::another busy weekend for me.. both days was like outside for 14+ hours..

Saturday
band overload today.. band in the morning, band in the afternoon, band in the evening..
had band practice in the morning.. then had a small outing to national stadium for the central judging of display bands.. me, wee chong, chuan xin, shirley, shi chie, chester, yuxi and lucius went to junction 8 to have out lunch first..
by the time we reached the national stadium, was already 4+.. the last marching assessment band was finishing, so waited awhile for the display band part to start.. tried a pano of the national stadium.. the stitching not really good though.. click below to see a larger version..


National Stadium Pano
dunno why, but the bands this year doesn't seem as good as 2 years back.. maybe because I've seen them before, nothing much new.. maybe for that female drum major using the mace to flaunt her feminity? then thats something new..
anyway, Me, Wee Chong, Yuxi had to go already.. 3 of us going for CJC's concert, so shared a cab there.. showed them around for awhile before we went to look for our own friends.. met Wei Jie there too, he was with 2 other girls.. his sec sch friends or something.. not really sure.. was joking with him, like both hands over their shoulders.. hahaa.. then met Xiu Ting and she passed me my ticket..
anyway, met Melvin, Sean and Jackie outside the PAC before the concert started.. then met Janice at the door, took a quick pic then tried to find Andrea and her friends.. they were sitting quite high up, asked them to shift a few rows down but they didn't want.. saw Carmen, Eric and Mike just before the concert started and invited them to sit beside me... there were just nice 3 seats to the right of me..
the concert overall was quite good.. but the fun of watching a concert isn't there when you practically know every piece already.. like watching a movie and you know the entire storyline before hand..
the percussion ensemble was something new and interesting...


started off in total darkness.. they were standing at the sides of the PAC, then made some music while the walked to the stage.. then there was the 2 solo side drum parts, like a call and response thing.. and a rhythm test with the audience, like he hit some rhythms then the audience trys to follow.. haha, quite fun..
went down to look for some people I know, like Jonathan, Niva, Jeremy, Benjamin and Natasha.. CJ clarinets was quite small after like so many left after 1st intake... yea, including me.. chatted with them for a short while.. if I were to compare CJ and NY clarinet sections, though NY clarinets' bigger in size and we are very much bonded as a section.. but musically, I would prefer CJ..
anyway, Alfred and Jocelyn came to join us later and we went out to eat.. tried to hold back my tears as we walked across THE bridge to the other side.. probably would be my last time walking across.. brought back some memories.. went to Prata House to eat.. it seems fitting that out first class outing was to there and I would end it there..

Sunday
woke up early in the morning for the Dragonboat Fun Race.. my class was going, so went there to support and at the same time take some pics..
prepared my stuff and headed out to Lavender.. brought my S2 IS and S80 with me.. my S2 for those dragonboat shots and my S80 for group shots, fun shots etc.. reached there slightly after 9 and the first batch had left.. Sarah was waiting for Dwayne when I reached there.. the group departed 30mins later and we walked to the indoor stadium there.. walked past the area where we had dragonboating for orientation..
the rest of the class were already there.. played some games while waiting for it to start.. Min Jun pointed out the lizard that was behind us.. took some pics of it before it scurried away..


what are you looking at??
spidyboy and his amazing friends were up next.. can guess who came up with that name, Simon of course... did a small cheer before setting off..


Jia You, Jia You, Jia You!
nothing much to talk about after that, so I'll let the pics do the talking..


1


overtaking..


overtaking.....


overtaken.


paddles



one look and you can tell where's 0621..
then went to the bridge to take some pics..





quite obvious which is me right??
started to rain later on... had to dash for cover at the restaurants there.. anyway, they still continued despite the rain..


stayed back for the prize presentation and the group pics for Dragonboat while the rest of the class went off first.. was suppose to meet up with them at the drive-thru KFC nearby, then took the wrong direction bus.. ended up at nicoll highway there, had to walk one big round because of the construction going on there to reach the other side of the road.. then took 16 all the way back to where I started.. didn't wanna risk ending up in the wrong place again, so walked there.. and guess what, if I didn't alight so early, it would have taken me directly there...
was pretty hungry by the time I got there.. quickly ate and we left for Esplanade.. went to Esplanade's library to study.. didn't really study much there, was spending most of the time looking for scores.. found a book I liked, but found out I can't borrow it cos I'm not a premium member.. read through some notes for awhile, then we went to to rooftop area to have a look-see..
had our dinner at Glutton's Bay...


