'O's has started..

Looking at the title of this post, an unknowing reader may mistaken that I am currently in the midst of taking my 'O' level examinations.


Well......


It certainly does FEEL like it. In fact, I was just telling one of my boys that, I feel more stressed that they are taking O's now, than when I was taking my own O's when I was 16. Haiiiiii...the part and parcel of being a sec4 form teacher perhaps.

Well, in the midst of feeling stressed...it's good that there are friends to pull me out of school to keep me sane...

Autumn Kiss charity concert
Went for a charity concert last week at Mohamed Sultan Road...it's a charity concert in aid of Asissi Hospice, an organisation which cares for the terminally ill.
The very interesting part is, that the singer/organiser of the concert is the sister of 2 of my choral conductors.

My 2 conductors singing with her sister singing and playing on the piano..

Have never heard my conductors' sister sing before, though I've seen her a few times while I was a student in JC...so it was good to finally hear her voice for the first time. Being jazz-trained (as opposed to my 2 conductors who were more classically trained) she did sound quite different from her sisters.

Felt a sense of nostalgia and was also heartwarming to see the 3 sisters on stage singing together for one of the songs. Afterall, it's been a long time since I last heard my conductors sing.


Nice cosy little family-and-friends charity concert..

YC & S' wedding

Attended 2 of my church friends' wedding on Saturday....was glad that I was finally able to attend my church friends' wedding coz I had missed 2 other weddings before this...




Was nice....and sweet...had a chance to get to know some of my churchmates better during the dinner too..


Wish the couple all the best as they start a new phase of life together :)

Mama Mia!

Managed to finally catch Mama Mia in the cinema over the weekend. Was very interesting as I had caught the musical version of MamaMia! a couple of years ago with my family, and enjoyed it very much too.

A very sweet and simplistic show...but of course the best part of the movie was its music...ABBA's music. SUPER nostalgic to hear Abba's songs appear during the movie..song after song after song....it brings back all those old memories of me singing in the car when my dad was driving... Sorta made me a bit sad while I was in the midst of watching the comedy..I'm sure my dad would have loved to catch this movie too.... :\

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Seems this couple of years had seen me saying goodbye to more and more people who are closer to me...just last month, I had to say goodbye to my granny.. Even though I know it's actually better for her to go than to stay...still...it's sad to see them leave...

But well, life has to go on....

Been snapping pics of the clouds again recently...

........never fails to mesmerise me....

Managing Expectations..

Much time has elapsed since the last post (a testament to my workload).
I had unfinished posts in between, but never had time to finish nor post them....maybe I'll just post some of them at a later date when I'm much free-er.

Just feeling kinda blue...
I think......I must always remind myself to manage my expectations...many times I'd remind myself, that people are different..they react differently...they express themselves differently...
I told myself that, I should be contented/give myself a break...for the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment.
But I guess I failed again...

I failed to manage my expectations...I failed to not compare....I failed to concentrate on expectations that have been met...failed to look at it from the brighter side.....failed to remember that efforts do not equal to rewards..

After so long....I wonder if I made any difference...because I really cannot tell.

A long overdue post...

Hmm, I just realised that I haven't posted in more than a month. Well that just goes to show how SUPERBLY busy I've been.
The post below this is actually something that I'd written (halfway) a week after CHMA...but never finished it...so here is a long overdue post...
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CHMA's over?? 27/7/08

CHMA's over.......

It is??

OMG. I can't believe it myself.

Hmm..shall reflect about it in a little more detail later in this post......

Choir J11 gathering
My choir batch took the opportunity after the big 20th anniversary celebration concert to have our own J11 batch gathering at one of our friend's place. (J11 simply coz it's the 11th year since we all entered JC together.. :)) It was just like the good old times...same house (we ALWAYS have gatherings at this friend's house :P), same people....feels so nice...

Everyone pretty much looked the same...this time round, one of our teachers joined us too. :)


Gary Chaw concert




He's unarguably one of the best vocals that I've ever heard 'live'. Fantastic control and use of voice....love it!

NCC 1-star kayaking course
Accompanied my cadets to their one-star kayaking course 2 weekends ago..it was at the Sarimbun Scouts camp. SUPER ulu and SUPER far away from civilisation.
So after the kids lugged their kayaks down to the waters, the instructors gave them a short lesson on how to carry out the T-rescue and off they went into the waters. Reminds me of my own one-star course that I took with my NCC boys 2 years ago at Changi Sea Sports Club...and I thought THAT was ulu......


But I guess being far from town has it's perks too...lets you bask in the quietness of the place and and the nice scenery of the waters and trees...



