::a rather short 3-day week, quite "calm" compared to other weeks.. wed had to come early for morning assembly after our long CNY break.. had a great start to the morning, woke up early, had my stuffs prepared, then came to school.. BT brought the Alto for repair, so played Bb for the time being.. been trying to improve my tone and tongueing lately.. took out Variations for Clarinet to try, the first page quite playable.. second and third pages, er need more practice on tongueing.. Thursday went out with the class to Sakae to eat.. joined them slightly later cos I had to settle some stuff for the exhibition and virtual tour.. by the time I got there they already had piles of plates all stacked up already..
Fast Food.. did an experimental shot I had in mind for some time, tried it before on my old cam but it didn't turn out so well.. ordered the Unagi Handroll, one of my favs.. Jun An and I also ordered a few plates of Salmon sushi, Jun An only ate the Salmon on top leaving the rice ball behind.. then Ping Chong ate the rice, 16 in total by his count.. hahaa.. the Shu Heng and I ordered the complimentary Udon noodle.. quite filling.. we stayed for the entire hours of their buffet time.. paid about $19 each for the buffet.. didn't reall eat until full, so didn't feel its worth the entire $19 paid.. all well.. took bus back.. saw a few ppl I know as the bus passed CJ.. Xiu Ting on 105 on the way there, and Qiu Wen on 132 back.. prob don't even recognise me anymore..
Friday had some phototaking for the band website after practice ended.. Wei Jie had another of his moody days.. kinda spoils the whole atmosphere of the pic..
the Clarinet Section..
partially anyway, missing Shuying.. prob take again with the J1s after the 2nd intake ppl come in.. then did quite alot of lame stuff in the band room with the lights.. played with light and shadows.. can't believe we stayed until 11.. caught the last bus back home
Xiao An and the wolf..
Saturday came early than normal to lau yusheng.. Daryl brought the ingredients, cabbage, carrot, beetroot, pomelo, the crunchy biscuits.. but no fish, cos Xue Qi's vegetarian.. then quite ironic to call it yusheng if there's no yu in it.. hahaa..
::in the wee hours of the morning now.. been spending the past few days of CNY quite unfruitfully.. updated my blog, watched the first 10 episodes of Heroes, which is a damn nice show.. deals with lotsa issues, destiny, fitting in, evolution, family, morality etc.. great stuff.. Hiro's power damn cool, he can bend space time continuum.. I think the appeal of the show is basically how we can relate to these characters.. they are just normal ppl, who are called upon to do something greater..
Friday
had celebrations in school.. showed one of the J1s, Shin Wei, the ropes of covering events.. she had some pretty decent shots, but still have some way to go.. then went out with the class.. we planned to go to sentosa, but in the end quite a number didn't turn up.. prob only 1/3 of the class.. went to eat at the neighbouring coffeeshop, then took the train to Harbourfront.. went to Vivocity to have a look..
went to Candy Empire first.. first time I went into the store though I've been to Vivocity a few times already.. and it sure does live up to its name.. shared a bar of Violet Crumble with Jin Hao.. can't find it on the shelves in Sg, dunno why.. love how the crunchy honecomb interior just melts in your mouth.. though it can become stuck in your teeth sometimes.. the guys went to play pool, played with Ping Chong, Jun An and Joel at the table.. did a jump shot which went quite smoothly.. Joel was quite impressed.. Ping Chong saw me do it before so he was just.. er ok.. oh yea, it was he's birthday on Fri.. our first birthday of the year.. he left early, then just as we returned the cues, found out he left his IC there.. hahaa.. he could use his IC to enjoy some previleges now.. then went to play at the arcade for awhile.. tried some Gundam game, but had some glitch, could shoot at the left side.. then stumbled upon another game called Let's Go Jungle.. Joel though it was lame at first, hitting frogs with paddles.. hahaa.. but Jun An thought it was interesting also, so changed some tokens and played.. got to say, its one of the most enjoyable games I've played in the arcade.. really immersed in the action, then you have to cooperate with your partner the right timing etc.. think its more of a couple game, the characters were a guy and a girl, also had a compatibility meter after each stage.. Jun An and I were 71% compatible.. hahaa.. 3 of us were quite high after that.. even though Joel was just watching us play.. explored Vivo further.. got to Giant, which was er huge.. we went to get some samples they were giving out.. some soup, then hunted down some cheesecake..
