The Last Paper

Wow, haven't blog for a looonnnngggg time. After not blogging for a long time, the sensation of blogging feels..... unfamiliar yet nostalgic. Finally have some time to blog, not that this chapter of my life is coming to an end.

The past few months have been crazy. "Hectic" doesn't capture the fact that I had to juggle 5 major commitments over the past 2-3 months-- preparing for A-levels, Dans Fest' 09, O School Recital' 09, giving tuition, and applying for US universities. I'm just so glad that my tuition job is over and A-levels are ending soon.

Dans Fest' 09 was totally nothing short of an awesome experience. It is rare opportunity to perform at the Esplanade, moreover, with a total of 30 ppl in Ahmad's item.
I made some good friends over the course of 2 months. It was totally fun to perform in front of so many ppl! I kinda miss the rehearsals, the late night suppers, the jokes, the dancing and everything. I hope we can be together again for Danzpeople recital next year.

I admit that there are times when I am being very moody and stressed over other stuff. Going for late night practices from 9.30pm to 11.30pm when there's a Prelim the next morning is kinda crazy. Ok, fine, very crazy. Oh yeah, did I mention that I was infected with H1n1 by Ahmad a few days before the start of Prelims? I was knocked out cold during the week that I was down with the Swine Flu. Couldn't study, couldn't dance, couldn't do anything. Not surprisingly, I didn't do well for Prelims, which resulted in a very stressful 2 months just before the A-Levels.

Imagine having a daily routine that goes like this: Wake up at 7am, go to school for lessons, remedials and consultation in the afternoon, study during the evening, then dance prac at night from 9 to 11; rinse and repeat. That has got to be the most stressful period EVER. I also have alot of pressure from my teachers adding on to the pressure from the upcoming dance performance. The phone calls from my parents didn't really help either. When I'm stressed, I get moody very easily, and I would seriously snap at other ppl if I'm annoyed. Sometimes, I just feel like screaming out loud. I'm just so glad that it's all over now.

So I also had OSchool Recital Prac on Monday nights. I know I said I was disappointed at first, but now I'm really glad I'm in Alex's item. I like how bonded our group is. It's probably even more bonded than Ahmad's item, which is already quite bonded. And Alex's choice of songs so far have been.....unconventional, to say the least. Definitely not the usual Hip Hop songs. And the choreo has been creative so far. So you just have to come and watch to find out, which brings me to my next point---

O School Recital'09 Tickets ARE OUT!!!!
Date: 13 December, Sunday
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: Republic Poly
Ticket Prices: 15, 20, 35

Come and support if you are able to! I guarantee you that this year's recital will be a blast! So far the vetting has been ok. Other groups are putting up very good performances so far. But I can't believe I actually danced during the vetting on the day before the start of A-levels.

As for the A levels itself, I have to say this year's papers are, without a doubt, harder than the past years'. Apparently, Cambridge suddenly have this fetish of making student study their ass off, then only test half of the required syllabus, then flush the other half of the syllabus into a dark hole, which is not unlike their assholes. C'mon, how could you NOT test plate tectonices for Geog!!!!???? That's like NOT testing macroeconomic policies for Econs (which actually happened)!!!! Or NOT testing Electrochemistry for Chem(no prizes for guessing whether it happened)!!!! Well done, British people. Your neglect of major topics really borders on obscenity.

But so far, I think I'll probably do ok for Math. And also Chem, provided I do ok for the last Chem MCQ paper. I feel mixed about Geog though; physical geog was......... weird; human geog was much easier. So I'm not really sure about Geog. But as for Econs, Cambridge can go fuck themselves, seriously. You guys should look at the kind of questions they set for essays. If I knew it would have been the case, I wouldn't boter studying for Econs, because everyone is gonna fail as badly no matter how much they study. GP was errr......i dunno what to say. LOL.

Anyway, got to go. O School Recital vetting tomorrow. Yes, in case you're wondering, I have Chem MCQ the next day. But you can't really study for MCQ anyway.

The Unplanned Update

Really didn't plan to blog at all, but there's a sudden urge to blog all at this time, when I really should be sleeping.

Well, the past few days has been................nothing short of mental and physical fatigue.

It started with the first Prelim paper -- General Paper. I don't exactly dread it, but I am not looking at possible screwed-upness with rose-tinted glasses either. I think the composition wasn't as hard as I would expect, but it wasn't great. While technically I finished the paper, but frankly speaking, I didn't really finished the paper. I knew I could have written much more if I didn't procrastinate so much at the start. And the compre wasn't rocket science too, IMO. But that's just me speaking, and I could totally get shitty marks if it turns out bad.

Had lunch with some of my classmates after the paper. The guys in my class wants to go for a graduation trip to Taiwan after A-Levels. I really want to go, but I have recital coming up, not to mention where I would get the money to go. Sigh.

But the emotional rollercoaster started when my father called after lunch. I knew from his tone that something was severlely wrong. And then, the stomach-wrenching news came--

My great-grandmother has passed away.

According to him, she passed away the day before, which is Thursday. I could have rushed back for the ceremonial funeral if I knew right from the start, which is expected of the eldest (in rank) of each generation (yes, my grandfather is the eldest son, my father is his eldest son, and I'm the eldest son), but all my elders want me to stay back for Prelims. I was feeling kind of guilty because while my family is mourning at the funeral, I'm mugging away and dancing.

But I guess my presence wouldn't change a thing even if I went back. The only thing that's going to change if I went back is my already-stressed-up-and-fragile-state-of-mind and my Prelim results. That's not to say I don't miss my great-grandmother. She was an insprirational person with an amazing background, something which I'm sure I will document on this very blog in the future. Without her sacrifices, my family and me wouldn't be where we are now, which might or might not be a good thing.

Thankfully, I went to dance that night. Ahmad's class, as usual. Really took my mind off the stress and the untimely death. Really felt the song during the lesson, which is a great feeling.

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Saturday was mediocre. I basically slacked the whole day away. Didn't do much either. Was taking a break from the intensive revision and the "unfolding drama" around me.

It kept raining, in streaks of grey.

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Sunday was a better day. Gave tuition in the morning before rushing off to Ahmad's class (in case you're wondering, this would be one of the last open classes I'll go from now onwards). Surprisingly few people went for his class that day. There were only like 6 out of his usual 20-30 ppl. Probably everyone is worn out from Suntec Dance the day before.

Revised econs after the lesson. Had dinner with Francis. A little note to dancers out there -- apparently, Francis was Ryan Tan's senior!!!

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Today morning was crappy. Was feeling tired from Sunday activities. And the MOE briefing was utterly boring. But I was rather delighted to meet Valencia there! What a coincidence! I had this feeling that I'll meet here there (kinda like "deja vu"), but I wasn't expecting it to happen. Was glad to meet a fellow dancer there.

Went to Junction 8 with the other Malaysian Scholars. It doesn't take a psychologist to see that there's this distance between me and them. Basically, eveyone there lead so different lives ( I mean those that actually DO have a life, ahem). Some spent their focus to become someone's dog. wait. scrap that.have a girlfriend; some just mug their life away (notice the pun). I'm kinda glad I sit at different tables with them, because I really don't have things to talk to them about. I am especially distinct from that group because we don't share any similar interests at all. And I hate hanging out with some of the hypocrites there. Good luck to those people, coz they're going to need it next time.

Went to walk around with my roommate after that. Haven't been to Junction 8 in ages! They have renovated some parts of it. It was quite nice actually. And the Addidas store there had a stock clearance sale!!! I got a T-shirt and basketball shorts for 35 each!!! Whoo! What a bargain! finally bought something to add to my limited dance outfits!!! Lol.

Read Microeconomics at night. I think I can finish up econs revision by tomorrow and get started on human geog. Hopefully can finish Math and Human Geog by this week. And have to do last minute revisions for Chem too!

