Late Nights... VERY late nights...

I just got back from today's jamming session. As usual, it dragged on till about 3am today, earlier than the previous. Today's session seemed better, it wasn't so "stucked". Still, lots of room for improvements and I would still need to practice and familiarise with the songs. At least for now, I can take a break... A load off my shoulders after 30 songs. Hope everything would go smoothly.

For now, its time to hit the books! I need to start studying! Start revising! I do not wish to retake any of my modules... I must graduate!

Another night of 4hrs of sleep??

-LeB-

过渡时期...

过渡时期... That was what Minhui told me yesterday. And yes I believe so, that this period will not be an easy ride for me. Lately I've shouldered upon a new commitment, one that requires a lot of my time and places a lot of stress on me. Its difficult, but all musicians know that such an opportunity doesn't come by easily and there are people dying for the opportunity. I should really count my blessings and be glad. Thank God! Its time for me to step up and do my best, leave the rest to God... "Everything to God in prayer"

I was never a good concealer of my emotions. When I'm happy, I'll literally LOL. Sad or disturbed, it shows on my face. And now, when I'm stress, I am showing it too. I wanna say a word of thanks to Simin, Simon, Minhui for spending time with me, listening to me, eating together with me! and giving me much advice at the same time. Thank you! And to others who have heard me "grumble", thanks for that listening ear or rather, looking eyes over the msn.

Yesterday, I just didn't want to go home and face the stuff that I have to face.

Feeling better today, after chilling out yesterday, after a night's sleep. :)

Still needing that balance...

-LeB-

The Full Krabi Gang!

This is quite interesting! Now we officially have the "full gang" for the Krabi Trip. What was supposed to be a 10 people trip was reduced to 6. Thanks to Yilin and the wonders of photoshop, we can now admire a picture with all of us together.

-LeB-

The Krabi Story Continues...

This post would be rather outdated. Its been 1week since I'm back from the Krabi trip. Still, I would like to finish the "story"... Enjoy the pics of the beautiful place :)

I'm a foodie forever! By the poolside of our resort...

Watching the sunset...

This is our 自拍 photo, the best of many...

On the beach against the sunset...

Dinner by the beach...

SDU may want to consider using the photo for their love campaigns... Hiakz hiakz

And this??

Jon's photography... An evening on the beach


It was Ashley's birthday on the last day. We bought an ice-cream cake and celebrated for her. Hope she was surprised... By that time, Quany, Joel and myself were "zonked out"

Lovely art gallery in Krabi. I love this place. Their paintings are really nice! You could give them ANY photo and they would paint it out for you. So cool. They even have a website, so you could e-mail them your photo, ask them to paint and they would send you the painting. And they said that if we're not happy with the work, they would do it till we are happy with it. Payment to be made when the work arrives. Cool... Daniel bought a painting from the shop :) Art and music needs more appreciation!

On the final day, we headed down to the fossil beach. Group pic.

Soon we came up with funny poses... Attaining Nirvana

How abt this? Boy do I look cool...

Where's Wally? Where are the guys?

Posing again! Do I have the supermodel pose?

What is 1237? That is the number of steps we climbed to reach the top of the Tiger Cave Temple. Our tour guide, Daniel Yan Yin Hoe brought us to the Tiger Cave Temple which was unique for its infrastructure that is formed from limestone. We challenged ourselves further by climbing up to the top to "meet Buddha" and to look at the magnificent view. Well, it would have been quite a waste if we didn't do it, isn't it? We pondered, we hesitated, we trembled but we decided. JUST DO IT! The steps aren't your normal steps, they are REALLY STEEP steps. But it was a good challenge :) 1237!

On our way up!

At the top! Couple for the day??

Group pic on top! Still alive...


Magnificent view from the top...

The last few meals we had in Krabi. This is rather authentic and traditional, at least I would like to think so. You're served with a plate of noodles with sauce and you can pick any of the vegetables to mix with the noodles. Its interesting! I tried and I think its not bad. Travelling should be able trying all kinds of food :) It was cheap also. I think the locals have this for their meals. And thats why the Thai people are usually lean. Emm...


Beef ball noodles! Savoury!


Our last group pic!

Its now back to Singapore. It was a good trip! :) When would I travel again?

-LeB-

time just flies...

The past week since I came back from Krabi has been crazily busy. I had matters on my mind, things to do, to complete. The past 2days have been the busiest. I can't imagine how I survive. Sometimes the day begins and soon, its night.

