Depending on Yourself

Some days ago I wrote to my fellow choristers that people can help them sing better by singing the notes to them, giving tips and tricks for better sound production, making recordings/midi files to listen to, but no one can magically transform them into a songbird overnight.

And I thought, heh, isn’t it also relevant to other stuff beside singing in choir?

Maybe I, or you, or other people, depend too much on other people to change ourselves. Perhaps it’s rooted in the education system (Indonesia’s or Singapore’s at least) where we were conditioned to expect our teachers to spoon-feed us with information and knowledge (and test and exams!). We become so passive, believing that we will change once we find somebody who can help us.

But to change ourselves need the conscious effort, just like the conscious effort I took in practicing for my choir singing. The effort I took in utilizing my back muscles, positioning my voice so that it resonates, raising my eyebrows, and every single little thing to make my voice clearer.

But sometimes the bigger question lies in whether you want to do the conscious effort. Thinking of doing it and really doing it are two different things, and taking action to move from thinking to doing takes quite some time, or even bravery, for some people.

So, have you moved from thinking to doing yet?

You Were There

This is the current hit song in my choir (SMU Chamber Choir).

You Were There by Libera.

I hope I’m not the only person that thinks the video is cheese sandwich. I mean, ugh. It’s like somebody just took their pictures and tinkered around with iMovie or the likes (Windows Movie Maker? Eeks).

But it IS a really beautiful song, kudos to Takatsugu Muramatsu. I just think that the song (at least in the mp3 I got) got too much enhancement, echo and stuff, that it lost some of its magic. Also, the strings. Ugh, the strings. The piano was fine, but the strings was downright “ordinary” for the amazing song.

By the way, this song is actually a soundtrack of a Japanese movie called “Dare mo mamotte kurenai” which seems to be a very interesting movie. This is the plot summary (from Eigapedia)

When the older brother of junior high school student Saori is arrested for murder she is separated from her family for her own protection. She ends up living with a police detective named Katsuura and his family. Katsuura has to get information from her without making her already-troubled mental state any worse.

Can’t seem to find the trailer with English subtitles, but I think the movie (trailer) is powerful enough without subtitles.

Intriguing, eh? I wonder where can I watch this movie…

Btw I found another video.. I believe this was the opening of the movie?

BTW, I totally have a crush on You Were There’s soloist. Hehe! His name is Tom Cully.

Are you what you listen?

We’ve heard a lot of cliches around this : you are what you eat, you are what you wear, you are what you do, etc etc. But are you really what you listen? And do you define what you listen by how you define yourself?

I’m pondering about this since my choir (visit SMU Chamber Choir Fan Page if you’d like to) was visited by a vocal coach from Philippines. He did technical stuff like breathing, posture, sound production that I would not go into detail else I’ll bore a lot of you out. Not that there’s a lot of you in the first place.

After all technical stuff, before he left he said that the way to improve our singing is to listen to more choral works. He then went on to recommend some people, or rather groups, to listen to. And I just couldn’t stop pondering.

You see, if you have followed my blog from the beginning, you would know that I don’t only listen to choral or classical stuff. Review my music category. I listen to some pop, some rock, some electronica, some lounge music, and every other thing as I feel like it. In fact, I think my choral music collection is like… 5% of my whole collection?

Do we really have to listen to music that defines who we are? Do they have to match?

I don’t think we should choose a music, or any interest, first then decide how we should act. If I like emo songs (I do like some), do I have to sport the over-one-eye hair cut and write sad poems? If I like rock songs, do I have to sport studs and funky hair? If I like classical songs, do I have to act all nerdy? Do I really have to fulfill all those stereotypes only because I like a type of music? And is it fair to judge a person just based on what music they listen to? (or based on their interests?)

All I’m saying – sometimes people identify a group, and then identify themselves. Isn’t this backwards? I think we should identify ourselves first and then join a group.

But then again, this is only a personal opinion. But I’ll stand true – I don’t want to listen to choral music just because I sing in a choir. I don’t want to limit my choices – there is a lot of great music of any genres out there.

What do you think? Do you think you define yourself by your music – or does your music define you?

Off to land of onion domes and vodka

I’M SO EXCITED.

Yup. Last year my choir SMU Chamber Choir went to Sopot, Poland to participate in a choir competition. (I know, I haven’t churned out the blogposts! Please search for my photo albums on facebook)

This year we decided to go even further : St Petersburg, Russia! This time to participate in Festa Musicale. Last year we had a choir from the Philippines as our “fellow Asians” but this year I heard that the choir will be the only choir from Asia. That’s gonna be cool

Photo by neiljs

Yes. Russia. The land of onion domes and vodka. And matryoshka. And blini. And so many others.

