Pakki's Grooming Session

Due to inflation, pakki won't get to go to the groomers from yesterday onwards. Might as well.. coz they kept him in the small small cage for 6 or more hours.. then he got nothing to do. By the time he got home, he looked quite traumatized... wonder what they do to him lor.

So sis got him a shaver.. specially for dogs de wor! His shaver cost $90.. special one.. The blades were partly plastic so it won't hurt the dog.. how innovative. However, there is still a chance of hurting the dog's ears if not careful..

Pakki's grooming session (exculde bathing) costs around $40+.. so by the 2nd cut, it'll pay for the shaver le. The only thing is, after the cut, the whole place is super messy.. plus pakki is not being cooperative at all! LOL.. no wonder he looked so depressed after his visit to the groomers.. maybe they tied him up?


Pakki's new shaver


After the DIY grooming.. erm.. looks almost the same to me leh..

The movie "10 Promises To My Dog" was screened last week.. awww.. how cute the GR is. Wanted to watch the movie but.. oh well.. but from the review and the trailer, already was quite touching le..

Got the 10 promises from some forum.. apparently, there are quite a few translation.. i don't know jap, so i just cut and paste lor..

The 10 promises.. and the translation:


1. Please live patiently with me.
2. Please believe in me. Just doing that makes me happy.
3. Please don't forget that I have feelings.
4. There's a reason when I don't listen to you.
5. Please talk a lot to me. I can't speak human, but I understand.
6. Please don't hit me. Don't forget that I'm stronger when we fight.
7. Let's get along even when I get older.
8. I can only live about ten years. So please spend a lot of time with me.
9. You have school and friends. But I only have you.
10. When I die, please, stay by my side. And please remember. That I love you my whole life.




The GR (Golden Retriever.. in case you are wondering) is called "socks" wor... so cute... so i've decided to nick name Pakki as "gloves".. at least until the movie ends.. lol.

Pic of "Gloves"..

He looks like a GR too right? At least that's what i think so.. just that the colour is wrong again.. maybe a BR instead.

Meritocracy

If an orchestra is managed as if like a business unit, then it must really be based on meritocracy.

A system of such focuses on the skills and talents.. and perhaps neglect the objective of having such an orchestra (if there is any). For one, this isn't just the normal orchestra that you find out in the streets lor.. (how can this style of management work?)

And having the right level of skill doesn't mean you'll reach out to more people.. nope, not even the public. IMO, i don't really enjoy the performances by the SSO.. call me ignorant or what, they just don't get their music across to me. Perhaps they can reach out to more sophisticated people out there.. but the general public? I don't think so.

Of coz, having a higher level of skill is like having a large bank reserve.. more choices, able to do more.. but, not always better. And again, everything must be justified.. such as the electricity bill and so on.. and of coz, this is no CCA where we come for recreation. So how do we justify the money spent? Not by the number of public performance (we must be good enough just so we don't go out and disgrace ourselves wor..) but the number of people inspired by the performance.

Already quite don't understand why a wind band had to be turned into an orchestra... we don't even have the minimum number required. Now there is a minimum requirement on the skill level - grade 5 or equivalent (so that we are able to perform when required.. so as to reach out to the public).. omg.. omg.. where are we heading to? Sometimes, target setting must be realistic also leh.. we are not clark kent hor.. i just don't understand.. do they really understand?

Today's practice was a huge contrast to the previous. Although we had more (better) players, i don't feel as inspired as the last. I can't even feel anything.. i can't feel the tempo, and i can't sense the tuning.

Of coz, i also tying to progress on my playing, and on my faith. I don't mean to say we don't need skills.. but we certainly need a lot more faith.

Euros

A day to the semi finals of euros, consists of mostly the runners up of the group table. Surprisingly, all in the "group of death" (group C) are already 'dead'. Defending champions of euro, runners up and champions of the last world cup are all out of the competition. Even favorites like portugal and holland are out.

In fact, if you bet against the favorites, you'll have made quite a bit during the quarters.

Almost thought of buying the german jersey.. haha.. and like me, pakki supports germany too(his breed is of a german descent).

Pakki's all ready for the semi finals le..

He plays soccer too..


with a homemade 'wig'.. hahahaa...

I hope the germans will win this time round.

Sunday MG

Woke up 3am to catch euro.. then.. it rained at 6am. Was supposed to deliver bacon's estates to the other wl... and the lack of sleep + nice weather makes me just want to put areoplane.

It rained so heavily in the morning and i had to walk to the busstop at jln tpy... i thought it was highly inaccessible, but was wrong. Had quite a bit of shelter from the flats and the covered walkway all the way.. and, no. 5 was there too. Maybe next time i can alight a busstop earlier and walk instead.

Christmas was early this year coz the other wl didn't answer the phone (and door).. so had to leave the cage at the doorstep there lor.

Was just in time to do gongyo.. and after MG, saw our conductress.. she was the emcee wor.. and i didn't realised. Was having a stir coffee session while waiting for the rain to stop.. it just rain and rain lor.. and that session inspired me somehow.. haha.. but i won't be taking my horn grading as yet. Music theory perhaps, but not horn grading.. at least not anytime soon.