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I'll be performing for Singapore Dance Fest' 09!!! Whoo! Training starts tomorrow afternoon and it's once per week (for me, at least)! Yes, that means I'm preparing for 2 dance concerts THROUGHOUT Prelims. Including recital prac, which starts 2 weeks from now, I'll be dancing twice per week. I'm going to stop going for open classes soon and just focus on studies and the performances. So far I'm still doing ok, I think (ok, fine, more like I hope). Hopefully I can get good results for Prelims while preparing for the performances. I'm gonna need these performances to boost my portfolio.

And I've also met up with Nik, Huixian, and Brian last Tuesday. We went to O School to check the audition results. I got into Alex's item. To be honest, I was kinda disappointed. The disappointment must have shown on my face because Gin, one of the instructors, saw me and asked me whether I'm disappointed.

It's not that Alex is not "good enough" or something like that. All the instructors there are good at what they do. It's just a matter of preferrence. I just prefer Ryan's style. I really wanted to get into Ryan's item because I figured this would probably be my last time joining the recital if I manage to go overseas in the future. But I guess it's still ok that I'm in Alex's item, because at least he's still doing lyrical hip hop, and he's good.

We went for dinner afterthat. And also, we walked like 15 fifteen minutes just to get to buy goreng pisang (which is fried bananas in English, you know, for the "multicultural" Singaporeans out there who can't seem to understand Malay, for reasons that slip by me). The stall was closed and we had to settle for Mr.Bean, when there was a Mr.Bean outlet near O School. Brian, Brian, Brian. But at least I enjoyed the conversations and the time we spent. Somehow I am able to open myself up to them, unlike when I'm with other groups of people. Looking forward to be performing with them during recital!

So I think I'll stop at here for now. Gotta go sleep. Yawn.

All the best, everyone!

Beyond The Horizon

Hey there, stranger! You have a moment?

Come here, you can sit right next to me.

Can you see the sunset over the horizon?
Can you smell the salt in the air?
Can you feel the breeze of the ocean, brushing through your cheeks?
So tell me, stranger, what do you see?

Because all I can see is the dark clouds hanging
Blown closer and closer to the edge of the cliff we're sitting on

It will be soon before the hurricane hits
Amidst the strong gales and thunder
I hope I'll still have the time to enjoy
The feeling of raindrops rinsing my body

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Yeah, it's been awhile. Been getting so so busy and stressed up over stuff.

So what have I been up to for the past month?

The most obvious one is ,of course, studying for the upcoming Prelims. Been so freaking stressed over studies. I mean, I didn't go spectacularly well for block tests, did I? I really, really hope I am able to do well for Prelims and A-Levels, because I don't want to let my teachers, friends, parents and most importantly, myself, down. I believe most people are able to do well in their studies, and it's up to themselves to get the distinctions. So it's really up to me to get the 4As that I coveted for such a long time.

Other than that, I've been giving tuition for close to 2 months already. It's nice to have a supplement income to finance my expenses and dance. But I'm might consider to stop giving tuition because it's actually quite taxing, even though it's only once per week.

Been going for Ahmad's classes also. You guys can check out his videos on Facebook or Youtube. They are really damn dope. Here's some of them:



This one is one of my favourite choreos to dance to. Super-duper hard but super-duper fun. Hope you guys like it! It's "Geek In The Pink" by Jason Mraz.



This is another one that I liked too. A choreo to "Before It Began" by George Nozuka. Trust me, this is not as easy as it looks. Haha.

Also went for Ryan's classes. I'll let the vids do the talking, so here goes:





This one is a killer piece! And I can't do double spins! =( ARGH! But anyway, it was a very expressive piece and very contemp-like.

Moving on.....

I ALSO GOT INTO O SCHOOL RECITAL 2009!!! WHOO!!!

Congrats to all those that got in! Looking at the list, I am so EXCITED to be performing with so many of my dance friends from O School. My whole dance gang (Nik, Diana, Ie Ching, Huixian, Freddie, Brian) got in! Dope people like Luqman, Jeremy, Joey and Benjamin got in! And some of my coursemates like Jan, Andy and Theresa got in too! I can tell this is going to be a fun and memorable experience. This year's recital will be BIGGER and BETTER!

On the other hand, I do feel sad for people like Felicia and Nicholas because I think they deserved to get in. Ah well, I hope don't fret over it and be sad for too long. There's always another chance.I understand how they feel because I didn't pass the auditions last year too. But I managed to get the chance to perform because Daniel was nice enough to accomodate me. I guess they weren't so lucky.....

Jus got off the phone from talking with Nic.Tay and Ahmad. Basically, Ahmad asked a bunch of his students to perform for Dance Fest' 09 @ Esplanade, which is going to be held on October 25. I really, really, really want to join, but the training is twice per week, on Tuesday and Thursday nights. I'm fucking afraid that this will screw up my Prelims and most worrysomely, my A-levels. At the same time, I really need this to boost my portfolio, which is devoid of any internal CCA. ARGH!!! I need to give Ahmad a definite answer by tomorrow, latest. Sigh.

If I do take this up, I'll probably stop going for any open classes anymore. Still, I'll be dancing 3 nights per week, which means I need to study like hell during the morning and afternoon. Plus I have once per week tuition. Which means I probably won't have anymore free time. Do I want to be in this future? I wonder if I'm screwing myself in the ass.

If only I could see what's beyond the horizon.

The Inspirational Teacher

Just came back from the High School section after speaking with Ms Esther Cheong, one of my favourite teachers from the High School section.

Since school ends amazingly early for Tuesdays, I head over to High School canteen to eat. I went to the High School library, thought of doing some revision for Math. When I got there, I saw Ms Cheong.

Ms Esther Cheong was always one of my favourite teachers of all times. True, she was what people would say........a little on the plump side. But beyond that, she is a very inspirational person. Honest, caring, and always not afraid to air her views. In fact, she's one of the loudest teachers around. She was my Geography and Social Studies teacher in Sec 4, and she was nothing short of inspirational. I heard alot of so-called "horror stories" when I was younger, stories where soccer balls were confiscated upon sight, or stories of being scolded by her sharp tongue.

When she stepped into the 4Q classroom on the first day of school, she was a different person. Her mother was suffering the terminal stage of cancer, and Ms Cheong was changed. She became calmer. She likes to share her life stories during her lessons, and that's why I like them. I treat is as a some sort of "life lessons", instead of the usual Geography and Social Studies lessons.

I remembered visitting her home twice: once during a gathering with her other relatives; another time when her mum passed away. I remembered the few times when we went for karaoke sessions with the other classmates. And gosh, she can sing! She sings ten times better than Brandon, I swear.

But I realized that even the most inspirational people have times when they're down. As we updated each other on our lives, she told me that she was suffering from diabetes and had lost quite a lot of weight as a result. This was on top of the other medical complications she has, even though she didn't tell me. The most shocking thing was I found out that she had been having suicidal thoughts in the past. Not exactly what one might hear from an inspirational person.

As we were chatting away in the library -- not surprisingly, we were the ones making the most noise -- we chatted about our troubles and what's going on with our lives. We talked about A-levels, my plans for the future, how much Christianity mean to her, her future plans, office politics.........basically, we talked about alot of stuff within that hour.

"Wilfred, you know why some of teachers hate me? Coz they say I'm over-confident. The truth is, I am filled with little insecurities."

"Then I guess we have the same problem."

"Oh, really?", she asked.

"Yeah. People say that about me too. I'm too confident, too sure of myself, too egoistic etc.... But I have alot of doubts about myself that I don't even know myself sometimes."

"What matters is as long as you have a good conscience, then you'll do fine."

"Then why are you so hard on yourself?" I asked.

"What do you mean by why? I have always been hard on myself" , she scoffed.

I guess the people who always look confident might not be confident. When I told her the actual reason I was placed in 3Q/4Q, she told me something that really struck me:

"You'll do fine, Wilfred. You always seem like you're happy. I'm sure you'll do okay."

I got quite a surprise, really. I didn't know what she would think of me as being a joyous person. And the amount of trust and confidence she had in me was really unexpected too.

