Oceanbluesandsummerbreeze

This evening, I treated Phu Vinh and Frankie to dinner at Tao's Restaurant at Paradiz Center. Both of them are amongst the batch of graduating final year oboe students from YSTCM, and Phu Vinh will be returning to Vietnam tomorrow morning.

We enjoyed the food very much, especially the delicious grilled mushrooms. Simply wonderful! We also chatted about anything and everything, and it was interesting to hear their future plans. Frankie also kindly developed a handful of photos for Phu Vinh and me, and he also wrote a nice, short note at the back of each photo. Thanks, Frankie! :)

I'm going to miss playing for the both of them. They have both improved and matured alot in their playing and I wish them all the very best for their future endeavours.

Today is the first day of the year-end juries. It started with the cello department. The jury started at 3pm, and after about one and a half hours, the whole semester of hard work was completed for the 7 remaining cello students.

Then, I practiced for a while and hung around in the conservatory, as there would be the first graduation dinner for the final year students at the conservatory foyer at 7.30pm.

When the time neared, Suan, LJ and I went down to the foyer and it was already crowded with students, staff, invited guests and VIPs. Tony and a handful of his students from his jazz class were providing soothing music as everyone mingled and chatted away. We mingled and took photos with some students, before we were all "shoo-ed" to sit down at our respective places for the dinner to start.

Dr. Bernard Lanskey and Mr. Goh Yew Lin gave speeches, and Dr. Lanskey also read out a heart-warming letter from Dr. Steven Baxter, who's at the moment recuperating in the States.

Dinner was buffet-style, with lots to eat and drink. The food was not too bad, especially the dessert.

We also had fun chatting and taking photos.

By the time we left at about 10.45pm, most of the people were already gone, except for some, who were still chatting away.

Anyway, it was a night to remember for all. Below are some photos from the dinner:-

I had a whole afternoon and evening of rehearsals and lessons at the conservatory today. The jury starts tomorrow with the cello department, and my last jury for this semester will be next monday, then I'll be free! Yeah!

But...I'm going to miss this semester.

It has been a great but busy and hectic semester, but I've really enjoyed every minute of it. If I have a choice, I would like this semester to start all over again...

Late this afternoon, I had my first organic hair wash at the N.O.S. (Natural Organic Salon) along Upper Thomson Road. It's a cosy little salon, linked to an organic store next door. I've tried organic food before, so I thought it might be fun to try some of its products.

As I was a little early for my 5pm appointment, I went to the organic store to buy a packet of yoghurt and honey biscuits (the cocoa-flavoured one is quite good) for myself, and a tin of manuka honey sweets and honey for A, who has been sick since two weeks ago. Hope she recovers soon.

When my turn came for the wash, I told the lady I would like to try the organic shampoo for rebonded hair. She used the High Hydratation (HH) formula Pro shampoo on me and it smelt really good. The lady also massaged my head and it sure was heavenly! Sigh! I simply love massages (except foot massage!)! She also moisturised my hair, and after blowing dry my hair, my hair felt really soft and it looked very shiny. I read the ingredients and found olive oil in it. Apparently, their salon products do not contain ammonia and thiogliacolic acids, which are both harmful to the hair and toxic to the environment. Immediately, I bought the HH shampoo and it's HH formula pak 19 conditioner.

Oooh! I can't wait for my hair to restore it's natural health and shine! :)

This morning, at about 10am, I went to PGP for a badminton session with ZY and AW. The last time I played badminton was ages ago, and it felt really good to pick it up again. ZY is quite good at the game, and after a while, I was already sweating like a pig. I haven't perspired so much in a long time and it felt really good.

We ended the game at about 11.15am, as I was already aching all over and I was too tired to continue. This is what happens when one doesn't exercise often. Haha.

Now that the conservatory vacation is nearing, I must make it a point to exercise more often. I need to continue with my daily morning qigong sessions (hopefully I can wake up early enough to go for it) and also pick up golf again. My clubs are "rotting" in my store-room at home...

We went to the Esplanade Theatre to watch the 2pm matinee of The Phantom of the Opera, and were we glad that we went. The whole plot, the acting and the music + lyrics especially, were really touching. The Phantom, acted by Brad Little, was the best, and his pitch-perfect singing really moved me to tears. The most touching part was right at the end, when he ran after the Christine character, saying "I love you" 3 times. The way he whispered "I love you" the third time brought tears to many, including myself.

It was really enjoyable and I wouldn't mind watching it again.

Last saturday, my sis and I attend the conservatory orchestra concert at the Esplanade Concert Hall, featuring world-renowned cellist, Qin Li-Wei playing Tschaikowsky's Roccoco Variations. He was really amazing and as the audience couldn't get enough of him, he rewarded them with 3 encores. It was really enjoyable.

Dinner with Kawai before the concert was great too, as the food was really delicious and Kawai is such a funny and nice guy. My sis and I were laughing so much we nearly spat our food out.

After the concert, the 3 of us went to Harry's Bar at Boat Quay to listen to Tony's gig. Sean and his friend, Eiffel joined us later, and we had fun chatting and drinking.

We finally left after midnight, as I had to teach at 8am the next day.

It was a really fun and enjoyable evening! :)