presssssure.
Okay, I think this entry's too long already, and I've spent more than 30 minutes of precious time typing!
Smile and be happy everyone. I'm gonna mug like hell this week. God help me in Molecular Genetics. Off to the library I go to have a date with Miss Jean Brodie (that's Maggie Smith a.k.a. Minerva Macgonagall getting an Oscar in 1969 too).
Music of the Moment: Michael Buble & Nelly Furtado's Quando, Quando, Quando
Currently feeling muggerish.
I remember those days months ago, even a year ago, when finding a new post or update in my blog was nothing to get excited about. My posts came at frequent intervals, sometimes even a number of times a day. Lately, it may seem like I'm a lazy blogger, but really, I'm just a tired and stressed out mugger under pressure. :D
Really, it's mugging time in the university! Everyone's going bonkers, if MSN nicks are to be believed. Tests coming up, papers, the whole deal, but I shan't elaborate much lest I cause you undue stress.
So why am I posting? Hah, let me let you in on a little secret. My dear Mama is one of my frequent visitors. Yey. So since I'm too broke to call home, and, even when I do call, it's always rush-rush because S$10 for 23 minutes is bloody expensive, and I never talk to my mom the longest (relative to Dad and Kai and Lola) since according to her too, she reads my blog anyway. In fact, my dear Mama tells me right before she passes the phone to Dad or Kai, "Keep on blogging!" Hee.
So, because my family loves me and would not mind an update of my life, I shall do the thing I wanted to skip today: I shall blog.
Hmmm..
What more relevant "me" issue than the stuff I told you might possibly cause you undue stress. So I shall say them anyway (haha):
Things that are driving me bonkers right now:
+ Calculus test on 21/3
+ Molecular Genetics (*gasp*) midterm test on 30/3
+ Molecular Genetics (*double gasp*) lab report collection of FOUR due on 31/3
+ Molecular Genetics (*...*) big assignment due on 31/3
+ Intro to Literary Studies midterm test (about ALL of our readings) on 1/4
+ Evaluating Academic Arguments Position Paper of 1200 words on 1/4
+ Payment of $450 for Competition trip on 31/3
Sigh. Even I'm getting stressed just typing those out. But goody, I managed to get through two of my tasks yesterday! My Evaluating Acad Arguments Critique was due yesterday at 1pm, so of course, good little me was able to submit on time... never mind if I was rereading the essay to be critiqued over and over again all day the previous day without enough faults and holes to find, and up to 1245pm, 15 minutes before class, I was still typing and printing the paper (printer conveniently ran out of ink too, btw, at 1250pm).
And of course, last night was International Relations Night! Haha, finally the event that we in the IRC have been preparing for. Yess, it was for this reason too that I was cooking leche flan (very sweet milk and caramel custard) for 150 people 24 hours of Sunday (next time I'll tell the Block to buy a steamer to make my life easier). But the IRN went great! Thanks models Ivy and Robs! And wooohoooo, in the free International Supper afterwards, many people looooovvvvvvvved my leche flan! Yippeee, I was told it was the "best among all the dishes" (the other dishes were mostly spicy and exotic-tasting), "tasted great", "yummy", and some even went back for more servings, and Siaw Ling, a Malaysian friend even wanted the recipe! Ahhh.. that part about hard work paying off rings true once again. Next time I'll work on the presentation! Haha.
And oh yeah, last Monday I confirmed my attendance to the Olomouc choir competion. While my efforts to beg fellow basses Kurien and Charles and Derence to go didn't work, I signed up. It's gonna be fun, I'm sure, and I'm still trying not to appear too excited about the whole thing especially since this is gonna be my first time. Catch is that I'm gonna have to shell out S$1500! The choir is making a great sacrifice too, as they're digging into the funds pool from the previous batches to sponsor about 500 bucks for each one of the 30 or so going. They're sponsoring the choir festival fees and all, while the 1500 we'll pay is just airfare from Singapore to Czech Republic and back. God please let me earn money during the holidays! And, as new President Keng Khoon has emphasized, because they've invested a LOT in this, we have to bring home the gold. Pressure! And my voice "guide" Lyndley isn't going! And incredibly musical Charles! And Bass SL Quee Ming! Presssssure.
Okay, I think this entry's too long already, and I've spent more than 30 minutes of precious time typing!
Smile and be happy everyone. I'm gonna mug like hell this week. God help me in Molecular Genetics. Off to the library I go to have a date with Miss Jean Brodie (that's Maggie Smith a.k.a. Minerva Macgonagall getting an Oscar in 1969 too).
Music of the Moment: Michael Buble & Nelly Furtado's Quando, Quando, Quando
Currently feeling muggerish.
Back in the day
Back in the day
Back when zits were unheard of, when schoolwork was only for "grown-ups", when all that mattered was playing and eating and sleeping.
I miss Davao. And Mama and Daddy and Kai and my two Lolas.
Oh, and that's the same car in which I was born that fateful night. ;)
And yeaaaaaaah, the leche flan tasted grrrreat! And that's according to my taste testers Korinna (who brought a whole saucer to her room too), Ivy, Robs. And it's approved too by Indonesian, Indian, Singaporean, Chinese, Malaysian tastebuds! Haha, the IRC members enjoyed the dessert sample I brought during the meeting.
Too bad I can't eat too much, as I've just caught a cold and got a bad case of sore throat, causing me to cough and sneeze in all my lectures and tutorials (blame the aircon and the weather). And the headache, grrr. I doubt if I still can sing for KR Choir during NUS Open House tomorrow.
But all's well so far. I'm gonna bulldoze my way through this mountain of schoolwork and hallwork, and it'll all be super in the end. Cheers.
Back when zits were unheard of, when schoolwork was only for "grown-ups", when all that mattered was playing and eating and sleeping.
I miss Davao. And Mama and Daddy and Kai and my two Lolas.
Oh, and that's the same car in which I was born that fateful night. ;)
And yeaaaaaaah, the leche flan tasted grrrreat! And that's according to my taste testers Korinna (who brought a whole saucer to her room too), Ivy, Robs. And it's approved too by Indonesian, Indian, Singaporean, Chinese, Malaysian tastebuds! Haha, the IRC members enjoyed the dessert sample I brought during the meeting.
Too bad I can't eat too much, as I've just caught a cold and got a bad case of sore throat, causing me to cough and sneeze in all my lectures and tutorials (blame the aircon and the weather). And the headache, grrr. I doubt if I still can sing for KR Choir during NUS Open House tomorrow.
But all's well so far. I'm gonna bulldoze my way through this mountain of schoolwork and hallwork, and it'll all be super in the end. Cheers.
The time to be busy is now
The time to be busy is now
Wow. My blog breaks are now beginning to amaze me. Self-control, people.
Come to think of it, I've sacrificed a number of my pleasures lately, all in the name of intensive schoolwork and hallwork and choirwork.
I'm still drowning in the ocean of tasks I have to do, and slowly it's taking its toll on my morale, self-esteem, my social life, TV/music/entertainment life (I skipped the Oscars, the Amazing Race, Survivor, several OC episodes, American Idol, never checked the Billboard/radio music charts lately even), and my sanity.
And yet, I'm still struggling to keep myself together, and propel my academics up.
Sigh. One can never know what university life is until he's gone to NUS.
I tell myself this is what I signed up for when I took this scholarship (without a bond too, unlike most everyone else), and that all this will pay off sometime in the indefinite future. So we all just hang on and keep moving.
* * *
On a brighter note, I think I can roughly say I'm staying in KR. CCA points are out, and surprise surprise, you've done very good to get 47 total points Jose! (It should in fact be 51, but OSA gets the top 8 activities) Thanks to the NUS Choir which earned me big points, KR Choir (big points -1, also big since they promoted me to SL), the Ridge, Cheering Comm, and other hall performances/activities that gave me points. No thanks to the International Relations Comm (IRC), from which I get only 2 points for the terrible headache it caused. And btw, there are some magic comms too! Haaa. Now I get it.
* * *
How does one describe leche flan? It's this very sweet Filipino dessert (presumably from the Spanish) that's made of eggs and milk and caramel. It's some soft thing, but not like a cake. Custard? Dunno.
Anyway, with the leadership of Karen the self-confessed non-cook and the assistance of Arthur, I set forth to cook the dish over the weekend. Too bad Karen's kitchen had a power trip, so I had to move the stuff to KR (on foot) so it could be finished. And I finished last night. Bloody exhausting. Steaming took forever, and I went back and forth to the third floor kitchen from my first floor room around 23906 times.
Not sure if the taste is gonna ba good, as this is the first time I attempted to do the dish. Next up if it's passable: cook for 120-150 residents for Internation Relations Night next week. Haizzz. The things I do for that two-point IRC I was telling you about.
But at least the leche flan LOOKS good. Will taste test later.
Wow. My blog breaks are now beginning to amaze me. Self-control, people.
Come to think of it, I've sacrificed a number of my pleasures lately, all in the name of intensive schoolwork and hallwork and choirwork.
I'm still drowning in the ocean of tasks I have to do, and slowly it's taking its toll on my morale, self-esteem, my social life, TV/music/entertainment life (I skipped the Oscars, the Amazing Race, Survivor, several OC episodes, American Idol, never checked the Billboard/radio music charts lately even), and my sanity.
And yet, I'm still struggling to keep myself together, and propel my academics up.
Sigh. One can never know what university life is until he's gone to NUS.
I tell myself this is what I signed up for when I took this scholarship (without a bond too, unlike most everyone else), and that all this will pay off sometime in the indefinite future. So we all just hang on and keep moving.
* * *
On a brighter note, I think I can roughly say I'm staying in KR. CCA points are out, and surprise surprise, you've done very good to get 47 total points Jose! (It should in fact be 51, but OSA gets the top 8 activities) Thanks to the NUS Choir which earned me big points, KR Choir (big points -1, also big since they promoted me to SL), the Ridge, Cheering Comm, and other hall performances/activities that gave me points. No thanks to the International Relations Comm (IRC), from which I get only 2 points for the terrible headache it caused. And btw, there are some magic comms too! Haaa. Now I get it.
* * *
How does one describe leche flan? It's this very sweet Filipino dessert (presumably from the Spanish) that's made of eggs and milk and caramel. It's some soft thing, but not like a cake. Custard? Dunno.
Anyway, with the leadership of Karen the self-confessed non-cook and the assistance of Arthur, I set forth to cook the dish over the weekend. Too bad Karen's kitchen had a power trip, so I had to move the stuff to KR (on foot) so it could be finished. And I finished last night. Bloody exhausting. Steaming took forever, and I went back and forth to the third floor kitchen from my first floor room around 23906 times.
Not sure if the taste is gonna ba good, as this is the first time I attempted to do the dish. Next up if it's passable: cook for 120-150 residents for Internation Relations Night next week. Haizzz. The things I do for that two-point IRC I was telling you about.
But at least the leche flan LOOKS good. Will taste test later.
Some things
Some Things
Whew. That was quite a while since my last post. I can't believe I found it quite empowering NOT to blog. It was freedom, in a weird sort of way, and it showed that I can show a decent degree of self-control and a sense of responsibility. But now that the killer Probability test is over, three choir performances successfully done, I can give myself a breather, however short, so I can blog for a while. Not as frequent, I must emphasize, since I still am as loaded with work as ever.
Something Cute
I love my avatar in the NUS Choir forum! It's also my MSN display pic, although it's not animated there. I actually ripped it from the blog of newly-elected Ridge Chief Ed Nurul (yey congrats again!).
Hee. That's actually Calvin (of Calvin & Hobbes) gagging. Quite cool eh? Found it hilarious. The first few images of the animation can be seen to show Calvin singing or something (partly the reason I used it in the choir forum), but ends up with him throwing up and passing out. Haha.
