xinyi is sibei uber freaking tired -___-

long day of music and now i return a shagged person.

band was tiring. new pieces are filled with running notes and seeing as my techniques arent tt great... =/ lotsa freshies today too! and with many seniors gone, it totally feels like im in a whole new band, like im a freshie again. =| i dont like this feelingggggg :(

jamming felt.. nostalgic haha. long time no jam long time no sing = chui. totally cldnt last past the whole list! X( tell me how im gonna pass my elective test next tues mann.... >=( ok. its time to kbox!!!

but anw, back to the pt, guess its really time for us to get a new list of songs. its obvious we're all more-than-sian by the 5 songs le lols. any recommendations anyone??? no funny funny ideas. im VERY serious here >=(

ah shit. baking cookies tmr and heading to michelle's bday party at the other end of the COUNTRY after that (yes im emphasizing how far changi is). which means another whole day burned... and i havent studied for 3 days so its like a WHOLE lot of things piled up :( proj meeting's on mon and i havent done anything abt it... hurrr. sudd i dun feel lke baking cookies anymore :( ster-resssssssssssss..

but no lah i'll still go ahead with my plans tmr haha :P

and one big happy thing today was lunch with ahdear! XD i thk we're both suffering from withdrawal effects of not meeting for so long.. lols.

ok la i shld slp early. and work on my proj first thing tmr morning!!


happy happy day! :D

tutorial discussions today were interesting! critiquing research articles and discussing coding schemes and seeing for ourselves the importance of "interrater reliability" were all quite fun! haha. if only lessons were so fun everyday~~~ :P

went home to nap a bit and "revise" jamming songs... and back to sch for nie band after tt. ha we had SECTIONALS today. finally. i was wondering when we'll ever get to practise on our own before throwing us all tgt to make the piece sound nice. overall sound was still.... not the best. but its definitely better than the noise from prac 1 lol :P hopefully i'll get the scores soon! it'll be quite an achievement if i can play all the running notes clearly.. XD

speaking of which, lao shi mentioned grade 8 flute to me again during ytd's tutorship =x hurrr i really duno abt it mann. taking the exam will force me to practise hard to reach grade 8 standard so tt i wont waste the money, but the fees are really damn exp!! >.< and if i just try to prac myself to grade 8 without signing up for exam, i'll cfm slack =x .. well, in light of the ongoing recession in xinyi's world of finance, option 2 will probably be chosen~~ so, hurr. im gonna need a lot of determination mann..

anyhoo, supper again after nie band! seriously, its no wonder why im starting to feel some form of spare tyre on my abdomen... :( but, cant help it that after band always very hungry. we seriously expend a lot of energy during practice. hardworking hor ;) hahaha.

have also been watching this new series of a japanese gameshow where the ppl are not supposed to laugh. if they do, they'll get whacked on their asses! hahah. but its really so hard to NOT laugh cos the stuff are just so spastic and retarded!! lols. being unable to laugh out loud is really torturous mannnn >.< anw, here's the link if u need some laughs! :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MdeO4Zefms

its 24 episodes though =x but i promise, its worth all the laughs u get!! laughing hard helps u burn calories too so its a gd and easy way to 减肥. c'mon ppl. think no more! click on the link and get ur daily dose of laughter now!! :D


ok im like free advertising lols. i shall watch one more episode before i slp :P and burn all those supper fats away!! wahahahaha.


:( haven sang for damn long. tmr jamming sure chui daoooooo!!!! >.<

and my beloved printer decided to choose the perfect time to tell me there's no more black ink and since it cant even print with other colors unless the black cartridge's replaced, my printer's rendered useless so i totally cant print out my lyrics for yume. hallelujah. means i cant print out notes too. dammit.


hahaha another funny email! :D


How the Chinese stay put in Italy --- Ah Pek and the Pope

About a century or two ago, the Pope decided that all the Chinese had to leave Italy. Naturally there was a big uproar from the Chinese community.

So the Pope made a deal. He would have a religious debate with a member of the Chinese community. If the Chinese win, they could stay. If the Pope wins, the Chinese would leave.

