April roundup..

It's the last day of April! Exactly 1/3 of 2010 has already passed.. How time has flown!!

And yes.. I have been so sluggish in updating my blog.. But in order to not let this beloved blog of mine to die a natural death, here're some (more interesting) updates:

1. I `lost' my second Italian teacher but found a new one!

I was so glad to have been introduced to Lina earlier this year after Giovanna left for Rome. Lina was a lovely lady, and I liked the fact that she `pushed' me more.. making me speak Italian all the time in class and even when I sms or called her. What she did was basically revised and strengthened what I needed - basically the conversational part. In just three months, I think I've become a bit more confident in attempting to speak in Italian. Though this forgetful mind of mine means I'm still quite slow..

She was supposed to leave for Italy for 2 1/2 months and back..but since her husband's work contract is ending in August, she won't be coming back. :( She really wanted me to continue learning Italian, which I assure her I would continue! So she found me a new teacher before she left two weeks ago.. (it was quite a sudden sad farewell)

I met up with Beatrice at the Italian Embassy on Wednesday and I'm already excited to start class with her! She believes in interactive teaching style.. and just like Lina and maybe more so, she wants to drill in my conversational Italian, which I fully agreed is what I needed most! She won't be teaching from textbook, but may use music, or even cooking as part of a class (identifying ingredients and following recipes in Italian)! We will be starting 2 weeks later after she's back from her holiday.

2. My First Opportunity into `Christian Journalism'

Having been a journalist and writer all these years.. having written for national papers to many publications, corporate and websites, finally I got the chance to write for Christian publication (church and peer group newsletters notwithstanding). A few weeks ago, I was introduced to the editor of Asian Beacon and I'm glad that not long after that, he actually contacted me to do a story, and then another one! I've just done my first personality interview with an American Christian leader-author this afternoon. Another interview is also in the pipeline.

Writing for Christian publications has always been something at the back of my mind. I believe since God gave me the gift of writing (not that I'm a great writer but it is my vocation) I do want to serve Him and glorify Him in my writing, in a more direct way. And I get paid for it too although the amount is comparably less than other secular publications, but it is something I feel is worthy and meaningful to do. And I'm really glad and excited about it! :)

3. Two Traditional Spa Treatments in One Day

Thanks to my work, I had the opportunity to experience an Ayurvedic massage and the luxurious Hammam spa almost back-to-back in one day last Tuesday! Yes, I have been to spas and have frequent massages quite regularly. But these two types of `treatments' were totally new to me.

I was asked to write for a lifestyle magazine on some `traditional remedies' that are being offered in some more upmarket spas or centers. Actually I only needed to introduce each of them briefly (about 300 words?) and get some photos. But when I approached these places, they were nice enough to offer me to try their treatments. Well, no reason to refuse right? ;)

I was given the Abhyanga (Ayurvedic Oil Massage) and Patra Pnda Sweda (Herbal leaf poultice therapy) at Samkkya Ayurveda in Bangsar. It was very different from the massages I had experienced - very oily but I like the vigorous stroke. The medicinal smell was quite strong and while it felt rejuvenating, I wasn't that used to the oiliness! Still it was an interesting experience. I also learned more about ayurveda treatments...

The Hammam spa at Bangsar Village 2 was something else! The Moroccan version of the traditional Turkish bath contained the signature `Hammam & Gommage' - a bathing ritual that involves a `black soap' wash, moorish body polish and `enveloppment' (ie body wrap). I was taken to a warm dimly-lit`bathroom' in Moroccan style. I just sat or laid down and did nothing, and a Moroccan `bathing lady' attended to me - soaped, bathed, scrubbed my whole body and also washed my hair etc.. in a way, it felt kinda weird :p And the rigorous body polish really leave your skin feeling clean! The whole process was really relaxing.

After that, I was also given a full-body Moroccan massage which was so good.. and followed by a facial, which was much needed since I hadn't had one for months! The whole `ritual' took more than 3 hours and I must say it was one of the best if not the best spa experience I have ever had.. what bliss!

