trifles light as air...: Jubilate II

I'll post more photos soon when I get them..Meanwhile, I shall just jot down everything that happened during the Choir trip. I did this entry in 2 days as there were really too many things to blog about so, be prepared to read it for a long time (unless of course you don't want to). The details are more for future individual reading pleasure, that's why.

Day 1:
Met in School at around 7am...Sherlyn was so sweet! She came down all the way before going to work just to send us off! She's the best man!
Had Ramly Burger at Yong Peng which was not as good as expected. Surprisingly, we saw Guan Cheng there too. Apparently he was on his way to Malacca too with his friends but he'll be at Hotel Equatorial, according to some people.

Dropped by at "Jusco", one of the Malacca malls and had lunch at "Sushi King"...wanted to order a set meal but ended up taking Sushi from the conveyor belt!

Reached "Watercity Resort" in the afternoon. Frankly speaking, I thought that it would look better than what I saw. Some of the names of places were quite misleading cos the nicer the name, the suckier the place [according to my theory] For example, there was this area called "Sandy Beach" and it turned out that it was only a pit filled with sand! Worse still, there were many "Sandy Beaches!" [Sandy Beach 1,2..]
Like what I said about the apartments before, Ai Ping and I got a single room with a good view. Generally, the resort was quite dusty cos Shannon and a few others kept sneezing and their throats were starting to itch...Emily's cold got worse too...

Our first session was with Dr Wong Su San, the clinician from Singapore. She focused more on voice techniques which I found quite useful and her energy was quite contagious. [that's what I felt]

After dinner, we attended the "A Timeless Noel" Concert. For this concert, we chose not to perform so we sang along with the Choirs that performed. Nelson surprised most of us with the outfit he was wearing. He was wearing a normal suit with a checkered scarf and a winter cap (or something along that line!) but it looked good on him. Mr.Low looked good too. He was dressed in a white coat and black shirt underneath and with his hair all spiked up. When he passed us, we were like giving second looks! (Ok,that sounded wrong!)
We decided to adopt a theme for the Choir. Joanne and Olivia made halos for the girls while the guys reused the Santa Hats that the Choir previously wore. (Of course there were some girls who swapped their halos for the Santa hats and guys who exchanged their hats for halos!) This was accompanied by our black top and denim bottom. [pictures soon I promise!]

After that, Mimi, Charlie Brown, Eugene, Shannon, Ai Ping and I had a bitching session and we talked from 9 plus all the way till 2 plus upon which I slept in Shannon and Mimi's room. [Ai Ping slept halfway though] The others were either busy playing mahjong or cards...no water activity allowed (not that they were exciting too), short breaks, intense workshops and practices...this was the life man...

Day 2:
Breakfast was Ok but it remained the same for the other days (rice,kway teow,sausages,porridge). As we were still worn out from last night's chatting, Mimi,Ai Ping and I went to Mimi's room to sleep before going for Mr.Low's practice.
Today's session will be with Mr.Joshua Habermann from the USA. [he was such a charming guy!] He went through diction and pronunciation of "Quam Iuvat" which we seriously needed cos the Latin accent is different from the American and Chinese accent. Mr.Low had a practice with us again straight after Mr.Habermann's workshop in preparation of tonight's performance where we'll be showcasing our folksongs. The seniors who came for this trip will also be performing for this concert.

After such a long time of practice, we went to "Jusco" to shop again. As Zhiyi and I haven't got the cake and gift for Olivia's birthday which was the next day, we decided to make full use of this trip. As Zhiyi was with Olivia during the shopping trip, Shannon and I went to "Secret Recipe" to get the cake instead. As I thought it was gonna be a mini celebration among us and Olivia, I decided to get one slice of Chocolate Cake. After walking for quite awhile, we saw a super glam mug that we knew Olivia would take a liking to. The mug had words of countries like Milan, New York, Paris (countries known for fashion) and there were girls wearing supposedly fashionable clothes on the mug as well. Didn't really get much for myself, only a few clips from an accessories shop.