Something Stressful
What else but Thursday's Probability midterm test! Which, btw, was the day after AMPLITUDE, the combined concert of NUS hall choirs and a cappella groups + NUS Choir at LT13, which was just 4 days right after our Varsity Voices Concert!
Stressful times I tell you, and more so when one isn't in quite a happy mood due to factors other than the activities themselves.
But I managed to get through all those in one piece -- tired, yes, but most content and fulfilled.
I wanted to donate blood for the Red Cross (like the way I did last year right when I had my 18th birthday), but I had to pass since I knew I needed energy for the intensive work the week required. Maybe I'll go with Karen when she donates to the Red Cross (through Sheares Hall) this week.
Not surprisingly, Zit Season has begun, and it shows no signs of waning in the near future.
Something Stupid
Held last Friday was the second lecture on Shakespeare's MACBETH, as part of the curriculum of my Literature module. Being the studious-wannabe, I borrowed a library book beforehand, and although constrained by the deep old English, I struggled to get past the first acts of the play. The week earlier, Dr Yeo had suggested that we had the option to watch the DVD recording of the play in the library, if our reading progress was impeded by the old language.
So right after the Probability exam, as much as I felt exhausted and tired, I made my way to the Central Library to borrow the DVD, get another copy of the script of the play, and went on for two+ hours, following the text as I was watching the movie. It was time for dinner, so I stopped at the end of Act 3 (there were 5 Acts) and headed back to KR.
The next day, I went to class confident, having read a good chunk of the book and having watched the play of Hamlet. When, suddenly, during 30 minutes into the class, a realization washed over me, I read and watched the wrong play!
Next time someone please remind me that HAMLET and MACBETH are totally different plays, and that long as I wait, the names Ophelia and Polonius and Horatio and Claudius will never pop up in the Macbeth discussion. Haizzzzz. Stupid stupid.
For a few moments I felt like a dumbass, really, wasting hours of precious time, but soon after I just laughed at myself, and joked about it with some of my acquaintances in my class (and we aren't even too buddy buddy), and some of my seniors. Hah, at least I'm glad I've learned the art of forgiving and laughing at oneself.
So for my tutorial an hour after the lecture, I ran to the library to get MACBETH, rushed to the hall to google and print a summary and breakdown of events in the play, and came prepared for the tutorial class without anyone noticing I made a serious blunder earlier. Teehee.
Something Unusual
Warning: Skip this section if you want a happy post.
Okay, so I'm sandwiching this more serious stuff here to stifle its gravity, and so many people won't be able to reach this part due to the length of the post (hah). Here is something very unusual. An apology.
I hate to bring up the Varsity Voices issue again, and would have liked to settle it with Wayne in person, and not through blogging, but since I was caught offguard by his post and I am 95% sure that Wayne would not bring it up in person, let me blog it in.
I sold 13 tickets for the VV concert, the supportive souls consisting of 11 Pinoys and 2 Malaysians. Thanks to Robs, Clint, Wayne, Arthur, Gelo, Ferron, Korinna, Jayson, Elsie (whose ticket I subsidized by 3 bucks I admit), Steph and Alds. My gratitude too, to Claire and Siokkah for coming. :D
About this "flimsiest reason in the world" issue, I told it to ROBS. This was when he told me earlier during the year that one of the reasons he was moving to another Church was because the Catholic mass requires a lot of memory work. I've apologized to Robs already a long time ago, and thankfully he didn't seem to take offense and I sincerely respect his decision to move.
About Michael, now I understand. Really.
I never said "flimsiest reason in the world" to him. Sigh. I commended his honesty when he said it was not his interest, this choir thing, and that I verbally told him, because I appreciate people being honest and direct-to-the-point so I don't waste my time and efforts. But later, what I found flimsy was Michael's reason for his constant reconsideration of his decision, as it seemed to be based on who else were going, and not because he didn't like choir concerts. But Micahel and I are okay, so that issue need not be magnified.
I need not expound too much on how unfunny the supposed joke of "forced-persuaded" was. And how "tactics" was strongly offensive, and how the blog entry dampened my spirits.
To Wayne: three things.
1) I am very glad you made some realizations, and, knowing you don't usually do this, I am pleasantly surprised that you came up with an apology.
2) Communicating in person is always better than online-sparring, and apologies are always better said.
3) Have a happy birthday.
ANYWAY, let's get back to happy normal stuff. I seriously hope many people didn't read this previous last bit. That's partly the reason I quit from NUS Chika.
Something Bigger
I have recently been appointed Records Secretary for NUS Choir. That means I'm in the EXCO now! It was a tough decision accepting it, but since I'm getting into the team spirit anyway, and since I enjoy their company and singing songs with them, I decided I might as well do something more, even if it means performing the tough task of maintaining and distributing the scores.
I am also lovin' the KR Choir more! Yey, great job for Amplitude guys! As much as the tenors can be quite difficult to manage at times, and as much as I think I'm not the perfect SL, I think we've all been singing better and feeling better about one another! And Choir spirit is getting stronger! Yey.
The Hall Master wants something bigger for International Relations Night on the 15th of March. The IRC (Int'l Relations Comm) are now pressed for more presentations and culinary delights and games and costume display of more countries. Stressssful I tell you, especially for a minor comm that is theoretically only supposed to be awarded two CCA points.
But as I like to say (okay so John Mayer says it too), I'm still bigger than my body. And of course, God is infinitely bigger than any of our biggest woes.
Whew. That was quite a while since my last post. I can't believe I found it quite empowering NOT to blog. It was freedom, in a weird sort of way, and it showed that I can show a decent degree of self-control and a sense of responsibility. But now that the killer Probability test is over, three choir performances successfully done, I can give myself a breather, however short, so I can blog for a while. Not as frequent, I must emphasize, since I still am as loaded with work as ever.
Something Cute
I love my avatar in the NUS Choir forum! It's also my MSN display pic, although it's not animated there. I actually ripped it from the blog of newly-elected Ridge Chief Ed Nurul (yey congrats again!).
Hee. That's actually Calvin (of Calvin & Hobbes) gagging. Quite cool eh? Found it hilarious. The first few images of the animation can be seen to show Calvin singing or something (partly the reason I used it in the choir forum), but ends up with him throwing up and passing out. Haha.
Something Stressful
What else but Thursday's Probability midterm test! Which, btw, was the day after AMPLITUDE, the combined concert of NUS hall choirs and a cappella groups + NUS Choir at LT13, which was just 4 days right after our Varsity Voices Concert!
Stressful times I tell you, and more so when one isn't in quite a happy mood due to factors other than the activities themselves.
But I managed to get through all those in one piece -- tired, yes, but most content and fulfilled.
I wanted to donate blood for the Red Cross (like the way I did last year right when I had my 18th birthday), but I had to pass since I knew I needed energy for the intensive work the week required. Maybe I'll go with Karen when she donates to the Red Cross (through Sheares Hall) this week.
Not surprisingly, Zit Season has begun, and it shows no signs of waning in the near future.
Something Stupid
Held last Friday was the second lecture on Shakespeare's MACBETH, as part of the curriculum of my Literature module. Being the studious-wannabe, I borrowed a library book beforehand, and although constrained by the deep old English, I struggled to get past the first acts of the play. The week earlier, Dr Yeo had suggested that we had the option to watch the DVD recording of the play in the library, if our reading progress was impeded by the old language.
So right after the Probability exam, as much as I felt exhausted and tired, I made my way to the Central Library to borrow the DVD, get another copy of the script of the play, and went on for two+ hours, following the text as I was watching the movie. It was time for dinner, so I stopped at the end of Act 3 (there were 5 Acts) and headed back to KR.
The next day, I went to class confident, having read a good chunk of the book and having watched the play of Hamlet. When, suddenly, during 30 minutes into the class, a realization washed over me, I read and watched the wrong play!
Next time someone please remind me that HAMLET and MACBETH are totally different plays, and that long as I wait, the names Ophelia and Polonius and Horatio and Claudius will never pop up in the Macbeth discussion. Haizzzzz. Stupid stupid.
For a few moments I felt like a dumbass, really, wasting hours of precious time, but soon after I just laughed at myself, and joked about it with some of my acquaintances in my class (and we aren't even too buddy buddy), and some of my seniors. Hah, at least I'm glad I've learned the art of forgiving and laughing at oneself.
So for my tutorial an hour after the lecture, I ran to the library to get MACBETH, rushed to the hall to google and print a summary and breakdown of events in the play, and came prepared for the tutorial class without anyone noticing I made a serious blunder earlier. Teehee.
Something Unusual
Warning: Skip this section if you want a happy post.
Okay, so I'm sandwiching this more serious stuff here to stifle its gravity, and so many people won't be able to reach this part due to the length of the post (hah). Here is something very unusual. An apology.
I hate to bring up the Varsity Voices issue again, and would have liked to settle it with Wayne in person, and not through blogging, but since I was caught offguard by his post and I am 95% sure that Wayne would not bring it up in person, let me blog it in.
I sold 13 tickets for the VV concert, the supportive souls consisting of 11 Pinoys and 2 Malaysians. Thanks to Robs, Clint, Wayne, Arthur, Gelo, Ferron, Korinna, Jayson, Elsie (whose ticket I subsidized by 3 bucks I admit), Steph and Alds. My gratitude too, to Claire and Siokkah for coming. :D
About this "flimsiest reason in the world" issue, I told it to ROBS. This was when he told me earlier during the year that one of the reasons he was moving to another Church was because the Catholic mass requires a lot of memory work. I've apologized to Robs already a long time ago, and thankfully he didn't seem to take offense and I sincerely respect his decision to move.
About Michael, now I understand. Really.
I never said "flimsiest reason in the world" to him. Sigh. I commended his honesty when he said it was not his interest, this choir thing, and that I verbally told him, because I appreciate people being honest and direct-to-the-point so I don't waste my time and efforts. But later, what I found flimsy was Michael's reason for his constant reconsideration of his decision, as it seemed to be based on who else were going, and not because he didn't like choir concerts. But Micahel and I are okay, so that issue need not be magnified.
I need not expound too much on how unfunny the supposed joke of "forced-persuaded" was. And how "tactics" was strongly offensive, and how the blog entry dampened my spirits.
To Wayne: three things.
1) I am very glad you made some realizations, and, knowing you don't usually do this, I am pleasantly surprised that you came up with an apology.
2) Communicating in person is always better than online-sparring, and apologies are always better said.
3) Have a happy birthday.
ANYWAY, let's get back to happy normal stuff. I seriously hope many people didn't read this previous last bit. That's partly the reason I quit from NUS Chika.
Something Bigger
I have recently been appointed Records Secretary for NUS Choir. That means I'm in the EXCO now! It was a tough decision accepting it, but since I'm getting into the team spirit anyway, and since I enjoy their company and singing songs with them, I decided I might as well do something more, even if it means performing the tough task of maintaining and distributing the scores.
I am also lovin' the KR Choir more! Yey, great job for Amplitude guys! As much as the tenors can be quite difficult to manage at times, and as much as I think I'm not the perfect SL, I think we've all been singing better and feeling better about one another! And Choir spirit is getting stronger! Yey.
The Hall Master wants something bigger for International Relations Night on the 15th of March. The IRC (Int'l Relations Comm) are now pressed for more presentations and culinary delights and games and costume display of more countries. Stressssful I tell you, especially for a minor comm that is theoretically only supposed to be awarded two CCA points.
But as I like to say (okay so John Mayer says it too), I'm still bigger than my body. And of course, God is infinitely bigger than any of our biggest woes.
Samplers
Samplers
Wei Wei has posted some of the last night's concert songs in the forum (or more accurately, in his SoC account)! Yey.
