Recollecting nostalgic moments from the past at Night Festival 2012

(Note: This blog is one of my entries to the Heritage 2012 Blog Competition. 
Recollect, reflect and reconnect with heritage, start blogging and stand to win attractive prizes. Entries must be submitted online before 11.59 p.m. on 1 Oct 2012.)

 Passion and energy would aptly describe the Night Festival 2012 that had just passed. I was mesmerized by the variety of interesting programmes that the festival had offered that I attended all the four nights. My experience of it was a mix of interesting visual experiences and nostalgic moments.

The light installation Mimoid II by Stephane Beve, Milosh Luczynski and Philippe Rizzotti on the building facade of the Singapore Art Museum combined seamlessly with the music composed by Vuk Krakovic and mixed and SFX designed by Ctrol Fre@k (Jeffrey Yue) to transform one of my favourite museums in Singapore into what seemed to me was a paradise out of this world.

As I walked past the Singapore Art Museum, I was reminded of how this very building had evolved from the former St. Joseph's Institution to an art museum. I wondered how it would have been to be a student studying in a school building that was located in the heart of the city area. Out of curiosity, I started rereading a blog titled Whispers of an otherwise silent world by an award-winning blogger, Jerome Lim. As I read his account, I painted in my mind the images of school children making their way to their schools. I imagined book shops with thriving business because in those days, the students will find their way to the book shops after their school hours. If I were a student studying in St. Joseph's Institution more than three decades ago, I would have looked forward to going to school every single day since there were so many beautiful buildings in the area.

It was rather interesting to realize how attending the Night Festival could have led me to reflect on a moment in past that I had never experienced personally. Somehow, I felt connected to an unknown moment in history.

Night Festival 2012. Singapore Art Museum.

The Armenian Street was one location that has led me to recollect moments from my past. One of the highlights of the Night Festival 2012 was the spectacular aerial performance named La Argentina - Fuerzabruta presented by Ozono Producciones (Argentina). The entire Armenian Street was filled with excitement. I attempted to capture the visually spectacular aerial performance from a distance and was grateful that the lenses from my simple point-and-shoot camera had captured a glimpse of the magical moments of the athletic dancer travelling in the air.

The excited crowd at Armenian Street.

Along the stretch of Armenian Street sits the former MPH Building. Originally known as the Methodist Publishing House when it was built in 1908, the building was later renamed the Malaya Publishing House. Today, this building is now known as the Vanguard Building. While making time to catch a glimpse of the performances named Night Painting | Cast in Light by Li Cassidy-Peet and Terry Wee, I fondly recall a time in the past when I would visit the former MPH Building to browse the books, buy interesting gifts and sniff the wonderful aroma of coffee and waffles.

To add to my quest for the nostalgia, I found two food stalls during the Night Festival that reminded me of the food that my parents had treated me to when I was a young child. Food has the power to trigger memories indeed!

The Putu Piring stall along the alley between the Substation and Peranakan Museum reminded me vaguely of a time in my childhood when I savoured Putu Piring during visits to night bazaars, otherwise known as pasar malam by the locals. Interestingly, I learnt from Singapore Infopedia that Putu Piring has the same ingredients as Putu Mayam, one of which is steamed ground rice flour. The joy of eating Putu Piring comes when the gula Melaka (palm sugar) in the centre of this rice cake snack oozes out at the first bite. The experience was heavenly as the gula Melaka melts in the mouth together with the bite of the Putu Piring.

Kurnia Putu Piring stall.

Putu Piring.

The Putu Mayam stall along Stamford Green reminded me of a time in my childhood when I was occassionally treated to this interesting snack that was made from steamed rice flour that had been pressed into noodle forms and served with granted coconut and sugar. I was not too keen with the vermicelli-like rice noodles. It was the grated coconut and the sugar that had interest me when I was a child. When I was a child, the Putu Mayam that I had was served flat like pancakes. It therefore intrigued me when I saw that the Putu Mayam that I had ordered at the Night Festival was served like a roll of spring roll.

Stamford Green and the traditional food stalls.

Putu Mayam.

Putu Mayam.

