28th August 2007
Tuesday

The day started off wet. Wet referring to the weather, not my bed. And the wet weather did not stop until sometime in the late afternoon. Quite a few people were drenched as the rain danced about in the wind. I suppose that is a sign of the changing weather. More wet days to come.

Anyway, today was a rather interesting day. Had a earful of gossips, and a insight on a high flying lifestyle. And I saw a watch which costs more than a bomb.

I went for a walk in interview at NTUC with Peijun and Min Si. But the conditions were not really suitable for my work and practice lifestyle. Then together with two ladies, we travelled to Orchard region and went to sweep Far East Plaza. And I realised something. Ladies are more prone to deviate from their intended motive. We ended up shopping. Or rather, they ended up shopping and I just accompanied them.

I still kept a lookout for job opportunities for them and manage to land them a few applications. Following the raid at Far East, we walked to Wisma. There, we stoned for a couple of hours before settling down at Starbucks Coffee to stone again.

Back to the watch business. While walking from Far East to Wisma, I saw this watch in the display. Really exquisite and unique design. I craned my neck to see the price tag and to my horror, there were 6 figures printed on the price tag! No, not the barcode number. The price has 6 digits in it. Like OMGWTFBBQ?! $178,602 if I remember correctly. How do people have the luxury of wearing such designer label watches?

Plans are being made to cramp up the rest of this week and next. Here is my schedule.

Wednesday : NJRC referee training. Night swim.
Thursday : Morning swim + tan. Afternoon lesson with Smith.
Friday : NJRC referee training.
Weekend : Free tentatively.
Monday - Saturday : NJRC

Practice time not included.

Child prodigy!

26th August 2007
27th August 2007
Neither Sunday nor Monday


Ever wondered how easily something can have its status changed from being material to just a memory? We usually overlook too many details of the world around us. Just like a streak of lightning across the sky. Common, yet each one is unique in its own way. Only lasting for a split second, many of these spectacular phenomenons of nature is missed by us. Akin to our daily lives, the details usually go unnoticed. This is indeed sad. For a great deal of beautiful things happen around us all the time.

Anyway, I was watching Youtube and I came across this VERY talented trumpeter. You can call him a child prodigy. Rubén Simeó Gijón. Here is a video of him playing Aratunian trumpet concerto at the age of 9. And here is a video of him playing Hummel trumpet concerto 3rd movement at 15 years old. Fabulous I say. He serves as a inspiration to all trumpet players out there.

Okay. Back to more practice.

How now Brown cow?

26th August 2007
Sunday
Updates on a mundane lifestyle

Another promise made to myself went unfulfilled. Yesterday I said I would wake up in the morning and go for a swim at Hougang Swimming Complex. Yet I overslept and woke up at noon.

Really, it has been quite some time since I last went for a swim. Or a jog. Or any exercise for that matter. Even as I type, I can feel my fats wobbling around. And my lung capacity. Something that I never found to be a problem is seriously troubling now. Even four bar phrases seem impossible. I have to do something quick!

Recently I have been clocking 2 hours of practice each day except for last Wednesday and Thursday. My lips seem more stable now, but the setting up still feels weird. My mouthpiece slips downwards as my lips get wetter. Airy sound is still present and pitching is a problem. I need more practice!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that my earhole started bleeding yesterday. And last night. And whenever I decide to touch it or move it. Now does anyone have a remedy for that? If you do have one, please inform me soon. I have no intention of dying with a "Loss of blood from bleeding earhole" as my cause of death.

On a lighter note, exams are over! And that leaves me more time to practice. =)
I officially make practicing my favourite pastime!

Anyway, I almost forgot that there is a trumpet masterclass at Yamaha Music right about now. And I am LATE! So that is all for now. Write back soon.

p.s. Something is wrong with my phone. *Hint* Will some kind soul please get me a new phone?

"24hours is never enough. Why not make the year 182.5 Days and one day 48 hours?"
-Han Yong

Extreme measures

19th August 2007
Sunday
Extreme Measures

If you are wondering what the title means, it refers to my way of dealing with oral ulcers. It is a simple process comprising of only 4 steps.

First, identify the troublesome spot. This should be relatively easy as ulcers are usually quite prominent. Look out for the white or yellowish spot in your lips. It should hurt badly when your tongue brushes against it or when you prod it with a clean finger.

Secondly, take a large amount of salt and press it into the ulcer. This will seriously hurt. Trust me, tested and proven. After the initial burning sensation, the pain will gradually subside and when that happens, spit out whatever is in your mouth. You will notice that you will salivate when you first dab the salt in. This is normal. If there is blood in your spit, stop dabbing salt. If there is no blood yet, repeat step two again until blood is present.

(Okay. Maybe making it bleed is too extreme. But put salt until the white layer covering the ulcer is gone.)

After all that action, rinse your mouth and dry your tears. I guarantee you there will be tears. If you can go through step two without tearing, kudos to you!

Grab some watermelon frost, apply it on your open ulcer. Surprisingly, watermelon frost really works well! Just leave the powdery stuff on the ulcer and reapply regularly. The ulcer should be gone within a couple of days.

Words of caution : This method is only a suggestion. It is how I deal with ulcers. But I might change my methods soon, due to the fact that dabbing directly with salt might leave scars.

Practice and study and practice

18th August 2007
Saturday
When the boring gets deadly.

I initially wanted to go down to Xinmin in the morning. But somehow, I fell asleep again after waking up.

