15 Sep 2008: Travelling to St Leonards

It was early afternoon by the time that I finished my lunch and was done with the entertainment provided by an amusing seagull. I was ready to travel to St Leonards by CityRail. I wanted to visit a shop, Zephyr Music, which is located at 51 Hume St. It sells sheet music and more. Although I knew that the most convenient way to travel to Hume St would be by CityRail, I did not have any idea which railway lines I have to take in order to get to St Leonards.

Thank goodness, I was used to travelling solo, and I had a network map of CityRail with me. After taking some time to figure out the network of CityRail, I realised that I have to travel from Circular Quay station to Wynyard Station, and then transfer from the South line to the North Shore line.

Alright, after figuring out which railway line I should travel by, the next step was to purchase a ticket for myself. There are quite a number of choices for passengers travelling by CityRail. I could choose between Single Trip ticket, Return ticket, Day-Tripper ticket and more. Once I have purchased the ticket, I was ready to set off for St Leonards.



The ride to St Leonards from Circular Quay actually brought me to cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge via the railway tracks. It was quite an experience simply because it was new to me! Soon, I reached St Leonards.



When I arrived at St Leonards station, I looked at the local maps that were found there to find my bearings, and to figure out how to get to Hume St. It took me a while to figure it out for I felt a little giddy. I should be grateful that I did not faint from the period pain that hit me that afternoon. Realising that I needed pain relief, I got myself a bottle of drinking water and Panadol from a pharmacy near the station. The Panadol has an interesting package. There were a lot of kind of pain-killers to choose from. The staff at the pharmacy was pretty helpful to point me to the Panadol Rapid Handipak that contains 10 caplets. That was what I would need, something with not too many Panadol tablets, since I figured I won't need more than two tablets.



The pain-relieving properties of the painkiller took some time to take effect. Anyway, I mustered strength to find my way to the music shop. The shop would close by 5 p.m. so I wanted to get there early enough. Looking back, I'm proud that I was able to manage the pain and function adequately.

15 Sep 2008: The amusing seagull

The Sydney Opera House Essential Tour got me more keen to go for the Backstage Tour. After much contemplation, I decided it was worthwhile to spend AUS$150 to go for the Backstage Tour, and I eventually went to the Box Office to buy a ticket for myself for the Backstage Tour scheduled on 17 Sep 2008.

Thereafter, it was time for lunch. I bought Fish & Chips from a food outlet located near Circular Quay. When I sat down to have my lunch, I was greeted by a seagull. A seagull that amused me.

My lunch that day: Fish & Chips.

As I was eating my lunch, the seagull looked at me with a keen pair of eyes. Maybe it was not looking at me. Maybe it was looking at the Fish & Chips in my hands. After a while, I noticed it was jumping on the spot. Was it trying to capture my attention? I was amused and humoured.

Whatever it was, I decided not to give in too early to this seagull even though I realised that it had wanted a share of the Fish & Chips that I was eating. The thing was that the Fish & Chips was pretty hot because it was cooked only after I had made my order. It won't be too safe to feed a seagull with piping hot Fish & Chips, would it?

I sat on a bence facing what you see on this photo to have my lunch and the seagull stood beside me most of the time while I was having lunch.

While having my lunch, the seagull continued to find ways to attract my attention. On a few occasions, it made a few calls. I also had the opportunity to observe this very seagull being so alert with all signs of potential availability of food nearby it. There was a person who finished her lunch and left crumbs of it on the floor. This seagull was so alert that it flew almost instantaneously to the source of food and claimed the food. I got to witness how this seagull tried to protect its find from another seagull with a short fight. Goodness, maybe this seagull was really hungry?

While the seagull was eating the crumbs of food that it has successfully protected from its contender, I have had some peace away from the seagull.

The Fish & Chips were quite good. It was just that I was not at my best state of physical health, and by the time I ate about 70% of the meal, I could no longer bring myself to eat any further. By that time I was done with my meal, the Fish & Chips had cooled quite a bit.