Overall, the fifth installment of the Night Festival has not only delighted me with the many spectacular light installations and exciting performances, it has in its humble way touched me with a mood for nostalgia. As I reflect on my memories from the past and recollect moments in history that I had not personally experienced, I felt a little more rooted to Singapore, a place I call my hometown.

IMPRINTS - at red dot design museum

This is possibly one upcoming exhibition to consider:

IMPRINTS - at Red Dot Design Museum
06 May 2010 (Thu) at 19:30 to 11 May 2010 (Tue) at 18:00
Location: Red Dot Design Museum, Gallery One
Address: 28 Maxwell Road, Singapore 069120

Memories of innocent laughter or silly fears of monsters under the bed. Of feelings left unexplored and having your heart exposed to vulnerability – capture your memories in a time capsule with eight young contemporary artists at upcoming exhibition, Imprints, housed within the red dot design museum from 6 to 11 May 2010.

Weave your own story with the artists as they spin their yarn of childhood memories, forgotten places, human relationships and salvage fragments of their past. With a range of artworks comprising performance art, site-specific installations, oil paintings, ceramic works and more, Imprints creates an intimate dialogue as the artists’ works interact with this iconic yet historically profound building.

Imprints is brought to you by the National Heritage Board’s social media portal, Yesterday.sg, and the Singapore Contemporary Young Artists society.

- Source: Imprints @ red dot design museum

Serene Centre: During my Junior College Days

My secondary school's building was previously located fairly near Serene Centre and so I had the pleasure to spend some memorable times there.

In some ways, it was a rather conscious choice for me to eventually study in a Junior College near my secondary school. That probably explains why I still occasionally get to visit Serene Centre during the times when I was a Junior College student.

To get to Serene Centre from my Junior College, I would need to take a bus. Serene Centre is about three bus-stops from my Junior College. I remember visiting Serene Centre several times with one of my friends who was also my classmate back then. The Mac Donalds at Serene Centre was a place where I had spent quite a number of hours studying with my friend.

Honestly, I can't remember what I had studied during those hours spent at the Serene Centre's Mac Donalds. However, I do remember it was the time spent at Serene Centre's Mac Donalds that helped me learn more about what good friendship is about: to be there for one's friends, in good times and bad.

It was those interesting times with friends that made my growing-up years as a Junior College student much more bearable. Those were also the years when I fold countless origami and doodle on most of my lecture notes. I am thankful that I have positive memories of those days thanks to my friends.

Serene Centre: During my secondary school days

I seem to have an affinity for the Bukit Timah area. My grandmother lives nearby Serene Centre, and my secondary school's premises used to be nearby Serene Centre too.

When I was a teenager, the indoor playground that used to be in the premises of Serene Centre's MacDonald's outlet was replaced by an area whereby people could hold birthday parties. I hope my memory got this right, did I? Anyway, during the teenage years, I won't have any fancy for the indoor playground even if it were to be there.

As mentioned earlier, my secondary school's building used to be located within walking distance from Serene Centre. If one were to take a slow stroll, it should take about 20 minutes or less to reach Serene Centre from my secondary school's building.

I used to be a member of my secondary school's Chinese Orchestra. If I look back, I think there was much enthuasiasm in me and my peers that we would actually take the trouble to go to school even on school holidays just to attend sectionals and orchestral rehearsals. One of the highlights for me during those school holidays was an occasional visit to the Serene Centre's MacDonald's outlet. We had to find a place outside the school-premises for lunch during the school holidays.

You see, during school holidays, none of the stalls in the school-canteen would be in operation. I can't figure out why during the school holidays, the Chinese Orchestra's sectionals had to be in the morning and the orchestral rehearsals in the afternoon. If I remember correctly, sectionals started as early as 9 a.m. Orchestra rehearsals would start by 2 p.m. Between the sectionals and the rehearsals, we would have about an hour or two for lunch. The lack of facilities selling food in school basically meant that we had to travel out of the school for lunch. Other than the nearby chicken-rice stall that used to sit along King's Road, the MacDonald's outlet at Serene Centre was the next popular choice.