4. Singing and more singing

Earlier over Easter weekend, Cantus Musicus (yes, the has been revived!) did a presentation of `Thorns & Roses' at St. Andrew's Church. We didn't have much time to practise and in fact my choir director was quite worried and stressed about it. But thank God, everyone put in effort and rose to the occasion.

We didn't sing many songs but they were really lovely such as Agnus Dei, Libera Me and the finale Den wir haben hie keine belbende Statt by Johannes Brahms, which was a tough song to sing but I think we did justice to it! And the audience response said it all too.. it was great to sing for the Glory of God!

Now, we are busy practising for our next concert - a Celtic Concert at the home of the Irish Ambassador next month. The repertoire includes not just Irish but Welsh songs. Welsh must be one of the hardest languages to pronounce! But the music again is lovely, something you don't hear often...

As for my personal vocal class, my teacher is gearing me up for my grade 6 vocal exam end of the year. I've already started learning the exam pieces some time ago (which I didn't know then were the exam pieces!) - an Italian aria, a German lieder and two more..

As you can guess, to me, singing is one of the most enjoyable things I could do :) And it is a great way to destress as well. I just hope I am more diligent and hardworking to improve this art and skill...

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Yes, so April has been an eventful month, even at personal level which I won't share here.. :p

Now, work is picking up too so May looks like another busy month..

and guess what, this blog is turning five next month!

The long day closes...

This was the last song we sang.

It felt kinda surreal and sad that it has come to an end.. when I know many of us still have so much passion and devotion to continue to sing in this choir.

I have joined Cantus Musicus for exactly two years now.. although it's only short two years, I have really enjoyed singing every Wednesday evening with a group of fellow singers and music lovers of diverse background; and also performing in the ambassadors' home and functions, and of course the parties and feasts that were part of them all.. And over time, I have also made many friends from the choir, some of whom I've grown quite close to..

What made Cantus Musicus different from other local choirs is the types of music we sing. From school days to university and church choirs, I have never been acquainted with such rare, beautiful and challenging repertoires - we sing much of the music in a capella, always in SATB parts, and I have never sung in so many different languages in my life!! Just at the top of my head, I've sung in German, Latin, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Russian, Irish... etc.. At first it was quite daunting but soon, I found it very interesting and refreshing and happily welcomed them!

We may not be the most `hardworking' choir.. for I know certain choirs have many rehearsals prior to performances.. we are after all an amateur choir but we always rose to the occasion and have done our best in each of the performances - and they have always been well received by the host and the audience.. and I, daring to speak on behalf of my fellow choir mates, there's this indescribable feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment having been able to belt out melodies from our hearts for our audience and ourselves.

(recap: these posts were just some of the concerts last year that I blogged about.. )

Besides feeling sentimental about the ending.. for I know I will miss singing with the choir every Wednesday.. some of us also feel it's a pity and a `waste'.. for I know there are many gifted singers and musicians among us who are passionate and committed in singing in this choir - many can be rightful soloists. Yes, of course we could join other choirs, but it won't be the same. There is only one Cantus Musicus which is totally unique.. not in a boastful way but we all know that.

I know we all shared the feeling of melancholy last night despite putting on a brave and cheerful front. Although we already were expecting it as there had been hints and warnings, I guess we were just hoping that this would be a temporary break.. that this current choir - which has grown to be very big - will need some form of `revamp' or `reformation'.

But from what we were told, it really seemed like a proper closure. `Cantus Musicus' is official no more.

As a fellow choir mate said: `Que sara sara, whatever will be, will be..' I guess that's part of life.. we know our choir director, who has invested so much of her time, energy and blood, sweat and tears into this choir, needs a break. And she has her reasons and we all respect that. But somehow I and many of us in the choir still harbouring the hope that this is not a permanent end.. perhaps some time later, a choir will be reformed in the same spirit of that of Cantus Musicus, and all the true Cantus Musicusians will gather together again to do what we love to do - crooning unique and beautiful music again..

