agnes wans to see tis on my blog

and she's getting her wish...

two entries in a day... because i'm FREE from marking (only from marking... not done with admin monstrous stuff yet)


THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
1. xueting
2. princess ting
3. sheryl ting

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD:

1. bLuE gIrAfFe
2. Princess Ting
3. cHeRaFfe@wOrK

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. My height (used to dislike it sometimes, but with a tall bf, love it!!)
2. My skinny top body (people think i'm slim because of that. hek hek)
3. My lankiness
Oh i like my eyes too... and... and... and....

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU DON’T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. My shortsightedess (which has been corrected by lasik)
2. My crooked teeth (which is now being worked by braces)
3. My long second toes

THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:
1. Dialect grp: fuqing (not father in mandarin. fuqing, near fuzhou)
2. ang-zhao chicken
3. paternal grand-dad (from china), dad (from malaysia). Maternal grand-dad (from china i tink??), maternal grandma (malay, i tink??), mom (local bred)

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
1. Monotony
2. Very loud sounds
3. Horror shows

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
1. Motorola V3 Razor Mobile
2. Tiny toothbrush meant for braces
3. bible (i try to make it EVERYDAY essentials)

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING NOW:
1. some sphagetti turquoise top with a bitta lace
2. draw string long cotton pants
3. undergarments lah!

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS OR MUSICAL ARTISTS:
1. Chick Corea
2. Stan Gertz
3. Dave Brubeck

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS (RIGHT NOW):
1. My Funny Valentine
2. Cheek to Cheek
3. Misty

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP:
1. Sincerity
2. Unconditional love
3. Fun!

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE PREFERRED SEX THAT APPEAL TO YOU:

1. Shoulders
2. Height
3. Voice

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:
1. Music - listening, jamming, performing (does this count as three?)
2. food
3. traveling

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:
1. Eat PROPER food (reads: eat FOOD THAT IS NOT LIQUID)
2. Have the braces REMOVED
3. Go on a vacation

THREE CAREERS YOU’RE CONSIDERING/YOU’VE CONSIDERED:
1. lounge pianist
2. humanitarian aid worker
3. journalism

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
1. Africa
2. Latin America
3. Anywhere with awesome diving

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
1. make music
2. make a positive difference in the world!!
3. travel the world

THREE WAYS THAT YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY A GIRL:

1. i like shoes
2. i love chocolates
3. i'm obsessed over pretty things (bring on the flowers, the blings, ...)

THREE WAYS THAT YOU ARE NOT STEREOTYPICALLY A GIRL:
1. i'm far from demure
2. i can rough it out travelling to atypical places and tahan stuff many gals cant
3. i hardly paint my nails (too much work, time, and harlow, i play the piano, no point)

THREE PEOPLE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE TAKE THIS QUIZ NOW:

1. hazelin idayu (but she's too busy for it)
2. corinna yap (but she's not patient enuff, unless i sit beside her to do it, just like when we do silly online tests)
3. my dearest farmer!! (but he's not into it either)

finally some updates!!

couple of weeks ago, agnes asked if tis blog was still alive... ha ha... i'm trying to keep it alive!! been working on many different stuff, plus updating one's status on FB is usually much easier.. ha ha... but its time to write... so when i wanna look back.. there's something.. :) so here are the few things tt's been 'bothering' or keeping me busy for the past month!

1. BRACES
i just went for a dental appt on monday. its horrid. they added some rings onto my molars. but unlike farmer's, they added cement!! so the rings are really huge.. so on the outer side, my inner cheeks are getting ulcers.. and on the inner side, my tounge is getting cut... i'm as miserable as when i first put on the braces. eating is tougher than then. earlier, i cld still use my tongue to mash soft food (cakes, for e.g.) up the roof of my mouth... now... when i do that, the abrasion on the tongue... eeks... it hurts even to drink water.. :( so today's menu is:
Breakfast: 1 slice of cake (40mins to finish) and a glass of milk
Lunch: maggi instant porridge
Dinner: steamed egg, mushroom soup and some porridge from Republic
i miss FOOD!!!

2. living out my dream!!
last week, i was busy marking. But in the midst of the marking, i managed to play accompaniment for a girl doing MEP prelims AND for a wedding dinner at St. Regis on Saturday!! my first decently paid performance!! ha ha... now working out the possibility of performing in hanoi for three months in a hotel!! :D not sure whether it'll work out... but as I told Abba 'its YOUR call...'

