Its been awhile since I've encountered an eventless afternoon... With about another 2 hours before I head off to my next activity on the 2nd day of the Chinese New Year, it is indeed a rae moment of peace for me...

Its amazing how 2 weeks of school can seem so long yet go by so fast at the same time. How Ironic does that sound? And there has been alot of stuff going on for the past 2 weeks...

I have been taking a break of CO for quite awhile now... With all the valid reasons and I thank the Lord for this break that I have... I guess now going to CO for me has turned more into a responsibilty than anything esle that could describe what makes a CCA worthwhile... I guess little old me just had enough of not really being accepted in CO...

But whats new?

Yet CO got me in, so the least I could do is show my thanks and stick with it till the end...

I guess as a performer too, I'm really very practical and realistic... I hate performing when there's not enough time to practice, and to go on stage and perform that specific piece... For example, I just got word today that my group would be playing a grade 3 piece... With only like what, 3 days of practice before the actualy event?

The old me ould find ways of getting out of this seemingly pre-determined embrassement... And to tell you the truth, that part of me is still there but I guess I'll have to do my best... And if embrassement comes, it comes then...

I look out of my window and I see the trees outside, with the leaves shining a nice green... I wonder when would be the next time I'll be able to sit and admire the trees, in the afternoon?

How can every new day be mundane? Each day brings about new and special moments :)

It has really been awhile since I've blogged... From the last week of holidays that I've tried to cramp all my enjoyment into a week... To this 2nd week of school, quite a bit has come and gone just like that...

I must say, 2009 is really tiring even though this is just the beginning... *sigh*, many things are coming my way... H3 Chem, CO SYF, CF (though I must CF is really Lovely :D)... Might not survive this MANNNNN... But well, God will carry me through...

But before I continue on with my life's updates, I'll like to talk abt the 1st sentence up there... And explain what it really means... To me at least :)

Many of my friends think that like is really a planned out routine, that each day is really mundane and boring... I mean it is quite hard not to think so, if you view fun in life as the free time you spend out with friends or maybe by yourslef... I totally agree thats fun and exciting and all... But Beyond all that, we're in school many many hours of our current lives and if that really measures how the day is going to be... GOSH THAT IS BORINGGGGG!

So, why do I say everyday is special?

I look foward to each new day, not really for all the lessons... But really look forward to meeting the people I talk and converse with :)... Friends, even teachers can change how view a long, tiring day... We can never say we know anybody totally... Cause we can't even say we know ourselves... We're learning more and more about ourselves as the days pass as we change in our views and ideas about life... I mean, change IS the only constant right?

And the beauty in it all is... Each day as we converse and mingle around with people, you get to see a bit of their character as a whole revealed to you each new day... You get see the image of God in your Christian friends each day revealed to you...

Each day brings about a new oppotunity to share the good news... Each new day brings about the oppotunity to be better than the last...


And most importantly, each new day creates a new memory, regardless of whether it is sweet or not... :D


The beauty of life is as such, is it not friends?

Dawn
Light shines
Through the night
Breaking Dawn
By its might

Crimson rays
fall on thine
as your eyes
align with mine

A fine reflection
Of the affection
that you and I
share so kind

As the light
shines so bright
Beyond thy sight
I see
Beauty of thou's light

Finally,
The cover is lifted
And the sun
hides no more

To thou
Thy light is
now so clear

For Love
Is thou's light
And thy soul
Is renewed

For as light shines
Not to blind
But to give
meaning for living

Love your life
Live your Love
For the Love of life
Is Alive within your soul!

~Nigel~

Thats my churchies :)... Have all this time I realised that the friends that mean the most to me are from church :)... Thanks guys, you all are great!

2009 is real scary man... With SYF, CAPERS, PASSION AC '09, Encore '09, A LEVELS??!! Please keep me in all of your prayers :(

But in any case, 2009, HERE WE COME!

The HIPPY-EST CLASS EVER! Thats SD1 for you HAHA (Ok fine they won't kill me anymore :P) They have been a cool class... With people from different exteremes in the class... I didn't really fit in at first, staying with the SC5 clique that went into SD1 together.. But we somehow all got together as a class as time passed by :)... If I were to stated person by person how great they are in my class... It would more than an hour to finish.. So I guess I'll leave that to after the As :P





There were many many many more things that happened in the year... But I'll elaborate on that tmr... Cause I'm running out of time... Need to go out soon... But I shall say one more thing before I end this post....


Churchies are the best...

They are really the friends that will accompany you beyond life... Into Eternity :)

Yes... I'm finally back for all those who still bother to read... Anyway, There are many things to blog about so I'll start with the earliest one...

