I daresay CODA 4 was a success!

According to Quan Hui and all the CODA 3 people, ticket sales cum attendance this year definitely outshone last year. Music-wise, I thought that most of it was in accordance to what the conductors desired, save a few pieces where (as predicted) the band succumbed to the temptation of rushing and blasting.

Arrived at RI at 12 PM, to help the percussion move stuff and take some clarinet section stuff as well. Departed RI at about 1:30 PM for VCH.

My section passed time by playing card games, including Bridge and TT, and a rather violent but fun game called Slapjack. It was so amusing that on one occasion my clarinet slipped off my lap and... the reed got chipped.

Thankfully, I take Yi Jie's advice and carry about 4 playable ones with me usually. So I had to use my second-best reed from then onwards.

Soon came the rehearsal, and I must say that sounds in VCH travel the whole hall without difficulty. No need for me to play so loud then. We ran through certain parts of various pieces for perfection, rehearsed the entering and leaving of the stage, then broke for dinner.

The clarinet section was still kind of hungry, I suppose, (quote: "some want to eat, some want to walk, so let's go!") because we decided to go to Funan to buy kaya toast. The aunties making the kaya toast were a little bemused at our order of 16 pieces.

After coming back, who did we meet but the RIMB crowd coming to support us =D! Lots of phototaking and well wishing going around at this pre-concert time.

Sooner than we knew it, it was showtime.

I'm not going to do a one-by-one commentary on each piece, but I think all of them were great, wonderful, etc.

Firework!
Armenian Dances
A French Portrait
The Phantom Of The Opera

INTERMISSION! Recieved flowers from the RIMB people, went down to meet juniors and seniors. TOTALLY FORGOT TO SWAB MY INSTRUMENT.

Ensembles
ABBA Gold
In The Mood
Queen's Park Melody
The Seventh Night Of July
Looney Tunes

This is probably the first concert which I felt nearly no pressure. Wonder why.

After the concert, went back to RI by bus in hopes of supper. The percussion section was really high by that time, and me and Eric stood there watching them do acapellas and taupok Benni :O.

As for supper, it didn't materialize. We reached Juction 8 at midnight, and McDonald's had just closed. Some of them wanted to take the last train to AMK to catch the 24/7 McDonald's there, but the rest of us (or at least the 4 Sec 4s there) passed and went home.

I'll never win prizes for flower arrangement LOL.

It's been a wonderful time in RWinds, helping me keep my sanity in the face of nothing better to do, and culminating in the wonderful concert that was CODA 4. I look forward to next year's CODA 5!

Labels: band

It began like this, last night, or rather this morning...

*this is the highly, HIGHLY condensed version of events*

Alastair says (12:02 AM):
tmrw i damn bored le
Russell says (12:02 AM):
me too
Russell says (12:02 AM):
alastair
Russell says (12:03 AM):
arrange
Russell says (12:03 AM):
a batch outing
Alastair says (12:03 AM):
don't ask the impossible
Russell says (12:03 AM):
ARRANGE
Alastair says (12:03 AM):
YOU TRY LOR
Alastair says (12:03 AM):
no one will come
Alastair says (12:03 AM):
and no one will know
Russell says (12:04 AM):
alastair
Russell says (12:04 AM):
arrange
Russell says (12:04 AM):
we all crash someone's house
Alastair says (12:05 AM):
i srsly cr8 batch convo ah
Russell says (12:05 AM):
YA CAN
Russell says (12:05 AM):
NOW
Alastair says (12:05 AM):
k.

