I'm currently blogging from Jon's phone; we're out at the house of one of his best friends and I'm sitting next to him quietly listening to him talk to his friends and willing webpages to load faster so I can surf the web more efficiently. No, I'm not unhappy or anything - in fact I kinda like sitting in the background observing things and seeing Jon happy.
All in, it's been a pretty good CNY and Valentine's Day. Could've been better in some parts - especially the part where I skidded while rollerblading and got horrible road rash just below my bum. Thank God it's healing well though.
Man U has almost finished playing Everton (and losing to them, what were the odds?!) so I shall end here for now. Happy Birthday everyone! It's the seventh day of the new year, everyone's birthday.
Saturday, 20 February 2010
Thursday, 11 February 2010
Chicken Soup for the Soul-ish Post. You were warned!
I went for a pedicure with Aunti L almost immediately after work today. And because I didn't have slippers with me, the shop gave me a bright pink sponge pair with a wedge, which I wore all the way home.
When I got home, I watched the remaining moments of The Pupil with my mother, and then I exercised while continuing my re-watch of My Girl.
Life is Good.
I learnt something valuable yesterday, so I'm going to share it with you. It'll definitely sound cliched, but nevermind, okay? Some things can't be said any other way, such are the limitations of the English language.
GLCC's having an outreach for Chinese construction workers come Sunday morning, and because the pianist of choice (Jon) can't make weekday rehearsals, it has fallen on not-very-proficient me to play the finicky Chinese songs D decided we would sing this year, because the skit is set in China and is about the return home of siblings in a family from - you guessed it! - Singapore.
We had a rehearsal yesterday, and of course, being lazy, I hadn't practised and had to valiantly sight-read/bulldoze my way through the songs.
A bit of background's needed. SG, who's overall in charge of music for Chinese ministry events, is much feared by Jon and myself, although she's a really nice person. This is because she's a piano teacher by profession, and boy is she sticky about songs which have proper towgay arrangements.
She's given up on Jon, but she hasn't given up on me - yet. Soon, I hope, she will let me have free rein with the songs and I will be able to la-di-da my way through by just improvising on the chords.
Rehearsals usually leave me feeling like I've come from a piano lesson with a very strict piano teacher.
So there I was, hitting those plastics (as in, I would say ivories, but it was an electric piano) with fear and trepidation, when it suddenly dawned on me that I'd much rather be there being scolded by SG than in office.
You must understand - and this will be the first time I'm going to blog so openly about work - that sometimes I actually feel like I want to have to stay back in the office because I have things to do. Strange, but true, and I bet if I threw a stone into a roomful of my classmates, I'd hit someone who felt the exact same way as me.
And it flows logically from that that sometimes I feel insecure about myself when I don't have to stay back late at work.
Now you see why coming to the above conclusion was a really big deal for me. And when I talked to my mum about things later that night, she said, What really matters in the end is God's approval. That's not to say we shouldn't work hard and do our best (okay, duh, chicken soup moment!), but there are so many other things we can and should do with our lives, so much more to live for (there, two chicken soup moments in one sentence).
I hope and pray I'll be able to keep these thoughts at the forefront of my mind, because, believe it or not, it's not easy to do so. Like many other legal concepts, they're counter-intuitive.
Looking forward to Valentine's Day, and hearts :)
I went for a pedicure with Aunti L almost immediately after work today. And because I didn't have slippers with me, the shop gave me a bright pink sponge pair with a wedge, which I wore all the way home.
When I got home, I watched the remaining moments of The Pupil with my mother, and then I exercised while continuing my re-watch of My Girl.
Life is Good.
I learnt something valuable yesterday, so I'm going to share it with you. It'll definitely sound cliched, but nevermind, okay? Some things can't be said any other way, such are the limitations of the English language.
GLCC's having an outreach for Chinese construction workers come Sunday morning, and because the pianist of choice (Jon) can't make weekday rehearsals, it has fallen on not-very-proficient me to play the finicky Chinese songs D decided we would sing this year, because the skit is set in China and is about the return home of siblings in a family from - you guessed it! - Singapore.
