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June 2007
May 2007
Apr 2007
Mar 2007
Feb 2007
Webshot Album

28th July
Transformational. I still find it hard to believe that earlier this month, my fellow orchestra members and I were performing at the Sydney Opera House. For the past 13 years of my life, I was always holding onto a musical instrument. Yet now, I am marching along the rugged roads of Tekong and holding a rifle. To be brutally honest, it had been really hard adjusting to the regimented lifestyle. The six months preparation for the music festival took a toll on my deteriorating body, making it vulnerable to the physically demanding syllabus in BMT. Throughout the two weeks confinement in BMTC, I was constantly reminiscing the time we spent together practising for the competition.

Hence I had to constantly remind and psycho myself to move on and accept the change in circumstance. I was really excited to make new buddies and get fitter than before. The all-boys environment brought back the nostalgic memories of secondary school days, giving me a sense of hope and confidence to overcome any situation or difficulties that I was about to meet. Most of my section mates were really encouraging when I was struggling with the pull ups. I am blessed to meet good people and be part of a new company - Yankee. Holding the rifle and wearing the LBV or boots were totally alien to me. The first impressions were simply - heavy. I began to wonder how I would be able to march 24km or do the SOC with such bulky items weighing on my scrawny body. So much doubts crept into my mind, I seriously wonder if I can prove my worth to be a commander.

Being the pioneer batch have its pros and cons. On one hand, we have new lecture halls, beds and equipments etc. On the other hand, the routine and system may still have some flaws. Some complaint about the food and the vegetables having a wasabe taste. Indeed the quality of the food in the first week was below average but the meals improved day by day. I guess the kitchen crew, like us, are getting use to the new camp and all. I can only say, I have tasted much worse Chinese food.

A major part of army lifestyle is the absence of connection to the outside world. No television, no computers and hardly any newspaper made me feel isolated. As a media student, reading the newspaper everyday was a necessity and an addiction. Thus I resorted to SMSes and calling. The irony is that even though now I am further away from home, I actually spend more quality time with my family talking on the phone and be together when I book out. July 21st was an important day. The initial plan to queue at Borders with Chin Teck and be the first to lay my hands on the Harry Potter book, had to be scraped due to NS. In the end, poor Chin Teck had to find someone else to queue while I would just read it during the National Day weekend. A lot of things had to be re-prioritized in my life and being in camp made me value all the things which I had taken for granted - especially time.

The two weeks confinement definitely had its highs and lows. So much adjustment and transformation had to be made. I just pray that I would eventually become a better and stronger person both physically and mentally.

13th July
I've just managed to finish watching Charmed final season, finally after 6 years. And I also watched Harry Ootp last night with liyi, meng shan, xiaopang and chin teck. The movie wasn't that great as expected because they cut a lot, especially the St. Mungo's Hospital part. I'm still eagerly awaiting the last book...

Went to buy a lot of army stuff yesterday as well. Won't be around for the next 2 weeks or maybe longer, so you guys please keep tagging. I've also uploaded the photos of graduation onto webshots.  Everything that needs to be done had been done, except for the packing.

Nothing else to blog about le... I'll be back soon. I'll be an sms away if you need me. Take care you all!

7th July
Officially graduated from NYP yesterday and fully accomplished what I had set out to achieve 3 years ago - to top my diploma course and get into NTU. Everyone asked me what is that Mediacorp Gold Medal thing... I have no idea too! My dad says he wants to pawn it away to get money, LOL. My 2nd Gold after the NYPCO gold award...heehee! Gold Haul!!! Raise the flags! Graduation was pretty stoic and predictable... except for looking like a vase and having only one line in that video. I swear I spoke so much so much more... stupid Louis Ong! edit until I look dumb. I didn't get to meet most of my classmates because I was seated separately from my class. =( Went back to TEP and Block A studio with Firewire... so much memories. I must really dedicate and say that I wouldn't be able to achieve my goals without the help of the lecturers (Soo, VC, John Ho, Edwin Tan, Azhar, Weetz, J&M) and especially Firewire.