I left the tray of the uneaten Fish & Chips from my lunch on the floor. The seagull was pretty careful. It did not even attempt to touch it, although it looked very intensely at the Fish & Chips for quite a while. Realising that it was probably feeling fearful, I pushed the tray of Fish & Chips further away from me, and tried to look away. That moment, the seagull quickly seized a piece of fish to savour. It was quite interesting to see how it enjoyed its meal. Thereafter, it took a piece of chips.

I was pleasantly amused by this seagull. Anyway, in order to refrain from overfeeding it, I decided to throw all the remaining food from my lunch into the nearby bin. It was time for me to set off for St Leonards, which is located at the Northern part of Sydney.

A great treat for the ears

Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay in the background. (Singapore)

Many thanks to JY for her lovely company both for dinner and an inspiring concert to Stirrings of Youth performed by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra on 4 Oct 2008. I won a pair of tickets to this concert a couple of days ago with good luck.

The concert was a treat for my ears. The conductor sensitively led the orchestra to create refined, sensitively-interpreted and spontaneous sounds that left me enjoying almost every moment of the concert. I was deeply inspired by the sounds from the concert. Even though my auditory memory could not fully remember what exactly I had heard at the concert, I could remember that I was moved and inspired by the entire performance during the concert.

Here's the programme that I was treated to for the concert:
DEBUSSY - Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
MOZART - Concert-Rondo in D major, K. 382
PROKOFIEV - Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat major, Op. 10
SCHUMANN - Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120

I am not someone who would listen to Prokofiev's music on a regular basis. Yet I was glad that I had listened to his first Piano Concerto during the concert because I was struck to hear what a genius Prokofiev is as a composer. He simply writes very good music. I was struck by the originality and intensity of his First Piano Concerto. Alright, I am not a critic, but my ears told me that Prokofiev wrote very well as a composer. Vladimir Feltsman gave an impressive and intense rendition on the piano, making every moment worth listening to.

Cheers to the orchestra for putting up such a fabulous concert.

I am glad that I had attended the concert. It gave me a lot of good food for the mind and the soul. I felt energised internally.

Sharing the good-luck-rainbow with you

Last Friday, on 3 Oct 2008, before meeting up one of my good friends, Mystic, for dinner, I was at Marina Square area running an errand. I happen to look up at the skies and I saw, a rainbow. A rainbow that looked as if it was just beside the Singapore Flyer (a giant observatory wheel) from where I stood. It was a lovely sight. I stood there for a while admiring this simple and delightful sight.

Personally, I think having to sight a rainbow requires some good luck. If you are like myself who believes that seeing a rainbow means that one is in good luck, and will bring one good luck, here's to share the good-luck-rainbow with you! May it bring you lots of good luck.

When I see a rainbow, I would often be reminded of the lyrics from this song Over the Rainbow from the production, Wizard of Oz.

Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true

May your dreams come true.

Week 40 of year 2008 on the double bass

28 Sep 2008, Sun: The fingers remembered even after the break, yet again. Maybe I was more relaxed after a recharging break in Sydney, somehow despite having not practised on David Heyes' arrangement for the double bass of Pachelbel's Canon in D for quite a couple of months, and having a fairly long break away from dear husband (i.e. my own double bass, kept at my home), I actually managed playing through this work with just a couple of major glitches.

It was a recharging practice. Somehow, Pachelbel's Canon in D has a soothing effect on me most of the time when I practised it. The aim for the practice was to work some of the more difficult parts slowly so as to help the fingers remember what they should do when I were to play fast. I was on a practice high actually. However, knowing my physical limits for the day, I stopped practising after half-an-hour. My body was feeling physical exhausted having walked from Dhoby Ghaut area to Chinatown, and back, for close to 6 hours. I deserve to be nice to myself.

1 Oct 2008, Wed: It's a public holiday and I was able to have a day free from work. I used quite a bit of time to continue working on David Heyes' arrangement for the double bass of Pachelbel's Canon in D. As the focus of the practice was to achieve a sound sense of rhythmic, I used the metronome that I had purchased a month ago to help me tap the tempo. The metronome came useful as it gives out loud tapping sounds. I could sense my rhythm was more steady by the end of the practice session.

