Until today. Monday, 20th March 2006.

Wow. Another “wonderful” week had passed and another equally “wonderful” week has begun. So, let me talk about last week. I got my results for those three tests, or rather, to be more precise, two tests and one exam. The first result we got back was MoA on wednesday, followed by Harmony on thursday, and then Aural on friday. Well, the good news is that I passed, while the bad is that I have to buck up for the Harmony and Aural exams and the MoA portfolio. I am so dying… Save me!!! Help!!!

Friday, 17th March, 2006.
Spend the morning after Aural class in the NAFA library doing History stuff for our group project until about twelve before breaking off for lunch. Went for Singapore Arts Scene lecture and had a whale of a time identifying photos/pictures of landmarks in the past. Saw many scenes of the town and harbour area from Goverment Hill (present day Fort Canning Hill). Thus ended our last school day of the week at twenty minutes to four in the afternoon. Because it was still early, I asked Char to accompany me to the ABC Store to exchange Mum’s reading glasses and then to buy a pair of sandals for myself before parting ways. By the time I got home, it was already 4:45pm. And by the time I put the clothes into the washing machine to wash, it was already 5:30pm. I was so late…
Yup. I was so late.Finally got to Manda’s place at seven in the evening even though I promised to be there at six-ish. I got a nice little surprise when I saw them sitting around Manda’s dining table eating steamboat instead of BBQ. Manda said that because of the very hot weather, she decided to change the “menu” get the steamboat instead. How thoughtful of her. Everyone, except Jenn who was and is still in England, and Saru who was studying at home, were present. Ching was the last to arrive due to her getting lost somewhere in the area. Her reason was that she mistook Lorong J as Lorong M. How joyous. Instead of the usual cake, Wen and Manda bought for Evan apple strudel. Yummy… We had a stupid, yet fun, time, especially after dinner. Talked crap throughout dinner. I shall not bore you with our ramblings. In actual fact, I do not remember much of what we talked about. Hahahahahaha…! Ching and I played duets for the traditional Birthday Song, she on the violin while I on the piano. We played a piece before that. Unfortunately, we could not finish it as we forgot the ending. Haha! Well, it has been years since I last played it… With special thanks to Manda’s Mother for tolerating our nonsense and being so helpful for being the camera-woman, we did alot of photo-taking in ridiculous poses. Some of them did the Charlie’s Angels thing and others did the PowerpuffGirls. (A/N: You, my dear readers, better not ask me which of those two poses I did, or else you will find a sandal in your face. You have been warned.) Wen, Jas and Lisa went off first soon after we had our just desserts. (A/N: Pardon the pun. Could not resist using it. Heehee…!) Leaving the four of us, including Manda of course, we went up to her Study and had a hilarous chat about our lives so far. Watched an impromtu skit by Manda and Ching. Funny! Hahaha…! Got a free ride home from Chingy’s Mum. The entire family, including the maid yet minus the dog, was in that vehicle of theirs. A short yet entertaining ride home, it was good to see Chingy’s Mum again. (A/S: She was my Lit. teacher back in Sec. 2, whose lessons on the subject were the only ones I enjoyed the most throughout my secondary school days.) What a day… *Contented sigh…

Sunday, 19th March 2006.
Had to cancel a piano class in Balestier so as to meet the new student and her parents in Katong at ten in the morning. Taught the kid for an hour and observed that not only is she restless like kids her age, she is also quite imaginative, and definitely talkative. Haha! What am I saying? She is still a kid! After her lesson, I discussed with her parents about the timing and to my great relief, they were okay with changing her lesson to after lunch. I must remember to stop by Gramacy to buy some books for her before this coming lesson.
After that, I went to Parkway with my parents for lunch and some (grocery) shopping. With my pay advancement, I finally bought that OP t-shirt I was eyeing for quite sometime there. And there was a 20% Storewide Sale to boot! Haha! Saved $4 like that.
There was a concert at the Victoria Concert Hall (VCH) at 5pm that day. We decided to meet up over there at 4:30pm. So, I left the house at about 3:40pm, hoping to catch the 3:45pm bus, which I did. However, the bus driver was drying at a snail’s speed, and together with those twists and turns of road works due to the Circle Line over in the Old Airport Road area, that was the most antagonising ride I had ever gone through in my life. Aaarrrgggghhhh!!! What was more, the bus driver was an old man!!! Insufferable!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! I got off at Lavender and took the MRT instead to Raffles Place, and reached the venue at 4:31pm. At the speed that bus driver was going, I would definitely be late or else on time for the concert. Dots… It was a lovely concert, however I slept through during the last two pieces, falling onto Char’s shoulder, who was sitting on my right. (A/N: I must admit that her shoulder makes a very good and comfortable pillow. Muahahahahahaha…! I can hear her dotting away right now. Hahahaha!) We, us four girls plus ZQ, WX, LH, Jos and Ivan, went to Marina Square for dinner after the concert. We actually made plans to do some research for our History group project at the Esplanade Library, but due to quite obvious reasons, we did not go because, by the time we finished our dinner, it was already 8pm, and the library would close in an hour’s time. Oh well… We will go there on another day after school.

