24 hours a day
24 things to do
i try my very best
is it enough
i am very tired
tired of everything
of planning of being responsible of working
of being stretched in every direction so thinly
i feel i am going to break
what is the purpose of all these
just makes it impossible to feel anything
but tired
only few people can understand
i draw courage from their situations
will i emerge stronger
will it make me happy
today is TIMMY's BIRTHDAY!
BUT...
I can't celebrate it with him :( coz i am bed bound! GAH. 21st birthday. and i can't spend it with him.
All my great plans are put on hold.. we were supposed to have dinner at goodwood park and watch a movie at vivo's golden village gold class. I will make it up to you when I am better!!
HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY darling!!
i love you
ok wales and london!! It was a really fantastic trip! I did not win but I gained a whole lot of experience and met lots of performers, dancers, singers from all over the world and really enriched my musical understanding! I shall elaborate on the competitions later. I have to talk about my stay in London!!
I was in London for about 2 and half days staying at one of my dad’s friend’s house. The weather was terrible, raining all time but I visited really amazing places! I watch a ballet matinee at the royal opera house and les miserables at queen’s theater! The ballet was by the graduating class from the royal ballet academy! Totally professional standard! The dances were really captivating! The opera house is just grand and totally totally spectacular! The interior is so lush and royal! Definitely better than the ones I saw at Budapest and Vienna! I didn’t get too good a seat since the good ones were sold out 3-4 months ago. For 5 pounds per ticket, my dad’s friend managed to squeeze us in a couple of seats that were so near the ceiling I could nearly just touch it. And we sat on narrow padded benches and had to peer down to see the dancers on stage. But the whole experience of going to the opera house was very refreshing! In Singapore people arrive late for concerts, spend the interval queuing for toilets and rush back home after the show. Not the Londoners. They arrive early and spend a good amount of time at the gift shop! This by the way has an amazing collection of books and cds and souvenirs. They get super annoyed and do not hesitate to tell a fellow concert goer to shut up if they are talking during the performance. (it’s quite hilarious to watch!) During the interval, the rich would be drinking wine and champagne with horduves at the really posh looking bar. The common folk would be having tea and ice cream at the lobby area. It’s seems to be an enjoyment and perhaps a concert culture that is ingrained in them.
The entrance of the Royal Opera House
Inside the Royal Opera House
We were sitting at the highest seats, extremely near the ceiling!
I watched les miserables the following evening. We got the best seats in the house then!! Haha! Again my dad’s other friend got us tickets. 55 pounds each! Gasp! The view was really good. Musical tend to run in smaller theaters so I am glad we got the seat we got! Les mis was amazing!! The power and energy from the singers! Wow!! The stage set up was really simple. Just a simple large rotating plate in the center of the stage and almost everything revolved around it. The cast was good and the little girl who acted as cossette was really cute!! Perhaps because I sang les mis for the Hong Kong trip that’s why I could identify with the musical so much! This is my second London musical! I watch phantom of the opera about 7 years ago!
I also visited the Royal Albert Hall, with my dad and his imperial college friend (the same friend that got us the les mis tix) but did not get a chance to visit the actual hall because some performers were having a rehearsal then! The building was amazing from the outside! Such intricate architecture! There were 2 statues of King Albert, a bronze one behind the hall and a gold one opposite the front of it at hyde park. The gold one looked so absolutely decadent! Then my dad’s friend explained the contributions of King Albert to the education and health system. So I suppose it was worth it. Haha. The statue had a lot of Indian and eastern Europe influence in it’s designs. Very interesting!!
