So, what's up on the last day of 2009?
Well, I woke up at 5.30 to drive the van around. Then got a 'ride' to school, thanks to Marcus for driving haha! The 3min splonk on my bed in hall was so good I really had to DRAG myself to get up.
Training was really slack but much much fun! The company was much appreciated for the swim. And the run to the dragon kilns were most interesting! Thanks to the commentaries from the captain! And the ending pace was much fun with KK. (Dunno how to spell his name) New friend! Most fun! :) But yes, I sped up cuz I wanted to pee really badly.
Yummyy lunch at can 2 and choppity chop clean up of the room! Completed the clothes cupboard and tables. Left the fan and the floor! Then it was squeezy squeezy x4 bikes in the van to Passione! Bike wash oh yeah! Nice clean red handlebars! Lovelyyyyy!
Up down up down 7 floors to Marcus' house. Let's see, 6 times! And then I drove back and shifted the stuffs and parked the van and all and by the time I got back it was 5pm.
Nevertheless, I headed to Lower Pierce for time out. Surprisingly I met Elaine (the crazy fast runner second to the sis) with some other friends! It was good to think things through. Make a few decisions on some matters. And talk to God.
New Years' Resolutions?
That's for me to know, and for you to find out! :)
By the time I reached home it was pretty late 8+pm. The night wind was so awesome and it did the heart, head, and soul MUCH good.
Okay, some REFLECTIONS.
Well oh well...... 2009
Many new firsts as yet!
There was all the fun of IHG! Running and swimming in the same team as the sis! Wooohoo! My first Biathlon! 8th! Oh yeah! Only 6 positions away from the sis but oh boy, is the 8mins soooooooooo hard to bridge. There was the overnight Swimathon! I actually wanna do it again next year!
I learnt so much about cycling! And I think I've come a looonnnngggg way.
First time using cleats.
First time winning prizes MYSELF! Instead of always using vouchers from what THE SIS won! Really, a great achievement for ME. Altho the amount of vouchers I won is *ahhhemmmm VERY little comparatively. BUT STILL! :)
Then after the hols was the internship. (Oh nightmares!) And how the 'day' started after work at 6pm when I dash out from the office. The record times to get from Chinatown to Buona Vista to ACJC pool! Or the late evening till 7+pm runs when I started to meet someone! 11 years? But at last I think it's time to say goodbye. Strangely, today, cycling back, I actually felt that we might meet since it was around that time. And I wasn't too surprised when I actually zoomed by. For the millionth time hur-hur. BUT I really have nothing to say this time!
Oh yes, not forgetting the ONE time I woke up at 4am to join the Wed 5am JR ride with the sis and Mok, after which I had to get to the office by 8.30am. I was seriously doing everything and anything to keep myself awake in the afternoon!
There were the days also of Saturday morning madness. 6.45am out to join JR where the bro then picks me up at 9am from Fort Rd ECP and vroooms straight to ACJC pool where there's training from 9.30 till 11+++! After which it's rush straight home for quick lunch and to teach Rachel. Then church, with me falling asleep half the time. (Oooops)
Along the first half of the year, I learnt what it's like to really truly care for someone. And for that, I'm thankful!
The highlight of the second half of the year was the continuation of mad trainings. Random fun such as kite flying! Pulau Ubin! the Flyer! Many thanks to Roderick and his company for many a crazy training! :)
I'll never forget 37.5 rounds. But seriously I can't quite remember the pain but the sweet 1hr45min! My first tri! And the crappy legs. There was round 2 of IVP swimming and SUniG road relay! New friends from all the Bi and Swim team! New friends from joining a Group B module.
8 plane flights in one month! I got quite tired of them. But it's really fun to get out of Singapore!
Strange, when I think back, all I remember are the happy-s!
Well, it has been a happy year! :)
BUT I'm not quite so looking forward to 2010 really. ALTHOUGH I really CAN'T WAIT for the friends to get back back from their overseas adventures! And I'm quite sad about more flying off (especially so when I'm suppose to be one of them!) But nvm, I'm enjoying myself tons in Singapore!
But, by next year I'll be working working working :( So not looking forward!
The song for today is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcWQIsG9Rqw
It's a Christian song bytheway.
But it's something I identify with at times,
today being one of them.
Sometimes, some things are so impossible.
And I wasn't too happy how I almost broke the promise I made to myself last month.
What I learnt this year? Never say never.
It's everywhere. AND in my life too.
Many always ask, swim cycle run, which are you best at?
Truthfully, I think it's all relative.
But I think there's something about running which I'm particularly good at.
Maybe cuz I always run away from so many things.
I read this book which said ppl's actions stem either from fear or love.
Food for thought.
Well, isn't it sad when all you say everyday is "I'm tired!" But as much as I tried to think of something more encouraging and positive, all I could come up with was "I really am very tired".
So conclusion is: REST MORE!
Goodnight folks!
The morning route for tmr's ride has been decided!
Oh wait, WE CAN USE THE AIR CON in hall FROM NEXT WEEK ONWARDS! MY DREAM CAME TRUE! hehe haha hoho! :) :) :) :) :)
BLESSED NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
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T-I-R-E-D
Yes? No?
Currently, VERY!
Yesterday's swim almost killed the arms. I was convinced (by myself) to complete it based on the consolation that there's no swimming tmr. (Or so I thought)
I wanted to eat my favourite shop's chicken rice yesterday. But AS ALWAYS whenever you wanna eat something, (recalls the fishball noodles that day!) it's CLOSED.
Yesterday I had kitty love,
Today is froggy love!
An entire day of staying out, ended with a VERY FILLING meal with the siblings (the first time!) at Manhattan Fish Market! Grilled fish.... YUMMMMmmmmmm... Oh soooooo good!
Do you know how good it feels to just go 'SPLAT' on the bed?
And, never wanna get up again.
