10th June 2007: "D" for Vietnam!

OK people, this is gonna be a very routine post and I'm recording it all down for my future reference so be prepared...

Seriously, if all of us carried on with Mimi's plan for Duc, it would have been the worst birthday of his life but she was merciful. :P
Oh man....seriously, I don't mind having another sleepover at Mimi's house with all of them again!! (except that we should do it on a day where everyone would be free of lessons the following day 'cos Mimi, Ai Ping and I almost slept through the whole Lit Lecture the next day!)


First on the agenda for Duc's birthday was the Amazing Race. Duc wasn't suppose to know which one of us were at which station so we had to hide from him while he does what he is supposed to do. So after Duc completed his task at Bedok Corner which was to ride a toy horse (you know, those rides where you have to pay 10 cents, except that this one doesn't stop!), spank the horse's butt, take a photo of himself doing that and bluetooth it to Charlie Brown and Arron (who will be hiding nearby), he had to travel to Eastpoint, according to the clue that the previous station masters gave him, and take a photo of himself with a packet of condoms at NTUC Fairprice. Ai Ping and I (together with Jerome) waited AGES for him to turn up and we were hiding behind the placards and advertisements at the OCBC outlet nearby. When Duc finally arrived, he walked around aimlessly for 5429856435 years before Jerome had to "bump into him coincidentally" to help him locate where the condoms were (...)

while waiting for Duc to clear Pet Safari...

While Duc moved on to Pet Safari to take a photo of himself with some cats' toys, the 3 of us decided to head to KFC for a breather. All this while, we managed to keep our identity unknown and it almost failed when Jerome suddenly remembered that he told Duc that Charlie Brown is at KFC! Immediately after he said that, we saw Duc walking towards us and we panicked...HAHAHA! My first instinct was to seek refuge in the KFC girls' toilet while Ai Ping and Jerome ran of to God-knows-where. Thank God he didn't see us! :D:D

Only after I messaged Duc to go to Parkway Parade, where Eugene and Mimi would be waiting, to find his birthday kueh, did Ai Ping and I finally breathed a sigh of relief...'never knew it could be so tiring to monitor someone's movements while hiding!

By the time both of us reached Mimi's house, it was around 7 plus at night and Duc was still not done with his station yet (...). Olivia and Matthew were there since 4pm. For the finale of the Amazing Race, all of us (Charlie Brown, Arron,Mimi, Eugene, Olivia, Matthew, Ai Ping and I) gathered at the multi-storey carpark nearby to watch Duc pole dance at the basketball court. Erm,let's just say he did it with much gusto....heh heh...

Had Tom Yam Steamboat/BBQ prepared by Mimi's family member. Super shiok man! Hmm....wait 'till you see the photos! However, it was quite anticlimax when the glass table,holding the steamboat and everything else,gave way and we had to clean up all the glass fragments and food remains. (Thank God this happened after we have eaten man...)

Then we made Duc do a fashion show to the tune of "Barney" in his Red FBT (which was our present to him!), wearing Mimi's flats and a hula-hoop dance to "Powerpuff Girls" followed by what was supposed to be a sensual dance with the dining chair table to "Sexyback" (yeah...) SUPER FUNNY!!! We were all on our knees,laughing and begging him to stop!!!

Next was the standard birthday cake ceremony and the presenting of the gifts: G2000 shirts, keychain that vibrates, red FBTs,slippers, hula hoop...


Examining the birthday cake...

Unrevealed 'till photo is taken

Photo says it all...

Duc with his presents!




After Matthew, Arron and Eugene left ('cos they couldn't sleep over), we watched "Without a Paddle" and "Little Britain". Halfway through "Little Britain", my eyelids were getting heavier and heavier and within seconds, I knocked off. I was not the worse 'cos Duc retired after the first movie and Ai Ping was next after a while. Charlie Brown, Mimi and Olivia stayed up to paint Duc's toenails (part of the agenda!). Last person to sleep was Mimi (half an hour before we had to wake up!)

Best part was when Duc woke up to the sight of his toenails all painted a pretty pink! HAHAHA!!! Still, he was sporting enough to let us do makeup on his face after that! (He really looks like a transvestite man!)

"What?!?! You painted my toenails?!!"

adding the final touches...

'Off to Lit Lecture after that. I really tried VERY hard to stay awake...but it was all worth it. :D

'Was thinking about Choir again recently and Ai Ping and I agreed that it was one of the best decisions we ever made...the friendships forged during this period was more than I could ask for and the Juniors (Well, some of them...) are really nice. Speaking of which, I have to mention that Arron is really nice 'cos he gave all of us bookmarks from Mini toons that night, which was really unexpected!

Sometimes I wished that I had the capacity to live throughout the day without having to sleep totally. Of course,sleeping is a luxury that many people yearn for especially in these stressful ages but when it comes to a point when you just wanna get things done in a limited amount of time, it is not desired at all.