Church Camp 5-8th Dec

Yup, the theme was Arise and Bulid.

At first I felt it was only an okay camp... I guess cause of the amount of free time the guys had... HAHA, I remember the church camp two years back, there were so much stuff to do! Especially the captain's ball session we had with the adults and young adults! Too bad this year round we didn't have any at all! Not even during the holidays... I guess I'm mostly the one organising all these captain ball outings, so once I'm not free, no one esle really organises these outings :P... And since Angela's out of town, there won't be any till end Dec to early Jan :P

Anyway, back to main topic... I had a nice quiet sharing group... But when it came to games... We OWN!! LOL, I mean we got third place :P... Benjamin BENJAMIN!! XD For the amazing race, we were like only walking around to every place and not even running HAHA it was amazing that we even got 3rd place overall :)... Anyway, the games were refreshing, I guess cause the girls planned it, it kinda resembled children ministry games :D... But THAT doesn't mean its childish, it was fun! HAHA

This camp I really spent alot more time with my cell group (guys one)... Well cause 1) The girls didn't really come over and play bridge or tiati this camp round, I guess they had stuff on; 2) The guys shared a room together? So yea, we kinda met quite often :P... Sometimes Gyming with Andre.. Or slacking with Jo/ Matthew depending who was in the room... This time, camp really answered my question on true friends... Yes and thats you all man! People whom you can trust and believe in for a long time to come! :)

Leading Worship in camp was a nice experience as well... It felt easier to do repeats, or adjust the tempo for songs easier on the spot... Well, fast songs were a killer without drums and if your bassist or guitar are lost... You're in for it HAHA! XD But anyways, When you can hear the singing of the people of the church, your heart warms cause everyone there is just really there for worship. To sing praises to God, you know? :)

As I was saying, I only thought it was an okay camp... Well, until the last night and last day of camp... Found the problems in my life... And In the morning when I heard the sharing about Esther and Sam I cried so badly... I asked myself why? It couldn't be just because of Esther... I mean I do miss her... But not that much...

So what was it?

I left early to get back to Singapore on the last day of camp to catch the night flight for Paris later that day... And I was searching for that answer... And it became evident to me what I was crying out for...

My lost love for learning... The word...

Well shall not really elaborate cause it would be really really long... And its kinda special to me, so I only plan to share to some ppl :P..

Moving on....

Paris 8-12th Dec

Yes Paris... I shall upload pics soon...

It was a real rush since the flight was 13 hours... It didn't really leave our family much time to go look see look see... So we did as much as we could in that little span of time... I went to effiel tower! Super nice :P And serveral other places... But I'll leave that till the pictures come.. Then I'll explain in greater detail :)

Finally,

CO outing 13th Dec

Since I was still on leave for CO, I guess I was lazy and all... So I legally skipped the morning combine practice to go for the CO outing in the afternoon to support our fellow percussionist Jun Yang! Well, before Jun Yang's performance, there was the ensemble portion of the compietition... Where I got to see all the PRO erhu and well practically EVERY SECTION pro people... Thats the difference btwn School standards and outside CO standards.. Ah but Whatever! Just goes to show I needa practice!

I saw many familiar faces too! I only said hi to one... But after that experince... I decided not to say hi anymore XD... Just leave some messages behind in MSN or smth XD

Jun Yang was SUPER funny on stage :P... He was acting as if he was in some drama serial! HAHA but I enjoyed his performance... I guess thats the difference between Pros and Noobs like me :P...

Well, thats about all for now... I'll comment more next time :)

Now for the real comments on Its My Life...

Yes, like I said, it was AMAZING :D... The voices, the stories.... They were all relevant to our lives as teens :)

That night, there was no such thing called 'calefares' or extras in the background of the whole musical.. Everyone stood out in their own Special way...

The only disappointment I had was that the character Colette should have more... well, scenes for the character's development or at least allowing the audience to have a better view of what the character really is all about... And she too, (*I think she was acted by Pam) had a great voice that was under used... But I'm no scriptwriter or director myself, so I guess her presense there to show that not all youths make it out of their problems a-ok... And I don't really have the right to comment on it :P

Lets talk about my good friend Xue Yi 1st... Xie Ting was really just Xue Yi for those who know her, you'll most probably get what I mean... The energy, the Singlish (*HAHA)... But there's one point that really shined through the musical... That Xue Yi is indeed a performer, esp in the music aspect :)... Her voice was... DIVA-LIKE... That power, and I loved the huskiness in her voice if you get what I mean :P... I think she'll make a great actress, though I would love to see her in other type of roles :P... GOGOGO XUE YI!!

