Friday, April 29, 2011

The Time Of My Life

I haven't posted anything here in more than 2 weeks so I thought I'd stop by.

The start of internship; this two weeks have been nothing short of fun, fun, and well, more fun!

23rd April was my first ever clubbing experience and what made it so awesome was that it was a K-Pop with none other than Brazil's DJ Masa! Whenever popular tunes the whole club immediately becomes a flash mob hahaha too hilarious! That aside though, Rach, Keith and I had meet and greet tix to meet the man himself. We took pics and talked to him. He was so nice! Had a great night in all thought I wished he had played more current songs hahahaha I'm a K-Pop noob.



Really nice photo but stupid camera couldn't focus :(



Fuck my life, seriously. Lol.


Happy fangirls!!

Caught a night film, Norwegian Wood on the following Monday with Rach and Keith as if we had no work the next day. All I can say about the movie is...Idk, man. LOL I guess I just can't appreciate artsy or poetic movies. I'd stick to my chick flicks, comedies and action movies heh.

The past two days have been really long with late nights because I had lobangs for a couple of events. The first one was a street art event called Face Off where two teams would compete with each other to draw anything of their choice and the winner will be the artwork which gets the most votes. I was there to sell overpriced drinks lol. It was a pretty good experience, though! The final artwork make me feel like drawing heh. Oh and there were free drinks for me ;D

Huge diamond ring. Lol it's ice btw.


The finalised artwork! I personally prefer the second one. Love the use of curves. And it feels dark, and I feel like I can relate to it better. :O


The DJ there was Korean! He was spinning some nice tunes and he was really cool with the turntable!

The next event was the DBS Black Top Party for the black cardholders. Thanks to Stef for bringing Jon and I there! We were there to work and help out but we had lots of fun no doubt! I love working for events because it gives me an opportunity to speak to many people and I love it when people are really happy when I go the extra mile for them. Hehe.


It was at a really cool rooftop bar but the reception was at the loading/unloading bay so that's were Stef and I hung out for like 2+ hours? Excitingly warm. Oh and one of the guys brought down Whiskey Dry so we were like drinking in the carpark. How suitable huh.

Yup anyway there's gonna be another one of this party in June again I don't mind helping again. The next venue is a bigger area hehe and free drinks, why not?! Hahahaha.

End of 2 weeks of internship! 22 more weeks! Fighting!!!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Looking Back I See It All

I realised that I am one day late for this post but heck. I've been so busy PWI-ing recently that I haven't been taking time off to update this space.

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Three years ago, 12th April 2008. That was one of the most memorable days in my life.



Though this wasn't exactly a package that could live up to the show in 2006, I must admit it still gave me goosebumps will watching it. Those goosebumps must have came from our execution of our drills, music and gimmicks. Seeing the outcome of our few months of hard work or memorising our steps, music and making sure we do everything with precision makes me feel really proud of myself because I knew that I gave it my best and it was my best (I didn't make any mistakes hehe). And I guess our 2008 French Horns can pride themselves in successfully pulling off what I could call the most difficult repertoire as it had really high notes here and there and we managed to play it so awesomely. I mean like, hello, who plays high B-flat during outdoor performances??

I was really proud of my juniors. I felt so proud of them that they put in their best, and put up a spectacular performance even though there were screw ups. You can't fathom how much I love them, seriously.

So when the results came, TK was announced to have got a Gold With Honours. But when Deyi got it too, my heart totally just sank. I knew something bad was coming. I was prepared for what was coming next, but I totally could not control my emotions and tears when the emcee said, "And the Best Display Band award goes to....Deyi Secondary School!"

I don't think I had cried so much before. Seeing my juniors and batchmates crying around me made me cry even more. I was crying because of the hopes that we had pinned on that title which had accompanied us through 10 years. I was crying because it just disappeared like that. I wasn't crying, though, because of disappointment. There was nothing to be disappointed about, for we had done our best. It just wasn't enough.

But looking back, my stint in TK Band was definitely the most memorable in 2008. It was also the most agonizing year. But we had our fair share of fun. Being in TK Band is an experience that can never be surpassed or replaced. It was the place where I spent the best four years of my life, and I never regretted going to a school whose cut-off point was 14 points below my PSLE score just because I wanted to join the band. (I saw them in 2002's SYF and since then I've set TK as my ideal secondary school) Who knew that 4 years, and 6 years later, I would be part of the show in the band that I had watched when I was Pri 4 at the National Stadium?

Mr Azlan once told us, "No Regrets", and that has been my motto for everything that I do ever since. Those two words led me through the whole of my band life in TK and even till now, before every competition, I still tell these two words to my juniors. Cliche as it may seem, the title really is not everything. The saying that "the process is the most important" is so true, at least to me. I will never ever forget the scoldings from my seniors, me scolding my juniors, all of us having fun marching on the field and playing music together, getting punished together, all the motivational talks and lastly, but definitely not the least, the band spirit.

Alas, changes do happen and the culture of TK Band now and then is totally different. I miss the old TK Band.

To the juniors who took part in the recent SYF, don't let a Silver put you down. Learn from this. Lose the ego and arrogance and learn how to lose. Never over-estimate yourself because you will only seem like a douche to others. Only then, can you taste victory.

One Band One Sound. Anoneh Pakukeh.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

30 Random Facts About Me

I know I was supposed to sleep early today, but I'm waiting for my hair to dry and I'm so bored so I thought I'd do this. Yup, 30 random facts about me.