Royal Albert Hall
King Albert's Statue
I had the privilege of visiting imperial college and having lunch at the graduate/staff cafeteria! Wow wow wow! It was so cool! I think you may think I am nuts but I love school cafeteria food! It so reminds me of when I was studying in Edinburgh and how school lunches were always so delicious! But then I paid a pound of my lunch, in Imperial, the price depended on what you chose and it was really such a tough choice for me! The cafeteria was so high class! Great seats, each table had a jug of water and cups, pretty place mats and it even had café! Nothing like any of the cafeterias in Singapore unis. I guess really smart people have certain privileges hee. After lunch we popped over to the Royal Academy of Music which was just beside Imperial College! We did not get to go in though because they were having auditions! I was given some pamphlets and the admissions information! Do you know?! Dame Kiri Tekanawa is one of the staff members at the RCM!!! OMG! The programmes they offer seem very impressive! Maybe I should consider applying for! But oh! My bond is giving me such a headache because I can’t decide what I want to do in future! GAH!
The Royal academy of Music
Me and my dad :)
On the way to wales! Our initial plan was to take the British rail from London to a train a station near Llangollen but the train timings were so odd!! And it was so inconvenient to travel from the train station to Llangollen. So in the end my dad decided to rent a car! It was cheaper to rent a car for 5 days then to get return train tickets to Llangollen! So strange?! So my dad drove up to wales! My dad’s ex professor (Dr C) from Aberdeen, whom family and him I have know all my life, came along! We always stay with his family when we visit UK coz they are such nice people and they have houses all across UK. He is a retired professor and had not much to do in London so he made an impromptu decision to join us! The journey was really fun and enjoyable! The drive was about 3 and half hours. Dr C was really knowledgeable and although he taught mathematics he had a vast knowledge about music! So it was great fun talking to him about the different things in music! And I learnt a lot during this trip! Hee. He also had a huge collection of classical music cds and dvds and music books! And he promised to send me a couple to listen to! YAY!! Anyways, the journey was great! Wonderful scenery and it was so relaxing and peaceful! And I found out that my map reading skills are really good! So much for women can’t read maps! HA!
We arrived at Llangollen Eistfford and met our hostess who was a lovely welsh lady Gwenda and settled the competition arrangements. There was a parade where all competitiors would dress up in their traditional costumes and walked through the town. I got a "chinese" looking jacket and passed it off as a traditional costume. It was too cold for the sarong kebaya that I brought. In the end, I did not join the parade because it was too cold and I did not want to fall sick before I could singing!
My first check point at the festival grounds
The festival grounds
Outside the festival grounds, wonderful scenery :)
Me and Dr C posing after the parade procession left the festival grounds.
(The sign board is so cute!!)
These are the signs embedded into the roads all over Llangollen
The festival grounds was like a huge "fun fair" where everyone from all over the world gathered in song and dance! there were people from all sorts of cultures and everyone could perform anytime anywhere along the festival grounds. I had the most amazing experiences watching the performances and joining in the fun!! In fact the entire town had a celebratory feel! Everyone from Llangollen had a role in this festival whether big or small its not important, they all made us feel so welcomed and made the whole experience amazing!
One of the 3 Banghra music groups! they were really fun people, great music and dance!! and they wore their traditional costumes everyday!
A youth choir from the US
Choir members from a Burmese choir. when we saw each other there was this sense of recognition because we were united by our Asian culture in a foreign land.
Other performing groups
The town center
Performances around the town center
Lunch and dinner were provided to competitors, but you had to queue for your food!! luckily we skipped the parade and managed to get our dinner before the crowds came!
Food collection point
Yummy :)
After diner we followed my gwenda, my host, back to her house which was at Corwen, 11 miles from Llangollen. It was a really long journey coz we took the little rocky roads and went past 2 small towns. But gosh! When we arrived at the house it just totally blew us away! It was really big and beautiful :) i miss the house!! my room was en suite! and the toilet is bigger than my bed room in singapore.. They also have a vegetable farm! not patch, not garden, FARM! where they grow all the veggies they eat! so cool right? i think the plot of land they are staying on can accomodate an entire condo in Singapore.
The room with a view, imagine waking up to such beautiful scenery everyday!
That's a sun house. You sit in it and enjoy the sun sipping tea. That thing can rotate 360 degrees!!
ok that's all I have about my trip now! Look out for the next installment! there will be videos of my competition :) this just took me 3 hours! i have a new found respect for hardcore bloggers!! and the only reason why i can spend so much time doing this is coz i've got a slip disc and have been bed bound since 4 days ago! it's terrible :(
ok this is so unlike me to blog in the middle of the night but i so HAVE to!
