我的幸运

Just got back from Taiwan for like the fifth time in my life and I don't think I have enjoyed this country so much before. Unlike the last few times that I went with my family with a tour group, I went with my juniors.

I'm actually a person who feels very disoriented if there isn't a plan, or if things don't go according to plan. I guess the heavens kinda knew because on our first day there, our train to Ruifang (we were going to Jiufen) ceased operation because of a thunderstorm and flood along the route. We ended up on the wrong train with a bunch of foreigners who were as clueless as us. Needless to say, I was feeling pretty helpless but I was the oldest outta my bunch and was the most fluent in Mandarin so I had to get my shit together, and I also tried to help the two Koreans and one Canadian who were stranded as much as I could.

I think herein lies the charm of vacationing with friends and having things go wrong and you having to solve problems yourselves. It was great because we were all in it together - taking care of each other etc. I went there with the mindset of 'okay I'm the eldest so these kids are my responsibility', but it turned out that we needed each other equally. Without Rashidah getting up in the morning first I wouldn't have woken up for any breakfasts. Without Wenhui I would never have thought I'd be hiking and surfing there. Without Vinnie's persistent coaxing I wouldn't have agreed to rent an electric bike for us to ride (me as pillion) and feel the wind in our faces and get over my mild phobia of two-wheeled vehicles.

I was pretty boss in Taipei though lol I think I could be a tour guide there.

Currently I'm missing Taiwan more than I thought I would. Not sure if it's the nice night skies at the countryside, the food, the super nice people, the awesome pink guava juice atop Jiufen Old Street, the youthfulness and vibrancy of Ximending at night or just everything in general, but I just really miss it okay. Taiwan, I'll see you again sooner than you think. xx

Gratitude

Wow, I really haven't been here for a such a long time. This space is for things close to my heart, and this post won't be any different, albeit more sombre than usual.

Today, I got to be photographer for an event organised by my alma mater, TK Band - the Irene Joseph Memorial. She was the founder of TK Band.

This tribute video was done by my talented senior, Sijia. Obviously my emotional self cried when it was screened at the event. But a photographer's gotta do what a photographer's gotta do. So I hid my face behind my camera and scanned for faces in the audience to shoot anyway.

It's amazing how through the lenses, I was able to see a myriad of emotions that I may or may not have been able to capture properly, but the one thing that everyone had in common was gratitude.

It's not easy to say goodbye, and it is even more difficult when it is someone who has touched so many lives.

I never had the pleasure of being taught by her, but I have heard nothing but nice things about Miss Joseph. It is amazing to think about how this strong woman managed to form a band from students who didn't have any experience, to slowly progress and eventually win the Mace of Honor, to what TK Band is today. She devoted such a huge part of her life to nurturing students and making music, it's incredible.

Prior to typing this, I spent a night and a day with people who I would never have met if Miss Joseph never did what she did.

Without Miss Joseph, 

I wouldn't have met these amazing people.

I wouldn't have known how it's like for so many people to come together and work hard for one goal.

I wouldn't have been able to taste success.

I wouldn't have been able to grow stronger from defeat.

I wouldn't have had the honour to be a part of this legacy you left behind.

I wouldn't be who I am today.

Fate is indeed a funny thing. It's funny because you'd never think that a person who you have never talked to before could have such an impact on your life indirectly. 

Thank you, Miss Joseph, for being such an inspiration to so many of us, and I hope the music that you love follows you wherever you go. 

Crash

So I went for TK Band In-Concert 2013 and honestly I don't have anything much to say about it, lol (good or not-so-good, go figure). To cut it short, the best part was getting to meet my juniors and hanging out with them. Oh, I was really impressed with Shawn, the pianist, during the concerto. Work 'em fingers!

Love this pic.

Dinner was at Olive Vine @ Marina Square. The food there was pretty awesome and not too costly (and no service charge!!) so I'd definitely recommend it!

If there are five things I learnt today, they are:

1) Having a good reputation doesn't mean quality all the time.
2) Never do things without thinking of the consequences.
3) Secondary school students have no concert etiquette. AT ALL.
4) Brian tells super long stories.
5) I'm always hungry.

In other news, Dinoseoul is giving out four copies of Jaejoong's 'I' mini album! Read the post here for more details and get crackin' if you want in on the draw!

Ode to Joy

7th April marked the day of the biennial SYF Competition of Marching and Display Bands. As with any other first Saturday of April of every even-numbered year, I woke up early and braced myself for a long but fulfilling day ahead.