eat this!
anyway, had real fun during the weekend.. lotsa memories revisited and made..::

.:JeReMyChAn blogged on 10:17 pm:.
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::lotsa things going on this weekend.. Montfort's 90th Anniversary, CJC's concert, dragon boat fun race.. thought there would be some parade for founder's day or something.. then maybe can go back... turns out its all in the evening... then clashes with the concert.. I know its the 90th anniversary and all, but then promised my friend to go to the concert.. think must organise some gathering 10 years down the road, get back together for our school's centennial.. think that would be a big event, probably at least make the headlines for Home section or something.. wonder how everyone would look 10 years later.. probably some would already be married.. man, time sure passes by fast..
hiaz, just feel that I'm not that young anymore.. then just looking back, particularly on my achievements, just feel that I could have done more.. maybe it's just that I'm looking for some form of recognition for the things I've done.. been hearing about the National Youth Achievement Awards and such.. aim to get silver, but then I know its very demanding.. probably the first step for me is to win something for SYPA, Singapore Young Photographer Award.. the deadline's coming soon and I've haven't fulfilled the minimum categories yet..
anyway, yesterday had band practice.. my section gave me a pair of lime-green socks for as a belated birthday present I guess.. insisted that I wear then.. the socks like so small lar, stretching it to the max to put it on.. then had some cute patterns on it...
met up with Andrea afterwards.. kinda weird la, blue and brown.. anyway, took 136 back to Hougang.. chatted along the bus trip.. accompanying her to the concert this sat I guess..::

.:JeReMyChAn blogged on 11:10 pm:.
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::went for Muse Festival today.. NY Band was the demo band for a workshop in the festival.. sorta "guinea pigs" for the workshop conductor to demostrate the techiques... woke up quite late, luckily only had to be in school at 2.30pm.. got ready and we moved out at 3... reached the Arts House @ Old Parliament half an hour later.. and it was freezing inside.. a small space and a powerful air-con and you can guess how low the temperature can go..
inside was the parliament.. Wee Chong was like enjoying sitting on then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew's seat.. then there were other seats with famous names, the late S Rajaratnam etc.. could imagine how history and laws of course, were made here..
anyway, the workshop started at 4.. with quite a number of secondary school students watching us...


thats Criss.. can't remember his last name, but he's from Manchester... no prizes for guessing which football club he supports.. taught us some techniques on breathing etc.. anyway, it was only a small selection of us, hardly had any space.. the old parliament wasn't built for music, so the acoustics weren't very good.. like when you clap, the sound like only travels a few metres, doesn't fill the whole room..
the first little "performance" with the band was quite fun.. went out to have prata with Hui Shan, Chester and Wee Chong after we ended..

Labels: muse festival

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.:JeReMyChAn blogged on 10:35 pm:.
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::yesterday was good friday... but not just any good friday, it was the best friday I had.. well, it didn't exactly went perfectly as I had dreamt, but close enough.. the day before had a few people backing out at the last minute, so I was quite disappointed.. on the flip side, went to K-Box for the very first time with my class... only know like less than 50% of the chinese songs they sang.. of course english songs are my cup of tea as the expression goes..
the day started off dreary, raining outside and I didn't feel like going out.. reached my aunt's place at 4.. the buffet people were already there and setting the buffet up.. hung around for awhile then my dad drove me to Kembangan MRT since it was still drizzling outside.. was there 15 mins earlier than what I told them to meet, so went to the nearby 7-11 to get some batteries.. and guess what, Alfred, Shaun, Yu Bin, Edison and Jason were there at the 7-11 also..
they waited at Kembangan Plaza while I went opposite to meet up with the rest.. saw Rommel and Linda first, then the rest started coming in.. Sean was also there, didn't know Linda is his classmate now, another weird coincidence with him.. the rain had stopped by the time everyone came.. walking there, everyone sorta banded off into their own groups, my current classmates, the CJ ppl (or pair I should say, only Rommel, Linda and Hannah from T24 turned up..) the Montfort ppl, the NTU attachement ppl, pri sch ppl (also another pair, Wei Hao and Yong Hong).. think I can easily draw a Venn Diagram, the groups like so distinct, with only a few overlap cases like Sean who would be under both CJ and NTU...
anyway, enough of me talking.. on with the pics..