*creates batch convo, or at least including all those online*

Russell says (12:06 AM):
let's crash someone's house tmr
Russell says (12:07 AM):
i wanna go alastairs house and play with the cats
Ben Ni says (12:08 AM):
lol cats will probably entertain you for the whole of 30 minutes
Ben Ni says (12:09 AM):
before jerald gets into action

*after much verbal sparring*

Ben Ni says (12:21 AM):
directions would be appreciated
Russell says (12:22 AM):
ok ok
Russell says (12:22 AM):
i know
Russell says (12:22 AM):
uhhh
Russell says (12:22 AM):
you take a 157
Russell says (12:23 AM):
until
Russell says (12:23 AM):
you see a shell station

*at long last*

Alastair says (12:38 AM):
1230 hawker center dun forget

*about twelve hours after that*

Russell says (12:02 PM):
last minute instructions
Russell says (12:02 PM):
and wondering why u all haven left yet
Jerald says (12:05 PM):
may be late
Jerald says (12:05 PM):
got some emceeing crap to do
Alastair says (12:06 PM):
eh benni left alrdy
Eric says (12:07 PM):
got something to do sorry
Eric says (12:07 PM):
15 mins then i leave

Anyway, after all the confusion of last minute timing and directions, Benni, Russell, and Eric reached the hawker center where we had lunch, then proceeded to my house, where we were joined by Jerald.

There is really little to do at my house, so we poked around for board games to play, ended up with mahjong, cards, and some weird game called Insight. After that, I tried unsuccessfully to get my rarely used PS2 to work, and then we played Xavix (which is like Wii), exhausting ourselves on the jump-on-four-squares-to-the-music game.

And of course, they also ended up torturing playing with my cats and dog. Well, I hope you all had fun!

So after that we headed off to dinner and RWinds, for our last practice before CODA 4. Needless to say, I'm now quite pumped and ready for tomorrow!

To those of our batch who didn't know about this impromptu outing, I'm really sorry, but it was a really last minute thing and a spur-of-the-moment decision, and you all weren't on MSN at the time =(.

Labels: band, random

CODA 4 is in two days. Our ticket sales have increased exponentially, the songs IMHO are coming along great (save two short sections in POTO and Armenian each which I still need to work on), we've been briefed. In other words, the stage is set (not literally, but you get it).

I'm not nervous. This can be good or bad, whichever way you decide to interpret it.

Well, at least now, as a 3rd clarinet throughout the repertoire, there's less pressure on me than in my previous band role as RIMB clarinet SL (and usually 1st clarinet + solo). I much prefer this; just as I usually prefer to follow than to lead.

Conversely, those like Eric and Russell now have solos. Jerald's an emcee too. Time for them to take a turn at it. Best of luck to you guys, and to us all.

Hopefully, the concert will be great!

Labels: band

Kept a journal of my trip to Kuching, happy reading.

DAY ONE: Monday, 22/12/08

Arrived at the Kuching Airport (I forgot the real name) at about 8 PM, local time – same as Singapore time anyway, and took a one hour plus taxi cab to the Damai Puri Resort.

I think going overseas usually is wasted on me, because ironically it just makes me appreciate Singapore more. Singapore is kind of my idea of the best place to live because every thing is so compact. You can’t expect anything else from an island city, where space is a most valuable commodity, but I love everything being so near and convenient. An hour’s trip just to get to a hotel? Don’t like much.

But anyway, the hotel is newly renovated and the room is nice, so I’ll stop griping and get to bed. End journal for Day One.


DAY TWO: Tuesday, 23/12/08

The day started with a late breakfast and a trip to the Sarawak Cultural Village. Memories of Malaysian Montage sprang immediately to mind when we walked around the place looking at the different types of houses that the Malaysians used to live in. I also happened to have been in the Sarawak group for MM.

After a brief respite at the hotel, we went on a wildlife spotting cruise.

Wildlife observing has never been one of my fortes: I possess neither the patience nor persistence to keep hunting down the jumping monkeys or silent ground critters with my eyes. Nor do I fancy keeping my eyes trained on a certain spot for ten minutes just to catch a glimpse of a nondescript monkey… which I can’t even take a photo of.

I do like taking photos, though, but as all our “birdwatching” involved distances out of the range of my 3x zoom digital camera, I ended up directing my lens to the even more distant but large clouds. Clouds overseas never fail to amaze me with their endless variations of arrangements.

So anyway, our guide took us on a motorboat down to the mouth of the river and began hunting for the various animals which we were expected to se-

OKAY OH MY GOSH I WAS JUST WATCHING BBC NEWS WHILE TYPING THIS AND SINGAPORE GOT FEATURED IN A SHORT NEWSFLASH ON…

… 100 people stuck in the Singapore Flyer due to power failure.

