UOL Pageant...

I have been waking up late these days, around 11plus or sometimes, 12pm. Sighz, what a waste of time. On friday, I was woken up by a call at 11plus in the morning. The in-charge for the UOL Pageant called me to tell me I got through the auditions and will be in the finals. For those who didn't know, I went for the audition for pageant in my school. Someone approached me and I decided to just give it a go. People have been encouraging me to join, like Wanping... So I thought maybe I should really try it this time. I have been busy and joining such an event would only make me more occupied. Hopefully the experience is worth it and I get to win attractive prizes. Wahahha!

The audition was about 2 weeks back. I did not know what to expect, I thought they would just ask questions and get to know me better... etc. However, the format of it was like Singapore Idol. Ha... Reminds me of my experience at Idol. But of course, Singapore Idol was far more daunting. For this, I went into a room with about 8 students accessing me. I guess cause I knew they are fellow students and they looked quite friendly, I wasn't nervous. In fact, I sailed through the audition. I was fluent all the way :) I told them that I was a stammer but they were in disbelief. Then they asked common questions like your commitment level, who nominated you, which part of your body do you like best, do you have a girlfriend... then they said there is a swimwear section during the pageant and whether I would be fine with it. I said I'm ok with it. Next, they asked me to take off my top and do a catwalk! I was totally caught off-guard! I haven't been exercising enough to flaunt my body. In fact, I never had a body nice enough to flaunt. But still, I did it. Ha! Was I brave or nuts? We had to walk to four spots and pose for the camera. Bad bad! Ever since that day, I feel so FAT and FLABBY. What a disgrace. So... from now till the day of pageant which is about 1month and 3weeks away, I better do something about my physique. I can't imagine parading in swimwear...

I had wanted to turn them down and just get on with life. People said its wasted cause I have such an opportunity, so why not try out. Rochemochi said its so fun to join a pageant. Whats so fun about it? I guess I am doing it cause of support from friends and I want a platform to improve myself. Hope I do good.

Exercise... exercise... exericse! Its good...

-LeB-

A night @ Oosh...

I finally went to Oosh and listened to a live performance there. Its supposedly quite a well-known place with reputable singers like Joanna Dong and Tay Kewei. I would say the place is nice... having a nice ambience, looks good and good performances. I wouldn't mind going back there. Actually this is my 2nd time there. My first was with Ashley, Frances, Yilin, Jon and Joel. But we sat outdoors so I didn't catch the performance. This time round, I went with WangDajie, WendyMAMA and Smintz... Thanks for going together despite being tired and sick. :) *Minhui was so sick that she sounded like a MAN, literally! Wahahah!*

Joanna Dong was the singing that night and watching her sing is quite a pleasure. She is charming :) 2 highlights of the night were when Joanna did the trumpet sound using her mouth and the keyboardist using different instrumentation. Joanna did it so well I initially thought the sound came from the keyboard. Impressive! She has very good diction, a nice tone and groove to her voice that is suitable to sing jazz. For people who do not know her, she was top 32 in Singapore Idol 1, sang for 'if there're seasons', a recent chinese musical that I managed to catch, and now, a frequent performer at pubs. The keyboardist, an 'uncle' but plays superbly well. He knows what to play and when to play, not playing too much and using the right instrumentation. There was a part when he played 'singing' on the keyboard, so cool! For people who like jazz and pubs with live performance, I recommend Oosh. Its at Dempsey Rd, near Holland V. Anyone who wants to go, call me along!

We left after the performance and, we didn't fail our stomachs... We set off for supper again. Pics below...


A pic of our drinks and Joanna Dong singing. I love my drink 'Virgin Peach Margarita', its a mocktail, I'm still a small boy.


A pic of the girls. They look reddy...


Scandal! Scandal! Do we look like a couple or more like mother and son? She is WendyMAMA. :)
(I don't like the colour of the pic though, so green... taken with the wrong settings)


Smintz, Minhui and I...