the house..
in case you're wondering... yes, that is an indoor swimming pool... but quite risky walking past though as you can see from the narrow walkway..
had some introductions first... they didn't really seem interested to know each other though.. like sticking with the same group... there's hardly any interaction between the different groups.. I mean if it were me, I would definately mix around and get to know my friend's friends better.. like "hey, how's Jeremy in NY now..." or "so how did you get to know Jeremy?" don't see much of that happening..




the sumptous buffet..
then had buffet dinner next.. didn't really get to eat much, only like got one plate of noodles.. spent the rest of the time chatting, taking pics etc..
the different groups like went to different parts of the house to eat..


the Montfort people at the rooftop bbq area..


my NY classmates at the 2nd floor..


and the rest downstairs..
my aunt was generous enough to open a bottle of wine for us.. so had a little toast..


red red wine...
played Taboo afterwards.. which wasn't really sucessful.. like all the Montfort people would gang up and describe the words in "Gerald terms".. and obviously the rest don't have a single clue..
then Jack got 0621 to the rooftop area to dance our mass dance.. hahaa...


dance dance dance...
then got everyone downstairs to have cake... though the house is quite big, having everyone at a particular area quite squeezy..


me..
then had some group photos next..


Montfortians..


0621!


Family..
the coffee cake was nice.. then took more pics later on.. but I won't post it here... you'll find it on friendster...
to end off this extremely long post.. just wanna thank those that make my 17th birthday such a memorable one.. firstly, my auntie for letting us use her house as a venue.. all my friends who came.. in no particular order.. Wei Hao, Yong Hong, Ernest, Sean, Bernadette, Jeanna, March, Rommel, Hannah, Linda.. my Montfort friends, Lian Jie, Lampy, Yu Bin, Jason, Edison, Alfred, Wen Shao, Ming Wei, Shaun, Joachim, Dave, Desmond, Yong Liang, Bernard and Keck.. my NY classmates, Jack, Michelle, Angie, Yuan Ting, Yan Hao, Jin Hao, Tiat Ming, Jun An, Ji Bin, Min Jun, Tricia, Dwayne, Yong Huan, Joel, Ping Chong, Hek Ming, Sok Hua.. and last but not least, my family and cousins..
THANK YOU!
all those who couldn't make it but still wished me happy birthday.. Thank You.. I really appreciate it..
this day isn't about presents or cakes.. its about you guys, whether you were there or not, or somewhere in Canada, it doesn't really matter... they say friends make the person.. then I'm nothing without all you guys.. really grateful to have such a wonderful bunch of friends..
I couldn't ask for more..

Labels: 14th April

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.:JeReMyChAn blogged on 2:29 am:.
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::another busy and eventful past 3 days.. got my S80 on sat.. compliment my S2 IS, the S2 with powerful zoom, and the S80 with its wide-angle.. really can see the difference between the max wide angle of the S2 and S80, not really used to it though, but the wider perpective is something fresh after so used to the zoom of the S2.. don't need to step back to frame the pics now..
anyway, brought my S80 for the past 3 days.. Monday to take some pics on how to get there on Friday.. nothing much to talk about..

Tuesday.. and guess who's birthday it is..



you guessed it.. Angie! for those reading this and so happen to also be in NYJC, vote for Angie C32! couldn't celebrate it somewhere outside as Tues our longest day, so everyone would be dead tired by then.. anyway, its good publicity for her since she's running for council...
so got the class together at one table and started singing birthday song.. not really much people in the first half hour so did round 2 when more people came.. hahaa..


present..


vote for me.. thanks..
hahaa.. then went to the squash court.. the squash court and grandstand seems to have become our usual hang out places already.. took more pics etc..
then body combat for PE in the afternoon.. tiring.. after that, while others already going home, me and Michelle went for hip-hop.. wanna try something new, break out of my comfort zone I suppose..


check it out...
Mr Larry also gave us a crash course on how to do some of the break-dance moves.. could execute them, but couldn't really balance.. ended at 7, reached home like already close to 8.45..