Maxine for her fabulous makeup which made Stephanie look so evil!
Yi Ting for her resourcefulness to gather and DIY many props and mock-ups
Eve for her blunt sacarsm and manager of Goh Eve Records!
Rachel for pushing everyone towards excellance
Kelly for chirping and keeping our morale high
KK for being so reliable and our handyman for lights
Syaz for his great photoshop, design and camera skills
Teckie for always being there in class and CO

I must also mention Li Hui for all the harry potter and anime discussions! Mee Mum for all the lunches at Signature. Bi Feng for taking care and feeding me at Discovery. Hazel for her amazing accounting skills and our SAO filming projects. Never did hate anyone or quarrel with anyone in my class... may we have the opportunity to meet and work together again in the future. Fight Kill ~!

Had lunch with Firewire ... last one with Rachel cos she's flying to Melbourne to study RMIT next week. Guess what, we had Botak Jones =.= and I'm still very scared of Fish&Chips! I've already advised Rachel to eat as much Singapore food as possible le... knowing what Australia food offers.

My thank you speech hasn't end yet! There's still my debates team mate Terrence & Cheryl for fighting so hard together. Sharon, Sha, Zul, Edwin, Farah, Jose, Joey, Jonathan. The Student Union (of which I'm half a member, lolx!) Eddie, Jean, Kong, Candice, Sri, Stephanie, Kaiway, Wei Siong. Those whom I've met through PF05 like Ian and PF06 Sub-theme 2.3. The whole of NYPCO ... too many to name le. Teachers and instructors - Mike, Karen, Janette, Mr Wee, Lin lao shi, CK. I must even thank Arshad, Guru, Agnes, North Canteen uncle & aunty and Mr. Mano! you rock! lolx. Hope I didn't miss out anybody, please forgive me if I do. Tag and let me know =P 

It's 2am now... caught a little bit of Live Earth! and got irritated by the advertisements. Came back from CHMA07 and I must say, this year the quality is quite low. Thank God Mark Tan was there as the emcee and he became much much more eloquent and better in his hosting skills and especially his Chinese! LOL. The video this year has a much higher quality and great editing... as for Paul Twohill ~ ermz. he's quite funny la. I heard Equivox who were guest performers, they are quite good except for the generation gap in their songs. Beyond that, Mr. Wang still did a great job and the lucky draw prize became better. Canon Ixus!!! ahhh~!

That's all, it's 2.30am now! Less than 7 days till NS le. I haven't prepare anything or had time to think about it yet.

5th July
Nanyang Polytechnic Chinese Orchestra - GOLD -

13 years ago, I was 'tricked' into joining the band because they had to a chance to perform in Australia. 13 years on, after a performance in Taiwan, two silvers at SYF and another silver at Hawaii's Pacific Basin Music Festival, it finally came full circle. Finally stepped onto the Bondi Beach sand and performed at the Sydney Opera House (twice!), marking the end of the 13 years CCA pathway with my first and only Gold award.

From the very first lesson of drawing treble clefs in primary two to the various performances. I've already performed in SCH, VCH, Esplanade, Suntec fountain of wealth (yes in the fountain!), Suntec convention hall, Harborfront Pavillion, Police HQ etc etc. all that I can think of except Indoor Stadium. Along the way, I've met many friends who played Rounders, Mahjong, Kbox, Hai Dai Quan etc...met various coaches, instructors and teachers in bands and COs.

Janette instructed me to hold the camera and record the announcement and the prize-giving... so when they announced that we got gold, I couldn't scream or jump - causing internal injury! Suddenly at a loss of words...too emotional. Estatic that we finally got the gold but disheartened by the fact that I may not have a chance to perform with the orchestra. One blissful moment is enough perhaps, during the competition where everything went quite smoothly and the 'high' that we all experienced after completing our repetoire... the applause and standing ovation. I'm quite appalled by how everyone peaked at the right moment. Right up to the final 15 minute-warm up before going up the stage, Joanne was too nervous and couldn't start the solo, the guzheng was out of tune, some people were crying, Jac was sick, my throat was too dry... on stage we were possessed or something. LOL. amazing.