And last but not least.......
CHMA 2008
The week leading up to CHMA was one hectic and crazy week... Many little ends to tie up everyday.....all the administrative things to be handled for the Sec4 PTM on the day before CHMA.....tickets still still not at it's optimum....two late night rehearsals. Not to mention, having to teach and mark still coz afterall, I am still a teacher (though it felt as if I was a full time producer during the week). *faint*

Rehearsals were tiring...and sometimes frustrating, coz there's just so many people and things to coordinate and polish up. But really thankful for F's help in running the final 3 rehearsals with me...without which, I think I would have literally fainted.

The night before CHMA...
....final rehearsal and testing out of backdrop the day before CHMA..



VOILA! The beautiful backdrop is up by the time I reached school at 9am the next day!!
The ingenius stage design crew held up the design with fishing lines and pins :P I'm super amazed at how they managed it...well done guys ;)

Tidying up the hall and preparing the place for the night...
Was busy writing "thank you" cards for judges, guest performers.....


After one final tech-run and full dress rehearsal, it was about 2 more hours to the show.



Ran here and there, here and there, here and there, and then it was escorting the judges back to the hall to await the start of the show at around 7.30pm.
Ticket collection booth at the front of the hall.

At about 7.50pm, the audience screamed. The SHOW BEGAN. I was then outside stage left, arranging the awards table...haha...and giving some last minute instructions here and there. Ran inside the hall in time to catch the first item, Recnad, with their opening dance piece.

Throughout the show I was here and there, here and there, here and there...

And then the show was over.

It was a feeling of a mixture of relief and unbelief at the same time...we had successfully run one more year of the show. All the preparation from January to July...all culminated in the final night, which was over.

When I woke up on Sunday morning the day after....there was this strange feeling of.....lostness. Felt as if....I just woke up from some dream....and.....like as if I suddenly..was back to the real world.....like as if, there was a piece of me that had been taken away...

I guess that's what happens when you spend a two weeks on intensive preparations.......and as I went through the day...many thoughts ran through my head. Preparations from January...reviews...rehearsals...the night itself...and all the congratulatory messages that I received after the show.. It was heartwarming...and at the same time...saddening...but also felt relief, that we managed to put together the show once again.

And as I reflected through the day...I also felt very blessed, to have had such a great team of people to work with throughout the 6+ months of preparations.

This IMedia team is arguably the most experienced CHMA crew we've had...and I'm truly thankful for their expertise and enthusiasm.

To Melvin (and the stage crew): Thanks for the efficiency and never-say-die problem-solving mentality...CHMA wouldn't have run so smoothly without you guys..

To Joshua (and the Pubilicity crew): Thanks for all the beautiful posters and postcards! I'm always amazed at how you guys are able to do up the designs on the Mac. And of course, not forgetting all the effort in arranging the chairs and tying those ribbons on the programs.

To Michael (and the video crew): Thanks for the videos! For tirelessly taking footage of every single thing...for cracking your braincells to come up with ideas...for staying late to finish up always...thanks.

To Jit Hin (and the stage design crew): Thanks for the beautiful backdrop ;) For all the squeezing of braincells to come up with it...and for working so independently.. :)

To Ervin & Shanwei (and audio crew): Thanks, for braving through all the evil stares whenever the mikes or any sound went a bit wonky...for all your patience and adaptability during rehearsals...

Esp to Ervin: Thank you, for all your initiative, efficiency and strong leadership of the whole team. I know many times you already have the answer/solution when you ask me for an opinion, but yet you still chose to run the idea by me before executing the decision. Thanks, really appreciate it ;)

And of course, to my colleagues who have worked tirelessly together with me :)

Thanks for all the hard work guys!

Picture blogging..

This shall be a photo update. Afterall, a picture tells a thousand words. :)

CHMA TICKETS ON SALE!

Have you bought yours yet????? What are you waiting for????

CHMA performance review

Had a performance review for the finalists last Sat...3 more to go to the actual thing!!
Have you gotten your tickets?? What are you waiting for?! :P

Just come cool hole in the clouds

Took this on my way home one evening..just thought that it was so cool that there was suddenly this space in between the rain clouds.. :)

Youth Day

Very proud of what I managed to accomplish for my form class kids for youth day this year. Took me about THREE WEEKS to do it ok!

To my class: The pens are RE-FILLABLE. Do not, and I repeat, DO NOT attempt to throw the pen away after the ink runs out!

More CHMA prep

The IMedia team hard at work preparing for CHMA...

So, has everyone bought their tickets??!? =)

20th Anniversary Choir Concert

Batchmates at dinner at Changing Appetites at Marina Square before the concert...

Really enjoyed the concert..partly coz so many from my batch made an effort to make it down for it, so it became a mini-gathering .. =)

Seeing the choir sing on stage really makes me miss singing too. Thankfully I had my chance 2 weeks ago :P Still...when I heard them singing our all time favourite called "Soleram", scenes of my own choral tour to Finland back in 1999 surfaced in my mind. All those experiences of singing in those grand cathedrals with the most beautiful accoustics... *smile*

At the end of a fantastic concert.. :)
My batch of choristers plus our batch's inspiring and dynamic conductors!
Has been a long time since so many of us met up together...really miss the good ol' times... :)

Diving..climbing..Skiing??