Frankly speaking, I have no particular liking for the burgers or the fries. It was the spirit of camaraderie that I could enjoy when going out with my peers from the Chinese Orchestra that made the visits to Serene Centre one of the highlights of my school holidays. Firstly, it was a rare treat. Secondly, the place was one of the few eating-places in the area back then that was air-conditioned and fairly affordable to students. Thirdly, the people who were my companions added colour and fun to the visit and lunch.

Those were some of the memorable days in my life. The friends and folks who were with us during the growing-up years can in many ways make our lives so much more enriched. Thank goodness for peers who were with me during my teenage years.

Serene Centre: During my childhood days

In a mood for nostalgia, I shall find some time to blog about the Serene Centre located at 10 Jalan Serene. Basically, I very often associate Serene Centre with the MacDonald's fast-food restaurant that is located there.

My maternal grandparents' place is fairly nearby the Serene Centre. I fondly remember that during the times when I visit my grandparents' place when I was a child, one of the occasional treats was a visit to the Serene Centre's MacDonald's outlet. More than two decades ago, the MacDonald's outlet at Serene Centre had a much bigger floor area that spanned two storeys. It was so big that there was enough space to accomodate a modest indoor playground within its premises. One of the highlights of my visits to the outlet was not to eat the food, but to play at the indoor playground.

I remember that the indoor playground had a lot of colourful plastic balls that form a sea of balls that one could jump into and play with. The playground, with its slides and built-in obstacles, was simply a fascinating ground for yours truly as a young child.

Come to think of it: As a young child, I did not quite comprehend that it would probably cost my grandmother, who was usually the one who would take me to the MacDonald's outlet when I was a child, quite a bit just to have a simple meal there. The thing I could understand then was that it was fun and novel to be at the playground. That was all. I hope that it had brought her some delight to watch her grandchild enjoy the moments at the playground.

I shall take this chance to express heartfelt gratitude to my grandmother for her care, encouragement and love. She is one person in this world whom I am deeply thankful for.


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Footnote: As I was writing this post (which would be published on 22 Jul 2009), my heart guided me to give my grandmother a phone-call to find a time to meet up with her.

The A&W at Crown Centre?

On 4 Jul 2009, I was taking a leisure walk from the Singapore Botanic Gardens to my maternal grandmother's place to spend an evening with her. On my way there, I passed by Crown Centre. I remember that there used to be an Angie the Choice cake-shop there about a decade ago.

I vaguely remember having lunch once in a blue moon at one of the food establishments that used to be located in Crown Centre when I was a Secondary School student studying in one of the secondary schools that was located nearby the area. Yet, I can't exactly remember what food establishment it was.

A couple of months ago, I walked past Crown Centre with one of my good friends and she commented that there used to be an A&W fast-food restaurant that used to be located in Crown Centre, during the times when I was a Secondary School student. That was more than a decade ago. Alas! When she mentioned that to me, my mind somehow could not recall the A&W fast-food restaurant that used to be there! My memory bank had almost no memory of the A&W restaurant that used to sit in Crown Centre.

Speaking of A&W fast-food restaurant, I have enjoyed its curly fries and waffle. The Root Beer Float was also an occasional treat for yours truly when I was a young child.

When I passed by Crown Centre recently, I decided I need to do something to recollect a bit of my memories of the A&W restaurant. If you happen to know anything about the A&W fast-food restaurant at Crown Centre, its exact location, its decor and whatever about it, I would greatly appreciate it if you could please drop your comment here to jolt my memory back. Better still, if you happen to visit this very A&W restaurant with me, remind me what we did there, if you could remember.

I look forward to hear from you in the hope to recall the memories that I seem to have temporarily lost.

In the meantime, I shall point readers to a few online posts related to the A&W restaurant that used to be located in that part of Singapore:
Trip down memory lane - Photo Gallery
Singapore's First Fast Food Restaurant (by Lam Chun See)

***
At the time of writing this post, I was informed by dear RL that the A&W restaurant was located where the Irish Pub now stands.

A concert that brings nostalgia

29 Nov 2008: Many thanks to MY for inviting and treating me to a concert by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra. That night, they put up a concert named The Butterfly Lovers Legacy.

