Friday was the big day.. took the teachers' advice and slept early, woke up at 4.50, before the time my alarm clock was suppose to ring.. took about 10mins to get myself off the bed.. hahaa.. had the luxury of time to get to school early, don't wanna add on stress on such a stressful day.. started pouring sometime before 6.. met Ping Chong which I was suprised to see him come so early in such dreadful weather.. passed him the 2nd payment for D&D which we were suppose to pay.. then met James in the canteen while getting something to eat.. talked to him for awhile and congratulated him on getting the VP post.. went to change where I hurt my left thumb while wearing my black shoes.. don't ask me how, there was abit of blood under my thumbnail.. doesn't affect my playing in anyway, but it was painful to do the snapping part for Safari..
before you know it, its already 7.15 which was the time we were suppose to start our practice.. waited for the last person to arrive then we started.. moved off to the fountain area to wait for the buses at around 9.45.. took some pics while we waited..


the lower woodwinds and Christopher..
thought the Alto Clarinet isn't exactly classified under the lower woodwinds.. just that we sit together during band pract.. Chris is just being extra trying to appear in every pic.. hahaa.. didn't bring along our case, luckily the blazer has lotsa pockets to put our stuffs..
encountered some slow traffic along the way, but arrived on time.. waited at the registration area.. Mr Leng was there with HCI, Chris went to say hi to him.. don't think he recognises me from 2 years back.. VJ arrived not long after we did, met Ginny and we wished each other good luck.. got into the tuning room where we had exactly 10 minutes to tune up.. helped Wee Chong tune up, think he got abit anxious as he tended to go abit flat even though he had almost pushed the neck all the way in.. he changed a couple of reeds before settling on one.. my tuning was pretty straightforward.. all the way in, pull out 1mm and its intune..
waited outside while HCI performed.. and fastforward 15 mins later and its over.. there were inevitably some mistakes, the most obvious one was Chester's solo where he missed the first note.. but the rest of it was so well played.. think I did well at Bar I, expressed it like I nv expressed it before but I think I could be louder.. a satifying ending to Sinfonia and we stepped off the stage without any regrets.. well, for myself anyway.. met Yong Xiang when we stepped outside the hall, he came to support us since he used to be from NYJC also.. my "double senior" in a sense..
went back with the bus to keep our instruments.. not everybody went back though, didn't feel like watching the other JCs.. played on the Eb to get a feel how it be like if hadn't made my decision.. made my way back to SCH with the trumpet section cos they were taking MRT there.. went to have a drink at Starbucks with the rest who were waiting there also.. their Banana Javachip was nice.. went off first, to get back my handphone and cam which I left in Chuan Xin's bag..

met up with Joel there while waiting for the results.. Alif and Gerald were there to watch the other JCs perform also.. Shermann's in CJ now so met him after their performance, Kiong Tai and Tong How were also there with SR.. wished I had rounded them up though, then could have a mini Montfortian gathering, from the past and present.. glad to see my ex-bandmates still continuing in band..
close to 5 and there was a huge crowd forming in the foyer area already.. they could only allow a limited number of ppl that can go into the hall.. we decided upon the J2s, though not all could get in.. it was my first results in the Hall, stayed outside with the band for '05 cos there simply wasn't enough space even for just the ex-co.. quite a different experience all together outside and inside.. inside was much more quiet and without the squeeziness.. collected the scores from Mr Tan since I was sitting at the extreme edge the block.. so came the results.. was thinking in my head "pls don't let it be 3 diff instru, 3 same medals.."

Band No. 8, Nanyang Junior College.. Gold..

the whole bunch of us practically jumped out of our seats.. recorded a audio file of that moment.. shed some tears of joy at that moment.. we went off with a bang, as said by Wee Chong.. met Mr Tay, who had conducted NY before Mr Chiang.. suprised he remembered me after all these years, from Sec 1 till now, 5 years.. think I must have left some deep impression in him, though I met him on several other times.. took some group photos to encapsulate that moment..


the Clarinet Section..

took the MRT back cos theres no transport provided back.. met my classmates on the way to the band room, Jack asked if we got Gold, just nodded in reply.. then went to eat at J8 after taking our belongings from the band room.. took home the Alto Clar and with the rest of the belongings, it was quite a handful to carry.. met Lian Jie there while the rest were deciding what to eat.. in the end I, accompanied Chester to keep at KFC.. had their meltz which is which messy to eat.. Chester went off first, so I caught up with the rest at the food court.. chatted there till there wasn't much ppl left there eating already.. used my first previleges of being 18 and bought a bottle of Barcardi Lime on the way home..
so I'll just end this post with this meaningful quote.. Success is not a destination, its part of the journey.. and what a wonderful journey it has been!