KR Hall Production 2010 - Telling Tales, Living Dreams

Yesterday I went for Kent Ridge (KR) Hall's annual production, which as usual, was in the form of a musical. Overall, I felt that this year's production was better that last year's one. Why do I say so? Well, the reason is quite evident as I didn't fell asleep during this year's hall prod. Oooops... Sorry, no disrespect to the ppl last year, but the plot last year was just way too confusing to my (or anyone else's) liking. Anyways, back to the main point Erm...

This year they got singers to act, instead of asking actors to sing. Actually I'm a big fan of musicals, I do enjoy watching musicals, be it in a theater, or in a cinema. I just love it. But, for a musical to be successful, the people who are acting and singing, must actually act and sing well. LOL. But in reality, it's very difficult to find these kind of ppl, especially in NUS, so when you have to decide which to give and which to take, you should always take singers. Coz I believe that the acting part can be trained. And when line-up boast of all powerful singers, nobody really bothers whether they really can act or not, or whether they are able to fully portray the details of their respective characters or not. When even the weakest singer (not really weak weak, but just in comparison among the other singers) sings better than WeiLi, you know that they mean business this time round. Don't play play. FYI, if you don't know who's WeiLi, you can leave me a comment and I'll intro him to you. For those who know him, well, I guess you all should know where he stands. =) Seriously, I think among all the Halls of Residences, only KR is able to put up a musical production. I tried imagining Eusoff having a musical production, instead of our usual dance production, but I just can't find the numbers to make it up.

But I still have some constructive comments to raise regarding last night's performance. I am very dissatisfied of their lyrics in songs. Sometimes, they just try to hard to put in too many words in too little spaces, which results in the person mumbling and we, as the audience really can't make up what the hell they are singing/talking/rapping. Seriously, pls try to space em out nicely la. Coz firstly, the pronounciation of the words are already not really very good, unlike ang mohs, when you can easily tell what they are talking/singing about. But, as non native speaking people like us - asians, it's just abit weird, difficult to hear.

Britney's singing improved compared to her performance last year. Last year, she sang well (which was one of the actors that actually can sing), but just sometimes instead of letting it all out, there's this somewhat imaginary barrier where her projection couldn't cut through, therefore resulting in 'covered' voice. But this year, this problem wasn't there anymore. Well done! Btw, I don't know her personally, but I just happen to recognise her from last year's production.

Another person that deserves special mentioning is Stephanie a.k.a. Miss Mirror a.k.a. Mdm M. She is really the show stopper, and by far the most outstanding performer in the musical. On a side note, she's my dancing partner (yes, i danced in my concert) in Jazz Band. And to me, she's already the ultimate performer - a person who can sing, dance and act equally well. Fan-Tars-Tic! I foresee that she'll be in KR's production for many years to come (not really that many, the most 4 yrs).

I Could Write A Book

If they asked me

I could write a book

About the way

You walk and whisper

And look

I could write a preface

On how we met

So the world

Wouldn't never forget

Then the simple secret

Of the plot

Is just to tell them

That I love you a lot

Then the world discovers

As my book ends

How to make two lovers of friends

This was one of the songs that I performed for my Jazz Band Concert. A different version though. Hope you'll enjoy it.

It's Over, At Last

It's over, at last... Today I went for my last session of physiotherapy in NUH, which means that I do that have to go there anymore every week. Although I still have to go for my final orthopaedic appointment in June. Hopefully by then I am already working (doing my internship), if not then it's jialat already. I fell asleep during my physio session just now. There was this one exercise where I had to lie face down on the treatment bed/table, and lift my arms with 5 lbs of weight. I had to do 3 reps of 10 for 2 different exercises. When I finish, the physiotherapist wasn't back yet and so I decided to just laze on the bed and I accidentally fell asleep. When I woke up it was already half an hour later, and yet the physiotherapist isn't here. I think it doesn't seem quite right so I went out of the room to look for her. She was in her office, and she asked me to go to the gym and do some other exercise and come back to look for after I'm done. After finishing all the exercises that she assigned, she said that I'm right on track to recovery and that she can discharge me already. I thanked her for her services and said goodbye to her. Hopefully, I won't meet her anymore, at least not for physio sessions. Well, I don't mind having lunch or dinner though. LOL, just kidding...

Anyways, here's a sneak peak of Jacky Cheung's latest album - Private Corner. And here's my favourite song of the whole album - Double Trouble. Hope you'll enjoy it!

歌神张学友发新片了！

已经退隐江湖多年的歌神--张学友发新片了，专辑是《Private Corner》，音乐曲风大部分以爵士为主。如果你有兴趣要下载他的专辑的话，你可浏览这个网站：http://www.z-degrees.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=51367。歌神果然是歌神，金盆洗口后现在重出江湖，嗓子还是保养得如此的好，可说是报刀未老，只是近黄昏，夕阳无限好！说到爵士音乐，就让小弟先为自己的音乐会做一点点地宣传。

我将于下个星期六，三月十三日，晚上八时正，在新加坡国立大学的University Cultural Centre Hall和新加坡国大爵士乐队一起演出。由于今年是新加坡国大爵士乐队成立的十五周年，所以这个音乐会将会是一个非常大的喜庆。我们还特地叫毕业多年的校友们归队，跟我们一起同台演出，让我们把最好的一面呈现给大家。此外，我们今年的主题是以孔子为主。那到底爵士音乐跟孔子有什么关系呢？看起来好像是两个完全扯不上的东西，是吗？我先卖个关子，你们要亲自来观赏和感受那么别出心裁的演出咯！所以我敬请身在新加坡的同志们可以来捧场。我保证你们肯了以后都会喜欢，不论你是否懂音乐，因为演出实在是太精彩了。入场票只是十三块新币而已，如果有兴趣的就跟我联络吧！谢谢！