Its been confirmed...

And I am sure the busy days are not over... There are much more to come...

Lord, help me to embrace it and to tide over this period of busy-ness...

Missing my friends...

-LeB-

White Water Rafting!!!

Nothing much to be said. Just photos of us in our "raft"... Cool! I love the sport! Things that we should do while we're still young! These photos were bought :) and I think its worth it...


All of us in action!


Woohoo~!~!

-LeB-

Krabi Trip (Day 3 of our activities... The beach and Snorkelling!)

Day 3 of our activities was supposed to be relaxing. We were going to the Phi Phi Islands (pronounced as Pi-Pi) which consisted of a collective of offshore islands. We were also going snorkelling. I was excited as I've heard so much about snorkelling but I haven't tried it before. In my mind, I thought we would just snorkel near the edge of the beach... but I was wrong! We were brought out to the sea and the speed boat would just stop at a certain point and let us off to snorkel. Initially Ashley and I tried snorkelling without a life-jacket. Soon, we gave up. It was too taxing to keep yourself afloat and TRY snorkelling. The underwater is quite a wonder. Beautiful and colourful fishes swimming around, some even near you... and beautiful corals. It was a nice attempt for a first-timer :)

And if you've seen those beautiful beaches on television, yes... they are real and they exist! Krabi has really beautiful beaches with fine sand, scorching sun that complements the beach and clear waters. It was awesome! I love the beach! Nothing compared to ECP and Sentosa.

Pictures below!

On our speedboat! We were narrowed to take the front seats, the most vulnerable spot on board. The ride was bumpy and we were constantly shouting and screaming. A noisy bunch of Asians...

Me, Joel and Ashley...

Snorkelling!

The beautiful sea! I took this pic! I think I'm a genius man. Haha... But well, its the sea thats really nice...

Another pic of the beautiful clear waters with our forever tanned Ashley...

My favourite pic! Quany and Joel with a beautiful background! Again, I took it! Although sometimes I wish I was in the pic. Maybe I can photoshop myself in... Just look at the sky, sea and the sand. Awww...

Yeah! Group pic by the beach... Beautiful... Just beautiful!

-LeB-

Krabi Trip (Part 2)...

Blogging has been rather tough with all the problems that dear blogger gives. Still, this is the continuation of my Krabi Trip! Day 2 was packed with activities such as White Water Rafting (it was really crazily insane fun!), followed by swimming and jumping at the waterfall (refreshing stuff!) and ATV which stands for All-Terrain-Vehicle. For ATV, one would drive a "bike-like" vehicle with four wheels and go thru the jungle and rivers. No pics for that though cause Jonny's camera fell into the waterfall. Thank God it recovered after 1 day. :)


Silly pic! At the "lobby" of our resort...


Geared up for White Water Rafting! White Water Rafting is where all of us get into a float-like boat and start rowing our boat as we are pushed by the currents. There are branches and rocks around, so we had to be careful. What was hilarious was that we became guinea pigs, chosen by the instructors to give a demostration to the rest. We were all excited and thought we would be "invincible". Yet, when we started off, we arrived LAST at the first stop point. Everyone else was waiting for us! There were like... maybe 15 boats? "Many many people"... To top it off, we made the MOST noise. But it was really fun and everyone was splashing water at one another :)


I didn't know there was this pic! Thanks Jonnie. That small man jumping off the platform is me! The water was clear and all cold, it felt so refreshing to jump off the "cliff". It was rather scary but I'm glad I did it. And I did it twice! :)


When night approaches, all I can think off is food. I'm really a food junkie. I would just spend, spend and spend on food while the rest stood by the side waiting for me. I love food.


Cheap cheap roadside stall that sells savoury kebabs!

to be continued...

-LeB-

Blogger Date Problem!!!

Arggh... Its the blogger date problem again! I've updated a post on my Krabi trip... Which is below and dated 13th March. Sighz...

-LeB-

Home Sweet Home...

Back from Krabi...

It was an awesome trip! Filled with loads of fun and adventure! :)

More to be updated when the pictures are ready...

-LeB-

Krabi!!! (The initial journey)

No other word to describe the Krabi Trip except FUN! Thinking about it now, I'm missing the trip already. Being back in S'pore stresses me out... somehow... In Krabi, I felt so carefree and really felt on a HOLIDAY. The place is so "free" that one can walk down the streets in their bikini or swim-wear. Just like I did topless with my towel. That would only be something I could do over there...Below are the pics of our initial part of the journey... Let the photos do the talking!