3. marking, marking, keying in marks
today i saw ping online. he's back in sch teaching, and made a comment tt i'd prolly hv forgotten that feeling. NO WAY!! for the past two weeks.. i MARKED AND MARKED... 100+ REPORTs... its no kidding.. and today, i went back to SP and spent hours keying in the marks. Still have to go back tmrw for the checking of marks, etc. Hope to get it done by tmrw, if not hv to go back on fri.. eeks!!

meanwhile, teaching geog tuition, maths tuition, pop piano, classical piano, and preparing for another performance at the hospital next fri with JJ.... oh.. and i just got roped into the citychase thing on sat... who says a freelancer is free? We are BUSY BUSY BUSY!!!

crazy week....

its been such a harsh crash of activities that its been crazy!!

other than the gig, i had extra hours of teaching tis wk because of makeup classes... so here's how the crazy week was like starting mon:

mon
9 - 11 Geog tuition
11 - 1 Dental appt for braces
7 - 11 Jam for gig

Tues
left my place at 6 plus for sch
8 - 4 Classes (NO BREAK!)
7 - almost 12am Jam for gig

Wed
left my place at 8 plus for sch
10 - 5 Classes (NO BREAK!)
5+ - 10 Soundcheck, Gig, go home

Thurs
1 - 5 Classes
6 - 10 Soundcheck, gig, hang out a bit.. go home..

THe crazy bits are basically mon nites onwards... suddenly i was very 'free' today i got bored! ha ha (but only because i dun wanna do my work in order to chill a little). i actually cleaned up my room quite a bit.. so am very pleased with it...

dun noe how i survived the week... but thank GOd i did.. only with His strength.. and elvis helped a lot by being my personal 'chauffeur'... where to find.. hai...

LIGHTly SALTed's debut!!

its been an incredible day. i taught from 10am - 5pm... and rushed to the liulian for the performance. some hiccups.. but thankfully the management was kind enough to extend some leeway...

the 'excitement' lvl was raised at abt 3pm, when elvis informed me that LIGHTly SALTed is on the LIULIAN's website!! WOW!! and the kewl thing is... i thot the "God-inspired music enthusiasts" section was taken off the bios... but in the end it wasn't! perhaps an oversight, but i tink its divine-appointed! :)

the next 'excitement' lvl (more like stress level) was raised when the members cldn't make the timing for sound check.

and one kewl thing i realize is... when i was referred to the liulian for performance, i thot the person went to my website to check out my audio. but actually she happened to be at my Painting, with Love gig at TTSH in jun... wow...

finally, the performance. there were quite a bit of hiccups. but for the fact that we are really working tog for the first time, plus we were trying to get use to the sound system, i tink we pulled it off decent.

wanna thank peeps who came down to support us, fel, hemdi, JJ, mom, dad, elvis, colin, magdelene (my new colleague in SP!), denise... i really din expect such a big 'support grp'... but i'm really grateful.

i gave out THREE name cards. ha ha.. big deal.. ha ha... one to a music director of a prison ministry, one to a folk teaching opera in wuhan conservatory of music hving a vacation in sg, and one to a mysterious someone who got my namecard thro elvis thro the mgmt. and there was this guy who took my pic.. it feels strange... ha ha...

i thank GOd that during the past two weeks of frustrations, when i was giving up, there were pple who rooted for me, and reminded me that it was my dream to play music for others to hear to glorify God, and that it is something that i shld enjoy... rather than get so stressed over...

one more night tmrw... but, only after 4 teaching hours.. ha ha

an article i wrote for marianne abt a week ago on Music and the Bible

but this article is more on my musical journey with God... how much will be editted and cut out for her article is another thing.. ha ha... anywayz.. here's my writeout:

A Journey In Music With Abba

My encounter with music I believe is His calling in my life. Getting musically trained in itself is always something I consider to be a miracle. My family’s financial status did not make it natural for me to learn a musical instrument, especially the piano, a prestigious instrument in the 1980s. My elder sister bugged my parents for a piano. And finally they relented, and purchased an old second hand piano. I did not dare ask to learn, since I was never the ‘achiever’ or ‘ambitious’ sort. My journey started with tinkling on the piano the melodies from soap dramas on the TV. That prompted my parents to encourage me to take up piano lessons (which I declined in the beginning fearing failure) and that was how it all started.

Compared to my peers taking music lessons, I started late. But that did not stop God from putting me in the position of being the school pianist in secondary school. Over time, I progressed to playing for youth services and now church main services. I was also a school music teacher and now teaching some private piano lessons. Whenever opportunities arise, I also conduct basic music and worship dynamics sessions in other countries. Currently, I’m pursuing a career in music, if the Lord wills.

While all the above seems very ‘technical’, a ‘flowchart’ of my ‘progress’ or resume in music services, underlying the actions are what the Lord has impressed upon me about how He uses music to bless me, to bless others and over and above, bless His name.