So, some may have noticed, and even asked me about it...why do I have such defined tan lines on my face?

Nooo I didn't go snorkelling/diving...

Noooo I didn't go mountain climbing with large shades..

Nooooo I didn't go skiing at some snow-covered mountain....

Yes, I am undergoing treatment for my eczema.

It's a treatment called UVB radiation. Simply put, it just means exposing the skin to a certain wavelength of UV rays for timed intervals. Well don't ask me how UV rays are suppose to alleviate an eczema problem, my doctor says it does.

So to protect my eyes from going blind, I have to put on this pair of shades during the treatment...which explains the tan lines.

So yup, don't ask me about it anymore.

I also wish that the colour would even out soon.

CHMA's here!

CHMA's gonna be here in less than 3 weeks!!
Have you bought your tickets yet??

1 week break..

Has been a good one week break from work. Consciously made it a point not to touch any work for the whole of this week for the sake of my sanity. Did go back to school to pack my cupboard though. Heh.

While I was packing my cupboard...I decided that it's finally time for me to to discard some of the stuff that I'd kept for like what....3 years?? Hahah..I dug out loads of old worksheets... materials...namelists... Some of the namelists are of classes that have already graduated, and some were of the current sec4s when they were in Sec 1! Haha..it was so nostalgic...thinking back to the times when I was teaching this current batch of Sec4s when they were in Sec 1...and now they're already going to take Prelim 2.Class list of graduated students....
Mixed lists....some graduated..some current sec4s...
As I was rummaging through the stuff in my cupboard, suddenly saw this picture of me and some of other trainee teachers in 2004...the picture was taken at the end of our teaching practice at CHS. Think I looked so 'fresh' and ready to go at that time..haha...

ACJC 20th Anniversary Thanksgiving Service

Had stopped singing with the ACJ alumni choir since I think..2001..and I must say I really do miss singing in a choir. Was reeeeeeeeally tempted to commit to singing for this year's choir concert since it is the 20th anniversary since the choral excellence programme was started in college. But due to my heavy commitments to work, I just couldn't squeeze out the time for Saturday practices. Then recently there was an invitation for alumni to sing at the 20th anniversary thanksgiving service together with the college choir. The thanksgiving service is a christian service aimed at giving thanks to God for His favour and grace upon the choir over the last 20 years. And since the thanksgiving choir only required 2 practices, and best of all, it was in the June break, I jumped at the chance... :)

Great to be back in AC.. :)

At first I thought that we were only going to be singing about 4 songs, but lo and behold, it turned out that it was ELEVEN pieces of music!! Haha..I almost died. Thankfully I had previously sung 6 of the songs before....but during sectionals, I could hardly remember my alto line (which is the harmonising line to the main tune). I thought to myself "I'm so dead..."...but strangely, when we combined the sections together to sing as a choir, somehow my notes just came back to me, and I was able to sing all the notes right. VERY strange..haha...it's as if the notes were all embedded somewhere deep in my brain storage....

For the 2nd and final practice, the choir was introduced to Ms G and Ms R, the 2 main conductors of the choir during my time in college choir. They had since passed on the baton of conducting the choir to the younger conductors and so it was such a privilege to see them conducting again for the thanksgiving service. It was all so nostalgic....all my previous conductors and teachers, were all there at the same time. I felt transported back to the time when I was just a college student...

The morning of the actual event....warming up and getting ready for sound check..

The changing rooms in the new arts hub in ACJ...super cool...almost looks identical to the ones which are in the Esplanade....

Very formal and nicely done up reception table to receive guests who are coming for the event...almost looks like a wedding doesn't it? :)

The backdrop on stage throughout the service...

And so the service began, with one of the current choir teachers paying tribute to all the people who have contributed in one way or other to the choir....

The bible passage Psalm 1oo was the theme of the service..

"Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the LORD is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations."

Towards the end of the service, messages and well-wishes of alumni choir members, who were unable to be present as they were abroad, were read out to the congregation. One common message ran through all the well-wishes and reflections, which was their admiration and deep appreciation of the choir teachers during their time in the choir. And I couldn't agree more with what was being read. The choir teachers taught us more than just vocal techniques, but also inculcated in us discipline, humility, and the passion for sharing music on stage, without ever mentioning the need to win a competition. They taught us.....what was true musicianship.

Hopefully in years to come, I can look back and say that I've also impacted the kids under my charge in some way, be it big or small.

Choir teachers past and present...the pillars of the choir.

What's a celebration without a huge huge cake? =)

My choir batchmates! Great to be singing together again :)

Couldn't resist taking a picture with my teachers.. :)

Yes, I love AC! :) Always have...and always will.