long over time for another blog post

using point form to avoid forgetting what i wanna say. tho i think i'll have forgotten a lot anyways. read on!

1. SCO collaboration
the collaboration with the sco was a blast! loved it. it was well worth all those late nights and horrible songs cos it all came together so beautifully. i now have a new found appreciation for chinese/buddhist music. it was such an experience singing at the indoor stadium. i mean, the place is HUGE! the sound is so...woah! you have to be there to know. i mean, hey, this is a freaking STADIUM! not a concert hall or theatre. btw, it was a full house event. and MM LKY was there also. of course, he vanished after the interval, but, he was there. oh ya, the event is a fundraising thing in aid of Singapore Buddhist Federation, Maha Bodhi School and SCO.

saw that group that does the thousand hand guan yin thing. it's one thing seeing it on tv, it's completely another seeing it live. they are so talented lor! and it's true lah, the eye is more accurate than the ear. did you know, that group of performers are disabled? those that did the guan yin are deaf. they rely on two guides standing on the corners of the stage to signal them. then, they did another item and the main performer for that was a guy with no arms. btw, this is the 'china disabled people's performing arts troupe'. they are all damn talented lah. that's all i can say.

then there were those tantric monks from tibet. they did their chanting in this really low and low tone. it's like...growling. but they did it in such a way that there's an overtone when they do it. definition of overtone: "one of the higher tones produced simultaneously with the fundamental and that with the fundamental comprise a complex musical tone." but how people explain to me, when two similar wavelengths collide, it produces a completely different sound. it was so amazing. the monks were doing that low growling thing, and i could hear a higher harmony with it. woah!!!!! i feel close to enlightenment. that item was probably one of my favourites. immediately after the monks 'chanting' thing, the SCO drumline led by the abbot of the monastary did an item. it was like, the chanting chanting, then BOOM! of the chinese drum and the thunderous rumble of the chinese drumline. think ancient china/mulan kind of thing. and then the choir coming in with the om mani padme hum. *g* the way it completely filled the stadium was overwhelmingly overwhelming.

then at the end, before the nan wu ah mi tuo fo, when the monks went up to chant a prayer, it was so cool, i could see members of the audience joining in also, in prayer. and i was like, woah! it was just the whole religious-ness of the event in a setting that is not overtly religious. know what i mean? anyway, like i said, it was an EXPERIENCE.

i like the sco conductor tsung yeh. i like the way he conducts and handles the orchestra and the choir. he reminds me of a little pixie. it's his permed hair and his itsy bitsy little eyes. very cute. it's nice to work with him. he's not like nelson who's capable of losing his temper any which way. hope can work more with sco in future. it's definitely a worthwhile thing

2. carolling session (yams)
alrighty. due to good or bad luck, no one called us for carolling this year. and frankly, after the session at the yams, i'm kinda glad it happened. cos the session was just short of a disaster. lucky the yams are kinda like zhi zi ren. so, screwing up doesn't make me feel too bad. i mean, bad is bad, but screwing up in front of people who are strangers is completely worse than screwing up in front of familiar people. anyway, they had fun and that was important. the first sort of official gathering since LC disbanded. anyway...move on with that.

3. carolling session (SKCL)
and today we had our second carolling session at a bigger venue. sengkang community library. verena asked us to do it. it was WAY better than at the yam's place. important that it was better cos this is public. we're performing for people we've never seen before, who have never seen or heard of us before. and i think we did ok. not the best, but definitely far away from worse. the energy level was high, that's important. anyway, proud of you guys! it was a blast today!

4. dance rehersal
last night we held a little rehersal for the feast day. had to teach them the dance steps. digress a little bit, you know what? i watched highschool musical for myself over the weekend. and the stupid song's choreo was so much easier in the movie, compared to what we're supposed to be doing now. i mean, when i first saw the clip, i thought it was tough, no way i could get them to do it, that's why i left it to the choreographer. thought they could do it easier than the movie. but, it became more difficult instead.

anyway, never mind. i chose not to control the choreo so let's not dwell on it. tian did a lot of the demo last night cos she's so good with the steps. thanks for benedict for showing up and convincing the guys to participate also. the first half of the song went quite well. bhangra all the way baby! then the chorus was fun once we got the hang of it. haha! hopefully by the 30th the steps will come more naturally. the part to do with a partner tho...heeh. not too sure of that. cos, the tendency is for the girls and guys to not want to have anything to do with each other. plus, the steps were for the more acrobatically inclined bodies. so...we decided to just leave that to the professionals to do. haha!

embarrassing moment. i brought my laptop to the church so that i could play the song. and in between, when we were learning the steps sans music, the screensaver came on. and the most embarrassing picture ever to reside in my laptop popped up on screen. it was a photoshopped picture of a topless clay. when they saw it, they got all excited and "oh my god irene! why is there a naked man on your computer?!" for the record, he was NOT NAKED. he was just topless. and there's nothing wrong with having a picture of a topless man. geez. there goes my image. out with the evil online alter ego.

the "when you believe" is going well also i think. andrea and benedict are just about ready. all i need to do now is to find a minus one track for them to sing to. so...who knows how to make a minus one track, please help me. and don't google it and give me the google results. i've done that already. i've already tried all that i can try, which are mainly through search engines. and i don't know how else to do it. but there's still one more week to try. *hopeful*

5. hanging out at ty's place
went out with ty and dh the other day. monday met them at parkway for lunch, some shopping. bought a really nice stainless steel ring. i just realised that the pattern on the ring, i thought it was engraving, but it's really a designed carved all the way through the ring. ie the metal band has a design carved in it. very beautiful i think. this is my new favourite ring. as in, after my mood rings (which i think wearing too much will spoil it).

anyway, then, went to ty's house and watched "meet the fockers". it was damn funny lah. ate ice cream even though it was raining like the end of the world outside. girls can always enjoy a chocolate ice cream. yup. long time since i ate ice cream.

well, later when i got home, ty told me she made a mistake about the thumbdrive she gave me. so, we arranged to meet up the next day to go and return her the drive. so next day me went to her place second round. it was nice. long time since i spent any quality time with any of my friends. weather was good.

played with her dogs. at least ty knows how to train a dog. maybe that's why i can't get a dog just yet, cos i don't know how to train it. anyway, her Princess is very well behaved, albeit playful. and her new puppy Creamy...well, she's like a toy. small and FLUFFY. the kind of dog that i very scared of stepping on by accident. i realised that this year is probably the year i spent with the most dogs. haha! looking forward to the day i can get one of my own. a nice golden retriever. :D

alrighty. i think all for now. still trying to figure out my timetable. i got 4 modules confirmed, just one more that i don't know what to take. and then, there's the SEP. fingers crossed that my latest exam results qualify me to apply. i think, if i don't get to do the SEP, i'll go and apply for music lessons instead. piano or violin. hmm...



mood: sleepy
listening to: the great divide - gino vannelli