Sadly, due to change of plans, the rest (or not so tough) day had to be postponed. DQ wasn't riding so I didn't feel quite so comfortable to ride with them on my own. And so, I took up the advice of the National Jambion and did my own ride this morning! Turn left turn right? Decide! NOW!
So basically I did the Mandai Bkt Timah again. But for the first time, alone! I like to do routes I've done with ppl, but do them alone. Cuz then, you have the luxury of time to look at the surroundings and ENJOY! I took all the detours I could think of, just to make the ride a little longer. I guess everyone out there today will agree that, the weather was really good today! Minus the winds of course. BUT....... it's December anyway. At least for one more day.
Today's ride was really pleasant. Except for rEALLY rude bus drivers who cut your lane, turn MORE left (to the LEFTEST most side of the lane) and then STOP! (At the traffic light) Oh mannnn. And I got 2 honks today. One which I think was my fault. The other was cuz my pink bottle took a trip along Lornie Road. The nxt time I drank, I made pretty sure I STUCK it in all the way! I played hide and seek with many buses this morning. Cuz I wasn't too fast to get away! So it was up down up down at all the bus bays.
BUT, I think I handled the traffic pretty well! So proud of myself really! The lane cuts were oh-so-smooth! AND it was rather heavy at this particular part of Braddell Road. Yes the same place where the longkang incident occurred. But I got through it all fine and so there was this sense of closure in that I'm not such a retarded cyclist anymore!
Many a time I think if I wasn't the way I am today, I would most likely haven't been unable to unclip on time and topple over (unglam-ly!) on the road haha. I have had many unglam moments on the bike(s) these days still tho! But every ride is always exciting and I always learn something new on how to handle stuffs so yes, it's always good! :)
And so, the swim was good with consistent timings. The last 10x100 almost killed me. The amount of self-talk that goes on these days. I don't wonder the ppl around me think I'm weird. But today's swim was at 11-1pm. And so, I'm a little red now.
I have been going out everyday these days! BUT it's been really much much fun!
The evening run was really good. It's all in the mind really! Usually I'll give myself some slack cuz "Oh I rode and swam this morning, tired!". But I guess the pre-run smses did make one think. And it did help that there was the thought of others working out too somewhere out there! And so the loops and negative splits were done so beautifully! Tired? No! What tired? Let's bounce!
But I'm really tired now.
Hard to believe it's the last day of 2009 tmr.
Reflections coming right up tmr!
Goodnight!
When I started my day, the bro was just about to end his!
I made new friends in the weee hours of 5+am. Rode the short route of Mandai, Bukit Timah. The pace was decent. I didn't get dropped, so, it's good! But I still like cycling with the sis best. I like the consistency, instead of fast-slow-ing. But we might do it again this Wednesday! New route! I like!
Cashew Road! I wonder if Cashew Nut plants used to grow there. And I passed by the sign which pointed to the MTB trail!
Knocked out for half an hour and dragged myself to the pool.
I paid $1 to drown for 3.8km.
I swam, till there was NO ONE left in the pool.
I swam, till ppl started coming in again.
I swam, till the dark clouds came.
I swam, till my stomach told me to stop.
Swimming teaches you to multi-task. I count/think about, how my arms are pulling, body rotation, breathe after 4 pulls, how many laps I've done. On top of that, sing songs (always a tune inside my head), ponder over life's choices and pray about it all!
Then I went to Chinatown to run some errands and look around abit. Bought some cloth too. I haven't been there SINCE my last day of internship. It still gives me the shudders.
For 8hrs, I only had half a cup of cereal, 2 bananas and 1 apple. Remind me never to do this again WITHOUT DINNER the day before!
While lining up for the food, I was persuaded to part with 10 bucks :( I just hope it DOES go to the 200 families he said it'll go to!
With 4 hours to spare till the evening run, I wanted to piano 3, sleep 1. I ended up piano-ing 1, and feeling so tired, I went to take a rest. The plan was, piano sleep piano sleep run. I ended up, piano 1, sleep 2+, early run.
Oh boy, were the legs annoyed. They were kinda uncooperative today. Kinda is quite an understatement. But the fats needed burning, so I ploughed through the extra loop of 4km. I made aNOTHER new friend on the park connector today. He's sooooooo tall it's a joke cuz his 2 steps equal to my 3! I think I make a very good pacer!
But the going was so slow today, I took longer than usual to overtake the females. And the calves were complaining alot. The weather was good but a little too humid so I was dripping sweat like a tap! Everything was SOAKED! Really didn't feel good inside. Very topsy turvy. And the cold jersey didn't help either. PLUS I wanted to shit. (I tried to go before running!) So I stopped with 400m left before I might have fainted. But still 10km so I'm fine with it. Mannn was I feeling so giddyyyyyyyy.....
I'm really thankful for having such special friends in my life.
Sometimes, words can't describe how utterly blessed I feel.
And thank you seems too cold and inappropriate.
And so, I shall end trying here.
It's been a good day of much activity!
It's good too cuz there was the 'Even if it kills me, I'll keep moving on' spirit which doesn't come by always!
I am looking forward to TMR!
Thank you Xiuyu and Kenneth for the sweeeeet present!
I've got crystals to grow!
So exciting!
Came home to find the house EMPTY!
How rare!
I LOVE it and it's ALWAYS PIANO TIME!
But I didn't even get to finish Chopin's Ballade No. 1 before mom came home.
OH NO.
I just got an sms reminding me about tmr's ride. 5.15am. *GULP*
BUT I think I'll wear my new jersey! Wheeeee :)
Now, I want my speedooooooo!
TODAY, I went to the Esplanade once again.
THIS TIME, to hear Philwinds, free concert.
It was SO good......... for the heart.
It was good to see the brown wooden floors and risers.
I can imagine why their Danceries was so good. They're good but so gentle. It's like a leaf dancing in the wind. Now, Aichi Meiden has that extra OoomMpH which they lack I guess. But still, I enjoyed it THOROUGHLY.