2 Oct 2008, Thu: There was no double bass lesson for the day. I worked on selected passages from Dragonetti's Concerto in A with the help of the metronome. Yes, achieving a secured sense of rhythm was one of the key goals. Similarly, I aimed for clearer articulation of the sounds. I enjoy the sensations of working out my fingers.

4 Oct 2008, Sat: I continued to practise a selected passages from Dragonetti's Concerto in A so as to improve the quality of the articulation, and to help the fingers familiarise themselves with the passage.

It's nice to be back practising.

15 Sep 2008: The Sydney Opera House Essential Tour

The walk from Circular Quay to Sydney Opera House was short and enjoyable. The very first thing I did when I reached the Sydney Opera House was to buy a ticket for myself to the Sydney Opera House Essential Tour, at the Box Office.

I'm glad that at least the physical pain that I had experienced in the late morning that day had not stop me from attending the Essential Tour. Thank goodness.

I was lucky that day, as part of the "Spring Special" promotions, the price of the tickets to the Essential Tour was reduced from AUS$35 to AUS$29 per pax. I would still go for the tour even if there's no discount. Yet, psychologically, a dollar saved is still a dollar earned.

Prior to the start of the tour, I walked about the open areas nearby the Sydney Opera House. I was fascinated with the lovely harbour views and the design of the Sydney Opera House. I also spent some time browsing the Sydney Opera House Shop.

Seagulls flying!

At 11 a.m., the tour I had registered for was ready to commence. There was at least twenty people in the group. I was the only person from Singapore in the group! Everyone was asked to deposit their bulky belongings in the Cloak Room. That certainly helped to relieve me of some baggage.

Sydney Opera House is an remarkable architectural masterpiece. Jørn Utzon is the architect who designed this fabulous work. It is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 28 Jun 2007. I cannot fully describe how just by being in the building, and exploring about it had brought me much inspirations. Maybe the photos could not even do it justice. Photos and writings may not fully express how awesome the Sydney Opera House, so I am glad that I was simply there to experience it.

The tour group climbed up these flights of stairs
which are normally out-of-bounds to members of the public.

The view of Sydney Harbour Bridge from Sydney Opera House. After climbing the flights of stairs.

Taken at Sydney Opera House.

Just outside the Concert Hall of Sydney Opera House.

Outside the concert hall. I love the curves and the lines.

The inspiring sail-like structure.

I believe that no visit to the Sydney Opera House would be complete without knowing its history. One thing about the Essential Tour that I particularly like is that it gives visitors an appreciation of the history and significance behind the Sydney Opera House. I simply love it and would like to point readers to read more about the history of the Sydney Opera House here: http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/about/house_history_landing.aspx

Other than learning about the history of the Sydney Opera House and the amount of challenges that were met in building this fine architectural masterpiece, tour participants were also treated to a tour about various parts of the Sydney Opera House. These include: the Drama Theatre, the Playhouse, the Concert Hall and the Opera Theatre. We even had the pleasure to catch glimpses of a rehearsal that was held in the Concert Hall. The acoustic was good.

I learnt that the Drama Theatre has a ceiling that is constructed based on principles similar to our refrigerators at home. It's probably apt that the tour-guide described the Drama Theatre as having 'a refrigerated ceiling'. What an interesting technology.

We also learnt that all the stage-managers who work at the Sydney Opera House, at the time of our visit, were females. Perhaps it goes to show that the job would go to anyone, irregardless of gender. Cheers.

The waiting area outside the Opera House.

The ad of Europa Galante's performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons caught my eyes.

The Sydney Opera House.

The tour ended at the Opera Theatre with a video of the soft-spoken Jørn Utzon who designed the Sydney Opera House. He shared a inspiring quote at the end of the video. A speech which I wished that I could have jotted down back then. If not, I could only remember the essence of it vaguely by now. However, luckily, I've found a YouTube video on Jørn Utzon, and I've found the quote that he had quoted: "Give me a job so that I can devote myself with love and skill 100%. Then it is not a job anymore, then it becomes an art and an expression of love. And this is the Opera House."