So for those who missed the NUS Choir's Varsity Voices concert last night, here's a couple of songs. :D (Click the links to hear the files)
Te Quiero ("I adore you")
A beautiful song that can be easily mistaken as a love song. It is a love song, really, but about love for country. This song portrays Argentina's hope for justice, freedom and love.
I'll Be There
Pop classic! It was first performed by the Jackson 5, but was widely popularized by Mariah Carey. Yan Ting sings some spine-tingling solo vocals! :D
I'm singing bass, so you can try to listen to me among the lower voices. :)
I'm still waiting for someone to upload the Tarimbaba! And That Lonesome Road! And The Continental and Guantanamera and all other songs of course! But I don't think they'll upload everything (nor will I), since doing so could ruin orders for the CD! Hehe.
Okay, Probability test coming up. Maybe another hiatus is in order?
Wei Wei has posted some of the last night's concert songs in the forum (or more accurately, in his SoC account)! Yey.
So for those who missed the NUS Choir's Varsity Voices concert last night, here's a couple of songs. :D (Click the links to hear the files)
Te Quiero ("I adore you")
A beautiful song that can be easily mistaken as a love song. It is a love song, really, but about love for country. This song portrays Argentina's hope for justice, freedom and love.
I'll Be There
Pop classic! It was first performed by the Jackson 5, but was widely popularized by Mariah Carey. Yan Ting sings some spine-tingling solo vocals! :D
I'm singing bass, so you can try to listen to me among the lower voices. :)
I'm still waiting for someone to upload the Tarimbaba! And That Lonesome Road! And The Continental and Guantanamera and all other songs of course! But I don't think they'll upload everything (nor will I), since doing so could ruin orders for the CD! Hehe.
Okay, Probability test coming up. Maybe another hiatus is in order?
Off-putting
Off-putting
I am suddenly saddened.
I cannot help but notice the malicious tone in a piece of commentary in Wayne's blog. I'm sorry, but I think the writer was also playing it a bit safe.
As much as I sincerely appreciate brutal honesty, I hate it when implied are malicious intentions on my part.
A few things:
The tickets were really worth $15.
I do not resort to tactics to sell tickets. I don't tell people to come BECAUSE ticket sales are poor. And if my persistence in asking people to buy tickets comes off as (forcing) "persuading" people, I'm sorry. What I tell people is to come if they're free and interested. I personally like the repertoire, and I thought it was potentially enjoyable for people.
During the course of the conversation, it may follow that I tell them that ticket sales are bad, but I NEVER INTENDED to use this as a reason for them to come. If they come because they pity the ticket sales, then so be it.
And yes yes, the "flimsiest reasons I've ever heard" line is mine. I used it in a totally different context though.
And what's more, never did I once think of the Czech Republic trip subsidy when I sold the tickets. I wanted us to save face by having a decent audience, so we can, as the Choir president says, hope to break even (Victoria Hall is expensive to book). We may get increased subsidy from the profit (if it exists), but I never used it to motivate me to sell, or persuade people to buy.
So as much as I thank you Wayne for coming to the show to support me, may I please request that you think less maliciously of me.
I am suddenly saddened.
I cannot help but notice the malicious tone in a piece of commentary in Wayne's blog. I'm sorry, but I think the writer was also playing it a bit safe.
As much as I sincerely appreciate brutal honesty, I hate it when implied are malicious intentions on my part.
A few things:
The tickets were really worth $15.
I do not resort to tactics to sell tickets. I don't tell people to come BECAUSE ticket sales are poor. And if my persistence in asking people to buy tickets comes off as (forcing) "persuading" people, I'm sorry. What I tell people is to come if they're free and interested. I personally like the repertoire, and I thought it was potentially enjoyable for people.
During the course of the conversation, it may follow that I tell them that ticket sales are bad, but I NEVER INTENDED to use this as a reason for them to come. If they come because they pity the ticket sales, then so be it.
And yes yes, the "flimsiest reasons I've ever heard" line is mine. I used it in a totally different context though.
And what's more, never did I once think of the Czech Republic trip subsidy when I sold the tickets. I wanted us to save face by having a decent audience, so we can, as the Choir president says, hope to break even (Victoria Hall is expensive to book). We may get increased subsidy from the profit (if it exists), but I never used it to motivate me to sell, or persuade people to buy.
So as much as I thank you Wayne for coming to the show to support me, may I please request that you think less maliciously of me.
I <3 NUS Choir
I *heart* NUS Choir!
I just came from the Varsity Voices Concert, and yey, the turn-up was good! But more importantly, we sang well too! But then again, I'm biased, so believe what you want. :)
We were practising like mad the past few days. Midterm break, supposedly for studes to prepare for our tests, was spent singing and singing. On Thursday, in fact, I remember going for Choir practice in the evening, rushing to KR for IRC (Int'l Relations Comm) meeting, then going for KR Choir practice till past midnight.. and I had class at 8am the next day + presentation at 11!
But I feel much much better now that NUS Choir's yearlong efforts (at least 6 hours/week excluding voice classes) have borne good fruit in the form of this concert. We were gathered at the Moot Court at NUS Law Fac at 11am, was at Victoria Concert Hall at 3pm to do a quick run-through, and performance was at 7:30pm.
I was worried a bit when they were finalizing the arrangement at around 5pm, since I was suddenly moved from the third row, in which I've been singing between Yi Yong (damn good bass newbie), and Kurien (haha what can I say Karen? ;P), to the second row, beside Bass SL (sectional leader) Ling Wei. Yi Yong is particularly good in catching this very low E flat in the Credo, and I almost always just follow him. I was worried a bit since I was singing beside the SL, so.. pressure! I didn't know if it was a demotion or promotion of sorts. :) The third row platform was too small apparently for five basses, so I was chosen to move forward because of height (which is quite not-too-convincing too hehe).
I discovered that Ling Wei made a couple of booboos! Yey, he's human too! And even when he tells basses to sing better, he also makes some mistakes, and admits to doing them! Yeyness. He dutifully tried to memorize the songs, see, and as scores were allowed for some songs anyway, I checked that he was a bit off. Not that I wasn't off a number of times too! Haha.
Anyway, we were able to pull off Tarimbaba! It's this tribal melody from the Molbog tribe in the Philippines, and it's the ABSOLUTE TOUGHEST to coordinate! It sounds like gibberish when we sing in sectionals, but it sounds terrific when we all sections combine. Actually it sounds terrific only when all sections pay extra close attention to the timing, and although we failed to consistently make it during practices, we were able to pull it off on concert night! Yey!
I'm glad that the parts that we were quite off weren't obvious, and the choir held together in the end. First half we did very well. The English folk songs went smoothly, we pulled off the Missa Brevis (which always leaves me out of breath.. and my first minor error was in Kyrie), the two nice Jap songs, and Tarimbaba! Second half was good as well! The Spanish songs were well-liked by the choir, and we sang them with much emotion, the Chamber Choir (seniors) sang a livelier version Gloria and Sanctus, and the selection of contemporary songs turned out good! Many people like the last song, I'll Be There. Hehe I'm quite glad the altos' quite unsteady intro for it wasn't too obvious. :D
I'm so mighty glad to be part of NUS Choir. It's rewarding and fulfilling to perform one year's worth of hard work, into a decent performance. It's not just learning the notes and singing according to the music score's dynamics, it's about the emotion involved see. And as a choir, we sing together -- sing well together, or sink together. Yan Ting our Student Conductor told us during practice that the essence of choir is not singing with your own voice, but lending your voice to your fellow choristers, such that one sings the voice of the rest. It's quite hard to fathom, but it simply means that there is a sense of unity and a special bond among choir members so they can produce good music.
Thanks Ling Wei for the yummy yummy cake exclusive to basses! Thanks basses! It's been terrific singing and laughing with you all! People have commented that the basses did exceptionally well tonight! Yehey! And to the rest of the choir, wooohooooo we did it together!
AND OF COURSE! Thanks to those who came down to support! Ticket sales were very poor the first few days, but we managed to get a decent audience in the end! Special thanks to the Pinoys who came! Thank you for the card! I was looking for that promised banner though... hehe joke. But really, thanks for coming! And thank you thank you for the card. I truly appreciate. :D
Finally, after this I can rest. But not for long! As there are the killer Probability midterm test on Thursday, the NUS Hall Choirs' concert Amplitude on Wednesday, Hamlet for Lit class, and IRC's International Relations Night the week after next!
But thank you good Lord for getting me through the first of these tasks. :D
P.S.
I'll post photos when the photos have been uploaded by the photographer in the NUS Choir forum. :)
Music of the moment: Varsity Voices songs!
Currently feeling high.
I just came from the Varsity Voices Concert, and yey, the turn-up was good! But more importantly, we sang well too! But then again, I'm biased, so believe what you want. :)
We were practising like mad the past few days. Midterm break, supposedly for studes to prepare for our tests, was spent singing and singing. On Thursday, in fact, I remember going for Choir practice in the evening, rushing to KR for IRC (Int'l Relations Comm) meeting, then going for KR Choir practice till past midnight.. and I had class at 8am the next day + presentation at 11!
But I feel much much better now that NUS Choir's yearlong efforts (at least 6 hours/week excluding voice classes) have borne good fruit in the form of this concert. We were gathered at the Moot Court at NUS Law Fac at 11am, was at Victoria Concert Hall at 3pm to do a quick run-through, and performance was at 7:30pm.
I was worried a bit when they were finalizing the arrangement at around 5pm, since I was suddenly moved from the third row, in which I've been singing between Yi Yong (damn good bass newbie), and Kurien (haha what can I say Karen? ;P), to the second row, beside Bass SL (sectional leader) Ling Wei. Yi Yong is particularly good in catching this very low E flat in the Credo, and I almost always just follow him. I was worried a bit since I was singing beside the SL, so.. pressure! I didn't know if it was a demotion or promotion of sorts. :) The third row platform was too small apparently for five basses, so I was chosen to move forward because of height (which is quite not-too-convincing too hehe).
I discovered that Ling Wei made a couple of booboos! Yey, he's human too! And even when he tells basses to sing better, he also makes some mistakes, and admits to doing them! Yeyness. He dutifully tried to memorize the songs, see, and as scores were allowed for some songs anyway, I checked that he was a bit off. Not that I wasn't off a number of times too! Haha.
Anyway, we were able to pull off Tarimbaba! It's this tribal melody from the Molbog tribe in the Philippines, and it's the ABSOLUTE TOUGHEST to coordinate! It sounds like gibberish when we sing in sectionals, but it sounds terrific when we all sections combine. Actually it sounds terrific only when all sections pay extra close attention to the timing, and although we failed to consistently make it during practices, we were able to pull it off on concert night! Yey!
I'm glad that the parts that we were quite off weren't obvious, and the choir held together in the end. First half we did very well. The English folk songs went smoothly, we pulled off the Missa Brevis (which always leaves me out of breath.. and my first minor error was in Kyrie), the two nice Jap songs, and Tarimbaba! Second half was good as well! The Spanish songs were well-liked by the choir, and we sang them with much emotion, the Chamber Choir (seniors) sang a livelier version Gloria and Sanctus, and the selection of contemporary songs turned out good! Many people like the last song, I'll Be There. Hehe I'm quite glad the altos' quite unsteady intro for it wasn't too obvious. :D
I'm so mighty glad to be part of NUS Choir. It's rewarding and fulfilling to perform one year's worth of hard work, into a decent performance. It's not just learning the notes and singing according to the music score's dynamics, it's about the emotion involved see. And as a choir, we sing together -- sing well together, or sink together. Yan Ting our Student Conductor told us during practice that the essence of choir is not singing with your own voice, but lending your voice to your fellow choristers, such that one sings the voice of the rest. It's quite hard to fathom, but it simply means that there is a sense of unity and a special bond among choir members so they can produce good music.