It’s not exactly a tourist destination, especially when their visa requirements are quite strict and tight (btw I got my visa for free, courtesy of the embassy. How nice!). But every stories I read just made me even more eager to see this very country. Mystic, magical, that’s how I picture it in my mind. Let’s see whether my prediction is correct.

Now before going, I have to pack (a lot of things), and later have to endure a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong flight. Okay so I depart from Singapore, 13-hour flight to Amsterdam, 6-hour long transit in Schiphol, and then another 3-hour flight to St Petersburg (and who knows how long will the bus ride to our place be).

Nevsky Prospekt at night, photo by Geir Halvorsen

We’ll be staying near Nevsky Prospekt, a big road in St Petersburg which I found out to be the St Petersburg’s Orchard Road. Since it’s June and it’s Summer, St Petersburg will experience what they call “White Nights”. Simply saying, there will be no night! The sun sets very late (as late as 11 PM) and rises very early (as early as 4.30 PM) and in between there’ll be no darkness. It’ll be very beautiful!

Ok I’m off to packing (and this year I’m not bringing my huge suitcase – no thanks). I leave you with beautiful pictures from St Petersburg I found on Flickr. Thanks to all the photographers! Awesome works

White Night in St Petersburg. Photo by Becky Sullivan

White Night in St Petersburg (10 PM). Photo by Becky Sullivan.

Church of Our Saviour on Spilled Blood. Photo by chillihead.

Church of St John Baptist at Chesme Palace. Photo by Dystopos.

Peter the Great's Winter Palace. Photo by Edwin Land.

Down with (not swine/H1N1) flu

I am currently down with flu. I started coughing on Thursday afternoon. I thought it’s just a normal coughing, but due to the recent paranoia over H1N1 coming to Singapore shores, I decided to check at the school doctor. I didn’t go travel anywhere over the few weeks so he dismissed the possibility of H1N1. (I was about to tell him that I did go to the airport to see my boyfriend before he flew off to Jakarta, but then I went to the airport after I got my first coughs)

On my way to the doctor, on my way to the airport, on the way back from the airport, I was always afraid to cough. Because I was afraid people will think bad things about me (like OH NOES THE GIRL IS COUGHING I MIGHT GET SWINE FLU HOW HOW HOW???)

Seriously, I think this paranoia thing is a bit too much. I found out that the H1N1 flu’s fatality rate is low (just slightly higher than usual seasonal flu). Even the patient zero in Singapore is recovering well. Oh by the way, just because I’m an SMU student doesn’t mean I have increased risk of H1N1. The SMU girl went to the doctor in Bedok area, I didn’t go on the BSM NY trip, so no. Seriously.

Perhaps in Singapore they were already scared about what happened with SARS several years ago?

And by the way, I’m seriously irked by how a newspaper revealed the patient zero’s name (who has requested not to reveal her name – at least in her statement to SMU). Cut it off, will ya. It’s not like she intentionally wanted to contract the virus.

Anyway, I’m quite contained in home right now. I only went out to eat (at the famous Whampoa makan place no less!), then went back to home to gulp down my medicine. It’s a partial home quarantine, I guess.

Hope I get well soon. I’ll need to shop for some stuff for my impending trip to Russia!

Oh and by the way, contact me or e-mail the choir at chamberchoir@smu.edu.sg to get your tickets for the choir’s fundraising concert! $15 each! (details at picture below)

24th of May – The Opera in a Forest

I know it’s been so long! Nevertheless here’s my entry!

24th of May, the last day of our competition

It was the folk music category.. Songs that we sang:

• Sohran Bushi (Japanese)
• Xiao Huang Li Niao/小黄鹂鸟 (Mongolian folk song, sung in Mandarin)
• Mamayog Akun (Philippines)
• Dayung Sampan (Singapore, with melody adapted from a Chinese song)
• Now I Walk in Beauty (Navajo traditional prayer, sung in English)

Pieroghi (dumplings)

Yummmmmmmmmmm

pieroghi!

Okay if you’re wondering.. I did eat two portions of pieroghi!

me and honey vodka

Hehe.. The first “gloomy” photo is my favourite photo of the lot! He even used it for his profile picture once

 

Mwahahahaha. Please don’t kill me, please. It’s just a joke

The (slightly) longest day in a week

part of NaBloPoMo 2008

This term, Tuesday is my longest day ever. I had one Monday about 2 terms ago that was also so long because I had 3 concurrent courses at one day. This term’s Tuesday doesn’t have 3 concurrent courses, but equally, if not more, tiring.

So I have a morning class at 8.30 AM. People who know me will surely know that I’m just not a morning person. Don’t get me wrong, I CAN wake up, but whether I can “function properly”, that’s a whole different story. Today was worse than ever. My “best friend” called insomnia kept knocking on my door again last night, and I could only fall asleep at about 5 AM. And I had to wake up at 7 AM! Darn. So I did. Unwillingly I dragged my ass to school.