Do check out the YouTube video. On the side, I am in the process of finding and securing a job that I can devote myself with love and skill 100%. May I get there soon.

An inspiring tour that I am glad I had went for. I highly recommend the Essential Tour to all first time visitors to the Sydney Opera House who likes architecture and/or the performing arts.

15 Sep 2008: Walk towards the Sydney Opera House

For myself who plays on a musical instrument, and has the pleasure to perform in concerts at least twice a year, a visit to the Sydney Opera House, the performing arts venue in Sydney, was simply essential.

However, before my visit to Sydney, I had checked out the programmes that would be performed at the Sydney Opera House during the period of my stay in Sydney and no particular programme interested me. Admittedly, I have very specific preferences. I love music from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic period. On the side, it was sweet of my friend, XS, to have also checked out for suitable concerts at Sydney Opera House before my arrival to Sydney. She's definitely spot-on to realise that none of the programme held during the period of my stay would interest me.

My next best option was to check out the Sydney Opera House's Essential Tour. After much contemplation, I also went for the Sydney Opera House's Backstage Tour on a different day. I am very glad that I have went for these two tours. It was simply an eye-opening and inspiring experience to simply be inside the Sydney Opera House.

If readers have figured it out, my destination after walking a long stretch of George Street in the morning of 15 Sep 2008 was the Sydney Opera House. Here's to share photos of my walk towards the Sydney Opera House from the Circular Quay area.

Circular Quay.

Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background.

Sydney Opera House.

Taken from Sydney Opera House.

I must say, the walk towards the Sydney Opera House was an absolutely beautiful one. There were simply so many lovely sights to admire.

Please stay tuned for more about my visit to the Sydney Opera House.

EastCoastLife n LG Contest

Photo credit: from Eastcoastlife.

Fellow blogger, Eastcoastlife, has been extremely generous. She offers to give away the latest model 60" (152 cm) Full HD Plasma TV sponsored by LG, to ONE lucky winner! Of course, this is possible because of the generosity of LG.

What does one have to do to win the LG Full HD Plasma TV?

The answer is simple: Just take part in the EastCoastLife n LG Contest.

The contest is opened to all legal residents of Singapore (except employees and the families of LG and EastCoastLife). Simply read Eastcoastlife's blog from 15th September to 25 October 2008, and answer the ten questions for this contest and then submit the entry to the specified address. The entry must reach Eastcoastlife by 12 midnight, 25th October 2008.

More details can be found here: EastCoastLife is giving away a 60" LG HD Plasma TV!!

The winner will be announced on 26th October 2008, 10 p.m.

I am not interested in television, even if it is the latest model. Even though there was a nice plasma television in the hotel room that I had stayed in while I was in Sydney for holiday, I did not have any interest to watch it except to catch glimpses of the Australian's local news. However, yours truly would like to make an attempt at this contest. If I should ever win the Plasma TV, I will sell it and donate all the sales proceeds to a specified charity.

Anyway, if you are keen to win the Plasma TV for whatever reasons, please check out Eastcoastlife's contest now.

15 Sep 2008: Solo walk along George St

During the meaningful meet-up with my friend on 14 Sep 2008, I've learnt from my friend a bit about how happiness can be achieved by living each day as if it was one's last. It is about learning to live each day fully, with no regret. A simple yet profound insight.

Reflecting, I'm glad that I've set aside time to travel to Sydney to visit my friend. Meeting XS is one of the things that I wish to do, for at least an hour or two, so as to live life fully, without regret.

Somehow, my mood for the morning of 15 Sep 2008 was as sunny as the sunshine that shone through the glass ceilings of the hotel's lobby. The air-well looked so lovely against the sunny skies. With a light-hearted mood, I began my day with a solo walk along George Street.

Many of the shops were not even opened for the day when I began my walk along George Street, to head towards the Sydney Opera House. The city of Sydney is beautiful in its own way. One way to enjoy the sights of the city is to travel about the city by foot. I was glad that instead of using the railway, I walked from one end of George Street to the other. The walk probably took me close to half-an-hour at a leisure pace.

