It was back to school on Monday. I had my first lecture, my first stack of lecture notes, my first meal at SIM, my first day in school wearing home clothes! Ha... It did not turn out to be as bad as I thought. For one, I did not sleep in the lecture! Lectures at SIM are all 3hrs... and, we only have lectures. Although school has officially started, I have not exactly lost my 'freedom' yet. My time-table is really quite relaxed and I am glad for that because I would still be able to teach and do my own 'stuff'. :) I love freedom... and this is how my time-table goes.
Monday: Stats (8.30am-11.30am)
Maths (3.30pm-6.30pm)
Wednesday: Econs (3.30pm-6.30pm)
Thursday: PBF (8.30am-11.30am)
Thats all... I just pray and ask that I would have the wisdom and discipline to manage my time well. :)
I am glad that I have company in school. Thank God for that! :) I am glad that I went for the 'tennis orientation camp'... Yeah! I actually went for a camp. Hahah... I am not the kind who likes to go for orientation camps and not the sociable kind. I forced myself to go... and, thank God for that! If not, I wouldn't have known anyone and would be all alone. :( However, I met some familiar people in school. Seems that there are a lot of people in SIM. Ha... I am not the 'only one'.
Thank God for this opportunity to study yet again. I hope to use this opportunity to the fullest! Although, I still wish to do music and its my passion. Not too sure why I am studying 'Econs and Finance'. But its ok... All in the Hands of God. :) Lord... guide me!
-LeB-
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
back to being a student...
Sunday, July 29, 2007
someone I love very much...
thank God for families... thank God for giving me 2 brothers... and older brother and younger brother... They are named Aaron and Jaron respectively. If people out there didn't know, I am actually named Terence, but I added the name Caleb after I got baptised. Our names are supposed to rhyme... Aaron, Terence and Jaron. But obviously, I am the one out. Still, my parents always mix our names up!
Today in zone 3 they were talking about family ties. How is your relationship with your family? I am glad that I love my siblings very much and there isn't any sibling rivalry amongst us. In fact, I love my younger brother very much. Ha! I have watched him grow up, and although now he isn't as cute as he was, he is still very dear to me... It is just amazing that I have a brother like him. Sometimes I stare at him and just thank God. No matter what happens, this fact will NEVER change. he will forever be my brother. I think I am being bias here but, he is just very LOVABLE! :) People who know me will know how much I love my brother... Hahah!
I always tell my brother how I wish he is a 3 yrs old. Haha... and that is because, he is really really cute when he was a kid. But well, all of us have to grow up. I just hope that we will be close to each other forever. He is slowly growing up and I can see it and feel it. Today I was just wondering... how would things be like between us 10 yrs down the road... Emm, a food for thought for me. Till now, I still 疼 him very much :)
I had a very interesting conversation with Jaron today. He knowing that my school is going to start, he said...
"Where is your school uniform? I want to see..."
"Then need to sing 'Majulah Singapura'??" "What about pledge?"
then I told him... Don't need to sing 'Majulah Singapura'... and I don't need to go school everyday...
"Do you all have time-table? I want to see... "
I said... Yeah, I have, in the computer.
"Chey!" "Why don't they give you time-table?"
cause we can plan our time-table
"Wah! Then I'll have recess everytime!"
Damn funny! Hahahha... RECESS... when was the last time I used that term man. May not be funny to you all, but, it definitely is funny to me :) my brother's concept of school is that of a normal school not knowing that university is different...
alright, so much said, here is a pic I LOVE of my younger brother... when he was young...
Jaron Tay Wei Jie
My cute brother! The cutest baby/kid I have seen... :)
Singapore Institute of Management
School is starting. Yes... it is REALLY going to begin. My first lecture begins tomorrow! I will be doing the course... Bachelor of Science (Economics and Finance). Mixed feelings. I have not been studying for the past 2 years plus and in recent times, my lifestyle has been very carefree. Thank God for that. It is time for boring lectures, time to face lecture notes, mug (if I ever do) and try to do homework... etc etc. Also, I am thrown into a completely new environment. That is something I always dislike. I love my comfort zone. Having strangers around me is not something I am always fond off. Although sometimes, I do not mind. I just pray that I will be able to foster good friendships in SIM. I shall not dread going to school. Positive mindset! I am aiming for first class! Hahah... I also pray that I'll be a good testimony to the people around me. Hiakz hiakz. Many people in SIM go to school and go home... Will I be one of those? My mind is just very random now. Just hope that all will go well and that I would be able to cope with my school work, together with my work and fun! :)
Back to student life...