I met Ian and Chin Kiat for breakfast before heading to TK but I probably should just fast-forward to the performances.

While the bands performance we made comments among ourselves but honestly most of the performances looked pretty much the same to me since everyone was using the DCI marching style which is something foreign to me. The only factors that differentiated the bands from each other were precision, dressing, prop usage, music and entertainment value. Okay that's a lot of factors. Hahaha.

Anyway, TK was the 7th band to perform and like most of the audience there, that was going to be my first time seeing their full performance. I didn't really know how to feel but I remember I was really nervous and the whole time I was grabbing Vanessa's arm, lol. Check out the performance below!

I personally enjoyed the performance although I thought that the pieces used could have been a little more intense, especially the closing piece. But well, one can never go wrong with classical music. There was definitely a marked improvement from 2008 in DCI basics-wise. However for some reason I preferred 2008's display though - apart from the repertoire. Nevertheless, great show put up by TK. I'd expect to see more big balls and lying down on the ground two years down the road.

Of course, the most nerve-wrecking part of the whole event was the announcement of results.

I do not own any of the videos.

Many of the results were unexpected - like Deyi's Silver. Just listen to the commotion when their result was announced.

So results of the subsequent bands were announced and after Bowen's Gold award was announced I already knew TK won - since no Gold With Honours winner was announced yet and there definitely had to be one. No one believed me when I said I heard 'Gold With Honours' being announced. Eesh, everyone just started screaming after the 'Gold' but I swore I heard the other two words. Anyway, when the emcee said, "and the Best Display Band award goes to...", my heart still stopped for a moment and when she finally said, "Tan...", all the emotions that I have been bottling up for the past couple of minutes just started flowing out. Hahaha. It totally brought me back to 2006 - same scenario, except now I was in the audience, and that it was less intense compared to 6 years back but still, the feeling was indescribable.

2006's performance will always have a special place in my heart - not because that performance won us Best Display Band for the 5th consecutive time, but I truly believe that it was TK Band's peak. As I mentioned on Twitter: "Lol no matter how many SYF videos I watch, 2006 will always pwn them. Sleek drills, insane spinning, almost perfect dressing. *_*" Everything has changed now though - uniform, marching styles, etc. And the fact that there were always two competition days - April was to announce what medal each band got. In July, the top three bands would battle it out to see who would emerge the champion. Good times.

/text continues after pictures

French horn juniors :)

Batch of 2008. Or whoever that was left.

Through SYF 2012, I have realised that no matter how much I say I don't really care much about the band now seeing that I hardly go back and all, I still really do. And no matter how much I say I much prefer the old TK Band, because change is needed to progress, it is inevitable, I will just have to accept it. So with this, I wish my band, TK Band, all the best in everything. And to anyone in regard reading this post, never ever let pride get the better of you, because arrogance is a one-way road to failure.

Anoneh Pakuke. I love you, TK Band.

Godspeed!

It's not everyday that one sees all the different batches of TK Band members become so united but the time has come again - the time where everyone gets together for a common goal. The biennial SYF for marching bands has been something that every TK Band member looks forward to ever since... god knows how long ago.

I'd go on about my experience in the band but I'm sure it's pretty much been told over and over. But if there's one thing I learnt from those four years, it's humility. In the case of SYF, I never believe that one band deserves to win more than the other. Sure, one may be lacking in props, gimmicks, etc, but I'm sure the members work as hard as those in other bands. So I don't think anyone should be undermining any other band, or be arrogant about their own.

Okay I don't even know if I am making sense, or why I am typing this. Anyway, exciting day tomorrow, goodnight!

P.S. I may be one of those who have not fully accepted the new TK Band, but I'll always be rooting for my alma mater. All the best, TK Band.

7

As you may (or not) have noticed, I made a couple of tweaks to my blog - centralised everything and changed the header. I always feel like a genius when I deal with HTML codes successfully.

So, anyway, TK Band's performance placing for 7th April's SYF is 7 out of 8. 7th on the 7th? Hahaha. Hopefully it spells good luck.

Then again I haven't seen TK's progress yet so I will save my comments till then.

And my Twitter timeline is going crazy from all the tweets from TK Band members oh god.

By the way, here's the song where my new header comes from. It's hip-hop and meaningful. You don't find many meaningful hip-hop songs nowadays.

Please let me get through Media Law.

Life's so boring now. Where'd all the fun times go to?

Avec l'Expression

Was gonna do my Scriptwriting but I decided that this post had more importance. Haha.

