Myself

PAYCO Beautiful Sunday

2009-12-29T00:23:00.002+08:00

went to help out PAYCO for their beautiful sunday concert!
Met up with many of my chungcheng friends whom i lost contact after secondary school.. eg pinyan, abelyn, junhong, chingkee, weisheng etc... and it was a blast

I had more fun than i expected.. i was half expecting some cold treatment cos i am from GECO... but they were very friendly and i had much fun

ALthough i got abit of flak for smoking through one of their rehearsals... (i spent christmas practicing abit though).. the end result was quite good haha

time flies when you have fun... 3 pracs and 1 concert just totally flew by...

but yeah this was an eye opener for me since I have never joined another external orchestra other than GECO..

HAHA that said.. hope i can guest perform for them again soon... =)

PAYCO PEEPS PLS COME WATCH GECO CONCERT ON JUNE 10th 2010!!!!
STILL EARLY BUT HAHAHA PLS COME SUPPORT!!!

The Chauvinist Celebrates His Birthday

2009-11-10T00:26:00.003+08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!
I just turned 19.. older but not old haha if you get wad i mean

Hmm day was spent almost like any other sunday, just that there were more sms-es received and i went out for lunch with my mother and sister...

I din see a need to celebrate my birthday with cakes or presents or anything, rather do that when something more significant happens.. for Eg MAKING MY FIRST MILLION BUCKS!

Everyday's a brand new day.. everyday you get a chance of being someone you weren't the previous day, everyday you get the chance to do something you din do the previous day, something new and exciting all the time...

Hope this day NOV 8 will signal a new chapter in my life, a chapter full of happening stuff, and a chapter where i can make more friends and have more fun, be a better person and do something useful...

THAT SAID

THANK YOU TO ALL MY FRENS , REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU REMEMBERED OR FORGOT MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

The Chauvinist is Moved By Music

2009-10-29T02:23:00.010+08:00

Asian Dream Song By Joe Hishaishi
Theme Song for 1998 Winter Paralympics held in Japan

9 CELLOS AND ONE GRAND PIANO!!!!!!!

A Copy and Paste of a Conversation with someone on My Thoughts of this song...

""ok winter is usually a very emo season

cos everything in nature is like dead...

not say dead.. but the whole atmosphere is so quiet and not lively

all the animals are gone

trees have no leaves

and these are disabled athletes

less fortunate than us

perhaps to them their lives at first could have been like winter

very emo.. very dead... like no meaning

but then after winter always comes spring

so there is a sense of hope in the air that life will return soon

these disabled athletes have every reason to keep on living

and enjoy life as well

they shook off their disability

and now they are able to do sports despite the setbacks

the amount of hope... the amount of dreams... the amount of determination

sometimes you feel how spring happens after winter

so contrasting

it feels as though... the sheer determination of all the living things to keep living.... makes winter turn into spring

thats why in the song... the recurring parts... its like the hopes and dreams that we all have

then the fast part is like the difficulties we face

but in the end wad happens? the recurring part comes back again

in the end all the hopes and dreams and determination put together... overcomes adversity

nothing is impossible if you still have hope, nothing is impossible if u have dreams.. and nothing is impossible if you have the will to carry on

this song is a tribute to all the athletes who managed to live on... manage to overcome all odds.. managed to succeed in life

ok maybe they havent got the best life in the world

but all of them are happy

you imagine a person with one arm or one leg... or totally blind...

makes you think who are you to feel sad right?

I also let you listen to this music and let you know wad it means... or rather my interpretation... cos I hope you can be stronger, be happier... and be more optimistic in life

i wonder.. how can winter.. something so lifeless... something so lonely.. something so quiet... yet be so beautiful""

EVERYONE DON BE EMO LE OK????? MUST BE HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!

The Chauvinist Has Leadership Opportunities....

2009-10-08T22:49:00.004+08:00

This week has been damn tiring so far, with lots and lots of saigang for me to do!

Training Schedules, Cleaning up of the CIE Room, and performances too..
WIth IC not around and 2 IC on "off and leave clearing" , I have added responsibilities to guide our ensemble, at least for this week...

