Friday, January 29, 2010

I'm so lazy now.. Even to blog..

Hi guys! Sorry for the delay... I'm so bored these days and I'm feeling reluctant to even blog! Sigh.. But anyway, here it is.

So the latest update about me now, is I dyed my hair brown! But because of my 'coal black' hair =P, it's only quite obvious under the sun. This was a whole DIY process where my sister bought the hair dye in the pharmacy the day before my birthday because I wanted to try out. Initially, my sister prompted me to get a lighter or a redder colour, but I refused because I was afraid that it would turn out too red. But I should have took her advice in as my hair colour now is just a shade lighter than it was and it's like it was not point dying my hair!

I actually did this behind my mum's back. It was my little brother who had a big mouth and spilled the beans to my mum when he saw what was in the pharmacy's plastic bag... But her reaction was expected. Her angry face and her notorious finger pointing which my family is soooooo familiar with. =P She always shows that look when we are in trouble and even when she see kids cycling dangerously on the road! Lol...

The process was long and boring and quite exciting for me. But I did felt a little sting on my scalp as the hair colour was applied. The label said that I should stop the whole process if the stinging was too intense. But it wasn't, so I guess it was alright. It took more or less an hour to complete the steps and the results I got didn't satisfy me... =( Oh well, everything's worth a try...

Last Monday, the 25th, was my 18th birthday. It wasn't anything special. My family took me out to the Manhattan's Fish Market for dinner the night before and we ate cake on the night of my birthday. I stayed at home the whole, doing nothing... Because all my friends were busy working and some, studying... But I've received loads of wishes from my friends and family via Facebook and text messaging, and thank you all! =D

Chinese New Year always comes during or right after my birthday! So this year's celebration will be extra special since Chinese New Year falls on Valentine's day as well! =D

I might be saving up my ang pau money for my trip to China and Italy this year. Since my family's income wasn't satisfying, my dad didn't really want me to go for that trip. But my salary isn't at all, high enough to even cover 1/4 of the cost. D= Oh and btw, I just got my first pay check today! *Drum rolls...* RM63! Not merely enough, I know. But I only have one student now, what to do?? And now, I'm in a deep dilemma. I couldn't back out from both of my trips since my teacher had already paid 30% of the whole cost to the organizer and the overall cost is calculated by the number of members taking part in this competition! And now, my teacher wants RM1200 as the deposit for the trip to China. The choir had already promise to pay RM800 for this trip and the overall cost will be about RM2200. Is it too expensive? =/

And as for the other choir's trip to Italy, we are working hard to look for sponsors. We will be holding a concert in Klang this March. The cost for this trip will be RM5000++! @_@ Although we are trying hard to gather the amount of money to cover everyone's expenses, but I think it would be close to impossible to collect that much money for each of us...

AHHHHHHHHH! What should I do?! ='(

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

First Music Lesson in months!

I've totally stopped everything "music" in my life before SPM started so that I could "concentrate more on my studies". Baahhh.. I'm not sure whether that's the main reason..

I've stopped 3 of my music lessons. Or maybe 4 lessons to be exact. 2 piano classes, 1 violin lesson and 1 choir practice. But now, I have only have 2 piano classes, no more violin lessons because my teacher is sick and couldn't give anymore classes, and 2 choir practice to attend to. And I would be flying to 2 countries this year. =) China, for the World Choir Games and also Venice, Italy (Yippee!!) for the Spring Choir Competition.

I've been to China the most. Hmm.. Lemme count. This would be the 4th time going there.

The first time was with my mum who went to 永春, 福建, which is my mother's side's grandpa's hometown. My grandpa's house was like those houses you see in movies set in the olden days in China? I meant those with the open-aired front yard in the middle of the house and the kitchen was "half" opened-air. So we were having Al Fresco dining while we were there.. =P Nah.. Just kidding. And the house have lotssssss of rooms and those rooms were empty. My mum said my grandpa renovated the house and build in more rooms so that when our big family visit his house there in China, they will have enough rooms for us grandchildren... =D There's a big garden in front of the house and a mountain full of Mandarin Orange fruit trees behind the house. There was a pig sty behind the house where my grandpa's sisters rear their pigs. And there was a gas station beside the house where my grandpa's siblings are in charge of. I've got to eat those peaches we usually see 孙悟空, The Monkey King, eating! Yummy!