Band, oh, band. I miss band-ing for REAL.
And Lols, ANG YI XIANG played an alto sax solo! Like the Wancai stand up with a stand in front kinda thing! Oh was he goooooooooood! A littleee on the soft side. But, REALLY good! They had a tbone feature too. And they played Clarinet Candy! The clarinets were so bouncyyyyy! I recognised Danny's round hair. And so he's back from the Netherlands! It looked like Kai Tze was playing the oboe. Not too sure. But the parting of the hair looks like haha.
Well, they didn't play Leroy Anderson's Christmas Festival. (Thank goodness. I probably would have L-O-L-ed if they did) But they played SLEIGH RIDE! :) :) :) Love it so much. Sight reading it makes your fingers go all over the place but still, real fun!
All in all, I was MOST HAPPY!
It satisfied my I-miss-band feeling.
And this tops the concerts I've been to this year,
(so you can imagine how few concerts I went to!)
with TJ's Prelude in May being most disappointing :(
Next up, I'd like very much to listen to an orchestra, with an entire choir, and even better, WITH the pipe organ! Oh wow, that would be!
Met TTK for dinner. Haven't seen him since Icantremwhen! But as always, he doesn't wanna talk. Like I ask "So... What have you been up to?" I mean I havent seen you for so long, it's time to catch up on everything and so on. I want updates! And what he says is "Like that lo. I just came back from the Philippines."
Silence.
Okay. Elaborate please.
(The dots are growing bigger and bigger)
And so since someone didn't wanna talk, I ended up rambling on about whatever's currently going on now.
And as usual, I ended up talking all the way.
And I bet you must be bored to bits.
And and and,
the cycle goes on.
So frustrating.
Remind me never to meet up again.
Sigh.
I have been alternating between happy moments and really miserable times these days. Not good, not good.
Cheers to a better day tmr. Hopefully.
17 more days to decide.
I so like the junior's version of Hymn to the Sun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_kclPKrDSA&feature=related
THIS, is the best band I've played in!
All the powerhouses of the seniors combined, with all the alumni wearing TJ uniform once again! Best of all, all of us under Lin Sheng!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJNZYoGQgLc&feature=related
Jiwen, maybeee you might find this interesting?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hXQ91o9PMw&feature=channel
I was digging among my pile of long-untouched stuffs in search of my sticker books the other day. I like my furry stickers so much!
But amongst that, I found my autograph books from Secondary School days! I think such books don't quite exist these days anymore. And it's really a pity because, looking at them now, reading them makes me smile a lot.
It started with reading Quak's one. Some quotes below! She said:
mep is nv boring with you ard! picture this. wendy sits nxt to you. jasmine and i sit diagonally behind. the whole music room is quiet, concentrating on the work given. SUDDENLY, an explosive laughter, accompanied by *ahem* a certain someone's high pitched / high decibal shriek and squeeal, pierces through the still atmosphere. my pen skids across the page, due to shock.
Haha, let me clarify, the explosive laughter is NOT ME!
And Chel's one made made me smile too....
this woman does hw (most unwillingly) (especially if its physics) yet she still aces every test! [WHY?!] you have even taught me not to do hw, which are (ahem) not so important?
And she called me 'miss, i squeal-a-lot'
Now.............. yes i remember I hate physics but I thought I was always guai haha! And hmmmmm did I really squeal so much?
The best one was Wendy's 7half pages. Plus her awesomemost drawing! So many memories.. And it make me think a lot. a LOT.
People might want to stop reading from here onwards cuz it might get pretty boring for a reader who is not me.
So one day you bought TKGS exercise books. Bet you didn't know. Was rather happy cos means you'd stay at TK
Cuz I was in SMPS uniform and all cuz I was trying to get into St Nich's so I could do MEP and swim. But it was not to be. The principal didn't want me!
And yes, I really didn't know that. So touched realllyyyy.....
Ms Low calling my names so so so many times. Rem the skulls I drew for my eng textbk?
Everytime she was called, she drew a skull in there. HAA! Oh boy, were there many!
And... what did Mrs Quintal say 'divide' sign was? Childish. Waah... you almost wanted to box her. I know.
She pronounces hectare as 'hec-tear'. And she marked me wrong cuz I used the dot slash dot divide sign instead of just puting number over number. Oh yes u can imagine how I was =X
Oh and our joke about literature sounding like 'little-rachel'
And about our influencing about handwriting. When I came in, my words were so rOUNd and huge! HAHA. Music notes included.
General music lessons were... haha. putting our legs in front in darkness... grabbing LL's scrungy then tie my hair. Bach's minuet - tried to think of funny ways to move expressively.
Oh we did a recorder duet for our general music. And I think it was THE BEST cuz our teacher really seemed impressed! Hehe.
But actually what you taught me was alot more than that. Things like ... respect? And just many more. Academically, morally... Well. Sometimes we were just as bad. Throwing an eraser at Annabelle's head for sleeping during class. Plonk. She got angry. Then she waves and flags her hand vigorously into the air. 'Mr Ang!!'. Then that perfumes comes. Chokes us to death.
Called your house to ask Maths until your Mum wanted to chop me into pieces
Tyrant acts of us continued. Undaunted by the hatred of ppl around us, we threatened to dump the books of ppl from the cupboard downstairs if they anyhow put.
I'm starting to admire us. The courage to do everything illegal.
Somehow, if anyone's curious, Jocelyn always finishes her work on time. Not to mention the work being perfect and all. And mine? Erm. haha. ALL CORRECT TOO!! Why? Sitting next to her. Of course all correct. Referred to hers. No. Not true. We both referred to Stephanie's one. It's like everytime dunno how to do, both of us stand up at the same time, leaving the chair to swing backwards knocking into the desk behind. Crouch low, squint eyes, then: 'Oh...I see'. Then dunno why her reaction is always 10x slower. That after we've copied she then realise and shout at us.