01) I live for three things -- my loved ones, food and music.
02) I am awkward when it comes to expressing myself through words, so I prefer to use actions. For example, I have difficulty saying the words 'I love you' sincerely to anyone (aka, I am unable to say mushy things)
03) I have had so many near-death experiences that I am really not scared of death anymore, which is why I am willing to put my life on the line for my loved ones.
04) I tend to think a lot more than necessary when I'm alone.
05) If I had known about Singapore Polytechnic's Music Technology course thingy I wouldn't be in CMM now.
06) I can cook and do housework well but I'm always so lazy to do any of those.
07) I am no social butterfly but I really love company. I hate to miss outings or gatherings.
08) I am not afraid of pain and blood but I freak at the sight of needles.
09) I once had a cockroach on my shoulder and I did not panic. Unbelievable.
10) Nothing makes me smile more than children :)
11) I've always did mediocre in school but always had one of the best aggregate points in whatever school I was posted to next.
12) I absolutely hate theory.
13) I trust people too easily, which is why I got 'betrayed' quite a number of times. All these incidents have minimized the number of people who I 'tell stuff to'.
14) I hate feeling left out.
15) I love to doodle. I used to be really good in art until technology took over my life.
16) I actually like dancing a lot. I choreograph my own dances to my favourite songs at home, all the time.
17) I have anger management issues. I usually let out my anger by punching stuff. And usually, they are hard solid surfaces like the wall. Ouch.
18) Nothing irks me more than arrogant people who think they own the world.
19) I can play many instruments but I'm not awesome in any of them.
20) I started playing the piano at the age of 5. It's been more than 10 years and I still suck at it.
21) I can only study at night. Unfortunately, it is the time of the day which has the most distractions.
22) I am fit but my immune system sucks.
23) My memory is failing me.
24) If you had a tour in my brain, you'd see me in a very different light.
25) My actions are childish but my thinking is not (unless my emotions get the better of me).
26) I love intellectual and mystery games, like Cluedo.
27) I love taking care of people, and being taken care of.
28) I lack patience.
29) I pick up skills really fast but I forget them fast as well.
30) I love sports, and anything rough ;) HAHA

Yup, that's that. Maybe you learnt something new about me, maybe you didn't. I can't believe you just spent these couple of minutes looking through these lame facts.

Goodnight! :D

Pessimistic

Okay so I'm gonna spend my 300th post ranting that I am really scared that my current condition will get worse because I've already had a sore throat for close to a week and it is getting worse.

Started out as a normal sore throat that I always get then suddenly on Day 4 I started losing my voice (which is hella scary since the day before, which was April Fool's, I tricked a few people that I lost my voice). Right now as I'm typing this I still have that 5% of voice left with a very painful throat. What is making things worse is my right ear. From yesterday it felt like there's something stuck inside and it was really uncomfortable but now it just hurts like mad. Mum said it is probably throat infection since the throat is linked the ear ugh. Omgosh what if I have to go through some operation or worse, if I lose my singing voice ahhhhh omg *touchwood*

I don't even wanna talk right now, let alone sing and it is getting really unbearable. Gonna have an early night today and wake up at 8am to go to the docs. Sucks that I have to go to school for SIP briefing tomorrow too. Take care guys. Ugh this is NOT FUN AT ALL.

Reminiscence (and a bit of the present)

So, I went back to TK with Vinnie and Brian after about 8 months of not going back. Honestly I was great to be back, but it was obvious that there were so many changes in TK Band, whether it was the people, management system, etc: basically just the overall feel. Somehow it felt kind of familiar yet distant.

So, my section (French Horn) all along, prides itself as one of the best sections in the band, whether it is in terms of music or drills. I remember our seniors always pushing us and me pushing my juniors too, so they will always be up there. Somehow, it was the batch two years older than mine who pushed us and it was the batch two years younger than me who I put all my energy on.

Even though my seniors were strict, I never did dislike them. They did not instill fear in me, but they gained my respect. In fact, I looked up to them so much that even when I got scolded, I'd really reflect on what I had done wrong, and worked even harder to prove to them that I can do it, so that they can't find a reason to reprimand me. They were like my parents and I was an like an innocent child who knew nuts about outdoor bands (except that it was pretty darn cool).

During Sec 3, we had to fill the spaces that the Sec 4s left behind because they were busy studying for their O's and always having remedial lessons and what not, so naturally, we had to take the lead. The Sec 1s then became our first priority because we knew that they had to get the basics right from the beginning. And they became just like our children, who we groomed, who we scolded if they made a mistake, who we praised if they did well, who we looked out for, who I loved so much.

All of us immediately became closer in 2008 when the band got to go to KL together and the section stuck together for the four days like super glue. Spending the days practicing and spending the nights in each others' rooms just chilling, playing games, and talking about anything. I really felt like a parent who took care of her children (I even packed up Vinnie and Wenhui's room and washed all their used utensils because I couldn't stand the messiness LOL). That trip was definitely the highlight of 2008. Oh gosh, the things I would do to go through it again..

When my 'child batch' became Sec 4, it was heartening to see how much they've grown. Musically, and also mentally. Really, nothing beats seeing your hard work become your pride. They were just like a reflection of myself. Seriously, it feels so awesome.

Anyway, going back with my children today made my heart break when the band instructor scolded the French Horns. I swear, it was my first time hearing our section get shouted at. I was angry that it happened, not at the juniors though, but at the instructor. He shouted at them in front of other bands. What were you trying to do? You just busted their morale 8 days before their SYF. Good on you, dude who is wanting to desperately to get Gold With Honours. If you want them to improve so that you can get your award, teach them properly, and learn how to control your temper as well. Hopefully they weren't too discouraged. A text from one of them made my heart sink really deep.

Keep your chin up, guys. I've got faith in all seven of you.