I attended dr tang's lesson today and it was so inspiring!! we did not hear any music today but i just feel so very inspired to create the most beautiful sounds after his lesson.
I listened to a few pieces and my goodness!!! they were so so awesome! i do not know about you but when i hear such beautiful music that seems to touch the very depths of your soul its almost like a miracle that someone can composer such ART! i can totally feel my heart swelling with that immense admiration and emotions! and i just can't help it but break into tears.. of what i can't exactly say. this is definitely the "listener's aesthetic experience". this is only possible when the right combination of instruments, right quality of voice perform the most humble of musics with lyrics that truly come from the heart... it almost seems as if you have heard a miracle. its too beautiful! I find orchestral music with voice most beautiful. because the voice just makes it sound so celestial!
I shall have the most wonderful dreams tonight~
I’m back! But before I start blogging about my trip (because it is going to take so super long!!), I have to tell you what I did on Monday! I was engaged to sing at a funeral! That was my first time I got hired for a funeral. I sang only 1 song, Ave Maria-Bach/Gound at a ceremony. I’ve sang for weddings and all sorts of events but never a funeral. But I suppose to “survive” I have to take every opportunity available. Such is life huh? It’s not easy being a performer in Singapore; what more when I am a classically trained singer. At least I have a collection of musicals, the familiar favorites that I sing for gigs and concerts. Can you imagine doing Queen of the night or a Schubert Lieder for company dinners? haha..
I’m doing practicum at mg till 1st August. It’s great to be here! The teachers are amazing and so inspiring! I think I did not appreciate them enough to realize that when I was a student. Heh. I will be going for the 121st founder’s day dinner this Friday at Meritus Mandarin as a teacher! This is kind of like the sec 4 prom night, but at mg its founder’s day dinner. EXCITING!!!
I will blog about my trip in parts. Part 1 will be up soon!!
YAY!! silin's 21st bday was so so fun! it was at MACDONALDS! shocking right? (i know) but it was kind of like our childhood dream to have a bday party at macs! i mean when you were 5 or 6 having a macs bday party was like THE PARTY to have. so silin finally got her dream party!! and the macs she chose at the rideout place is really nice! hee. AND i finally got to see her BOYFRIEND (it was me who got them together!!) let the pictures tell the story!!
YUMMY!
BIRTHDAY GIRL!! pretty:) and yess the crown looks familiar coz it's mine.. hee! i loaned it to her for the party!
some retarded kok look! before her friends arrive. we got there early to decorate the place...
and do retarded stuff like jumping!!
its more fun to jump around with your best friend!!
We are silin's party helpers! sw was her driver for the day in a really swanky mercs WOOP WOOP! 
timmy and me :) we all have to wear the macdonald's McFun party hat! and the sticker that tells the macs people what we ordered!
silin and her prince charming!
igniss people
touch ruggers
best friends!!
after eating, we all sat on tiny chairs and played blow wind blow! quite funny! then.. there was a punish silin forfeit! she had to kiss her bf for 30 seconds! too bad i did not have my camera with me! i think some of her friends even videoed it! hurhur!!
guess what we all got to bring back? YAY! but one small boo boo! i got silin a precious moments snow globe and liying and sw got her the exact same one too!! OMG! such a coincidence right?! but i made a pretty pretty guest book for her.. silin!! i hope you had a super great time party! happy 21st birthday :)
i had a very fruitful but TIRING day!! seriously.. school is so much less tiring and less busy! during term time i get to watch tv and bum around.. now i barely have time to do my laundry, much less to watch any tv!