Now that I'm finally settling down for the arduous preparation for A Levels, the flesh is willing but the soul is weak. The sleep debts that I have incurred from the past few months are paying their dues. Although it's good that this doesn't occur during the 3rd and subsequent quarters of this year, I have to admit that it's rather frustrating especially when you've already prepared yourself mentally to endure the late nights, and when you're really trying your best to focus during the extra lessons and remedials these few days.



I have to add that even in my zombie state, I managed to "update" myself on information that I have missed during the first 5 months of this year...On a slightly more optimistic note, Lit consultation with Lorraine Lee was more productive than I expected. We managed to cover more than 3/4 of the Practice Questions for Poe and we did a little bit of poetry comparison. It's like a mini-crashcourse on Lit albeit a rather enjoyable one cos it made me all fired up for Lit again =)


And just when I'm immersed in this "literature" mode, Debrina had to introduce me to this music video by Panic! at the Disco. Many underlying messages and classy [and appropriate!] gestures by the lead singer:


http://youtube.com/watch?v=vc6vs-l5dkc


San Yi just called from home. Had a much-needed heart-to-heart talk for about an hour. Guess I have to face it before it's too late. It's hard to please everyone so, the moral of the story is: Don't even try. It's simpler to make the One Above happy :)



O2 Jam rocks! [even though I'm ranked the lowest among me and my siblings] But I'm not complaining. I'm just "inadequate in the coordination of motor skills", to put things in a nicer way :D

Photos...

From Geraldine's blog:stoning during econs class (I wonder why...)

At Mimi's sister's birthday BBQ




ALTO 2s!



Photos from Parents' Appreciation Night @ FCBC:

The epitome of true love

My brother's impish grin fails to capture Mum's heart :P
Mum and Gong Gong

30th May:Our Swansong

Choir Concert has ended and so has my journey with tpjchoir. Now that I am free from all Choir practices,rehearsals and whatnot, somehow I 'm beginning to miss it. Well, one can never understand human nature totally...we start to cherish what we dread after it is over...sigh...

Concert was a blast! Seriously...I felt that everyone really put in a lot of effort in memorising the 20 over songs and that the whole stagefright nonsense was gone! I guess we really proved to a whole lot of people that an SYF judging doesn't determine the standard of a Choir totally. Although some songs were really quite horrible such as the 2 songs by the J2 Chorus (seriously wasted man cos we sounded fine during rehearsals), others were OK! I'm sure the audience enjoyed the 2 Indonesian songs A LOT! =)



Sinten Nungung Sepur!

Sin Sin Si batu manikam dipat joget Sor madi gotem.......

Pong! Pong! Pong! Pong!

"dang tu tu na uli!"








J2 Chorus: More than I could ask for...

Folklore segment

The alumni item was better than expected although someone commented that our sound did not travel far enough for the back row of VCH to hear properly...Thank God we did not screw up cos during rehearsals that afternoon, the Choreo wasn't confirmed yet. Initially we wanted to do a Dikir Barat rendition of "Stand by Me" but if we did, the sound would be compromised...nevertheless, it was good...


practising during rehearsals...




Dikir Barat done the Choir way!







Rehearsals...





Really extremely glad that everything's over now: no more rushing in between concert repertoire to change into costumes, no more worrying about whether we sound good or not....haha!






THE FULL FORCE

Combined item with AJChoir really shook VCH man! Hahahaha! Could seriously feel the emotions...Moreover, it helps when Nelson is only a few inches close to you!

tpjchoir + ajchoir

Post-Choir moments were simply chaos...it felt like a riot onstage especially when the VCH Staff kept creating intentional blackouts just so that we could vacate the premises quickly...

ALTOS!

Emogang crashing in!



=)

'Will always remember the people that went through this arduous but enjoyable journey with me. These are just SOME of them though:

Aunty Zhiyi!



Duc!
Ai Ping (and since Charlie Brown's in the picture), Charlie Brown!



Dixon!

Olivia Kammm!!!

The Sopranos + Ai Ping and me




Louis the Bosom Buddy!

Seng Juong!

Sochenda!!!! You're the best! =)

And not forgetting the people who came to support me:

Chen Cuiwen and Fan Cuiwen

Thanks Cuiwens!!! Chen Cuiwen, COCO Concert next! Fan, seriously,I know I've said this countless times but thanks for rushing from your triathlon training just to support me! I couldn't ask for more! * sobs sobs*

Also, Bertwin who came despite being broke and who bought Chocolates for Ai Ping and me...argh!!! Really don't know what to say man!

Not forgetting Maggie which was very unexpected. Thanks for the Toblerone! =)

And also Nat and Ruth for coming....sorry that you couldn't find me backstage and all but thanks for the flower (now withered) and the Merci Chocolates (now in Nat's stomach!)