As requested by Wendy. A cute pose. Gosh...

-LeB-

next gig...

My next gig is confirmed! 4th Nov @ Borders... This time round I'll be teaming up with Meilian. I don't really know her but I have heard her sing and heard a lot about her. Its my honour to perform with her. I hope I'll do a good job. *some inside info... Meilian sings like Tanya Chua! So cool!*

More details to be confirmed...

Caleb is feeling excited yet nervous...

-LeB-

Spontaneity!!!

Another day of spontaneity... I was out the whole day on Monday. 8.30am lessons and had to stay in school till 6.30pm. I rushed down to Bugis to teach at 7.30pm and met up with 2 sec school frens at 8.45pm. The meeting was a last minute arrangement... it was good to meet up with them, I haven't seen them in quite a while. Then at about 9plus pm, WendyMAMA called. Asking if I would like to go for karaoke. Ha! On! I had the urge of 'karaoking' for the past few days. How timely. I had a great time singing and listening to them sing. Simin, Wendy and Minhui are such good singers, its a joy hearing them. Especially when Minhui sang 'bu bi zai hu wo shi sui' by Sandy Lam. And Wendy is actually quite a 'dong gan' singer! Simin knows tricks on how to sing any difficult song. When you reach a difficult part, cough naturally and continue. Ha!

We ended karaoke at 2.30am and that wasn't the end! We almost wanted to go home but, we went to eat! We cabbed down to Geylang for dim sum! Good dim sum! We had to pester Wendy to go cause she was already 3/4 asleep. When it reaches 2am, Wendy's eye bags will grow and cover her eyes, leaving her with really small eyes! The weather was so cold then that it felt like we were overseas... like we were in 'Hiong Kong'. Especially after singing many canto songs and attempts on trying to converse in canto. Nice weather!

After good dim sum and company, we finally left for home and I reached home at 4.15am. Showered and slept at 4.50am. A really long day! Tired!

Wendy in an attempt to cover her already covered eyes...

Weird expressions that people have when they are too tired! *Don't kill me Minhui...*

A more normal pic of them... still, Wendy's eyes are gone...


Our barley! Minhui recommended the barley and I thought they would come in cups... but, NOT! Its good stuff :)


Chang Fen! A very different sauce used here... nice nice!


Banana and Mango fritters...


Golden Yam Balls...


Chicken Feet! The best I've eaten so far. The flesh is not too soft or hard and the sauce is good! Highly recommended!


A final group pic... still without eyes. @ 3am...

-LeB-

Jesus... Worship... Humility...

Just came back from a brief church worship meeting. Eng Kwang shared on 3 things today... I simple sharing but it was a good reminder. All of us being so active in church and serving in the worship ministry, sometimes it becomes so mundane and routine that we forgot the purpose of everything. We were told to share on the word 'Jesus' and 'worship', what it meant to us. There were contributions like... Jesus is our saviour; Jesus died for our sins; Jesus helped me through NS; Jesus is my first love and will always be... etc. I said that Jesus is the reason we live. And I guess its so true, there is no greater cause for living. May Jesus be and always be the focus of our lives. Amen!

On 'worship', people said it means... an expression of our love to God, a testimony of our lives, adoration to God, giving God His due praise and glory, blessing the Lord's name. Thereafter, Eng Kwang shared a short paragraph of what worship is. What he said was initially too abstract, but as he repeated, it made sense. It encompassed all that was contributed. Indeed 'worship' is not what some people term as 'slow songs' that are sung in a church service. I guess it was coined that way for convenience. I was reminded that our lives are a worship to God, that worship and Christian living is not just a Sunday thing. I ought to live out the standards of God in a greater capacity.

Humility... nothing said about it, just an act done by brother Eng Kwang. He washed our feets. It was a true humbling act and he wanted to set an example. May today's message be a reminder to all of us.

I need to be disciplined and set my priorities right.