Taking a break off practicing. I guess it's useless to feel frustrated and impatient. Only thing I can do now is to follow instructions and practice my foundations. And soon, I will be back with even better tone and techniques in my arsenal. "Don't feel frustrated, you're progressing fine!"

Just read through my ASAS lecture notes. And sadly, half the contents seem so unfamiliar to me. ASAS paper is on Tuesday. Two more days. But the greatest battle lies on Friday. Thermofluids. The module that I have to repeat. I still have problems with the last few chapters which unsurprisingly, holds the highest level of importance in this module.

Screw the mundane mugging. I salute people who can really sit down and mug and really manage to remember what they have mugged. It is like speed reading a book and remembering what is the fifth word is on page 252 line 38. Impossible.

Well then, back to long notes.

"Examination procedures : Go in, sit down, write name, stand up, go home."
-Han Yong

14th August 2007
Tuesday

Some people live their life waiting for something to happen. Others live their life making things happen.

Which are you?

I stumbled upon a blog with an amazing story to tell recently. It is a story about one man's dream and determination. A dream he spent years preparing for. It is a story of tears and sweat. A story of a journey no one has ever embarked on. A test of human strength and determination. A journey that will set records for the future. This is a dream of a thousand days at sea. Read about it at www.1000daysatsea.blogspot.com. It really is an inspiring blog about life on the water as a seaman.

All that reading about sailing the seas brought about my craving for compressed air again. I am really feeling the craving for the free open ocean and the weight of my gear strapped upon my shoulders. I want to feel the cool water engulf me. I want to taste the salt in the air. I want to experience the tranquility under the surface of the sea again. I want to escape into a paradise, yet to be tainted with city life.

For readers who have not experienced the beauty of the underwater world, you will not understand the bond between the sea and the divers. You will not see the x-factor that makes divers go back diving again and again. Call it an addiction, call it an obsession. But once you immerse yourself in that clear blue water, you will never turn back again.

Freedom is just a giant stride away. Cheers to all divers!

12th August 2007
Sunday
Time flies. And so do birds.

Sometimes, I wonder why does Time fly by so quickly. Ten years of hardwork can fly by before you realise that the hardwork is all worthless.

I caught a couple of movies recently. Secret and Alone.

Secret was good. Amazing twist at the back. Although there were some loopholes in the storyline, it was well worth the money. Touching scenes, as in emotionally. Not physically. Almost as good The only minus that I am giving the film is the poor acting by Jay, and the poor digital effects. Great music, great storyline. Poor acting from Jay (but improved tremendously since Initial D though), beautiful actress. Poor digital effects.
Overall 7.5/10

Alone was amazingly scary. I caught the movie alone to get a full taste of Alone alone. Seated with a bunch of shockingly retarded teenagers who almost managed to turn this horror film into a comedy, the film still got my jumping in my seat a couple of times. 4 times to be exact. Storyline was good, as expected. The twist at the end was unexpected though. As compared to the Shutter (same director as Alone), it failed to deliver the same impact in the storyline. However, the scary scenes were good enough to send screams reverberating around the cinema. Only minus was because the climax did not feel much of a climax.
Great effects, good acting, good storyline, bad climax.
Overall 7/10

Starting to learn the trumpet from scratch again. Doing it the proper way this time. Please screw me if you see me fooling around again.

"Habits fuck you up real bad."
-Han Yong

9th August 2007
Happy 42nd birthday Ray!
Happy 18th birthday Singapore!

I know, I know. That was pretty lame. But that should be the way to pass this happy occasion when we were kicked out from Malaysia 43 years ago right? Thank god we were kicked out. Or else the people here would still be shit ass poor. (Get what I am trying to say?)

Anyway, I am pretty pissed off with someone. Partially due to the fact that the person is not listening to me, and trying to push me back onto a path which I am trying to get off. But the main pissing came when that person said stuff that were totally different from before. Like what the fuck? I mean, like come on! You could have said those stuff right from the beginning instead of now right?

Whatever is it, I ain't buying.

Well, my initial plan for this afternoon was 15mins of practice, followed by 1 hour of studying and back with 15mins of practice. But this whole mess totally dissed me off. So now, the whole plan is fucked up, and I am here blogging instead.

"Signs of a fucked up life : Fucked up dreams."
-Han Yong

7th August 2007
Tuesday

Another day away from school. I am seriously losing the will to carry on studying. Despite what others might say about me giving up halfway, being an good-for-nothing imbecile, or whatever. Nobody really understands.

5th of August marked the my 18th concert. Philharmonic Youth Winds under the baton of Mr David Anthony Glosz. I guess the entire concert was quite screwed up (not to mention my failed solos). What a way to kickstart the new Philharmonic Youth Winds. Somehow, the usual post concert blues failed to get me this time round. Due to the poor performance? Possibly.

Anyway, I will be stopping band practices now. Main focus will be on studies(?) and individual practice. I have to start from the fundamentals again.

1st August 2007
Wednesday

These few days (and i do mean these few days), I have been neglecting my studies. Sigh. Really feel bad about it. But there is nothing I can do with just so little time left. Trying to cram everything that should have been done in the past two years into a few days. Stupidity? Hesitant? Poor foresight? I cannot tell the reason.

Anyway, my parents are quite unhappy with me. Or so I feel. Sigh. Despite efforts to keep the darkness away, the emo-ness is still creeping back. Maybe it is because of the haze that blinds my foresight. Stinging my eyes, forcing me back. Stumbling into the footprints left behind from before.

And all I can do now is to follow my own interpretation of the every small hint that the light is revealing.