The 2nd time was to Beijing, Tianjin and Chengde with my family and my cousins, both my mum's side and my dad's side. I've walked on The Great Wall of China, went to the Forbidden City, Tian An Men Square 天安门广场, Temple of Heaven 天坛, The Summer Palace 颐和园, The Beihai Park 北海公园 and much more places that I don't really remember. It was during the Winter months. So the lakes in the gardens and parks and also the drains are all frozen. I didn't get to see the snow fall, but I saw snow that had already fallen on The Great Wall and on the lakes of the gardens. I've sat on the tricycle 三轮车 going through the small back alleys 胡同 eating 冰糖葫芦... Hehe! It was years before the Olympics so it wasn't as beautiful as it is now. But that's ok, because I saw the Old Beijing and I liked it..

The 3rd time was in Xiamen, Hokkien. This time, I went with my choir mates where we went there to take part in the 4th World Choir Games and I'm about to enter the 6th one this year which will be taking place in Shaoxing, China this year. It took place in Graz, Austria 2 years ago and it was too expensive to go there.

And about the trip to Venice, Italy. I'm still not really sure about this trip because we're still not sure whether we are qualified to take part in this competition. But also, European trips equal to a HUGE sum of money.. So I will be performing in quite a lot of places to earn more money and also collect some donations from all of you kind souls out there.. =P

I haven't been touching my piano ever since my Graduation Day where I wrote a song for my class to perform.. =D Therefore, I'm afraid that my piano skills will worsen when I get back to class later... Although I've practiced for 1/2 an hour just now, I'm still a bit clumsy with my hands now. I'll see how it goes later on. I hope my teacher can be a little more patient with me and hopefully, be in a good mood today.. =P

ps: Oh, and I think I'm going to get my very first job next week as a piano teacher... Hopefully my students are not those spoiled brats for needs a good kick in their butts... Lol. I think I can handle this. Or at least, I hope I can... =3

Monday, January 4, 2010

Feeling L.O.S.T.

Now that it's after Secondary School, everyone is again, going their separate ways. But unlike graduating primary school, this time, everyone is going a lot more further apart.

So most of my friends are already enrolled in college or already in college doing their A-levels or SAM program or whatsoever. But here I am, facing the computer everyday since the 1st of January, doing absolutely nothing. No job, no school, no classes. And I'm so bored I almost died of boredom... And now that school reopened, my little brother had just started secondary school and I'm alone at home.

I guess this is what they usually say, feeling like a ship lost at sea.

I'm still now sure if I'm suitable for studying music. I'm not sure if this really is my path. But I hope it is because I don't have much options to choose from. I like music, but I hope I won't end up as a music teacher in the future. I hope to write songs for movies or films like, for Disney's animation or Pixar. =) Songs like the theme song for Titanic or Forrest Gump. Songs who can withstand the test of time and people of all ages, young and old, will be humming along to. Songs that make people cry, songs that make people connect.

I would like to meet people like Alan Menken who wrote most of Disney's theme song that is familiar to people of all ages. He wrote songs from Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules and also songs from Enchanted in which the "Happy Working Song" got everybody hummin' for weeks! He's naturally talented and gifted, where I'm the total opposite of. My musical talents are not at all a gift nor a talent I had.

I know that I dream big, but it is merely a dream. If I really want to make this dream a reality, then I have to work extra hard. I hope that I can look back some day in the future and smile, not regretting that I took the "road less traveled by".


The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Singapore Trip

Happy New Year! 2-oh-one-oh.. Yes, I know that I'm 1 day or 2 days late. But better late than never, right? =D

So on New Year's eve, I was on my way back from Johor Bahru/Singapore. To be frank, I hadn't had much fun in Singapore... Because we was staying in JB, we had to go through the checkpoint every time we want to go to Singapore. So it was a really tedious job to go in and out of Singapore every time.