Today, Monday, 20th March, 2006.
Today has gone by smoothly. Like always, it was a rather usual day, except that it was a sad day for a particular someone whom I shall not name. Choir was a tad boring. The only saving grace was that the addtional instruments i.e. drum set and vibes were included, adding spice to this already dull practice. After practice, we, the usual group of girls and boys, were sitting around in the near-empty theatre debating on where to have lunch and for some of them, talking about crap, when GTC told Ms. Tham that we were the funniest group. For an answer, we gave him the blank look, while dotting away at the back of our minds. Whatever… Went to Nafa Library with Jules to, supposedly, do some work but ended up at the computer sufing the net for almost two hours. Sat through Commuter Concert a few hours ago and as usual, I fell asleep during the last two pieces. Hahaha. Congratulations to me.
I am now suppose to be working on my History portfolio instead of this. Hahaha…! I am so going to be dead.

I am off to save a particular troubled soul who is having problems in an area which I am most happily unaffected. Ahhh… Affairs of the heart… It was and is never my forte because I am and was never involved in one. Muahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Bon nuit!

From where I left off…

Another week had already gone by and I have yet to complete my work (to those who are in NAFA, you should know very well what on earth I am talking about). Sigh… Deadlines are a month away, but I know that I have to push myself in order to get things done by the deadlines otherwise I, myself, will be dead. And because I know myself all too well, I am too damn bloody lazy to do anything!!! Aaaarrrggghhhhh…!!! I am the death of myself!!! What is more, I pray to God and Jesus, and ask the Divine Mother and my guardian angel every single night to hear and intercede my prayer that I will be more hardworking and get things done once and for all. Alas!!! “Time and tide waits for no man…” In this case, girl.

We had Methods of Analysis (MoA) exam and Sight-Singing test, and Aural test last Wednesday and Friday respectively.
MoA was horrible. The only way for me to past the module is to do very well for the portfolio. I was feeling really depressed when I got home that evening. In fact, I was already feeling depressed during the paper. Some of the more important points eluded my mind, causing me to write pure rubbish. Sigh…
Sight-singing test went better than expected. We were quite jumpy over how GTC would conduct the test, expecting the worse; groups of either four or eight singing infront of him. Turns out our fears were unfounded. He made a split of the Recital Hall down the middle, making both sides face each other. Of course, we had to sing from memory the two pieces. At least like that, we were not very scared. Unfortunately for some, they were more scared when he stood next to them, hearing them sing. Later, he made all the guys sing. Only the guys. Haha! Too bad for them. It was quite entertaining watching them and a particular “favourite” person sing. So interesting.
Aural test was slightly better. At least I got both the Melodic and Harmonic dictations nearly completely right. Whereas for the Rhythmic one, haha, I managed to get the only bar, which happens to be the first bar, out of eight bars correct. Sigh…

We went to the Fort Canning Hill to check out an out-door art installation during Singapore Arts Scene on Friday afternoon. Before that, we, four girls plus ZQ, took a nice walk straight down Victoria Street to Hill Street before adjourning for lunch at Funan. Haha! It was my idea to walk to Vic St to take a bus there, but since we had time, we walked there. Hahaha! What a wonderful journey. Well, I rather take a walk from anywhere to anywhere on a straight road than a vertical path of steps up Fort Canning Hill. It was tiring. Very tiring. Nearly collapsed half-way up there. When I finally reached the top, I was huffing and puffing and feeling the strain in my thigh muscles. I am so unhealthy. Not good, not good. Sigh… We finished the “sight-seeing” within an hour. So, I took the bus and got home by 4pm. How wondrous.

