A Japanese Weekend

Went for Japanese-related events for both Saturday and Sunday nights, which were rather meaningful. Really enjoyed the Bunka Anniversary Dinner very much!

Lets start with the CSS finals which took place on Saturday. Glad that Shawn emerged the overall champion! However I felt he did not perform up to expectation that night. He seemed to be very tense too. Probably the atmosphere was too overwhelming for a 13-year old haha. Keely performed well, but sounded very hoarse and exhausted at the final song. The 2 duets did not go very well, with Keely stumbling at one point and Shawn singing Teresa's melody which made the 2nd half of the song sound very weird, like what Roy Li said. One of the shocking parts was when Benjamin got a high score of 40. Felt his rendition of Xi Jie was pretty nice (ignoring the falsetto crack). Anyway I think Xi Jie as the set song was a bit too difficult lor.

Overall there seemed to be many mistakes here and there, quite distracting. I remembered it was more 'perfect' last year. It's undeniable that the standards dropped, which is often the case for those seasonal kind of competition like PSS and CSS where the first is always better than the 2nd. Still awaiting for a talent that might even surpass Stefanie or JJ, haha.

Ok, get to the main topic now. Went for a Japanese fair called Summer Festival (Natsu Matsuri) organised by JAS (Japanese Association of Singapore) with my Japanese class friend. Was held at a Japanese School at Changi...damn far lol. As we reached there rather late, the coupons had been sold out and we could not purchase Japanese food from the stalls. What a pity, as the food looked tasty haha. Could only bring back a unique soda bottle.

The entire school compound was terribly crowded. There were long queues for food and games everywhere. As it was a Japanese fair, it was not surprising to see many people dressed in Yukatas (a tradition bath suit) as well as hear native Japanese speak in their rapid language. Felt like being in Japan hehe. (far from it actually...)



View from the school field.


A group of dancers and volunteers dancing to the tune of Chan Mali Chan in a traditional Japanese style.


The long string of words hung on the railing seems to be the philosophy of the school. Sry for the dark picture...


School's goal of the month!


Attended my school's (Bunka) 22nd anniversary dinner on Sunday night held at Riverview Hotel. Tried to converse in Japanese with the teachers but stumbled a lot and made many mistakes haha. Though it was a small event, it was really fun. Played simple but engaging group games like Jan-Ken-Pon (aka Scisscors-Paper-Stone). Everyone's enthusiastic participation made the event more enjoyable. The teachers and staff were humourous as well. The Japanese buffet was wonderful too. =) In the end brought home many gifts. =p



Introduction of teachers in Bunka.


My Japanese study buddies with our friendly teachers. =)


Won prizes! Yay!

That's it for this fun-filled Japanese weekend. Makes me feel like attending more lessons and cultural events in Bunka! Tanoshikatta yo!

Days Numbered

Counting down to stay in. By right shld be 3 days, but it seems like our bunks are not ready yet and might stay out for another week or so. Haiz...feels being back to BMT again.

The Ch8 9pm show is really funny, reminds me of Ye Man Qin Jia. Love these kind of gangstery comedies. =p

Finally it's down to the finals for CSS! Will not be watching the competition live, but will be rooting for Shawn (for male) and Keely (for female). Hope Shawn will be the champion =). And Keely sing as well as he Ping Chang Xin.

Today marks the closure of my logistics unit, and tomorrow we will belong to a combat unit (that explains the stay-in). As a clerk there are many changes in administration that I've to get used to. Hope everything can go fine.

A hectic Friday night...

Yesterday night was the most tiring but enjoyable outing I've ever had! Haha. So sry for booking the movie at an early slot, but then we also din expect the fireworks to start so late too...haiz.

Reached City Hall at almost 7+ and it was damn crowded. From MRT station to Citylink all the way to Marina Square. Could see queues at every restaurant and food outlet. Wanted to try a new restaurant but ended up at the same one at Millenia Walk. (the one where outside is the carpark) IIRC it was the third time I've been there alr. The good thing is the row of restaurants there usually do not have much customers. And the BAB restaurant is one of the cheapest restaurant there I think haha. Next time can go Suntec Fountain restaurants instead? It's a long time since I've eaten there...

Had to rush to watch the fireworks below Sheares Bridge as we started (and ended) dinner rather late. But then the fireworks started abt 20 min late. =( Rush to wait, wait to rush eh? It was worth the wait fortunately. The fireworks, brought by Spain, was really spectacular! Magnificient! Splendid! *Throw in any big words here* Was very very impressed with the finale when the entire sky was practically lighted up with a myriad of colours! Though the place we stood wasn't the best location to view the fireworks (din have the tickets to enter the seating gallery), the bright sparkles and loud booms remained impactful. Nothing beats watching the fireworks physically at the scene.