Wednesday
had a sorta band exchange with an overseas band.. James Hargest College Band from New Zealand.. they're here in Singapore for a music festival..
Angie brought some cake for us to thank us for yesterday.. only went there, grab a bite and had to help the band to get ready already.. shifted the percussion instruments first to LT4, set up the chairs, got our instruments and waited outside..
they came at about 3.. played for us some songs like The Mask of Zorro, Summertime etc.. then it was our turn to play.. played Pirates of the Carribean and 1st Suite in Eb.. don't think we sounded as good as we should be... only had like 5 or 6 practices prior to this.. then had a combined band..


James Hargest and NY Band..
quite disappointed that I wasn't selected to be part of the combined band... probably would get to know more people that way.. didn't really feel that feeling from previous band exchanges.. Jeanna and March could testify to that..
had some light refreshments outside the LT..





what's this "queh" thing..
erm.. found it quite difficult to explain what queh is to them.. of course like all Singaporeans know what quey/kweh is.. but to describe it is not easy.. a gluttinous rice-skin pocket with crunchy raddish inside??
then took them round the campus for a short tour..


tour-guides for the day...
chatted along the way with some of them.. they were quite interested to see the rugby notice board.. as you know, New Zealand is famous for its rugby.. oh yea and their school starts at 9 and ours like 7.25?? now I realise how tedious Singapore's education system is..
took some pics before they went off..

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.:JeReMyChAn blogged on 10:18 pm:.
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::another busy week.. reached home later than 7 every single day this week.. wed had band, thurs went to SA's Life Concert and today had band again..
thursday, although its the shortest day in the time table, came home the latest.. practical in the morning.. starting not to like chem lessons.. always this akward silence, just can't stand it.. then physics and chem lectures... 2 hours in a LT can get quite cold.. but I don't get the "freezing hands" syndrome, hands still warm although I'm quite cold.. then me and Lucius had to man the booth to sell tickets for Aureus Experentia XII (AE for short), our concert.. time for some advertising..

Aureus Experentia XII
Date: Friday, 2nd June 2006
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: Victoria Concert Hall
Price: $10 for stall, $12 for circle

playing pieces like 1st Suite in Eb, American Elegy etc..
went to Toa Payoh afterwards.. was Yan Hao's birthday, so we decided to help him celebrate.. bought a cake from the nearby Bengawan Solo...


the birthday boy..


make a wish now..





Ahh!! Cake!
then cake was nice, milk chocolate, cream, nuts.. yumm.. Ji Bin and I had to go off already.. she was from SA, so going to their life concert to catch up with old friends I guess.. the same reason for me, except the was from SA part.. took 142 to Potong Pasir, she went off with her own friends at the bus stop.. met up with Darren Teng, haven't seen him for some time.. think he has grown taller or have I grown shorter?? anyway, Dave was rehearsing for some performance later on, so Darrent took me on a short tour of the school.. feel damn weird wearing brown in a sea of white and dark blue.. met Timothy in the canteen (again).. at first Darren pointed him out to me, then we kinda stood there to see how long he'll take to notice us... ok maybe not notice him but notice me? like so stiking lar and he took some time to realise I was standing infront.. went back to where Dave was and he passed me the tickets and a T-shirt for my birthday.. thanks Dave..
anyway, went into their cultral centre.. though very big, feels like a giant LT than a concert venue.. CJC's PAC feels more like a concert hall, got nice cushioned armchairs and a steeper angle of slope..


Life Concert 06..
met Serene there too.. she was sitting at the exact same seat at the other side.. think we were quite suprised to see each other in our uniforms after having seeing each other in blue for the last 3 months.. was sitting infront of Tim, but I might as well be sitting 10 rows away.. anyway, was rocking with the music as the band played.. Tim was like just standing there.. hahaa and they say I'm the quiet one.. also met Vanessa from photog.. she was covering the concert and I was coincidentally right infront.. quite weird la, with them taking video of the first few rows of the audience then suddenly one person in brown...
was quite tired after the concert ended.. caught up with Joel.. he also knows Wei Jie from my section now.. its a small world after all...::