It was nearing one o'clock and she had to leave for class.

"You know, Ms Cheong, you always scare the wits out of the younger sec students. Confiscating their soccer balls and basketballs and everything."

"I know." Then she gave a gleeful smile, turned around and let out a loud laugh before heading through the library exit.

She might not have known it, but she gave me the strength and determination to face the challenges ahead. I hope she will live joyously in times to come.

It's Back Again!

Attention, all dancers! The one big event that you have been waiting for is coming. Feast your eyes on this:


Yes, I know I already mentioned this on my post yesterday. But good news is worth spreading! Just thinking about it makes me remember all the fun times I had last year. I hope this year will be better. If it weren't for A-levels, I would have tried out for popping too. My only worry is whether I can manage my time well.

Btw, all dancers can only audition for UP TO 2 genres. Hip hop/LA/Lyrical Hip hop all considered under one genre.

Anyways, hope to see you guys on the audition day!

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Had a great day today. A break from the shitty week I had.

I actually started my revision proper this afternoon. Went for Ahmad's beginner class afterwards. I realized mugging + dance later = braindead. Remember the formula, guys. My mind went blank towards the end of the open class.

Had dinner with Ahmad then hanged out at Danzpeople after that. Meanwhile, the instructors was having their own practice. I continued revising Chem at the lobby, then went to use the small studio when I was done with the revision. Ahmad told me I can use the studio when I want to! Cool right? Just that I have to inform him beforehand. I like the studio man. Looks like I have found a new practice spot now that PE studio is used as the "quarantine room".

Oh yeah, btw, Ie Ching pang-seh-ed me AGAIN! Nevermind.

I want to apologize to Diana for not going to watch What The Funk Vol. 7. She got into top 8 AGAIN!!! Wow, I'm damn impressed by her improvement. If I don't practice hard, I'll lag behind like crazy. But how am I suppose to practice hard now that A-levels are so near T.T.

Had a long chat with Diana through the phone. It was nice talking to her again. I jokingly said we should form a crew next time, but she seriously replied "yeah". Lol. We must see how first man. But I like the idea though. Heh. Eh, We should really have more conversations through the phone next time. =D

Looking forward to dinner with Nik, Brian and Huixian on Monday night.

So............Tomorrow will be more intensive revision + dancing. Hope it will be the start of a better week.

The Man In The Mirror

I had a really shitty week.

Part of it is due to my own fault. Didn't study much for Block Test II, so now I'm feeling the consequence of it. Shitty effort equates to shitty results. My parents are probably going to have a heart attack when they see the result slip. Not the most pretty sight on Earth. Now I'm really stressed up about Prelims, which is coming in about 5 weeks. I lost my focus for Block Test, but I swear I'll give it my all for Prelims and A-Levels.

I took 2 hours to sit down and list all the topics for each subject and organizing my schedule. Then I realized that 5 weeks is barely enough. 24 hours seems very short right now. The problem is compounded by the fact that all the teachers are spamming revision work, tutorials, consultations and whatsoever. I'm pretty sure Ms Ooi will give me a timetable and list my study plan for her again, as if I don't know how to do it myself. It's really intellectually quite insulting.

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By the way, there was no flag raising for these few weeks. Just when I thought the school finally see the uselessness of the propaganda, they decided to bring it back again. And these few weeks have been kinda retarded and fucking irritating. Since there's no flag raising, one might think that it's natural to reach school later, after all, the pointless propaganda they call "flag raising" was gone.

But NO, they want us to reach school the same fucking time!

It must be the idea of some smart-ass sitting in the office. Give us students a break, will you? We are all going through a rough time, and you HAD to make us wake up early, don't you. I don't see polytechnics have flag raising and universities having flag raising everyday. Do you? You and your stupid traditions and propaganda. How is the school supposed to adapt to modern culture when it still adheres to rigid traditions? Change is needed to evolve and survive. No wonder more and more smart students choose to go to polytechnics nowadays. No uniforms, no fucking flag raising, no hair check etc. I'm sorry, HCI, but this is the sad truth. The rules suck. Big time.

As a result of the whole situation, students are playing hide-and-seek with the teachers every morning. More so, now that we still need to come to school early even though there's no flag raising. It's really quite pathetic. Teachers had to be stationed at certain entrances to catch students, while students are searching for shortcuts and secret passages to avoid detection. It's almost as though the teachers had nothing better to do.

Have fun playing your cat-and-mouse games, but you'll never catch us.

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Amidst all the busyness, O School Recital is back! The auditions falls on 23rd August, which is coincidentally the same day as my younger bro's birthday. I realized I kinda need to get in to fill my portfolio. At the same time, I'm kinda worried about all the rehearsals affecting my studies. But I managed to do well for Promos last year through the weekly rehearsals, and I guess I'll have to do the same this year, assuming I got in the recital again. I really really hope I could get into LA/Lyrical Hip Hop this year.

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But the thing that made my week shitty was when I found out that there were "friends" spreading bad news about me behind my back. This is what I consider the ultimate betrayal of friendship.

Imagine people that you have known for so long spreading rumors and making fun of you behind your back. I totally had no idea of it since they act so nicely in front of me. But now that the cat's out of the bag, I see what they really are. Call me naive, but I don't badmouth my friends behind their backs, and I expect them to do the same. If you guys have problems with me, then come and tell me straight in the face. Don't act like some fucking pussy, guys.

Not only I'm bothered by the act, I'm also bothered by the contents of what they say. I admit that I made mistakes in the past, and I'm really not proud of them. If you want to talk about those things, then fine, it's up to you since I really made those mistakes. But some of things you say don't even have a basis. Looks like you don't know me well at all, even though we had known each other for long.

The best part is that now that I know everything, I'm just taking my time and observe what kind of hypocrites they can be. I am really disappointed by the whole incident. The funniest part is actually they also backstabbed each other. Wow, they really are "close friends", aren't they? But I guess it doesn't really matter anymore. A few more months then we'll graduate. Don't expect me to keep in contact with some of you guys. It's not like we were really close friends anyway. I think I'll be using the blocking feature on Facebook after that.

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Anyway, I started going for Ryan's Lyrical Hip Hop class again since last week. This was the choreo used by him--



Hope you guys enjoyed watching the video as much as I enjoy dancing it. It was really a very nice choreo, and it's not easy too. Had a few mistakes here and they in the video.

And I'll be going for Ahmad's class with Ie Ching on Saturday evening!!! Haven't seen my favourite "bimbo" in a long time. Haha. Tomorrow will be the day we spent catching up!!! Yay!

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When the time runs deep into the wee hours, I would be thinking of you. Hope you'll do okay for your upcoming exams too. We may not have the chance to see each other often, but I hope you know that I'm always thinking of you.

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So, I guess I'll end here. I congratulate you if you actually managed to finish reading the long post. I also apologize that you had to read through my unpleasant rants.

Till then, may you reflect on the reflection in the mirror.

River Flows In You

Note: I guess "The Man In The Mirror" have to come later because I have a sudden, overwhelming desire to blog about other stuff right now.

Looking at the clock right now,
2 a.m. in the morning.
Yet,
I couldn't sleep.

When I close my eyes,
All I could picture of is you.
I turned from one side of the bed to the other,
Hoping that it was you right next to me.
But when I open my eyes,
All I see is --
Nothingness;
Just darkness of the night.

Fate.
Once an implausible idea.
The idea of arranged coincidence becomes real,
As I reminiscence about our time together.

I miss the late nights we spent;
I miss how you sip your coffee;
I miss the messages you sent;
I miss the smile on your face.

What could be a greater irony than this?
It's almost as though
Fate
Decided a divine comedy should be staged.

Now I'm looking at you through the glass
Don't know how much time has passed
Clear yet shrouded
Near yet far

"Even as the moon remained still,
The river still flows"
That's what you said,
Asking me to move on.
You are my perfect ending
But I don't want you to be anchored by me

So I'll make this loud and clear:

I'll wait--

Will you?