12 years - that is the number of years that I have been in my CCA, band. And after 2 Outdoor SYFs, 3 Indoor SYFs, KL World Marching Band Competition, National Band Competition, Singapore International Band Festival, 8 major concerts in venues like Victoria Concert Hall, Singapore Conference Hall and the Esplanade, and countless number of performances, I have come to the end of my band journey (indefinitely). Feeling a tad emotional now. The concert just now felt so short, but I enjoyed myself very much while it lasted. Wait, scrap that, I enjoyed my whole band journey, so much so that if I could turn back time and choose another path, I'd still take the same one that has enriched my life by a whole lot.

Backtrack to the year 2000, I decided to join band because I thought being able to play music was really cool. I was initially in choir but I didn't like it so I scooted over to band. Partly because my older cousins were in band and one of them made a career out of it so my mum thought that it would be a good idea for me to join. Of course, I gladly obliged and I realised I had a flair for music. I picked up the skill of playing the E-flat horn really fast and during Primary 4, I joined my first SYF as a Trumpet soloist, which was quite unexpected since it was not my main instrument at all (I became Section Leader for E-flat horn that year too wth lol). I think it was because of this experience that my confidence grew and I really grew a lot as a player.
In Primary 6, I was assigned the role of Band Leader while still remaining Section Leader. My brother was in the band too then and it was kind of cool being in the same band as your siblings and his batch's people all knew me as "Danny's sister" LOL.

With my brother and conductor just before our SYF omg how noob-looking can I get? The uniform's really cool, though!

I had a resolution to join TK Band after my primary school education because I saw how cool their band was and so I did! It was the wisest decision I had ever made in my life because I was introduced to this amazing instrument called the French horn and gained experiences that I could never have gotten anywhere else, plus it was the best four years of my band life and definitely the most enriching. I was always really enthusiastic during band practices for some reason. Though practicing for the display band competitions was really tough and we had practices every day for a period of time, I never had any regrets.
It was because of TK Band that I truly understood the meaning of 'one for all, all for one' and I gained a huge family. It was because of those four years that I got to experience victory and loss. I will never forget how hard I cried in 2006 and 2008. I don't think I have ever worked so hard for anything before. Maybe it was because I had 160 other people working towards the same goal as me. Maybe it was because I felt obliged to work hard to uphold the name of TK Band. Either way, I felt really proud of myself and the whole band whether we won or didn't.
I was really happy that even though I only had the post of Librarian, I knew that I had contributed to the band a whole lot - whether in coaching juniors in drills, music or even in the running of the band.

SYF 2006

Rehearsal for SYF 2008

SYF 2008

KL World Marching Band Competition 2008

Being in TK Band was the best experience in my whole life and I wouldn't have traded anything else for it. While others may think that I was crazy for being such a band freak, they'd never understand how much pride I had in telling others, "I am from TK Band." *cue envious faces*

The next 3 years were spent in Temasek Polytechnic Concert Band where I became Band President. It was definitely a huge responsibility but being able to experience leading a band once again taught me a lot. It was undoubtedly hectic and thankfully I had my committee to share the workload. We worked really well together and it was a pleasure being able to work with them. My French horn section was always so fun-loving too and I especially enjoyed hanging out and having sectionals with them. My life as a student band member definitely ended on a good note.

TP Horn Section 2011

CCA Leadership Camp

National Band Competition 2010

Ensemble Night 2010

Open House 2011

Avec l'Expression III: Around The World

Avec l'Expression IV: In Jubilation

Photos from Avec l'Expression V: Ascending in a New Direction: 

Had an amazing time with all of these people!

And also thanks to all who came!

Joining band allowed me to meet more people - whether it is band members from other schools or even famous composers, it has definitely been nice meeting them. 

People that I met through a Singapore online forum, BandFusion

With Belgian composer, Mr Jan Van der Roost

With Dr Kelly Tang, a Singaporean composer who composed the set pieces for 2009's SYF

Mr Mitsuo Nonami! A Japanese composer who has composed quite a few set pieces for SYF. (P.S. I look really thin here hahaha)

12 years is a long time and it has really been a hell of a ride. More than half my life has been dedicated to music and I still see more years to come, even though it may be of a different genre. Through band, I found my passion and probably the only thing that I am good at (lol). And I have or never will regret. Thank you to all who have been my band mates (esp section mates), my friends and family who have always been so supportive of me doing my thing, all conductors whom I have been under the baton of, all teachers-in-charge and everyone else who has supported the bands that I was in before.

Hahaha here's a picture of myself with a horn.

"Where words fail, music speaks."