A nap has helped

Reflecting. Inside the Esplanade - Theatres by the Bay. Just before entering the Concert Hall, Circle 3.

It is the fourth Saturday of the month and I was scheduled to be at work this Saturday. My company practises five-day work-week in general, but each staff of our department has to work one Saturday every week. The claim is that there will be some clients who could only be available for sessions on Saturday. Yes, I do have my share of such clients. The office hours on Saturdays are from 8.45 a.m. to 12 noon.

I stayed behind for a while after the official hours to work on some paper work. Workload has become overwhelming, and I am just trying my best not to feel too overwhelmed. I think very soon, I need a cheering team to cheer me on and keep me going. I won't mind having your cheers and support right now. It seems better to receive some support and encouragements before I reach my limits. Seriously, I hope I could be like the bamboo tree, which would only bend but not break. But if I do break, maybe it is just that the world was not meant for me?

Anyway, after leaving office, I had lunch at Northpoint Shopping Centre. It is a shopping centre located in the northern region of Singapore. The food court (a place that offers food) has completed its renovation works and has been reopened recently. I went to the food court to have a look. I quite like its comparatively brighter lightings and its generally more spacious looking layout. However, I did not have my lunch there. There was too much of a crowd on this Saturday afternoon, and I would appreciate staying away from the crowds when I am feeling drained. Anyway, I had lunch at the Yoshinoya fast food restaurant. This is a fast-food restaurant selling Japanese food.

The weather had looked good, and I had considered going outdoors to take photographs. But I decided I should slow down my pace, and just simply take a rest. I was feeling tired after lunch. After much contemplation, I decided to head for home first. I figured I needed a rest before catching the concert at Esplanade Concert Hall in the evening. It won't be a nice feeling for myself to sleep through some of this evening's concert like I had done the day before.

At home, after taking a shower and doing some surfing on the internet, I took about a one-and-a-half hour nap. The nap has helped. I think.

***
This evening, I attended yet another event of the Singapore Arts Festival. This was a concert at the Esplanade Concert Hall, performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by its Music Director Christoph Eschenbach.

The programme for tonight was as follow:

• DVORAK - Carnival Overture


• TCHAIKOVSKY - Piano Concerto No. 1


• BARTÓK - Concerto for Orchestra

Performing on the piano for this evening's concert was Lang Lang.

Why do I say the afternoon nap has helped? I did not doze or go into "half-asleep" mode during the entire concert. It was not that I was fully alert for the entire duration of concert, but at least I did not go into the "half-asleep" mode.

The Carnival Overture caught my ears. I like it for its energetic opening. The melody of the clarinet solo is lovely too. Since I did not go into "half-asleep" mode, I shall be pleased to offer more praises on this post. I think the Philadelphia Orchestra played the overture commendably well. The tambourine player deserves some praises. I like his playing on the tambourine. This was one of the best tambourine playing versions that I have heard for the Carnival Overture. The tambourine sounded just the right way under his playing. I like the Carnival Overture. It appeals to my ears. I might be biased, I prefer Dvorak's music to Bartok's, so I could relate to Dvorak's music much better.

Next was Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto. I think Lang Lang is quite an engaging pianist. For his age, I think he has quite commendable level of musicianship. His playing sounded nice from where I was sitting, even though I was sitting right up at Circle Three tonight. I quite like the piano concerto, I think Tchaikovsky did quite a good job in composing it.

Maybe the first movement was too rousing, some of the audience started giving their applause after the first movement. The practice for concert-goers is not to clap between the movements. Doing so may be somewhat disruptive and interruptive for the performers, so usually the applause is saved till the end of the work. Thereafter, the audience seemed to learn its lesson and gave their applause at the right time.

Then, it was interval. I took some photographs using my camera. Earlier in the evening, before the start of the concert, I was also walking around trying to take photographs. Hopefully I could put some of these photographs up, and that they would please your eyes. If any of these photographs pleases your eyes, please let me know. Yours truly need some praises and recognitions to thrive. Thanks in advance.

After the interval, it was Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra. I found it a little more difficult for myself to relate to music. Nevertheless, I could stay relatively awake throughout the entire duration. The nap did help afterall. The final movement was quite rousing. I quite like the heroic theme played on the trumpet.

But after the concert, I admit that I felt quite tired. My throat is feeling sore right now. My shoulders are still aching if I were to consciously move the shoulder muscles in certain manners. I could only hope for good health in the meantime.