Sunday, July 16, 2006
I have not been blogging very frequently (sigh) again for I find myself exhausting my legs all around to walk around one of my favourite haunts again. The scorching Sunday afternoon(the usual July summer) did not deter the crowd from piling the pavements and parks. Nevertheless, the typical Singaporean mentality of pursuing the "aircon" environment translates into packed shopping centres. It's a pity that I did not bring my digital camera along so I had to make do with some camera phone pics.
My mother and I had a hearty breakfast in Tampines before our trip to Orchard. What you see in this picture is Appam, a South Indian pancake. A good Appam would taste hot and steamy, but it should not be too hard nor watery. If you wonder where in Tampines can you find this good Appam, please go to the coffeeshop at Blk 138 Tampines St 11. The coffeeshop is just adjacent to the Tampines Round Market cum Food Centre. In addition, this good Appam is only available during the breakfast hours, so do try it if you want a healthy alternative to prata and thosai. It is perfectly suitable for vegetarians as well.
The Singaporean (or Filipino) way of civil disobedience. We play soccer in void decks and 'state land'. Congregations of Filipino maids are often seen taking a comfortable seat in the open grass above Orchard MRT station, which is opposite their usual hangover of Lucky Plaza. Somehow I do feel that we're building too many structures in Orchard. Orchard Road is badly in need for some greenery and I do not like the fact that this piece of land will soon be developed in the next few years. This open space is the place for open air concerts. This was the place where we erected Singapore's tallest Christmas Tree. In addition, the subway station is the only station which have a dome to allow the sun's rays to provide a sense of natural lighting in the otherwise enclosed station.
By the way, did you know that Filipino maids conduct 'potlucks' right outside Lucky Plaza? They actually camp at the outside corridor of the second level. They bring their own food, utensils and even mats to make themselves comfortable. You must not forget the fact that the Filipino economy relies significantly on the Filipino diaspora as they remit their earnings back to their families, with the long-term aim of wealth and asset accumulation in mind. They would return home once they've accumulated enough savings from their overseas job to share the fruits of their hard work with their families. I ever wonder if the Singaporean diaspora would bother to return, let alone send money home, assuming that the country they are in provides a higher standard of living than Singapore. This is the same as comparing the standard of living of the Phillipines and the countries in which their citizens are providing a significant kind of labour in the host country.
I find it rather bizarre that these pigeons are so willing to pose for my humble camera phone. You might want to compare these pictures to that of my Monkey pics which I took along the Genting-KL road earliest this CNY, where I had to rely on a zoomed digital camera.
Singapore's youngest percussionist at play. I envision him to play at the world stage to be one of Asia's most reowned drummers in the near future. Whether he chooses to go the traditional route of joining the SYO / SSO or the liberal route of creating a band of his own is an unpredicatable question for the young lad.
That's all for now, then I hope I do not forget my digital camera whenever I go out...
|
zeligdhilee breaking the MUSIC.
22:50
22:50
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Vocal Obsessions
This weekend has been one of the hottest weekends ever.... While I'm sweating at home writing this article, I believe that the cinemas, shopping centres and swimming pools would be crowded at this moment.
And of course, an overdue article for Suhui. I attended an a cappella concert with Qiong Hui, Kelvin, Wanhui, Shiqi, Yvonne (Suhui's sec sch friend) and her boyfriend Danis. It was held last Saturday evening at the Singapore Poly Auditorium. It might seem like one of the last places NUS would want to hold a concert given the shabbiness of the venue, but I was proven wrong. The small stage allowed the NUS a cappella group (calling themselves "Resonance") to project their voices well. Titled "Vocal Obsession II", I shall now allow the pictures to resonate out the tunes.....
Before the concert: Yvonne, Shiqi and Wanhui. Who are they blowing their kisses towards? [courtesy of Wanhui]
Before the concert: What are you doing? That was rather creepy! [courtesy of Wanhui]
Before the concert: I always tell my non-JC mates that one personality trait of JC students is that they think very deeply. When they think they are often seen in a rather weird posture. However for Yvonne who is a poly student, I wonder if she is thinking deeply cos I find her pose the only 'normal' one among the three. [courtesy of Wanhui]
Before the concert: One, two, three. [courtesy of Wanhui]
Before the concert: Yvonne and Danis. Danis has a baby look face that I remarked that he looked 5 years younger than his actual age. Do you agree? [courtesy of Wanhui]
Before the concert: Myself, Kelvin and Qiong Hui. We were the only guys from 33/03 who were free that day! [courtesy of Wanhui]
Before the concert: I have a little smile for you. Just for you. [courtesy of Wanhui]
Before the concert: We guys again. [courtesy of Zelig]
The concert than started rather off-key. It made me wondered whether they tested their sounds during their rehearsals in this auditorium. Moreover the performers were from the senior batch. That happened during the first two pieces where the balanace and the dynamics were horribly mixed up.