-LeB-
Saturday, July 28, 2007
thanks to all who came down... and all who supported... :)
Today was the much anticipated Heritage Fest performance. I must say I did not do a good job. My speech gave way. I retracted a little. Singing wise, I guess I have always sounded like that. Well, I just got to say I hope I will learn from all these experiences and do better the next time round, to further improve myself. Thank God for the opportunity.
And here, I want to thank everyone who came down to support me. My mummy... Peeps from EchoMusic, Simin and Minhui... Peeps from church, Joel, Roche, Roanna and Yilin... Also, my best pal, Sun Quan. Every single face means a lot to me. Thanks for taking the time off to support me. Although I feel very 'pai seh'. :( Also, thanks to Simon, Weelin, Helena and Diya for their concern. :) Diya for trying her best to make it despite her forever busy schedule... And although she didn't manage to come down, she sent Yilin on her behalf... ha... nice :)
After the performance, I went out with Joel, Roche and Roanna for dinner. I was super hungry then. Good thing we had a good meal. :) We ate at 'Lai Lai' Taiwan Food and went to some Japanese restaurant for deserts. Pics below... Enjoy!
Friday, July 27, 2007
Languages...
Yesterday I was approached to do a survey... Before I could begin doing, the person asked me... 'You're not a Singaporean are you? You don't speak like a Singaporean...'
Dotz... Then what do I speak like? I wonder... And I should have asked the person where she thought I was from... Did I sound too English-fied? Or perhaps I sounded like a Hong-kie or China-man trying to speak English...
Confused...
Today... Heritage Fest performance. Joel commented that I sounded too 'ang-moh' speaking Mandarin... Haiz. And I think I do sound too 'ang-moh', or rather, I just sounded 'wrong' in Mandarin. There were some words where I got the 'ying' wrong and it just sounded ODD! dotz! Languages are beautiful and amazing. However, I don't seem to have a talent in it. If I could, I would want to master or learn to speak Mandarin and Cantonese much better!
-LeB-
Monday, July 23, 2007
Heritage Fest Performance... 270707
I wonder if anyone has ever seen the above poster around... And even if people have seen it, do they know what is it all about? I have seen it around for some time, but did know look at it in detail until about 1-2weeks ago when I realised it is the poster for 'Heritage Fest 2007'. Normally such an event would not be of any significance to me... However, I am 'part' of it this year! I would be performing for the event. Together with 2 other ladies... Beverly and Sophia.
Venue: Suntec City's Tropics Atrium (should be... outside Mango and Royal Sporting House)
Time: 6.30pm-7pm
A brief outline of our performance from the 'Singapore HeritageFest 2007' website:
(A rendition of locally composed xinyao that reigned in the local Mandarin
music scene in the ‘80s. Hum along to well-loved numbers from Liang Wen
Fu, Eric Moo, Wu Jiaming and Zheng Zhan Lun.)
Since it is music from the 1980s, I think a lot of you out there would not have heard our repertoire. However, it would be nice to still come down and support us. Hahah... For myself, I actually like the songs. I am an old man at heart. :(
I am glad to have this opportunity to perform. It is actually going to be one of my few public performances... to be exact, my 2nd. Thanks to EchoMusic and MinHui (Wang Da Jie) for giving me this chance. Thanks lots! I am excited for it, at the same time... anxious. We have been practicing and it has been fun :) Another highlight is that I am going to 讲华语... Now, how rare is that! Hope all turns out well. Keep me in your prayers!
Presenting to you... C. S. B. (Caleb, Sophia and Beverly)
Wahahaha... Corny!
-LeB-
Sunday, July 22, 2007
謝震廷VS.張宇@藝人合唱指定賽
Recently I've been hooked onto this singing competition called... 超級星光大道. It is a singing competition in Taiwan that has great competition and a creative structure, interesting! What is it with 13-yr-olds on singing competitions? Yeah, so there is a lot of hype abt the 13-yr-old on campus superstar. Here is another 13-yr-old whom I personally think is VERY talented in singing. Enjoy!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Wasted
There is a song by Carrie Underwood that I particularly like. I like it for its melody and nice arrangement. However of late, I am feeling how the lyrics describes...
I don't wanna' spend my life jaded, wasted
Waiting to wake up one day and find
That I've let all these years go by
Wasted
Sighz... My insomia problem is coming back. For the past 2 nights, I have been sleeping in the wee hours of the morning. 4am and 5.15am... It is really bad and I hate it. Activities at night are so limited and I prefer the feeling of living in the day! In the light! Not in darkness, yet, I am more active at night and 'zombiefied' in the day. I feel WASTED... I really need to discipline myself to achieve more. Lets hope I'll do just that.
