On Eagles' Wings

Last week, I was the emcee for the Young Musicians in Concert organised by the music school at which I teach part-time. I've been their emcee for the past three annual Christmas Concerts at the music school, located in a tiny nook in Rasah Jaya Phase One. So being the emcee for this year's Young Musicians in Concert isn't such a biggie, right? WRONG. This was a much bigger event, held in Auditorium Taman Budaya (the hall behind the State Museum) with an expected audience of 500. Five hundred people, yo. When I've only emceed in front of a crowd of like, 80? @.@ In addition to the ganjeong- ness all that already gave me, I only found out I was going to emcee on the Friday before the Concert on Sunday. A mere two days' notice. Nope. I ain't kidding. The lady who was supposed to emcee cancelled at the last minute for some emergency reason I was not told of. Ms. Chen, the principal, then called me up (actually, she woke  me up--so emb...

Every year, my (music education) alma mater, Melody Music School , holds a concert in conjunction with Christmas. Since I graduated from the school (when I completed my Grade 8 --highest level-- Theory and Practical studies, and took the Diploma exam but failed to pass by 5 marks >.<) I have often been asked to return by the Principal, Ms. Chen (or Mrs. Tee by now, but I still haven't gotten used to it, even though her daughter is now aged 4 years =.=).  Sometimes as a stand-in teacher (which is how I finally ended up with my current part-time job teaching the kids once a week), and sometimes, for three years now, as Master of Ceremony (MC) for the Christmas Concert. The Christmas Concert has a simple purpose, really. It serves as a platform for the young musicians to showcase their talent, as well as to develop their skills in performing. When the higher-grade students perform, you can't help but admire and, occasionally, envy the light to...

Charlotte was a little girl. But she was no ordinary little girl. She didn't have eyes that sparkled blue like the sea. She didn't have hair that was as silky as a newborn's bottom. If you looked at her closely enough, she looked like any other little girl, anywhere. But what was so special about little Charlotte was not her appearance, or her disposition. Rather it was something that happened on the very day that little Charlotte came into our world. Her mother went into labour on an ordinary day, in an ordinary hospital. The doctor was there, right on schedule, and the entire process of delivering baby Charlotte into the world went smoothly without any problems at all. But a tiny frown appeared on the good doctor's brow when, after snipping off baby Charlotte's umbilical cord, there was only silence in the delivery room. Hmmm , the good doctor said. What's wrong? Charlotte's parents asked. The baby , he replied. The doctor reflected on all h...

It has seriously been aaaggeesss since I last wrote here. Which is evident in the date of my last post. (February? OMG, what have I been doing? >.<) What is my reason for the long leave of absence? Certainly not for lack of things to write. Three months is certainly not a short time. A lot of things have happened in that time. I had so many major events during my second semester of my second year of undergraduate studies. Strange that I got myself involved in so many things at the same time. Some were even back to back, week after week, there was practically no rest at all ! I could not go home for weeks at a time, sometimes a month, because I was busy with events, preparing for events. I was tired, exhausted. But all the events, regardless of all the "pain-in-the-butt" incidences, was an experience in itself. This semester was all about trying something new, challenging myself to go beyond what I knew, and what I was comfortable with. The biggest event wa...

Tegami is Japanese for letter. I discovered this Japanese-Italian-American descent singer (no wonder she did not look pure Japanese when I first saw her video!) after Chiew Yen told me about her. Angela Aki was born Kiyomi Aki on the 15th of September 1977 in Itano, Japan. She is a Japanese singer-songwriter who also wrote and sang the theme song for Final Fantasy XII . She has a beautiful, melodious voice. From the first video I watched her in, which is Tegami , I could see that she is passionate about her music, and she could really kick-a** playing the piano! After that, I watched Home , and I was further impressed. Her higher range of voice is just so sweet and soothing. And she kicked-a** (word of the month) playing the piano then too!! In Tegami her fifteen-year-old self writes to her future self for counsel and advice. She seems to be going through pain. What now? In reply, she writes a letter to her fifteen-year-old self, telling her(self) to not ever give up, ...

The other night, I was feeling pretty bored (cos my 2 brothers were absent..sigh) and my parents were all doing their own thing. I mean, the were each doing something. They were doing something else. Ah, you know what I mean. I turned on the TV and flipped from channel to channel. But nothing really interesting was on. Then at 10.30 pm, 8TV had a programme on called Unzipped. I wasn't too interested. The last time I watched an episode, a local band (was it Bittersweet? Or something like that) was featured. The songs they played, was em, not my cup of tea, to say the least. But this episode, they were featuring Jaclyn Victor - our very own Malaysian Idol #1!!!! I think she's sweet :)   I have to say, I'm a fan of Jaclyn Victor. Since watching Malaysian Idol when it was aired on 8TV a couple of years ago (was it 4? I forget.), I have yet to see another local singer surpass her singing and performing talents on-stage. She is the BOMB, I kid you not. She has the k...