How others are blessed from music

There are many ways music affect people. We have often heard about the effects of music on one’s learning (e.g. Mozart effect), on one’s health, etc. There is a reason for this. It was mentioned that

“beyond its capacity to entertain and enrich, music gives structure and expression to both time and place, defining circumstances and meaning….music (can be) so engaging that time becomes timeless, reality changes, and life is created anew.”
(Mazer & Smitch 1999)

That is a secular interpretation of the effects of music. If we consider how God has created music as a part of His beauty, then instead of saying that reality changes, it is actually our awareness of the true reality that incorporates the spiritual climate that has been sharpened. Hence in worship services, as we worship God with music, our spiritual senses are awakened / sharpened as we commune with God. Even out of the sanctuary, when music is played with the intention to glorify God (in the secular understanding, to glorify beauty, which inevitably points to God, whether intentional or unintentional), the listeners’ souls / spirits are blessed from the music.

How music is a blessing in my life

For me, music is a journey I travel with God. It started with the ‘miracle’ when I got to learn music. It’s a form of communication I have with the Lord, that flows beyond words. I remember once when I was on the piano by myself in March 2007, playing whatever I felt led to play. Suddenly, I sensed God telling me this, that He was watching me perform for Him. I had the honor of the Most High being my audience, my sole audience. I had the full attention of the I AM as I played. Other than His full attention, I thought I could feel Him smiling, that He was pleased and liked the music that flowed out. That form of communication and communion is beautiful beyond words.

Months after that encounter, He gave me the vision that ‘One day, I will bring His songs to the ends of the earth.’ Till today, I have no idea how that will take place. I place my step of faith into that by quitting my teaching career in a government school last year. Today, I’m equipping myself with musical skills performing wherever opportunities arise, learning and growing in skills, in character and in faith in the Lord. So music to me, is a form of communication we have in our courtship for one another. It is also to me an exciting journey with the Lord. (There are moments my faith wavers, but thank God He is faithful!!)


God uses music to bless His name, to glorify Himself just as how He created the stars and galaxies, naming them one by one. For everyone, music is a means He speaks through to us. And for most of us, music is a form of avenue we communicate back to Him. For some of us, it becomes a passionate pursuit - a passionate pursuit in creating new forms of harmonies to communicate with Him; a passionate pursuit to want to let this form of communication be heard everywhere else, such that Jesus be heard and therefore worshipped everywhere else.

These are what the Lord has revealed to me. These are what I live my life for. There will be more revelations in time to come. My job is to remain faithful in the pursuit He’s called me into – a journey in music with Abba.





Reference:

Mazer, S. and Smitch, D., 1999. Introduction, Sound Choices – Using Music to Design the Environments in which You Live, Work, and Heal. Carlsbad, CA: Hay Press, pp.11

food in laos....

shared with a bunch of hardworking and strong ants!!

we've all heard abt stories of ants working together, and having strength to carry things beyond their weight...

here's us sharing our lunch w the forest ants at the kuang si waterfall, about 20+km away from luang prabang town. we packed a sandwich from the scandinavian bakery. stopped at one of the sites at the waterfall and munched our lunch. watever dropped onto the ground goes to the ants... communal living lah... ha ha.... i got elvis to take pics of them.... they sense the food real fast! and transport them real fast too!!


one ant with bread crumb





gathered to pick up a piece of onion...

and the waterfall....



the best view of kuang si waterfall we can find... :)

Lightly Salted!!!

Featuring our debut on 9 and 10 July 2008, Esplanade Concourse.

Genre: Jazz

Coming up with this band name has been frustrating but rewarding. I really thank God for sisters who care!!

Was frustrated with some stuff, esp when I had to give confirmation to the organizer. Band name not up. Band members list not confirmed... The name 'Foo Jian Mien' was surfaced. Whilst that is one of my favorite local dishes, and it does sound cute, I was hoping for something that I'd like to give God the glory for. Search for hebrew words did not reap any decent sounding band names. I was giving up (there are other things I needed to work on) and was even writing to the organizers, which Foo Jian Mien as the band name.

Hemdi on gmail chat asked me if I could hold the email til pm. (Well, i wanted to get it over and done with to settle other stuff). I relented, half thinking I prolly wldn't come up with anything decent within the next couple of hours. After all, I've tried for days. Then I spoke to Fel online too. She threw in words in random such as light, salt, flavor.... ha ha... and den... i tried to link light and salt (after all, we are the light and salt of the world!!)... and... LIGHTLY SALTED got coined!!

I thank God for sisters like that man! One to stop me from sending out an email that will render me being one of the ingredients for hokkien mee (prolly sotong, since i loooooove that...) and another one who gave me the sparks of ideas.