Okay. Of all the weirdest things to get on BBC news for, this is perhaps the most embarrassing. Must be a slow news day at the BBC headquarters -.-.

Where was I?

Ah yes. So after spotting some dolphins (actually just the patch of their backs where their dorsal fins and blowholes are) and after that some proboscis monkeys which refused to come close for a good photo, we went to see some fireflies. Fireflies are probably how the Christmas tree designers got the idea for the twinkling lights; a bush infested with fireflies is about as beautiful as a Christmas tree can get.

Unfortunately, while fireflies are harmless and magical to look at, they come with a whole load of mosquitoes as well. Thankfully I have thick skin. And probably sour blood as well – none of those flitting irritants came to bite me.

At just about this time, the sky was reaching a shade of deep blue, nearly black, and we were in a small branch off a river, about 45 minutes from our jetty. The sky and sea were already trying to blend into one shade of black, and being in such a rural and deserted area, there were no building lights in sight. To get back to the jetty, we had to cross the river delta, or the mouth of the river, which in this case was a wide expanse of sea that I saw on the way there.

A few minutes into the journey, and the first vestiges of lightning lit the sky, and as far as I could see the sea became a vast plain of dark. A few flashes later, and I realized we were very far out from land – and at this kind of distance in this kind of lighting, a mile is as good as a meter.

How to describe it? Imagine land, in the black foggy distance, near enough to be visible but far enough to offer little comfort. Imagine sea, in all directions, a black floor reaching to the horizon, uniform and perfectly smooth. And imagine a little boat, seating capacity eight people, speeding across the unchanging landscape, a little bubble of safety with only a short railing to divide the inside from the outside.

Add the wind howling in your ears and the waves spraying water into your eyes. Don’t forget that the landscape is nearly pitch black, and the land, sea, and sky have all melded into a gradient of darkness. Think of the kilometres of sea separating you from safety, and think about how puny your boat is compared to the primal might of the ocean. Feel the tightness of the lousy life jacket which doesn’t even fit.

Oh, did I mention that there are crocodiles in the water as well?

So I freaked out somewhere here, but what to do?

The only solace offered was the steady hum of the motor, strong and continuous. The boat was moving quite fast, and I tried not to think of the nigh invisible rocks or islands (it’s so dark that you can’t even see the islands!) which might be anywhere. Occasionally, the winking on of a light from the mainland would give some comfort, but otherwise, the distances at this time were impossible to gauge. Specks of light don’t get bigger, or smaller, as you close in on them – we might have been speeding over the surf or absolutely motionless for all I could have judged if not for the wind.

Maybe I was just making a big deal out of nothing, or maybe it’s my ever present vivid imagination exaggerating things, but it was a time of quiet contemplation of the vastness of it all, and how small and pathetic our bubble of safety was.

(this has cliché stamped all over it but whatever)

Anyway, it was to my immense relief when the twenty lights of the bridge over the jetty appeared round the river bend. But before the boatman let us off he pointed to us with his torch a crocodile.

Actually, just its eyes, red in the reflective glare of the torch beam. But knowing that the river is full of them doesn’t help matters much. Had dinner at a seafood restaurant with very cheap prices.

Anyway, that’s my little adventure for the day. End journal for Day Two.


DAY THREE: Wednesday, 24/12/08

BBC followed up on the Singapore Flyer incident on the morning news. Apparently no one died, though it took 6 hours for everyone to be extricated. Two people were hospitalized… not sure why, but when I get back to Singapore I’ll check it up.

Anyway, today’s a beach-slack day, so after breakfast we went down to the beach in swimming attire. Beach was quite free, save a few kids building sandcastles and a couple throwing Frisbees.

The Chinese idiom 人在江湖，身不由己 took on a new meaning for me today. Literally translated, it means: people in the river (martial art world), cannot act of their own volition. In this case it’s a sea, not a river, but still.