R.I.P Michael Jackson

Note: I split my post into 3 parts -- "That's Why I Love Sundays", "R.I.P Michael Jackson", and "The Man In The Mirror" -- because they are all posts that I think deserve a post of their own. Additionally, the post would be too long if I were to merge them together. Hope you guys enjoy reading as much as I enjoy typing them.After I signed in on Facebook, all I see was messages and tributes to Michael Jackson on the home page. At first I thought it was someone's idea of a practical joke. I mean, how could someone who dances 4 hours per day, someone who is about to launch his last world tour suddenly pass away right?

Wrong.

I got quite a shock when I Googled an article regarding MJ's death. Apparently, he passed away from a heart attack. Not the most glorious death for the "King Of Pop", but shocking nevertheless. I couldn't help noticing the pun, as in how MJ's heart "popped" out on him.

I'll admit that I didn't really have a good impression, amidst news of child molestation charges and broken noses. In fact, I was quite cynical of him. After his death, I spent one hour reading up on his achievements and life stories. It was then I realized that he was truly a great musician, something that I fogged by my cloud of cynicism.

He started out with Jackson 5 at the age of 5, singing evergreen tunes like "I Want You Back" and "ABC". He then started his own solo career, with each album being more successful than the previous one. Time and again, he has proven himself to have the ability to fuse songs of different genres together to create something new. Like who could forget the pop songs infused with funk beats, such as "Smooth Criminal" and "Bille Jean", or the more recent hip-hop inspired songs such as "They Don't Care About Us", or gospel-ballads like "Man In The Mirror" and "Heal The World". It was interesting to see his music evolved along with changing times.
He also turned music videos into a form of art. Back then, MVs are all singing not advertising, not much of aesthetics make-up such as storyline and special effects. But MJ is able to turn them into an art form under his directing, with his award-winning music videos "Smooth Criminal", "Thriller", and "Scream". MTV would never be what it is today without him.He leads a very hard life at times. He was abused by his father at a young age. He suffered skin problems, which was the reason why his skin turned pale white. His health deteriorates over time. And his financial manager cheated him of his money. Despite all this, he still managed to become a good dancer and an even better musician.

I spent one whole afternoon watching his music videos and listening to his works. Looking back, it was a pity he passed away just before the launch of the his final world tour, (ironically) named "This Is It". It was supposed to be the big bang to the end of his career. It never came. I watched a small part of the rehearsal video which was released a few days ago, and I could tell that this was going to be IT, the biggest concert for him. Micheal Jackson looked like he got his voice and his groove again, and it was great watching him being on stage doing his thing.

If you guys are interested in listening to his music, below is the list of songs I recommend you to listen to:

Smooth Criminal
Billie Jean
Dirty Diana
Earth Song
Heal The World
Black Or White
Remember The Time
Thriller
Beat It
They Don't Care About Us
Man In The Mirror
You Rock My World
Scream

My personal favourite is "Man In The Mirror". I really like the "chill" feeling at the start and how it ends on a high note. Not to mention, the lyrics are well-written and are very meaningful.



Thank You, Michael Jackson for bringing great music to the world. You are a great dancer, singer and musician. If there's anything I learned through your death, it would be that I shouldn't judge people by their flaws.

May you rest in peace.

That's Why I <3 Sundays

Note: I split my post into 3 parts -- "That's Why I Love Sundays", "R.I.P Michael Jackson", and "The Man In The Mirror" -- because they are all posts that I think deserve a post of their own. Additionally, the post would be too long if I were to merge them together. Hope you guys enjoy reading as much as I enjoy typing them.

I'm beginning to love Sundays more and more.

Used to hate them because it made me feel like I can't let fully relax because the next day is a schooling day. That would mean I need to finish my homework, do my laundry, clean my room, sleep earlier than I would like to etc. Basically, things I have to do to prepare for the week ahead.

Nowadays, I'm enjoying my Sundays. I still have to do all those stuff mentioned just now. It's because I now have weekly classes to look forward to on Sunday. And I also like to hang out with the other dancers after class.

I literally spent the whole day at PoMo yesterday. Woke up around 12pm. Reached PoMo just in time for Ahmad's class. He continued last week's choreo, which was to "Relax(Take It Easy)" by Mika. This week's choreo was even harder than last week's. Not to mention, tiring too. Even though it wasn't as long as say.......his "Kiss Me Through The Phone" choreo (which was 16 FREAKING 8-BEATS to be taught in 1.5 hours) or his "Flying Solo" choreo, but this choreo was dead tiring. When a choreo is tiring and hard to execute perfectly, you know that choreo is going to be very nice. So I really enjoyed his class yesterday. I'll post the link to the video when he uploads it on Facebook (seems to me Ahmad likes to upload his vids on Facebook nowadays, which means you gotta have an account to watch it).

After the class, hung out at the reception area while Ahmad was trying to repair the sound system in one of the studios. I dunno since when he became a handyman, but I'm definitely not going to ask him to repair anything anytime soon, because I ended up waiting nearly an hour and he DIDN'T manage to fix it.

While waiting for him to waste our timefix the speakers, I was watching Alex's class. The best part was that he used one of my FAVOURITE MICHAEL JACKSON SONG --- "Man In The Mirror". Liked his interpretation of the song, with some signature Michael Jackson moves thrown in. Man, I wish I had gone for his class. Seems to me alot of the instructors nowadays use Michael Jackson's songs in honor of his death.

So anyway, went to Mad Jack with Ahmad and Shu Ting. We were chatting away happily in the restaurant, so not surprisingly, we were the noisiest ones there. Ahmad treated both of us to chicken wings and cheese fries, which was nice of him. Which instructor would do that for his students? Not many, I bet. Some instructors don't even communicate with their students outside class, yet alone treat them to lunch.

Puay Son came to join us after Kate's class ended. Amusingly, Kate also used another one of MJ's songs --- "You Make Me Feel". Had a nice long chat with the 3 of them. I really like chatting with my dance friends. Mainly because they are mostly honest and genuine when it comes to what they say. Needless to say, I had a great afternoon with them.

Ahmad told me I had improved since I first took his lesson a few months back. According to him, I "hit the beat" better now. Which means my movements are clearer and more in tune with the rhythm nowadays. But I still have to work on my old bad habits and alot more if I want to improve. I was genuinely happy but yet humbled by his comments.

Afterthat, me and Ahmad went back to Danzppl. It was raining heavily outside PoMo and I don't have an umbrella with me. Ahmad had to teach another class while I hung out at the reception area -- again. Had an enlightening chat with Yi Fan, one of the instructors, whole the whole time I was there. Jie Xiao, another one of the instructors joined our convo. Before we knew it, Ahmad's class was over and Winnie came to meet him. You might think that's when we left, but wrong, we didn't leave. The 5 of us were the last few ppl there, and we continued chatting and gossiping. It was around 8 o'clock when Ahmad asked us to leave so he could lock the place.

While Ahmad and Winnie went to catch a movie, the 3 of us continued chatting at a coffee shop. Apparently, Jie Xiao is an alumni from HC, which pretty much means he's my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grand senior. Though I admit there's something about him that doensn't make him look like a HC mugger. Even he admits it himself. And both Yi Fan and Xiao are from NUS Dance Blast, which I plan to join if I got into NUS next year. According to them, A levels is the craziest paper they've ever taken, which didn't excite me especially since I have about 4.5 months left to A levels.

I make my way from PoMo to Dhoby Ghout MRT with Xiao. Could you still believe it was STILL raining???!!! It was already around 8.30pm, and it started raining in the early afternoon. When we reached the MRT, we parted ways there (coz I'm taking bus from the bus stop). But not before he gave a hug, which surprised me, largely because I have only hung out with him twice.

Moments like this are the reason why I love to hang out with the dancers. Don't get me wrong; I like to hang out with all kinds of ppl. In fact, a few of my close friends are non-dancers. There are all kinds of dancers: the egoistic and arrogant ones; the humble and down-to-earth kind; the loud and stylish ones. Just like how they are all types of people. But the ones I hang out with are genuine, honest and caring. And that's why I <3 them.