.:JeReMyChAn blogged on 10:22 pm:.
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::nice.. was late twice in a row this week.. seems like all the traffic lights against me or something.. then after school on Monday, it started to rain.. met Ming Wei at the bus stop and took 136 with him.. thought of going back to borrow the Eb clarinet.. when I alighted it was already pouring.. had my umbrella with me, so thought it would be ok.. bad idea.. my shoes and pants were soaked by the time I reached the nearest HDB.. went to the toilet at Hougang Mall to dry off.. literally can squeeze water out.. bought some things to eat.. was disappointed outside school, but knowing Ms Ong, kinda expected it.. met Mr Low at the bus stop also..
then tues, the longest day.. at least there's 2 1hour breaks.. they were playing squash during the 2nd break..


just trying out my K750i's burst mode.. not really that fast though.. then had a mini-concert during CT period cause its international friendship week this week.. got various performances by the SM2 scholars and others.. then got various students from regional countries like Thailand, Myanmar, China etc.. got them to say hello etc in their languages.. everyone was clapping when it came to her turn to speak in Chinese.. hahaa..


friendship
then had body combat for PE... sorta mixture of kick-boxing, aerobics, mui-thai boxing.. ended up sweating alot although the hall had air-con.. went for the enrichment PE next, Hip Hop.. quite cool.. always been wanting to learn that.. anyway, been a tiring but fun day..

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.:JeReMyChAn blogged on 11:51 pm:.
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::went for the Photog Amazing Race with SAJC today.. basically its sorta exchange programme between NY and SA photographic society.. gonna hold an exhibition together I heard, so why not get to know each other first?
reached Potong Pasir Mrt slightly past 8, so went to walk around to look for batteries.. guess what, Potong Pasir doesn't have 7-11.. or at least in that area I walked around in.. anyway, the rest of the people came and we were lead to SA.. 3rd time stepping foot onto the campus, doesn't seem so alien any more..
tried my hands on some of the school's dSLRs.. quite cool, lots more functions.. my S2 seemed rather light after handling the dSLRs.. were split into groups after the briefing.. Olivia, Xin Li from NY and Edith, Vanessa, Shobah, Matthew from SA were in my group.. we were given some clues and were suppose to go to the various locations around Clarke Quay and Chinatown area and take some pics..
my group wasn't like all out to win this race.. more like to have fun and make new friends at the same time.. and thats what we did..


Ah.. I'm shot..
chatted along the way to our various checkpoints.. the SA people were quite suprised when I told them I got 9 and didn't get in.. they said I'm just plain unlucky I guess..
didn't really take much shots.. most of the shots were taken by Xin Li, the guy with the cam in the above pic.. on to more pics..


don't think I need to tell you what's his name right?



"Spitting is allowed here, perpetually"
if we weren't wearing half-u, we'll probably look like tourists.. a group of people with cams in the "tourist-ish" part of town, snapping away.. there was also a wedding couple having their photo shoot as we were crossing back across Cavenagh Bridge... wished them congrats as we walked past.. hmm.. if I had the money, I'll probably go to Europe or something for my wedding photo shoot.. the scenary there much nicer, not to mention the cooler weather..


"Before Duck Tours, there was..."
the River Taxi.. last time I've been on a river taxi was like in pri sch.. we were suppose to go to Chinatown area next, but since most of the checkpoints are in Clarke Quay and we've completed all and only 3 or 4 in Chinatown, might as well go back and be the first.. hahaa..
went back to SA and had tau huay while waiting for the rest of the teams to come back.. came in overall 4th.. no difference whether you come in 1st or last lor, the prizes still the same.. potatoe chips.. hahaa..


group pic..
was a rather impromtu pic.. anyway, think the most valuble things I got out of this event weren't the nice pics, but the new friends I've made..
in contrast to that, met my old friends from band after that.. went to Orchard Cineleisure to watch Ice Age 2.. played pool with Kenneth before the movie started.. kept hitting the cue ball into the pocket then the target ball like so close to the edge.. think it gotta do with today being April Fools Day or something.. haha..
the movie was quite nice.. more drama than the original Ice Age.. but doesn't feel like a sequel to Ice Age if you ask me.. probably due to the fact that it was done by Blue Sky Studios rather than Dreamworks..
other than my wallet being lighter at the end of the day, it was a great saturday spent..::

.:JeReMyChAn blogged on 10:31 pm:.
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