-LeB-

放纵的一天... and my lazy days

My past few days have been lazy... Days where I do not feel any sense of accomplishments; I just slack and time goes by. No doubt we all need to rest and enjoy, but I seem to be procrastinating about the things that I need to do. I need a balance!

Today we carried out a spontaneous plan, that is to play badminton. Played with Minhui, Wendy and Chuanfeng (Markolele). First time playing badminton together... not bad, not bad. We shall have more of such next time. Exercise! And after badminton, we continued with our all-time-favourite activity. Eating! Went to the Clementi Market to eat. We had real good 'Goreng Pisang', carrot cake and satay. Following which, we had donuts. We then proceeded on to Minhui's place to wash up... After some rest, it was dinner time... and, we decided to eat something good which was 'Sakura Buffet'. I spent a bomb on food and ate tons again. Whats new... ? I really think I'm becoming fatter. Ha... there's a reason for that. Well, my verdict on Sakura Buffet. I think its alright. $26.30 for some variety, alright taste. They have sashimi though. :) Like Wendy said, it was really a 放纵的一天... We have planned for more activities, that is, 'Ooosh' next week! Yeah!

My meals these days always seem to be what I look forward to. Maybe also cause I have made friends who love to eat too! Hahaha... Just the previous night before badminton, I had 'Fish Head Pot', 'Apple Fried Chicken', 'Kailan' and my beloved 'Cereal Prawns'... that was for a late dinner cum supper. Great meal!

Away from food, I went to the hairdresser with my brothers. Yes, the 3 brothers. It was the first time that my younger brother went to the hairdresser to change his hairstyle. He usually cuts his 'bowl' at the malay barber. People who have seen him would know... :) Pics below of his hairstyle in the making!


Beginning of the hair-cut...


In the process and not wanting to look at the camera...


Nice change! :) This is the side view and I think he looks so cute. Wahahah... Nicely spiked. I'm envious of his hairstyle. Looks better than mine. Still, I love him. :)

-LeB-

late nights...

Its 2.24am and I just reached home. Back from a Sunday outing with friends from "Echo". Like Edmund calls it, an 'echo outing'. Ha... It was fun. Went to 'Ai Qing Hai' a 'Ming Ge Can Ting' to support Denis and Simin... They are great musicians... I'm inspired to be like them. :) I haven't gone to 'Ai Qing Hai' since the age of 15.

After their performance at 'Ai Qing Hai', we proceeded on to bowling! The much anticipated match between Denis, Minhui and I. Sadly, there wasn't much of a competition... Ha, our scores were too lousy. For the 1st game, everyone got below 100. It was only the 2nd game that I had a close fight with Minhui, scoring 113 and 114 respectively. I lost :( I want a RE-MATCH! Since all of them did not have to work the next day, we went on to play pool. The night was still young. Denis introduced a funky place called 'pool something', I can't remember... I just know its near princep street. It looks classier, with groovy music, television and a nice menu. I played about 3-4 games of pool. I think its a record for me! But, I am still bad at the game. :( Minhui claims to be the best cause she won Simin. Simin defeated the rest. I suspect its because she plays the game slowly, leaving her opponents no patience and thus losing. Ha... Simin and I had the longest game yet. And we had beer while playing. Ha... My 2nd time drinking in a week. I had beer when we went out for supper the other time. 'Hoegarden'... its supposedly smooth and good. Till now, I still can't appreciate. I just drink. Ha... Maybe it goes with age. I'm not even 21 yet! Soon soon...

Somehow, I seem to feel at ease with people older than me... Do I? I feel old and different among people my age. Not all but at least some. I don't seem to do what friends of my age do... Clubbing? Outings on a weekend? I don't do those. Am I old at heart? Still, I cherish all my friends around me. Hanging out with echo people is like being with a family. Just like how it was when the 'indecisives' used to meet up often. Now its like left with the 'jaded' boys... even so, we don't meet up that often. Frances!!! You are missed!

Caleb is cherishing all his friends... Friends forever~!~!

-LeB-