I reached the Singapore Conference Hall pretty early. Prior to the start of the concert, I walked about the area. It brought me some good memories. When I was a teenager, I had attended concerts at the Singapore Conference Hall occassionally. I recalled one occasion whereby my friends and I walked from the Singapore Conference Hall to Lau Pa Sat (which sells food) in the night, after the concert. Being at the Singapore Conference Hall also reminded me of the times when I had performed at the Singapore Conference Hall.

Back to the concert, the programme for the concert was as such:

Yii Kah Hoe's Bayang for Wayang Kuilt and Chinese Orchestra.
Wang Li Ping's Dream of the Red Chamber Suite.
He Zhan Hao's and Chen Gang's Butterfly Lovers (Chinese Orchestration by Yan Hui Chang & Ku Lap Man.)

It took me a while to start to appreciate Bayang for Wayang Kuilt and Chinese Orchestra as it was the first time that I had heard music of that nature. It was quite an interesting experience to hear a Wayang Kuilt ensemble play together with a Chinese orchestra. The use of spatial separation effects was fairly apt and added interest to the work.

Dream of the Red Chamber Suite was the work that brought me lots of nostalgia. I had performed some of the movements from this suite a couple of times when I was a teenager. Back then, I was fairly active playing in a few Chinese Orchestra. As I listened to the work, memories of the past just came to my mind. My favourite movements from this suite were Sighing for the Red Chamber and Burial of Flowers.

The Butterfly Lovers Legacy is one of the favourite pieces of music of my friend, MY. For me, it brought back nice memories of myself playing this work when I was in Aberdeen to perform for the Aberdeen International Youth Festival 2005. That time, I was playing the original version that was scored for the Symphony Orchestra. The version played during the 29 Nov 2008 concert was scored for a solo violin with a Chinese orchestra. The original version and the arrangement for the Chinese orchestra has its own merits. Personally, I prefer the former. Consider me biased please.

At the concert, I met a sister of a friend of mine, and am grateful to get the news that the friend of mine will be in Singapore for a short stay soon.

Many thanks again to MY for her invitation and her company. She gave me a lift back home and we have the pleasure to catch up with one another that night.

Wishing you positive memories each day.

One year has passed

How time flies. I was looking at my archives and realised it has been a year since my walk about the Chinatown area.




One year ago, it was a heart-warmimg day out on separate occasions with two good friends. I wonder what the same day this year would bring me?

Time flies so fast, I wish I have the good luck and wisdom to make good use of each moment of it. Wish me good luck and wisdom please.

My recent post on Yesterday.sg

The City Hall building. It was in this building where the Japanese surrendered to the Allies in the year 1945.

What memories do I have of the City Hall building? Find out more in my recent post on Yesterday.sg (Singapore's Heritage, Museum and Nostalgia Blog): Glimpses of City Hall building at Singapore Biennale 2008.

Do visit the City Hall building top catch the Singapore Biennale 2008 by 16 Nov 2008. Afterwhich, this building will undergo major conversion into the National Art Gallery, and it won't be opened to members of the public for quite a while.

Your feedback on the article will be most appreciated. I am hoping to gather feedback on my heritage-related posts. Thank you in advance.

Halloween evening this year

I don't celebrate Halloween. I have no interest for the "Tricks or Treats" games. So you may wonder, what did I do on Halloween evening this year?

The answer can be found here.

A post on a recent visit to City Hall, Singapore

A sketch that I did.

The above is a sketch that I had done in the year 2004 while I was sitting on the steps leading to the main entrance of the City Hall building. Alright, I was not sketching the City Hall building. I was sketching the Victoria Concert Hall that was visible from City Hall. I remember that while sketching, I was with one of my friends, Mystic, sitting there to watch time passing by.

What memories do you have of the City Hall building?

I shall share a bit of mine in my recent post on my other blog. Do read: Glimpses of City Hall building at Singapore Biennale 2008.

The gifts that my parents gave me

Those who know me would probably start to realise that I have an interest to tour Singapore, almost like a tourist would. Travelling from places to places in Singapore to sightsee has remained interesting to me even though I have been doing so for years.