However the juniors saved the audience from a wasting our $12 when they appeared for the third piece. Su Hui made her first appearance in the fourth piece, "Deeply in Love".
During the concert: Su Hui at the extreme right. The soloist is the guy in the brown coat. He swing the audience indeed with his celebrity-like voice. Earlier on, he gave an excellent rendition of David Tao's 普通朋友 as the soloist.
One of the best pieces in the first half were that of the last two, being "Autumn Leaves" and the famous rock piece, Evanescence's "Bring Me to Life". The guys were superb with the mimicking of the drum set. Beat-boxing for guys is a very difficult task in a cappella for it demands a lot of energy from one's breath as one spits out saliva in order to make the sound effect.
The second half of the concert started with the senior's performance of 望春风 ／ 夜来香.
During the concert: Su Hui takes the lead in the next piece, Edwin McCain's "I'll Be". She is the lead soprano soloist in this piece, and one of the best among the juniors. [courtesy of Wanhui]
During the concert: A close up view of Su Hui as the soloist. [courtesy of Wanhui]
During the concert: The seniors then tackled one of the hardest pieces ever, Gershwin's "Summertime". That was followed by the rendition of several more pieces, including the Bossanova tunes such as "Girl from Ipanema" and "Agua de Beber". In this picture, we see both the juniors and seniors singing together in unison in their final piece, "Seasons of Love" as well are their encore piece. [courtesy of Wanhui]
During the concert: Suhui with another lead soloist in the final piece. [courtesy of Wanhui]
After the concert: The NUS Resonace A Cappella group. [courtesy of Zelig]
After the concert: Moments of exhilaration. [courtesy of Zelig]
Wanhui's gift to Suhui: Chocolate muffins topped with vanilla and orange essence. I nicknamed Wanhui as "大长今" as she is currently studying TCM in NTU. In addition, her muffins is very sweet and tasty![courtesy of Zelig]
The making of the muffins. [courtesy of Wanhui]
Su Hui samples the muffin. "Outstanding!" [courtesy of Zelig]
We then trot over to the Bedok North Food Centre (via taxi, if you wondered) for our supper. Lo and behold, World Cup Fever's around the corner! [courtesy of Zelig]
A candid shot with Suhui. [courtesy of Zelig]
Enjoying the popular minced pork noodle soup. [courtesy of Wanhui]
A close-up of what we ate! Yummy! yummy! And for Wanhui, the rojak is suitable for her vegetarian diet! [courtesy of Zelig]
Su Hui, Yvonne and her boyfriend Danis. [courtesy of Zelig]
A creative way of drinking soup in case your soup spoon is oily. [courtesy of Wanhui]
A final pic of us at the supper table. [courtesy of Wanhui]
Before we went home, Kelvin entertained us with some creepy ghost stories about Hendon Camp and the Old Changi Hospital. It never occured to me during my ops room duties that such things do happen in my camp, for according to Kelvin, the Formation HQ as well as the 1 Cdo Bn blocks are relatively 'clean'. People rank the Old Changi Hospital (next to the Old Hendon Camp) as well as the former School of Commandos block in our camp as one of Singapore's most haunted places. The gals were certainly entralled and engrossed in Kelvin's superb story-telling skills, while Danis and I were rathered tense as SAF camps are in general, 'dirty'. As a SAF serviceman, you cannot help not to forget that the 'alternative' NS experience can on one hand, affect your morale very significantly on the negative side; while on the hand allows you to have more interesting stories to share when you ORD. Well it was an enjoyable gathering indeed where we get to appreciate the best singing and some good food.
I once again bask in the glory of my friends achieving Redcon 1 (the highest state of operational readiness) in the recent ATEC this year. This has hence allowed them to clinch the SAF Best Combat Unit Title for the twentieth time ever, an unprecendented milestone in the history of First Commando Battalion and the Commando Formation. For Honour and Glory!
|
zeligdhilee breaking the MUSIC.
18:15
18:15