Slowly, MEP became chaos. Somehow in Sec 1 & 2, 1/9 2/9 listened quietly to all pieces. Could even hear the pin drop. But sec 3 & 4... aiyoh. We were louder than the music at its max volume.
MEP was filled with happiness. Staying back till 6pm was never a chore. And oh ya. Mich nicked you 'fuzzy head'. Haha. Nice one. With a torchlight bottle, drinking light always.
My water bottle was this bright yellow thing.
Not to mention trying to get the longest record of telephone hours, trying out the experiment. I called you on handphone (mine), i called xiuyu sametime at her house, she called you on your hp. Conclusion: other than phone bill, sound takes time to travel.
I guess... we've really seen each other change (for the better of course) throughout 4 years. For some reason, you've never had anything to say/laugh about my english, neither have I mentioned anything about your chinese.
She writes in this book all the Chinese phrases she heard me speaking! Cuz it's really rare!
Somehow I've never seen any of your practical results, neither have I dared to see it. You know, peeping to me is never a task. But the respect that you've taught - well, perhaps its influence, taught me not to peep at your mark sheet. So, believe it or not, everyone. I've never seen a single one.
My piano practical results were always a very sensitive issue. I hated it. Until I changed clarinet to first instru. I never knew that! But I always wanna crawl into a small corner when u see she scores 29/30!
Oh and our Thank you everyone. My Pleasure. My pleasure is your pleasure. Hhaha!
Forever stuffing fishballs into your mouth. Favourite act.
Well, I LIKE fishballs, and I don't stuff them in!
Been used to doing crazy things with you. Like writing calligraphy at Parkway parade FOODCOURT! Dunno where I've heard this from. But someone said that to have friends that will know what exactly you're going to do or what you mean just from the person's expressions... is not easy. To maintain a friendship for 4 years is not easy as well. Personally, I understand how it feels like to be sitting next to a dangerous partner, capable to spitting whole mouthful of water on you + your pinafore when she laughs. Let me clarify. It better that I spit than I choke and die + splatter is all over right? Sorry lah. I know being the traget of spitting of alot of water, of 3 times at least is not fun.
THREE TIMES AT LEAST! Hahahaha...... Sighhhhh Wendy uh!
And not to mention your promises of telling me something (I can't rem. serious) but YOU YOURSELF can't remember?
Oops!
We've talked about this before and think..you haven't said what you want to be when you grow up. But never, if possible, never give up music, in whatever form it takes, never. Perhaps if you keep contact with me you'll never lose contact with music. Heh.
Well, this probably isn't even one of the 7 pages she wrote. But, I'd forgotten toTALLY that I even influenced her in whatever way? And reading this is such a surprise! Somehow thinking about those days, it seems like she influenced me more than I did her....
And yes all those memories. We were like the inseparable evil twins, wreaking havoc wherever we go. (HAHHAHA!) I miss her a lot. And she was 3rd for the National Piano and Violin Competition! (Read about it in the papers actually)I actually wanted to watch the finals. (The piano one had Rach's 2 you know u know!) But it was the weekend of SEA Games.
I so miss all our crappiness and madness and care-free-ness, and MEP lessons and basically all our crap and how we were so 'in sync'.
Yes, I miss her a lot.
But yeah, we all grow up and drift somehow or other, in this big world out there.
But yes, she has been the link which has kept me grounded in my music world.
And yes, if I'm ever to sit in some BIG concert of hers in the future, I'll tell the stranger beside me: "This girl once taught me how to play the violin and she was my best friend in Secondary School. She's awesome!"
It's been a loonnnnnggggg day.
Church service in the new 3000 seater audi and spoting the bro in purple amongst the choir.
Getting to hear Pastor Peter sing again! (Oh, so good!)
Much fun with the house visit really!
And the piano is ooooooooooo
I so wish I can play on it everyday.
But I was just so scared the minute ppl were looking, my hands (and legs!) started shakinggggggg. Why oh whyyyyy
The movie was, uhhh, interesting.
Overall, I'll rate the visit as 5 stars! (out of 5)
It was most fun and happppyyy!
And I got the most ingenious card I've ever received! Thank YOU.
THEN, the rain with me at the bus stop reminded me so much about that retarded time at Pam's bus stop standing on the seat holding the bush cardboard with her never letting me forget her mom never forgets the sight of tHAT!
But I had good fun walking really randomly around town with Leewei on Christmas! :)
Really tired, but good!
My blog's English is not so good tho. It says: 1 comments
and LOLS! When u've reached back in Spore, and rested well enough to venture out to meet up with friends, please CALL ME OKAY! I'll be waiting for your call! In the meantime, ENJOY THE REMAINING DAYS OF UR TRIP AND I HOPE U'RE HAVING A SMASHING GOOD TIME!
Meanwhile, I'm SO VERY excited about SUNDAY!
1) NO TEACHING
2) I'm meeting up with SPECIAL FRIENDS
3) Guess whose drums I'll be hearing?
But I'm so tired. Xianrong was saying on msn he's gonna sleep alr and I replied 'okay have fun'. Like how retarded can that get. My brain is already in dreamland! (But the insides still feel very bouncy)
GOODNIGHT EVERYONE!
This post is dedicated to Pam, Lols (although you might be flying all around UK enjoying snow storms!), and all other TJ Band members who stILL read this, especially my batchmates!
Well, on my way to school two weeks back, decided to take a few pics cuz the walk doesn't happen that frequently these days! Hopefully, these bring back some happy memories! :)
It starts from Bedok MRT
This place always reminds me of eating chocolate buns at 11pms!
Here is, THE NEW BAND ROOM!
