patience, jack, Patience!

I'm typing this while eating my dinner (hope I don't make any typos!), the reason being that I have no patience to blog. I have great patience for many things but updating my blog just happens to be something I have absolutely no patience for. The process is so tiresome.

Anyway, the dinner today was cooked by my Dad. Cooking happens to be something I have no patience for either. Sweeping, mopping, washing dishes, washing clothes, folding clothes, wiping windows...I don't mind doing. But cooking and ironing are no-nos. So either my wife or maid will have to do it next time. Haha, but I will do all the other household chores listed above, so all's fair and square. I'm no MCP okay.

Today I was at the Esplanade library and from the glass windows facing Marina Bay, you could see a magnificent storm brewing. So I went up to the rooftop terrace, bore the rain and took this rather threatening-looking picture.

On another note, I recently discovered in my CD collection this lovely Adagio by Mozart. It sounds very innocuous and simple but at the same time a little sad. It's the feeling you get when your good friend is going away and you sit by the window, gazing at the falling leaves and the darkening sky, realizing that you won't be able to see her and talk to her again. That sort of quiet melancholy.

It was also in the French movie called Turning Pages I watched a few years back. In it, there's this girl who'd just flunked her major piano audition, and as she walked out of the music room, knowing that her dream of becoming a pianist was dashed forever, this music was played. Really appropriate.

I managed to find it on youtube. Listen to it and see if you get the same feeling. (I don't really like this version though. The pianist doesn't shape off his phrases nicely.)

10 things you didn't know about me

Some people have complained that my blog is quite boring and that I'm quite elusive. So today, for the first and only time, I shall list 10 things I bet you didn't know about me.

1. My mother is Taiwanese.

2. Harmonies in music can make me cry easily.

3. I'm afraid of spiders but I think lizards are cute.

4. I had a Snoopy toy which I carried everywhere when I was small.

5. One of my childhood ambitions was to become a bus driver. I love to ferry people.

6. My father used to teach at ACJC.

7. I gave away a penalty for handball the first time I played soccer back in Sec 1. That was also the last time I played soccer.

8. Mrs Chitra was my form teacher at Chinese High in Sec 4.

9. I used to be a piano teacher. (I taught beginners to DipABRSM levels)

10. I used to work part time at HMV (Classical & Jazz) during my university days.

irreconcilable differences

The twilight turns from amethyst

To deep and deeper blue,

The lamp fills with a pale green glow

The trees of the avenue.

The old piano plays an air,

Sedate and slow and gay;

She bends upon the yellow keys,

Her head inclines this way.

Shy thoughts and grave wide eyes and hands

That wander as they list--

The twilight turns to darker blue

With lights of amethyst

The images don't seem to go with the words. But isn't life often like that? ~sigh~ :/

Here comes the Bride!

Joanne (my JC classmate)'s wedding @ Wesley Methodist Church today.

Photos!

Joanne's Dad walking her down the aisle to give her away to the groom. They were walking mighty slowly. It took about 4 verses of Amazing Grace for them to complete the walk.

A badly taken photo - all blurry and fuzzy (because the photographer was me)

From L to R: Jasmine, Lynn, Andre, Joanne, Me, Liwei and Stan

This one came out better (because the photographer wasn't me)

The wedding service was short and sweet.

And very Christ-centred. Immediately after the exchange of vows, the Reverend told them that the first thing they should do as a wedded couple was to kneel in prayer to the Lord.

Then later there was this moving bit in Joanne's speech where she thanked her Dad for always being so encouraging. Her voice was trembling as she recalled the incident after her PSLE when she felt she didn't do well and called her Dad, in tears. Then her Dad spoke kindly to her and told her it didn't matter. And how her Dad never compared her with other children.

That made me think about how stressful a lot of school children are with all the expectations from parents, some of which are overly high. I think though academic scores are important, especially in a meritocratic society like ours, whether or not you eventually succeed in life, or whether or not your life has quality depends not merely on your grades but also on other factors like strength of character, perseverance and luck. Personally I think faith in religion is very important too. That's why Joanne's Dad did the right thing in not comparing her with other children and not fussing over her grades.

I think school children today are lucky, especially IP students, because they don't need to go through the burden of the O Levels, and can thus spend time on enrichment stuff. Similarly, project work and daily classroom assignments count towards the final score, so that the final paper doesn't seem that 'all important' and stressful.

Anyway, congratulations Joanne on being the first person in our class to get married! Will always remember the lame jokes we shared whenever we sat together during lectures and how you recommended 'Jane Eyre' to me though you were not a literature student. All the best on your married life to Andre!

Tick, tick....boom!

My mum bought this cheap and ugly looking wind-up clock from malaysia which plays a very metallic and brittle sounding version of some lullaby when wound up.

Just now, in her over-enthusiasm, she wound up the thing thrice instead of twice, and so, that cheesy lullaby tune blared out more metallic and brittle than usual and then the silly thing whirled around unsteadily and finally exploded, throwing its glass panels in all directions. Kaput. Finita. Mati.

We were saying yi1 fen1 qian2 yi1 fen 1 huo4

(I realize I've composed 2 very long sentences)

Goodbye.

Guzheng Concert

Guzheng Concert yesterday.

I was manning the ticketing counter and some people were coming at 340pm though the matinee began at 3pm.

I saw some students who looked very different from how they look like in school uniform. There was this girl in gothic costume.

Then in the evening, I was 'coerced' by some of my ex-students to buy bubble tea, and I decided to be nice and support them (and the choir). For the record, I've never ever bought bubble tea out of my own free will. I mean, I don't mind the tea itself, but I can't stand those rubbery 'agar agar-like' pearls.

Yeah, all things jelly and gummy are no-no for me. I can never make myself love the flimsy texture of those bubble tea pearls. Furthermore, you'd be sipping happily at your tea, and then those irritating pearls will every now and then shoot up your straw into your mouth, and you'll almost choke!

Then after the concert, the performers' friends all rushed up the stage to present them with flowers, balloons and other gifts. I think this part is very important for them because girls like receiving such 'nice girlie things'. Anyway, we've even allocated 10 minutes specifically for this purpose in our concert itinerary.

I can't remember what my friends gave me after my string ensemble concerts when I was in school. Probably they didn't at all. I guess boys don't go for such things. As long as their friends buy tickets and come, that's good enough already.

Boys are such boring and unsentimental creatures!

Anyway, the concert yesterday was great.

I managed to slip in and caught a few of the pieces. I think I'm beginning to appreciate Chinese music more.

I've always thought that Western classical music is more subtle, has more interesting harmony and dynamic/expressive variety while Chinese music is more celebratory and 'in-your-face' but I guess those are prejudices.

I shall just keep to my old maxim that anything with good melody is good music!