Hopefully the rest of my Sundays will be like this.

Forever.

P.S To Nik, Brian and Anne! When are you guys coming for Ahmad's lesson? I miss hanging out with you guys!!!

No Boundaries

I recently found this song on Nik's blog and it got me really addicted to it. It's by Kris Allen, of American Idol's fame. I love the melody and the guitar, but above all, I love the lyrics. It motivates me to do my best in the things I do.

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Went to watch KO night finals on Friday night. Got a glimpse of what was coming on The Big Groove when Funky Ziggy had a showcase. Their showcase was amazing! I wish I could do whacking like they do. Hanged out with some of the SYDC ppl after the KO night finals. Got to know some really interesting ppl. Again, I learnt to not judge a book by its cover.

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Sunday was one of the coolest days of my life. Though it was one day before the start of block tests, I spent it doing..........anything but study.

Started the day by going for Ahmad's lesson. I really like his choreo to Mika's "Relax(Take It Easy)", though the song was kinda techno. Ahmad's choreo are seriously getting harder and harder. The steps, angles, sharpness and everything demanded for his choreo are getting more difficult. But I can't complain, coz that's the reason why I chose to attend his class. If not, how do I constantly improve myself? Though I feel kinda intimidated sometimes by the pro ppl in class, like Jimmy (the ex-captain of NUS Dance Blast), Bob (also from Blast), and Hazlina (hmm...also from Blast), but I really like dancing alongside them because I always pick up something new from them. If there's anything I learnt from that lesson, then it would be that hip hop can be danced to any type of music. Ahmad's recent song choices ain't always R&B and hip hop music.

Btw, I met another fellow Malaysian in his class. Apparently, his name was Dennis and he was the runner-up for So You Think You Can Dance Malaysia. No wonder I found his face familiar. But he was really good that was little difference in the level between him and Ahmad. And he apparently lives near my home in Malaysia. How cool is that? Hope to learn from him when I get back to Malaysia some time later.

So after Ahmad's class, I made my way to Singapore Expo Hall for THE BIG GROOVE!!!

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I can't even describe TBG in words. Is there a word for "BEYOND DOPE!"? There are so many talented dancers in Asia. Really enjoyed the whole 3 hour concert. It was already 10.30 pm when it ended. I love the performances by overseas crews like WCO, Cool Mint, Funky Ziggy, 5+5, Phillipines Allstars and etc. The poppers from 5+5 crew was totally sick. And Cool Mint gave a very nice opening for the concert, and this came a crew of Japanese girls, with the oldest being only 13 years old. Felt like I kena pawnedzzzz.....

I felt proud of the local crews too. O Crew outdid themselves at gave a 32 MINUTES PERFORMANCE!!! That was like 12 minuted more than their O School Recital last year! But Ryan didn't perform though. Probably too busy with his newborn baby.

The other local crews was also quite good -- Styles From Beyond, Danzpeople (which was Ahmad's item), Trademark etc. But it was clear that the overseas crew was at a higher level, though I would say that they are not too far behind the overseas crew. In fact, I was quite surprised by the small gap between the quality of local and overseas crew. Maybe Singapore is catching up fast.

I was really inspired by the performers at TBG. They have broaden my horizon, showed me a new limit. Maybe there really are no boundaries in dance...

In the end, I guess the long wait before the concert was worth it. I can't wait to watch next year's TBG!

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On a side note, I realized my old dance gang has come a long way from where we were during Daniel's Hip Hop course last year. Nik and Brian went to Ngee Ann Poly and join Huixian in NRA; Ie Ching quit dance totally to pursue her studies and career (not to mention, busy with her boyfriend); Diana has joined TPDE and well on her way to be a dope popper (hey, a top 8 in a popping competition is worth something). So I guess we have move on with our lives and found other circles of friends (or dancers, heh.). I realized this when we were waiting in queue for TBG. Huixian and Brian hanging out with the SYDC ppl; Diana is hanging out with TPDE; ; leaving me and Nik chatting for most times. But I'm glad we are all still friends and we still get together sometimes.

I wonder where I belong now? I guess I don't really have a distinct group that I belong to, like SYDC, NRA or TPDE. But I'm proud to say I have made quite a few good friends through Ahmad's classes and Ryan's course.

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School is...................dreadful.

Block tests are not going as well as I thought it would be, what's with me feeling unwell ever since after TBG. And before you ask, no, I don't have swine flu.

GP was....................kinda mediocre. Didn't really managed to finish my essay coz it lacked a proper conclusion, but I guess it's still passable. As for compre, let's just say the compre wasn't easy. Plus, I had to do it through a headache. Don't even wanna think how it will turn out.

Econs was even worse. I shall not elaborate. The headache was still there, and coupled with grogginess, you can imagine how my Econs paper will die.

At least Geog was still ok. Left a 9 mark question blank (out of 100 marks), but the rest was doable. Thank god the headache toned down during the test.

Seriously, I think I'm falling sick. My body temperature has been going up and I had persistent headache ever since GP paper. The best part is I have a mild nosebleed during Geog Paper, which come and go throughout the whole of today. But weirdly, I don't have fever or anything like that. I hope I won't die for the remaining 2 papers. Have to finish studying Math by Friday, which I barely started. And I haven't started on Chem. Ironically, my preparation for Econs whatsoever has been wrecked because of the stupid headache. Hopefully my block tests won't go down the drain. At least it must be better than the first one.

Time to go.

Nite guys.

Confession

This blog was dead.

I haven't blog at all since my last post, which was about 3 months ago. No, I'm not going to say "I didn't blog for a gazillion years because I was busy with blah blah blah...". I mean, I guess it's kinda true that I had alot of things to do and never enough time to do all of them, but deep down, I know the real reason why I dread to type a post on this blog -- I feel that I am trying to please the readers instead of writing what I really feel, and furthermore, there are ppl who read my blog whom I don't want them to read.

Now that I got that confession out, I guess I can move on with my post.

"So what if there's ppl you don't like reading your blog? If you're afraid of them so much then why don't you start a new blog?! Quit whining!"

It's quite likely some ppl might think like that. But I personally feel it's not worth it to start a new blog all over again just because of some assholes, since I also have many good friends and my family who faithfully read my blog when it was active.

So here I am. Typing.

3 months.

12 weeks.

That's how long since I last sat down and typed a blog post. So many things happened just within this quarter of the year that I could scarcely believed it had passed by. Ryan's Lyrical Hip Hop Course I&II ended. Made a few good friends along the way, ppl like Jan, Andy, Theresa. I also started going for Ahmad's classes, and got to know the instructor pretty well. He's a very nice guy and a very caring instructor. I'm proud to have him as a good instructor and an even better friend. Also got to know more ppl from the weekly Sunday class, like Chris Goh, Winnie (Ahmad's gf), Puay Son etc.

Had a couple of outings with the MAD seniors too. The first was to celebrate Wilson's birthday, and the latter was a small gathering before he leaves for NS and before I leave for Malaysia.

Went to watch K.O Night too. Always amazed by the dance talents in Singapore. Joey really imrpoved tons, along with her partner, Jeremy, of Flairnation fame. Luqman and Jean too!
Did I mention I had the chance to pair up with Hui Hua for K.O night too? I really learnt alot from him. Personally, I think our styles differ a little too much that the chemistry was never really there. But still, I was grateful to be given the chance to pair up with him for K.O night. If not, I wouldn't have learnt alot throughout the process itself.

Oh yeah, how could I forget the session at Diana's place! It was really fun! We should do it more often!

The list goes on really long, but I just want to say I went through alot of ups and downs within these few months. It's all just part of life, I guess.

Just came back from Malaysia a few days ago. Believe it or not, I actually finished studying Physical Geog while I was there, but................that means I didn't do much of anything else. I'm glad to be back home. Really loved my family and my friends there. The food was awesome, as usual. Couldn't stop eating when I was back at home. I think I gained like 3-4 kg over the course of 2 weeks.