Saturday Practice

Forgot to bring along my DW 5N mouthpiece... i only discovered while on the way to the busstop.. Luckily i had a spare one in my bag.. lol.. my 1st mouthpiece which i acquired in 1997. I think my memory is getting rather bad these days.. kept forgetting things.. especially so was my spelling.. lol.. i think i mis-spelt a lot of words these days. Better to get a job that deals just with numbers.

Sections was a bit better actually. Tried a woodwind quintet piece with the rest of them. It sound so nice to have a full instrumentation. Dislike the use of bass clef though.. coz other than transposing, i had to read a different clef.. haha.. i'm just not used to it yet.. and it prevents my brain from rusting.

Then.. another transposition piece after practice.. haha.. this time in E. By the time i'm done, i think i can transpose into any other key, and be able to read other instruments' score le.

Reached home rather early thanks to ml (and her parents) for the ride to tpy.

Felt rather delighted on the whole.. and i liked the tone of my baobei horn for that practice.. anyway, that horn wasn't mine. Mine was still with my other colleague.

Glad i didn't siam practice.. haha.. and a nicer tone always give me the momemtum i need.

As Usual (the Usual)

Suddenly CQ steamboats are replaced by newton circle. And as usual, the usual food of kang kong, sting ray, hum and sugercane drink. Actually it was cheaper than CQ steamboat.. around $12-14 per person. Nice food (depends on where you choose to sit lar..), good price, and of coz, still the same selling floor.

As usual, DOTA again after dinner.. no need to think one.

Saw some familiar faces on the train.. maybe once in a lifetime.

Was off after DOTA to catch euro at some braddell canteen.. reached early around 12mn and was 'shocked'.. coz not much people. At 1am, we realised we were the only ones there. Better to go somewhere else lor.. i might as well watch at home like that.

In the end, went to the nearby mac... and it was rather packed. A rather 'interesting' place... considering that it's just a fast food restaurant. Yet, another goalless draw. Duh.

Randomness

Even though so, i'll have this numbing pain now and then. Equity premium puzzle ar? Also felt numbness in one of my toes.. lol.. frostbite in sg?

It was tiring trying to catch every single match of the euro, but i'm happy to be able to. Nice was the match when a 12-men Italy vs a 9-men France.. lol.. i think i laugh until want to peng le. There seems to be much conspircy theory going on.. as with everything else.. don't know what happened to people these days.. maybe they think they are too smart and everyone is out to chop their cabbage head ba. Then there was the midnight supper of consecutive bcm.. eat until i scared le lor. Pakki was also part of the euro craze.. and his bio clock is almost like that of mine le.

Installed FF7 (Final Fantasy VII) for the PC again.. lol.. it was released in 1997 wor.. ahahaha.. 10 years ago. I still remembered i first played it in 1998. I was sec 3 then.. and then i just played for a day before i need to go for OBS camp. The game was so revolutionary that i kept thinking of going home during OBS. Then the PC was super lousy.. the graphics card also CMI. 10 years on, i had a better comp and OS.. and actually it was 'too good' le.. hahaa.. it actually cannot support such an old game wor. LOL.. technology - it prevents you from going backwards.

2005, they released the movie "Advent Children" based on FF7. The graphics was so nice lor... you can see for yourself..


1997 FF7, Tifa and Cloud (as in the game)


1997 FF7, Aries and Tifa (as in a cutscene)


2005 AC, Tifa.. see the difference? LOL..

Maybe 10 years on, they might do another remake.. till then, who knows?

Horns in D

Another reason why i don't like classical music, or rather, playing in an orchestra.

Other than the change of role, there are much more weirder notations in orchestra pieces. Of coz i've seen them before.. but.. 10 years without seeing them again, who could have remembered? Almost 10 months ago, i was asked to transpose a score in G. I did it wrong the 1st time, and i found the answer.. but since, it was another 10 months before i encounter something like that again, i couldn't remember how to transpose. Made the same fundamental mistake again.. lol. This time round, i had to transpose a score in D.

In case you might wonder why are they are making life so 'difficult' for THP, i think what i heard might provide some clues. It seems (other than those common reasons as to why tranposing instruments exist) the main reason is to save cost (for our orchestra that is). Scores can be quite very expensive coz of the IP issues.. so i understand lor.. but since after this, i got another thing that i might want to remember.

Changes in the orchestra, which i think sometimes it's best to just let FST do its work. I know i'll still stay (at least for now).. and of coz, a need to 'polish' up lo.. hahaha.. already the 'solo' HP cannot free ride wor.

Maybe we are moving in a new direction... maybe it was still the same direction. But without people, it doesn't matter much.

2 Deaths in a Row

Actually i already noticed something was not quite right a few days back. Didn't expect it to be so soon though.

Well.. after 15 months, bacon passed away. And coincidentally, today is friday the 13th.

Goodbye bacon~

(hopes he find ham at the other side of the rainbow bridge)

At least he died peacefully.. unlike the hermie tall =( (2 deaths in a week.. how unfortunate)

Unexpected

One of my hermit was 'murdered' by another hermit... and the rest of the hermits just feast on it. A rather disturbing sight.