Joel getting cheesecake Sara Lee cheesecake to be exact.. he owed me some money for pool, so he paid for my share.. he tried to get some spoons from the counter but they didn't have.. so went to "conviniently borrow" 3 spoons from the food court.. Joel's damn funny, how he distracted the food stall owner to get the spoon, like it was some secret mission or something.. hahaa.. got a called from the other Joel I know, he wanted to come over to take some pics.. met up with the 3 of us in some ulu corner eating frozen cheesecake.. must have been quite a sight.. joined back with the rest of the class then went to eat.. then went to buy some new clothes for new year.. there were quite alot of nice designs I wanted but they didn't have size M, L is too baggy and S is abit tight fitting.. then went to Ben & Jerry to have some ice-cream.. wanted to talk to Joel about some matters I've in my head recently.. about band, about life..
Saturday woke up quite late.. the afternoon was gone already.. got a haircut from the barber shop around the neighbourhood.. then had reunion dinner at home.. remembered about the fireworks at midnight.. tried to get somebody to accompany me, turns out that Annie was around the area and she was free.. was suppose to meet her at 10, but only came at 10.20.. sorry Annie for making you wait.. went to Esplanade waterfront area.. wasn't very crowded.. most ppl don't feel like going out after reunion dinner so that prob explains it.. went unto the sheares bridge since Annie hasn't been on it before..
Me and Annie with the city skyline as the backdrop.. weren't much ppl there when we came.. but had a reasonable crowd closing to midnight.. relatively empty compared to national day or new year's.. chatted to kill some time.. showed her the light painting technique while waiting.. sure enough, the fireworks started at midnight.. could feel the intensity of each shell exploding, placed my cam on the railing although I brought along my tripod..
::February 14th yet again.. but this time everything's different from a year ago.. the people I know may be different, the environment may have changed, but this feeling inside didn't.. Tuesday met up with the teachers and Wen Zhong to do the equipment check.. Zhi Kai came to help also, discussed with him about what new stuff we wanna get for awhile now.. then James and Amelia came for awhile to discuss about the V-Day bazaar.. probably buying a pair of 400Ds, a telephoto lens 70-200 F4 IS I think, and either the 10-22 ultrawide or the 17-85.. also suggested to him buying a 580EX flash, get a couple of umbrellas and stands, and we are set for more formal shooting like class photos.. then went to Funan to get the ink and paper set for the printers.. but I got feeling we won't be using that much.. since I was out, went to buy some gifts for tomorrow.. got some chocolates from the supermarket.. took the train back to Hougang, where I bumped into Lue Song at Hougang Mall.. he was out shopping with his family.. went home to wrap the chocolates into little bundles, then found out thin thread issn't easy to tie into a bow.. in the end just wound it around..
Wednesday the day started off like any other wed morning.. had to come early for morning assembly.. brought back my Alto, went home to sorta break it in.. it hasn't been used since SYF 2003, so pretty much slightly stiff.. its much better than when I first got it, but still has a slight leak.. had to press the buttons slightly harder.. the AVA had some nice music on, more of love songs.. set up and got ready.. playing wise was quite ok.. now can rest my instrument on the ground instead of using the neck strap.. gave out some of my chocolates after we played.. mainly to my section..