Really didn't feel like coming back to HC. I dunno why, but I just feel that I don't really have anyone that really knows me very well in school. It's kinda weird. I think I'm closer to the ppl I see weekly or monthly rather than the ppl I see everyday. I guess when you put 2000 smart ppl in one place, all you get will be competition and politics.

In fact, I'm freaking sick of some ppl in school. You can kinda feel that they are judging you all the time, hence you can't really be your true self when you're around them. I'm also sick of the politics in school, especially when it involves the dancers. So what if I learn dance outside and I like to dance in the PE studio? So what if I'm not very good? I'm still learning as a dancer, and if you can't fucking accept that then you should just fuck off instead of spreading rumors behind my back. If you're going to bicker behind my back instead of improving dance together, then you are better off not being a dancer.

Sigh. Can someone tell me why relationships can be so complicated?.........

Not-So-Happily-Ever-After

It's close to 2am in the morning, but yet I feel the urge to blog at this "ungodly hour" (as my former GP teacher, Miss Ong, would put it). Just came back from watching Cinder Ella Revamped at Republic Poly Cultural Centre. Basically, it's a modernized Cinderella musical with a few twists -- including a Cinderella that can do hip-hop.

I'm apologize to the dance seniors who are involved in the production, but I'm gonna be honest and say--

It sucks. Period.

The reason I went to watch it was to support the dance seniors who were involved in the production (Nic.tay, Han Zhi, Bong, Casey, Terrance, Andrew). I went to watch with the other half of the (former?) dance gang, Wilson, Tack Kian, Sali and Su Hui. To be able to hang out with them again was the other major reason I took this opportunity to watch the musical, when block test is so near.

Met up with Wilson for dinner before we went to watch the musical. Vanessa suddenly popped out of nowhere during dinner and accompanied us to get flowers for the performers. Tack Kian met us later at the MRT.

When I set my eyes on TK, I knew he looked different. He wasn't the upbeat and happy-going senior that I'm used to. Rushing to finish scholarship applications might be the major reason why he was sian diao today, but then I realized later that the reason he has toned down was because of NS. Somehow, when I was talking to him about NS, I realized that he was rather unhappy/sian diao because of NS. I wonder whether maybe he was just tired from completing scholarship appilcations, or maybe he was really unhappu about NS. Hope the old and cheerful Tack Kian will be back soon.

We made our way to RP's Cultural Centre. We managed to get into hall right before the performance started. The opening contemporary item was rather good, but things just went downhill from there. The play was bogged with lousy acting, poor dancing, tuneless singing and horrendous stooryline progression. It was rather painful for someone that had theatre experience to endure the poor script delivery. I literally cringe when the actors stutter while Sali was laughing away.

The problem with the play is that the actors are amateurs, and they can't dance well. According to Nic.tay, who choreographed some of the dance items, most if not all of the actors had no dance background. This was probably because the actors were casted first before they auditioned the dancers. So you could imagine how bad the dancing was. SometimesMost of the time, I couldn't even make out their moves and most of them weren't even on beat, let alone being synchronized.

It was quite a waste really, because there are quite a few of MAD seniors in the musical, but most of them became choreographers or just calefares. I think the musical would have been better if the actors are more professional and if the MAD seniors are allowed to dance and act.
Heck, I don't even know why the lead male chracter was chosen!!! His acting was seriously fucking horrendous and he stutters ALOT! N-n-n-ow if y-you rea-rea-lly w-want a stu-stut-te-ring pr-pr-prin-ce, y-you co-uld al-al-ways g-go f-for a par-par-rot-rot. In fact, even parrots don't stutter that much.

Oh, I haven't even talk about the singing! Most of the singing were out-of-tunenot anywhere near on tune. I bet I bring my grandma to Kbox and she would stil sing better than the people in the musical. Urgh!!!

And the storyline progresses too fast at times, and too slow at other times. It was rather frustrating actually, because the storyline was actually quite good -- minus the lousy acting and dancing. Things were so bad that Sali, Su Hui, Wilson, Tack Kian and I were contemplating making our own musical halfway throughout the show.

That's not to say there's nothing good from the musical. For one, the music was composed by Daniel and his songs were dope! I really like his songs because they are very original. I also like the sets coz they looked quite good, though I think it could have been better. Though most of the actors can't act (what an oxymoron), there are a few outstanding actors among them. The fairy godmother, Big Mama and Stink deserve praises for their acting. Those 3 are probably the most entertaining and professional actors on stage. And some of the dance items were quite okay, though admittedly it's those that involve the dance seniors.

In the end, I felt that the musical didn't justify the ticket price. I wasn't getting what I paid for, so I felt kinda like I got cheated.

However, the real takeaway tonight was probably the time I spent hanging out with and catching up with the seniors. I really missed them alot since their graduation and funnily, I feel closer to them compared to some of the people in school. The last time I saw the dance gang was after the OSchool Recital, and 4 months had passed since then. Time sure flies. Some of the seniors have changed (some for the better, others for the worse), some still remained the same. Everytime I see the seniors, I feel like I'm JC1 again. Probably I'm still not used to being a senior.

Anyway, block test is coming in 2 more days and I haven't finished my revision. Been half-mugging and half-slacking these few days. Guess I'll have to go into full-mugger mode for the remaining days.

Till then, let fairy tales remain as fairy tales.

Of School & Block Tests....

Wow, it felt like ages since I actually visited my own blog, yet alone posting new content. But first, I want to say-----

Happy Birthday to my mum!

It was her birthday this past Wednesday, the first day of Block Test 1. I feel rather bad because I kinda forgotten about her birthday as I was busy preparing for Econs on Wednesday. It was till at night when my father called then I suddenly remembered it was my mum's birthday. But I swear I remember her birthday -- I even wrote it in my organizer!

Well, anyway, I think this blog WAS dead. My previous update was more than a month ago. I think JC2 life is rather demanding, in the sense that you need to manage your time properly if you want to have enough time to do everything you wanna do in a day. Sadly, my blog was cast aside as I struggle to complete my tutorials, study for block tests, dance, play games (hey, everyone needs some time off right?) and rest.

Maybe it's kinda hard for you guys to get a sense of my schedule by only reading this blog. Basically, I have something on almost every weekday after school, on top having to complete tutorials and study for tests. My schedule goes something like this:

Monday -- School ends at 3pm; Ryan's LA/Lyrical Hip Hop Course at 7pm
Tuesday -- School ends at 11.30am
Wednesday -- School ends at 2.00pm; Badminton Recreational session from 2.30-4.30pm
Thursday -- School ends at 2.00pm; Ryan's Lyrical Hip Hop open class at 8pm
Friday -- School ends at 2.30pm; Bad Rec session from 2.30-4.30pm

Basically, other than Tuesday, I would have something on after school. This can get kinda hectic, especially when tutorials are piling up at the speed of light. That's not to say I don't complete my tutorial -- in fact, I usually complete ALL of my tutorials on time. But the amount of work to be done is plain crazy. Furthermore, the teachers are spamming tests in the weeks leading up to Block Test 1 (BT1). I had 3 freaking Geog Tests, 1 Chem class test and 1 Econs lecture test in the 3 weeks before the start of BT1. What the fuck, teachers. Mercy.

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So far, BT1 has been something like this: O.o

BT1 started on Wednesday. GP was the first subject to be tested, and I can safely I fucking screwed up GP. Big time. For the first time, I couldn't finish my freaking GP essay!!! Like WTF right? I think my brain wasn't really in an optimized state to take a test, so I couldn't finish writing my essay consequently.

GP comprehension paper was.......interesting and intriguing. The passage given deals with a topic most teenagers (and maybe even adults) would be excited about: pornography and obscenity. There was this paragraph that went something like this: Viewing of pornography would induce "sexual regression", as individuals would try to achieve a sense of "self-gratification". My initial reaction when I understood the sentence was O.o. In other words, the author was implicitly stating that people who watches porn would masturbate, which would cause them to shy away from having sex since they can satisfy themselves. I totally wanted to burst out laughing.