Anard played by Movin speak to me the most, being the mommy's boy and all... OK FINE all the voices in the musical were MIND BLOWING... so will not emphasize how great all of their voices were... Ok maybe a few... Movin was great protraying out his character and I really loved it... In more than one way, it reminded me of the ever-so drama Arunan who is now back in KL... Miss that good friend of mine.... :(

Moving on, Nabil was great too! To capture the aspect of forced choice of his future career by his parents, he has really shown the pressure that parents have on their children about not only their studies, but their future career. Also, it goes to show that many parents still believe that the arts in Singapore cannot bring their children far... something that I also feel, though not that strongly for... But the vital question here is...

Practicality Vs. Passion

His 'not very malay' joke blew my head off! HAHA So FUNNY!

Farid was really into character and his power vocals helped him prove his point.... The bad boy turned good may have been cliche, but he made it all different... Because of the very fact that it was his own way of facing up to the things and learning to change... That made his character memorable...

Conan and Glory are two power vocalists... And it almost seems that their roles in the musical were like that of mordern day Romeo and Juliet :P... I was especially captured by Glory's vocals... Though their stories were interlinked and filled with all kinds of obstacles finally coming to a happy ending... It didn't really leave that great an impression... Maybe because I haven't met that kind of situation yet I guess...

Rong Min reminded me of how I too felt about myself... Always going with what the crowd feels we should be doing or acting... But at the end of the day, are we really fair to our OWN feelings?? Her vocals were, without a doubt great too!

The drama favourite, Clarice too swept the stage! Her comment that 'I told you I had Drama and Dance' made all AC ppl in the hall laugh like mad!! It was SOOOOO commical HAHA... Like AC all over again... But anyways, her character made me ask aboutmyself... Should we always take our parents' advice? No doubt they're right most of the time... But should we always??

As they say, Best for last...

I was really... really, BLOWN away by Sharon played by Sarah... WOAH... 1) Her vocals, you gotta give it to her, she's beyond the words good and great... Almost that of a pro, if not there already... 2) I guess cause she was so much in character that it also didn't seem that she was acting.. More of telling... telling us her story... I was so fixed on her when it was her scene just before she sang 'The Stranger In Me'... Though the song had a real strong influence of Corrine May in it (*Practically screaming out her name as the melody was played out HAHA), it was great!!! Really really great! I guess since my mom was almost like a single parent back then when I was younger since my dad's a pilot and all (overseas training for like 3 months or more?, not at home most of the time), the things I see in the character Sharon reminded me of my mom back then....

The tears I see from Glory, Conan and Sarah made it all seem so real to the audience... I guess the stories may have been based real strongly on the life stories of each one of them... Making the production so real, so easy to relate...

And I Love IT!!!

Its my life.. A production worthy to watch and if ever the recordings come out online or on Cds... Worthy of buying!!!

Oh btw, will be away till the 8th from tmr onwards... And will be away again on the night of the 8th to paris till the 13th of Dec... So see you till then!!!

And I've been searching for answers for these very questions...

I worked as a Calfare recently under Mr. Micheal Tay, and sadly I'm not supposed to blog about it... But what I've gained out of the experience is that, life seems like a drama with the script all written out ready for the neccessary actors to act... Yet the beauty of it is that these actors don't know the script yet the way in which they act is just like the story line planned out in the 1st place...

I'll never know who to best spend my time with... So if I don't try, who really knows what'll happen in the end? So I'll start with those who really express care and concern... Its a good way to start :) Even if we're all just 'calfares' of others lives...

Now for its my life!!

An Amazing Production Indeed For TEENS! It really talked to me in my areas of my life similar to those acting...

Quote from Sharon, "... The hardest battles you fight against... Is yourself" Which is so true! Min's idea of how she conformed to society to get accepted, but yet feel uncomfortable about herself; Arif being forced to do what his parents want; Xie Ting optimism in almost everything only to hide her fear of being the oldest in the family; Claire's idea of perfection; Farouk's change for the better; I loved the part of Coret and Gail's own type of Love differing from their parents though its still not relevant to me yet; Anand's quest to break from the boringness of life... WOAH I LOVE IT!!!

OOooooooooo PLUS THE VOICES OMG :D:D!!! AND THE SONGS, ITS LYRICS AMAZING :D

Xue Yi, thanks for inviting me to such a beautiful musical! I loved it lots! Shall continue commenting on it tommorrow in my next post :P

"Lord, I've come back right here.... Nobody even thinks that I'm here but you...'