I’ve taken a new view of the sea today. It’s currently a rather neutral gray, but the calm surface belies the raw strength of the waves. We sat on the beach where the waves break, and each wave contains enough force to push people around. Merely sitting down on the beach is difficult when each wave can move one back two or three meters. And if you go slightly further into the sea, it becomes impossible to stand up without falling down or stumbling as each brown mass of surf breaks over you.

And it never stops. We went to the beach at about 11 AM, when the tide was rising, and I could have sat there to enjoy the waves for ages upon ages. With goggles, you can starfloat in the water for as long as you want, and let the waves carry you where they will.

I guess in Singapore it’s hard to experience the power of the sea when our beaches are artificial, and not very nice. And always very crowded.

After spending about two hours there, making fingers and toes all wrinkled, we went back up to the room to relax a while before embarking on our next activity.

One thing you don’t notice while sitting happily in the beach is the amount of sand that gets… everywhere. You don’t feel it, and only notice when you enter the shower -.-.

And they say that seawater is good for pimples… in fact it is, something I discovered in the mirror back in the room. Must be similar to saline solution or something.

Went down to the city for a spin of shopping and dinner. Wasn’t terribly interesting, and eventually didn’t buy anything worth mentioning. Had KFC for dinner. There’s a rather novel dish at the KFC over here, literally, chicken rice (rice + KFC chicken).

Merry Christmas Day Eve! End journal for Day Three.


DAY FOUR: Thursday, 25/12/08

Today wasn’t exactly the way I had planned to spend Christmas Day.

I mean, not many Singaporeans would spend their festive spirit away in a mangrove a few tens of miles from civilization, trekking through the jungle for an hour or so just to see a beach on the other side… then walking right back again.

Oh, and that’s not all. To even get to the starting point of the trek, which is on a mangrove/beach kind of place, you have to take a half an hour motorboat ride from a jetty which is connected to the main road (in Sarawak there’s only one road connecting most places), which is located about 45 minutes from the hotel.

So, having to wake up at about 7:30 AM in the morning was already the earliest I’ve had to do so in a long, long time. Ate breakfast and got on the bus (actually an eight-seater minivan), then was transported to the jetty. Following which, we got on the small motorboat (smaller than the one we took on Tuesday) and set off.

About halfway there, to put it simply, we got stuck. Running aground on a sandspit or a beach isn’t that bad, because you can simply get off and push it the boat to deeper water, but running straight over a mud flat is the worst, because the motor gets clogged with mud, and you can’t get off because (according to the guide) the mud there was akin to quicksand.

For two-and-a-half hours we were stuck, forced to wait for the tide to come in so as to raise the boat over the level of the mud. Thank goodness I brought a couple of books to read, because other than getting a nice tan sunburnt and producing large amounts of Vitamin E, there was nothing else to do.

Besides taking more photos of the sea and sky, of course.

Occasionally the boatman made a little progress as he lowered the motor into the mud and turned it on, as the chocolate looking mud started churning and splattering mud on everyone. Not sure why people pay so much for mud baths and mud skin treatment; one capsize would have given seven people a free mud soak.

After finally reaching the trek starting point at about noon, running extremely late (at this point we were supposed to be RETURNING from the hike) we set off. Although the trek was allegedly only 800 meters, making a nice 1.6 km run there and back if only the horizontal aspect was considered, every step was a change in elevation, and the occasional wooden steps and railings only appeared at completely impassable terrain.

Anyway, it took about an hour and a half to go there and back, and besides some proboscis monkeys at the very start of the walk, not a single wildlife did we see.

Oh, of course there was plenty of insect life. I have some bites to attest to that.

The final part of the trek involved a barefoot walk over a mangrove, and I must say that reflexology walks are better. You know mangrove have roots which stick vertically upwards (not sure what its called, forgot all my Geog)? Well, they are as turgid as they look -.-, making walking over them a rather spiky affair.

And (having inherited my mum’s pale skin) I came off with a mild sunburn on the forearms and neck and face. My arms from hand to elbow are currently a different shade of brown as compared to my upper arms.