Yes, it is BLUEEEEeee. ANd carpeted! Imagine, after many years, the front area will be quite dangerous to sit around. Let's not think about the amount of "water" accummulated there. (The brasses at least have their dog bowls to pour into) It doesn't feel as wARm as the wood but it still feels a little like the band room :)
The old band room. With the wooden tiles where you can find ancient alumni writings underneathe! And where we buried our note of secrets such as: "Pam is called mop" hehe. And the ceilings where the guys came back from WMC with some dice and hid it up there. The place where table tennis championships took place among the guys. Where we melted in the heat without the aircon. Where we tinkered with the percussion. Where we hid in the (rather crowded) bandroom during school functions. Where luscious sounds abound. Where magic happened. Where much love and memories are stored.
What is very important which is currently missing in the band room is THE MIRROR! Yes, how can they survive WITHOUT it! And the SOFAS TOOOOOOOooooooo!
I think this was a random alumni prac 2 years ago? Kevin, our 'mad scientist' and band leader! Oh yes, and what happened to the roll of honour (of gold medals!) I don't see it in the new band roooom!
The last day of school where we all went rather crazy and climbed on top of the piles of chairs!
MUCH love my friends :)
AND THE BEST NEWS IS, they renovated the toilets! As for pam and neem and me, we don't have to run to the toilets anymore just so to get the teacher's toilet or the first one! (Priority going to whoever has their fishball HAHA) They're ALL THE SAME NOW! Hahhaha
And so on the 12th December, after a most hectic day of running around, I had about 1hr to pack my stuffs, and thanks to the bro for the ride to school with mj and hs.
We were ushers! So it was pretty fun. The girls were ticket tear-ers and mund qtz hs were in charge of finding their 'ah ma' (in the wheelchair) who Ms Chew said to sit on the left of the stage instead cuz Tommy's drums might make her go o.O We saw many ppl who smuggled ppl in, but only bothered to "catch" one.
I realised I haven't been into that audi for TWO YEARS. Cuz I didn't go fiesta the previous year. Nothing much has changed. Except the band didn't make a banner! (How cannnn!) I mean, no matter how pathetic, (our sad small banner at liming's house!) there should still be one! But we had our fun painting it. With the RAINBOW! Which was very nice to me haha. And the hanging it almost killed us.
I had good fun playing. Melsa was in the audience o.O After our performance when I passed the instru I borrowed back to the sec 4 he seemed very overwhelmed and said "you guys are realllyyyy goood!" I couldnt help but smile inside. I mean, this is alumni band! Only 3/4 of powerhouses and 2 practices, but STILL alumni band, the people who made me go for EVERY ONE their concerts since 2002 :)
Standing behind the doors listening to when the piece (which I nv heard before) is about to end so we can let late comers through, reminds me sooo much of my very first fiesta. THe light sticks around the bells and all the giggling and madness with khinewa and the others. You know we were talking to the sec4 (oh yes they're sec4s, soooooo younnnnnggggggg!) who lent me his instru, and he was saying how the j1s don't talk much during lunch. HOW SAD. And how band isnt very fun, it's just okay.
I guess things have changed cuz as a sec4, fiesta '04 was one of the best times in my life. I never had so much fun during a concert before. Not forgetting we had powerful snrs (lookit gy yc!).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fz-lIXNeOU
(courtesy of hM. The squeals and moans at the end is cuz the 2nds had to come in and so she had to play which means she can't video anymore!!)
Oh, and check out our P Ubin videos and random stuffs I posted on youtube long ago! They never fail to make me laugh really! Those were the days. Hanging out at LJS!
AND fun and crappy ones like khinewa! And Adeline! And still rem JH wishing me all the best! And the fun-nest batchmates of all, HK neem, mo, pamwam, and new found friends like hM, qtz (altho he was so shy I had to ask him what's the time just to TALK) anndddd TEETH, and sherms.
There was the "flutes and clarinets, listen" (with the hand action) There was the band cheer which we made up. And the camp. And and and............... so much more. I really NEVER had so much fun for a concert before. There was something really magical then :) ANd yes, that was the band I fell in love with :) Reading my old blog posts haha.
Something about Rhapsody for Hanukkah just brings me STRAIGHT back to that time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al27NC9oGV0&feature=related
(for the lack of ability to find a better recording, the slow parts are quite bad, the sax solo almost caused me a heart attack)
Anyway, yesterday we had our NTU Bi gathering. Met Pingwei and ZhiBin while waiting for 199. And yes, we agreed TIME FLIES! It's been a year already! I was v full so hardly ate much. Had some fun watching Bear vs Kangaroo, Panda vs human, Female Woodman vs Male, courtesy of Top-recruit's PSP!
The funniest thing was, among the pile of presents, I saw this really CUTE snowman wrapped one and was saying 'it's so cute!'. Guess what, it turns out to be my gift from DQ! THankew!
And then I realised I didn't wash my cycling jersey from two weeks ago. And I was gonna ride today. So I stayed up till 1.30am waiting for it to dry.
And I ended up pon-ing today's training (like for the millionth time) cuz it's RAINING! And it still is! How to ride to passione like that!
Or ride home for that matter.
I had yummy toast and milo for breakfast!
I will miss Martti!
Tigger's puddle is 7/8 completed!
I was gonna go for a run.
So, I went to put on my contacts, and then it got stuck elsewhere in the eye. Boy, was it pain. It was like underneathe or something so I couldn't do the thing I normally do when it goes awry. I was stuck there for about 45mins. Till mom found the sucker thingy.
So then, by the time I started running it was real late.
The wind was SOOOOOOOO strong! I really felt like I was being blown sideways and backwards!
Bishan Park is under construction :(
So I went up and down the track at Bishan instead.
I ran by Pastor Wilson!
And I run faster than little boys on bicycles.
