Lunch With Vincent
My sis and I had lunch with well-known Canadian producer-songwriter, Vincent DEGIORGIO today at Muthu's Curry at Race Course Road. He's here for a few days on a social visit to meet up with friends. It was nice seeing him again since last September. We had a nice chat and the food at Muthu's is very delicious, though very spicy. I'll definitely go there again.
Onion Remedy
This afternoon, I found out from a student's mum that putting sliced onions beside you when you sleep can help to kill germs, especially when you are sick. It can also make you feel better the next day. You can also put the onions anywhere around the house that are germs-infected. She has been using this method whenever her kids are sick and it has always worked.
The mum kindly brought me a plate of sliced onions today to put in my studio to kill my flu germs, so my studio now stink of onions. The smell is so strong that I felt like vomitting everytime I open the door, but for health's sake, I had to bear with it.
Hopefully this method will work for me so I don't have to visit a doctor anymore. Haha.
Where Is The Music Spirit?
This evening, my sis told me the results of the Trinity competition held at NAFA, and how a not-deserving pianist managed to get a prize, while 2 very deserving pianist didn't win anything. I wasn't surprised. After attending and playing for so many competitions here and abroad, I've come to understand one thing:-
If you want to take part in a competition, you don't have to play well. You just need a very influential teacher and you'll be safe and bound to go through all the way to the finals. Not surprisingly, you may also win a prize, whether you deserve it or not.
After taking part as accompanist at a recent international competition, I found that the biography of competitors and who their teachers are, are very important. 1 competitor has 2 of the most famous names in the international music scene as teachers, so even though he acted like a clown on stage and his playing was so-so during the quarter-finals, he somehow managed to get to the semifinals. Another competitor has a Naxos recording contract under her belt, so even though she played like s*** during the quarter-finals, she got through all the way to the finals and eventually won 3rd prize. Not forgetting that during the quarter-finals, she played on the instrument belonging to the head of jury, as her own instrument got "lost". She was given a few to choose from and not suprisingly, only the one belonging to the "high-and-mighty" suited her. Her own instrument miraculously appeared after the quarter-finals. It is no wonder that most of the other competitors hated her. Sadly, a very deserving and talented competitor with no impressive background was shown the door at the quarter-finals.
In another competition, the judges consisted of teachers, and the competitors? Their very own students. So it was a fight between the teachers as to which of their students should get through to the next round. They gave their own students very high marks and other students, as low as possible. 1 judge even gave a competitor (obviously not his student) 0 mark even though everybody expected this competitor to win the top prize. It was later speculated that the judge knew of how strong the competitor was, so he booted him out first, so that his own student would be safe. Not surprisingly, his own student won the grand prize, even though he missed 2 lines of the concerto during the finals!
Very unfortunately, the above are real-life examples of what is happening in today's competitions (hopefully, not all!) around the world.
To the above judges:-
Aren't you suppose to judge a competitor by how well he played during the competition, and not who his teacher is, or how impressive his bio is?
Aren't you the least concerned that your judging has confused many people, such that they don't know anymore what is good playing?
Aren't you ashamed that you have lowered the general music standard doing what you did?
Aren't you ashamed that you have shown utter disrespect to the composers doing what you did?
In short, aren't you ashamed of yourselves?
The Haunted School
This evening, a student told me that the school that she was teaching in is haunted.
Just earlier today, as she was walking up the stairs to the staff room, she heard someone whispering her name. She looked up and down the stairs, and around her, and couldn't see anyone. Feeling freaky, she quickly walked to the staff room and told one of her collegues.
In another incident sometime back, she locked up the band room before leaving for home. Early the next morning, she received a call from the school security asking her why she left the room door wide open, but she was very sure that she locked it.
She also told me that a student in her school has the 3rd eye. She sees 3 ghosts in the school, sometimes wearing the school uniform, sometimes headless. A number of students have also seen them wandering in the school premises.
Now is the lunar 7th month, also known as the "month of ghosts". May all the ghosts and spirits rest in peace.
Christchurch Concert Hall
Christchurch Symphony Orchestra
1st Sitting Position
My baby nephew tried sitting up on sunday. He could only manage a hunched-forward position at the moment. I can't wait for the moment when he could sit up straight! :)
NZ Taxis vs SG Taxis
When I took my 1st taxi ride in Christchurch, I saw on the meter that the starting fare was NZ$2. I was very pleased that it's cheaper than Singapore, where the starting fare is now S$2.50.
I happily chit-chatted with the cabbie, and when I happened to glance at the meter again a few minutes later, I was shocked to see that the meter had jumped to NZ$8.40! I just couldn't believe my eyes! Then I stared at the meter to see how the fare works, and found that the meter jumps by 20 cents instead of 10 cents, like it does here in Singapore. I also found out that for every km, it costs NZ$2.40, and for every minute of waiting time, such as waiting at traffic lights, or worst, traffic jams, it costs NZ$1. In the end, my journey of less than 10mins cost me NZ$13.40! My goodness! It was so expensive!!! It cost more than the 20 min-trip from my home to the conservatory, where the distance between them is about 19km. Imagine if Singapore charges $2.40/km. For 19km, it'll cost $45.60, not including waiting time at traffic lights! And we'll have to pray really hard that there'll never be traffic jams!