After having some lunch and a toilet break back at the jetty, we set off… not back to the comfortable refuge of our hotel but to a gift shop on a half an hour long detour (which makes an hour there and back, not counting shopping time) at the behest of the bus driver.

Upon finally reaching back at the hotel (about 4:30 PM), we went for some buffeting in the waves and the pool too cool off. THANKFULLY, the really heavy rain only came at this point. Getting roasted in the sun for two-and-a-half-hours is one thing, but getting roasted AND frozen is another. And trekking in the jungle with rain to accentuate the slipperiness of the rocks and roots and leaves is no joke.

Christmas Day calls for Christmas dinner, and today also being my mum’s birthday (yes, Christmas!), we decided to take the buffet dinner. I ate what, ten minute beef steaks, seven potato patties, five lamb pieces, one turkey wing, chocolate desserts and whathaveyou.

Currently having a stomach ache for eating too much. End journal for Day Four.


DAY FIVE: Friday, 26/12/08

Owww my back is burning hard from the sunburn.

Went down back to the beach again, this time venturing about ten meters deeper into the ocean. That’s the only way to catch the big waves… by being there when they break. I’m no Geog student, but I do know that the greatest force exists when the wave crest forms, and the foam and roar materialize, not before, when the wave travels along the sea and after, when the wave travels along the beach.

That point was about chest high for me, and so we spent about an hour and a half riding the waves, going under them, slamming against them… when I dived straight against a rather big wave it was like getting slapped.

Cooled down in the pool after that. I never really thought I liked swimming much, and I don’t pursue it actively, but it’s nice to slack in starfloat position for a hour or so.

Packed up the room, and napped till about 5:30 PM. Taxi to airport, plane to Singapore, taxi back home, nothing else much to say. End journal for Day Five.

Labels: random

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

And also happy birthday (yes, on Christmas Day!) to a very special person!

Labels: random

My gosh, there is free wireless internet connection in the hotel!

Currently staying in Damai Puri Resort, which is newly renovated and is a pretty nice beachside hotel. It's 1 AM in the morning now, and we arrived late, so I haven't seen the beach or the surroundings in broad daylight yet.

It's so nice to sit in bed and listen to the crashing waves... and the gentle rain that's been showering the region since we came. If I listen long enough, I can hear insect life (crickets etc.) from outside.

Been a while since I listened to the sounds of nature.

Ah well, even though I don't really like going overseas much, it's a nice change.

Better sleep now.

Labels: random

In a couple of hours, I'll be leaving on a family trip to the East Malaysian town of Kuching, in Sarawak, for a four-night holiday. Will be gone till Friday night, the 26th. Will be missing Christmas in Singapore, but it's not like it's that great a deal. It doesn't even snow =(.

Not exactly sure what I'll be doing there, as this is more of a "beach-resort-slack-in-hotel" kind of holiday. Probably will spend most of the time stoning in the room or at the beach.

And the chances of there being free Internet access there is about a million to one, so won't be blogging for a while.

Good tidings to you, wherever you are,
Good tidings for Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Labels: random

Happy birthday to me!
Happy birthday to me!
Happy birthday to me!
Happy birthday to me!

Okay that sounds really sad, but anyway it's my birthday today. Apparently at about this time 16 years ago (it's about 2045 hours now) I was born =P.

Had a birthday lunch with family at Swensen's at Thompson Plaza, got a free Firehouse Ice Cream (which they give FOC to anyone whose birthday is that day and can produce an IC or Ez-link), THANKFULLY the staff there did not sing the birthday song which I've seen sometimes. Usually it's to little kids: they play it over the restaurant speakers and the staff sing it to you.

I would be totally embarrassed if that had happened, luckily it didn't.

Went for RWinds after that, one hour late, but they were still warming up O.o". Forgot to bring ticket stubs so couldn't return ticket money T.T. Oh, and happy birthday Leonard too! Same birthday as me =).

And after that...

Well, I didn't expect to get treated to birthday dinner (outside family). But I did =D! I mean, I got treated!