DISCIPLINE vs. WASTED
-LeB-
Monday, July 16, 2007
talentime... singing.... music... passion... (reminiscening the old times)
The media has been promoting singing competitions and stardom. With competitions like project superstar, campus superstar, superband... etc etc. It is no wonder that there are many people chasing after stardom. Currently I have 3 friends who have participated in these competitions and are 'superstars'! I am indeed happy for them... :) There is Diya (female champ of PS2), Sam from MiLuBing (champ of superband) and now, Zijie in CSS2. Do support Zijie! and, MiLuBing's album is out... support them!
I used to be one of those dreaming of stardom. I think that thought came to me when I was... 16? I had wanted to write my own songs, sing them and appear on some album cover one day! Wahahha... How naive I was. Still, I had a mini mini taste of what it feels like to perform and having people supporting you. :) That happened when I was in JC...
3 people came together to write their own songs, record them, send them for competitions... and, performed them in school. They are... Jasmine, Jiarong and Caleb. Ironically, our initials form JJC, the school that we were from. All these happened naturally... I think it was God's plan for me to meet them, know them and become very good friends :) Things didn't happen with me taking a mic asking who is interested to write songs together. We were placed in the same class and soon, we found out that we had the interest to write songs. So, that was how it all began.
We took part in numerous song-writing competitions, performed for lunch time concerts and events in school and took part in our school's talentime. However, people started commenting that our voices don't blend as a group so, we splitted up :( I went solo and the 2 girls formed a group. All of us took part in the school's talentime and both myself and the girls won 2nd for the solo and group cat. Of all the song-writing competitions we took part, we were never selected :( BUT! there was once... just once that my friend's composition entered the finals of 'xin qing rong ji' ... we were so happy!! however, the song had to be disqualified because it was performed in school before :( [one of the criterias is that the song cannot have been performed in public]
Those times were fun and memorable... and, thanks to everyone who supported us then. Especially the other half of evofus... Wanping and Xuan2. They were like our managers... giving us comments, telling us what to do. Also, thanks to Angeline and Chunying who also constantly supported us.
For new updates, I have 2 performances in the next one month. One on the 27/7 and the other 18/8. I am so excited! and looking forward to them... I will be singing for the performance on the 27/7 and playing the keyboard on the 18/8. I feel happy yet... stress. Doing public performances is never easy, and, it is almost my first time. Another news is that, the performance on the 27/7 is my FIRST... yes, my FIRST PAID GIG! it means a lot to me... hope it all goes well. Pray for me!
Sheesh, I had meant for this entry to be short, but, it is still as long as ever. I am so long winded...
I thought this photo was LOST! talentime pic with churchies... from L to R (Helena, Diya, Joel, Caleb, Karen and Frances) I remember during that time, I wasn't that close to them... but they still came and supported me! Thanks! (I found this long lost pic on diya's blog) - The power of blogs!
the trio! Jasmine, Jiarong and Caleb. JJC!
with my fans! I am so glad for them. they were my mini fan club... they even came up with the board with well wishes during my competitions. 'Those were the days'... they will never be forgotten!
EVOFUS! when we were still young. L to R (Caleb, Xuan2, Wanping, Jasmine and Jiarong) Love ya all! ~Friends forever~
-LeB-
Friday, July 13, 2007
I Love Holidays!!!
Wahahhah... Another vacation is booked!
I will be going Krabi! Although it is next year March, I am still excited!
I love holidays.
The past 2 years, I have really been travelling. Nearby or faraway places. :)
Thanks to Yilin and Ashley who co-ordinated this.
This time round, it is a really big group! The usual gang + more people! That is way cool!
5days in Krabi... I will be looking forward to it... and more vacations!
-LeB-
Thursday, July 12, 2007
三日游 in KL!!
I am back! Back from KL... Went to KL for a short trip of 3days 2nights. Indeed, it was short, but, it was fun and enough. Haha. Finally materialised the trip that my army friends and I talked about and planned a long time ago. I don't really get to see them much these days so it was nice spending time with them. Although a lot of times, they talk nonsense and are quite vulgar! hahah. Still, it was fun.