Therefore, from now onwards, I shall stop complaining about our local taxi fares.
Yummy Souvenirs of Christchurch
I just returned from Christchurch last evening. The city itself was quite boring, maybe because it was winter and most shops close early, not to mention the gloomy weather most of the time. Fortunately, I had LM and LYM with me. These 2 are real jokers and they really made my stay memorable.
The 1st day when we arrived in Christchurch, LM's host drove me to Thomas's Hotel, the hotel where I stayed for 4 days before shifting to YMCA, located just down the street. Maree, the friendly receptionist at the hotel, showed me my room at a quiet corner of the hotel. She then showed me an electric blanket on the bed and taught me how to use it. Before she left the room, I asked her if anyone has ever been electrocuted by the blanket. The amused lady giggled and said, "no, but you'll be the 1st one".
I then took a shower, and after wetting my hair, I reached for the shampoo and realised that I had forgotten to bring my l'Oréal shampoo and conditioner! After cursing at myself, I had no choice but to use the soap given by the hotel. Yuks! The next day, I was fortunate enough to find a l'Oréal hairdressing shop a few streets from my hotel, so I bought a bottle of shampoo and conditioner. I had many nice showers after that. Long live shampoo and conditioners!
Besides rehearsing with LM and LYM, and a little shopping around, there was nothing much to do at this time of the year in Christchurch. As we need to rehearse, get ready for the competition, and go for recitals at the festival, we can't really go out of the city. So we 3 found a solution --- EATING!
On the 3rd day, LM's host and her hubby brought the 3 of us to Willowbank to see kiwi birds and to have dinner there. The seafood (photo above) was quite nice, but I didn't like the raw mussels. I took one and nearly vomitted. As I didn't want to embarrass myself, I took big bites and quickly swollowed it. Then I rinsed my mouth with a glass of New Zealand red wine.
The next morning, LM and I walked to Harris' Cafe just next to YMCA for breakfast and we each had Pancake Stack (photo above: consists of fruit salad and yoghurt in between 3 layers of pancakes) for brunch. At about 5.20pm, the both of us and LYM went to the greek restaurant, "Santorini" for dinner, and I had Souvlaki (photo below), which is barbecued kebabs of lamb or chicken marinated in their specially created blend of nature's herbs and spices.
After that, we walked to "Party Warehouse" bar for a drink. We drank and chit-chatted till after 9pm. Then we left to return to YMCA, but we heard and saw a lady playing the keyboard at "The Viaduct" bar nearby, so we went in to listen to her instead. LYM asked for lamb chop and I asked for tea. LM burst out laughing while the amused waiter couldn't help grinning, and he told us that there're no lamb chops or tea at the bar. So we ordered a bowl of fries (photo below) and drank plain water.
On the 5th night, LM, LYM and I went to a vegetarian restaurant, "Deux de Lux" at the Arts Centre for dinner. The food was quite good, especially the fish fillet that I had.
On the 6th night, we 3 went to "Top Kapi Turkish Kebab House" for dinner and we had chicken, beef and lamb kebabs respectively. LYM also ordered garlic bread (photo above) as starter and it was really good. Very different from the garlic bread at pizza hut. It was a little oily but very, very tasty. Yummy!
The next evening, we went to the French restaurant, "Le Bon Belli" for dinner. After that, we visited a striptease club. As business was very slow that night, the bouncer charged the 3 of us NZ$10 altogether instead of the usual NZ$20 each. Aren't we lucky! LYM was quite fascinated with the dancers, and he jokingly asked why they entertained other men in the club instead of him. I told him that any sane nude dancers will hardly entertain a man sitting in between 2 female friends. After a while, LYM and I went to a pool table at the other side of the room and he taught me to play pool. It was very fun and I found that I played better with my left hand than my right.
On the 8th evening, we 3 went to a Japanese restaurant for dinner, and we also had homemade sake to warm ourselves up. Then we walked for about 1hr to "Garden City Bowls" to bowl. On the way there, we stopped by a huge Burger King fast-food restaurant for a drink to warm ourselves again as it was very cold and windy that night. At the bowling alley, we had coke, fries and sausages as snacks. We left at about 11.10pm, then we walked back to YMCA. On the way, we stopped by a Japanese restaurant for supper. We had fritters and seaweed soup and also more homemade sake.
On the 9th day, we had buffet dinner at a Korean restaurant. It cost us NZ$23 each and they had hardly anything on the buffet table. I wanted chicken meat and I couldn't find it, so I asked a waitress. She said "no chicken meat. Have chicken heart". Good grief! What kind of buffet is that??? In the end, I had wild mushrooms, vegetables, macaroni salad and potato salad instead. For a meal like that, it's really not worth the money.
The next day, I had omelette and toast for Harris' Cafe for brunch. It was delicious, but a little expensive --- NZ$11.
On the 11th day, LM, LYM and I went to "Red Lantern Hotpot Restaurant" for dinner. It was buffet style and it has lots of food to offer at a cheap price of NZ$20 each. We had our table filled with food and we ate and drank till we almost burst.