Oh, and then there was the summary. Try to rephrase this point: "........is why people don't have sex in the public". One of my classmates (I won't say who) offered a direct answer: "......is the reason you won't find people fucking in the outdoors. I was laughing like crazy from that one.

But sadly, I didn't have time to finish the application question (which is something like an essay). The comprehension questions are also killer questions. Sigh. There goes my hope of getting C for GP.

On a lighter note, I did much better for Econs today. The essay questions are not particularly hard, especially when I have studied for Econs. I managed to finish writing 3 essays (or sub-parts), but I was writing my last essay halfway when the time was up. Even then, my essays are sufficiently long to get me what I hope to be a pass. I really hope I can get C or D for Econs this time round.

I have no paper tomorrow, so I think I'll spend the day mugging for the remaining 3 subjects, which are Chem, Math and Geog.

Actually, I have tons more to blog about, but I think I'll blog about them tomorrow after I finish revising. Danced for the whole afternoon and evening today. So come by tomorrow where I will be talking about more interesting stuff if my school life is not of your enjoyment.

Till then, I wish everyone good luck for Physics and Literature test tomorrow!

The Other Half

In my last post, I talked about school and how I spent my CNY. So it made sense that this update would be about my current status in dance and some other random stuff.

So what have I been doing in the world of dance?

As some of you know, I signed up for Ryan's LA/Lyrical Hip Hop I course, which actually commenced last Monday. I was just on time for the class and I went in to the studio. To my surprise, I find 5 other recital mates inside! Apparently, Felicia, Jia Xin, Kai Yin, Kelvin and Cherie also signed up for the same course! I thought I would only know Andrew in the whole class (Andrew is one of my graduated seniors, for the ppl who don't know), since he signed up with me.

Instead of "Hi!", the first thing I said to my recital mates was "Did you guys planned to come together or something?", to which they replied "No, it was all a coincidence". It was a pleasant coincidence, that's for sure. I haven't seen my recital mates in like ages, ever since the O School Recital last December. I learnt that there would be more recital mates in the class if the course have not been fully booked so fast; Farah and Helena wanted to join the course too!

Anyway, I think the course has helped me alot in improving my dancing. Unlike his open class, where he would be teaching the choreo very fast since he expects you to know the fundamentals, Ryan actually take alot of time to explain the details and mistakes in his course. In just 2 sessions, he already taught a handful of techniques and a choreo, and he wants us to practice for the next lesson. Guess I need to hit the PE studio tomorrow. Lol.

On top of the course, I still go for Ryan's Lyrical HH open class as usual. Last Thursday's choreo was probably THE hardest one I've learnt so far. He used the song "Angel" by Natasha Bedingfield. I tell you, even the pro ppl in the class have difficulties in learning the choreo, so you can infer that a noob like me totally died in that class. I forgot some steps here and there, and I couldn't catch the rhythm for some parts of the choreo. Just wait till he uploads the video on Youtube.

As promised, here's Ryan's choreo to Britney Spears' "Circus"--



Can't wait for his next open class!

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Oh, I have a Sec 4 junior who's actually interested in Hip Hop! He actually asked me to teach him! LOL. My initial reaction was O_O because I think maybe I shouldn't be teaching him because I'm unsure of some of the fundamentals and I'm afraid I'll teach him the wrong stuff. But after some thinking, I guess maybe there's no harm in exposing him to Hip Hop. Plus, he's interested in Popping too! And he actually wanna go to O School and learn.

It's hard to find a junior from the High School Section who's actually really interested in Hip Hop. Most juniors are interested in BBoy, because they wanna learn all the power moves and show off, but they have no idea what Bboy actually is. For retards ppl like these, who doesn't boter to find out what bboy really is about, I happily defer them to the MAD Bboys coz I'm quite sure the bboys would have a "good" time giving them a crash course.

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I found out yesterday what a small country Singapore really is.

Last Thursday, after Ryan's open class, I found out Cherie actually knows Hiroshi, which is my Geog Tutorial classmate.

I was studying with Ie Ching at KAP when I found out my OGL's ex-boyfriend knows Ie Ching and they were from the same class! I totally went O_o'''.

Then today Jin Xiang told me Heng Yang, who's one of my Malaysian Scholar junior, and also happens to be in my junior class, is actually his cousin. That one I said "WTF?!" in the middle of a lecture. Thank god Miss Lim didn't catch it.

The connectivity between ppl in the modern age is quite extraodinary. Ppl that you thought have no connection whatsoever between them actually turned out to be friends or relatives.

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Let me introduce a new game to play on your PSP, if you have one. It's called "Dissidia Final Fantasy". It's a new game from the geniuses which brought Kingdom Hearts series and the Final Fantasy series, SquareEnix.

This is really a dope game! The game features an all-star cast like Cloud & Sephiroth from FFVII and Tidus & Jecht from FFX. What's cooler is it's battle system. Check out the gameplay video--



During my free time, in-between lectures and tutorials (and sometimes even durng tutorials!), I would even play this game. It's freaking addictive coz it's damn fun. Mum, Dad, relax, I still got finish my tutorials before I start playing. Haha.

Anyway, I guess that's all for today.

It's another day of school.......

Heartbeat

Wow, I haven't been to my own blog in like...........ages! In case you're wondering--

NO, THIS BLOG NOT DEAD!

Lol. Though there are quite a few things going on in my life, but it's not like I don't have the time to blog, but I think maybe it's because I have gotten used to not blogging for some time already. So after realizing this, I decided I would update as often as possible.

With the renewing of my commitment to this blog, I decided it's time for me to change the blog title. Readers of this blog would remember the old title -- "Don't sweat the technique!" -- which means not to focus too much on the technicalities of life and just live it! Interestingly, since the starting of this blog, I've had quite a number of people asking me what that phrase meant. Lol. There you have it. Haha.

"The Dancer's Rhythmic Heartbeat"

It took me a while to think of that title. I wanted this change of title to signify my journey and growth thru dance. When I just started dancing about one year ago, I am always told by Daniel, my hip hop instructor who's now in LA, that I shouldn't think too much of the technique and just...you know...dance. Fast forward one year later, I have understood what he meant.

Dancing is not about impressing others. Yes, impressing and entertaining people comes with the package, that's the role of a performing art. But as I continued dancing, I realized dancing is about materializing the music using one's body. To feel the music, dance, and touch others -- that is the true purpose of dancing. It's music made visible.

Now, whenever I listen to songs, I would subconsciously move my body to the music. On the MRT; on the bus; in my room; it doesn't matter where, but I couldn't really stop myself. When the music comes on, and the rhythm kicks in and resonates with my heartbeat, then I would start to move my body. I bet there are many dancers out there that share the same "problem" too.

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CNY was quite a blast this time round.

Drank some booze, visited lots of relatives, and gambled a little here and there. It's part and parcel of the joy of CNY. Contrary to the popular belief, no, I don't feel more relaxed and recharged even though I had a few more extra days. In fact, I think it's even more hectic than the previous year's. The amount of travelling was insane and my legs were going numb with inactivity. I think I almost fell sick actually, but thank god I didn't.

The food and snacks were delicious as usual. (What do you expect? It's Malaysian food. Lol.)

But the biggest surprise actually comes from my grandfather. My grandfather (my mum's father) was quite sick when I last saw him. But now, he actually out on quite some weight and is active again. I guess miracles do happen. I was quite relieved to see him well and active when I went back to my mum's hometown.

One of the interesting thing that happened during CNY was I finally got to learn the truth about my extended family. It was really a very long story, and I would like to typed it out on this blog, but maybe some time later. My dad broke the story down to a few parts and told me and my bro. Suddenly, everything makes alot of sense.

Last but not least, I got to celebrate CNY with my close Malaysian friends this time round. I guess I won't be seeing them till the June holidays.

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School is a peaceful affair. Somewhat.

