the music that can't be seen, but felt
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oranje.
4.30.2005
i'm supposed to be burying my head into books. nah nvm. a while.
preparing for post exams already. hate it.

marche slave
first suite
lion king
el camino real
symphonic overture
first love/addicted to you jazz trumpet solo..wait. nvm. this is impossible.

i think i'll need 52 years or some random number to master these pieces. practise practise. sorry neighbour(s), again. bear with it for another 78 years if you can live that long. haha.

anyway it was scary during mep class. when everyone around you looks so...uggh. they deserve more than that i think. hmm. guits too. poor vice-president chen. he works so hard. yet the adjudicators..i don't know. some say, you have honours so of course you wouldn feel like that, but i still stick to this. look. how did you feel the moment you left the stage. glad that you played your pieces/jazz-guit solo best? that's all you need. be proud of yourself and the ones around u! go acsgo acsgo.ahh.

performed 13:31 ©


4.20.2005
life lessons.

leading an organisation is like flying a kite. go figure.

performed 22:09 ©


4.17.2005
just wondering.
if you are in a gold band, gold with honours band, or even a top 3 band, and you say that you're really happy and ecstatic, ask yourself, what have you done to deserve to be happy and ecstatic, what have you done to deserve the award? claiming and really being part of it is totally different. some people deserve it so so much, you know who you are..yes you! sadly, some claim to but don't. ahh nvm. you don't understand what i'm saying, so don't i. haha.

on a lighter note... i just want to recap this brilliant week. best of week of my life. i learnt quite alot of stuff. yeah. if you find it naggy, just skip all the way to day 3 or day 5. haha.

day 1. monday
chapel was horrendous. but jml milt and me agreed it was a blessing in disguise. which turned out to be true. haha. terrible. the afternoon pract was much better. people just need doctor's blood pressure to shoot up a lil right.

day 2. tuesday
final run through. it was still lingering around gold standard. everything else was okay though. something went wrong to our ice cream prata plan, so i was the last to leave. so as i stepped pass the space frame down the road, i was really wishing. 19 hours later, i want to walk pass this same route, but with a much more fulfilled heart.

day 3. wednesday. d-day
beat mingxuan in a taxi race to school. reached sch really early, and was joined by joseph and chris i think. i was freaking out already while i had coffee (again) with joseph in the SAC. ask him lah. he's a real good lad. one of the success stories is him.
anyway yeah. everyone started pouring in around seven; the good luck messages started pouring in as well. thanks! so we warmed up. horns still out. johannes: gush! mark was damn poor thing. read his entry to find out why. so it wasnt exactly good but still. we sounded almost there. one hour was over in a flash. i realised tkgs already finished playing at that time. so yeah. our turn.
everyone was crapping in the bus. especially ian and his spears theory. nevertheless, we got there safely in one pieces, got down, went in, lined up, went upstairs, lined up, and prepared to get into the tuning room. meanwhile, mingxuan and i saw our old friend.
anyway the feeling the tuning room gave was good, made us feel confident. thanks SCH. mark was like, wow. wait, i meant his playing. he was practically shining and over everyone at bar 79, really really good. you rock. yeah better than the RI one la. hahaha. i looked at chong wee, milton, jml and johannes. all looked good. brilliant. k so the warm up was done systematically, everyone up and ready. hyped up.
went out, lined up beside ahs. yeah. a long 15 minutes soon follow. are you bored already? haha. wake up. k.
the next 11 minutes was fast. up on stage, the tuning note was excellent. okay. point form la.
- milton and johannes' legs were firm, for once.
- singapore rhap rocked the hall and the judges.
- that boosted us of course.
- everything for vesu till 280 went so well. bravo. 4 bars before 280, i was muttering, " horns, pleaseeee do it. like you all did during the last reh.'' and they did. so basically everything went well. thus,
- vesuvius rocked the hall AND the judges AND the audience.
- i smiled at milton.
- we went out, down the stairs, milton's mom/mrs li/teachers/mrs cho to me, "exxxxxcellent!" or something like that yeah. me to milton's mom," hey, your son did really really well!" haha i'm being frank.
so we talked about our chances la. obviously i wanted a guarantee. and it came. everyone went in to hear RI, mingxuan and i trotted down to the cafe to meet the tchers, our great dp1 and doctor. we saw ix shen. okay very out of point. haha. "dynamics damn good lah!", "shhhh." nevermind. you wouldn't understand. i looked up at the sky whilst sipping on lemon tea, thinking, this is definitely a good day. you know, there are some moments when you wonder how fortunate you are to be doing this and that, having done this and that etc etc, and that was one. mingxuan was looking shaken or something, looking at his tea all the time. quietly confident i guess. yeah. after we entered and just sat there to listen to the rest.
went out in search of a place to deposit the lemon tea liquid waste, saw my trumpet tutor. we talked. about bands, about the reason why some do so well. and we both agreed on this: the reason a band can be exceptional is usually due to the conductor's relationship with the band, and obviously, the conductor. anyway thanks shannon for coming down just for us. nice guy.
yeah went back in. got down beside jonan. haha. okay la. fast forward to when michelle announced acsi: gwh. it was awfully painful. no, not emotional or what but the way jonan can hug you, especially when he's semi-unconscious, you wouldn't want to know how it feels. yeah. overjoyed. i still felt something wasnt there though. quipped ms kaur when we didn make alot of noise, "why are you guys so calm? haha, relaxed and cool about it, typical confident boys." okay something like that.
blah blah. sat down with with everyone in the band room after settling everything. sheesh. dr lee revealed a painful truth to the rest, then jonan and nicholas and everyone else turned back to stare at me. haha. what the hell. that moment was priceless. everyone was pissed at me. for a good reason, of course. haha. yeah. but they turned nice and loving with an equally loving taupok on yours truly minutes later. ouch.
i can't type so many other details and things. and it sucks.
anyway after that we went to imran's house to hang out. then left after a few hours.
on the way home i was at the same exact bus stop. just two weeks ago, i was there too. after the esplanade concert. two weeks later, i was there, feeling much much better, much much more fulfilled. wow.

