Chocolate perks one up

I believe J., Pinkie and Mistipurple, whom I suspect are chocolate-lovers will agree with me that chocolate can perk one up.

Attributing the depressed mood to the rain, I went out in the evening to look for a pair of non-slip walking shoes for myself.

I walked past one of the Godiva chocolatier shops. I decided to try the Chocolixir beverage. It is nice. I tried the Dark Chocolate Decadence drink. For your information, yours truly prefer dark chocolate to milk chocolate, and milk chocolate to white chocolate. While dark chocolate has a slightly bitter aftertaste, I find them more palatable to my taste. Too sweet a chocolate, and I may find it artificial.

The Chocolixir is nice and goes well with whipped cream. One could taste bits of the dark chocolate blended into the drink. The only thing I feel guilty of is that I am supposed to avoid drinking cold drinks for my throat tends to protest with excessive coughing after drinking cold drinks. Ya, I am coughing now. But I am not sure if it was due to the drink or because I am really going to be sick soon. Anyway, I shall not care, I needed something to perk my spirits up a little. The year has not start well as yet with all the rainy days.

For the shoes, I got myself a pair of Crocs shoes. This time, I got a pair of the professional design.

They get me down

Taken from Esplanade Park


Take it that rainy days get me down.

My mother must have been having the worst of days to actually wake me up from my afternoon nap to scold me for keeping one of the windows wide open. Actually, the window wasn't very wide open, but I did open it to improve the ventiliation.

Before I had taken the nap, the rain had stopped. Maybe today must have not been my day, it started very heavily while I was having a nap. As such, the rain fell and came indoors and made part of the floor and furniture near the windows wet.

While it was unintentional of me to left the windows open on a rainy day, I admit I should bear the full responsibilities for the wet floor.

But could I ask that even if one is deadly angry about the inconveniences that have been caused by the wet floor, that one does not wake someone up and start scolding the waking soul? I was trying to rest to feel better from a bugging headache and unwell throat. Waking one up with such unpleasant event is distressing and awfully confusing. I felt like I was being pushed to the end of one's life.

The cost of fighting such a battle of waking a sleepy person up over a wet floor is tremendously not worthwhile, won't it be? A sleepy person may need the rest badly, such unexpected waking of the person may cause rifts in relationship and doesn't earn the value in any relationship. But the wet floor, when the sun shines, it will dry up.

Maybe the lesson learnt is: when one feels like going into any temper outburst (no matter how bad one's day has been), please remember to weigh whether it is actually worthwhile to do so. Don't risk losing the bigger things in life over petty issues.

Slipped and fell

Wet days aren't my days.

Today, I was returning to office after making a homevisit to one of my clients' place. It was drizzling. The floor was wet and slippery.

The first occasion, I almost tripped and fell but found my balance. But I don't seem to be good to avoid the ill fate of falling. On the second occasion, I fell. Now my right wrist hurts a little and so is the right side of my leg and arm. It is not painful, but I am bothered by the fact that my right arm is aching from the fall.

Can you folks allow me to whine a little and pout for a short while?

*frowned face*

***
The thankful thing was: a kind lady who was walking to the nearby bus-stop with a little girl came towards me to ask if I was alright. She advised me to stand for a while and find my sense of balance before I start walking.

**
Maybe that is how the day was trying to be kind on me? Could the day be nicer on me? I don't quite wish to find enough reason to justify that the world was not meant for me.

Learning from Mistakes

Mistakes, mistakes and more mistakes.

That was the kind of thing that I had faced for my very first music theory class of the year. Thank goodness that my music theory tutor gave the permission for one to make mistakes and to learn from them. This, I think is very important.

I showed my theory tutor the harmony exercises that I was to show him for today's lesson. He went through, and found a few minor mistakes. I corrected them accordingly.

Now, the thing is, in the enthuasiasm to practise on doing more harmony exercises, I had actually went ahead of the lesson plan and did the homework that was only to be given to me after today's lesson. I was hoping to show my tutor my work in hope that he could affirm that I was on the right track. Yet, it was the contrary. I have made mistakes for almost all the eight exercises from that piece of work that I had done a little ahead in advance.