On the 12th night, and also the last night that I would be in Christchurch before returning home the next day, we 3 had dinner at "Tutto Bene", an Italian Restaurant and Pizzaria. The ambiance and food was very good. It cost us an average of NZ$30 each.
The next day, LM and LYM accompanied me to the airport and we had breakfast there. Later, on the plane, I had 2 fried fish fillets and mash potatoes for lunch, Tip Top Tub Vanilla ice-cream and Japanese rice crakers for tea, and spicy chicken with spaghetti noodles for dinner. I haven't had such delicious airline food for a long time.
When I reached Changi Airport, I had dinner at a Chinese restaurant with my family, who has came to pick me up.
In conclusion, this whole trip was a real feast for me, and I hope to have many more to come!
Greetings From Christchurch II
Top Photo: Weekend market at the Arts Centre
2nd Photo: A brass ensemble performing at the weekend market
3rd Photo: Christchurch Art Museum at night
4th Photo: Direction signs at Christchurch Botanic Gardens
5th Photo: The Avon River in the Botanic Gardens
Preparations...
These past few days, I've been busy with teaching, rehearsals and packing for my New Zealand trip tomorrow night that I mixed up a student's time, and made her come all the way to my house for nothing. Sorry, A!
Today, I had last rehearsals with LM and LYM and we also played in a mini-concert at the conservatory for a few freshmen. The concert was just to let them run-through some of their competition programme in front of an audience.
Sigh! Still have some last-minute packing and a recording to do, and more teaching tomorrow. URGH!!!
Lastly, I hope that I can have access to the internet over there. I can't imagine 2 weeks without it!
Blonde Jokes
I once knew a blonde that was so stupid that:
*She spent 20 minutes looking at the orange juice box because it said concentrate;
*She put lipstick on her forehead beacause she wanted to make up her mind;
*She tried to put M&M's in alphabetical order;
* She sent me a fax with stamp on it;
* She tried to drown a fish;
*She thought a quarterback was a refund;
* She got locked in a grocery store and starved to death;
* She tripped over a cordless phone;
*She took a ruler to bed to see how long she slept;
* She asked for a price check at the Dollar Store;
* She studied for a blood test;
* She thought Meow Mix was a CD for cats;
* When she heard that 90% of all crimes occur around the home, she moved;
* When she missed the 44 bus, she took the 22 bus twice instead;
*When she took you to the airport and saw a sign that said "Airport Left", she turned around and went home.
Gas Leakage?
A few days back, my sis and I came home late at night, and the first thing that greeted me was the smell of gas. I thought that there was a gas leakage somewhere so I asked my sis if she smelt it also. At first she said "no", so I did my own "investigations" and checked the gas oven in the kitchen. Everything was off and there was no sign of any leakage.
Then my sis smelt it.
We walked around the kitchen, sniffing hard at the air, trying to find out where the smell came from. Something made my sis open the refrigerator, and we finally found out the source of the gassy smell. It came from my mum's box of durians. The gas that we smelt was actually the smell of durians! Hahaha!
We both had a good laugh and we finally understood why so many people said that durians stink! :P
G. Bush Screensaver
This is the most popular screensaver in the US nowadays. If he gets stuck, just move him with your cursor.
A Magical Piano Recital
This evening, I, together with my sis and D, attended the 3rd recital of the Piano Festival series, and were we glad that we didn't give it a miss!
The pianist for the night was 20-year-old Malaysian-New Zealander pianist, John Chen. He won the 2004 Sydney International Piano Competition when he was only 18 years old, the youngest winner in the competition's 27-year history. Although young, his superbly mature and musical playing certainly surpass his age. He performed a programme of mostly French composers, and his playing was very sensitive and colourful throughout. Technically, he was impeccable. His playing was a total contrast to the 1st recital, and we all sat through the whole recital, totally absorbed in his magic. It has been a very long time since we've heard such a perfect performance, not forgetting that it was coming from such a young performer. He seemed very at ease and calm on stage and he had the piano totally under his control. It looked like he could continue playing the whole night, effortlessly.
After his performance, the audience didn't let him go without encores. He gamely played 3, much to the audience's delight. After that, we bought his CD recording of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 and we also got his autograph.
We really hope to hear more of him in future. John Chen is certainly a great piano master in the making!
A Late Night Out
Last night, I rehearsed with LM and LYM from 7pm to about 11.15pm at the conservatory. We're preparing for our trip to New Zealand next weekend for a cello competition.
My sis and D came to pick me up after the 2nd recital of the Piano Festival, then we headed to a 24-hr MacDonalds for supper. There was a group of people at a corner of Mac's, watching the World Cup on TV. Germany was playing against Argentina. Whenever each scored a goal, the group would cheer and clap loudly, and the 3 of us, we would break our conversation midway to listen out for the score. Later, we learnt that Germany beat Argentina to get into the top 8 teams. We chit-chatted till about 1pm, then we went our separate ways.
On our way home, D sms-ed us to tell us that his taxi driver asked him if we were his younger sisters, and D said yes. Hahaha! Thanks, D! We owe you a treat! :P