'They have no right to judge yet they do... But you who have the right, don't... Thats why I'm back here again.."

"You know Lord... You rock!"

We all had a beautiful outing on thrusday with the few of us that made it down for this very outing :D... Though I didn't get to know most of the other sub com members such as racheal since she wasn't down, I got to know my fellow sub com logistic member Zach alot more since he came down that day! I was indeed disappointed when I heard that Jotum, Ian and Jeanette couldn't make it down either :( that didn't dampen my spirits that much :D

I had alot of fun chatting and playing various random games with the people :D... We seriously did alot of random stuff, and alot of dunking too HAHA... Poor Cherene had to offend the guys that in the end threw her in the sea, twice! HAHA United the guys stood!! Oh and Poor Sophie too since she was so light, dunking her was a piece of cake!!! HAHA

Charmaine came alot later cause I think she had something on, coincedentally swapping places with Sophie who had to leave right after lunch :(. But anyways, we just swam around the shore and chatted... And we hadn't realise how long we spent till it drizzled, to realise that we've been in the water for abt 3 hrs!! So we finally decided to change out at abt 4 ++ p and head on home :D

I guess the activities weren't that amazing or fun-filled as it sounds, but the company was just amazing!

Thanks for organising people!! :D:D

Sometimes there are some things so beautiful in life that you'll need not actually have them as your own :)

That probably sums up the night of Spirito. I wasn't really all hyped out for it, more like I was worried for the stage movement for the whole event HAHA so much for a logistics manager! But it all pulled through somehow.

To me, the performance wasn't all that great. I guess we still have a long way to go to being that 'Gold with honours' orchestra that we all dream to be, with ALOT more erhu and percussion people that would fill up that big gap that we have.

On the other hand, I was happy that the erhu ensumble piece went fine cause during rehearsal it was WAY WAY bad HAHA! We were all like going off stage saying GG HAHA! I think the Lord was there when we called out to Him and he answered our prayers to place the concert in his hands.

Lan se de si nian on the other hand was... LOLing... Our whole section made mistakes like no one's business HAHA... But I guess no one really remembered who made what mistake since it was really too LONG of a song :P...

I really enjoyed Mambo though... It was mainly Shouting and shouting my heart out :D... And it felt great!

But the best part of the concert was... WHEN IT ENDED! Saw so many people I know came down to support various other people... And had a nice talk with them :)

On the whole, Spirito was a really tiring experience... But I had fun, spending time with the Fu-en and gang singing Chinese songs on the side and everything HAHA...

So here's my thanks... Starting with...

Irvin: I mean the president should always take the 1st place on any thanking list right? The guy has been workng his heart out for CO and though this concert is over... I bet SYF is all over his mind right now HAHA!! Anyway, he overlooks everything thats going on and sees that its done right :) It must be real hard on you esp the cookies HAHA... But it tasted great :)

Pei Yan: And what would Irvin do without your help? I guess there's really not much difference in the workload between President and Vice President... So you're techincally doing the same stuff as Irvin :D Thanks for all that :)

The Barker people in ACCO: I know I was really literally pulling my hair out when there were so many changes to the stage movement and all... But here's thanks to Jarron that he stopped teasing me and instead asked me not to worry so much about the whole thing. Which really helped by the way! Thanks to Ken who really ran back and forth the stage to help Xuan Han and all HAHA though most of the time it was because of Monster Hunter that he ran :P... Thanks Lukas, for the encouragement through out... I'm not pro yet, unlike most of you all, but I'm aiming to get there and I'm almost there :)...Thanks Mike, it was good talking to you once in awhile during like backstage and stuff HAHA it was really comic relief... And thanks to Mathieu for your concern when you saw me like really cannot take the whole thing already for stage movement that is... All the help you guys gave really helped me through the whole thing... THANKS

The Barker people previvously in AC(BR): Thanks for coming down!! I was really touched to see all of you... Coming down for not only this concert... But for All our ACCO concerts! And I really enjoyed the time we spent in Holland V, talking about old times and all :P... If I get the chance, I'll see you at WJCO! HAHA

The ppl who came down to support: Thanks once again to Andrea for the beautiful flowers... And Rae too! It never fails to brighten my day :D... Thanks for coming down and I hoped you all enjoyed yourselves 1SD1 + Becky+ Jotum :D

And Thank you

God for everything you have done for ACCO

In the Past, the present and for the future of this very organisation :D

1SD1

I had a great day yesterday since I finally had some time to catch up with some of my friends I don't really talk too that much, though I do see them every CO practice.