Thanks Ling Wei for the yummy yummy cake exclusive to basses! Thanks basses! It's been terrific singing and laughing with you all! People have commented that the basses did exceptionally well tonight! Yehey! And to the rest of the choir, wooohooooo we did it together!
AND OF COURSE! Thanks to those who came down to support! Ticket sales were very poor the first few days, but we managed to get a decent audience in the end! Special thanks to the Pinoys who came! Thank you for the card! I was looking for that promised banner though... hehe joke. But really, thanks for coming! And thank you thank you for the card. I truly appreciate. :D
Finally, after this I can rest. But not for long! As there are the killer Probability midterm test on Thursday, the NUS Hall Choirs' concert Amplitude on Wednesday, Hamlet for Lit class, and IRC's International Relations Night the week after next!
But thank you good Lord for getting me through the first of these tasks. :D
P.S.
I'll post photos when the photos have been uploaded by the photographer in the NUS Choir forum. :)
Music of the moment: Varsity Voices songs!
Currently feeling high.
Something's gotta give
Something's gotta give
Before anything else, I'd like to invite one and all to the NUS Choir's annual Varsity Voices Concert!
VV '05 will be on Saturday, February 26, 2005, at the Victoria Concert Hall. Tickets at $15. Contact me at 90745231, or email me for tickets. Please support! :D Good stuff, I tell you.
* * *
Ticket sales have been not too good, too, because we haven't been quite aggressively selling tickets for the past few days. And the performance isn't all too polished just yet (and the songs not yet memorized), mainly because of last week's Lei Yu performance, which, although a success(!), killed much of VV time. So we die this week practising. Practised all day today and I'm pretty beat.
* * *
Some of us NUS Pinoys went to Sentosa, by the way, yesterday afternoon. Quite fun, although it was a very short stay for me and Korinna. Arrived there at around 5pm, and were back before 11pm. In that short time, I managed to swim a little, play in the sand a little, lie down a little on the sand, watch the stunning laser show at the Musical Fountain ($4M for the equipment I hear), and have lots and lots of photos taken.
* * *
Okay, let's get back to the title of this post. Needless to say, I'm swamped as ever. It's midterm break, and I'm supposed to be studying for my upcoming tests or finishing my required readings. Instead, we're rushing the songs for the concert, which is stressing me out, as much as practices are damn good fun sometimes.
Something must unfortunately be sacrificed, so I can focus more on the more important things.
Moonstruck Inc. will be down until further notice.
Before anything else, I'd like to invite one and all to the NUS Choir's annual Varsity Voices Concert!
VV '05 will be on Saturday, February 26, 2005, at the Victoria Concert Hall. Tickets at $15. Contact me at 90745231, or email me for tickets. Please support! :D Good stuff, I tell you.
* * *
Ticket sales have been not too good, too, because we haven't been quite aggressively selling tickets for the past few days. And the performance isn't all too polished just yet (and the songs not yet memorized), mainly because of last week's Lei Yu performance, which, although a success(!), killed much of VV time. So we die this week practising. Practised all day today and I'm pretty beat.
* * *
Some of us NUS Pinoys went to Sentosa, by the way, yesterday afternoon. Quite fun, although it was a very short stay for me and Korinna. Arrived there at around 5pm, and were back before 11pm. In that short time, I managed to swim a little, play in the sand a little, lie down a little on the sand, watch the stunning laser show at the Musical Fountain ($4M for the equipment I hear), and have lots and lots of photos taken.
* * *
Okay, let's get back to the title of this post. Needless to say, I'm swamped as ever. It's midterm break, and I'm supposed to be studying for my upcoming tests or finishing my required readings. Instead, we're rushing the songs for the concert, which is stressing me out, as much as practices are damn good fun sometimes.
Something must unfortunately be sacrificed, so I can focus more on the more important things.
Moonstruck Inc. will be down until further notice.
Woohoo
Woohoo!
Happy day!
My sister Kai passed the UPCAT! It's the entrance examination for the University of the Philippines system. And she got her first choice! Los Baños campus, Food Technology. Yey proud of you Kai! I told you you have to believe in yourself more. :D
Productive morning! After the euphoria of Lei Yu last night, I woke up feeling tired, but knowing there wasn't time to waste, I set out to do my tasks. So I've roughly finished my Ridge article (never mind if I can't submit it anymore for the feb/march bumper issue though! next issue!), I've done the Noteworthy Composer file for this Chinese song for KR Choir (yey Chinese song again!) before noon, and early afternoon I was able to let Jayson do the Pin Yin of the song so I can get started singing it!
And terrrrrrific KR Bash! "Bash" refers to a clubbing session of sorts here in SG, and it was coool to have partied the night with the KR people! Korinna, Ivy, Tuk and I left NUS at around 8, but due to some mishaps, it was about 10:30 when all four of us were at Rouge at Orchard. (Chingay Parade too tonight so some roads were closed). Ivy had an interesting "Mentos" moment with her sandals, see, and had to go back somewhere, but she managed to settle things eventually, and it was back to happy clubbing.
The Rockers and the Dance groups easily put up one helluva show, and with a preview of the Pageant contestants, what more could you ask for? The music was technoish/trance, and as it was easy to get lost in a packed club, I found myself dancing with everybody! I found Korinna and Ivy with partners eventually, so good little me was dancing like crazy, hovering from one spot to another. Lemme make clear though that when I say I "danced with everybody", I don't mean I danced with everyone individually. Group dance, more like it. Although for a while the random motions of clubbing brought me quite adjacent to this girl, who seemed to be, like me, dancing with everybody too. We were almost like partners, though not quite. I didn't mind, really. For all I know the guy behind her could be her boyfriend, and I wasn't interested anyway. I was dancing around, moving wherever there was an opening in the sweaty crowd, till I finally quite stayed in one place, because the floor was virtually filled. There were these guys behind me who were dancing like crazy too, and he didn't seem to notice that in his wild dance moves, he was pushing his butt against me too many times already. But I guess that's how it goes. I didn't even seem to mind too much that my good Hush Puppies were stepped on so many times, or that the lady at the counter seemed to be deaf, consequently taking me 30 minutes at the queue to get a drink, or that the whole place reeked of smoke.
There was this guy dancing alone behind Korinna during the earlier part of the night, and man, what dance moves! The dance floor wasn't too packed yet, and he had a good stretch of floor where he showcased his moves. Cool. Someday I'll dance like that too. ;) I seriously think there's an art to clubbing, and some people just get it, and some people don't quite. I don't think I get it too much myself yet, but most definitely I like letting the music get through me, such that when I close my eyes its rhythm takes control.
Later on, a glass of beer and two vodka (with 7 up) glasses later, dancing continued, although at around 1:45am, I found that the KR crowd seemed to have turned into angmohs all! Apparently, most of the KR crowd made their way home already. Ivy and Kor, who wanted to go home earlier (Tuk had left much earlier because of her work the next day), were nowhere to be found! They had earlier asked me to leave at around 1am, but I gently offered to stay longer since it took forever to get a drink. My phone was dead, and I looked all over the place for them. No sign of them and my phone dead. I went out to look for a payphone, but I stupidly realized as I picked up the phone that I don't memorize their numbers too! So I went back, and surprise surprise, they were back on the dance floor. Of course I didn't mind dancing more, and it was great, since the DJ played some really bouncy reggae music! And there was even this song where the clubbers were to shout along in response to the music.
Apparently, Korinna's partner was enjoying himself too much, and having bought her a drink, Kor felt like she had to dance with him. It was hard to split them up at past 3am, when Ivy seemed intent on going home. I was okay with anything.
So Sundeep and Kor and Ivy and I took a cab and arrived back at KR, shortly before 4am.
I think once in a while I should go out clubbing more. It's therapy I think. Music gets me on a natural high.;)
P.S. Sorry incoherent post again. Try blogging after clubbing. Hehe.
Happy day!
My sister Kai passed the UPCAT! It's the entrance examination for the University of the Philippines system. And she got her first choice! Los Baños campus, Food Technology. Yey proud of you Kai! I told you you have to believe in yourself more. :D
Productive morning! After the euphoria of Lei Yu last night, I woke up feeling tired, but knowing there wasn't time to waste, I set out to do my tasks. So I've roughly finished my Ridge article (never mind if I can't submit it anymore for the feb/march bumper issue though! next issue!), I've done the Noteworthy Composer file for this Chinese song for KR Choir (yey Chinese song again!) before noon, and early afternoon I was able to let Jayson do the Pin Yin of the song so I can get started singing it!
And terrrrrrific KR Bash! "Bash" refers to a clubbing session of sorts here in SG, and it was coool to have partied the night with the KR people! Korinna, Ivy, Tuk and I left NUS at around 8, but due to some mishaps, it was about 10:30 when all four of us were at Rouge at Orchard. (Chingay Parade too tonight so some roads were closed). Ivy had an interesting "Mentos" moment with her sandals, see, and had to go back somewhere, but she managed to settle things eventually, and it was back to happy clubbing.
The Rockers and the Dance groups easily put up one helluva show, and with a preview of the Pageant contestants, what more could you ask for? The music was technoish/trance, and as it was easy to get lost in a packed club, I found myself dancing with everybody! I found Korinna and Ivy with partners eventually, so good little me was dancing like crazy, hovering from one spot to another. Lemme make clear though that when I say I "danced with everybody", I don't mean I danced with everyone individually. Group dance, more like it. Although for a while the random motions of clubbing brought me quite adjacent to this girl, who seemed to be, like me, dancing with everybody too. We were almost like partners, though not quite. I didn't mind, really. For all I know the guy behind her could be her boyfriend, and I wasn't interested anyway. I was dancing around, moving wherever there was an opening in the sweaty crowd, till I finally quite stayed in one place, because the floor was virtually filled. There were these guys behind me who were dancing like crazy too, and he didn't seem to notice that in his wild dance moves, he was pushing his butt against me too many times already. But I guess that's how it goes. I didn't even seem to mind too much that my good Hush Puppies were stepped on so many times, or that the lady at the counter seemed to be deaf, consequently taking me 30 minutes at the queue to get a drink, or that the whole place reeked of smoke.
There was this guy dancing alone behind Korinna during the earlier part of the night, and man, what dance moves! The dance floor wasn't too packed yet, and he had a good stretch of floor where he showcased his moves. Cool. Someday I'll dance like that too. ;) I seriously think there's an art to clubbing, and some people just get it, and some people don't quite. I don't think I get it too much myself yet, but most definitely I like letting the music get through me, such that when I close my eyes its rhythm takes control.
Later on, a glass of beer and two vodka (with 7 up) glasses later, dancing continued, although at around 1:45am, I found that the KR crowd seemed to have turned into angmohs all! Apparently, most of the KR crowd made their way home already. Ivy and Kor, who wanted to go home earlier (Tuk had left much earlier because of her work the next day), were nowhere to be found! They had earlier asked me to leave at around 1am, but I gently offered to stay longer since it took forever to get a drink. My phone was dead, and I looked all over the place for them. No sign of them and my phone dead. I went out to look for a payphone, but I stupidly realized as I picked up the phone that I don't memorize their numbers too! So I went back, and surprise surprise, they were back on the dance floor. Of course I didn't mind dancing more, and it was great, since the DJ played some really bouncy reggae music! And there was even this song where the clubbers were to shout along in response to the music.
Apparently, Korinna's partner was enjoying himself too much, and having bought her a drink, Kor felt like she had to dance with him. It was hard to split them up at past 3am, when Ivy seemed intent on going home. I was okay with anything.
So Sundeep and Kor and Ivy and I took a cab and arrived back at KR, shortly before 4am.
I think once in a while I should go out clubbing more. It's therapy I think. Music gets me on a natural high.;)
P.S. Sorry incoherent post again. Try blogging after clubbing. Hehe.
Lei Yu!