day 4. thursday
rugby finals but we had to prepare the room for some meeting. vacuumed the whole room! haha. but i doubt anyone realises that. heck. anyway. yeah.
when girls are crying, its quite freaky. fortunately, it wasn't face to face. hahaha. right na.

day 5. friday
we somehow agreed to go for the results thingy at SCH. desperate la, even without tickets. went there with mingxuan, jerel, marcus, ken, and irritating jovan. saw quite a few familiar faces. like david, who was there for his juniors. its quite sad la. if u knew, they didn exactly do well. yeah. somehow got into the hall, and that was when i started losing it. no prizes for guessing who was the culprit. jovan. he's an ass. but a nice ass. haha. "feel my pulse to see whether i'm joking or not." "damn tense la, shut up for once can." stupid ass. dr lee was damn nervous downstairs, didn dare to come up to the hall. hahaha. joker.
anyway when it was announced, the six of us just stood up and went crazy for a mere 2 seconds, before the whole hall was silent and everyone was looking at us. another priceless moment. when we were outside, i couldnt take it. i've never seen myself so hyper before. never. so we were late for the concert, watched the second item, and went off during the interval. how pro. went to chijmes to celebrate and eat. another priceless moment. i'm still in a daze though. top 3? how is that possible? yeah on our way home, mingxuan enlightened us with his great jokes. it was not funny but the person saying it was mingxuan, so naturally it was quite fresh and humourous.
mingxuan: "what is happy's surname?" "happily." hurhur.
mingxuan: "what is happy's job?" "happiness." what the hell. #$()*)#&$*
mingxuan: "why is happy so fortunate?" "happy-go-lucky what." (fill in the blanks.)
went back with marcus. he's damn poor thing. but i guess they'll return to their normal lives after the o's yeah. all the best. you are a good guy.

this is quite out of point, but i quote jerel: "heh. so what if you are the top 3 band's drum major. i'm the top 3 band's SOLOIST okay." hahahaha. super joker. nothing like this has ever come out of jerel's mouth so its quite obvious how crazy, for that usual u-can't-really-shake-me behaviour, he can get as well. k lah. you rock.

day 6. saturday
went back to school to conduct the recruits. it was hell. big hell. nevermind. don't go around crapping to the recruit marcus loh.
anyway then jerel mingxuan and i went to acjc to see the guys. and listened to the masterclass by mr miura. yeah. that really adorable judge cum superb conductor cum eupho god. the masterclass was the best i've ever attended. yeah. u missed it. unlucky.

day 7. sunday
went back to acsi to attend mr miura's eupho masterclasses. the first one was quite good. second one, he was repeating all the things he said. so i was almost dozing off. but he's god. euphonium jazz is hot. he played summertime on it. real cool la.

tomorrow is another masterclass by mr miura for acsi. looking forward to it.