The Chinese realized that they had no other choice. So they picked a middle-aged man named Ah Pek to represent them.

Ah Pek asked for one condition to be added to the debate. 'To make it more interesting' , he said, 'neither side would be allowed to talk'.

The Pope agreed. The day of the great debate came. Ah Pek and the Pope sat opposite each other for a full minute.

Then the Pope raised his hand and showed three fingers. Ah Pek looked back at him and raised one finger. The Pope waved his fingers in a circle around his head. Ah Pek pointed to the ground at where he sat. The Pope pulled out a loaf and a glass of wine. Ah Pek pull out an apple.

The Pope stood up and said: 'I give up. This man is too good. The Chinese can stay.'

An hour later, the cardinals were all around The Pope asking him what happened?. The Pope said, 'first I held up three fingers to represent the holy trinity. He responded by holding up one finger to remind me that there was still one God common to both our religions.'

'Then I waved my finger around me to show him that God was all around us.' He responded by pointing to the ground and showing that God was also right here with us.'

'I pulled out the wine and loaf to show that God absolves all sin. He showed me an apple to remind us of the original sin. He had an answer for everything. What could I do?'

Meanwhile, the Chinese community had crowded around Ah Pek. 'What happened?' they asked..

'Well,' said Ah Pek, 'First he indicated to me that all Chinese had 3 days to get out of here.

I replied to him f*@k off and not one of us was leaving.'

'Then he pointed that this whole city would be cleared of Chinese. I showed him that we are staying right here.'

'Yes, and then???' asked the crowd. 'I don't know', said Ah Pek, 'He took out his lunch, and I took out mine!!!'


***

many things happening right now. hope it'll all settle soon~
cheers :]


learned a spanish song at my singing elective class today! :D totally love that song so much cos its SO NICE!! ok it sounds kinda classical so maybe it'll take some time to get used to it, but i swear, its all good sound~ haha. love everything abt it from the beautiful vocals, their harmonies, the arrangement for the background music, the outdoor theatre... ahh just beautiful! XD

Il Divo - Isabel



iii-saa-beeell~~

haha we took quite some time to get the articulation for spanish lyrics correct. havent really gotten the full hang of it but, its sucha nice song to sing!! XD hee enjoy it~~

and the other song which we learned last week (u probably have heard before)..

Cats Musical - Memory



goosebumps~~ hahaha.

ok i shld get back to my readings. they're piling up like mad!! and the worse thing is, half of it are disgusting journal articles >=( hurrr sibei dry can... :( and i havent met bf for very long!! :((( haix so many things happening, and only one me! its the start of that overwhelmed feeling again... rahhhhh. i want boyfriendddddddd >.<


I WAS INSPIRED BY MARIE!!!!

and indirectly by cheryl from far, far away~~ (no, not the place in shrek)

hahaha. its been quite long since i felt this motivated :)

thank you girls!!


very very sleepy, so early at 930...

- despite the pending workload, sch's been great so far cos im finally seeing all those "long-lost" faces once more! :) really happy that our 88 guys have come to join us. feels like i've gone back thru some time-warp to pj days again! XD

- am considering either joining back cac foc (cos all the old friends are back again! :D), or joining siping's sub-comm in psy society special projects committee. probably the latter..? its gonna be sth new! :D but hmm maybe i'll join back both.. haha we shall see.

- stats is kind of my nemesis ever since i took it in psy year 1, but i actually managed to make myself understand the concept mentioned in lecture 1 this year, and suddenly stats didnt seem that hard after all. :) im happy. just hope this determination to sit down and reeeally digest stats will last thru the whole of this sem..