So, it was a nice day out with Lukas, Mike and Irvin for some time for badminton :)... We were supposed to play at Crainhill CC, just to go there and find out that the badminton hall was under some construction... *sigh* But we did play some basketball for about an hour or so, until we decided to head off to Thomson CC to play, and I realised that my passing and catching of the ball was ok, but I can't score for nuts!! LOL maybe thats why I didn't really like Basketball :P... Of course, having two ACJS primary school people around, the group of 4 had to drop by ACJS for them to take some pics before the whole school is gone for good...

To cut a long story short, soon after we left the place and arrived at Thomson CC, which seems SO foreign to me. (I've only been to the Thomson Area twice in my life, not counting this time :D). I really enjoyed the 2 hrs of badminton, and learnt quite a bit about how to improve by none other than Lukas... Hopefully in the near future, he'll find me a challenge :P... But that will definitely take really some time!!

We went opposite then to have some nice lunch at Long House, and to discuss if we wanted to go out and do some stuff... After a real long discussion and Irvin's 'persuasive' reasons, we decided to head off to United square... Must say its a real nice place... And I really enjoed that period of time that I've spent with them...

We must definitely have more outings like this man!!

... "It may not be nice to be good... It may horrible to be good. And when I say to you I realize how self-contridictory that sounds. I know I shall have many sleepless nights about this,. What does God want? Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness?Is a man who chooses the bad perhaps in some way better than a man who has the good imposed upon him? Deep and hard quesions..."

Really interesting quote to think about....

What does God want?

I've got my answer....

Have you?

Yup, never good enough... Never was, never is...

Something that my life revovles around... Was never good enough in my studies, had to always appeal into the school I wanted to go into... Never reached the mark of any benchmark... Sports, music or even character...

Well, I guess not making the mark for being an ogl wasn't any different either... When I came out of the interview, something in my heart told me to accept it if I don't make it to become an ogl... Maybe I should have listened to it then, so I won't be so disappointed now that I've indeed failed to be one... Haha, as quoted for some barker boys, I'm really a joke...

I have great friends around me that make me feel as if I can really do and take up responsibility for certain things... Thanks guys... But sometimes I wonder if my strength really is enough... I mean of course without God, I won't be able to do all these things yet... If he didn't put all these people in my life, could I have really done all these things?

Could I? Most probably not at all...

I wonder what God really wants me to do? What is his plan for me?

I read once that when one gets too far away from his own dream, he can choose to give it up and help others realise their dream... I seem to be taking that path, and I really love it when others get to do what they what...

Cause at least, they can do what I can't...

Still, I'll put in as much effort as I can in whatever I do....

Well, though most of the time, its not really enough...

I wonder how some people really handle this...

Win some, Lose some? Ha, guess its something I really have to get used too...

Cause I am really unmotivated to study for Chinese at ALL!! So here I am blogging about my recent events that happened...

Promos were satisfying... Though many out there would agree that Bio was worse than expected... But well, I cant complain about the rest of my subjects... And the results of my friends has made me rethink a lot of things in life... But ah well, thats a story for another time...

Hard work cannot ensure you success at the end of the day anymore in today's context... Where Passing is not by the marks of your tests but by the As you get... (Ya, I know what you're thinking... Whatttttt~~? HAHA!!) And your peers aren't helping, by making life harder than it is as THEY excel too, which isn't a bad thing for them... But more for ourselves...

Of course, that doesn't mean we're not happy for them... Its great if our friends score well! :D

Yet, results aren't the main focus in our lives, isn't it?

The past year has been a lot more just studying and CCA-ing in a sense... Its been a time of interaction with people, knowing others better and for me, living out a Christian life in well, a medodist institution which ironically has a majority of non-chiristians in our midst.

What is YOUR life priority?

Good question. What a good question to start asking ourselves just after the Promos... At the end of this whole year, I realised that I had more questions about my life and lifestyle, my character and personality then I had begin with when I first entered the gates of ACJC... Interesting, huh?

As I grow, I thought the more I'll find out who I really am... Now, as I grow, I begin to ask more questions about it... Whatever the case though, I have a whole 2 months to think about it and get down to it...

J2 looks nice and tough... Better go out more often this hols!!

PS. Chinese Orchestra of ACJC is having a end-of-year concert called Spirito, and its held on the 22th of Nov! More details regarding it will be posted the next time :D

The move to my new house is the main focus today...

No, I'm not actually moving today, but it was more the packing that sucked the life out of me... It has been a long and not really purposeful day, but I guess we all have days like that don't we?

I really wanna go out... :(