Reflecting, there are some people who have probably influenced me to start this interest of touring Singapore to get to know my own country.

My mother has been working as a chambermaid in one of the hotels in Singapore for a few decades. As a result of her work, she would have to clear all the left-behind tour brochures and pamphlets that the guests in the hotel whose room she is cleaning once they check out.

During my Upper Primary School years, I was involved in the Social Studies Club of the school. One of the requirements was to do certain projects so as to earn a specified number of points. Once I have accumulated a certain number of points, I could exchange the points for a badge of honour. A number of the projects would require me to read about places-of-interest in Singapore, and even the various monuments in Singapore. My dear mother was very kind and nice to help me collect brochures and even certain tour guides so that I can learn more about these topics.

At the same time, I remember I had often been requesting my father to take me to the places-of-interest that were mentioned in the tour-guides. In those days, my mother usually works on the weekends, and as a student, my younger brother and I were only available to visit those places-of-interest on weekends. In those days, my father usually do not work on weekends and he was the one whom I would ask to take us out. Reflecting, he was probably being very generous and kind to have accede to my requests almost every consecutive weekend. As a child back then, the cost of the admission, the travelling expenses and food expenses won't bother me. Then again, on hindsight, it would have probably cost my father quite a fair bit to have to take my brother and my younger brother out to one place-of-interest every weekend. Thanks to him, I have had the pleasure to visit the Haw Par Villa Theme Park, the zoo, the Bird-Park, the museums and many places-of-interest when I was younger.

To much extent, I have enjoyed visting those places, and reading about the various monuments and places-of-interest in Singapore when I was a child. I think this interest has further developed and grown over the years, and could have resulted in me having an interest in travelling about Singapore. In some ways, I could say that my parents have given me priceless gifts that would see me through for a very long time. Many thanks to my parents for these gifts. Perhaps thinking of these gifts would remind me that there are still some ways that I could connect with them.

Anyway, if you should like the blog posts that I write on my various visits to the many places in Singapore, then part of the credit shall possibly go to my parents for cultivating in me an interest in visiting places in Singapore.

The Chinese Orchestra room

Climb up the stairs, up four levels, unlock the metal and wooden door, and presto, it was the Chinese Orchestra room. This room now only exists in the memory. The school building where it used to be located in had been demolished years ago.

This Chinese Orchestra room was the storage room for the Chinese Orchestra. When I was a Secondary School student many years ago, it was one of the place in school that I would frequently visit. Firstly, I did not have my own double bass back then. As such, if I had wanted to be hardworking in practising the double bass, I had to find my way to the Chinese Orchestra room to get the double bass out to practise. Frankly speaking, the room was just a storage room, so there was minimal space to practise.

I had probably started visiting this room even more often after I had became one of the committee members of the Chinese Orchestra when I was in Secondary Two. At least once in a year, there would be spring cleaning to be done for the Chinese Orchestra room. Frankly speaking, I did not quite like spring cleaning, because I did not like the dust. Nevertheless, I joined in, because back then, I enjoyed the sense of comradeship. I remember that I had a handy skill of being able to fit as much items/ instruments in the limited space after spring cleaning. Organisational skill was something that I could contribute.

The Chinese Orchestra room did not have air-conditioning. It did not have nice cushioned seats either. However, there was a part of it that just felt so cosy. There were times when I would just visit it after school hours simply to practise on the double bass or to meet with friends who needed help from a committee member (that was me) to get an instrument to practise on.

To some extent, I could say that being a member of the Chinese Orchestra back then had helped provided the opportunity for me to hone leadership and organisational skills. Looking back, those opportunities I was transformed me from a very quiet person (I was very quiet in Primary school years) to a more approachable and slightly more outspoken person. I am thankful for the fruitful experiences and the friendship forged.

Maybe I should have taken a photo of the Chinese Orchestra room. I don't think I had taken such a photo. However, the memory stays.

Dinner at Kampong Glam

I am probably a nostalgic being. Most of the time when I visit Kampong Glam area with friends, one of the preferred choice for meals was Alaturka.