Went textile-shopping with Mother at People’s Park Complex on Sunday afternoon after lunching at Selegie Road. Father drove us there. Mother spent $100 for nine pieces of cloths in one shop alone. Good gracious… Anyway, it was fun looking at all of those cloths; the colours, the patterns, the texture. It felt good. I love colours!!! However, I am not very adventurous with them on me. The standard black, blue and white, with brown being added to the list a few months ago. I am starting to love brown. Yes, your eyes are fine. Not like, but love. Brown is such a natural colour. So earth-y. So Mother Nature-ish. Brown. Sigh…

Charm, Jules, myself, ZQ, WX and LH went to Orchard together today for lunch. Enx was not with us because she was to join her family on a trip to Malaysia after lecture. We headed down to the foodcourt first in Ngee Ann City where Charm and I went a-snacking. Haha! After that, we parted ways, leaving Charm, ZQ and I in Orchard because Charm wanted to buy a pair of shoes from Far East Plaza. Unfortunatly, the shop did not have it. With some help from Charm, I got the presents for Evan, Jem and Wen from there. Actually, she did the choosing for me. Poor ZQ. He was totally bored while waiting for us. Haha! :p We went down to the Heeran to check out the shops and then to HMV to search for Howl’s Moving Castle (Soundtrack). Unfortunatly, they did not have it. Sad, sad… A few minutes after ZQ left for his band teaching, or something like that, Charm and I left for home. However, I did not go home immediately. I walked all the way to the busstop near the intersection of Bras Basah Road and Victoria Street, just outside SMU Admin Building, making a stop at Plaza Singapura, where I bought HP: Goblet of Fire VCD and acrylic paints @ $1 a bottle (cheap!) from Poh Kim Videos and Spotlight respectively. What a tiring walk, not much for my muscles as it was for my feet. When I finally got home, I sat down, to rest my aching feet, drinking lots of cold water as it was another hot day.
The weather here reminds me of a dessert; hot by day, cold by night. I think that there is a serious problem with the weather.

Guess what? I found my ring. The very same ring that Ching bought from New Zealand. Haha! I found it in my Lees pair of off-white three-quarters on Sunday evening. Hahaha! I am happy. At least one of my two birthday wishes came true. The other wish was to get a wrist-rest so that my wrists will be pillowed whenever I typed or use the mouse. I am still waiting very patiently for it. Hahaha!

Well, I better go off now. Will be having history lecture in a couple of hours time. A long day is ahead of me.

Ja!

So many things to write down…

So many things had happened over the past few days. Rather, important and tiring, yet exciting, things had happened over the past three days. How am I put it into words? Hmm… Well, just read the following and you shall find out.

27th Feb, 2006, Monday.
I must practised the Bach’s Invention No. 2 on the xylophone. I must, I must, I must. Or else I will be so dead. Almost like what happened during Western Percussion class. Mr Yeo gave us all a mock-test. All thanks to LH, I was the last one to play otherwise, I could had been the second last. Anyway, just when I was about to play, the Percussion teacher/lecturer or whoever came in as he had a class after us. And he listened. I was shaking as I played. I was actually memorising the piece. Sadly, I lost my concentration a few seconds before Mr Yeo’s mobile-phone rang. After that, I just totally lost it. Mr Yeo then told me to practice and he would test me again the next lesson. How glorious…
Choir test. Dr Goh called out the Year 1 first before testing us, MOE-trainees-to-be, and the brass players. Charm and I were the only Sop. 1s there. Die… And of all pieces and bars he wanted to use to test us, he had to use the “Lamb of God” which has that particular high G that we dislike very much, thank you. We had to sustain that note for 3 whole bars of 4 twice. Sick!!! What was wrong with that man??? The first time we sang it, Charm and I did not manage to hold it well but we managed to get it going during the second part. Sigh… The second piece was “I Believe”. We were tested on the first part of the piece which, fortunately, we did well. In all, we passed. Horrible test…
TCC. Enx and I did something quite “horrible” to Jules and Charm. We “abandoned” them with ZQ and LH. Actually, the four of us, together with ZQ, took up LH’s offer to visit his home. What a laugh! Boy, was he shocked when we showed our enthusiasm. Truthfully, I was not. Anyway, I went with them to the bus-stop and waited. And waited. And waited. After quite a long time, in fact, only 10 minutes had passed, that I started to grumble. And Enx felt the same. Thus, we left them at the bus-stop and headed to TCC to have a drink and get some work done. Ha ha ha. How evil we were. Anyway, the two of us sat there and did our Harmony homework until it was time to return to school for Piano Performance Class.