Valentine's Day then my class had a sorta V-Day exchange outside the LT during out break.. gave out all our stuffs.. there was also the project red thing going on where you can send flowers to other JCs and within NY.. the sad thing is CJC wasn't in.. didn't recieve any flowers, nor was I expecting to..
the v-day bazaar wasn't much.. most of the J1s had left by that time.. got a few ppl for our booth.. our first customer was the bookshop auntie.. haha.. but the waterbomb/whip cream throwing booth by the basketball guys was quite popular.. got quite a number of nice shots there.. Mr Neo aslo participated.. BT brought the new Eb Prestige.. passed Li En some of my stuff for the Eb.. the swab which was sleek enough to go though and a ligature.. gave her the photoframe that I bought also..
to end the post off, found a touching video.. think some of you may have seen it, its quite an old video.. though its just a music video, but it does portray the power of love.. the guy sacrificing all he has as a photographer for the gal..
::quite a busy week end for me.. went for an outing at Little India in the morning, followed by a band exchange with SAJC, then Sunday went for OP's Alumni concert.. met at Little India MRT at 10, but waited for some time for the rest to arrive.. Wei Liang briefed us on what to shoot, basically street shots.. loaded in my last roll of B&W film I bought last year and went out to shoot.. grouped with Lynn and Sherry, lent them my S80 since I'll be shooting purely film..
went to have something to eat first.. left the house without breakfast, so was pretty hungry.. spent a few frames while we were there.. had an egg and a plain prata.. completed the set with a cup of bandung.. a french couple sat at our table since they were also eating at the prata store just infront.. went to walk around after we finished eating..
had lotsa ideas popping up as we walked along.. one of which is the pic you see above.. noticed a pair of bicycles leaning against the grills of a shop.. one was upside down and the other was rightside up.. one was old and spoilt and the other was new.. sorta conversation between the 2 bikes if you will.. then just happens that a man pushing his bike was walking by.. should have waited for him to move further down though, then the 3 bikes would have been in line.. oh wel..
towards the end of the roll I focused more on ppl shots.. didn't really get any eye contact with any of my subjects until this little boy came along.. another very spontaneous shot.. it came as a suprise how the shot turned out, looked like it was shot in India instead of Little India.. the plastic crates and all that take away the rustic feel, but the boy's expression is timeless.. looks like he's stealing some onions from the stall, but infact he was just playing with it.. he's prob the shopkeeper's son or something.. tried to get another shot of him, but he ran back into the store..
then went for an exchange at SAJC.. by the time we ended the outing, it was already 12.30 and we were suppose to meet at 12.30 in school.. so headed for SA by myself to meet them there.. took the NEL to Potong Pasir and walked there.. couldn't find any SA ppl around, only saw St Pats there.. waited at the foyer area there, saw some of the pics by their photog.. of their orientation, move to the new campus etc.. some captured the special moment that encapsulates the event, while some were pretty normal.. saw one of Joel's pics put up, not to say it shouldn't be up, but just feel its nothing special.. doesn't speak to me.. Joel came to talk to me before we started.. probably if I didn't tell him I was playing Alto now, he'll be quite shocked.. BT brought my sch's Alto Prestige.. the only Prestige we have, but its the lower half of it has some leaks.. Sean from Windworks was there and he tried to repair it on the spot.. was slightly better than before, but still the register B to F has some problems.. kept squeaking when I tried to accent those notes, which occured frequently in Sinfonia.. went outside to have a breather after we played.. just coming into the campus reminded me of how close I was to being here.. just one point made all the difference, I got 11, Joel got 10.. just makes me sometimes wonder about fate and destinity.. Mr Neo came to talk to me while I was outside.. asked me what was wrong, was I sick etc.. physically I'm alright, but emotionally I don't think I am.. had a chat with him, told him some of my problems etc.. he asked me whether I have a girlfriend, if I wanted one and is the fact that I don't bothering me.. to be honest, it does bother me sometimes.. not that I'm desperate or anything, but I could use some emotional support..
Sunday went for Orchid Park's alumni concert.. Chester, Shi Chie, Carol, Shirley and Hafiz were performing, so came to support them.. went to collect the developed negatives and CD first before going for the concert.. it was held at NAFA..
took a couple of pics during the intermission.. Zhi Xiong, Wee Chong, Genevieve and Liying were there too.. Chester had quite a number of solos throughout the concert, was rather nice.. he sometimes can play so wonderful and sometimes he just doesn't.. then went to meet up with the other half who went for West Wind's concert which was held at the same time as OP's.. met at City Hall, then went to BK to eat.. had the free coupon for some cheesesticks anyway..