- i miss band prac!!! this sounds crazy cos i've been band-ing like A LOT in the hols, and i did complain a few times abt band taking up a bit too much of my time. but here i am, missing band prac just 1.5weeks into the new term, becos life just feels soo empty without band! :( and i really need to get my flute tone back!!! >.< 1 month's break really can make ur music go downhill... same for vocals. I CANT SING ANYMOREEEE :(((((

- dinner with ahdear at vivo's the queen and mangosteen ytd nite, and we totally love the curry tartar sauce!! very special, and of cos very tasty :)) watched G.I. Joe after that and WOOOO love the action parts a lot!! completed with super-hot lead actresses somemore lol. only bad part was the neckache.. sat at 3rd row again -.- but ohwells. at least the company's gd! :)

- i love the rock candies dear gave!! XD its the first time i received such a huge jar of them, and i was pretty sure i cant finish it on my own. either that or i'll get tooth decay or turn diabetic after i finish the whole jar. but after i tried the first one, it was SO ADDICTIVE and sweet that i kinda ate 5 at one go =x ok i think i can finish it :) thank you dear!!! <3

- oh. im also taking an interesting elective this sem: the magic of voice in the world of a singer (or sth like that), and the best part is, its practically free vocal lessons!! XD woohooo haha. but, 1st presentation coming up on NEXT TUES which is goddamnfast, and it'll be just individually going up to sing one song =| lidat jiu 30% of final grade!! so horrible =\ gd thing im not in the grp "presenting" next wk, so i still have time to check out what ppl are gonna do... heh. this is scary can?? yah u're gonna rebutt by telling me singing in front of ppl is nth new to me but, i dont like the feeling of singing in front of my CLASS!! >.< crapz. someone bless me please.

- only 2nd week of sch, and im alr behind my readings by abt... 140pages??? ohmygoddddd...... x_x


im, going to slp. hopefully no more "surprises" from my prof tmr. :]


felt totally prague-ish wearing my prague earrings and bracelet, munich scarf and amsterdam shirt today! XD and it totally felt like i was going overseas again when i brought my luggage up onto the train heading towards aljunied where the repair centre was. haha i hope im not addicted to travelling... i dun haf the money to satisfy tt crave! >.<

anw yup, finally brought the luggage down for repair after so many days. hope it wont be too costly!

and the best part of today? super filling zi char dinner with mom and dad, and my long-awaited chit-chat session with weijie! :))) its been eons since i last saw her, and i totally miss the endless chat sessions we nv fail to have! haha. it was soo nice talking to her again tonight :) thank you for the weijie therapy!! XD

wld've been a wonderful end to the day had i not checked my email and found out that TUTORIAL'S UP ALR. !@#$%^&* ...

fine. wake up to ur senses xinyi! school HAS started. :(((
to thk i was still wondering wad i can do and where i can go for the upcoming weekend... BAH. i dont like sch >=(


hello people! the crazy woman is back! XD hahaha.

wont be uploading photos here cos uploading them to facebook has alr shortened my life a bit.. lol. a thousand thanks to my dear for lending me his macbook and iphoto! i officially declare its one of the most useful applications invented, esp for photo-ish ppl like me! hahah :P

anw, europe trip was really fun! XD wldnt say its a 100% perfect trip though. some conflicts along the way here and there, but guess they're kinda inevitable lah huh? ppl do get stressed from running ard and adjusting to last-min changes, and stress can really make ppl much more easily annoyed etc yah? nevertheless, it was a great experience travelling around so many european cities in 10 days! transiting through the multiple train rides and repeated checking in and out of hostels/hotels while we toured the 7 cities was definitely draining, but how else wld u get to experience stuff like slping over in super-crammed train bunks?? XD


ok im in the mood to reiterate my trip (as briefly as i can so this wont be another too-lengthy entry), so here goes!


1st stop: Kerkrade (The Netherlands)

arrival in Rolduc College where we stayed over for the 4 days before WMC competition on 1st Aug! :) one of the things i rmbred most significantly abt this stop was the first meal we had here. CUP NOODLES. like .... we really kinda expected sth bit more? haha. and of cos, the same bread, ham, cheese and cereal we had everyday for breakfast and lunch... =\ im still abstaining from bread and ham now, really.