AND i also thank GOd that (i noe tis is not relevant to the topic) He prompted me to text my student i'm supposed to see tmrw to check if class was on (sch's hving some mid sem tests). The office did not say this class is cancelled. THANK GOD I CHECKED!! it IS cancelled.. imagine waking up EARLY in the morn to travel west only to realize its cancelled, and hving to do the preps for lessons today... less money... but a relief... ha ha...

the long and short of my exp w classical music

being trained in classical music and exposed to playing pop style in church, i grew up to be competent in both. Not super competent, decently competent.

hated going for piano lessons in the past. peeps may find it hard to believe seeing my love for music. going to my piano tr's house was likened to going to 'hell'. as i walk to her place a few blocks away, i'd literally imagine myself walking into a place devoid of life... there'd be a particular curb (which is no longer there, with all the devt taking place) i'll step onto, imagine the 'hell's gates' opening. and in i go for piano lesson,getting scolded is a norm. 'how many times must i tell you to curve in your fingers?....' the moments i step out of my tr's place is a relief. on my way home, there'll be another curb (non-existent as well) which when i step onto i'll imagine the door to life open for me to get out. and the moment i 'cross over the threshold', in my mind will be this little melodic tune tt goes 'run, run as fast as u can.. run run like u've neva run before'....

dun get me wrong. i enjoy classical music. (i like jazz more. ha ha). the training just aint easy. no wonder so many pple drop out of classical piano. and because of the pressure to do well for exams, many teachers (not all) only drill students on the exam pieces. it is not uncommon to hear peeps saying they only learn 3/4 pieces each year - d exam pieces.and no wonder many complain that even tho they hv achieved high grades in classical piano, they cannot improvise / 'play by ear'.

so is classical piano that bad? having not played piano for close to a decade after i completed my grade 8, i realized, that classical piano is a good foundation block into other genres such as pop and jazz.

first, there's the touch that you are trained to achieve from the discipline required of classical piano. after resuming classical for a couple of months, my touch for pop and jazz improved as well.

second, much to peep's surprise, classical music provides the scales / modes for improvisation. the chord progressions and extensions as well as runs on classical pieces could so easily be integrated into other genres and sound brilliant!

while it sounds great... there is one prob i'm starting to face even tho classical supposedly helps in my other genres. after playing classical, my brain is starting to become LAZY!!! classical can possibly be 'spoon feeding' as one simply nids to read scores and less mental activity in the area of creation is required. now i'm so lazy when i get to prac piano, the easy way out - pick out a classical piece. just follow the score. no nid to think. no nid to improvise... EEKS!!

so here's the long and short of my exp w classical music. i guess i just nid to be more disciplined in prac the different genres.. ha ha... but the weather's too warm for me to prac.... ha ha ha....

On the journey on the train...

I thank God for a seat... and so i’m writing an entry to my

Journey to Cambodia – 14 – 18 May 2008

It was a trip i wasn’t sure would materialize as it falls on one of the days i’[m teaching. By the grace of God, i managed to get approval to shift my lessons. So last Wednesday (tt din seem so far back) i made my way to the airport directly from campus. In the morn en route to campus, i actually felt like just skipping class and go straight to Cambodia. The good thing though was that I enjoyed the class that day.
I was early at the airport, so had lunch by myself. I tink i’m getting used to the idea of just eating alone. Eating used to be a social thing.. but now.. its starting to be come functional!

Anyway we arranged to meet at 2.30pm for check in. At approx 2.40 i handed over my passport to the lady at the checkin counter only to get this response: Mdm, is this your old passport?

GOODNESS GRACIOUS. I did pack in a rush tis trip. Only the evening before after teaching for 8 long hours. And i simply asked FM to pick up my passport from a little drawer, not checking the contents within.

I went quickly to FM and we sped home for my passport. Thank God we arrived in time. It had been such a rush few days prior to the trip. The only ‘rest’ i could expect would only come once i board the flight.

It was a good trip. I got to noe the youth better. Tis trip, i decided that i will build relationships unlike the previous trip. I spent time with ah ong and this elderly couple from Sarawak, eddy and rose. There i made chrysanthemum tea, barley, herbal chicken soup (we call the Da Chang Jin soup – the Korean drama – due to the packaging of the herbs). Helped out in the making of curry puffs for the fun fair for the 10th anniversary of the funfair. I even taught a gal there how to brew chrysanthemum tea. Only, a much more sweetened version for their taste buds.
There were loads of bugs too during the trip. Different types over the different nights. First night was stinking bugs, second night was flying insects which shed their wings all over the place the next morning when i was sweeping the floor i thot they could pass off as confetti!!

Ate a lot of bread. :D with fake nutella. Saw the lady at tutompong.

