Check this out:

Apparently the NY Philharmonics held a concert in North Korea, some time back, in the hope that it will “strengthen” the bilateral ties between the 2 nations – a move which I thought was great! The concert was seriously superb! I caught it on CNN recently and as I was watching, there was this particular song which seemed pretty familiar. As I checked it out, I realized it was Arirang – a Korean Folk Song played by as a full orchestral piece. The reason it sounded very familiar was because we played it before! Remember, Variations on a Korean Folk Song Suite?? Yeah, this version with the orchestra is really enchanting and rich in beautiful tones as well as chords. (youtube this videoclip!)

Another great example of how music can bridge nations.

music lives only when notes fly off the page
and soar into glorious notes

(picture collage)
ubin getaways, starbucks chiling, 21st, meal in a 5 ton, sispec, botanical gardens, bye carol!, equinox chill and ayam penyet meal at marinasquare.

it was definitely fun although it can be tough sometimes dealing with naughty kids!

anyhow, i enjoyed it :)

(above) meal at BaliThai with the real deal teachers; having a picnic with ilyas, suliana and nixon as part of post exam activity at the SingaporeBotanicalGardens

thank god it's O-V-E-R.

lol.

call me delusional, and i do not care! he's my American Idol.

actually, i didn't really mind cook winning cos i really love some of his songs, for instance : always be my baby, billy jean, i don't wanna miss a thing and the finale song, time of my life.

both are really great and i think both are winners, it's just so retarded and stupid to crown only one of them as the idol. they should have like american idols or something. both deserve the title! i would be really sad too if david archuleta won :(

sighs.

LOVE is too strong to say it too early, but too beautiful to say it too late.

i have lots of things to say, it's just that it can be really hard trying to pen down all that emotions, feelings and excitement. It doesn't help that the students i'm teaching are forever keeping my mind busy thinking of how to make lessons more interesting and engaging. I think that's the beauty of relief teaching. You don't really have to bother yourself too much with admin stuff (although i'm the form teacher of 3 Opal with Suliana as my co-form teacher, which is 3E1..hahahaha!) and to a certain extent, academic performance. Hence, you have fewer responsibilities, enabling you to simply teach - making lessons fun and inspiring. However, not ALL relief teachers are enjoying the perks of relief teaching, for instance our dear Mr Ilyas, Nixon and the overly stressed but very dedicated Farid. Their time-tables are crazy relative to mine and i'm freaking GRATEFUL! hahaha. in a way, i do enjoy teaching but i think relief teaching is as far as i would go because i won't forgive myself if the students i teach fail to meet their expectations. nonetheless, relief teaching (well, at least for me was FUN!) it's just that i'm most of the time pretending to be busy and stressed-out cos everyone around me is! lol.

the American idol

favourite performance - american idol.it's seriously, gonna be a battle of the davids this time round. both of them are freaking good and seriously, no one deserves the top 2 positions besides them :) this is probably the best american idol season ever! i'm an american idol fanatic! oh, and david cook's rendition of "always be my baby" by mariah carey was awesome! and mariah carey's touch my body is addictive!i was reading carol's blog and she posted something rather interesting: her personalised top 10 things to be done before she turns 25. and gosh, they are really coool stuff. i think having lists are fun and i've decided to have one of my own - my top 10 favourite places in Singapore (since i love this country of mine to the max! lol.)oh, by the way i've deiberately left out the more over-rated chill out places such as esplanade's rooftop garden, marina square's open stairs,vivo city's open gallery and erm, cafe delma. yeap. so here goes:

TOP 10 favourite Hangouts!

#1 - the newly-opened Starbucks under the esplanade bridge. the view is great at night and it has a very cosy and nice feel to it. ideal for cam-whoring! you'll be able to have a view of the floating platform, the Singapore flyer as well as the surprisingly beautiful structure of the esplanade bridge. however, it can be quite hot for some strange reason. probably cos it's not really windy.

#2 - Fullerton waterboathouse roof. There's some posh dinning place on the first level, but don't worry..that's not the place. There's access to the roof from a small staircase situated just infront of the restaurant. There's really nothing much to do here, except to enjoy the view and the moment. You'll be facing the esplanade theatres with the old merlion site as well as the view of Singapore's CBD on your left, one fullerton on you right and The Fullerton Hotel itself behind you. The view is greaaaat, especially at night when it's not scorching hot! For those of you who caught The Leap Years movie, tadaaa..this place was actually featured!

#3 - the Greek Theatre of Singapore Flyer. Wonderful place to relax while allowing the jazz bands(only on weekends and friday nights) to serenade you with the coolest-relack-one-corner songs with their instruments such as the saxophone! super coool - try getting them to play imagine by john lenon and seriously it would have been a perfect night. oh, the best part is, the place is rather windy! with the singapore flyer as the background as well as funky changing coloured lights that lined the center of the outdoor theatre, it's definitely one of my favourite places to chill. oh, and if you're hungry go grab a bread biscuit (which costs only about $1.30) and probably a medium pack of cajun fries from the Popeyes Chicken and Biscuits Restaurant which is halal, surprisingly!

#4 - Ben & Jerrys at Dempsey Hill. That place is freaking freaking cool.The ambience is great. There will be someone playing the guitar at one corner, singing . I think the great part about that place is that it has that country feel to it. The place is simply, different. You got to experience it yourself :)

#5 - Siglap's Gelare. There's this particular street in siglap that has a striking resemblance to Holland Village. There's really nothing special about this particular Gelare, except that it's where guards specs would run and jog from bedok camp to that place( a good 5km) on Tuesday nights, to enjoy some delicious waffles and ice-cream. It's a nice place to simply relax and have a chat. i miss those times!

#6 - Old Merlion Site. This place, not very popular with most people has turned into a pretty park. It's the simplicity that amazes me. Once again, this place offers a great view facing the river. It makes you reflect on a lot of stuff. There's nothing fun about the place and..unless you feel like having some private, reflective moment for yourself , or you're having that feeling that the entire world is crumbling on you then probably this is the best place to go. Think of all the struggles that our early immigrants had to endure, working so blady hard on this particular river to make ends meet and you'll realise that whatever problems you had is seriously, nothing as compared to many people around the world in the past and present.

#7 - Swissotel, Equinox. The place is damn nice and you'll be just too dumb-founded to do anything else besides staring at the beautiful view of Singapore. The most common misconception about the place is that you'll have to pay a hefty sum even before you step on the 75th floor. You don't have to pay if you go before 5pm! and the best part is, you can stay there for as long as you want. So, go catch the view of our island during sunset. it's freaking nice :) However, the cost of the drinks for instance normal soft drinks and fruit juices can be a bomb! and only 21 year olds can enter! lol.

#8 - Mr Tea, a mall beside PricewaterhouseCoopers building @cross street. The tea is great and it's priced reasonably as compared to the over-rated Mr Teh Tarik stall! There's a huge variety of drinks and tea available. The place looks normal but the ceilings are quite cool because they hang a lot of inverted flowers on them and they look interesting :) oh, and don't bother going there during lunch hours, from 11-2pm weekdays cos it will take forever to get your drink!

#9 - Macritchie's River Mouth at lower mandai. The view is spectacular and awesome. However, going there can be a challenge as it requires some bashing off the normal tracks and probably only Sispec trainees would know that place as that is where we slack and rest without the warrant officers finding out!

#10 - Coffee Bean at Republic Plaza, raffles place. Have breakfast there. Sit and enjoy the view of everyone rushing to work while you enjoy your muffin and coffee, reading the morning news. It's really cool :) lol.

random.

it was intentional: 62th.infantry training institute,

jurong camp