No one's ever treated me to birthday dinner before lol, because I haven't exactly been the most sociable person, but there's always a first ^^. They took me to:

Pic from http://www.shoppersguide.sg/images/cafenrestuarants/cafe-cartel-logo.gif

And by they I mean Jerald, Eric, Russell and Ying Zhe. We all ordered this nice pork rib thing and spent the better part of half and hour decimating the ribs one by one. By the way, the pictures aren't mine.

Photo from singapuradailyphoto.blogspot.com

Thanks guys, for the meal! I really enjoyed it and I appreciate it =D (and I think I bankrupted all of them as well o.o). It really made my day - and thanks to your gesture I've indeed had a happy birthday.

The thing about having such a late birthday is that when you finally reach it, you only get 10 or 11 days to enjoy it before the new year comes and you're expected to be the next year old already. Ah well, this time next year, all my friends might have already taken their driving tests and I'll be stuck watching them. Not that that's a bad thing - I don't trust myself to drive.

That being beside the point, becoming sixteen deserves a few resolutions doesn't it? And what better resolution than the very thing a RI student might contemplate:

(1) GET GOOD GRADES

No, seriously. My grades in RI aren't too bad, but I know I can do better. Much better. There's really nothing much to say about this, will just have to try to push myself harder and try to stop slacking.

Of course, to help this, my second resolution might help:

(2) STOP PLAYING COMPUTER GAMES

This is going to be VERY hard to upkeep, and most probably I won't totally give it up, just attempt to lessen my play time, but if rumours are true, JC doesn't give you time to relax so much. I really and seriously do not mind giving up like DotA, but I need something else to fill the time, like going out or doing some social activity.

To do that, here's my third resolution:

(3) GO AND GET A LIFE

Nothing so resolute or extreme, but I need to expand my social circles. Also need to improve on how I deal/work with people: to be specific, strangers. Another cliche concern is that I've never been in a co-ed school before, nor do I know many girls, so yeah, the opposite gender remains a mystery to me.

To aid in that one, we have:

(4) STOP SAYING STUPID THINGS

To be honest, I find that there's nothing wrong in saying stupid things. I rather be honestly unknowing than pretending to know something I don't.

e.g. sorbet =|= misspelling of sherbet

But I could do with some expansion of my general knowledge too.

Time to sleep. Once again, I wish myself a happy sixteenth birthday!

*edit: MY GOSH this is probably my first birthday that more than 10 people (family aside) actually REMEMBERED and wished me. Even Benni posted something for me and Leonard! I'm so touched T.T =DDDDD.

Labels: band, random

Tomorrow's my special day!

Turning sixteen isn't something that happens twice.

Anyway, I'm not really that excited about birthdays as compared to a younger me, but I do wish myself a happy birthday. Thanks to all those who have wished me a happy birthday, including family and friends.

I shall try to make a few resolutions tomorrow, when I have the time and spirit to type up a proper blog post.

Labels: random

No outing tomorrow.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

You may be wondering why I'm so agitated about not going out...

... well it's because the alternative is staying home and playing DotA.

Which is neither healthy nor enthralling for long periods of time.

This post number, 157, also happens to be the number of the bus I take home from school.

Anyway, I'll be away from the 22nd to the 26th of December, will be in East Malaysia at Kuching for a family holiday, don't try to contact me because I doubt I will have access to internet. And I'm not bringing my phone.

And here we have a Manta Enchantress without a Manta Style :O.

Labels: random

YAWN.

RWinds today, nothing much to report.

Played DotA with Quanhui (O.O) and the guy from horns - I can't remember his name.

Nothing else to post up; I'll just put up my Garena ladder record as of today.

My cat is so kawaii!

Labels: band, random

Another batch outing yesterday, this time to Minds Cafe, which is like Settler's Cafe, which is basically a place for a group to sit down and play board games. It's $5 per day for free flow of board games and drinks.

Only 6 of us yesterday: Russell, Ying Zhe, David, Ben, Jerald, and myself. 5, actually, because Jerald was playing with his class.

So we tried out some board games to while away 4 hours or so... it wasn't terribly fun, but it was at least moderately interesting. Especially games such as UNO stacko (for me at least):

At 6 PM or so, went back to Bishan to eat and go for RWinds. Met Quan Hui on the MRT there; David claims he spotted him because he was holding/studying a conductor's score.