Lei Yu!
The Lei Yu (Thunderstorm) performance was splendid. Yey!
The concert opera was played to a full house, all four levels of the grand Esplanade Concert Hall. The six opera singers were terrific, and the seventh character (arguably one of the most important), the conductor Yeh Tsung was his usual smiley perfect musical self. The Singapore Chinese Orchestra was impressive, and we the choirs, led by the Shanghai chorus (a.k.a. the quintessential choir), the Victoria Chorale and us NUS Choir did quite great despite a few hiccups here and there. The lights were stunning, the highly-charged passionate music was (of course) excellent. It was a performance so stunning you almost didn't mind that it was totally in a foreign language.
Charles was right. Singing at the Esplanade Concert Hall is indeed quite an experience. And this being his sixth time singing there, he still gets excited. You could tell I was in for a blast.:D
And, after the show, we were told to go to an Artists' Party! Coooolness. I never quite considered myself an artist, and here I was rubbing shoulders with these musical geniuses, and eating these yummy yummy first-class food! I got some tasty rice with seafood, some breaded fish with tomato sauce dip, some spinach salad (spinach isn't supposed to taste good, but this was grrreat!), some mozzarella cheese, some potato salad, some sweet fruitty puff with cream, some divine layered chocolate cake, some tortilla chips with guacamole dip. And got myself some red and white wine, and sprite. Fine dining people! And I didn't even finish touring the tables! Ahh.. I could stay there forever.
And the cool thing was, we were snapping away like crazy! Kurien started it, even in the back room, when he asked the lady who played Fan Yi to pose with him. It was like two minutes before the performance, and then I told him I wanted to have a photo with her too using his camera! The bass guys were teasing us at how starstruck we were, but I still think they were just envious. Haha. And then in the afterparty, everyone wanted the stars' autographs! Or photos! Or both. Well, I got both. Hee.
Went home at past midnight, and while we waited a long time at the Fullerton for a cab, we were in such high spirits that Derence, Kurien and I were singing loudly in the taxi queue. Man, we could sometimes even hit the soprano/alto notes. Way to go basses!
What a lovely night. Will post photos after I do some required school task. ;)
Music of the moment: all two+ hours of Lei Yu
Currently feeling like an artist!
The Lei Yu (Thunderstorm) performance was splendid. Yey!
The concert opera was played to a full house, all four levels of the grand Esplanade Concert Hall. The six opera singers were terrific, and the seventh character (arguably one of the most important), the conductor Yeh Tsung was his usual smiley perfect musical self. The Singapore Chinese Orchestra was impressive, and we the choirs, led by the Shanghai chorus (a.k.a. the quintessential choir), the Victoria Chorale and us NUS Choir did quite great despite a few hiccups here and there. The lights were stunning, the highly-charged passionate music was (of course) excellent. It was a performance so stunning you almost didn't mind that it was totally in a foreign language.
Charles was right. Singing at the Esplanade Concert Hall is indeed quite an experience. And this being his sixth time singing there, he still gets excited. You could tell I was in for a blast.:D
And, after the show, we were told to go to an Artists' Party! Coooolness. I never quite considered myself an artist, and here I was rubbing shoulders with these musical geniuses, and eating these yummy yummy first-class food! I got some tasty rice with seafood, some breaded fish with tomato sauce dip, some spinach salad (spinach isn't supposed to taste good, but this was grrreat!), some mozzarella cheese, some potato salad, some sweet fruitty puff with cream, some divine layered chocolate cake, some tortilla chips with guacamole dip. And got myself some red and white wine, and sprite. Fine dining people! And I didn't even finish touring the tables! Ahh.. I could stay there forever.
And the cool thing was, we were snapping away like crazy! Kurien started it, even in the back room, when he asked the lady who played Fan Yi to pose with him. It was like two minutes before the performance, and then I told him I wanted to have a photo with her too using his camera! The bass guys were teasing us at how starstruck we were, but I still think they were just envious. Haha. And then in the afterparty, everyone wanted the stars' autographs! Or photos! Or both. Well, I got both. Hee.
Went home at past midnight, and while we waited a long time at the Fullerton for a cab, we were in such high spirits that Derence, Kurien and I were singing loudly in the taxi queue. Man, we could sometimes even hit the soprano/alto notes. Way to go basses!
What a lovely night. Will post photos after I do some required school task. ;)
Music of the moment: all two+ hours of Lei Yu
Currently feeling like an artist!
Let me just say that the Esplanade Concert Hall is simply mind-blowing. And performing in it is just.. wonderful.
Never mind if we're just singing in the background. There's this terrific cast of opera singers acting out a depressing yet powerful story of love, lust, betrayal and family, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra with their coolest instruments, Tsung Yeh the most animated, most cheerful conductor I've ever seen, and there are these professional choir singers from Shanghai, and the Victoria Chorale, two choirs with which the NUS Choir sings.
Performance is tomorrow... er, later at 7:30pm.
It's Lei Yu (Thunderstorm). I finally figured out the story fully yesterday! Coolness. Because finally, they showed subtitles on this screen in our practice at SCH! But in our dress rehearsal hours ago at the actual venue, there was no screen anymore, so it was like watching me watching Channel 8. But at least I know now what exactly is happening in the story as I watch the actors/singers go through their act.
* * *
When I arrived from the rehearsal outside at 11:45pm, I thought I had missed my KR Choir practice at 10pm, but walau, they were still practising! So I ran in the room and as expected, tenors lacked manpower again. But they/we were quite cheerful and in the mood today, so that's okay.
Missed my Ridge deadline. Too bad. Maybe next issue?
Sigh. I am so freakin' swamped these days. As my MSN nick says, "someday I'll pass out and will finally be relieved from all this stress."
Okay, time to go to bed. 8am class later.
Never mind if we're just singing in the background. There's this terrific cast of opera singers acting out a depressing yet powerful story of love, lust, betrayal and family, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra with their coolest instruments, Tsung Yeh the most animated, most cheerful conductor I've ever seen, and there are these professional choir singers from Shanghai, and the Victoria Chorale, two choirs with which the NUS Choir sings.
Performance is tomorrow... er, later at 7:30pm.
It's Lei Yu (Thunderstorm). I finally figured out the story fully yesterday! Coolness. Because finally, they showed subtitles on this screen in our practice at SCH! But in our dress rehearsal hours ago at the actual venue, there was no screen anymore, so it was like watching me watching Channel 8. But at least I know now what exactly is happening in the story as I watch the actors/singers go through their act.
* * *
When I arrived from the rehearsal outside at 11:45pm, I thought I had missed my KR Choir practice at 10pm, but walau, they were still practising! So I ran in the room and as expected, tenors lacked manpower again. But they/we were quite cheerful and in the mood today, so that's okay.
Missed my Ridge deadline. Too bad. Maybe next issue?
Sigh. I am so freakin' swamped these days. As my MSN nick says, "someday I'll pass out and will finally be relieved from all this stress."
Okay, time to go to bed. 8am class later.
Lost and Found
Lost and Found
Thanks Wayne for informing me that I my post wasn't really lost after all. I just mistakenly posted it in the NUSchika blog, simple as that. Can't you tell I'm getting more disoriented by the minute?
I've never posted in the NUSchika blog before, since I feel I don't have anything to say that would merit as chika (it's Filipino for "gossip" in the usual sense, but has come to mean any form of talk, especially of the juicy kind). And since what I talk about is me anyway, why not post in my own blog instead, right?
Besides, the NUSchika blog is more commonly used to check the updates on the blogs of Pinoys here in NUS through these site feeds from our blogs. Something like Kinja or Bloglines, if your familiar with them. So in essence, since I am a frequent blogger, I do posting of sorts too right?
OK, so here's my found lost post. Originally posted yesterday, 16/02/05, at 9:21AM.
_______________________
Not-so-hell Weeks
I never believed in ABSOLUTE hell weeks. I may be swamped, and it may take long hours mugging and banging my head on the wall before I finally catch up with my lessons, but I'm okay. I'm not miserable and on the verge of a breakdown (although passing out would be somewhat a relief of sorts). But as I've said, I'm not tortured yet, and I still find time to laugh and play and be merry and be pleasantly surprised by little things. I still think that God gives us enough happy things to keep us going.
Sometimes I think I'm a little schizo. I get terribly distraught by my burdens, but the next moment I'm okay and cheerful. Funny, some people tell me to loosen up because every time they see me I'm always stressed, and some people say I'm too cheerful every time they encounter me. I couldn't tell how I behave myself, really.
Maybe I'm just one who's more optimistic than I seem, or someone who secretly wishes goodwill to abound! But I don't care much for snobs, bleh.
* * *
Okay, so I've survived the first few days. Cheering is finally over with the IHG Closing last night, I've submitted my GEM1008 argument summary for which I've been killing thousands of brain cells by rereading the article over and over again, I've rushed up making the Noteworthy Composer music file of this nice Beatles song for Choir and conducted the tenor sectionals, I managed to survive my Genetics Lab (much credit to my partner Kathy!), and I've been to the first few practices with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, the opera singers & other choirs. And then there's Varsity Voices '05 next week!
Yey, what I like (though not immediately) about being swamped is that when the stuff's all over, I'm rewarded with a sense of accomplishment.
Now on to the Ridge article, more rehearsals with SCO for the next few days and finally the Leiyu performance at Esplanade on Friday! Then KR Bash on Saturday! Oh, I have yet to make my Power Notes for Probability class!
Needless to say, I'm gonna survive all this. Of course.
Music of the moment: The Beatles' Here There and Everywhere
Currently feeling like doing some room-cleaning.
Thanks Wayne for informing me that I my post wasn't really lost after all. I just mistakenly posted it in the NUSchika blog, simple as that. Can't you tell I'm getting more disoriented by the minute?
I've never posted in the NUSchika blog before, since I feel I don't have anything to say that would merit as chika (it's Filipino for "gossip" in the usual sense, but has come to mean any form of talk, especially of the juicy kind). And since what I talk about is me anyway, why not post in my own blog instead, right?
Besides, the NUSchika blog is more commonly used to check the updates on the blogs of Pinoys here in NUS through these site feeds from our blogs. Something like Kinja or Bloglines, if your familiar with them. So in essence, since I am a frequent blogger, I do posting of sorts too right?
OK, so here's my found lost post. Originally posted yesterday, 16/02/05, at 9:21AM.
_______________________
Not-so-hell Weeks
I never believed in ABSOLUTE hell weeks. I may be swamped, and it may take long hours mugging and banging my head on the wall before I finally catch up with my lessons, but I'm okay. I'm not miserable and on the verge of a breakdown (although passing out would be somewhat a relief of sorts). But as I've said, I'm not tortured yet, and I still find time to laugh and play and be merry and be pleasantly surprised by little things. I still think that God gives us enough happy things to keep us going.
Sometimes I think I'm a little schizo. I get terribly distraught by my burdens, but the next moment I'm okay and cheerful. Funny, some people tell me to loosen up because every time they see me I'm always stressed, and some people say I'm too cheerful every time they encounter me. I couldn't tell how I behave myself, really.
Maybe I'm just one who's more optimistic than I seem, or someone who secretly wishes goodwill to abound! But I don't care much for snobs, bleh.
* * *
Okay, so I've survived the first few days. Cheering is finally over with the IHG Closing last night, I've submitted my GEM1008 argument summary for which I've been killing thousands of brain cells by rereading the article over and over again, I've rushed up making the Noteworthy Composer music file of this nice Beatles song for Choir and conducted the tenor sectionals, I managed to survive my Genetics Lab (much credit to my partner Kathy!), and I've been to the first few practices with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, the opera singers & other choirs. And then there's Varsity Voices '05 next week!
Yey, what I like (though not immediately) about being swamped is that when the stuff's all over, I'm rewarded with a sense of accomplishment.