The eight exercises required me to add soprano, alto and tenor parts to the given bass parts. I did not realised that I have written my parts in such a way that I was trying to make it pretty difficult for myself to abide to the rules of harmony in the end.

There was a tendency for me to write the soprano parts a little too low. I tend to write the tenor parts "too close" to the bass parts. As such, in the end, I tend to end up with overlaps (for example the bass G note rises above the tenor F note in the previous chord). This meant that I would tend to break the rules, and that in harmony exercises at this level, is similar to making a mistake.

The most tricky thing is that I was not too good at spotting that I have made a mistake of overlapping the parts as yet. As such, I could be making that mistake happily without knowing.

Now I have to do the same eight exercises again, but now bearing in mind some of the practical suggestions that my music theory teacher has offered. Yet, I must be strange to think that this is getting fun. But it is. Hopefully, I can learn from my mistake and get the exercises done.

Next week, I am supposed to learn about cadences. I was just trying to read the first few pages on cadences on my own, but I was confused already when I was at the topic of plagal cadences. Gosh, I hope my doubts would soon be clarified.

By the way, how does one train one's ears to be aware of what kind of cadence is used at the end of a certain passage?

Haphazard writings

Yours truly might have an unconscious inclination to push herself to her deathbed? I am feeling tired but I still wish to blog. Take it that I am seeking to be better understood for now, in need to express myself and understand myself better. Writing gives me the freedom to be more of myself.

***
Could hardly have a good night rest last night. Maybe the forces of nature did not quite align with my energies, as such I could hardly sleep much last night? Forgive me, I am just trying to make sense of the world outside me, and the world within.

***
My wish has been granted, and I am feeling thankful. The orchestra played Brahms' Symphony No. 2 for the rehearsal tonight. We played the 2nd and 3rd movements. I like these two movements. Maybe I have been playing the 1st and 4th movements for quite many times, the 2nd and 3rd movement lended the necessary contrast. I like slow movements though I do admit I find them much difficult to play well than the fast movements. With slow movements, each and every nuance of one's playing matters much more, in my humble opinion.

Pardon me, I was almost only half-awake for tonight's rehearsal, and did not quite seem to hear what the conductor had been saying very well many of the times. I wonder if my mind has been blocked and my ears were affected? Had to rely on my section-mates many of the times for today's rehearsal to come in at the right time.

Despite the fact that I was not performing at my peak for today's rehearsal, I think it was one of the best thing that happened to me today. Today's rehearsal was the first rehearsal for the year 2006.

***
Tomorrow is music theory day. I have decided to continue taking music theory classes. It has so far been enriching. I am still working on harmony exercises. It has been a challenge to ensure that I try to follow the given rules when answering to these exercises. I quite like that challenge of applying new knowledge. It can be fun.

***
Tomorrow will be 5 Jan and it will be the birthday of one of my friends, Jing. Here's wishing her a Happy Birthday.

***
Today is a relatively rainy day. I took a taxi from workplace to the university to have dinner with Emily prior to the rehearsals.

Thanks to taxi services, I was able to reach home in less than 30 minutes after the rehearsals. Had I taken the MRT train or the bus, it would take about an hour or more to reach home.

With a headache that was bugging me about a few hours ago, taking a taxi home seemed to be a wiser option. It might land me home early and allow me to have some time to blog before midnight strikes. Now I wonder if I have been addicted to blogging? Engaging in a monologue with oneself in the world of words can be therapeutic sometimes.

***
There seems to be several changes to respond to lately. I do hope I have the strength and energy to manage the changes.

***
What lies ahead for the next day?

***
For now, the headache is actually gone, and I am not feeling as tired. But I shall rest soon. Good night.

***
How haphazard can this post be?

I am just writing what is going on in my mind.

Trying to make preparations

Tomorrow I am going to make a presentation to several teachers most whom I have never met. The purpose of the presentation is to give them an outline of a programme that we will be conducting in the school for students with low self-esteem. Yet, we alone cannot make things happen. We needed the teachers, who spend several hours every day with these students, to help us identify and refer students for the programme.