28th Feb 2006, Tuesday.
Had Harmony lecture in the morning. We went for lunch after that. However, Julia wanted to eat in the foodcourt while Charm and Enx wanted to eat at KFC. So, being the person I am, we split and I joined Julia at the Foodcourt after I went to Cold Storage to buy my lunch; sushi! Yummy… After lunch, Julia went to the hairstylist to get her hair coloured while we walked back towards school. I “sent” Charm off for her Piano study before heading towards the National Library to return the book and to kill time as I was waiting for Evan. I had to wait for about half-hour for the library to open as they had some function the night before. So, I was at the library for almost 2 hours before heading back to Bugis Junction to meet the girl. Did a little shopping on my own before she called. Oh my… I had quite a pleasant surprise to see not only Evan, but also Manda, Jas and Wen. I was so touched. Evan gave me a mobile-phone holder cum doggie soft-toy and that 3 gave me soft-toy lamb which have very big hooves. Tried and proven to be very good for doing the pounding/punching massage. Very good. Tried in on my mother last night. Anyway, I watched them eat at Pasta Mania while opening my presents. That was when Manda showed me the other usage of the lamb. Haha! We parted ways after that. Those 3 went of to Orchard while Evan took the MRT home as she was quite pressed for time.

2nd March, 2006, Thursday.
My birthday. The day I turned 18 years old. And of all days to pick, Mr Yap had to set aside that day for Harmony test. Irritating… Damn. Anyway, my presents started “pouring in” the minute I sat down. Before I could even look at the presents, it was time to start the test. I did hoped and prayed that I would, at the least, passed. After spending 1 & 1/2 hours over that piece of paper, we, Charm, Enx, Jules, ZQ, WX, LH and I, went off to Bugis Junction for lunch at Pasta Mania (there again after only 2 days). Damn! Forgot to get the card… *Smacks forehead… How stupid could I be. Anyway, I paid for the drinks and the lunch first before telling them to pay me back whatever amount they wanted, since I was the one ordering.
Anyway, these were the things they gave me. Charm gave me a cross-pendant with a clover in it, that came with a chain. Enx gave me a set of pink butterflies ear danglies and pendant with an attached chain. Unfortuntely, the chain was quite short. Very sweet looking. I doubt that I would wear it to school but only to dinners and other formal events, or maybe for a church wedding. Jules gave me black mug which has printed treble clef motives around it. (Before I begin, may I remind you, my dear readers, that I am talking about three guys.) The guys gave me two keychains which have my name(s) on them, a A5 yellow notebook and three small cards with each of their messages on each card. How charming… *Sarcastic manner… Jobyna gave me three small boxes of Meiji chocolates and candy, and something that reminds me of chocolate eggs.
Kor messaged me asking what I wanted, and the first thing I said was a school bag. And that was what he, and DaSao, got for me. I actually gave him a list of things, like a Nokia 7360 or a Ericsson 800i, and a wrist-rest. Oh well… *Shrugs… That was my brother. DaSao gave me the bag during dinner at the resturant. Kor then said that I had to wait for my other present, unless I wanted it soon, he would give me a colour picture of it. -.-’ Dots… I guessed that he was refering to the mobilephone. Hahaha! We had chilli crab for dinner and I tell you, I was working damn hard over the crab before I could eat. And when I finally got the meat out of the shell, I was so tired that I hardly had the strength to appreciate the fruits of my labour, so to speak. Instead, I gobbled down the crab meat. When it comes to crabs, yes, I am the sort who likes to keep the best for last. I could not believe that I had turned 18…