Back at the resort, we skipped dinner to save more time and got ready for tonight's "Colours of the World" concert. The outfit was the same as the one we wore for Panorama except that the guys tied their scarves around their waist (like a sarong or something like that!) Warmups with Mr.Low followed after which we headed to the "Grand Ballroom" (don't be fooled by the name again!) for the concert. Catholic High School's item was great, really surprised that there are guys who can sing equivalent to a typical Soprano's range! Bowen Secondary went off-key though. I think for our school, we did great tonight partially due to the choreography for Sinten. [we got the wildest applause!] But of course there were flaws along the way such as us rushing through the songs due to our nervousness. We did "Wak Wak Gung" too. Nevertheless, I think we pulled it off quite well. Charlie Brown took us on a "mini excursion" to view the different "Sandy Beaches" after that. We snacked a little before we slept. Everyone had an early curfew that night so that we would have enough energy for the following night's SYF Showcase.

Day 3:
I have to say that we slept well. After breakfast, we surprised Olivia in our room. We decided to do it early cos I realised that Joanne ordered a cake compared to our miserable slice from the resort's coffeehouse. It would be quite weird to celebrate her birthday after the celebration on Joanne's side. Anyways, Mimi went to Olivia's room to lure her to our room. Mimi told her that her camera wasn't working and that Olivia should go to my room to fix it. Olivia, ever so vigilant, asked her why she couldn't bring it to Olivia's room instead and that got Mimi stunned for a few seconds. I don't know what Mimi said but meanwhile, Shannon, Ai Ping and I were in my room and we were busy thinking how to surprise her. We decided to leave the cake in the cupboard, which was empty and get her to open it. So when Mimi and Olivia finally entered our room, we pretended that we were busy packing (hmm, or at least I pretended) and I told Olivia to help me get something from the cupboard. She was 100% surprised by that slice of cake man! It really caught her off guard and you should have seen that look on her face!! hahaha!! As usual, we sang Happy Birthday and presented her the mug which she said was nice and that she liked it. When she left, Shannon remembered that she thought she saw the price tag under the mug but I told her I tore it off the box. As a "safety precaution", I raced after Olivia to check the present. When I asked her to give me the present for a short while, my expression betrayed me and she knew what I was after. So, she refused to give it to me until someone came to help me. Olivia kept on shouting "the price tag is still there right?" Despite the stupid blunder I made, I was happy that I could make her happy cos she told us that her parents have not wished her yet.

We had combined practice on a verandah after that and headed for lunch. Initially, Ai Ping,Shannon and I ordered Room Service together with the people in Olivia's apartment but they said that they would take a long time so we headed to the usual venue for lunch. Slept for a while after that (see how tired and bored we were!) before heading to Weilin's room for sectionals. Had combined practice with Mr.Low at a shady KTV Lounge located within the resort, [you should have seen the pictures of girls posing suggestively and you should have heard the reactions of the guys!] Felt so tired after that that Ai Ping and I skipped dinner to sleep and bathe and get ready for tonight's performance.
Had a last practice with Mr.Low before heading to the Ballroom for the SYF Concert. I think our pontianak-looking gown was the worst among the schools present there. AJC's and VJC's gowns were nice. The latter's look like a bridesmaid's gown! VJC was good as usual. They could turn the most boring piece of music to one of emotion and feeling.Overall, most of the schools improved a little but our item was screwed up. Our "Quam Iuvat" was Ok but it lacked emotion and our "Dokin Dokin" did not sound as good as when we were practising with Mr.Low. Through these two nights of performance, I found the Choir's weak spot: It wasn't due to laziness that we did not meet expectations, neither was it due to us not being capable to do the pieces well but it was due to our nervousness and stage fright in front of an audience. Everyone commented that they were so nervous that they didn't pay attention to the song's dynamics and emotion.
After everyone performed, the 3 clinicians gave their general comments and Nelson closed the festival. It was quite obvious that we were all so demoralised but the night was still young and there were other things that required our attention.
We gathered in Prem's apartment for a meeting with Mrs.Koh and Mr.Tan. Mr Low popped by and gave comments on our performance. Surprisingly he said that we did Ok but of course we could do better. This was when the fun started. The lights were dimmed and 2 birthday cakes were brought out accompanied by us singing Happy Birthday in one breath [in accordance to what Dr.Wong taught us]. Apparently, it was also Philip's birthday so both Olivia and Philip got a cake each. Our tour guide dropped by to say that Olivia's mother called to wish her. She told Olivia that her mother was worried about her and that made Olivia happy again. We made so much noise that 2 residents came and complained cos some of us were smashing bits of cake on each other and others were popping party poppers and bursting balloons. (imagine about 40 plus people crammed in an apartment creating such a ruckus!) The whole place smelt of cake after that and a few of us stayed back to clean up.Surprisingly, Seng Keat and George helped out too, not that George did a lot though. He took his place near the cakes and started giving out mouthfuls of cake to his "servants" while blessing them with his "GuanYinMa Stick" which was actually a slightly deflated balloon attached on a stick with bits of leftover string from the party poppers dangled on it.