"COMMENTS FROM ORGANISERS & ADJUDICATORS
According to Chris Gibbs, GM and Director of World Projects which also organises the New York Festival at Carnegie Hall, the Pacific Basin Music Festival in Hawaii as well as the United Kingdom Music Festival amongst others, NYP is the first and only in the history of all their Festivals to receive full marks of 100 points, and from the panel of all three international adjudicators as well!"

After competition, the holiday mood kicked in. Finally realized how cold Sydney actually is in the winter. Pizzas, Kebabs, sandwiches and chips... so sick of them. Went to the beach twice - Bondi Beach and Manly Beach. They are amazing albeit cold. The sand was icy cold *hard to imagine* but really damn cold. Some people could even surf in the blizzare cold.amazing!. Felt guilty I couldn't bring everyone to see the beaches... sorry! I remember our initial reaction on the bus when we saw the beach... WHOAA!!! and the other Aussies were looking at us. LOL.

Vandalism, or rather, graffitti art is apparent everywhere on walls, trains, buses etc. The trains are pretty cool, the Central station has up to 30+ platforms...imagine that! The amazing thing about buses are the fact that there's time schedule printed at the bus stop so you know what time the buses are coming. The bad thing is buses only come every 30 minutes! Interestingly enough, the bus driver has a cashier box which can give you change even if you pay in notes! Most residents have their own pre-paid tickets but for us we pay cash. Hence we would hold up the bus for about 5 minutes jus to pay... so malu but the rest don't seem to mind because the pace of the entire country is so slow and laid back. Of course, that's when the pre-pay express buses comes in. These buses only allows those with tickets so people don't have to wait for others to pay in cash... hence they're express. LOL.

The thing I dislike about Sydney (and probably other Western countries) is that its night time at 5pm! Most of the shopping malls and shops closes at 5pm, except for late night shopping every Thursdays which closes at 9pm. LOL. There really isn't much to shop anyway except souvenirs. Paddy market is really over-hyped although most things there are cheap. I bought a jacket there, hee! We usually have dinner at 4.30pm, which is 2.30pm Singapore time! imagine eating dinner during lunch hour. Pancakes on the rock is also over-hyped. The best food I ate were at the Sydney fish market, fresh seafood!!! Oysters, lobsters, abalone, scallops, prawns etc all at ultra cheap prices. Woo!

I went to the Three Wise Monkeys for two nights. heeX! Shan't elaborate more as it brought about both good and bad memories >.< Promised to bring 3.94 there also but didn't... next time okay?! Also went to Queen Victoria Building, which in my opinion is the most beautiful shopping centre I've ever seen! Although most of the stuffs were very high-end, the interior is magnificant enough for anyone to walk in and explore. I didn't get to see the Olympic Park though. This trip made me more confident of my exploring skills and also I've became more street-wise, having almost memorised the entire central Sydney by heart and knowing where to go, travelling by all the public transports etc. Even the taxi driver, who tried to con me by switching on night-charge, asked if I live in Sydney. LOL!

That night after winning the gold, I was too overwhelmed to speak at the conference room... shall make it up here. Once again, thanks everyone for a fabulous 3 years and an amazing experience working towards the gold. Lots of hard work was put in to build this orchestra, so please continue to excel and now that we're a gold orchestra... the expectations is going to be much higher (like keeping the CO room clean! :P) It's been my pleasure knowing everyone and I hope to have the time and perform again. Meanwhile, enjoy your time and cherish everything in NYPCO while you can =)

My photos are already uploaded onto the Webshot Album. if you want the zipped files pls msn me!