Relishing the experience, i really think i learnt alot although it has been tedious.. one of the few times i felt i did something meaningful... I hope i get to be an IC next time.. to atone for my past slack-ness and also to prove to myself i can be a good leader if i try hard.. And cos i wanna learn so much more..

Hope i can be given a chance to shine.

The Chauvinist Watches Another Concert...

2009-08-29T22:54:00.000+08:00

John Chen's rendition of Rachmaninov Piano Concerto 2 with the Orchestra of the Music Makers Rocked!
Although there were some parts that were lacking feeling, i think John Chen was superb for a 23 year old..
OMM also did well, and the feeling towards the ending was really very good, haha i wished they could do that for the entire song but oh well I'm not complaining XD

Mother says she will sponsor me a ticket to watch New York Phil but I cant seem to find people to go with.. and which of the two days should i choose? Obviously cant go for both haha it will cost a bomb..

Busy september (and more off days gained) to look forward to in MDC

Time Flies.....

The Chauvinist Feels Cheated~~~~

2009-07-26T03:33:00.001+08:00

Ok so i went to watch Li Yundi's concert..

BIG DEAL...

in fact i consider myself unlucky to even get to watch him play live together with SSO...

Bought $103 ticket, was counting down everyday... then on the day itself this happens..

First Half : Rustic Wedding Symphony by Goldmark.

IT was SO BORING that i dozed off 5 times.. and let me tell you people it wasnt just me.. even Lixian and Qinkai dozed off a number of times.. so yeah that pretty much summarizes the first half of the concert..

Second Half : Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1

EPIC FAIL!! ... OH MY GOD!!!
Flautists and Horns were out of tune, Strings sounded as though their bows were lacking rosin, SSO was dragging the music and holding Li Yundi back.. and Li Yundi in turn was attitude-ing..
And in the end..there was no standing ovation... i think this must be the first time in many many years for Li Yundi that he hasn't gotten a standing ovation.. but oh well...

All i can say is that SSO needs to buck up.. and if Singapore really wants to have superstars like Li Yundi performing here ever again first they have to set up a decent orchestra to accompany them!

Gah still can't believe this happened....

Would rather have paid $103 to go for a GECO rehearsal LOL!!

The Chauvinist Swings Along With The Music

2009-07-07T01:32:00.002+08:00

Lim wei just sent me our guhuai recording today for "critical assesment" cos i'm an audiophile.. LOL and found some recording screw ups that he managed to rectify..
At the end of it all.. THE RECORDING IS FANTASTIC!!! When you listen to it alone at night you kinda can get goosebumps cos the music is simply amazing.. Compared to HKCO's version i can safely say ours is much better!!

Which kinda makes me wonder.. I really really feel that GECO should showcase its music to the rest of the world, especially China. Our humble amatuer student orchestra which is of professional standard.. imagine the people's reaction...

But most of all.. is not the people's reaction nor the fame i am after.. i just feel that we should share our music with the world.. Because i feel that our music can touch the hearts of many.. Thats the same why i chose to the route to become a professional erhu player in the future.. I WANT PEOPLE TO FEEL THE MUSIC WE FEEL.. TO BE TOUCHED BY THE MUSIC WE PLAY.. AND FOR OUR MUSIC TO ECHO THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.

I am going to be 19 this year, and spend my 7th year in GECO. Time flies.. i still remember when i was a little kid like Darren ( the little boy in erhu 2), albeit a bit more toot.. Always been fascinated by GECO's musicality.. The way Zhang Lao Shi manages to bring out the musicality in all of us.. That man is a genius.

I probably will have around 5 years left in Singapore, after which if all conditions are right, I will leave our tiny island to try and make it big in Japan.. 5 years is a short time considering how fast my 7 years in GECO just flew past.. By that time i would have been 24, and spent half my life (12 years) in GECO!

Wonder wad GECO would be like in 5 years.. New faces.. new personalities, new problems and hopefully we can sustain our high level of music.

Wonder wad will happen when the day that i leave GECO comes.. I will probably feel a huge sense of emptiness in my heart..

Wonder if i can ever re-create another GECO-type of orchestra in the future whether overseas or in Singapore..

GAH...too many wad ifs...