On going back the Bishan stretch for the last time of looping, I overtook this old man who then decided to pace me. Hearing his footsteps behind I was like 'okay okay okay I'll go faster'. BUT wasn't able to drop the footsteps so I decided to maintain. But he was pushing the pace! So I just kept up. Oh boy... He went faster, and faster, and faster, and, faster! After that entire stretch, when he ended, he said to me "thank you". Haha.
The weather was perfect!
That's what I like about running. It's the confidence of I-can-usually-outlast-people feel. That my legs can go on forever at that pace. (Of cuz I know it's not the all out kind. Actually I don't quite know what is all out cuz I usually don't push myself to that!) I can run faster than 94% of the guys. (According to AHM statistics) And ppl usually don't overtake me. I overtake them! And those who're faster than me are usually way in front already anw haha.
That's what makes running different from cycling. See the number of GIRLS who zooooom by me on the biking leg during Tri Factor! :( When it came to the run, not ONE of them went by. Instead I went by a whole load of guys. If gIRLS manage to zoom by me, that means something's wrong isnt it!!!! But I just plodded along my 6 loops on the bike.
Something's wrong. I really can't cycle fast! :(
Oh I'm pretty happy cuz I decided what to get for the Christmas gift exchange! Yay! Hope he'll like it!
I was a little worried heading into the trip all the way to Laos on my own. But amazing things happened and I'm so thankful to God. I'd like to share the stories with everyone! So... here goes.....
Firstly, during TJBand Fiesta concert intermission (just before alumni played), sis msged from Laos saying they needed some bike parts back in Laos and so I'm suppose to bring it over as I fly. This, is, good. Because that means they pick me up at the airport all the way to the hotel and I don't have to figure everything out alone on my own! AND I can get to sit the team car during the races without feeling too extra haha.
The flight to KL was to depart at 10.50pm. I reached after 9.30pm after coming straight from TJ. And then, I waited for Tim (who was taking the bike parts from the bike shop all the way from Kent Ridge). And I waited...... and waited.... n waited.................. Gates supposedly close at 20mins before. So if you do the math, that's at 10.30pm. And I still had to buy some shirts with Singapore stuffs on it as souvenirs for the LOs. And get to the gate.
So, it was 10pm.
Then, 10.10pm.
Then, 10.20pm.
AND still no Tim.
I was sooooo worried and was gonna give up and go in already when I turned and saw the big screen for Departure flights. It said:
AK718 Kuala Lumpur New time 23:35.
Isn't my God amazing!
I was praying and praying for Tim to suddenly appear, but noooooo, God has His own way of working! And delaying the flight is good cuz my next flight is 8.10am from KL and so I had to stay over at KL Budget Terminal airport. And so, the later my flight, the shorter my stay there, which is good!
Anyway, during that 1hr wait, I went a-walking around. AND retardly, the S$200 dropped from my bag when I took some stuffs out, without me knowing. Thank God that this lady called after me and ran up to pass it back!
On reaching Vientiane, there were some problems with the hotel I booked online. There was no space. I was staying there for 3 nights. And so for 2 nights I was suppose to go to Hotel Lao and the 3rd night back there. (I actually read of something like this before from other ppl's experiences online) Not too surprised here then. But on hindsight, I'm sooo thankful this happened. Because Hotel Lao is so convenient.
The street it's on seems to be the most happening street at night! And so coming back late is no problem. And it's fun to wander the streets at night too. AND the internet cafe with the cheapest rates I saw as I walked ALL around the town is just right below the hotel! Like how perfectly convenient can that get?
In contrast, my original hotel I booked is in quite a dark scary street filled with barking stray dogs!!
It makes me feel like, although I made a wrong choice of hotel online, God has His way of 'righting' it! And the best thing is, Hotel Lao is actually more expensive than the amount I paid.
On the second day of the cycling race (mass start), the venue was much further away. And so I went to the Central bus terminal to catch a bus up. I managed to find the SEA games bus which brings you all the way to the National Sports Complex. The cycling venue was somewhere along the way from Vientiane to the Sports Complex. I wasn't too sure where cuz nobody seemed to quite know where it was. Like the stuffs the sis told me were quite vague. When I boarded the SEA games bus there were 2 westerners. One from UK, the other from France I think? Apparently, the guy from UK was going to watch cycling too! And so, he told the bus driver to stop at the appropriate place and I got there, without getting lost!
Lastly, the night before I left, I gave all my kip to the sis, and kept 50,000 with me. The boss of the hotel said she'll give me a ride to the airport. So I thought I wouldn't need to pay anything. In the end, (quite expected) she wasn't there at 6.30am, and so the reception helped me to flag a tuktuk which was jUST outside only! And guess what, it costs eXACTLY 50,000 to the airport! (Although the list inside the tuktuk says 55,000) And so I used up all my kip to the dot. I didn't have to change any back. Which is really good because the money exchange at the airport was not open so early! And bringing kip back to singapore would be utterly pointless.
Everything worked out so perfectly. Isn't my God amazing????!!! :)
Mornings.............. Hmmmm
I like to wake up early early.
Okay, not like, but I just pop up.
But there's really nothing much to do.
I don't like to run in the morning.
It was too cold and the thought of hitting the waters didn't quite appeal.
It's too early to start my noise pollution.
So, I ended up completing 3/8 of Tigger's waters!
Anyway I concluded there's nothing wrong with my blog. Just that I posted too many pics and so the bandwidth, or whatever you call it, exceeded. Well, just gotta click around in the dark for now haha.
YESTERDAY,
was my last day of teaching at the studio.
Oh boy, was I on a HIGH!
In January 2007, I started teaching there on Sat and Sun, and hence started my I-work-7-days-a-week thingy for half a year. In 2008, I shifted everything to Sunday and had some pretty bad days of 8.15am to 6.30pm for some months. The worse I ever did was that, after which went down to TPY to teach JC maths and chem tuition for another 2hrs from 7.30-9.30pm. I never attempted that EVER again. In 2009, Han and Adel shifted to Sunday night and so it was 9.30am to 6pm and then 7-8.30pm at their house.