Surprise of the day: Wang Wang

Today, out of the blues, my Form 6 Maths teacher - Mr Wang, came and find me for a chat on facebook. I think I just added him on facebook yesterday or today. His 1st question was a shocker - "Are u in UK now?". Actually I've known Mr Wang for quite some time already, and I remembered I went to his house for tuition since Form 1 together with a friend of mine. And later she did went to UK and study, so he must've thought I also would study in UK after I finish my STPM. Seriously, UK is way too expensive and honestly, I've never thought of studying my undergrad in UK. It's way out of my radar. For me, it was either HK or Sg, and I chose Sg in the end due to the serious pollution in HK as I'm asthmatic.

I knew he was the teacher advisor for Chess Club, and I always wanted to challenge him to a game of Chess. But till now, I've never fulfill this promise. Someday, somehow, I'll play Chess against him. And hopefully I can win him, although this possibility is rather low as I've not been training consistently for such a long time. LOLz.

Apparently her daughter just sat for STPM and got fantastic results - 4As and is now deciding which uni to apply for and which course to take. His daughter applied for HKU and also NUS la. And she wants to do Pharmacy or Chemical Engineering, which is 2 of the toughest courses to get into, apart from Medicine and Dentistry, and of course not forgetting Business, at least in my opinion. I'm pretty sure she'll do well, as long as she keep her feet firmly on the ground, balance her time between studies and CCAs.

2 songs to summarize CNY and Valentine's Day

Hmm... just want to summarize this CNY with 2 songs of my choice, just to describe how kikshou this CNY is for me. Frist up, we have "Eye of the Tiger", just to celebrate the "Year of the Tiger". How absurd would it be for the tiger without its eyes. So, here it is:

Ok, so after listening to this song that's kinda old school, it's time for something more kikshou, and modern. The next song is "Girlfriend" by Hanjin a.k.a. 陈奂仁, who is a singer/music producer/composer from Sg but is based in HK. He has worked with several famous artiste like Sammi Cheng, Eason, etc (can't rmb others but i think Jacky Cheung also).

So, for those who doesn't have a girlfriend, it's time to get 1. If you already have 1, pls stop at 1. Here you go, "女朋友".

Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everybody a Happy and Prosperous New Year. Hope that every year will KIKSHOUer than the previous year. RAWR!!!

Blood Donation Attempt (FAILED) & Consultation

The NUS Red Cross Society organizes blood donation drives twice a year, once in sem 1, and the other during sem 2. I missed the one in sem 1 because it was overcrowded with ppl at the venue, so I thought of making up for the loss this time around. And so as usual, I went to MPSH4, where the blood donation drive was being held. After filling in the forms, I waited patiently for my turn for a simple body check-up. The medical officer took my body temperature and blood pressure. After checking everything, she went through the form that I had completed and the problem occurred.
"Have you been hospitalised?" YES
"Have you been under constant observation of a doctor?" YES
"Have you undergone surgery?" YES

"If YES, when was it?" 9th Dec 2009

Apparently I am not allowed to donate blood within 3 months after surgery, no matter how minor the surgery may be. Damn! Just wasted half an hour of my very busy Wednesday schedule. And so I left.

Actually I wanted to see the doctor (or rather medical officer) in UHC but was unable to coz they closed for lunch from 12.30-1.30pm (not the usual 1-2pm, that's why kikshou lo). So, I might as well use the time allocated for donating blood to see the doctor, since I'm already there (Note: MPSH4 and UHC are located quite near from each other). After registering, I waited patiently (as always) for my turn. After waiting for quite some time, it was at last my turn, and I proceeded to the specified room.

Upon entering the consultation room, there was actually still a patient inside, and the doctor requested for some time to finish up the patient before me. I think this doctor is new, coz I nvr saw him before nor did I hear his name before. And so I waited again, right outside the room for the other patient to leave. As soon she exited, I entered. The doctor then asked me regarding my condition, and I told him the whole lot. "Cough, a lot of phlegm, very green-ish and sticky, and itchy throat". To my surprise, the doctor is also suffering from the same condition as me, as he was coughing quite badly, and I can hear the sound of the phlegm clearly. He diagnosed me as a viral infection (which I already knew as this was not my first time having such similar symptoms). He asked me whether I had sore throat, and I answered him no, I just have an itchy throat. He said he'll prescribed some medicine, so that I can cough out my phlegm easier. I thanked the doctor and left.

After that I passed the medicine prescription to the counter, and waited as they prepared my medicine. Then the payment counter lady called out my name, and she wanted to collect $ from me. At this time, I knew that the doctor must've prescribed some lozenges for my 'sore throat' and I had to pay for it as it is a 'non-standard drug', and so my wallet is left with $4.45 less when I entered the building.

I just wish that I can recover fully before CNY starts because it sucks if you're sick during CNY. Just imagine all those food... that you are not allowed to eat... it's unbearable... couldn't imagine how it would be... 3 days more to go... Gambateh!