cldnt practise our instruments inside the building so we practised outside instead, which wasnt wad u'll call "ideal" cos it was damn windy and it kinda affects our intonation and all? plus instruments all go flat cos of the lower temperature blah blah.. but we wont experience this back in sg so, its fine :)

and of cos, the bathroom which has NO cubicles. only a wall with 5 showerheads so we all gotta bathe... like that. :) it was definitely an eye opener hahaha. not to mention the freezing temperatures we're exposed to once we turn off the shower... DAMN COLD CAN. we practically ran back to the hostel building after showers lol (the bathroom is in a separate building).

walked over from Kerkrade to Germany too cos the place is just at the border! :D nice place~~

and WMC itself was nice too! though i think we didnt play our best... but we did manage to scrape a gold and improve from WMC 2005? :) love the wmc lanyard i got as a souvenir! XD was a great accessory for hanging my camera haha :P

2nd stop: Prague (Czech Republic)

getting to prague wasnt easy. at all.

Rolduc hostel - walk to Kerkrade bus station - saturday. ppl dont work. no bus available. - walk back to Rolduc hostel - walk to Germany train station (becos we'll miss the kerkrade train or sth lidat), with luggage and all. -.- the trekking took abt 1hr++..? or maybe im optimistic hurr. woots! BMT~~

and that was where my luggage wheel got spoilt i think.. the roads arent the smooth kind like what we have here =x

had the 1st overnight stay on the 6-hr train to prague! 6 ppl per room was kinda crammed, and the space btwn beds werent big so u cant sit up properly... but ohwells. just slp lah haha.

the hostel we stayed at was one of the better ones in the trip! spacious room, private toilet (a very nice change from using common toilets with no bathroom cubicles), and mini kitchen for us to cook maggie noodles! :D

and prague's city is sooo beautiful and big! wld love to stay there for another day to shop properly.. although i've alr bought a bag and cap from H&M there :P but der's like, still so much to explore!! hahaha. love prague castle's gothic cathedral too. was really "majestic" and wow~~ ok maybe cos i 1st time enter cathedral lah haha :P

entered the museum of medieval torture instruments =x it was really gruesome to see how ppl tortured prisoners etc last time.. >.< it did give me disturbed slp that night. brrrrrrr.

3rd stop: Vienna (Austria)

the city of music! :D didnt experience very musical stuff though, except for the concert we attended. were walking around on the streets and ppl were selling tickets to a concert showcasing Mozart's and Strauss' most famous pieces, coupled with opera singing and dancing parts, so we bought the tix. 29 euros though, which is a little pricey.. about 60 sgd? =x but it was my 1st time watching a live opera singer! hahah. interesting~~~

the wombat hostel was quite gd too! comfortable place and quite nicely done up :) breakfast der was bread and ham and cheese again though.....

and vienna's the first place where i had my most expensive toilet trip. 60 euro cents to enter the toilet!! thats like $1.20 just to pee??? >=( but thats abt the normal toilet entry fee bah.. there are 1-euro toilets too :] oh mann i just love singapore for the free and even 10-cent toilets! haha.

4th stop: Salzburg (Austria)

the hostel we stayed at had the best exterior and worst interior in the entire trip >=( it really looked beautiful on the outside u know! but the room yiting and i got was ..... it had NOTHING inside. only 4 beds on the floor, 1 small table, 1 not-very-nice poster, 1 door, and a tiny ventilation hole -.- der were no windows, so we both tot we're gonna suffocate and die halfway through the nite after we close and lock the door. then yiting saw the tiny ventilation hole abt the size of a soup bowl near the ceiling... DD= our saviour~~~~

sound of music tour the next day, 33 euros (~66 sgd). wldnt say it was a waste of money cos the tour did bring us to a few of the most beautiful places in salzburg! :) if it wasnt for the tour, we wldnt have seen the natural sceneries sg doesnt ever have. will definitely rmbr the O.O feeling i got when i stepped off the bus and saw the "boundless" view of mountains and lakes in front of me. just B-E-A-UTIFUL!!! XD


the view can nv be fully captured. u'll really have to see it for urself! how nice it wld be to live in the village there~~ *dreams*

the streets of salzburg at nite were pretty too! :) shops look lovely even when they're closed.. wld definitely shop der in the day if i had time! X( one of the places i'll probably revisit in future :)