We had a rehearsal yesterday, and of course, being lazy, I hadn't practised and had to valiantly sight-read/bulldoze my way through the songs.
A bit of background's needed. SG, who's overall in charge of music for Chinese ministry events, is much feared by Jon and myself, although she's a really nice person. This is because she's a piano teacher by profession, and boy is she sticky about songs which have proper towgay arrangements.
She's given up on Jon, but she hasn't given up on me - yet. Soon, I hope, she will let me have free rein with the songs and I will be able to la-di-da my way through by just improvising on the chords.
Rehearsals usually leave me feeling like I've come from a piano lesson with a very strict piano teacher.
So there I was, hitting those plastics (as in, I would say ivories, but it was an electric piano) with fear and trepidation, when it suddenly dawned on me that I'd much rather be there being scolded by SG than in office.
You must understand - and this will be the first time I'm going to blog so openly about work - that sometimes I actually feel like I want to have to stay back in the office because I have things to do. Strange, but true, and I bet if I threw a stone into a roomful of my classmates, I'd hit someone who felt the exact same way as me.
And it flows logically from that that sometimes I feel insecure about myself when I don't have to stay back late at work.
Now you see why coming to the above conclusion was a really big deal for me. And when I talked to my mum about things later that night, she said, What really matters in the end is God's approval. That's not to say we shouldn't work hard and do our best (okay, duh, chicken soup moment!), but there are so many other things we can and should do with our lives, so much more to live for (there, two chicken soup moments in one sentence).
I hope and pray I'll be able to keep these thoughts at the forefront of my mind, because, believe it or not, it's not easy to do so. Like many other legal concepts, they're counter-intuitive.
Looking forward to Valentine's Day, and hearts :)
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Mandopop Madness
If you've read Monday's papers (yes, I actually read the local newspapers!) then you'd have read all John Lui (or was it Boon Chan?) had to say about the A*mei (I refuse to call her Amit until I really, really have to) concert.
I hate to say this, but I did agree with the part where he wrote about wishing for a pair of earplugs at certain points. However, other than that, it was
I hope she comes back as A*mei proper the next time. But you know, I've come to know and love her voice and the magic she brings to her songs so well that all the rock stuff didn't matter. She was just good old A*mei, the one who brought much comfort and colour to my lonely days in Beijing.
Some of the highlights included the entire Indoor Stadium yelling "IT'S BULLSH*T!" at the top of their lungs to 黑吃黑, and seeing all those lightsticks winking in the dark. Also finding out that Jon had actually set his alarm for 10 a.m. the day SISTIC opened ticket sales, just so we could get good seats - which we did.
Touching stuff.
And seeing Chin Yuan, who brought his mother to the concert. He, who never expected, knowing me in JC, that I'd one day be SMS-ing him excitedly about an A*mei concert, of all things.
I'm really glad I was introduced to this whole new world though. It's brought so much to my life.
Not least, discovering my inner Ah Lian.
Mind you, I did not know all the lyrics to her fast songs.
Some I knew lah. But, I repeat, not all.
I hate to say this, but I did agree with the part where he wrote about wishing for a pair of earplugs at certain points. However, other than that, it was
Absolutely AWESOME!
I hope she comes back as A*mei proper the next time. But you know, I've come to know and love her voice and the magic she brings to her songs so well that all the rock stuff didn't matter. She was just good old A*mei, the one who brought much comfort and colour to my lonely days in Beijing.
Some of the highlights included the entire Indoor Stadium yelling "IT'S BULLSH*T!" at the top of their lungs to 黑吃黑, and seeing all those lightsticks winking in the dark. Also finding out that Jon had actually set his alarm for 10 a.m. the day SISTIC opened ticket sales, just so we could get good seats - which we did.
Touching stuff.
And seeing Chin Yuan, who brought his mother to the concert. He, who never expected, knowing me in JC, that I'd one day be SMS-ing him excitedly about an A*mei concert, of all things.
I'm really glad I was introduced to this whole new world though. It's brought so much to my life.
Not least, discovering my inner Ah Lian.
Mind you, I did not know all the lyrics to her fast songs.
Some I knew lah. But, I repeat, not all.