The Central Baptist Church.

A relatively quiet city in the morning.

I learnt from RL that 'Hungry Jack' is an international variation of what we commonly know as 'Burger King' in Singapore'.

Near Town Hall station.

I like how the branches of this tree hid the building in the background.

15 Sep 2008 was a special day. I learnt, when I was nearby Town Hall railway station, that at 12 noon that day, there would be a parade for the athletes who had taken part in the Beijing Olympics 2008. These athletes would parade along George St. A long stretch of George St was to be closed to the traffic so as to make way for the parade. I did not go for the parade because I was not interested in it. Nevertheless, I managed to catch glimpses of the preparations for the parade.

Preparations for the parade. The roads of George St were sealed segment by segment.

No more car, because of the parade of the Olympics athletes.

The parade for the Olympics athletes probably started nearby here.

It was a pretty interesting walk along George Street I must say.

The flashing red-man

This is a traffic-light trivia. In Singapore, when the green-man of the traffic light for the pedestrians flashes, it means that pedestrians who have yet to cross the road should not cross the road, but should wait for the next green-man to appear before crossing. Once the red-man appears, one should have reached the other side of the road, and that's the time for vehicles to have their way.

Interestingly, I noticed during my short vacation in Sydney that Sydney uses a different system for its traffic lights for the pedestrians. The same system was also observed when I was in Melbourne for slightly more than 24 hours. Maybe this system is used throughout Australia?

Instead of a flashing green-man, the flashing red-man is used to signal to pedestrians who have yet to cross the road that they are not to cross the road. These pedestrians should wait for the next green-man to appear before crossing.

I did not realise that the traffic lights for the pedestrians operated differently in Sydney initially. As such, the first few times I crossed the roads in Sydney, I had wondered why the pedestrians seem to have such a short a time to cross the road. Why did the traffic lights turn red so quickly? That was because I thought that I have to be on the other side of the road by the time that the red-man appear. I was wrong, I was simply in a country with a different traffic light system.

Maybe I was too conditioned to the traffic light system in Singapore. I found it a little hard to determine when the vehicles would have their turn to have the right of the way with a blinking red-man system. It was just too hard for me to differentiate if the red-man was blinking or not.

RL would probably be amused that yours truly had actually stood near a traffic light just to do a video recording of the flashing red-man in action. Anyway, please sit back and be amused. Some entertainment with a trivia like this can be educational and interesting.

Here's the link to the YouTube video of the flashing red-man that I have uploaded: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhyrYNXat1w. Please look carefully to find the traffic lights for the pedestrians.

May the good luck spread to you

This post is intended to spread positive vibes and good luck around. May you catch some of these.

This morning, just out of fun, I called in to the Symphony 92.4 FM call-in contest. The first two times that I tried to call the hotline, I could not get through. Anyway, I decided to stick to my usually strategy, to call at least three time before giving up. And when I made my third attempt, I got through!

As such, yours truly is one of the lucky winners of a pair of complimentary tickets to an upcoming Singapore Symphony Orchestra's concert: Stirrings of Youth.

I'm looking forward to listen to Vladimir Feltsman play on the piano. I've heard him on one occasion, and he looked very cool when he plays the piano. Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun is also something worth listening for because it is seldom played live in concert. I am looking forward to listen to Lü Jia's interpretations of this well-known Debussy's work. I don't know much about Schumann's Symphony No. 4 in D minor, but the very fact that one of my favourite composers, Brahms, was in some ways influenced by Schumann, makes this Symphony a work that I would be keen to listen to.

So with good luck, I have got myself complimentary tickets to listen to some good music. Maybe one thing to learn is, don't give up too early, do make enough attempts.

May the good luck spread to you. Good luck to you.

14 Sep 2008: the evening adventures

The privilege and honour to have the company of a good friend has made the evening a meaningful one. After driving across the beautiful Anzac Bridge, we continued a journey on the roads of Sydney.