3rd March, 2006, Friday.
Jules’ 18th Birthday!!! One day after me. How interesting can life get? I shall get straight to the action, leaving out what we usually do on a friday. So, Jules was holding a party at the Aranda Country Club, which was next door to Downtown East in Pasir Ris, and invited the whole Yr. 1 MOE course and other people from the performing side. Unfortunately, not everyone turned up due to some other arrangements. Anyway, us four girls, with Jos, went to Pasir Ris first as the others still had other lessons to attend. There we met Jules’ parents and Grandma. There were two bedrooms with attached bathrooms. We took one as our own. For NAFA only. Charm and Enx hit the bed early as I sat outside watching Kids Central. *LOLs… LH and ZQ arrived first without WX as the latter went home to put down his stuff. He stayed nearby, in Pasir Ris. Jules’ church friends arrived about half hour after we did. When we had dinner, there was only the usual group of us, including Jos, from NAFA. Sadly, Enx had to go home soon after Jules cut her $88 cake. WX accompanied her to the bus stop as the only bus she could travel home in was just outside where he stayed. When we finally realised that those two were not around, Char said that they secretly went off to the beach together on the pretext of him walking her to the bus stop. And because she said it in such a serious manner, I really fell for it! Oh my… I so could not believe myself… AHHH!!! Jos went home some minutes after they did. YR and WK came later, followed by FRil and FRul, who were followed by Iv, who is from Yr. 2 Performing. Thus left 3 girls and a bunch of lunatics who called themselves “Guys”. Sigh…
All I can say about that evening is that we did a lot of singing. And a lot of laughing. So much that by the time it got to midnight, my voice felt as if it was going away. Far, far away for a very, very long time… Yes. As I was saying… We did a lot of lame stuff that caused us to laugh a lot. ZQ kept on taupok-ing LH whenever he got the chance to do so.
Char and I made LH sad. We insisted that he should stay the night. Then he answered a call, speaking in Mandarin, he said that we did not allow him to leave. Something happened which I was quite fuzzy over but one thing was for sure, the moment he gained his “freedom”, he said to us both, “Did you really think that was a phone call?”, I snapped, and so did Char. The end result, the two of us were hot on his heels, with me shouting out, “You stupid idiot!”. Jules’ church friend stared at us both, as if we were some freak-whirlwind. Anyway, when he got out, I grabbed the oppertunity and took his shoes hostage in “our” bathroom. Somebody passed to me his bag, too. Haha! He begged us to let him go. Well, not the grovelling-on-the-knees kind of beg but something like that while standing up. Truthfully, I felt bad for him. It was as if he was forced to stay against his will. I know that kind of feeling. So, the poor boy went to sleep early. During that one hour or so that he slept, ZQ, YR, Char and I went walking to the beach. It was a nice and windy walk. However, I was feeling very sticky. By the time we sat down at some stools, I was already dozing off. We got back to the room at about a few minutes past 2am. Charm went to bathe first while I sat in the chair, listening to LH (he was awake yet lying down in a whole new position since the last time I saw him) and someone else (sorry, can not remember who that “someone else” was) talking, sometimes adding to the conversation, at times laughing like some silly-nilly even though I did not drink a lot of wine. It must be the atmosphere, not the intoxication. Anyway, I felt as if Char was taking a long time in the bathroom, even though she was brushing her teeth too. When I was finally cleaned, I sat in my chair, listen to the light chatter and the occasional singing, and I dozed off. During the night/early morning, I moved from the chair to the hard platform because it was freezing and I needed the blanket, before lying down on the platform because it was much comfortable than sleeping cross-legged. And there we were, 3 girls and 5 guys sleeping in one room. No definite sleeping “area” whatsoever. Tut tut tut. Whatever it was, I was the second last to wake up in the morning. I admit, I slept quite well.
Soon after we woke up, the whole lot of us “checked-out” at about the same time. I took the bus home from the interchange instead of just outside the chalet because I did not know that the bus would past by that place. Oh well… I dozed on the journey home. A good thing I woke up when the bus was near Eunos MRT otherwise I would had missed my stop.

So, that was really a fun day. And night. But very tiring. Oh well… That is what will happen when one only has about 3 hours of sleep. Hahaha! Will I want to go through something like this again? Hmm… Maybe. Who knows!

Au’revoir!