Class finished at 11.45 AM. Usually after class, I would have a meeting from around 12 PM to around 2 PM. However I didn’t have any meeting today, meeting was cancelled coz the groupmates couldn’t make it. This explains the (slightly) in the title. Hehe.

It didn’t mean I could slack though. Went to the lab to do stuff. And class (at the same lab) finally began at 3.30 PM. Tried so hard to catch what’s being talked about but gave up. La di da. La di da di da.

“Please go outside to enjoy the buffet”

Wha…?

Whoa seriously! My kind professor (and now I feel bad for not listening….) treated the whole class a buffet dinner! Om nom nom nom.

Couldn’t remember what happened between finishing eating and finishing class. Hahahaha. Anyway, after class finished at 6.45 PM, it was time for choir practice. Argh.

Don’t get me wrong, I like singing in choir. After all I chose to be in the choir and had been staying for more than a year. It’s just that.. The practice time just doesn’t suit my body time. You want to know the other practice day for choir? Saturday morning. Argh.

It was election day to select new choir exco and we’re so excited to know the results this Saturday!

And now here I am, typing this, and will proceed to finish this hellish long day.

While I’m finishing my long day, our folks in USA are also having a long day.

I just hope they’ll vote wisely and whatever the crowd’s decision is, it’s for the best.

Are you excited about the result?

Here I come, November

part of NaBloPoMo 2008

And so NaBloPoMo starts. Here I am with the first post for this month!

It was, like usual, a busy day. I’m always busy on Saturday. Choir at morning (which I attended late because of my stupid morning stomachache that made me go to the toilet back and forth). Sang 2 tango songs. Very emotional. And tiring.

Then I had brunch at a dim sum place in Sunshine Plaza. I think it was called Victor’s Kitchen. Great dim sum although it’s sad that the waitresses can only speak Chinese. Bah. Went back to school to do EWS (Enterprise Web Solutions) assignment. We’re supposed to create an enrichment course portal. I realized we started late and I realized there’s SO MUCH to be done, but I hope we can strive anyway.

OTW to EWS computer lab (which is, strangely, located in School of Economics/School of Social Sciences. Huh.), I remembered that there’s Podcamp Singapore going on. I intended to attend the event religiously but hell the things that I need to get done was just eating me up. So I thought, ah hell I’ll just drop by and say hi to some blogger friends and then go. So I went to the room. Saw DK, Farinelli, Miccheng, Claudia present. Daphne went out to talk to me (and to go toilet) and told me that I should just go in. It was 12.56 PM and the talk is supposed to be over at 1.00 PM so I thought, again, ah what the heck, just barge in and wait until it’s over, and then I can mingle around with blogger friends, and go.

“Sorry it’s already 1 PM and time’s up”
“Ah sorry, just 1 more question. Very short.”

La di da. As I checked the clock, it was 1.25 PM. 

Immediately went off from the room and said hi-bye to bloggers and rushed off to the lab. Helping to search for automatic way to create website after an event happened (in Microsoft Share Point – the urgh thing, I might say).

A friend, Olivia, came to the lab and told everyone that today is another friend, Edwin’s bday! She bought a cake and told us to go out and celebrate.

She took picture of my EWS group and the cake!

Yes I know my hair looks hideous. GAH.

Happy birthday Edwin Tan!

And it was time for my piano lesson! And guess what! I didn’t bring my piano books to school! Yeay!

Sigh. Lucky I realized it quite early so I rushed off from the lab and went to the bus stop to catch the bus home. Waited and waited until at least 15 minutes. I turned impatient. Checked SBS Iris and HA HA HA, GUESS WHAT. SBS Iris next bus : 10 minutes. You gotta be kidding me.

Anyway bus came and I went home and took my piano books and I quickly flagged a cab to get me to the piano lesson place. (this is an attempt of shortening sentences. I realize I did too many things)

Piano lesson finished, bf picked me up and we ate at Ayam Penyet Ria at Square 2! YEAY! <3

Ayam Penyet! Photo by Shellfish

Photo by Shellfish. Hehe! I didn’t have time to take photo coz I just tucked in!

Oh well.. What a busy day it was! Imagine how busy the rest of November will be! I have another blog to update for NaBloPoMo so I’ll leave you guys with a video of one of the tangoes I sang : Adios Nonino.

Background of the video : it was played during the church wedding of Prince Willem-Alexander (of the Netherlands) and Maxima Zorreguieta. Maxima was born in Argentina and Adios Nonino (meaning : Goodbye, Father) is a popular song from Argentina written by Astor Piazzolla after his father passed away.

Such a sad, depressing song yet beautiful..