So in hope to make myself prepared for the presentation, I had considered the possibility of writing a post on self-esteem. But now, I am actually feeling quite tired from the long work day. The best I could muster is to cut-and-paste some of the relevant links so that I can read through them once again tomorrow.

Now, blogging can also be a good way to consolidate information regarding a particular topic, in this case, self-esteem.

It is alright if you were tell me that you are bored by this post. I am expecting that. But if you could please wish me all the best for the presentation, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

- http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content2/Strengthen_Children_Self.html
- http://www.more-selfesteem.com
- http://kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/emotion/self_esteem.html
- http://www.utexas.edu/student/cmhc/booklets/selfesteem/selfest.html
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-esteem

Untitled 3 Jan 06

Singapore River. Taken on Cavenagh Bridge.

There is a sombre mood for much of the day. Yet, I shall be thankful that the skies have been so nice to me today. Greeting me this morning is a clear blue skies with nice-looking fluffy white clouds. As such, this long phrase was coined in my mind when I was on the way to work this morning. I made it part of my MSN nickname for the day. Now my nickname stands at "oceanskies: when darkness fills the eyes, look out to the beautiful skies and be soothed".

The world has been kind to me. This morning, on the way to work too, I received a nice and delightful text-message via the mobile phone from Socialpest today. So nice of socialpest. Thanks for the message, Ameera.

There has been quite a lot of work to do. That is an understatement. It is the first workday of the year and I really hope that the statement that I am making today is simply temporary. There's so much to do that I have not much time to respond or appropriately react to the many news around me. Cheer me on please my readers.

Maybe the world knows that I am someone who enjoys nice sights, as such the postcard from JY reached me today and I got to catch glimpses of how Hall's Croft looked like. Hall's Croft, according to the postcard, is the home of the physician John Hall, who married Shakespeare's eldest daughter. Timely arrival of the postcard to greet me with nice sights when I got home from work at about 10.20 p.m. tonight. Thanks JY.

So I should be feeling blessed. In fact I am. I am able to return home without having to worry whether I would have food for my next meal. Yet, that sense of gratitude just did not seem to have much effect to brighten that general dull feeling. How shall I get over it soon?

I was tempted to consider doing two long-day walks on the coming weekends. Yet, I am not sure if I should doing so. My feet are aching, and I am not sure if this was due to too much walking? I have been investing on comfortable shoes already, but are aching feet an indication that I need better shoes?

Let me distract myself: Talking about getting shoes, it reminds me that I am supposed to get new clothes. I dread the thought that the Chinese New Year is coming soon (29 and 30 Jan 2006 for this year). The Chinese has a custom of wearing new clothes for the Chinese New Year. I don't quite like to shop for new clothes. Firstly I don't like to be shopping with the crowds but it is now the festive seasons and most of the Chinese will be out shopping for new clothes for the New Year. Secondly, shopping has never been a therapy for me, at least when it comes to shopping for clothes. Please keep your fingers crossed that my mother won't breathe down my neck to get me to get new clothes.

Poor Mystic had so kindly accompanied me to shop for new clothes before last year's Chinese New Year, and I must have been one of the worst friends to go shopping with. I should thank her for bearing with me. I hardly bought a single thing after one entire day of walking and trying to shop.

So you could see, that there is a lot in life that one is grateful of. The sense of gratitude does cushion off some of the down moments in life, yet itself alone may not fight the blues away.

For now, I urge myself on. Tomorrow there will be orchestra rehearsal, and it shall be a better day, since it is the day for orchestra rehearsal. I hope we will be playing at least one movement from Brahms Symphony No. 2.

Changing the palette

Boat sailing past Empress Place. Singapore River.


Let me attempt to make the tone brighter by sharing a photo taken in colours. Hopefully, doing so may inject some life into this blog.

This photo was taken quite a while ago. The boats on the Singapore River have caught my interest. They are like vessels on the body of water, searching for a path that was meant for them. Actually, come to think of it, these boats are very sheltered ones. They have not been put to the tests of the strong currents of the stormy seas. They only know what life is in the idle and peaceful waters.