I had dance yday! its quite vigorous coz our usual instructor did not come and this new guy did a whole lot of moves targeting the arms and legs and i am ACHING ALL OVER! we did jazz kicks and i think i am retarded on the left side.. my left kicks according to timmy are all over the place! i think i enjoy learning all the moves coz its more like dancing.. i don't really enjoy the stretching and PT :( i am looking forward to doing a choreographed number at the end of the course.. timmy and i are looking into what other classes we can take.. perhaps hip hop or salsa.. so exciting:)
i had voice lesson in the morning, and coz i slept quite late last night my body was lethargic! i could barely produce good sound... ai yo! quite traumatizing :(
then i went for the first of a three day music composition workshop for o level music students to help them prepare for the o levels. It targets mainly the word setting component although general composition techniques were taught. They require vocally trained teacher trainees so I was drafted to do it. hee. joel will be joining me tml. at first we were just suppose to go in on the 2nd and 3rd day to sing the students' compositions.. but i got invited to be a workshop facilitator. It's really interesting and i learnt alot! i wished i went through the workshop when i was a student. perhaps my composing skills would have been so much better! haha. The students came from mainly three schools and an Australian choral expert/composer conducted the workshop. i got to meet other music teachers and the whole experience of talking to them was very interesting! i sure learnt alot today!
tml will be the same!! maybe more tiring.. coz i'm meeting terry and sw for dinner and shopping!
so i shall stop here and go to bed :)
xox
YAY! i finally got my own name card!! after much pushing from dr w. been asking me to get a name card since last year or the year before, and i have finally decided that i should get down to designing it. its quite awkward when i go for performances at various functions and there are event companies asking for my card and i have to say i don't have one and scribble my name and number on a random piece of paper for them. well! that's all over!!! hee! i printed 2 types of cards, one that sells me as a singer/soprano, the other more towards a voice student. the information on both cards are totally the same just different photos and colour! i definitely like the "singer/soprano" one better! hee. i am looking forward to giving out my name cards! and i do feel more confident after getting the name cards done. its so strange, but i feel as if i am a better singer. goodness.
i've been rather occupied this week. some tuition center asked me to relieve one of their english classes last sat.. i was quite thrown off coz the person called me at 7pm on fri to ask if i could do it. luckily i had some materials that i prepared for another student. after sat's lesson, i started to recall my previous teaching experiences, i guess i really enjoy teaching and sharing. teaching one to one tuition is so different. hmm.. oh well, the person in charge might give me a regular class to teach, and hopefully i'll get paid appropriately. i've never really taught group tuition and i don't know what the rates are like. i don't want to be cheated! haha..
i did a recording yday. shucks.. i was feeling quite tired from my activities during the day and a little jaded so i don't think it went very well.. i am quite worried about the impression i made. perhaps my expectations of myself are too high, or perhaps it really was not too good. i don't know for sure. imagine just because of this one time, i may not get much chances in future.. its times like this when i question my abilities and learning. every time i sing it should be of the best of my ability, and yday i feel that i failed to deliver that. sigh. I have alot to work on!!!
i was talking to timmy last night and we kind of agreed that its easy to be good at what you do. but to be outstanding or to excel in it is so so so difficult! at some point after lots of hard work you can be good, but it becomes stagnant, with little progress towards outstanding. hmmm.. being a singer is not just about singing, because there are tons of people who can sing better than you. To be a professional; to be hired to do performances, recordings, i think the person; character, appearance, performance, social connections all these matter alot too!
it's tiring thinking of all these things..
it's tiring thinking about the competition too! goodness. i have yet to settle my gowns/outfits. my pieces are very very challenging, i have upped the number of voice lessons i have a week.. and am exercising everyday and eating more.. if you all know me in school, exercising is the least of my interest. the countless PE lessons that i skipped.. i remember in yr 2 i went to school at 10am on tues coz the 1st two periods were PE, then maths which i did not take.. and now i am exercising everyday! haha. well its all part of the preparation of the competition. i seriously doubt eating more will help me put on weight, esp around my arms or body... but i guess it will give me more strength to sing.. i feel like an athlete, but then again singing is a form of exercise of the human body right?
HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY darling!!
Choir members from a Burmese choir. when we saw each other there was this sense of recognition because we were united by our Asian culture in a foreign land. 
Yummy :)