Before our flight @ Budget Terminal

Kayaking was our first activity. We kayaked to 4 different caves or lagoons. Thank God for the superb weather over in Krabi. It was a worry that it would be raining as it was in S'pore. It was a rather relaxing activity compared to other stuff we did. I thought it was a brilliant idea for them to use what they could for tourism purposes. The place we kayaked at was stationed at the "kampong" as it was built out of woods and logs. Rather primitive. Our tour guides included a transexual and a lady. Yeah... It was rather shocking and intriguing. It was the first time I saw a transexual in Thailand and at a very close encounter. "She" was very entertaining though! We loved her... She cracks us up man. Thinking about it, it seems that life can be rather tough over there. Even the ladies have to kayak as tour guides or to kayak for people who want to visit the caves but do not wish to kayak. Time for us to count our blessings!

Our hilarious tour guide!

We went to a cave called "Tham Pee Hua Toe" and one of the word means Ghost. When our tour guide was explaining to us, he showed us this ghost face. Wahaha...

Spot us in the limestone cave...

An artistic shot? NOT!

Our first lunch...

Satisfied faces... :)

(Final Pic for Day1)

Sadly... after Kayaking, we were brought to another place of interest, that is swimming in the all natural pool. However none was us were very excited about it after we saw the "pool". It didn't look inviting and so we skipped that part of the day tour. Soon, we bid farewell to our tour guides and headed back to our resort of a swim at our swimming pool. It was refreshing!

to be continued...

-LeB-

Steamboat Supper!!!

I just returned from a steamboat supper @ arab street. Its the Korean steamboat-bbq that is near Echomusic. The place is called, Da Chang Jin. I specially organised this gathering cause it felt like quite sometime since I've had a proper meal and gathering with this group of people. Well, there isn't quite a specific gang but they are mainly my church friends. Surprisingly, organising a gathering the night before seems the right thing to do. A record of 10 people turned up today! It seems that spontaneity is the way to go...

Great fun, seeing familiar faces, enjoying nice food together, updating a little about each other's lives... etc etc... Nothing TOO significant but it was meaningful. More of such sessions ya? But before that, I will be facing the guys for the next 5days. They would be my krabi gang. Sadly, the 4 "jade ladies" (yu4 nu3) couldn't make it for the trip. Its amazing... One of them, YILIN SAN is now married and pregnant, all within a span of 1yr. The other, FRANCES! is working in HK. The other 2 have many commitments... So it leaves us with a guys' gang and 1 lady STANDING... Still, we'll have great fun! I certainly hope I'll come back TANNED!

Yilin and Frances... You are missed... When can we have a complete gathering with the both of you??


Pic for the night...

-LeB-

My Pioneer Keyboard Students...

I finally managed to upload some pictures, after attempting to do so for 2 days. Last Saturday was my last lesson with my keyboard students, Monica and Alethea. Sadly, they have decided to stop due to work commitments.

I totally understand how difficult it is to learn something new or to attend regular lessons when one is working. Growing up, we are given more responsibilities and are no longer that carefree, although we should have more freedom. One would have to work, which already takes up 5 days excluding the nights... and that depends on your nature of work. Family, friends, BGR and other stuff would take up the remaining days and time. It seems that time passes faster when we are older. Is that true?

Talking about my students, Monica and Alethea, they've been learning from me for about 2yrs. And that makes them amongst my pioneer students since I've been teaching pop piano and under Echomusic for about 2yrs and 4months now. Its encouraging how they've continued this journey of learning for so long. In between, they suspended a couple of times or because of commitments are unable to attend lessons, but I see their determination :) Its really very encouraging! The same goes to most of my students as a lot of them are the working class people. For the fact that I've taught Monica and Alethea for such a long time, its a pity to see them stop at this point in time. I certainly hope that they would continue playing the keyboard and not forget what has been taught :) They are also very fun-loving students and I would miss having lessons with them. I sincerely wish them all the best in their future and hope to see them again...


In the keyboard room (left to right: Monica, leb leb, Alethea)


2nd pic of us...

Learning is a never-ending journey. As the chinese saying goes 活到老学到老... I've finally understood the meaning as I look at my students :) If there's something you've always wanted to do or learn, hesitate no more! Do so today! Life would be more colourful and interesting!

-LeB-