Maybe some amount of risks may wear the boats off, but it means that the boats could be out to see more adventures and gain more experiences?

Now I wonder, what do these boats look forward to each and every day?

After the rain

Raffles Place, Singapore.


It was New Year's eve. The time was slightly after 6.30 p.m. I had wanted to participate in a guided tour about the Singapore River, but the rainy weather made me change my plans that day.

Had dinner at Carl's Junior, an American hamburger chain, located at Robinson Tower. Perhaps because it was a Saturday evening and it was raining, there was not too much of a crowd at the restaurant. I like the idea of having to eat in a place where there isn't too much of a crowd. I like the taste of the criss-cut fries too.

After dinner, I realised that the rain had stopped. I walked about rather aimlessly hoping to find something nice to see. The eyesight seems declining at times and I think I must have subconsciously wanted to see as much as I can of the world around me, before it may turn dark unexpectedly. I hope this imagined thought will not become a reality.

As I walked, I found myself at Raffles Place, the place that you saw in the picture right above. There is so much history behind this place, I wish I could know more about it. I only know that Raffles Place used to be called Commercial Square before it was renamed in 1850s.

Anyway, I thought that the place had a touching sense of melancholy after the rain, and decided to capture the scene on digital film. I started with capturing the scene in colour, but later experimented with the monochromatic sepia colour. I think a monochromatic tone could best bring out the lines and the contrast, as well as the melancholic mood.

I must have been engrossed with the possibilities of taking shots in monochromatic mode. That very day, I went on taking several photos in a monochromatic colour scheme. The colours have been taken away, but the lines remain strong and vivid.

Dispirited rants

Taken from Merlion Park, Singapore.



I am not sure if I have fallen ill. The head seemed so heavy just now.

About an hour ago, I was practising on my husband, the double bass. Yet, moods and motivations were low and I did not go beyond practising for 20 minutes. Merely did some exercises and soon the head seemed heavy again.

The thing that I have to be thankful for is that I actually did not sound too bad on my instrument even though I have neglected this husband of mine for at least a month. I have no inclination to play on it and fight against the noises of the trade fair while the fair was on. This husband of mine must have been the most obliging ones around for me. He made no protest that I had neglected him for so long, and yet sound so nicely when I return to him again.

Maybe my body is urging me to rest? For in my mind, I have not much mood to be out travelling on my foot today. Yet, it has been stifling to be at home wondering what is wrong with oneself.

What may make me feel more alive?

Down to the essentials

Merlion, Singapore.



Not face the world
Just be in one's world
Would such moments of solitude and reflection
Lend one some insights to this confusing world?

Colours have been stripped away
All things now bare minimum
Then one's eyes may now see the essential
Which had been hard to see when colours were around to distract

Remembering the heroes

Tonight is perhaps one of the more quiet nights that I have. It is New Year's Day and the constructions at the construction site near my home have decided it is a day for the workers to take a deserving break. Those workers are the everyday unsung heroes who help make those buildings we use possible.

If we were to open our eyes a little wider, the unsung heroes could be found everywhere. In this post, I like to pay tribute to the heroes who have fought bravely, many who have ended up sacrificing their lives, all in hope that the rest of us could live in freedom and peace.

**
This afternoon, thanks to the weather being kind on me, I went to this museum named: Reflections at Bukit Chandu. Bukit Chandu means "Opium Hill". The hill probably got its name after the British-owned opium packing plant which was established on the foot of the hill round about 1910.

The hill offers quite a peaceful environment and if we were to walk a little further from the museum, we may find ourselves at spots that offer scenic views.

The museum is housed in a restored colonial house. It tells of the Battle of Pasir Panjang that occured on 14 Feb 1942 where thousand brave soldiers from the Malay Regiment fought against the odds, against the invading Japanese soldiers.

The soldiers of the Malay Regiment were greatly outnumbered by the Japanese. At the same time, they had limited ammunition. Yet, they fought bravely. When their ammunition ran out, I understand that they fought hand-to-hand battle with the invading enemy then.