Ok.. now i do have a very empty shell le.

Still unsure why it happened.. most likely it's another case of a surface molt gone wrong. I've have fed them enough, so i don't think it was caused by a lack of food.

So now with the smallest hermit gone, i'm left with 2 of them..

And i thought they were "getting along well" wor.. Animals afterall, are still animals.. what can i expect?


Getting along well.. (or checking out the taste?)


The crime scene..


The remains.

Sigh =(

Since the Last Paper

First of all, congrats to my cousin yuhui on her wedding, and wishing her a blissful marriage.

Since after the exams, my schedule is quite packed. Been running around quite a lot and been on a lot of other activities and events. And really, i haven't been sleeping well since my last paper. Nope, i didn't lose sleep.. just that i came home late for the past few days. Glad that pakki was always around to greet me no matter how late, and it just make some of the tiredness go away (for a while only).

1st Saturday since the last paper, and resumed my band (orchestra) practice. Quite a lot didn't turn up coz they were performing for mr nine (how come he didn't want horn player ar? or he didn't want me only? LOL). My not so bao bei horn got its valve stuck (since i didn't do any upkeeping for months) and i spent quite a bit of time trying to get it working again lor. Was quite bored trying to play some morzart pieces.. and i don't like classical music at all, especially when i got to read bass clef.. and perhaps even had to transpose. Ar.. Was 'eating snake' (and wang wang) when i got caught by boss.. hahaha... too daring le. Then boss got an assignment for me - to help out in QM. Though of siam-ing this arrow, but i remembered what my aunt said when she accepted to be the vice boss.. so i think i should follow too.

Was asked about my exams, and seriously, i think it was quite chwee lor. Supposed to be 'encouraged', but the more things i hear, the more kia i am. LOL.. maybe when the results are released, i'll get heartattack. Glad band ended 'early', and i was early lor.. (actually i was supposed to be earlier).. oh well, weather was quite nice for sleeping wor.

Was at Dbl O for a post exams 'celebration', that is, if i had anything to celebrate. Ate a lot for a night outing, instead of drinking. I've lost yet another 2kgs since the exams lor. After leveling up so much, i guess after all, it's up to our own resposibility to limit ourselves when drinking. Seen a lot of people chwee at oo, maybe they all got 'xin1 shi4' huh? Especially was when a lady got herself drunk.. i'm not a sexist, but really sometimes, it just isn't same. What i can say is, not everyone will abide to 'integrity' de lor.

Anyway, it doesn't concern me.. i knew my limits (most of the time).. just that today, vodka seems to be FOC.. lol.. the vodka sprite become sprite vodka. Who still dare to say $12 housepour is dilute de? Ended up, we each had a jug, and it was gone in around 30 mins, and with that, 2 of my friend also got decommissioned. Spent the rest of the time at the dance floor, and machiam like do aerobics like that lor.. hahaha.. coz while waiting for them to 'recovery', we had nothing to do.. so just dance and dance.. and i dance until want to sleep liao.. hahaa.. too tired i guess.

After that, went for another round of supper again.. and sigh, the (one set of) ba kut teh with a plate of salted veg cost me $7.. hahahaaa.. i can have a upsized meal of mac lor.. and with drink somemore. Well.. blame it on inflation.

Was waiting for NR to save some cab fare, in the end, we missed 2 of them.. then had to take cab back after waiting for 30 mins. The cab cost $6 since i shared with my other friend.. heng ar.

Still uncertain of getting a job or not.. i'm just worried that, if i apply for a job based on my 'degree'.. and if really suay suay (touchwood), then how ar? Sian lor.. i rather pay $49 for $51 of certainty.

And today i just realised, certain things are just like the equity premium puzzle wor.. and i thought there isn't any puzzle anymore.

After Exams

After 16 years of studying.. finally got to do something else. No matter what the outcome may be, i'm just glad that i won't need to study full time anymore.

Yesterday's paper was at FTC (orchard) instead of expo.. ahaha.. and it was such a nice venue for exams lor.. better than expo anyways. Spent less time travelling, and it felt like going back to CP for work.

The last paper was perhaps the best out of the 3.. coz i knew 6/8 of the questions. Too bad i write too slowly, and my pen ran out of ink in between. A lot of the candidate left halfway.. paper too easy le ar? or nothing to write?

So when everything was over, i was so glad.. haha.. then met some of my friends for dinner at newton again. The food was nice as usual, just that again, the whole food center was like the selling floor like that.

Some of the food we had:

Guess what? Ice Cream poh-piah!


Chicken Wings!

Met up with another friend just back from Europe to la kopi. Already been without sleep for more than 24 hours, but i was still quite awake.. maybe coz of the kopi tarik.. or at least i thought so. Again, i forgot to take my bag when i left.. hahahahaa... for the 6th or 7th time le. My STM is getting quite bad wor.. Even more strange was, i always remember it somehow. Next time remind me to take my bag hor..

Now that all is over, time to think about what to do next.. and what else if the worst case scenerio happens. Meanwhile, i need to change my lifestyle back le.. or perhaps not.. euro 2008 is here.