Had another bitching session in my room with Shannon, Eugene,Ai Ping, Mimi and Charlie Brown. Kok Kok dropped by halfway after Mahjong. After Ai Ping and I slept at 2am, the rest of them went to Olivia's room where Shannon taped what happened at the "Grand Finals." (inside joke!)

Day 4:

This was the day we have all been waiting for-the day where we left the place for good! As you have read so far, we didn't do much since the first day except for the few excitements here and there. I bet you, who is reading this, would have already been bored to tears! After breakfast, we packed and gathered at the lobby where we waited donkey years for our coach to pick us up.Stopped over at "Tan Kim Hock" to do some shopping. I got some goodies for Aunty Naoko and her family cos she was so nice! She faxed the Japanese translation of "Dokin Dokin" to the resort after hearing that I needed it urgently the night before. Also,some for Cuiwen, Joan,Sze Yee,Sochenda,Rhyss,Samantha,Charlene and a few others. Zhiyi and I shared the Coconut Chendol there which was not up to standard but due to me being thirsty, I ate most of it.

After that was "Mahkota" for more shopping. Didn't really shop much there cos what they have there we could get in Singapore (the shops were the same) However, I tried "Baskin' Robbins" which was highly recommended by Emily and Shannon. It costs RM 9.50 cos the guy didn't tell me that if we added toppings, we would have to pay more. Mimi, Ai Ping, George,Tulip, Emily and I tried some massage chairs on display. Shiok man!!! [especially the one where they squeezed your calves until your blood circulation stopped!]

After that, the 10 of us:Ai Ping, Mimi,George,Tulip, Kok Kok,Charlie Brown,Emily,Shannon,Eugene and I headed to Pizza Hut for lunch. Pizza Hut in Malaysia is way cheaper than in Singapore. We ordered a "meal for 6" and a "meal for 4" which consists of roughly 4 pizzas, one with stuffed crust, 11 bowls of soup,plus 3 jugs of Pepsi for around RM 126 plus! Anyways, one of the waiters made a mistake and served pizza to the wrong recipient. We assumed it was ours cos we ordered so many pizzas that we were not sure how each of them looked like. He took it all back after we have already served everyone on our table!
Stopped over at 2 Yong Peng locations cos apparently the driver went to the wrong Yong Peng stop the first time. Did some last minute shopping and reached sunny Singapore at around 6 plus where Jillian, Mr Koh and Kenny welcomed us at the school bus stop. Jillian lost a lot of weight man! The dengue fever really took its toll on her I guess. Went back with Zhiyi and reached home and had dinner with my family. Singapore's mixed vegetable rice never tasted so good!