Now on to the Ridge article, more rehearsals with SCO for the next few days and finally the Leiyu performance at Esplanade on Friday! Then KR Bash on Saturday! Oh, I have yet to make my Power Notes for Probability class!
Needless to say, I'm gonna survive all this. Of course.
Music of the moment: The Beatles' Here There and Everywhere
Currently feeling like doing some room-cleaning.
Lost post
Lost Post
I'm sure I posted a blog entry this morning. Of considerable length too. It was marked "published" and showed up in my "Edit Posts" screen. But for some reason it's now gone!
Hmmm.. someone playing on me ah? Oh well. It was supposed to be a cheerful post too! But nah, I'm still cheerful so bleh, doesn't matter. :)
I'm sure I posted a blog entry this morning. Of considerable length too. It was marked "published" and showed up in my "Edit Posts" screen. But for some reason it's now gone!
Hmmm.. someone playing on me ah? Oh well. It was supposed to be a cheerful post too! But nah, I'm still cheerful so bleh, doesn't matter. :)
Happy Valentine's.
I love you. Really. You all know who you are. I appreciate.
Still, tasks have to be performed, schoolwork to be done, and strength must be put to the test.
Implosion begins now.
I love you. Really. You all know who you are. I appreciate.
Still, tasks have to be performed, schoolwork to be done, and strength must be put to the test.
Implosion begins now.
Send it up
Send it up
Whenever I feel sucky or exhausted or completely stumped to the point of near-resignation, I tell myself to send it up.
Like right now.
It doesn't lighten the burden, but it keeps me moving.
* * *
And oh yeah, if you have a valentine, good for you! Go forth and be merry!
For the singles, aren't we just glad we have more time to do our long overdue mugging sessions?
We all win.
* * *
Word of the day: Zeitgeist. (Scroll down a bit, see left-hand side)
Thanks Kiko for introducing me to a new level of vanity!
Music of the Moment: Vertical Horizon's Send It Up
Currently feeling exhausted, and the week hasn't even begun yet!
Whenever I feel sucky or exhausted or completely stumped to the point of near-resignation, I tell myself to send it up.
Like right now.
It doesn't lighten the burden, but it keeps me moving.
* * *
And oh yeah, if you have a valentine, good for you! Go forth and be merry!
For the singles, aren't we just glad we have more time to do our long overdue mugging sessions?
We all win.
* * *
Word of the day: Zeitgeist. (Scroll down a bit, see left-hand side)
Thanks Kiko for introducing me to a new level of vanity!
Music of the Moment: Vertical Horizon's Send It Up
Currently feeling exhausted, and the week hasn't even begun yet!
The love you give
The love you give
If you've just read the title and thought, "huh?!", lemme clarify. No I haven't suddenly found a valentine (nor I am searching for one, really), it's just one of those solemn moments when you're waiting for the bus at the bus stop after going to Church and you get all these random thoughts.
My not-so-random thought for tonight goes, the love you give is the love you receive. Yes that's a cliche (disclaimer!), and I'm pretty sure I've read or heard or seen it before but.. still. It's a simple truth really, which resembles the Golden Rule, or even the concept of Karma. You get what you give, the New Radicals sing. I speak of the (gasp) L-word now because, I dunno, I'm feeling particularly pleasant tonight? Or maybe the validity of the statement just occurred to me in my observation of things around? Or maybe I'm feeling a little more loved than I deserve to be? I'm not too sure myself. :)
But really, where did I hear that line? Too lazy to google.
I always get a good rush of thoughts every time I go to the Church at Clementi (more so if I'm alone), and tonight especially, was special as it's Ash Friday (although the Catholic Church doesn't want it called that). But it is "Ash Wednesday" on a Friday, as Wednesday was right smack on Chinese New Year, and the Church had to make that critical decision of rescheduling the Imposition of Ashes, so as not to hamper CNY celebrations of a country mostly peopled by Chinese (by race). Anyway, so Gelo, Gail, Michael, and Arthur and I attended the 7pm mass, while I alone proceeded with the Stations of the Cross afterwards.
* * *
Much to be thankful today, really. I rushed reading Pride and Prejudice yesterday (from late the previous evening to noon the next day), crammed a 800-pageword essay on poetry from the afternoon till well into the night (I struggled with trimming down the essay, until I finally gave up at around 820), woke up at 8:10am to miss 30 minutes of my Literature class, borrowed 4 RBR books from the Central Library (one after the other too) to finish up one half of the required assignment for my Evaluating Academic Arguments module. I had a tutorial, lunch with Ferron, quick cramming session again, finally my EAA class, where I narrowly escaped being asked to present the assignment (never mind if the half that I prepared for didn't come up!), and good Dr Ng Tze Beng thankfully did not ask us to present solutions for the Calculus problem set (I didn't have any due to sheer fatigue).
So there. Managed to get through the horrors of Friday, and it seemed but fitting that I ended the day on a more spiritual note by going to Church!
And here goes The Challenge of the next 40 days: NO MEAT AT ALL EVERY DAY. I thought it was only on Fridays, but Arthur seems willing to skip meat every day, so I offered to go with him. So it's gonna be fish and seafood and Yong Tau Foo and vegetarian food for us for the next month. I suddenly admire the Hindus and the Muslims for forever keeping faithful to their diet. :) Okay, so let's hope I don't fall into temptation!
* * *
Just when I thought my birthday was a thing of the past (though very recent), Korinna and Ivy and Brice and Nirorn and Navuth and Rotana treated me to triple ice cream with breakfast munchies Trix! Apparently the ice cream had been sitting pariently in the fridge, ever since I (of course with the help of the CNY holidays) foiled Kor and Ivy's birthday plans for me! I had some yummy dried mangoes, too, so it was nice. It was a surprise to me, really, this plan of theirs, as Kor ultimately led me to the rooftop under the pretense of me leading her around my block for a walk and talk. Haha. I was surprised all right, but not blown-away surprised since, well, my birthday's three days ago? Hehe. But with violent sincerity, THANKS again! Special thanks to masterminds Kor and Ivy!:D
* * *
Lots of stuff to do! And I'm blogging! Sigh. I was talking with the rest of the KR Pinoys over dinner, and seeing the rest eating chicken, launched a conversation about the sacrifices we'll do for Lent. I suggested to Robs that he quit playing NBA Live (which he once played for 16 hours in a day?) and cards (which the bridging kids + some seniors have been constantly playing, sometimes even till early morning). He thought it was unthinkable and impossible. I thought so too. ;)
But he snapped back, how about I try sacrificing blogging? Hmm.. that's a thought.
Music of the moment: New Radicals' You Get What You Give
Currently feeling unburdened.
If you've just read the title and thought, "huh?!", lemme clarify. No I haven't suddenly found a valentine (nor I am searching for one, really), it's just one of those solemn moments when you're waiting for the bus at the bus stop after going to Church and you get all these random thoughts.
My not-so-random thought for tonight goes, the love you give is the love you receive. Yes that's a cliche (disclaimer!), and I'm pretty sure I've read or heard or seen it before but.. still. It's a simple truth really, which resembles the Golden Rule, or even the concept of Karma. You get what you give, the New Radicals sing. I speak of the (gasp) L-word now because, I dunno, I'm feeling particularly pleasant tonight? Or maybe the validity of the statement just occurred to me in my observation of things around? Or maybe I'm feeling a little more loved than I deserve to be? I'm not too sure myself. :)
But really, where did I hear that line? Too lazy to google.
I always get a good rush of thoughts every time I go to the Church at Clementi (more so if I'm alone), and tonight especially, was special as it's Ash Friday (although the Catholic Church doesn't want it called that). But it is "Ash Wednesday" on a Friday, as Wednesday was right smack on Chinese New Year, and the Church had to make that critical decision of rescheduling the Imposition of Ashes, so as not to hamper CNY celebrations of a country mostly peopled by Chinese (by race). Anyway, so Gelo, Gail, Michael, and Arthur and I attended the 7pm mass, while I alone proceeded with the Stations of the Cross afterwards.
* * *
Much to be thankful today, really. I rushed reading Pride and Prejudice yesterday (from late the previous evening to noon the next day), crammed a 800-
So there. Managed to get through the horrors of Friday, and it seemed but fitting that I ended the day on a more spiritual note by going to Church!
And here goes The Challenge of the next 40 days: NO MEAT AT ALL EVERY DAY. I thought it was only on Fridays, but Arthur seems willing to skip meat every day, so I offered to go with him. So it's gonna be fish and seafood and Yong Tau Foo and vegetarian food for us for the next month. I suddenly admire the Hindus and the Muslims for forever keeping faithful to their diet. :) Okay, so let's hope I don't fall into temptation!
* * *
Just when I thought my birthday was a thing of the past (though very recent), Korinna and Ivy and Brice and Nirorn and Navuth and Rotana treated me to triple ice cream with breakfast munchies Trix! Apparently the ice cream had been sitting pariently in the fridge, ever since I (of course with the help of the CNY holidays) foiled Kor and Ivy's birthday plans for me! I had some yummy dried mangoes, too, so it was nice. It was a surprise to me, really, this plan of theirs, as Kor ultimately led me to the rooftop under the pretense of me leading her around my block for a walk and talk. Haha. I was surprised all right, but not blown-away surprised since, well, my birthday's three days ago? Hehe. But with violent sincerity, THANKS again! Special thanks to masterminds Kor and Ivy!:D
* * *
Lots of stuff to do! And I'm blogging! Sigh. I was talking with the rest of the KR Pinoys over dinner, and seeing the rest eating chicken, launched a conversation about the sacrifices we'll do for Lent. I suggested to Robs that he quit playing NBA Live (which he once played for 16 hours in a day?) and cards (which the bridging kids + some seniors have been constantly playing, sometimes even till early morning). He thought it was unthinkable and impossible. I thought so too. ;)
But he snapped back, how about I try sacrificing blogging? Hmm.. that's a thought.
Music of the moment: New Radicals' You Get What You Give
Currently feeling unburdened.
How do you measure a year?
How do you measure a year?
Yes, that Seasons of Love song is still stuck in my head.
525,600 minutes. How do you measure the life of a woman or a man?
In daylight, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee (yesss I need lots of those)? In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife? In truths that she learned? Or in times that he cried? In the bridges he burned? Or the way that she died?
Its time now to sing out, though the story never ends.
Let's celebrate, remember a year in the life of friends.
Take all of that and multiply by 19.
9,986,400 minutes and counting. Yey happy birthday!
Yes I know I should stop greeting myself since it's the day after already, so... happy Chinese New Year instead! Yey! I'm not Chinese, but I can tell it's one terrific celebration for everyone around here. Gong xi fa cai!
But really, how do you measure a lunar new year? Hmm.
* * *
Happy day yesterday (yes it's back to birthday again.. but humor me).
THANK YOU to everyone who remembered. Thanks to the wonders of telecommunication, I've been greeted by most of my loved ones! "Loved ones" sounds to mushy though, so lemme just say they're those in my Circle of Trust. Haha, that Focker movie again.
Anyway, thanks to those you greeted me through MSN, through Yahoo Messenger, through M1 and Globe, through email, through Friendster, through payphone (haha I called home for them to greet me, imagine that ;P ). And of course to those who greeted me through the card in the D-block lift, and cards of their own (woohooo I totally appreciate, Kor, Claire, Siokkah!), and to those who of course wished me well in person. :D
And to Korinna and Ivy, thanks for surprising me. Haha, I thought I foiled all your plans. Next time I'm not gonna forget to LOCK my room. They, btw, cleaned up my room! Haha, how semi-embarrassing. Hehe. And thanks for the "cake", made of cardboard and art paper on top of an aluminum-foil-wrapped metal dish! Yiheee. And of course for the Ferrero Rocher's inside.