Anyway, i gotta stop. I’m reaching my stop soon. These few days will be super busy... so i’m glad for this time for a quick entry. Thank God for the seat. Ha ha.

busy busy busy.....

busy.. but decided to post.... because
1. next time when i look back i noe wat i've been up to..
2. i scared this blog dead.. ha ha.. and i noe there are a coulpe of peeps still reading and concerned abt my life.. ha ha

anywayz, tis week has been madness. I did 5 days worth of teaching in 3 days because of public holiday on thurs tt required us to shift our lessons to another day, plus my usual mon tuition was shifted to tues cos the kid's exam was on wed. so on tues, i effectively taught for TEN full hours.... 8 in SP and 2 for tuition. Wed was 4 hrs of teaching, plus another 2 hrs of training on use of DVD camcorder?!? and thurs was altho a 'labor day' hols, i shifted my piano lessons and tuition to thurs as i'll be away this weekend to a KELONG!! for a well-deserved break!! ha ha.... but tues really killed me (plus more than half an hour wait for silly bus 100, only to have 4 buses come tog, and i was so late for tuition, when i was so tired from SP!!)

any complains? i'm so busy tt i hvn't been able to prac piano at all! either tt or i'm too tired for that.... but actually, i do enjoy what i'm doing now. i'm still teaching... still helping peeps do better ( i hope!). still interacting with young peeps.. which is great... when i vet thro their drafts over emails and all... it felt nice that i was doing something constructive rather than tonnes of admin work i used to hv to do. so now, its just a matter of learning to manage my time better.

on wed, FM and i brought a cake to Hannah's place to give her a surprise for her bday. (hannah just live across the road from FM. and the road's really narrow. ha ha. very very near.) tink it was divine appt.

anywayz tts my life... now i gotta run... because i nid to prac some pieces b4 i meet JJ to jam later for the perf at TTSH in jun.... argh..... bye bye piano dip!!

missing for more than a month on blogspot cos...

been busy busy busy....

busy with teaching in SP, tuition... preparing for lessons again, reading essays...

its been a while since i've been teaching, so its pretty draining. nid to adjust back again. in fact, i've been so tired i hvn't been practising my piano!!

there are many challenges in teaching in SP. the main one is sustaining the interest for 3-hr classes. 2-hr ones are fine. but 3-hr ones are really challenging, for both students and myself. so am tinking really hard wat to do... haiya...

other than that, am beginning to prepare for a performance for TTSH's Art of Healing program on 6 Jun. Will be working w JJ. Just jammed with her earlier on. did mainly classical pieces during jam. first time i ever do classical duet w violin. its pretty kewl.. tho i was killing myself with all that sight-reading. ha ha...will prolly tink more tis week wat we can perform.

another opp came by and closed... someone from an org contacted me earlier tis wk regarding a performance for a product launch. even talked abt renting a grand piano and all.. but alas.. i just got email tt the event has been called off.. haiz...

but my days ahead are all in God's hands... :)

absolutely fruitful day

i just returned from vietnam on sun evening. it was a fantastic trip. God showed FM and i many stuff... and we are grateful.

since our return, i basically crashed on sun. and mon.. was so fruitful! there were many things lining up to be worked on after the trip and i hv successfully started work on them.
1. called up SP to confirm TT.
2. called up to make dental appt. yeah. i'll be wearing braces.
3. call up piano tuner to make appt.
The above are all linked to impt new stuff coming up in my life!
4. made appt to meet ana, david AND felicia today.

On top of that, i went for two tuition assignments. Practised 1.5 hr of piano.

And just before i left for my tuition assignments, hem msged me tt my website is almost ready! so i took a look at it. Wow! Den inspired, in the night, i re-registered for myspace account (i dunno how my previous acc got terminated?) and loaded some pics of my previous performances. Tink Colin's gonna help me out a bit on my website at a later stage. I really owe him a big one man!

So.... I'm really satisfied with what had been done yest... Next two days will be occupied too. Who says freelancers are free? We just get to wake up later more often than others. :P

when you are attached...

sometimes saying no to something u'll used to jump at is what you have to do...

i just got an interesting lobang from AG on msn. $100 for dressing up nice and ushering awardees up and down the stage for a corporate function held in a posh hotel.

Reasons y i can and shld take tis up:
1. i'm an experience junkie (this itself is the most valid and fundamental reason).
2. i own a nice long black dress that 'under-worn'. and black dress is the dress code.
3. i happen to 'fit the bill'. i tink they wan tall peeps.
4. i dun hv anything concrete planned (with the exception of hanging out with FM. this itself is the one of the two most important reasons i had to say no.)

i called FM to hear his comments. he sounded hesitant. he thot the money was too little for the hours clocked in. (for me its the experience). it sounds bimbotic to him. (it is, den again, i'm an experience junkie). but he's a sweetie. when i kindof sound like i really wanna do it, he said i could.

tis is when the application of 'when you are attached ...sometimes saying no to something u'll used to jump at is what you have to do...' takes place. its not easy. but life's like that. u get involved with someone, u no longer live for urself. there are sacrifices that need to be made. this is not huge. but tis is not wat i'd NORMALLY hv done. in any case, i do want to spend the time with him, esp after a long week.

life has changed....

i made a difference in someone's life!!