Who could ever forget my family: my mum for coming even though she doesn't appreciate Choral music, my sister for putting in so much effort in dressing up for the event and my second aunt for getting the bouquet of expensive-looking roses. Also, a show of appreciation to third aunt who tried to make it but couldn't because of her business trip.

Oh ya! Also to Dad who decided to show moral support and not attend cos 10 bucks was worth more than his daughter...

Also thanks to Jillian for the rose, Luke for the bouquet,and the Cuiwens for the assortment of Chocolates and Sweets, Baozhu for the flower, Winnie for the toy and Sher Chua for the rose (!!!)

Special thanks to Mimi who made the beautiful scrapbook and Olivia for her finger puppet pencil as well as Weilin for that touching card....

Oh man...really wished this could last forever....haha!

Now you know why I had such a hard time deciding for the Pattaya trip....Sigh,back to reality for now...A Levels......argh...

Overdue photos...


Sports Day

Othello @ NYJC

Rachel !




While waiting for more than half an hour for the bus

Concert coming up soon....I've sold all my tickets, thanks partly to Evatte and all those who bought from me! =)

Nelson was in a foul mood today 'cos only half the Choir reached Siglap at the stipulated time. As such, Choir with Nelson today was rather stiff and awkward. 'Was feeling really exhausted today (ran out of words to describe tiredness...heh heh) to the point that I made more mistakes than before with regards to Choreography...even during "Ta Xue Xun Mei", I couldn't remember my part...sigh...

On the way to practice today, we met with another incident similar to that of City Hall MRT Station. Charlie Brown,Sochenda,Ai Ping,Duc,Seng Keat and I were on bus 10 to Siglap. If I'm not wrong, Duc was drinking from his bottle when a passenger turned to Charlie Brown and asked him whether we were from TPJC. He asked Charlie Brown why he didn't stop Duc from drinking on the bus 'cos it was against the law. Charlie Brown then replied that he didn't see him drinking and that even if he did, he may be just drinking plain water. After that, the passenger turned to his friend and told him that he would make a complaint about it. (.......)

This is really ridiculous...

GP Test today was OK except for the Summary in Comprehension which affected my AQ. Anyway, what's done is done. Not gonna think so much about it.

Argh..anyway, today's entry is rather shallow 'cos I'm typing this while trying my best to remain awake...

22nd May 2007

This is becoming really draining...I really wish that Choir Concert would come and go quickly. Seriously, everyday this week (week 10) is just a vicious cycle. It's as if the intent behind all these is to anticipate the day when your body just can't take it anymore and collapse or something.
Anyway, after the internal struggle between me and myself, I've finally decided not to go for the Pattaya trip. It's not that I really don't want to go or, according to Nelson's viewpoint, that I hate TPJChoir, but that my studies call for my attention.
NUS Psychology seems like a far-fetched idea for now...

OK, I'm not going to start moaning about the standard of my schoolwork and tests now 'cos it would demoralize me further.
For all the opportunity costs incurred such as lagging behind in the area of academics and whatnot, we get to sing with confidence (a debatable point here I must say) without holding scores, together with choreography and hopefully, dynamics and emotions (though I seriously believe that the emotion that we can express involuntarily now is exhaustion.)
And I realized that practices everyday is really making me go insane to the point where I exhibit extreme emotions such as isolation from current society (Lit students, revision for Poe stories, please.)
My anti-social tendencies are coming into full swing again. It's not that I don't want to but I can't help it: I'm already so deadbeat that even if I say anything, it wouldn't be that useful anyway. It's like it becomes increasingly hard to even smile genuinely when someone tells a joke or show empathy (much less give advice) to a friend who shares her troubles with you. Every little thing irritates me. The mood swings are so common that people are starting to link it to my personality (or so I feel). Argh...I feel superficial. And I can't even act like my normal self.
Ok, I'm sounding like how I should sound for my age: ever the angsty, emotional teen.

Choreography for “Sin Sin” wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. The difficulty doesn't lie with coming up with the actions itself but whether the Choir would be sporty enough to actually perform it. I mean it really wasn't easy for Sochenda, George and Seng Juong, plus many others who have helped out in the brainstorming of actions, to come up with the choreography and I believe they are doing it with the Choir's interests at heart so, we should really just be agreeable to what they have proposed, unless of course we have better ideas upon which we can suggest...
Speaking of “Sin Sin”, it's the only song I look forward to in Choir now. Hmm, then again it's the Choir's all-time favourite song. Ok, maybe “Ja vem Primavera” and “Vita de la mia Vita” aren't too bad either. It's just that singing “Sin Sin” itself is a challenge (initially) due to the tongue-twisters that make up 99.9999% of the song! And although I've said it many times, the Basses get the nicest part of the song! Nevertheless, at least we get to perform it. =)
“Sin Sin Si Batu Manikam dipat joget sor mardi gotem...”