5/31/07

Guitarist

Sometimes, i wish how life would be if i hadnt join CJC odac and persisted on my passion for guitar.

Just this afternoon my dear brought me to a guitar shop in Peninsula shopping centre. I had subconsciously told quite alot of pple that i wanna pick up guitar again after my grad trip.

I found myself standing in front of rows of semi acoustics, ovation, 12 strings, banjos and classical guitars ( heavy metal and lead guitaring aint my cup of milo ). The boss naturally treated me like a newbie to stringed instruments because apparently i had this WHAT-IS- HAPPENING look..........

In my mind, i was recollecting thosedays when i donned my CJ uniform hanging around guitar shops in Thomson plaza, singing my teen life away with my buddies. There was Jason Cheong the yandao man ( lady killer of all time),my old time secondary school friends A and M and many others.... I think i spent quite some time in class after lessons behaving like a drunken peanut( minus the actual booze, that is).

My interest in Guitar started 11 years ago, when i was a sec 3 quiet boy. Back then, one of my female red cross friend wondered y i cant play the guitar. And so by some funny ego fueled motivation, i picked up the instrument and started strumming... in front of TV...at void decks... during gatherings... and so it went on.

Guitaring saw me through many phases of my life. It was my best buddy when i studied for Os, and while i had no lady friends to colour my life, i would close my eyes and pretend that there was this big pool of audience in front of me, pleading me to strum it with my fingers. Well, i wasnt very outdoor inclined back then. Almost went obese. With no money, no female companionship and NO steady hobby, guitar was like the God sent solution to my doubts, woes and sorrows.......................

Standing in front of those instruments right now, I could almost felt myself holding my breath; This sensation of excitement as i layed my hands on a 12 string guitar. I always fancied a 12 string. A simple strum on a major and it gives you an array of richness from within the hollows of the wooden frame. Its truly a rythmist's favourite pick.

I could feel this blanket of tranquility as i started to hum and strum.... The boss seemed alarm when i finally managed my momentum on the instrument. He went like... "OOOoooo... No bad". There were 2 more ladies in the shop choosing guitar as well. They apparently froze on their spot, seemingly allured by the charms of the 12 string instrument.

I thought i was spell bound by my own art. I felt this unspoken sense of belonging...like all these years i was A LOST SHEEP,moving on with the crowd, going to a junior college aimlessly, doing a course in uni I WAS NOT THE LEAST BIT INTERESTED. Every now and then for the past 10 years, there was this voice in me telling me to dwell in arts and music. I just couldnt follow that voice.

I stopped, wanting to try on other guitars. Somehow i already had an answer to why i came to the shop today.

5/30/07

nice photos of fellow jie mei

Thanks gal for calling me a jiemei.

I shall now showcase some interesting photos of xh's grad trip. Its really nice. Wish i could bring my gf( future wife ) there for honey moon.

http://picasaweb.google.com/brenda.lee84/FlorencePisa?authkey=QguT0_aGIYw

and this....

http://picasaweb.google.com/brenda.lee84/Rome?authkey=MD8Yq_BQ3vU

and lastly this....

http://picasaweb.google.com/brenda.lee84/Venice?authkey=mE61MiQb7uM

Well, where's MY grad trip photos? I have yet to consolidate mine. Was away from 10th to 27th May. Came back home a "different" man. Well, am glad that i found my slalom skates and guitar waiting for me at home. Really home sick.

Soon folks... when i got all the pictures... i will tell a good story abt it.

5/7/07

The longest Night in NTU

I cleared my final paper on the 4th, last friday.

My weekends were filled with tuition sessions ( super tiring ) and lack of sleep. Thank goodness i had the luxury to drive back to hall on Sunday evening to settle my one last academic errand.....

The longest night in NTU started at 830pm. Waiting impatiently on my desk was my laptop with Microsoft Powerpoint with a file titled 'FYP_PRESENTATION' running on the screen. Stuck in a dreadful and sleepy state, i cursed and ponder why i'm forever running on little sleep and time for studies

Sometimes people see me as a slacker, and i wonder if i really am one. I'm pretty sure most people think of me as a playful and lazy person i.e. I dont do well in my course proper in SCE, and i get busy for the wrong reasons. Read on :

1) one 2 hour tuition session on Wed, Friday; one 3 hour tuition session on Sat; one 4 hour tuition session on Sunday.

2) commit time to skate every friday night from 730pm to 1am sat

3) spending time to write this blog ( Opps!!!!)

4)I also like to spend time talking to myself ( helps alot when the whole world out there is partying away and i'm stuck with lizard dungs, mozzie bites and sheer chill of the the night's emptiness ).

I dont really think i was excited about finishing my presentation; it's the life AFTER my presentation that kept me going strong. I was quite excited about doing my presentation well to the extend that at about 1145pm on sunday night, i even drove to the academic blocks to recce the presentation tutorial room.

While walking pass the dead silenct passage alongside labs and lecture theatures, i suddenly recount of my ODAC orientation days when some of us did this ghostly night walk around it school. That was like almost 4 years ago. This surge of pitifulness overcome me when i realised there wasnt anyone walking with me, talking about the fun of getting lost back then. Among the batch of 2003 foot freshie, i was one of the few who 'made it' thus far.

I hit the final period on my slide at 610am. I went for a short nap and woke up at 8am. The feeling is near death i tell you. I thought my head was on the floor when i stood up from my bed.