I LOVE GECO

The Chauvinist Loves Aerosmith

2009-05-13T02:32:00.008+08:00

Aerosmith - Amazing

I kept the right ones out
And let the wrong ones in
Had an angel of mercy
To see me through all my sins
There were times in my life
When I was goin' insane
Tryin' to walk through the pain

And when I lost my grip
And I hit the floor
Yeah, I thought I could leave
But couldn't get out the door
I was so sick n' tired
Of livin' a lie
I was wishing that I would die

It's amazing
With the blink of an eye
You finally see the light
Oh it's amazing
When the moment arrives
You know you'll be alright
Yeah it's amazing
And I'm saying a prayer
For the desperate hearts tonight

That one last shot's a Permanent Vacation
And a how high can you fly with broken wings
Life's a journey - not a destination
And I just can't tell just what tomorrow brings

You have to learn to crawl
Before you learn to walk
But I just couldn't listen
To all that righteous talk oh yeah
I was out on the street
Just tryin' to survive
Scratchin' to stay alive

It's amazing
With the blink of an eye
You finally see the light
Oh it's amazing
When the moment arrives
That you know you'll be alright
Oh it's amazing
And I'm saying a prayer
For the desperate hearts tonight

(Vocal Solo)

(Guitar Solo with Steven Tyler yelling lyrics in background)

(Guitar Solo)

"So, from all of us at Aerosmith
To all of you out there, wherever you are.
Remember- the light at the end of the tunnel
May be you. Goodnight!"

(Classical jazz music outro)

The Chauvinist is in deep thought...

2009-04-23T01:28:00.003+08:00

*disclaimer* this is not an EMO post.. i just found this really thought provoking...
this is an extract from the conversation i had with Kwuan Boon

The Chauvinist Conducts an Orchestra...

2009-04-22T02:21:00.002+08:00

CONGRATULATIONS TO CHUNG CHENG HIGH SCHOOL (MAIN) CHINESE ORCHESTRA FOR GETTING GOLD WITH HONOURS FOR SYF 2009!!!!

WHOOTS!!!! This is a feeling i never felt before... the ecstasy of being part of this historic period..
We've come so close for too many times.. and finally... our little juniors finally managed to bring the once- elusive honour back to our dear school...

Haha i can be proud to say i helped in a way! Slept for only 1 hour plus on sunday night as i was busy listening to recordings of their playing, analysing scores and imaginary-conducting.. then went to school with constant headaches and conducted for around 2 hours for their last practice in the morning... I think i managed to raise their standard by a bit.. but every bit counts... the difference between gold and GOLD WITH HONOURS!!!

for some weird reason.. i was the ball of nerves at SCH though i wasnt the one playing.. Cicada song ( i think quite a lousy piece, sorry PYT) wasnt very good.. as there were many small mistakes.. but the Da Di Hui Chun was EPIC!!! Those lil kids really played that song with their hearts and that alone i feel was worthy of a GWH..

Ironically when results came out.. the seniors were the ones who were shouting the loudest! The little boys were jumping up and down... while the girls just sat there and weeped with joy...
The touching moment came when Ms (iron lady) Tay hui cheng teared as well... our dearest teacher in charge since my batch who really really took care of us and our juniors very well...

If any juniors are reading this...

Please do not be complacent and rest on your laurels after our GWH feat... Also.. do not look down on other CCAs which have not achieved the same levels you have nor be selfish and feel that GWH only belongs to the CO... Be humble and work hard towards continued success!

"TODAY I AM PROUD OF CHUNG CHENG... TOMORROW CHUNG CHENG WILL BE PROUD OF ME!!!"

CONGRATS CCHMSCO!!!

The Chauvinist Serves His Nation

2009-04-03T02:15:00.002+08:00

Hello world! Sorry for the long absence i was abit too tired and too lazy to blog as of late..

Of cos as you guys should already know.. I enlisted into the Singapore Armed Forces on the 16th march.. Damn lucky shit i din even nid to step into Tekong nor cut my hair ; just directed reported to Central Manpower Base.. where after a long talk on insurance policies (they psycho you to buy one ) , i got my full kit consisting of uniform, badge, sport shoes, leather shoes and blah blah blah.. essentially an army survival kit (just without the dangerous yet fun-to-play-with tools) specially for unfit (?!?!) people like me..