Day 1
When we reached Singapore, my dad's fuel tank was almost empty and we forgot to fill up the tank in JB. So when we reach Singapore, my dad went to the nearest Shell station to fill up his tank and the petrol station worker teased my dad and said, "I've only seen Singaporeans going to JB to fill the tank and not see Malaysians coming to Singapore to fill the tank!" And at their petrol station was a 7-Eleven convenient store and it was very much different from the 7-Eleven we have here! They sell lots of stuff! And yummy ones, too! =D

So after filling up our tank, we wanted to go to the city but my dad had some problems using the GPS and we ended up circling around Woodlands, which is near the checkpoint between the barrier of Singapore and Malaysia. Oh, yea. But we had a chance to drive around the Singapore National University... = =

So back at the checkpoint, I find the checkpoint officers there a little rude and arrogant. My dad didn't really know the "rules", which is to open the car booth when entering the checkpoint because they were afraid that we are smuggling chewing gum or bubble gum into Singapore... == No no, just kidding. Okay, so because my dad was kinda like a newbie, he didn't open the booth for the officers to check. And the officer was like banging on the car booth and shouting for my dad to get out of the car to open the car booth for them to check! o.O I'm not sure if this is a M'sian-Singapore thingie or just a "i'm-tired-of-doing-this-everyday-so-i'm-on-my-nerves" thingie...

Anyway, we got into Singapore twice that day just to eat dinner and walk around Orchard Rd. The Christmas decorations was nice and I love the Christmas tree in front of the ION Mall! =D

Day 2
Sentosa Island!!

First, I must say that I'm impressed at the transportation system the management on Sentosa Island had provided. It was really systematic and clean and all things that we can't find here on our public transportation system. Since it was the 30th, they were preparing for the Siloso Beach Party and there was a huge tent on the beach. I don't understand why the people were still swimming so happily in the sea since the waters were, err, not at all clean.

So we went to the Underwater Park there to look around. I saw some giant sea turtles! I've touched and fed the Stingrays in the "Rays of Fun" pool. The cow-nosed Stingray was really playful and kept splashing us with water! But the other big-sized ones were lazing around the waters...

Of course, I've seen the clown fish a.k.a. Nemo and also Dory.. =P




I've saw the Angel of the Sea and I'm still wondering how they manage to capture this micro-sized sea organisms from the cold-water seas. It's really adorable... =D Here's a picture of it:








I've also saw the Jellies in a big aquarium where they light up with different coloured neon lights! Niceeee....... =D





Ah! There was also the Garden Eel who sticks out from the sand.. Haha! It looked like Slimy, Oscar's pet worm in Sesame Streets!











And the highlight of the whole tour was the Pink Dolphin show! Well, the Pink Dolphins I saw were not exactly pink in whole. But they are pink with a little patches of Gray.

ps: I didn't take this photo and the water in the Dolphin Lagoon wasn't that greenish and murky..






We visited the Merlion statue where we saw a Cambodian(I think) man was busy taking pictures of his wife with various kinds of poses which was hilarious! And annoying, because he kept blocking the view... = =

I wanted to go on the Luge which cost $16 for 1 ride. But my mum thought that it was dangerous... What?! @____@

Anyway, my aunt gave me and my 3 other siblings a $50 note when we reached Sentosa and we was like, What?! o.O *wide-eyed* I thought it was just a $10 note! = = So thanks to Be Ee... =) Athough I've only spent like $5.20 to buy a bottle of Green Tea with Jasmine to quench my thirst and also a $1.50 each Bun which looked so delicious! =P And the packaging was so kyute!




This is the bun I was mentioning! The DayPlus bread with natural yeast. It's a Singaporean product made with imported ingredients from Japan. I bought the Hokkaido Cream flavour and the Maple flavour... Oiishi..! =D






On day 3 (31st Dec), we didn't get into Singapore so my trip ended here...


Oh and by the way, I've welcomed year 2010 in the shower this year.. Haha!