We stopped by at the private studio of a local artist, and good luck enabled me to speak with this artist who does pretty good nudes and landscape paintings. It was interesting listening to his ideas and approaches towards painting. We saw a painting that he had done which my friend liked very much. I wished I was a little more energetic to be more engaged in appreciating his works. Perhaps the time difference and the challenge of adjusting to a different climate have got me to use up quite a bit of my energy by that evening. Anyway, all the best to this artist. May he get a chance to achieve the artistic milestones that he envisioned.

One of the other stops that we had made was one of the local supermarkets. This was a special tour, I should think. Afterall, this was my first visit to a local supermarket for this very trip to Australia. Furthermore, it was a tour about the supermarket with a good friend. The food produces that were available at the local supermarket looked pretty fresh.



One of the last stops for the evening was Chinatown, Sydney. My friend had wanted to have dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Market City but it was closing by that time of the evening. We were not even in time for the last order of the day. That was how we eventually ended up at Chinatown to have Chinese food. My friend generously treated me to a lovely dinner. I was more than contented to have good company in her, and to get to eat vegetables for the dinner. Many thanks to my friend for her treat to bread with pesto and camomile tea earlier the day too.




We spent some time catching up over dinner. My thoughtful and kind friend gave me a lift back to the hotel after the dinner even though my hotel was simply a few minutes walk from Chinatown.

That evening, I wish I could have a stronger auditory memory. My dear friend sang a couple of lovely tunes in her car. Those are her happy tunes I suppose? She said she sang those tunes because she felt happy. Her tunes were infectiously happy and those tunes have a delightful effect on me. It has brought joy to me to know that my friend is happy. I care, and I wish XS bliss every moment.

14 Sep 2008: The meaningful meet-up with a treasured friend

Anzac Bridge.

A special post like this deserves a meaningful and thoughtful introduction. My instincts told me that I shall begin this post by pointing readers to one of my favourite chapters from The Little Prince written and illustrated by Antoine de Saint Exupéry, translated from the French by Katherine Woods. Chapter 21. The essence of this chapter will provide a meaningful introduction to my memorable and meaningful meet-up with a friend of mine whom I cherish.

This is a friend who has 'tamed' me, like how the Little Prince has tamed his rose and the fox: The heart-warming birthday greetings, the few amusing notes that were sent, the greeting cards that have brought delight, the phone calls after school hours, the treasured company, the trips to concerts together, her interesting insights to life and friendship, the respect and thoughtfulness that she gives to her friends, her simply being herself and more.

Or was it that I have allowed myself to be tamed? Anyway, she is probably one of the first friends whom I make conscious efforts to establish friendship at a deeper level. The moments meeting up with her in Sydney were precious and meaningful because I was meeting up with a good friend whom I cherish.

While the meet-up did not involve much travel to the regular tourists' sites, the moments spent with a good friend is way more significant and meaningful than having conquered the Blue Mountains and having toured the Sydney Opera House altogether.

My words of appreciation to this friend of mine whom I've met on the afternoon of 14 Sep 2008. She drove me about many parts of Sydney and lent me her treasured company. Many thanks to her for letting me know that my gifts to her were appreciated and came useful. I have had a fun and pleasant time getting the gifts for her. It was a bonus to learn that she has found the gifts apt. While I am still learning how to be a better friend, it was a humble success for me to be of some service to a good friend of mine. For these, I am deeply contented.

I am also deeply grateful for the privileged opportunity to meet up with her, and to get to know this friend of mine better during this trip. I've learnt more about her favourite music and some of her aspirations.

Many thanks to her for her treat to snack (tea) and dinner. She also gave me a lovely drive across Anzac Bridge, and the view was beautiful against the evening skies. The Anzac Bridge is the longest cable-stayed bridge in Australia. On the ride across the bridge, she reminded me to simply enjoy the view and to stop playing with my camera. A very good advice which I followed after taking the photo below. Some beautiful moments are to be savoured with the eyes, and not through the camera's lenses.




My heartfelt thanks to XS for her friendship and hospitality. Wishing her dreams come true and happiness.

Finally, back to Chapter 21 of The Little Prince, treasure and make time establishing ties with friends. They make life more meaningful and enriching.