We sang the rather depressing `The Long Day Closes' while we were having our last `Room 5 party' (yes, it was a wonderful feast again and I shall miss that too! :( )

No star is o'er the lake,

Its pale watch keeping,

The moon is half awake,

Through gray mists creeping,

The last red leaves fall round

The porch of roses,

The clock hath ceased to sound,

The long day closes.

Sit by the silent hearth

In calm endeavour,

To count the sounds of mirth,

Now dumb for ever.

Heed not how hope believes

And fate disposes:

Shadow is round the eaves,

The long day closes.

The lighted windows dim

Are fading slowly.

The fire that was so trim

Now quivers lowly.

Go to the dreamless bed

Where grief reposes;

Thy book of toil is read,

The long day closes.

Guess it's like what they say, all good things will come to an end.. Just that I feel this `end' has come too soon.

And I will always cherish the experience, the fun time and the memories of my two years with this wonderful choir...

Christmas singing series with Cantus Musicus!

The first half of December has been a busy month as far as singing (and feasting) is concerned!

My choir Cantus Musicus had been invited to stage three performances and you guess it, most of the time the singing was followed by feasting!! ;) But of course, the real joy was derived from singing those beautiful and meaningful pieces linked to the birth of Christ.

Being a shutterbug and one who likes to be at the receiving end as well, I did my narcissist thing and had a photo taken before I left home for each performance. ;)

December 1 - Equatorial Hotel
(dresscode - white top and long black bottom - and colourful accessories (mine you could hardly see:p)




It was for some Christmas event at the hotel - where they lit up their Christmas tree. There were some long speeches prior to our singing.. It was quite `sad'.. since we were singing in a corner of the lobby, and most people were not really listening - I think we had like an audience of about five?

Anyways.. we still sang in good spirit and I think those who watched enjoyed themselves. After singing, we were treated to a superb buffet spread!




December 7 - `9 Lessons & Carols' at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church
(Dress code: All black with colourful Christmas accessories - I borrowed a red necklace from mom!)




We rose to the occasion and in my and many others' opinion, sang our best for the performance. It was a meaningful presentation with readings of Scriptures by various diplomats in between carols. I really love the pieces from different eras in various languages..

After the performance, the audience was treated to home-made mince pies and mulled wine - courtesy of some talented ladies from our choir.

I did spam many ppl on emails, Facebook and sms and personally invited many to come but finally only my parents and three friends (one had to miss out the `feast' for a wedding dinner) came.. Well, it's their loss missing out! :p My parents and friends thought we were really good!




December 13th - `Festliches Weihnachtskonzert' by GSSKL at Bukit Nanas Convent Chapel
(Dress code: silver, blue & white)




This to me was the climax of our series of performances! :p

It's my first time entering Bukit Nanas convent, and the chapel of course. It's really quite beautiful! But my friend who studied there said it was even nicer before they painted the facade brown. I forgot to ask some members not singing to take photos of us! So I don't have any photos when we sang.. There was this part when a lady from our choir dressed up as Lucia of `Sankta Lucia' with a crown of light on her head. and there was also candle lighting when we sang `Light a Candle in the Dark'... ah, how I wished there were photos (well, the society's official photographer was there but haven't seen the pix in their website yet..)

And of course, there was the feast and free flowing wine!! Emm.. I think i was unconsciously trying to keep up with the amazing drinker sitting next to me - he already downed four glasses of white wine when we were just about to get our appetizers!! So I ended up having two glasses - one for red and the other for white wine - in front of me the whole night long..

And ya, i got a little bit high I must say but still steady enough to drive home, in a merry mood.








can you believe some of them still hadn't had enough of singing and continued after dinner?! :p



p.s. a big thank you to all my fellow choir members for being so united, singing their hearts out and a even bigger thank you to our choir director who put in so much effort in everything from selecting the music to coaching us and coordinating the presentations and more! Thanks Lisa and all for making this Christmas special and memorable! :)

`Voices in the Wind' at the residence of the German Ambassador

It was truly an unforgettable experience and I had a fantastic time at the Residence of the German Ambassador on the last night of April!

The occasion? Well, it's in the title of the post.