Army has been really fun.. made alot of frens there and theres plenty of laughter all around.. especially in the Chinese Instrumental Ensemble, which i am in. Strangely enought I am ok with waking up at 615 every morning, which is somewhat surprising since i could barely stay awake during my RJC days when i woke up at around the same time..

Life in MDC can be rather repetitive but we "fun" guys from the CIE make sure that we have fun all the time... the day starts with us changing into our number 3 uniform.. then going to have a group breakfast and lots and lots of talk cock ensues.. we seldom practice the pieces as a group ( COS WE ARE QUITE PRO and the pieces are damn simple ) so usually we talk cock sing song play mahjong until lunch time..

The period after lunchtime can be the most productive or most unproductive time of the day.. on days when i am super tired i would just take 4 chairs,line them up in a line and lie down to take a nap.. and on days when i think i don feel like sleeping , i would just take out my erhu to practice..

Hmm speaking about self practices.. i now practice about 2 hours a day.. up from a measly one hour a week last year when i was "busy" studying for A lvls.. and i can feel myself improving by quite alot! haha hopefully zls will praise me for being able to play Liu Lang well considering he hasnt taught me yet.. practice until seriously abit sian diao already lor..

OH ya i missed out the performances part.. about 1/3 of the days spent in Army are performance days.. meaning we travel a fair bit.. be it school shows where we showcase chinese music to schools.. or just plain boring background music for some lame shit event.. but still very fun la.. cos confirm alot of talk cock-ing and those type of crazy stuff...

Thats my army life in short!
Stay tuned (i hope for not too long) for more interesting army stories and summaries of my life!

The Chauvinist splurges......

2009-03-04T04:02:00.002+08:00

Hello world.. sorry for not blogging these past few days/weeks... too lazy muahahaha...

Oh well.. The Dreaded A level results will be out soon! DAMN I AM SO FREAKING SCREWED COS SOMEONE MADE ME NO MOOD TO STUDY EH!!! Ok i am partly to blame... my laziness... Aye.. just hope i can get a B-E-E-E ( in other words everything pass) and i will be happy...
Worried worried.. but actually only worried cos ZLS will kill me if he knew i failed any subject... and not because i cant get into UNI... intending to go NAFA ma... crap results also can make it...

Hoping for A for music!!

Another two more days! GAHHHHHH

And Another 12 more days to enlistment! Quite looking forward to a more normal life... slacking and playing music everyday.. should be fun la i guess... Major Tay also there to ammuse us..

I WANT MORE STUDENTS!!!!! $$$$$ plus the satisfaction of teaching... kinda like teaching actually... maybe cos my current student improves damn fast..

IS IT BECAUSE OF ME?? IS IT BECAUSE OF ME???

ok i think i am super hyper i shall go watch soccer now...

DIE LIVERPOOL AND CHELSEA... MAN U PAWNZOR

XD

The Chauvinist Indulges

2009-02-15T00:21:00.003+08:00

Hello world.. i am back after another week of online shopping, sleeping early (*cough cough 5am*) and being sian diao this whole week

LOL i spent 600 plus this week i think.. lets break it down.. $225 for ipod classic 80 GB, $160 for headphone amplifier (finally i have my D2 BOA!), $70 for the interconnect and $180 for a pair of Audio Technica A900 headphones..

Haha i suddenly have so much money.. cos i think partially its time for me to stop neglecting my own welfare again.. since im single now.. then splurge on myself abit lor..

HAHA now that i have all this audio equipment.. I save my music files in WAV.. yes WAV the dreaded 50mb per song format.. and yes everything sounds great.. like DAMN GOOOD! Those who don believe i can let you listen someday soon muahahaha!

Enlisting on 16th march which is like slightly more than one month away... hmm at least i don't think i will need to cut my hair XD
Wonder what will happen to my life then.. will it be boring.. will it be so busy that i cant care abt other stuff.. we'll see... one more month of slacking to go... Hopefully army will make me wiser.. if it cant.. then i hope it keeps me occupied so much i wont have time to think about shit.. don appear in my head again

Posting pics of my newest aquisitions soon!