Just a little bit. But its so kewl it made my day. My honors classmate Wai2 texted me yest to announce he's getting married and was sending out invites. So I asked him who the lucky gal was. His reply was:

"Tks. Its someone i met on yep, which you sent me to. So i should thank you in a way. Not to worry, you are with hons class ppl table. pls sms me your address."

It brought back memories of my encouraging to go try out some other stuff, go see other cultures and see how he could help ppl from other countries. I remembered talking to him abt it in the honors room. I remembered persuading him when we were doing our field research in melaka. I remembered helping him with the contact with my fren for the trip. that was maybe 5 / 6 yrs back. neva thot today.... WOW... i'm SO HAPPY!! *grins* I just hope he noes Jesus too!!

Anyway, speaking of 'flashbacks', here's an account of another person's flashback involving me! Another one i heard today that makes me smile. Its quite farnie.

I was having dinner with FM. We were talking abt his work and he mentioned his working out the MTP for the graduating levels. And he told me he remembered this episode tt occurred last year (which i have no recollection).

"It was MTP for S4E/5 2007. I was asked for by a parent. As i was teaching another lvl den, a prefect had to go get me. So according to FM, he was on his way from the hall to the staffroom, and i was at the lockers outside the staffroom on the way to the hall. He saw me, signaled to me that my presence was requested in the hall. I nodded back in response to signal i noe and was on my way there and smiled back."

My next response was... you noticed me then oredi!! ha ha.. and he said yeah... that's pretty farnie. its farnie how things in life turns out...

FINALLY, the most recent saga in my life is : to wear braces or not. ppl ard me hv been bugging me. my sis 'scared' me. my mom's nagging at me. mommy es says go and do it. FM's agreeable. oh gosh.....

already done bulk of the 'visiting' on CNY eve

today's CNY eve. tis morn i got up at 5 plus am again (have been waking up at 8tish, 9nish) to go back to sch to visit my ex-colleagues (inspired by dinner with some of them) and see some of the students who are still in school.(the first batch i've been thro since they were S1 has graduated. soon, no students in the sch will noe me.)

the CNY program was... well, usual (i noe a lot of efforts' gone into it), hving been thro 3 of them. but it was great to catch up with pple i used to work with, mull thro tiring times with, laugh abt silly jokes... a quick list of pple i've spoken w: haz, sok hoon, nair, hui cheng, cik zulaika, lian, colleen, deepa, janet (tr aide), anguila, ad ong, tess, intan, audrey, en chee, 3b1'07, mrs tay bee kee, mrs judy wong, mdm poon, puspha, some geog (and non-geog students of '07 batch) ... said quick hi to huihuang, tang, thomson, jacob,peck hoon, ... pple i missed cos they've left or taking break include mrs aw, marilyn, baljeet, mildred....

its really nice to be in touch... :)

every yr, the guzheng tuan performed. tis yr, without fail. i rem last yr, i commented to a certain teacher sitting beside me that, the previous batch's ensemble leader (who usually sits at the foremost section of the set up whom i've taught before and i therefore had encounters with) was no longer there as she has graduated. It felt strange to see the first batch of students i've taught for at least a year, and worked with in performances not there and moving on. I think i teared. This year, once again, the girls i remembered as the seniors and leaders of last yr's group i;ve seen through school concerts no longer there. This happens year after year. But next yr onwards, even if i do visit, it wld no longer hv that nostalgic feeling anymore cos i no longer hv encounters with them. its such a surreal feeling.

after tt, there was a kalimantan 'reunion'. ping's in town, so we all met up for lunch (most of us who are in town).

so tt's so much for my past 11 waking hours. nice... :)

black for white

we went to trade in the black for the white. i cried.

downloading....

just thot i'll add a quick (but long) update while the other window's downloading some of the pieces in the LTCL list.

its been quite an up and down week....

just sunday, we went on a yacht to celebrate Fel and Mk's engagement. while there, i chatted w DF and heard tt some of my ex-students actually liked me! tt was so nice to hear... so tt was quite an up.

oh, on the same day, FM and i went to take photos with his black metal casing on four wheels cos he's getting a new white metal casing on four wheels too. it was fun....

den a major down. the impending return of my sis finally arrived on the 29th jan. even before that, my mom oredi made physical shifts (even tho her dear princess hvn't even board the plane from the states yet). i was particularly upset cos of how i perceived the favoritism. whilst i noe tt she loves us both a lot, its still painful to hv to leave thro this again and again, the preferential treatment to the other party. it was so painful i cried everyday. i tried ignoring my mom. but tt made it more painful... sigh... usual thots of moving came into the pic. its just a phase i hv to go thro each time she 'returns'. sounds like she's worse than terminator. terminator says "i will be back"... once? hers neva ends... lol...need a miracle...