`Voices' of course represents the choir I'm in – Cantus Musicus; while `wind' denotes the Encounter High Winds ensemble that consists of 11 young and talented musicians.

So yeah, we – the choir, teaming up with the ensemble of winds and brass instrumentalists, presented a concert at HSchubert and Beethoven to name a few.

Being a newbie to the five-year-old choir, it was my first proper concert of sort. Yes, earlier we sang for Easter presentation `Thorns and Roses' at St. Andrew's church but this is something else to me. (Since I had been singing in church all the is Excellency Herbert D. Jess' residence to his guests of about 200.

It was a concert that classical music lovers would love - with selection of such rich and well-loved compositions from maestros such as Wagner, Schumann, Haydn, while but never in an ambassador's house!) :p

But such occasion is not new to Cantus Musicus which had performed at the residences of the German and Austrian ambassadors and the British High Commissioner, and even in front of our Prime Minister as well.

Since it's a concert hosted by the German Ambassador this time, we had an all German repertoire. And for someone like me who didn't know a word of German and had never sung in German (except one piece for Thorns and Roses), it was really tough! It didn't help some of the pieces were extremely challenging musically as well.. But hey, finally I was able to sing through although the pronunciations can do with corrections...

The opening song for the choir is Treulich Gefuhrt (from Wagner's Lohengrin), more familiarly known as the Wedding March. And for this we had to walk in all the way from the back of the audience, with all kinds of accessories and props – flowers for the ladies, funny hats, bows and spears.

Personally I like the very challenging but `Stimmt an die Saiten (from Haydn's Die Schopfung ie. The Creation) and the melodic lieder Da Unten Im Tale by Brahms. Another one is Schumann's tribute to the Gypsies Zigeunerleben that is full of vigour and life. All together, we presented nine pieces, including two featuring small groups.

So how did it go? Well, I would say like `Thorns and Roses' (I won't know about the previous ones of course), singers of Cantus Musicus again rose to the occasion! You see, we had quite a bit of things that needed to be ironed out even till the very last rehearsal. But thankfully, everyone put in their utter best and even our our choral director Lisa Ho (who co-founded the choir), who's normally pretty strict and has high expectation of us, was full of praise for us after our concert!

With no intention to butter her up (i just found out Lisa also reads my blog!) I must say that the success of our performance has a lot to do with her direction and coaching. I believe a good instructor is only able produce good student... so, much credit must be given to Lisa, who not has great musicality but the drive and discipline to spur us on.

Anyway, back to the night. The concert lasted close to two hours – with the first half dedicated to the ensemble, including a very interesting piece with narration called `How the Crocodile Got Its Teeth', which is inspired by the Orang Asli community.

After the last light-hearted piece `Rasa Sayang' followed by photograph posing, it was finally `party' time – well, what else would you call it when there was free-flowing drinks (read alcohol) and finger food.

As some of the choir members have performed at the residence before, they knew where to stand where they could be the first to `ambush' the waiters carrying the tray of yummy Hors d'œuvre walking out from the kitchen through the large dining room.

For me, it was a time to get to know more of my choir mates! Sad to say, although it has been four months already since I joined them, I only knew just a handful of others and they are limited to my fellow first sopranos – reason being we sit close together in the same places.
Being so bad with names, I had to embarrass myself to ask for some of their names again although I had previously been briefly introduced to them. I also got to know a couple of them better - translating from just faces to names (hopefully!) and even their backgrounds!

I also bumped into an old friend - or rather a former college mate's dad - the multi-faceted Antares (who wrote that crocodile poem), and through him, got to meet Saidah Rastam the famed music composer - who turned out to be a sweet and soft-spoken person.

Sipping free drinks and munching on variety of bite-size Hors d'œuvreis were already a pleasure by itself, and little bit of alcohol effect sank in giving a more merry feel!

But I left quite early - 11pm so that I was able to catch American Idol on tv! (yeah, definitely not drunk at all) :p

It was so fun - the singing and the socialising.. I hope we could do something like that again soon!

n.b. A Special thanks to my singer friend Janet who took those concert pix for me! :)