I was looking for information on this museum, and I especially like this which I shall quote for your reflection:

Reflection at Bukit Chandu is not just another World War II Centre. It is also a place for people to reflect on Singapore’s heritage of heroism, and the deeds of people who valued honour, courage and dedication above their own lives.

This was not my first time at the museum, but I still felt touched by the courage and dedication that those soldiers have displayed.

My favourite exhibits were:
- Battle For Singapore!: It gives a vivid snapshot of the Japanese invasion of Singapore from 7 - 15 Feb 1942. I felt I attended a good history lesson within a span of ten minutes.
- Bukit Chandu Theatre: Through the use of very good multmedia and sound effects, it gave me a better understanding of what the soldiers from the Malay Regiment might be facing when they were bravely fighting against the invaders.

I end this post with a salute to these heroes.

***
For more photos, visit: Reflections at Bukit Chandu and Kent Ridge Park on my other blog.

Sources:
- http://www.s1942.org.sg/bukit_chandu/homepage.htm
- http://www.nhb.gov.sg/MCC/VisitorInfo/RBC/

Yet another rainy New Year's Day

Today's post shall be an incoherent one, if it does not make any sense to you, it was meant to be.

1 Jan 2006: I looked back to my posts dated exactly a year ago. This made me realised that this year's New Year's Day is yet another rainy New Year's Day.

The rainy weather has made me feel rather sad this morning, for no particular reason. There seems nothing much to look forward to in the year of 2006 as yet. I just hope I am feeling this way because I am currently in a mode of allowing things to unfold by themselves. As such, it wasn't too unexpected that I have not made any particular resolution for this year.

Rushing to make a resolution simply because it is the start of a commonly regarded start of the year may not necessary be the best thing to do. One may make premature plans which may not be seen through. Life might be a much bigger picture in itself, but I have no wisdom as yet to see that bigger picture. As such, bear with me that I don't even know how to take the smaller steps that are necessary to reach that larger vision I might have been born to seek.

Hidden within oneself, there could be energy enough to do significant things. But the energy feels rather unfocused still. Yours truly is still in a mode of searching for a way to harness that energy and to make it to better use. "In which direction/s?" That is the constant question in the mind.

Since no clear direction has been found, the next best way to live through life seems to be to let it unfold, and attempt to seek for those vague visions that have been flashing in one's mind.

Am lost, clueless. The rainy weather made the mood feel worse.

But I am thankful actually. For despite much amount of rain, the weather has been kind to offer about 4 hours of relatively good weather this afternoon for me to take a walk near Kent Ridge Park. I am thankful too, that there is this space I could call my own to express and attempt to make sense of things. If not, I fear my moods might have been much much darker.

Maybe tomorrow may get better? Be it rain or shine.

Year 2006 is here

My first moments of the year 2006 were spent standing by the window of my room trying to catch an obstructed view of the fireworks from the Marina Bay Countdown. The fireworks last for what seem to be as long as ten minutes.

Even though I had an obstructed view of the fireworks from my windows, the fireworks still looked lovely from where I stood. Maybe I would have appreciate more of its beauty had I been nearer the site where the fireworks are lit up to the skies. Yet, when one lost some, one may gain some others?

**

I was actually at the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay in the evening yesterday, but decided to eventually head for home. I was too tired to wish to be in the crowd. All I ask for the New Year is peace. World peace and peace of my mind. Home now offers a slightly more peaceful environment with the ending of the trade fair.

The thing about staying home when people are out for count-down events is that one avoids being stuck in the crowd. In addition, one could easily head for sleepland soon after the count-down is over, and not have to stay up too late in the night. Pardon me, as you could guessed from the tone of my writing, I have not been a night-person.

**
For now, I am starting to feel envious of and happy for Msfeline for being able to catch the fireworks at Marina Bay. It must have been delightful. May the beautiful sights of the fireworks bring her lots of goodwill and fulfilment for the year of 2006.

Wishing the same for all of your too. Wishing you a year of lots of goodwill, fulfilment and peace.