I was first introduced to Alaturka thanks to Pinto's recommendations on his blog. Thereafter, I took his suggestion to check out Alaturka for my very first time with Emily, whom I have lots to thank for playing accompaniment on the piano for me for Grade 8 music exams. Much later, I had also brought my friend, XS, JY, SH, and Di on different occasions for meals there. Alaturka hence became the natural choice for dinner today. I like it for its simplicity and cosy ambience, and its nice drinks and food.

I have the pleasure to have dinner with eastcoastlife today. She's very kind to have offered to treat me for dinner. An even more kind gesture of hers was to go along with the nostalgic mood of yours truly to have dinner at Alaturka, and to share with me a number of her life-experiences and ideas. We also discussed on the issue of bullying and on possible strategies to raise the public's awareness on the issue of school bullying, a long misunderstood and neglected societal problem. While I probably don't have as strong a determination as eastcoastlife to address this issue of bullying, I hope she would be successful in her own ways to contribute her part to addressing this issue with other equally-concerned stakeholders and parents. At the fundamental, everyone deserves to have a safe environment to be in, away from all kinds of bullying.

Meantime, for readers who would like to view a glimpse of the spread for the dinner, here are some of the photographs taken:





Admittedly, my favourite was the Mutton Musakka which went very well with the lavash. I tried the Turkish Mint Tea for the first time, and it tasted good. It was full of mint favour. Alaturka appeared to have gone through some renovation and there was some change in the menu. I wish that it had offered spangile (chocolate mousse) but it didn't, so I could only savour in my memory, the spangile that I had tried when I was there in April 2007. I personally find that the Baklava was too sweet for my taste. I prefer spangile which was not available. On the side, Alaturka appeared to have pretty good business tonight. Cheers to its good business. Hopefully there would be sufficient business to keep it operating for a long time. That way my nostalgic urge could continue to be fed.

Anyway, after the dinner, when I was home, I went to try to search for the local group that was lobbying against bullying of children and youths, and came across this site of the Coalition Against Bullying for Children & Youths. Visit its site here: http://hrtd.com.sg/CABCY/index.html. It offers some good resources.

A place that I used to rehearse

A couple of months ago, I passed by this bus-stop which was just nearby a place where I used to rehearse. I decided to take a photo of the building behind that pink wall. That was the building where I had used to rehearse. There was a large rehearsal room in the premises of that building, and that was where the Chinese Orchestra that I had used to participate in would rehearse.

I had started participating in that Chinese Orchestra when I was about 14 years old. It was a challenge to juggle between studies and participating in an activity outside the school's curricula. There were times when it was difficult to strive a good balance.

It was here that I learnt that I was using the wrong bow for the French-method of double bass bow-hold. It was here that I managed to get to play the more challenging double bass parts written for Chinese music. It was here that the normally introverted me have to the chance to work with people who are adults and who are non-school-mates. To some extent, it provided me with the opportunities to refine my social skills and even organisational skills.

Through participating in the Chinese Orchestra, I had managed to forge a number of friendship despite being a rather passive person when it comes to initiating friendship.

A couple of years after rehearsing in that building, the Chinese Orchestra managed to secure another site to rehearse. It was time to say good-bye to this rehearsal venue. If I'm not wrong, the room that the Chinese Orchestra had used to rehearsed in the building behind the pink wall is now a pub. How much things have changed with time.

The bus-stop where I had taken this photo had changed too. It used to be a very simple bus-stop and if I remember correctly, it was painted orange. Now it looks better maintained.

One decade ago with NUS Symphony Orchestra

This location was where I have been having rehearsals at the University.

Ten years ago, on a rainy day in August, I was trying to find my way to Centre for the Arts to attend the Welcome Tea of NUS Symphony Orchestra. I met A who was also going to the same event, and we braved the rain with an umbrella and eventually found our way there.

I had only planned to attend the Welcome Tea to learn more about the orchestra. I learnt from the Welcome Tea that potential members have to attend an audition and pass it before being accepted as a member.