Thanks family and friends! Thank you Lord!
* * *
So after the birthday and Chinese New Year stuff, it's back to mugging. I've got so much to do I'm practically drowning! But by hook or by crook I'm gonna finish them all! Yehey!
TV Therapy
Just watched American Idol. Ahhh.. the power of good music and great voices.
Amazing Race finale too! I was thrilled that Kris & Jon and Adam & Rebecca got into the Final Three, but I'm quite disappointed that Freddy and Kendra won. Freddy, who flared up because of some silly accident before, and Kendra, who thought that some spot in Africa was "wretched". I have nothing against models, but pleeease. And what's with the final leg in Hawaii and Chicago? I thought it was gonna get exciting and heart-stopping when they had this particularly devastating 3000-locks-to-1-key challenge in China, and then what? Skydiving in Hawaii and EATING A PIZZA in Chicago? Argh. Skydiving isn't even a competitive challenge, it's not strenuous, and once you're off the plane, you're bound to finish it in seconds. Eating a pizza? Don't get me started naming all the more brilliant final challenges of seasons past. Last season's finale with Chip & Kim, and the one with Reichen & Chip (two Chips I just realize!) were more exciting by miles. I love
But I still am totally glad that the last leg was a happy one for the runners-up. Adam and Rebecca were much more cheerful, and seemed to surprisingly get along quite well. And they weren't bitter at all! And for a formerly dating couple who's had some rocky times in episodes past, they seemed to be getting back together in this last ep. And Kris & Jon, what can I say. My models for when I need cheering up. Ahhh.. lovers in love. And can you believe the petite Kris is 30 already?! Deadringer for Britney too.
Okay. Too much time blogging. I'm gonna work my ass off tonight. Gonna finish Pride and Prejudice before sunrise! That's a promise!
[edit @7.04PM.Feb10]: Unfortunately, I finished reading the book at 2PM. Interesting story, by the way.
Yes, that Seasons of Love song is still stuck in my head.
525,600 minutes. How do you measure the life of a woman or a man?
In daylight, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee (yesss I need lots of those)? In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife? In truths that she learned? Or in times that he cried? In the bridges he burned? Or the way that she died?
Its time now to sing out, though the story never ends.
Let's celebrate, remember a year in the life of friends.
Take all of that and multiply by 19.
9,986,400 minutes and counting. Yey happy birthday!
Yes I know I should stop greeting myself since it's the day after already, so... happy Chinese New Year instead! Yey! I'm not Chinese, but I can tell it's one terrific celebration for everyone around here. Gong xi fa cai!
But really, how do you measure a lunar new year? Hmm.
* * *
Happy day yesterday (yes it's back to birthday again.. but humor me).
THANK YOU to everyone who remembered. Thanks to the wonders of telecommunication, I've been greeted by most of my loved ones! "Loved ones" sounds to mushy though, so lemme just say they're those in my Circle of Trust. Haha, that Focker movie again.
Anyway, thanks to those you greeted me through MSN, through Yahoo Messenger, through M1 and Globe, through email, through Friendster, through payphone (haha I called home for them to greet me, imagine that ;P ). And of course to those who greeted me through the card in the D-block lift, and cards of their own (woohooo I totally appreciate, Kor, Claire, Siokkah!), and to those who of course wished me well in person. :D
And to Korinna and Ivy, thanks for surprising me. Haha, I thought I foiled all your plans. Next time I'm not gonna forget to LOCK my room. They, btw, cleaned up my room! Haha, how semi-embarrassing. Hehe. And thanks for the "cake", made of cardboard and art paper on top of an aluminum-foil-wrapped metal dish! Yiheee. And of course for the Ferrero Rocher's inside.
Thanks family and friends! Thank you Lord!
* * *
So after the birthday and Chinese New Year stuff, it's back to mugging. I've got so much to do I'm practically drowning! But by hook or by crook I'm gonna finish them all! Yehey!
TV Therapy
Just watched American Idol. Ahhh.. the power of good music and great voices.
Amazing Race finale too! I was thrilled that Kris & Jon and Adam & Rebecca got into the Final Three, but I'm quite disappointed that Freddy and Kendra won. Freddy, who flared up because of some silly accident before, and Kendra, who thought that some spot in Africa was "wretched". I have nothing against models, but pleeease. And what's with the final leg in Hawaii and Chicago? I thought it was gonna get exciting and heart-stopping when they had this particularly devastating 3000-locks-to-1-key challenge in China, and then what? Skydiving in Hawaii and EATING A PIZZA in Chicago? Argh. Skydiving isn't even a competitive challenge, it's not strenuous, and once you're off the plane, you're bound to finish it in seconds. Eating a pizza? Don't get me started naming all the more brilliant final challenges of seasons past. Last season's finale with Chip & Kim, and the one with Reichen & Chip (two Chips I just realize!) were more exciting by miles. I love
But I still am totally glad that the last leg was a happy one for the runners-up. Adam and Rebecca were much more cheerful, and seemed to surprisingly get along quite well. And they weren't bitter at all! And for a formerly dating couple who's had some rocky times in episodes past, they seemed to be getting back together in this last ep. And Kris & Jon, what can I say. My models for when I need cheering up. Ahhh.. lovers in love. And can you believe the petite Kris is 30 already?! Deadringer for Britney too.
Okay. Too much time blogging. I'm gonna work my ass off tonight. Gonna finish Pride and Prejudice before sunrise! That's a promise!
[edit @7.04PM.Feb10]: Unfortunately, I finished reading the book at 2PM. Interesting story, by the way.
Nineteen trips 'round the sun
Nineteen trips 'round the sun
Nineteen finally. Yey! Cool, I had a terrific birthday surprise! The twist is that I wasn't the object of surprise, but I surprised Korinna and Ivy by spoiling their birthday plans for me! Wahahaha.
February 7 has been a long day, which started off with me going to Clementi to look for butterscotch or brownies or any sumptuous bite-sized piece of chocolatey pastry, me finally getting an assortment of small yummy yummy cakes from Prima Deli, me coming late for Probability lecture at noon, braving through the Probability tutorial without even having printed the problem set, sitting through Calculus class, and exercising vocal chords with NUS Choir till almost 10pm.
Guess what I learned? I thought finding Sens as a birthday-mate was a big coincidence enough, but as it turns out, I have 2 other birthday-mates all in the same hall block! Cooooooool. So that's FOUR of us February 8 babies in D block alone. And to think I rarely found a birthday-mate in the Philippines. =P
So I was room-hopping and cake-distributing from midnight. Haha. Quite fun and happy and yehey. Maybe tomorrow (or later) I'll reflect more on what it really means to have travelled 'round the sun 19 times over, but for now I'll get some shut-eye first so I can catch the 6.45 morning mass at Clementi.
Yey, thank you Lord for another year! And good job, Joseph, in keeping yourself together. ;) Will call home tomorrow morning!
Music of the moment: Stevie Wonder's Seasons of Love
Currently feeling thankful.
Nineteen finally. Yey! Cool, I had a terrific birthday surprise! The twist is that I wasn't the object of surprise, but I surprised Korinna and Ivy by spoiling their birthday plans for me! Wahahaha.
February 7 has been a long day, which started off with me going to Clementi to look for butterscotch or brownies or any sumptuous bite-sized piece of chocolatey pastry, me finally getting an assortment of small yummy yummy cakes from Prima Deli, me coming late for Probability lecture at noon, braving through the Probability tutorial without even having printed the problem set, sitting through Calculus class, and exercising vocal chords with NUS Choir till almost 10pm.
Guess what I learned? I thought finding Sens as a birthday-mate was a big coincidence enough, but as it turns out, I have 2 other birthday-mates all in the same hall block! Cooooooool. So that's FOUR of us February 8 babies in D block alone. And to think I rarely found a birthday-mate in the Philippines. =P
So I was room-hopping and cake-distributing from midnight. Haha. Quite fun and happy and yehey. Maybe tomorrow (or later) I'll reflect more on what it really means to have travelled 'round the sun 19 times over, but for now I'll get some shut-eye first so I can catch the 6.45 morning mass at Clementi.
Yey, thank you Lord for another year! And good job, Joseph, in keeping yourself together. ;) Will call home tomorrow morning!
Music of the moment: Stevie Wonder's Seasons of Love
Currently feeling thankful.
Fast enough so we can fly away
Fast enough so we can fly away
How fast is fast?
I know Konica Minolta has no freakin' idea what fast is, based on their handling my camera. So I turned in the camera for repair in December, was promised it would be finished by early January, and now, one week into February, the blasted camera's not yet fixed! That response I got, btw, from this lady who took her sweet time doing stuff before finally attending to me. Ugh. I am so irked. For a while there, I suspected they never ever touched the camera until I arrived to claim it. And now they say it will be done in a week or two weeks? Finally you guys rush it because I arrived in your office and showed you my irritation.
I wouldn't be annoyed really, if I don't have an event on the 8th and 18th really. Unfortunately, to my great disappointment, having it fixed by the 8th is impossible, so you guys better fix it by the 18th lest you taste my fury. I'm mad at myself enough for paying a fortune to have it fixed you know, so sourcing for anger is no problem at all.
ANYWAY, nuff of that. I thought I had forgiven them already yesterday, as right after my trip to Funan IT Mall, I walked around the strip of malls that is Raffles City, City Link, and Suntec City. It's sale galore, see, since Chinese New Year (or more accurately, Lunar NY) is on Wednesday. Robinson's even claims their sale is The Sale Worth Waiting For. So I was shop-hopping and searching for good finds all afternoon. I was about to give up, when I saw this U2 sale at Suntec! In the end I got a red U2 sweatshirt (a steal at $19 from $39) and greyish pair of pants/jeans that looks formal but not quite and looks casual but not quite (another steal at $29 from $49!), and Hush Puppies socks. Yey! Ahhh.. what they all say about this retail therapy is true indeed. ;)
* * *
Is 1 page/minute fast enough? I asked Gail on the way to Church this morning. Apparently not. I've been reading Pride and Prejudice forever for my Lit module, and with little success. I am such a slow reader. I aimed for 1 page/min last night, but I couldn't make it! Argh. I get so easily distracted. That, and the fact that I read thoroughly, going back to previous pages for reference, and that other little fact that 19th century dialogue is quite difficult to comprehend! Gelo says 1 minute/page is freakin' slow. He says that if I employed speed reading, I would've finished the 388 page book in two hours or so? Walau.
* * *
I know what's fast though. Time. (No this is not about to get profound haha) I hardly realized, but IHG is almost over, and that means the end of cheering days! Yey, I can finally save my voice for the coming concerts. And It's almost midterm time too! Can't believe a good chunk of the sem has been spent already! And of course, I didn't quite expect the past year to go by so quickly! Goodbye 18.
Okay, hafta go now. I have a date with Jane Austen. =P
Music of the Moment: Tracy Chapman's Fast Car
Currently feeling bookwormish.
How fast is fast?
I know Konica Minolta has no freakin' idea what fast is, based on their handling my camera. So I turned in the camera for repair in December, was promised it would be finished by early January, and now, one week into February, the blasted camera's not yet fixed! That response I got, btw, from this lady who took her sweet time doing stuff before finally attending to me. Ugh. I am so irked. For a while there, I suspected they never ever touched the camera until I arrived to claim it. And now they say it will be done in a week or two weeks? Finally you guys rush it because I arrived in your office and showed you my irritation.
I wouldn't be annoyed really, if I don't have an event on the 8th and 18th really. Unfortunately, to my great disappointment, having it fixed by the 8th is impossible, so you guys better fix it by the 18th lest you taste my fury. I'm mad at myself enough for paying a fortune to have it fixed you know, so sourcing for anger is no problem at all.