another down... feel sick again. last two days were so bad. yest i went to FM's place.. just to nap for a couple of hours. ha ha. i guess tt helped in the recovery. i'm feeling better now. still sleepy... but better. strange how u become a sleeping monster when u are sick... i still dun really understd the rationale. (yeah, i noe its for body to recuperate, so it can focus on fighting virus, but to be sleeping all the time... much more than the required 8 hrs/day.. i still dun get it).

got reports from my students who received their O level results. the batch tt i've seen grow from S1 all the way. most of the reports came in with A2s. 50% distinction for pure geog. so i'm happy. i really miss my students. i really miss teaching. a couple of nights ago, i dreamt of talking to some of the gals i taught. i really really missed that.....

speaking of which, my ex-boss tried to entice me (and another fren of mine who left early last year) to return to the system. ex-boss tried to remind me how 'noble' the job is. it is indeed rewarding, minus the award and meritous chasing system, minus the expected altruistic but run in a corporate manner system (how do they come together??). guess wat was used as the carrot? a "to spring up and develop to maturity" / "to increase in size by assimilation of material into the living organism or by accretion of material in a nonbiological process " / "to develop from a parent source " / "to pass into a condition " package. thanks for reminding me that it pays well. and its gonna pay better. whilst i miss the stable income i used to get, i miss the times i spend with my kids more in the past, but i noe if i continue in the system, i'll also end up with less time for them... so i'll give it for a pass for now.. until perhaps i've reached the age where they stop trying to push me to climb.

meanwhile, i've really gotten loads of food... pineapple tarts, bah kwa, prawn rolls, choc cake i baked for FM's bday... but cant consume as fast cos of the cold/flu... ha ha... plus sleeping a lot.. i think i'm putting on pounds AGAIN!

oh oh... and here are the pics of one of the bday treats i gave to FM. he really liked them! :)



this one's my (and his) favorite:


anywayz, tt's the end of this long long post... and let's hope i'll choose the suitable pieces for my LTCL.. and let's hope i'll pass it... *fingers-crossed* + a lot of work coming up.

the (mis)adventures of princess

Chapter 1: "Career"
This has gotta be the most interesting and vexing. Over the past couple of weeks, I've got offers which range from exciting and challenging to the more mundane, from possibly well paid to the most ridiculously below the minimum wage offer.

I'll just mention the two which I deemed really impt, and which i seriously considered. The first is a keyboardist with a band who plays almost every night at a popular entertainment place near the bay which offers various genres of music, and the band plays for a room named after an insect. I met up with the band members (they are not locals) and we got along quite well. (In fact, later i met up with one of them a couple of days later before she went back to her country for a holiday and she termed me as her good friend!) I was excited about how this could really challenge me to work on my music, but the hours were not favorable for my social life. Even so, after much thought and praying about it, i was willing to take it up if some conditions were met. God closed the door however, when the band told me that their agent said they might not be able to get the work permit if they did not register as a full band due to stringent regulations, plus they need to rehearse back in their home country which i couldn't participated in. I wasn't disappointed as I knew I've given it to God and He's in charge. I also wasn't disappointed because I know I did not cringe and hide and choose not to take up the challenge which knowing me, ha ha, its highly possible.

Anywayz, the second opening is completely different from the first I"ve mentioned. Ha ha. Its part time teaching at a local tertiary institution. I went for the interview last tuesday. And I got the job! for a term, continuation will be subjected to performance and student reviews and all. I was informed on Fri morn that I got the job. Though I'll need to get a laptop for that... sigh....

The week leading to making the decisions on the various different openings was not easy as the timing was sort of together but yet not quite making decision making vexing. Thankfully, I know that as long as I submit them unto the Lord He will show me. Even tho I still not noe wat's next, I'm thankful for the journey so far. :) Am I still gonna pursue my dream as a pianist? I'm trying to. I think FM's getting a little worried for me as i seem to be losing steam. Perhaps i am. Perhaps i am just getting more stable. So... we'll see....

Chapter 2: Flu Bugs

It started with the stomach flu bug which hit FM last week. I tried to take care of him. Then, come Saturday the cold flu bug hit me. Actually I wasn't feeling good by Wed. Now i'm still fighting the bug. Not like I'm really fighting. There just aint much i can do. Am just really lethargic. Last night I was kept awake under my covers, perspiring away, but feeling cold at the same time. I was so confused man. To take away the covers (but I'll feel cold! cos i oredi feel cold under the covers) or to remain in it (but I'm perspiring from head to..wherever). Why are the bugs so persistent?!?!

Chapter 3: Past-times

I'm very ill-disciplined. Instead of working HARD at my repertoire, these are the activities that had been keeping me occupied instead:
- tuition
- piano lessons
- F.R.I.E.N.D.S
- chic lit 'Under the duvet'
- FB
- s**ing
- msning
- time with FM

Here, however are the list of activities that I shld be working more on:
- reading the book "The Art of Teaching Piano"
- working out my repertoire
- getting syllabus for the piano diploma
- working on the jazz instructional book and cd
- homework from the voice technique class i've been attending for two weeks (i neva practise wat i learnt... which equates what i learnt to just head knowledge)
- of course, still time with FM.