My background then was that I had only played in Chinese Orchestras. Prior to attending the Welcome Tea, I had found out that there would be some form of music tuition provided to members of the orchestra. Furthermore, the double bass tutor of NUS Symphony Orchestra was a very established double bass player. On the contrary, the tutor teaching the Chinese Orchestra's cello and double bass section was a cellist by training. Hoping very much to improve my playing of the double bass, I decided to try to get a chance to be a member of the NUS Symphony Orchestra instead of the Chinese Orchestra.

One of the seniors invited me to play in the orchestra immediately after the Welcome Tea. I was not prepared for that at all! Anyway, I mustered courage to accept the invitation, and the senior helped get a bow and a double bass for me. Despite trying hard to play as much as possible, I could only manage to play about 20% of what was printed on the scores then. Compared to playing in Chinese Orchestra where the double bass player plays largely tonic and dominant notes, the double bass player in a Symphony Orchestra plays much more challenging parts. I started having doubts if I could pass the audition.

Nevertheless, I decided to just go for the audition. Seriously, I think I had played pretty not quite in tune during the audition. However, thankfully, the conductor felt I had the awareness that I have to improve my intonation, and he gave me a chance to take double bass lessons to improve my playing. Yeah! I finally secured the chance to join the university's Symphony Orchestra.

I worked pretty hard to improve my playing because one of the first works that I have to performed during my first concert with NUS Symphony Orchestra was Brahms' First Symphony. As such, especially during my first year in university, whenever there was a long break between my lessons, I would make my way to Centre for the Arts and practise on the double bass. Back then, I don't own a double bass of my own. Basically, Centre for the Arts became the place in the university that I had spent much of the time in, other than my faculty's building.

Reflecting, I am pleased to say that my playing on the double bass has improved over this one decade. The credit goes to the orchestra's double bass tutor for his inspiring and patient guidance. I have the conductor to thank for taking the risk to accept me even though I did not do exceptionally well during the audition. Playing in the NUS Symphony Orchestra had enriched my life as a student of the university, and provided me some respite from the challenges that life had presented.

The current rehearsal venue.

Sunday Brunch with Mystic

I am feeling pretty tired from a long day of work. The blessing is that at least I have kept myself sane.

Anyway, a few days ago, I met up with one of my good friends, Mystic, to have Sunday Brunch at the Quentin's, the Eurasian restaurant. Mystic has much to comment about the food there. It seemed to me that she gave the food there merely passing marks, but not excellent marks. My friend has high expectations of food preparation and food so I guess the novelty of having Eurasian food did not cloud her judgement.

Anyway, my personal favourite were the Long Beans, the salad, the Meaty Cutlet (but I refrained from taking more than two because I wish to eat less meat), and the Prawn Bostador (though I did not take the prawns as I wish to avoid seafood).

Some dishes worth trying are: Chicken Devil's Curry, the Shepherd's Pie and the Sugee Cake.

To be fair, for $15++ per person for the Sunday Buffet Brunch, it was an affordable deal, considering it that there is a fairly peaceful view just outside the restaurant.

Many thanks to Mystic. I think she has been a very accomodating friend to put up with my fancy for breakfast and brunch. She even gave me a lift to the Eurasian Community House.

**
Quentin's
139 Ceylon Road,
Eurasian Community House,
Singapore 429744
Telephone Number: 6346-1837
Fax Number: 6346-1847

Opening hours
Lunch: 11.30am to 2.30pm
Dinner: 6.30pm to 10.30pm

The first teddy-bear I've made

Unusually, I have been doing spring-cleaning. I suppose a part of me wanted to tidy up the clutter that are found behind the wardrobes and drawers. While doing some tidying up on 3 Aug 2008, I came across the very first teddy-bear of this size and design that I have made.

I had made it after my 'A' levels examinations. There was no classes after 'A' levels examinations and I was comparatively less in touch with many of my friends. Making teddy bear became a temporary past-time to fill in the void. I have made smaller teddy-bears of simpler designs before this teddy-bear. However, the teddy bear that you see in this post was the very first teddy-bear I have made that has a more complex design. I didn't come up with the design, I merely follow the instructions from a teddy-bear-making craft-book.