I tried to rush for some rehearsing session before the professors come in. TUT 41. 845am. And so i went on... talking to myslf( sometimes it scares me quite abit just hearing my own voice..sick of loneliness ). Was glad to see LOUSY NG. That was like 9am. But i did not expect this professor D that came in with him. Prof D sat down, realising i'm rehearsing, and told me not to waste time and start presenting.

WHAT HAPPEN TO PROF W???! where is my examiner? Is there some sort of a cork up?

Yeah indeed there was. Prof W forgot all abt the examining today and i ended up having to wait for 2 hrs more. Ok..fair enough, 2 hr not a long time. I am in dire need of sound sleep, as well as letting out the nonsense i had been churning for the past 8 hrs. I almost wanted to tell LOUSY NG that i dont care if professors are big shot or whatsoever. You rob my bloody time and i wish you ill luck till end of time!!!!!

1055am. I was on my way. Could only hear the distinctive squeaking sound from my leather shoes every time it makes an unreluctant contact with the flooring .

Presentation was smooth, and i actually expected the Prof to whack me with questions. I wasnt able to answer fully what he asked. Being there appearing neat with goods delivered( and a bare 1.5 hrs of sleep the night before ) was more than i could expect myself to give.

The most disturbing sight of the day : LOUSY NG actually DOZED OFF while i was presenting! Oh my goodness! Indeed LOUSY!!!

At the end of the presentation, i probed LOUSY NG about my likely FYP grade. He gave a few sweeping comments and finally this one

" DONT WORRY, YOUR GRADES ARE GOOD ENOUGH FOR GRADUATE STUDIES "

Hey folks, dont get me wrong, i wasnt trying to show you all that i'm happy or whatsoever. When that came out from him, i felt disturbed. In the first place, i never think he had a good gauge of my progress. This FYP project could be said to be my own idea and product. To be frank i was just glad that i pulled through this semester doing what i was supposed to do. But when people say such things, i would normally get my hopes heightened up.

I dont wanna think so much into it now. Indeed, the longest Night spent in NTU has taken a toil out of me

* Yawnz

5/1/07

The funkiest wedding dinner ever

It's really hard to meet up with friends these days. At my age, people would only bother to meet up for a few obvious reasons/ occasions.

For me, today was a meet up of a joyous nature. Adeline's wedding dinner!!!!!

I knew adeline since 14. She was a very reserved and low profile fellow coursemate in this red cross footdrill course we both attended. We went through the same leadership course in sec3, and still i found her a shy and demure lady. Coincidentally she became my gf's classmate in JC... and so the link went on till today =)

Before tonight, our last meet up was during another fellow red cross friend's wedding dinner( so it seems that everyone of my age is rushing to marry someone haha....). Both of us were seated side by side, chatting about our love life...oh yes btw, one thing i have in common with her is our long running relationship. She was with her bf( opps its HUSBAND...) for almost 9 years.

I felt so happy for her( couples who get together for a very long time will understand how i feel) when i got an invitation via my gf that she's getting married. Simply proud of her.

It was an open air ( a make shift tentage ) concept wedding dinner, on top of fort canning, adjacent to THE LEGENDS CLUB house. Adeline came from a Christian background( and so i thought she had her church wedding ceremony in the morning), but i did not expect her to arrange the wedding procedure such that the matrimonial ceremony and the dinner to be held together in one evening.

Funky factor number one:

It was very obvious that she and her bf( opps its HUSBAND ) invited only their immediate relatives down. There were only 8 tables specially for them. The rest of the crowd were about my age group. Adeline invited only 3 of her red cross friends down, and i was one of them.
For some non apparent reason , i keep thinking that i would meet a few familiar faces for the evening ... Yeah, the feel of familiarity. Hard to find such a feeling in a traditional chinese wedding setting when you see tons of alienated faces of DIFFERENT generations.

Funky factor number 2:

The layout comprises of a main stage, with about 6 to 7 rows of seats infront (its like watching a drama in open air), with a walking aisle in the middle for the newly wed. The masters of ceremony were their friends. Oh there was also a background mini jam band, and my guess was, everyone working on, behind and around the stage were their church friends. As an audience, i truly felt that this was THEIR wedding dinner. Very different from traditional ones.

Funky factor number 3:

Since there were only 8 tables, the rest of the us had our dinner the buffet style. Food was good, a great mix of japanese cuisines and western cuisine.

I adore this buffet eating style because it allowed long lost friends to do their catching ups SO MUCH EASIER. No constraints on movement, you just go where you feel like going, and mingle as you eat. So unique rite?!?!?!?

In the perspective of the couples planning for this, they dont have to worry the seating arrangements, the attendance and the exact number of tables they have to prepare. I could always sensed the hassle whenever i attend traditional style weddings and the groom has to decide to "close a table" due to bad turn up. And as i mentioned, the change of menu from the traditional chinese wedding menus was a good refreshing one. No shark fins or fanciful stuff, saves money.

Funky factor number 4:

While we were having dinner, another stage located near the central area drew our attention..... Chinese rock and pop and ballads were sung,courtesy of adeline's church friends. For a moment, the cheers and yells for the young singers struck me as some sort of channel U's super star live performance, right before me.

To sum it up, its like going to a pub.. haha...

Some pictures to substantiate my opinions on the funkiest dinner ever
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Sigh... couldnt take much pictures... was too excited just to see adeline happily married....

I left the dinner with my dearie with lots of cost saving ideas adopted from this wedding... heh heh heh.

To adeline and victor, i am proud of you 2. I pray that you 2 will experience happiness and joy in time to come.