ANYWAY, nuff of that. I thought I had forgiven them already yesterday, as right after my trip to Funan IT Mall, I walked around the strip of malls that is Raffles City, City Link, and Suntec City. It's sale galore, see, since Chinese New Year (or more accurately, Lunar NY) is on Wednesday. Robinson's even claims their sale is The Sale Worth Waiting For. So I was shop-hopping and searching for good finds all afternoon. I was about to give up, when I saw this U2 sale at Suntec! In the end I got a red U2 sweatshirt (a steal at $19 from $39) and greyish pair of pants/jeans that looks formal but not quite and looks casual but not quite (another steal at $29 from $49!), and Hush Puppies socks. Yey! Ahhh.. what they all say about this retail therapy is true indeed. ;)
* * *
Is 1 page/minute fast enough? I asked Gail on the way to Church this morning. Apparently not. I've been reading Pride and Prejudice forever for my Lit module, and with little success. I am such a slow reader. I aimed for 1 page/min last night, but I couldn't make it! Argh. I get so easily distracted. That, and the fact that I read thoroughly, going back to previous pages for reference, and that other little fact that 19th century dialogue is quite difficult to comprehend! Gelo says 1 minute/page is freakin' slow. He says that if I employed speed reading, I would've finished the 388 page book in two hours or so? Walau.
* * *
I know what's fast though. Time. (No this is not about to get profound haha) I hardly realized, but IHG is almost over, and that means the end of cheering days! Yey, I can finally save my voice for the coming concerts. And It's almost midterm time too! Can't believe a good chunk of the sem has been spent already! And of course, I didn't quite expect the past year to go by so quickly! Goodbye 18.
Okay, hafta go now. I have a date with Jane Austen. =P
Music of the Moment: Tracy Chapman's Fast Car
Currently feeling bookwormish.
Midnight ramblings
Midnight ramblings
Sometimes I wonder why on earth I chose this kind of life. This kind of life in the university, I mean. (Haha, I'd like to think I'm still happy in all other aspects) My God, lately I've been feeling totally swamped and near burnout point. Sometimes I ask if I'm just too lazy, or if I've accepted too many chores (Choir 1, Choir 2, Cheer Comm, Int'l Relations Comm, the Ridge, Molecular Genetics with Life Science majors, ST2131:Probability to crack my head up, and EN1101E:Intro to Literary Studies, which although fun, is killing me with the readings), or if I just don't properly juggle my stuff, or if I'm having more than my fair share of sociability (not that I have a hyper social life too) that I neglect my studies.
I remember Dr Miranda's speech during the Graduation of Batch '02 (one year ahead of me) in my high school, Phil. Science HS. He said that we can forget everything he said, except the one part he was to say next (which if I'm not mistaken, he quoted from someone else too.. probably the speaker on his own graduation?). Three things in college, he says: (1) High Grades, (2) A Terrific Social Life (3) Lots of Sleep. The reality of it is that one can only get TWO of those three. And it rings true, if you do all the possible combinations (reminds me to study for Probabality).
Funny, I don't have uber high grades (quite decent may be the right term), my social life is so-so, although (I think) I'm more outgoing than the normal person, and walau, yessss, I lack sleep. Maybe I'm being too flexible I'm spreading myself too thinly, that I don't even excel in any one aspect. Maybe I should stop being a chameleon, and finally go figure myself out. (One of my favorite X-men characters was Morph, too, btw, with Cyclops beating him by just a few points)
I can sense I'm not going anywhere, but that's just my tired mind speaking aloud. I skipped my Calculus class the other day because I overslept, had back-to-back Choir practices till almost 1am, the next day Friday had to cram my paper, didn't have time to do tutorials, went on a semi-futile trip to Clementi, and just now came from 4+ hours cheering for KR's Netball and Sepak Takraw teams. And for the weekend, I have to do lotsa stuff! I shall not say them all lest I burden you with my woes. ;)
But I'm not too miserable, really. In fact, I'm not miserable at all. I'm exhausted and sleepy and spent, but more than anything, I'm thankful to have survived the past week. Thanks Lord, for giving me enough laughter and happy little things to keep me afloat.
Music of the moment: NUS Choir's The Continental
Currently feeling reflective.
Sometimes I wonder why on earth I chose this kind of life. This kind of life in the university, I mean. (Haha, I'd like to think I'm still happy in all other aspects) My God, lately I've been feeling totally swamped and near burnout point. Sometimes I ask if I'm just too lazy, or if I've accepted too many chores (Choir 1, Choir 2, Cheer Comm, Int'l Relations Comm, the Ridge, Molecular Genetics with Life Science majors, ST2131:Probability to crack my head up, and EN1101E:Intro to Literary Studies, which although fun, is killing me with the readings), or if I just don't properly juggle my stuff, or if I'm having more than my fair share of sociability (not that I have a hyper social life too) that I neglect my studies.
I remember Dr Miranda's speech during the Graduation of Batch '02 (one year ahead of me) in my high school, Phil. Science HS. He said that we can forget everything he said, except the one part he was to say next (which if I'm not mistaken, he quoted from someone else too.. probably the speaker on his own graduation?). Three things in college, he says: (1) High Grades, (2) A Terrific Social Life (3) Lots of Sleep. The reality of it is that one can only get TWO of those three. And it rings true, if you do all the possible combinations (reminds me to study for Probabality).
Funny, I don't have uber high grades (quite decent may be the right term), my social life is so-so, although (I think) I'm more outgoing than the normal person, and walau, yessss, I lack sleep. Maybe I'm being too flexible I'm spreading myself too thin
I can sense I'm not going anywhere, but that's just my tired mind speaking aloud. I skipped my Calculus class the other day because I overslept, had back-to-back Choir practices till almost 1am, the next day Friday had to cram my paper, didn't have time to do tutorials, went on a semi-futile trip to Clementi, and just now came from 4+ hours cheering for KR's Netball and Sepak Takraw teams. And for the weekend, I have to do lotsa stuff! I shall not say them all lest I burden you with my woes. ;)
But I'm not too miserable, really. In fact, I'm not miserable at all. I'm exhausted and sleepy and spent, but more than anything, I'm thankful to have survived the past week. Thanks Lord, for giving me enough laughter and happy little things to keep me afloat.
Music of the moment: NUS Choir's The Continental
Currently feeling reflective.
Februaries
Februaries
I like Februaries. They're special months. They bear this humble distinction from the rest (and it's not just about the number of days), and this aura of warmth and breeziness. It's almost like December, actually, except for that little fact that people tend to be partial to their birthday months. =P
We just had a terrrrrific KR Choir supper! Now I'm beat, filled to bursting (we played this number guessing game where the one who unfortunately gets it right has to eat the rest of an unfinished dish. I got "lucky" thrice, Sisca of Altos 4 times I think haha), and totally spent. Thanks tenors for turning up for the cooking of the chicken wings and the preparation of the mango ice tea! Yey, we totally unskilled cooks managed to produce decent, edible stuff! Woohooo.
My God, those fried chicken wings stressed me out! Up until last Saturday, no final plans were made yet. Nobody could cook, and good little SL Joseph had to take it into his hands lest them tenors came up empty-handed among the supper-loving choristers who had their dishes all planned.
So I woke up at 7am, had an early breakfast, had a quick nap, rushed to PGP at 9:30am to get some condiments from good ol' Karen, went back to hall, took a bus to Ginza Plaza, returned to hall at 11:30am. Then it was on to chickenwork! Forced chickens to thaw, sliced lemons and onions and garlic, mixed in soy sauce and pepper, and soaked all 2.5 kg of chicken wings. I was more of bathing the chickens actually, one at a time. I finished at 15 past noon, ran to my room to cram my GEM1008 argument-diagramming essay, finished at 12:45pm, and rushed to my 1pm class grabbing a ham and cheese croissant along the way (yum yum). Had an interesting class as usual, went back to hall, did some laundry, and took an hour-and-a-half nap. Woke up at 6pm, just in time to go up to the KR multi-purpose hall to cheer for KR in the Badminton Semis versus IHG champs Temasek. I finished the girls' matches, tapau-ed my dinner, and rushed to the kitchen, where it was cooking till 10pm. And then glorious supper! And then less-than-glorious but quite okay cleanup! And then I'm here again, blogging.
Yey. Talk about a happily productive day.
Choir VP Kenneth told us that one of the reasons we held the supper is that it's gonna be a crazy month ahead, and we needed to enjoy ourselves before the wild days come. Hah, as if preparing the supper wasn't stressful enough! ;)
But really, February is jampacked with events. Aside from the onset of deadlines of papers and assignments, there's my birthday, Chinese New Year, V-day (this isn't stressful actually since there's virtually nothing to do for me), the Esplanade Lei Yu performance, the Varsity Voices Concert, on top of almost-daily cheering chores for KR. And oh yeah, I just got a tickets to the KR bash! Clubbing finally!
I hope today's an indication of what's to come for the month. Stressful and jampacked, yes, but at the end of the day, it feels damn goooood.
Music of the moment: Safri Duo's Baya Baya
Currently feeling accomplished.
I like Februaries. They're special months. They bear this humble distinction from the rest (and it's not just about the number of days), and this aura of warmth and breeziness. It's almost like December, actually, except for that little fact that people tend to be partial to their birthday months. =P
We just had a terrrrrific KR Choir supper! Now I'm beat, filled to bursting (we played this number guessing game where the one who unfortunately gets it right has to eat the rest of an unfinished dish. I got "lucky" thrice, Sisca of Altos 4 times I think haha), and totally spent. Thanks tenors for turning up for the cooking of the chicken wings and the preparation of the mango ice tea! Yey, we totally unskilled cooks managed to produce decent, edible stuff! Woohooo.
My God, those fried chicken wings stressed me out! Up until last Saturday, no final plans were made yet. Nobody could cook, and good little SL Joseph had to take it into his hands lest them tenors came up empty-handed among the supper-loving choristers who had their dishes all planned.
So I woke up at 7am, had an early breakfast, had a quick nap, rushed to PGP at 9:30am to get some condiments from good ol' Karen, went back to hall, took a bus to Ginza Plaza, returned to hall at 11:30am. Then it was on to chickenwork! Forced chickens to thaw, sliced lemons and onions and garlic, mixed in soy sauce and pepper, and soaked all 2.5 kg of chicken wings. I was more of bathing the chickens actually, one at a time. I finished at 15 past noon, ran to my room to cram my GEM1008 argument-diagramming essay, finished at 12:45pm, and rushed to my 1pm class grabbing a ham and cheese croissant along the way (yum yum). Had an interesting class as usual, went back to hall, did some laundry, and took an hour-and-a-half nap. Woke up at 6pm, just in time to go up to the KR multi-purpose hall to cheer for KR in the Badminton Semis versus IHG champs Temasek. I finished the girls' matches, tapau-ed my dinner, and rushed to the kitchen, where it was cooking till 10pm. And then glorious supper! And then less-than-glorious but quite okay cleanup! And then I'm here again, blogging.
Yey. Talk about a happily productive day.
Choir VP Kenneth told us that one of the reasons we held the supper is that it's gonna be a crazy month ahead, and we needed to enjoy ourselves before the wild days come. Hah, as if preparing the supper wasn't stressful enough! ;)
But really, February is jampacked with events. Aside from the onset of deadlines of papers and assignments, there's my birthday, Chinese New Year, V-day (this isn't stressful actually since there's virtually nothing to do for me), the Esplanade Lei Yu performance, the Varsity Voices Concert, on top of almost-daily cheering chores for KR. And oh yeah, I just got a tickets to the KR bash! Clubbing finally!
I hope today's an indication of what's to come for the month. Stressful and jampacked, yes, but at the end of the day, it feels damn goooood.
Music of the moment: Safri Duo's Baya Baya
Currently feeling accomplished.
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!