The chauvinist turns audiophilic

2009-02-05T15:37:00.004+08:00

hello world! haven really updated in quite a while ( again... ) cos.. no mood to update at 4am la! Night time = game time/ watching classical dvd time..

Recently I've been spending quite alot of money.. spent $330 on my dream pair of sunglasses (OAKLEY JULIETS WITH ICE IRIDIUM LENSES!) and gonna spend another $270 this week or next on a Ibasso D2 amp and Alessandro MS-1 headphones.. I blame Yuheng cos he made me audiophilic.. say wad want to buy iem then got me hooked!

Haha the day before after zls lesson i dragged my oversized-by-now ass to esplanade to borrow dvds on music.. if you are wondering now how to heck Britney Spears have dvd go shoot yourself in the head.. I am talking about Karajan and Rostropovich here.. Rostropovich was one of the worlds greatest cellist damn he could still play so well at 60 plus.. makes me wanna learn cello...
Borrowing Jacqueline Du Pre next.. though i doubt can get dvd..

It's quite sad that such a talented young lady (Du pre) developed incurable disease when she was only 26.. makes me wonder how long i will be able to play erhu if i were to become a professional.. so many things that i have yet to learn...

haha on a side note.. PICTURES OF MY SUNNIES!

And the Chauvinist finally speaks

2009-01-24T03:22:00.000+08:00

Hello world i received many comments that my blog is dead.. but actually its me just being too plain lazy to blog haha! But finally out of lazing around and trying to revive my few days old blog..

This week was more fun than others i guess.. LOL went cycling at east coast park with Tingkai on wednesday and had a feast consisting of hokkien mee, cuttlefish kangkong, penang prawn mee, and big jugs of sugar cane juice at the food centre close to the lagoon.

For Thursday met up with old classmates to celebrate MOCK's 19th birthday at Temasek Poly. I seriously din imagine that place to have a bbq pit but yes they have not one but two pits LOL... erm but for the food.. the noob TP gaming design faculty peeps (mock's classmates) couldn't set up the fire properly and in the end there was alot of uncooked food even when i left at 10.30 pm. BUt cake rocked. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOCK YOU LUCKY BASTARD!

Yesterday was rather boring.. LOL supposed to play basketball but in the end went to eat with Pei Yan, Sebastian, Kuangit and SongSim at central and watched amused as SongSim failed miserably at his attempt to write out the origins and functions of guan IN CHINESE for Peiyan. Guess someone is really rusty HA!
We practiced Li Shan Ying but abit sian leh cos i play too many times le.. but there were many funny moments la. COME ON I WANNA PLAY GU HUAI LA FASTER PAI2 GU HUAI!

Currently i am like hooked on Yellow River ( huang he ) Piano concerto.. seriously good stuff! get recordings from me! dunno played by who though but its one of the best recordings of this song.

Also i find myself engrossed in getting a pair of Oakley sunglasses for myself.. I hope i can get a pair soon! Although they cost a bomb.. like $200 plus to $400 plus. The one in the picture above is the Oakley X metal Juliet Cyclops as shown in the X men movie.. costs $500 plus LOL.. Damn cool la XD

GOODBYE WORLD DO HOPE THAT I WONT BE SO LAZY NEXT TIME!

And the Chauvinist Enters.... Act 1 Scene 1

2009-01-19T00:57:00.000+08:00

*drumroll* Hello everyone.. in a bid to add a bit more excitement to my life and you readers as well.. i have.. well created a blog. Yes i know the blogskin is gay , Yes i am a chauvinist and yes this was 70% done by Sheila Koo who kindly took time off to teach the noob how to use blogger. And Yes the noob is me...

Lol my life now is as mundane as can be.. i am stoning in front of the computer till like 4-5am everyday and wake up at 12? then i take afternoon naps too.. and surprisingly my eyebags are still there ZZZ.. i guess its genetic haha! I am becoming fat too nooooo i nid to train back my abs! argh life like this sucks how i wish it could be more interesting.. adventure come find me quick cos i am lazy to find you haha.

okay i think thats quite a wordy post.. do look forward to more quirky posts next time ya?

HAHA