This teddy bear has ears so that it can listen. I think it is quite an imperfectly perfect bear. Somehow, although I had ran out of green cloth and ended up using another fabric to make part of its face, the effect was interestingly pleasing. It somehow made the bear seem as if it could wink its left eye. After it was done, I had intended to give it as a gift to one of my good friends. However, there was no opportunity to do so back then. A decade later, it is still with me. I doubt I would give it as a gift to this same friend. It didn't seem appropriate to give a gift that was meant to be given a decade ago, did it?

The teddy-bear was intended to bring some cheers to my friend. Even if I do not think it is appropriate to give this teddy-bear anymore, the thoughts and intention still stand. I wish this friend of mine happiness and joy.

By the way, my memory needs some patching. I can't remember what name I had affectionately given this teddy bear. Anyway, I somehow like its sincere, unpretentious look. Do you?

**
After this bear, I have made at least two other teddy-bears of similar size which I had given to two of my friends. Hopefully they would like them somehow.

Memories of Coronation Rd

Today, I visited the NUS Museum and on my way there by bus, I passed by Coronation Road. While on the bus, the thought of blogging about Coronation Road came to my mind.

Even though I do not live anywhere near Coronation Rd, Singapore, for at least a few years of my life, this was the road that I would often walk along.

Coronation Road was one of the roads that I would have to walk along very often during the days when I was a Secondary School student. There is of course no prize for guessing which Secondary School I had studied in.

As I write about Coronation Rd, I am reminded that as a teenager, friendship and the yearning to belong had both been factors that eventually shaped the routes that I would take to return home after school.

To return home, if I were to use Coronation Road, I had to walk a much longer distance to get to the bus-stop that had the bus-services that would take me home. Nevertheless, there were many times that I would consciously choose Coronation Road simply because that was the only route that a few of my friends could take in order to get to the bus-stop where there would be buses to take them home. Anyway, the good thing was that if I were to use Coronation Road, I would be able to have the pleasure to take either bus-service 74 or 852, which would get me home in about 30 minutes if traffic was good.

On the other hand, I could also walk along Farrer Road to get to another bus-stop to take bus-service 165 home. The walking distance to the bus-stop would be shorter if I were to choose to use Farrer Road rather than Coronation Road. However, bus-service 165 would take a slightly longer travelling time to get me home. Of course, I would choose to walk along Farrer Road at times simply because I have friends who prefer to take Farrer Road.

When I was returning home on my own, I figured that I would just let my mood and the strength of my leg muscles be the deciding factors.



Anyway, Coronation Road would usually be one of the routes to take if I were to need lunch during school holidays. The thing was that the school canteen did not sell any food during school holidays. Some of the reasons for me to be in school during school holidays back then were: Extra-Curricular Activities, extra holiday lessons (though these were more rare) and to work on my art project. Coronation Road would lead me to Coronation Plaza and also a row of shophouses that still sells chicken rice and stir-fried dishes.



To be honest, it is not Coronation Road that I remember. If you were to ask me, I can't even remember how many private housing were located along that stretch of Coronation Road that I had to walk back then. I can't even recall how they had looked like. What I remember were some of the conversations, the laughter shared and the spirit of bonding amongst friends when I walked along Coronation Road during those years of my life. Perhaps those conversations and interactions had provided the necessary opportunities for an introvert like myself to learn to interact with others. I was comparatively more open with interacting with others when I was a Secondary School student than when I was a Primary School student.

At the same time, there were times when I had walked along Coronation Road alone by myself, feeling lost and uncertain what future would hold for me. Honestly, at that age, I could not see what the future would be like for me a decade later.

By the way, the Shell petrol station that used to sit at Coronation Plaza is now no longer operating. I wonder what would replace the Shell petrol station eventually?

Whatever it is, the sentimental me could not help but recall a few of the good old memories every time I happen to travel past Coronation Road while travelling along Dunearn Rd on the bus. Maybe I am in the mood for nostalgia.

My Primary School

One of my posts is now up on Yesterday.sg.

If you are wondering which Primary School I had attended, please see: Growing Up in Ang Mo Kio: My Primary School.