So, here are the adventures(-mis) i've been getting into... CNY round the corner.... hmm... this time round i'll appreciate the ang baos more than i did the previous years. Healthy accounts balance. HA HA.

Divinely planned

today i had a great time watching Beauty World, a local production with Agnes. Why do I say this is divinely planned? Because as Agnes reminded me, today's tickets was the evidence of God's provision and love.

I've always known in my 'head' that God will provide. He will provide our daily needs. But since the quitting of my job, when I'm more 'vulnerable' to phases of "i hv no stable job... i hv no money... my life is messed up... i cant do nice stuff cos i nid to not spend too much... life must be constrained..." i aslo become more aware (when He reminds me through people) of His providence and His love.

I realize that indeed God provides for my needs.

E.g. When Leez was in town two mths back, she was looking for someone to aid her in the transfer of funds. She called her bro, but it wasn't convenient. She was wondering who to call next, and she called me. In the process of getting the funds transferred, she felt led to transfer more for my mission trip to philippines, and that covered beautifully for the outstanding of the trip. other than that , my cambodia and thailand mission trips were also sponsored. over my years of mission trips, only were these trips sponsored (the first time i'm going on a trip without an income since i started work.)

I also realize that God not only provides for my needs, He also provides for my 'wants'. Things that make me 'happy'. Like i mentioned, i thot hving no income means.. cut down in 'pleasure' stuff. but.. He PROVIDED!! showing He cares for my little desires!

E.g. 1 Today's free tickets to Beauty World. Yest Agnes dated me for dinner today. Tis morn, she told me she's got tickets for the musical from a fren. Somehow because we've oredi made an appt for tonight, viola, I got to watch a musical (I LIKE!) that I dun even hv to pay!! Imagine someone with no income watching a musical!! with good seats!!

E.g. 2 In Manila last year, i really really liked an eye glitter i saw @ Bench. It was only 5 SGD. BUT it was OUT OF STOCK. I REALLY REALLY liked it. We went to another "supermall' only to find there's no stock too. I was really bumped. But when Fel, FM and i splitted ways for a while, Fel felt God telling her to go upstairs, where she found another Bench branch WITH THE EYE GLITTER and bought for me. Even tho its 'only SGD5' wow... i was like.. u mean God not only cared for my 'practical' needs.. He cares for the little silly things too!! :P

ALl these divine appts / divinely planned stuff.. just made my day today esp when of late i do get bumped cos of my 'career status'.

Its also nice to be at the other end of these divine appts, being able to bless as well. At Tangs today, FM and I bumped into my sis. We were going to pay for a Daniel Yam gown (On sale!! And i got it just at the last min of the sale.. talk abt divine timing...), she just finished paying for her dress. She was highly stressed abt getting CNY clothes after shopping thro Centrepoint to Tangs and rushing home to take care of my nephews when she bumped into me. She asked me to check out her new dress and i gave her some pointers how she cld make it look better. but basically i just said its good... i din noe how much it meant to her until i got an sms from her later to say... tt she was really glad to meet me to get an assurance abt her dress!! WOW..... divine appt for 'unimportant' stuff.... Does God love us or love us?

ok.. its getting long... but i must blog this.. because ... i'm human.. i may forget.. but His love must neva be forgotten.... thank You Abba.

touched.....

today is the post-XT's bday day.... altho in FM's calendar, it is a week-long festival of celebration of the princess' bday. ha ha.

anywayz, this festival came abt bcos i was a little down yest, even tho it was my bday. it was nice. mom cooked mee sua for me. so i had a simple lunch w mom, dad and FM. FM cooked me dun tang! ha ha. it was nice.



but cos both of us kena cold, so we din go out for dinner. plus worship prac was rough and ended REALLY late, and pple in prac din even wish me bday (its no big deal, but i cant help feeling disappointed.) all added up.. made me feel really really blue.... so FM came up with the week long festival thing... ha ha...

anywayz, i was really really touched by FM's sweetness today... i was practising piano and abt to go wash up and go for tuition. halfway thro a piece my mobile rang. i ignored it. after the piece, i saw the missed call from FM. called him back.. and he told me... look out .. and i saw the silhueote of a long limb waving upwards with a bouqeut. i was like HUH?!?!

thanks baby... i'm really really touched by this really really sweet gesture.... anywayz, here's the pic of the frowers that made my day... more like... the sweet act that made my day (even tho i hv to carry that.. uh-hmm for a couple of years.. haiz... ha ha)




oh... den today i had dinner with haz... after a long long time... so... its really nice.. the post-xt's bday-day...