i still wonder sometimes. why do i still feel that a very very tiny part is missing. from all the craziness, yes, and the satisfaction. one of the best things is that you see your friends work so so hard, then get what they want and are damn happy, for example some bands and a few of my friends, leon, joseph, jonan, nicholas, marcus, mark etc. honestly, seeing them feel shiok, feel happy, feel the honour and fulfilling moments of being one of the top 3 bands in town, is the best. more often than not, we go for the ultimate, we want the award, we want to be the top 3 band, even the top. you know, its not important. the moment i stepped down the stage, i was already so proud of everyone especially the named guys because it definitely was our best showcase and these people gave so much already. so i'm proud of them and seeing them so delighted, i'm so so delighted. that's why i figured after speaking to na last night, seeing some people not really proud of what they achieved, and not seeing the whole band enjoying that honour of being one of the bands to watch out for in the future, is what's missing. nevertheless, there's still those people who rock my life. my section!!!!! ahhh. haha. hail milton, jml rocks, johannes rawks, chong wee rox. uh. not forgetting myself. where's our section outing by jet to japan?? hurry la jml. rich ass. haha. in memory of ac trumpets '05.
i realise how fortunate i am in a week.

i doubt anyone will read this whole entry. lol. anyway guess i gotta close this chapter quickly and get down to study. and settle down. gotta thank many people especially the doctor but i guess i'll do it some other time. good night!

still proud of you all. do take care.

performed 19:31 ©


4.15.2005
very nice. other schools did well too.
well. waiting for a really important call tonight.
honestly i'm crossing my fingers.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
i want it.



we haven't achieved our final target yet.
we're gonna do it. tonight.

performed 06:24 ©


4.14.2005
what what more can i ask for?
what more can i ask for also from all these people involved, teachers, kids, doctor, comm?
13th april was the best day. best.
like boris said, we left footprints on other bands' asses. kicked ass.
talk about all these some other time.
for now, good luck to the rest of the bands.



SYF is over. for us at least. proud of all of you. honest. thanks.

performed 06:46 ©


4.12.2005
sometime in the future i'll write the story of myself.
right now its down to one thing. i'm quite unprepared to fail everyone else around me.
nth's guaranteed so yeah. on the way home i was thinking of so much stuff. ahh nvm.

1 day. 1 band, 1 sound, 1 heart.

performed 20:25 ©


4.11.2005
nice stuff.


two days time, the day is coming
one to two the countdown's startin'.

then the last day is left to give your best,
where everything you play should be all that you have.

even though you may not play that well on that day,
you'll still have me (right..) to help guide your way.

till this wednesday that's all we have,
to do what's right and give our best.

the results may not be something you wanted,
but always be prepared to expect the unexpected.
courtesy of grace.

the morning today was.. nevermind.
i got the recording from chris (thanks..), and it was...nevermind again.
sigh.



2 days. for de haan's great work (right.....) and tichelli's masterpiece.

performed 22:30 ©


4.10.2005
no ice-cream prata.
is that a sign?
keep the tradition yeah. someone, please.



6 days. for the 6 of us who lead the rest of us.
5 days. for the 5 months of really intensive work. keep going.
4 days. for the 4 admirable tchers.
3 days. for dr lee full stop.

performed 18:38 ©


4.07.2005
just woke up at this weird hour after a good sleep.
chelsea kicks butt, lampard is god.
didn't you see frank's second?



7 days. for us being the 7th band to strut our stuff on wednesday.

performed 00:53 ©


4.05.2005
i am screwed for my mep practicals.
never mind.
ahead a little. still, not there.



8 days. for the eighty push-ups. too little isn't it.

performed 19:46 ©


4.04.2005
we don't have much time guys.
honest.
trumpets gotta buck up.



9 days. for our 9 months together as a Band, ever since August 2004.

performed 22:06 ©


4.03.2005
phew. did history seq and chinese essay in 1 1/2 hours. beginning to like doing homework, which is good. still hell lots to go, so another late night again. eh greg, does capuccino-flavoured ice cream help? just wondering.

concert was pretty decent if you are some professional musician, and quite good if you are one of us. too fast, though. looked as if doctor wanted to shave time off the actual time, and he did, by 1min 55secs to be exact. that's crazy. but most pple enjoyed it. so heck. haha. trumpets and trombones should share rooms more often, then there'd be chaos. (pronounced: chauws) or maybe it was only me crapping. can't help it. the only way to shrug off nerves before a concert.
anyway thanks to the pple who went down. the conservative gang of seniors was by the stage, but i heard a few others were there too. glad they enjoyed our playing.

hmm. let's not get too big-headed cause it was nowhere near perfect. that's the standard we are aiming for. started on a mini-project recently. hope it'll finish soon.

why do people like to have countdowns? i have no idea. anyway 10 days left. hahaha.

kay. back to work. what a caffeine-filled night.



10days. for the 10s of thousands of dollars on our classy and dashing dream band room.
The place where our gift for music is developed.

performed 21:52 ©