Well, I'm so glad this is OVER! Although I will miss them actually haha. There's J.P. and the times we played Rubik's cube. And the recordings for his most interesting video he made for school. (We watched it in class) And then came the magic tricks hahahhaa! That was fun! He was pretty good with the cards.
There's Wei Lin too. I like her cuz ever since the beginning I could speak to her not so much like a child. Her level of understanding is really a notch above others. Although she was only P1 then. She likes Winnie the Pooh TOOO and she's in RGPS band, trumpeter haha. And we always crunch away on Pokky during class haha.
There's Jacobina too! She's onLY k1 but she's REALLY good, playing songs much better than some other kids I teach! She's sooo cute and can speak reallllyyyy well. We really do have fun during class! Although it takes up quite a lot of energy haa.
Anyway I videoed her playing When the Saints go Marching In
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sriM4p3-RU&feature=channel
And thanks to all the kids for the gifts! :)
Jacobina!
Wei Lin doing her work
Room 1A
Room 1B
Room 3
The main area
The stairs which almost killed me going down (to the toilet) when I had to teach after running Stan Chart 42.195km last year!
BYEBYEEEeeeeeeeee!
Took Bus 7 from outside, which passes through town, to Dhoby Ghaut where I can NEL home. The fastest and nicest way to get home from Pandan Valley. AND since I was holding a camera, decided to take some pics of the lights!
First, you start by entering the land of snowmen and snowflakes!
The main decor at Tangs
Taka
Christmas trees and Reindeers
Then, it's Santa Claus and the stars
I think I pass by town more than I walk through town.
I am so glad it's OVER! :) :) :) :) :)
Let's backtrack to..........
16 December
Reached home from Laos the night before and so was pretty tired of a whole day of travelling and hanging around airports. AND I had PWC interview at 10am but had to reach at 9.30am. So it was a very sleepy me kinda screwing up the interview. REallyyyy, if anyone was to hear what I was actually saying! =X
The guy who brought us around spoke really convincingly and matter-of-factly about PWC. Where to go where to go........ So glad when it was all over. It's the last interview wooosh! Again, met 'new' friends (acquaintances around school which u hardly talk to normally). So I had a nice time. I think, I'm QUITE socialable after all HA-HA.
Came home and slacked instead! And then out to JE to teach Hannah and Adel at 4pm. After which it was Esplanade library for me! On my way out to JE, I called back the number which tried calling me 3 times while I was in Laos. Asked the bro to help me to call back to find out but noooooo he didnt. Turns out it's Cornelia from EY international tax! (She's a partner! And I spoke to her on the phone!) And I got an offer! After that I was floating on air :)
Esplanade library! My favourite place really :) Borrowed Rach's piano concertos! Had a hard time finding anything else. Then went to watch Lea Salonga's concert.
At the open area there're usually performances going on before the concert. On that day it was some sec school choir. They performed a version of All Things Bright and Beautiful with the exact same words as the one we sang in SMPS. And their Somewhere Out There was REALLLLLyyyyyyyyyyyyyy nice. At the climax they filled the ENTIRE esplanade with their voices. For lack of better description, yes, it was amazingly nice. It made me miss my choir days some. Come to think of it, at such a young age, I learnt about breathing correctly, using your diaphragm. How to open your throat. Smile when you go up up up. How important pronunciation is. (If not nobody will know what're you singing) End your words properly with the 's', 't', 'd', 'n's etc.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2VChTz3EaE
Not the most perfect but the nicest I could find. A little slow for my liking, but still nice! Now, have I mentioned I wanna go for a SSO concert which is combined with the choir? I bet it's gonna be reaLLYYY majestic!
Anyway, the concert was pretty interesting. Her voice, yes, is amazingly nice. Live! Wooooo! It was a pretty interesting repertoire. She sang my favourites, including Two Words :) She pretty much 'ran' the whole show, introducing each song before singing. The concert was nice except that the 'band' consisted of keyboardists pianist drummer bassist. So it was a little anti-climax compared to what u'll get with a full orchestra.
Anyway, she was the singing voice of Mulan. I always liked her version of 'Reflections'. Voice rocks! But I always felt a little sad cuz it's so short. She explained during the concert, 3 years before the show, they did a recording of the long version. A year later, she was called back to record additional stuffs for the show. And to do a shorter version of Reflections cuz it wasnt 'moving the storyline along'. And so, whenever she has concerts, she always takes the chance to sing, the FULL version. NICE :)
Well, the highlight was the last song, where she usually invites a guy from the audience to sing the duet of 'A Whole New World' with her. Apparently, this guy knew she was gonna do that and the moment she said it he started shouting from the top. He was in Circle 3! Pretty cute. He was saying 'ME ME! I'll fly down on my magic carpet'. Anyway, he turns out to be Dwayne Tan. Go youtube him. And it was REALLYYYYY good. The both of them together. Including all the harmonising parts. And so, everyone had a good time! :)
I wanted to catch her live and up close during the autograph signing session. But she took more than half an hour to get out. And so I left. I was a little put off that she took soooooo long. Plus the fact that she'll ONLY sign on stuffs like her CDs and other stuffs which u gotta buy, and not on the programme booklet. And she didn't like ppl taking pictures of her. And she didn't sound at all geniune when she said nice stuffs about Singapore. WELLLL welll wellllll.... I wasn't gonna get her autograph cuz I think having ppl's autographs aren't worth the time u gotta queue up for haha. But it was a good show anyway.
17 December
Slacked the morning and then headed out to teach the entire afternoon! That's basically Thursday.
I was moping around the entire night and the whole morning cuz PWC is suppose to call after the interview day at night. In the end the partner (again! wow!) called me at 1+ in the afternoon. AND I WAS FLYING IN THE AIR after that :)
18 December
Started on the Pooh pouch. And Spent the rest of the morning playing Beethoven's Tempest's 3rd movt! I have found a new pasttime: going on repeat mode just so to annoy everyone. Well, if you can't stand it, just let me use my keyboard then!