KL... A place of eating and shopping, more eating and shopping , and more more eating and shopping. Seems like that is basically what you can do there. And, massage. We went to a street where the whole row of shops are massage parlours. So, we went for 2 massages during our trip. A foot reflexology and upper body massage... I did quite a bit of shopping although it wasn't that cheap. :( I think Bangkok and America is a better place for shopping. Especially at the factory outlets of America. About the food, I think we didn't know where to find cheap and nice food, so the food was only alright. :( I had much better food when I went to Bangkok, the food was superb!
On my transportation there, I took the 'Cao Yuan Kuai Che', its the ad with Moses Lim. The facilities are not bad. Its a double decker with lots of leg-room, leg rest, inclined chair and a personal entertainment for everyone. The cost was $85 for a two-way trip. Quite ex I suppose. Still, I think it was not bad... :)
Ok, pics below...
Our hotel room... Corona Inn (I think)
My first meal in KL. Beef noodles at a HK restaurant. Nice!
We ate at a Japanese restaurant. This is their so called 'Gyoza'! Flat with no fillings...
Bowling at night... thinking about it, bowling is actually quite fun. :)
Penang 'Char Kway Teow'. Looks the same as the normal 'Char Kway Teow' though... the taste, not so sweet and saltier.
Vain guys!
@ the foot reflex shop
Viet food for lunch. It contains Lamb, vegetables and cold 'mee hoon'. The vegetables look so raw that my friend said I was eating a plant!
Petronas Twin Towers...
Nice view here, out @ KLCC
a 'group' pic with my roomies....
Apparently, toilet entrance in Malaysia isn't that cheap...
Night view of 'Chinatown'
Hong Kong Ice Deserts! This was good!! and, cheap!!
Our final meal before we left. 'Bak Kut Teh'...
-LeB-
Sunday, July 8, 2007
dedicated to my beloved friends... the 'indecisives'
finally... my 'project' is done! I am really glad I perserved and finished the project. I hope it will mean something to my friends... the 'indecisives'! I really cherish each and everyone of you and hope we will stay close together for life! Although a lot of you are very old... Haha. But age isn't a barrier. Right? Anyway, I love all of you lots and this video is dedicated to all of you. Including other people like Esther and Helena, the flower pots of ESSR. Thanks to Roanna, Rochelle and JW for providing the photos. And, thanks to technology and blogs that I got the photos. If you all know me well, I am not a person who is good with technology or computers. So, do give me some credit and comments ya?? Ha... my first attempt! Thank You! God Bless!
Friday, July 6, 2007
CD collection...
The title of my blog is 'music and travel'. I think I have been blogging about my travel experiences, however, I have yet to blog about music! And, I love music so much! What an irony.
I bought 6 albums in the past 2 weeks. 4 of them are old albums, and 2 are new albums. Out of the 4 old albums, 3 were bought online. :) Shopping online is really interesting... because I can get stuff that I do not find in the average record shop. I am planning to get more albums online and perhaps, other stuff. The other old album is bought at a 'pasar malam'. Ha! Right now, you must be thinking I am mad to buy 6 albums in 2 weeks. Well, I guess its my hobby... Collecting records. Owing to the capabilities of techonology, songs are now so accessible and... free. Also because I love music and think its worth supporting the producers, composers and singers by buying the albums, I will.
4 old albums, 3 of which are by 'Eric Moo', in chinese, 巫啟賢. 1 by 'Gareth Gates'. I used to have the 'Gareth Gates' album but I lost it. :( It is his first album and I really like it, also cause I sang one of the songs for my school's talentime back in '04? Some of you might know, some don't. Yeah, my favourite singer is Eric Moo. That is the reason why I buy such OLD albums. I doubt anyone my age would listen to his songs. 2 albums I bought dated back in the 1980s. 1 in the 1990s. Love them... He belonged to the 'Xinyao' era, if you know what that is.
2 new albums! 1 by 'Khalil Fong', in chinese, 方大同, another by 'Avalon'! I really admire 'Avalon' for their vocals, so, no surprise that I own their albums. They are fantastic... truly blessed by the Lord. Sad thing is that one of their member 'Jody Mcbrayer' is experiencing some health problems and has decided to leave the group. :( He is the singer with a 'female-like' voice. 方大同 is really quite good. Something really fresh in the mandarin pop scene. He composes all the tracks except for 1 and he sings differently. He dabbles into RnB, lounge, a little jazz and rock-n-roll, rap (though not a lot, which is good!)... His songs are just nice and catchy. Do give them a listen. :)
Support originals! No piracy pls... :P
-LeB-
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Spot the mistake...