::Covered The ONE on friday.. not as the main photographer there though.. thats Zhi Kai and Kah Jun's job.. was shooting B&W film again, wanna try to get the low light B&W stage look.. like for rock concerts etc.. tried to get 3200 ISO film cos I'll be shooting in quite low light, but couldn't find.. so had to settle with the the BW400CN that I've used before.. Friday was a long and tiring day.. had lessons till 5, which doesn't end at 5.. worked up quite a mood to go shoot off a roll of B&W film..
one of the first few shots I took backstage.. the vignetting was already there from the lens, but edited abit to acheive the look I wanted.. it helped also that they were wearing contrasting white shirts plus black tie and jeans.. the event started at 7.15.. didn't shoot much until the band's turn..
Lincoln (I think) on the electric guitar.. they didn't win in the end though.. can't remember what exactly they played, think it was a song by Savage Garden.. Li En called in the middle of the concert asking me whether I can sneak her in to watch.. but thats not within my control..
::hmm.. quite some stuff to blog about for the later part of the week.. Wed came extra early for morning assembly performance.. got my tie on, unlike last week.. everything went well, helped the percussion move stuff.. tuned up and got ready.. playing wise was ok, sat in the first row cos the 2nd row had no space left.. then it was the usual morning announcements.. suddenly my phone rang, the ringtone for recieving a message.. was quite a redundant message.. the whole band plus those standing infront could here.. normally my phone's in silent mode all the time.. but then these past few weeks have been misplacing my phone at home, then cos its in silent mode, can't just call my phone no. to locate it.. hiaz.. then forgot to switch it back once I leave the house.. photog was going for our first outing for the J1s to Chinatown.. James brought his stuffs, think he got much more pro equipment than us lar.. 24-70 2.8L and 70-200 2.8L IS.. tried the 70-200, quite heavy, but super solid.. the pics that it curns out is damn nice, also tried his 580EX flash.. spent some time tinkering with all the functions, so much more than the 420EX we have.. can do strobe also, like multiple flashes at a time, which opens up a whole new avenue of creative techniques.. went for band pract while they made their way to Chinatown.. have them record down the image no. of the pics they want to review.. cos quite confusing on who took what since we're sharing cameras.. then went to Chomp Chomp to eat after band pract ended..
the 3 guys trying to squeeze onto one table.. Kok Wey looks weird, showed it to the others and they all have a good laugh.. hahaa.. Mr Foo also joined us for dinner.. went with the trombone section first before the rest came.. had pork chop, the sause was quite nice.. took 73 ane 147 back together with Chuan Xin and her bf.. oh yea, met her coincidentally again, while waiting for the bus after the One Qualifying rounds..
Thursday was quite a short day.. 3 lectures and a GP tutorial.. met Mr Kooi to discuss the problems in the virtual tour.. apparently, the pics are too high quality and the software cannot load.. looks like have to resize and do everything again.. then he also wanted the aerial pic of the college.. went around taking a few photos, but none were nice.. so just took the one I already done for the VT.. was gonna use it for the CD cover backing.. actually had lotsa stuff that needed to be done.. but was feeling somewhat down after encountering so much problems for the VT.. so decided to acompany Hafiz to get his name-tag done.. took 133 to City Hall.. went to buy some B&W film first before meeting.. couldn't seem to find Ruby Photo, wanted to buy a roll of 3200 film for Fri's The ONE.. had to settle with the BW400CN that I used before.. went though my lecture notes while waiting, waited for more than 1/2 hour I think.. walked to North Bridge Road, where they sold all those army stuff.. went to a few stores before a old lady pointed us to a particular store.. Hafiz went on to make his golden "Patrick Starfish" tag
::quite a bit of events for the past week.. Wed was the band's intro to the school.. forgot my dad had to go work early so I had to get to school by myself.. got to school "on time" which was late for band.. and I forgot to put on my tie.. anyway, Mr Neo and Mrs Tan put on our college uniform and performed with us.. then the school had to spot who were the2 odd one out.. Mr Neo was very obvious.. Kok Wey introduced the lower woodwinds separately so us 3 stood up and bowed.. hahaa.. should be 4 of us, but Shao Ming's baritone was out.. ate with Li En before conducting the 2nd photog lesson for the J1s.. Zhi Kai helped prepare the slides already.. much more organised than last week.. touched on creative techniques.. really haven't gone in-depth into alot of stuff.. just the bare basics.. Thurs was my shortest day, but stayed back for The One qualifying rounds.. discussed the valentine's day bazaar with Ming Shi first.. then did some tutorials since I've some time on my hands..