Headed to Kallang pool where there was a near-drowning case. (Me that is) I haven't swam since the previous Tuesday which is a total of 9 days! Bad bad bad. I was hardly moving. But after 3.4km, I felt a lot better. But I bet the speed is back to square zero again :(
Cycled home.
And went for a crappy short run of 6km. So essentially I did a mini tri hahhahaa.
AND THEN, piano-ed away again. I LIKE!
19 December
Gave the morning run a miss. Played some piano. Went to PS to get the kids' books, cut hair. Stretchcords and core workout. Lunch. Taught Rachel. Ah ma's house. City Hall to meet some cyclists to watch a Swinging Jazzy Christmas by the Jeremy Monteirro Big Band.
Well, I was worrying a lot of the time if the others were enjoying it. But anyway, it's my first time attending a Big Band concert. (Oh Lols, I met WhyCee there too!) And I think I find it a little hard to understand jazz? Like how they say: organised chaos...... Hmmmmmmm. But yes, I liked the Sutheps too hahhaa. Okay, it was the soprano tpts. Really amazing!! William should've been here to hear them! Okay I bet he went to hear them before haha. Actually the entire band was power. The saxes were ultimate! *Melts* Except I was quite sad it was played through microphone. It makes it feel like it's not 'live', and somehow the feeling is quite different. BUT they were all really pro! And I liked the singing loads too!
But this concert has left me wanting to hear a normal live concert with luscious sounds to gush over. Soon soon! I look forward to the day to catch Rach's 2 LIVE! Actually, it's been played so often during competitions, it's just me missing them.
Oh, I was digging around the CD collection, and guess what I found. The unopened CD actually has La Forza del destino Overture! The orchestra version! Which is REALLLYYYY nice. For your info, it's TKGS SYF piece for this year! Really nice song :) And I took out my SMPS choir CD too, and yes, we really sound quite BAD now that I hear it haha. But I was pretty fond of the choir days. It was my first encounter with being part of a whole big group making music. AND that feeling of reaching the climax, always, makes, me, smile. You wouldn't know it until you experience it firsthand. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-b2WMZirhc: A song we sang before. Those were the days!) Also, I found a reallyyyy nice Harp CD I bought of this harpist who once came to perform in TK.
Alright, something seems wrong with my blog pic altho photobucket seems to be working. I'm too lazy to go tinker around with html at this time of the night. Some other day Goodnight!
Reached the airport at about 9.30+pm. AK718 AirAsia to KL!
And the miracle that happened: rescheduled flight
Departure gate, byebye Singapore!
Hustle and bustle of KL's Budget terminal.
I ate finish the pie before I remembered to take a pic. And my mango passionfruit drink. Which lasted me the entire night (morning). Washed up, changed some money, and then camped at Starbucks from 1+ to 5+am, drifting in and out of sleep.
The view from my seat
Ate breakfast at Old town which was just beside Starbucks. 
I was too hungry and only remembered about taking pics AFTER I ate finish. Toast and milo. YUMMMMmmmm.
The picture sure doesn't do justice to how nice the morning sky was!
Byebye KL!
Well, before this, I never boarded planes this way before. So, it was a first for me! So excited! (But after this entire trip, it's like, nothing exciting anymore haha)
Welcome to Laos! (9.40am)
In the team car, heading to the city centre!
My hotel for the first 2 nights!
Then I went walking around the entire city centre for the rest of the afternoon. Walked half, went back to take a nap, and then walked the other half.
These are some pretty nice random drawings I saw along the way.
Most of the streets are like that. Shop houses all lined up.
There were many random Champas and Champis all over the place!
Along the Mekong River during the day.
The first traffic light I saw walking around!
Nam Phou Fountain
Talat Sao Morning Market. It's like a shopping mall so nothing much interesting in there. Didn't walk around there too much. But it was a landmark for me. I head there if I wanna go anywhere. It's beside the Central bus terminal and along the main stretch of road. About a 10min walk from my hotel.
Even PWC is here in Laos!
Can't remember what is this haha
Night activities along the streets below my hotel
It's like a 7-eleven! I bought Tim Tam here! Chose it cuz I liked the sound of the name.
Roadside stall. It's rather nice. I bought the egg one. It's like fried flour with egg inside n they pour condense milk over it. I told him 'a little' only. If not they flood the WHOLE THING with condensed milk. Which is, totally gross.
Now, it's time for FOOD!
My first meal in Laos. Some really random roadside stall. For 8,000kip I got a bowl of yummmmmyyyyy noodles, tea and the youtiao thingy!
Introducing to you, JOMA Bakery! I read about it in the papers and in some other books. It's really good in my opinion. Prices are pretty okay RELATIVE to other cafes and bakeries and restaurants you see around the area.
Look what I saw when I first entered! Apparently the others know/met some of them from races. Joma sponsors the Lao cyclists and at the race venue on ITT day I saw a Laos cyclist wearing Joma jersey!
Uber yummy meat pizza! It has SOoo much filling!
On another visit, I tried the smoked chicken pizza
AND the chocolate croissant
I realise, I too, went there everyday during my stay in Laos. Haha. I am happpyyyyyy cuz the sis and the guys went there often too! Yay. Hope they liked it as much as I did!
Namphou Cafe opposite Lao Plaza Hotel
Even their roadside stalls come with all these water and tissue and stuffs! So friendly and convenient. Our coffeeshops should have such things toooo!
I like the Laos people though. They are rather friendly. And at no time was I in any danger or what. And I liked how they cheered for EVERYONE going by! (And the strains of 'Singapore, it's Singapore!') when the sis rode by during her ITT. Nice people, friendlly place! :)