If you didn't know, I am giving tuition to pri4, pri6 and sec2 students. Teaching English... sometimes it can get dry. However, marking scripts can sometimes be interesting. One of my pri4 student wrote this...
At last, he got stomach egg.
Ah!!! Should I be laughing or should I be worried? Hahahha... I thought it was really funny.
-LeB-
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
1 day escapade... to Malaysia!
02 July '07. I finally visited Wanping at her 'hometown'. My friends and I have always talked about going to Johor for some shopping, food and fun, and, we finally did it! Although not the whole 'evofus' went along, at least we had half of us. :) Now, its time to plan a Malaysia road trip. If it really comes to pass and the WHOLE 'evofus' are able to make it, it will be so fun!
The day started with the 'Singaporeans' meeting up at 9.30am at Kranji MRT. However, the couple was late! They were 35mins late. Arggh. It was a test of my patience. Good thing, I do think I have quite a lot of patience. Ha... Talking about Kranji MRT, I think it is the first time that I have ever stopped at that MRT. How cool... Carrying on with our journey, we took the SBS bus 170 in to JB. Had an experience of what Wanping faces so frequently. It was easy crossing the causeway, but, the bus was packed!
Arrived at J.B. at probably 10.45am. Met up with Wanping at the petrol kiosk. She was in her black colour proton car... a car which Mahatir used to sit in. It was my very first time being her passenger. She has had her license for so long but I had not have the chance to sit in her car. I think she is a ... wary driver! She often screams when she drives... Wahhahah. But, still steady! Thanks girl for driving us around. :) *Kelvin and I drove the car too and Jiarong was so scared... come on... relax man!*
Alright... I shall let the pics do the talking. :)
Sunday, July 1, 2007
bonding!
it has come to the time of the day again. blogging time. my weekend was hectic... and, thank God for that!
to begin with, i haven't been sleeping well again. all the late nights and late mornings. its entirely opposite of the formula to stay healthy. SIGHZ. and, i haven't been exericising. i need discipline!
for saturday, i went for the bbq organised by zone 3. although many people were not there, i had fun! we were playing crazy games and doing crazy actions and laughing aloud. it was all the orientation games... '7 up', 'one frog jumps into the river', 'CONCENTRATION' which was algene's favourite game, 'taboo'. 'taboo' was a good game, a test of your vocabulary and descriptive skills. joel, sujun's bf was funny... i love the way he described the words. i could remember one of the words he got was... 'hook' and he described it in this manner...
-this thing is metal
-it is sharp
whaahhaha... i got to say, the game is not that easy. cause we are not allowed to use some specified words.
i had fun playing the games. i also had fun chatting in the dark with isaiah and wei wei. the rest were trying to sleep! and some wanted to bathe. but after 'someone' said 'be careful when you bathe... someone might help to bathe you', no one bathed in the end. we then headed down to 'geylang' for supper! i loved it! i ate a pair of 'youtiao', one bowl of 'mee sua', half a piece of 'shao bing', one 'jiao zi', one bowl of 'tau huey' and a cup of 'dou hua'. it was really satisfying... and, thanks to Daniel who gave us a treat. he is really mr nice. i felt so bad ordering so much! i didn't regret staying back at the chalet and going for supper with them. it was fun and it was good bonding! :)
sunday... emotional day. yeah, i dropped a tear or 2 when frances checked in to the airport. although i know that she will be back in 5 days... but, the atmosphere then was a little tense. i could have held back. but, whatever. BE YOURSELF. she will be missed. but, i am happy for her also... its going to be exciting! and, a whole new experience! i will miss your 'HELLO!' (with a slang). but anyways, she will be back next week. ha... how soon. and next week is the REAL farewell... she will be leaving for long. will it be emotional again? we shall see... actually, i think its good to be emotional also... then it shows that we care and its really like a farewell. Ha!
pics time!
my supper khakis. gail, me, wei wei, karen, chunxiang and daniel.
and some more supper khakis. it is wei wei and gail again... algene, joel and kevin. (matilda and isaiah not in pic)
our spread!
'jing huang huang de you tiao!'
this is matilda! my cell leader! does she look stoned or what? this is what happens to her at 3am. normally, she is far from this.
the 4 bachelors... mr series! I love it that we are so sporting! the girls got to wear it too... to complete the 'collection'. Yilin! Buy it!
the 4 eligible bachelors and 3 'mei nu' (i think ashley's self cut hair looks like celest chong's)
everybody loves Frances! you rocked the airport! and you're only going for 5 days. wahhahah... I wanna go overseas too... I want to be loved!
-LeB-