RWinds was okay, except that there were only 4 clarinets, and so far I haven't met another REGULAR clarinet who is playing 3rd clarinet... hopefully I won't have to be the only one. Went through some songs, got some new members, etc.

Went for supper with Jerald, Benni, and Ying Zhe (David said he lived too far away and Russell was forced home) at McDonald's in Junction 8.

Okay I dunno why in this picture our baby cat looks so sad (when it says HAPPY), but he's not, he's more active than ever. He's already starting to try to compete with my other cats for food, and they certainly don't appreciate that.

Mother and sister still on a baking craze. Good, though, because whatever they're baking is really nice: Vanilla Sponge Cake. Mmmmmmm.

Quote, or rather, misquote of the day:

Joshua Dieu says:
russell is quite smooth
Russell says:
with girls

Labels: band, random

When your mother and sister feel the urge to bake stuff, its usually a good sign because you get nice things to eat. So they decided to bake a sponge cake:

Labels: random

I went to Borders today with family to buy books. Bought Brisingr and Star Wars: Death Star for only $10 thanks to a 40% discount on the Brisingr and a Borders voucher provided by my dad. Currently happily reading Star Wars: Death Star.

RWinds today, was fun and IMHO quite productive. A LOT of people came, relatively speaking, filling the numbers up to 40 people (which isn't a lot, but for RWinds it is), and thus qualifies as a successful attendance.

We attempted to perfect Phantom of the Opera (or more dearly referred to as POTO), and I think it went quite okay. The audience should be pleased by this song.

Which reminds me. If anyone out there is interested in watching CODA 4, proudly presented by RWinds, Raffles bands alumni, you can come contact me or any band guy for tickets. Tickets are going for $10 for a Stall and $12 for a Circle, up till 20th December, where it goes for $12 a Stall and $14 a Circle. Venue is at Victoria Concert Hall, 1930 hours, and songs we are playing include POTO, Abba Gold, and Looney Tunes.

Pretty pathetic dinner afterwards, with only Jerald, Eric, Ying Zhe, and myself. David (as usual) didn't eat, Benni had to go to a wedding dinner, and Russell was spending too much time with friends (unquote parents :O). Dirtied Jerald's shirt, and er, skin, with bubble tea pearls =D.

We're planning something for Tuesday/Wednesday, hopefully it will form up now that I'm not the sole organizer again.

Labels: random

Yay batch outing!

Met up at 11.30 AM at City Hall with Benni, Eric, Austin, David, Russell, and Ying Zhe, but then relocated to Dhoby Ghaut and met Jerald there. Went to our usual haunt, Paradiz Plaza, for FOUR hours of LANning (DotA + Warcraft minigames + CS).

Highlights of this LAN include:

1) A first DotA game in which I realize that Pugna can be pro, won in the end
2) A second DotA game which the opposing team gave up (aww my BM was doing so well)
3) A third DotA game in which Russell, Jerald, and Ying Zhe 3v5ed the rest of us and won, where Russell displayed the power of Bristleback, and Benni went on a killing spree (!!!)
4) A bunch of Warcraft minigames which I got second in nearly everything
5) Counter Strike, involving a few epic 1v3s by Benni and Jerald

Then we went to watch the movie Bolt (minus Austin and Ying Zhe). It's a very touching story, if you disregard the fact that it's a computer animated film (G rated, not even PG). You may think a guy shedding a silent tear at a Disney show is laughable, but that's what I did. Under cover of darkness of course.

Of course, myself being a dog owner and domestic pet lover myself helped.

Discovered that 174 and 77 both can go from Dhoby Ghaut to my house, so took that home with Russell. David and Eric could've both taken this bus to their HCI concert as well and saved some time lol.

Oh my gosh today was so fun!

I await RWinds on Sat!

Labels: random

Batch outing is in imminent danger of collapsing.

Is there really nothing else to relieve the boredom?

Or does everyone seem to take issue with my wanting to see my friends?

Cannot ah?

Labels: random