Then we had our ultimate rush to catch a movie. Ran all the way from Sheares to Cathay, weaving through the huge crowd, passing several police, trampling on grass patches, beating traffic lights... Wow, it was like high speed chase! First time I ever ran like that! Haha. Couldn't run with ease carrying my heavy sling bag, and stitches which developed halfway during the run (probably due to improper running posture as well as running quickly and stopping suddenly several times)

Finally we reached Cathay! It was almost 10pm when we entered the theatre, not knowing how much of the movie 'Secret', stipulated to commence at 9.45, we had missed. Took our seats with sweaty shirts. =p

Decided to watch 'Secret' as I heard many good reviews from the net. Practically everyone, both Jay and non Jay fans alike, was praising the movie and claiming that it exceeded their expectations of a cliche love flick film. Many gave 4 stars and above which was indeed very rare for such Asian romance film. Was also looking forward to the twist, which lies the secret of the movie.

Indeed 'Secret' is more impressive that I thought! The 'secret' was rather...beyond imagination haha, though I figured it out partially some time before it was revealed.

Not surprised if anyone decides to watch this movie again. If you look at the internet forums, this movie has triggered many discussions, with ppl presenting their own thoughts and theories. From there you might even come to realisation of facts that you din notice in the movie! Really enjoy this kind of thought-provoking movie, which makes one ponder over the scenes again and again rather than just watch and forget.

Those who haven't watch, go watch it now. You won't regret it.

NDP Finale

Everyone's hard work for the past few months finally paid off. It felt like a huge burden released from our backs. 12 Saturdays of training has come to an end and my weekends have regained freedom once again. It has really been a wonderful experience to be involved in the logistics of NDP for the first time in my life, which luckily coincides with the first year NDP was held at the Marina floating pontoon. Most of the planning had to start from scratch, unable to depend on the settings of the previous years. Applause to all the personnels and orgainsers involved who had made this year's parade an enjoyable and well-coordinated one.

Unfortunately there was a major mistake during the performance regarding the commandos' rappelling and fire curtain which occurred together when they were not supposed to. Ppl in forums have been discussing about this error, which IMO ruined a rather splendid stunt and effect. The commandos were practically invisible within the brightness of the spark waterfall, couldn't be seen by majority of the audience both at the scene and on tv, putting the commandos' hard work all into waste. Furthermore it was quite dangerous to rappel with sparks falling at the same time. Hope an explanation will be given as I really like the fire curtain effect in the dark.

Nothing beats watching the parade live at marina. The TV broadcast definitely doesn't do justice to this kind of event where lots of things happen at a time at different locations.

The Marina and City Hall area had practically become a citizens' playground on Thursday night, extremely crowded with people wanting to catch a glimpse of the fireworks. When the fireworks commenced, could see ppl stopping on their tracks and looking up at the night sky, while those indoor quickly rushed out to watch at the moment when booms and cracks were heard. What an interesting sight haha.

After the show, the streets were flooded. Crowds could be seen at every junction corner, every pedestrian pavements along the road, every bus stop. Buses were overloaded, taxi stands were over-queued, shopping centres seemed like PC show. Can't imagine the sight at City Hall MRT station, which must be at the point of bursting. This must be the first time Marina and City Hall has ever been so crowded.

This NDP seems to be the finale of a phase of my NS life. Not only it marks the end of a big project which spanned over months, it signifies the start of important changes that I'm about to experience:

- Staying in (I've been staying out ever since BMT and it's time for me to experience the true soldier life of staying in camp.)

- Being a clerk (Yea, not going to touch anymore technical work till I ORD. Will be sitting in the office most of the time dealing with admin work. Nothing different from a change in vocation)

Somehow I'm starting to miss the rehearsals...argh what's wrong with me, haha...

Enjoy while it lasts

The 2nd round of Kbox competition was held successfully this afternoon! It has been 4 months since the previous round. I shall leave it to the winner, YF, to post up the scores and commentary. :p

Went to submit my JLPT application just now. It seemed not long ago when I went there last year. (It was before I went to watch one of the fireworks display) For those who dunno, JLPT stands for Japanese Language Proficiency Test. This marks the start of studying for the test, which will be held in December. Gambarimasu!

Abt CSS, I'm impressed by cute little Shawn again! If I'm not wrong the key of the song was raised (that's rare!) to accommodate for Shawn's high vocal range.

“我很想赶快结婚生个孩子，像你一样！” Haha...

NDP @ Marina CR6

A far cry from Preview last week. Performers not in costumes, no parachutes, no orchestra, no goodies bag and most importantly no fireworks! As the final combined rehearsal before the actual day it's not surprising that the organisers have decided to save on resources and give the participants a rest.

Got 3 last minute tickets for this rehearsal, but gave them away to my IC. After all this show was not very worth watching, like CR2. The audience must be very disappointed lol.

Finally my Saturdays are free! Outing anyone? Outing anyone? Outing anyone? Outing anyone? Outing anyone? Outing anyone? Outing anyone? Outing anyone? Outing anyone? Outing anyone? Outing anyone? Outing anyone? Outing anyone? Outing anyone?

Lol I'm crazy...