5th stop: Munich (Germany)

welcome back to germany! haha. forgot to book the overnight train to paris so it was either another day in salzburg or trip to munich..

wldnt say munich's a beautiful place - ok. the corner of munich we visited wasnt exactly pretty and a huge temptation to shoppers, but it was the place where i spent the most on clothes i guess? haha =x bought 2 shirts and a scarf there cos i cldnt decide btwn the two shirts and the shop was closing and the scarf was so nice!! hahaha. ok. there goes 37 euros...

pasta dinner, arcade session, and chit-chat-over-ice-cream session that nite! :) its so nice to just crap freely with friends~~ lol.

6th stop: Paris (France)

woohooo!!! XD finally in paris :)

train to paris was damn tok lui though. booked the train and paid, but still gotta pay another 15 euros when we're on the train! not vry sure why.. thk we hafta pay just cos we're taking a "french" train?? =S and worse thing is, we dun even haf proper seats! >=( was actually sitting in a 4-seat corner with kwang liang, zhi yong and yong an, but kena chased off halfway thru cos some ppl from another stop had reserved the seats.. zzzzz. so we moved to another cabin, and found out that the rest kena chased too! in the end, we're like either standing or in 3-ppl-share-2-seats condition and praying hard no one had reserved the seats we took -.- and we paid the additional 15 euros.... hmpf.

tok lui-s aside, paris' streets are one of the best i've been to!! XD explored a little on our own during our 1st night, and took the free walk tour the next day which took us to the famous places/monuments in paris such as the notre-dame, louvre museum, eiffel tower, grand palais etc. walked along the champs elysees (shopping district, mainly for high-end stuff. imagine a street of paragon-s) cos i was on a mission to get a LV wallet for woeilin, and it was a route to the arc de triomphe too. wish i cld window-shop a bit more at champs elysees cos the shops look SO NICE!! X( but, no time, and it was abt to rain... :( i am SO going back to paris!!! any takers?? lets go this weekend!!! HAHA :P ok im kidding, but i'll definitely revisit in future! :D

7th stop: Amsterdam (The Netherlands)

the stop after paris was supposedly Brussel (Belgium), but becos we're gonna hafta pay the stupid 15euros-for-no-guaranteed-seats there and back, majority of us decided to give Brussel a miss, so only chin kee, yan zhang and zhi yong went (with chocolate orders from all of us of course :P) wld love to go Belgium next time! heard its really nice too :)

anw, back to amsterdam for us cos we'll be taking the flight back to sg from amsterdam's schipol airport. managed to shop a tiny bit after dinner before all the shops close (they all close ard 6pm btw. damn early) so we can get amsterdam souvenirs back for impt ppl like u guys (hahaha), and visited the red light district later at night after Brussel ppl joined us back! :) red light district was of cos, another eye opener for us cos we dont get to see all these "stuff" back in sg lols. the place was a little intimidating though.. thank god for the group of guys we have with us! haha. and there were ducks and swans (very 美!!) in the small canal btwn the 2 sides of the district.. kinda out of synch with the streets surrounding them but, they're so cute la! XD

took the amsterdam free walk tour the next day before we left, and it was back to schipol for our 12-hr flight back to sg. :)

and tts all for the europe trip! :D really many thanks to guo qiang and zhi yong for helping me with my luggage! the 2 most impt wheels spoiled halfway thru the trip laaa.. im so gonna complain to hush puppies >=( but anw, thanks to the ppl who planned the trip and for bringing us so many laughs along the way! it was definitely fun having u guys ard :) and yay now i know more ppl in band! hahaha :P



very unfortunately though, sch starts the day after we touch down (not for some who self-declared a holiday extension lol), so i guess i cant say i've rested enough :( still a little jet-laggish i think? which explains why im still wide awake near 4am now... =x ok i must slp. going out with ahdear tmr! XD dun wanna panda him hahaha. gdnites all! :) hope u're not bored dead by this in-the-end-still-longish entry :P