our class sent in a group entry.. Simon, Min Jun, Aaron, Yuan Ting and Jun An.. they sang 今天你要嫁给我了.. there were a few technical hiccups.. covered the event even though its just a qualifying round, support my class at the same time.. hahaa.. just nice fill up the 1GB card.. theres 32 contestants, each shoot like 5 already 100, plus some participants/groups got more action than others.. got some nice shots.. think I did quite a comprehensive coverage of the entire event.. friday had sectionals.. hiaz, getting a new Eb while borrowing my sec sch's Alto.. the only prestige we have, but needs to fix some leaks.. then Li En and Annie went to buy some sparklers the day before.. as soon as Mr Foo said its ok, she was on cloud nine, jumping up and down like crazy.. wanted to get a compact from the darkroom cos I didn't bring mine.. was kinda late already but found one shutter open.. but when I came out it was locked.. was trapped on the 4th floor.. called Kok Wey to come to my rescue, thought they played finished already so didn't bother to take out.. they were on the track talking, been some time since band camp that we sat on the track so late at night.. did a sparkler relay around the track.. Annie had some trouble lighting the first one and it died out before she could pass it on.. got it going again and almost complete the whole round the track.. quite rare to see Li En staying back with us so late, most of the time she just disappears the moment we are dismissed.. everyone was quite high by that time.. losta random stuff.. Annie wanted to try if she could lift any of the guys there, Wee Chong was about the right weight.. looks very wrong as Annie tried to lift Wee Chong up.. ran about 10 metres someone.. then Annie went on to play on the monkey bars, climbing up, swinging around.. did the reverse flip on the pull-up bar thing, which everyone thought was impressive.. Zhi Xiong recorded it down somemore, asked me to do it again..
Saturday was our CIP day.. collecting used newspapers to raise funds..
was rather tired from the "highness" from last night.. felt like the end of band camp all over again.. was 10 mins late than the meeting time, so went to the block directly.. was grouped with Sarah, Ji Bin, Simon and the 2 YHs, Yong Huan and Yan Hao.. collected quite lot of newspapers for our first block.. though had some competition by the garung guni man.. lotsa manual labour for the day.. recieved lotsa weird stuff also.. a frying pan, a fan, a fruit juicer, a old computer, LD players, and the weirdest of all, a wheelchair.. used the wheelchair to shuttle stacks of newspapers to the collection point, where it was weighed and stacked nicely for the lorry to come collect..
collected over 2000kg of newspapers I think.. don't know the exact figure cos I left early for band prac.. the teachers booked LT4 for our rehearsal today, so had to move all the stuff into the LT.. practiced our 2 pieces there.. then went to eat after band as usual..
this whole week just had this uncertain feeling within me..
Blogger profile name: Jeremy Chan age:19 height: 168 weight: 61 location: Hougang, Singapore currently: serving NS schools: Yamaha Music School (kindergarten), Montfort Junior, Montfort Secondary, Catholic Junior College (PAE), Nanyang Junior College CCA: Band (Clarinet)/ Photographic Society DOB: 14th April star sign: Aries wishlist: to be famous, someone.. quote: The difference between a stepping stone and a stumbling block is how you step on it current gadgets:Canon EOS 40D, Powershot S80, Panasonic LX-3,