I think this year I get along with the guys in my class better, though sometimes the CT rep tend to target his insults at me for no reason at all. The amount of tutorials given (especially from the geog teachers) are more, and the pace of the lectures are getting faster, coz this IS the last year of JC afterall. Surprisingly, the stress is not as heavy as I thought it would be. It's inevitable that JC2 students will experience a certain stress level, but it's not as high as I expected to be, at least for now.

I seriously think I am becoming some kind of a mugger. Lol.

School would have been peaceful............without the massive influx of JC1s, that is. Their orientation has started the past Monday. Hardly a day goes by without their cheers and screams disrupting tutorials. I bet that's how our seniors felt too. It's commonly agreed that many of the high school guys in the new batch of JC1s are posers. Most guys also find, the pretty girls can be very pretty and the ugly ones are on the fugly end of the spectrum. Lol.

Watching the soon-to-be JC1s going through orientation is kinda nostalgic. Makes me wanna go through the whole orientation again and play the awesome OG games like slippery slope and dodgeball. Funnily, looking at the juniors, I don't really feel like a senior -- yet. Probably the realization that it's our final year haven't really sunk in yet.

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I actually have lots more to blog about, but I guess this is enough for today. If you managed to finish reading my wordy post, then kudos to you. Not many people can do that, you know. Haha.

Till then, may you find your own rhythm in life.

A Long Update

OMG! I haven't blogged for so long that I have even kinda forgotten what it feels like to blog regularly! And since I haven't blog for like 3 weeks or so, I have tons to update on. So this is probably going to be a very, very long post. I will split this post into different sections so you guys can skip to the ones that interests/concerns you the most.

Before I get to them, I wanna say--

Happy belated birthday to Bing Yeow, Jia Yun, Wang Yi, and Nik!

And--

Happy birthday to my dance buddy, Diana!

Also--

Happy Chinese "Moo" Year to you guys too!

Lol, these birthday wishes have been accumulating since I haven't been blogging for such a LONG time. I've really wanted to wish them on my blog on their respective birthdays but I couldn't since I didn't really have the time and the access too.

Anyway, I've gotten back my laptop! Full repaired! So my comp is not the freaking lagging laptop that took like an eternity to start up and another eternity to sign in to MSN. Whoo!

BUT---

My hard drive has been replaced too. All my songs, videos, and photos are all gone!!! See, the person who said there's two sides of a coin is a genius. So now I have only what was in my PSP! Guess I just need to spend my free time downloading all the lost stuff. What a good way to spend the new year, don't you agree?

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School has been okay up till now, though there's a hint of the hecticness of the future. I really like my timetable! My latest day ends at 2.30pm, which leaves alot of time for everything else. I have a new Chem teacher, which is also my new form teacher, a new GP teacher, and also 2 new Geog teachers (one for Human and Physical Geog). Along with the change in teachers, Geog went from the slackest subject to the most intensive. The amount of tutorials is kinda crazy.

Oh yeah, I've decided to get myself a CCA, which is---

Wait for it--

Recreational badminton! I bet there are ppl who are reading this expected it to be MAD. My form teacher and GP teacher has been bugging me to get a CCA, so I thought maybe I should join just to avoid questions.

"Why not MAD then?", some of you might wonder. The answer is this -- apparently the MAD Exco decided they won't accept J2s. It was decided by the head of each divisions, and each of them had their own reasons. But for Hip Hop, it was more or less because "the standard is rather low" so they feel they want to "focus on the current members".

But after talking to some of the Exco members, I realized that that wasn't the real reason. The real reason was because they want to keep ppl out of the Hip Hop division. I know there are a few ppl that they don't want them to be in, but what I don't know is whether I'm on the list. But whatever it is, I'm still subjected to the same political barrier anyway.

Actually, I thought a CCA was supposed to be in a club where members gather because they share the same passion. I guess I'm wrong. Nic. Tay told me "MAD is not a crew; it's a CCA". I guess she's right. Actually, I wouldn't have asked to join if my teachers weren't bugging me about it. At least I tried. I'm quite sure I'll be asked questions by MAD members and classmates alike after I post this up, but seriously, I don't really give a fuck care about it.

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CNY celebration in school was quite......err.....interesting. The performances were rather dull IMO, but my class stall was interesting. Since we've so lazy to think of things to sell, we have decided to have a garage sale, so everyone brought their unwanted stuff and jus try to sell. And Yu Wei was going around and "fortune telling" but he managed to earn some cash. In the end, we ended up earing more cash than last year's street market stall. Btw, did I mentioned how privileged I feel to be the only batch of students to do 2 street market stalls throughout JC? Wow, I feel honoured man.

Oh yeah, did I mentioned we sold hugs and kisses too? Augustine and Bing Yeow managed to earn some cash out of it too (I mean hugging). But the whole thing led to a very funny situation when the bboys dragged Si Quan to our stall and dared him to kiss Ningxin. I was laughing like crazy from that one.

But I was very happy to see Casey, Nic. Tay and Sali on that day! I haven't seen them since the MAD senior chalet, and I definitely didn't expect them to be there. Nic. Tay was squealing when she saw me. I really missed their company in the PE studio. Too bad Tack Kian and Wilson weren't there.

After the celebration ended, I went to RUA to learn the Athena'09 fac dance from Karlton. finished learning within a few hours! Phew! I like this year's one better, and it's nicer and simpler from the previous one! You guys will just have to see for yourself.

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Talking bout dance, I can't wait for Ryan's LA/Lyrical Hip Hop course to start! It starts on 2nd Feb, and I am excited to learn the basics from Ryan, the dope "old man" himself.

Meanwhile, I went for his open classes as usual. Check out his choreo to "Eat You Up" by BOA--



He also used Britney Spear's Circus in his latest class, but he haven't uploaded the video yet. His choreo to that is equally dope! Props to "Oldman"Ryan!

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Thanks Diana for inviting me to watch the popping battle last Tuesday! It was really damn dope, even considering that you guys are just in the Popping I. Michael is dope, that is a given! I wish I could learn popping from him after watching you guys battle it out. Now, if only the fee is not exortbitant...

Anyway, enjoy the Chinese New Year!

Balancing Act

So the moment that I have been dreading is finally here. School reopens tomorrow and the balancing act begins anew; juggling school work, open classes, self prac, revision, outings, entertainment etc. And it's the final year of secondary school life.

A year. Sounds like alot of time, but time flows like a raging river.

On a side note, tomorrow is also the day where O Level results are released. Good luck to all my friends who are taking their results tomorrow!

Actually, I really have tons to blog about throughout the whole holiday. Interesting things. But sadly, my laptop is spoilt and I have sent it for repair. I'm only getting it back during Chinese New Year. (I'm using my cousin's comp to blog now) And the comp lab in boarding school went from bad to worse, because the internet connection was freaking laggy the past few days. So that means I can't blog, download latest songs, watch dance vids etc.!!! Argh!

Looking back at my posts, I realized life can be very enjoyable. I smiled when I read some of my joyful posts, recalled some memories when I was reading the others. It's like watching yourself growing.

Ever since I came back from Malaysia, there have been alot of things going on.

I went for class chalet from Wednesday to Thursday.
I went to the new O School on Thursday night and signed up for Ryan's LA Lyrical Hip Hop Course.
I went to NUS and danced with Hui Wen on Friday.
I played the new Prince of Persia and Left 4 Dead.
Other than the Issues and Ideas booklet (which I plan to dao, like what the hell? You wanna write 9 AQs and 2 book reviews, be my guest), I more or less finished all my other holiday assignments.

Despite all the happenings, as I plug the earphones into my ears, I would feel a sense of......emptiness. I miss having my family around me. I miss the heart-to-heart chats I have had with my close Malaysian friends. I have another set of friends in Singapore, but the people that I can really talk to are not many. The best way to describe this experience is like travelling from one world to another.

Sometimes I miss my Malaysian life, at other times, I like my Singapore life. Being too long at one place can be a little boring, but I always have trouble with emotional luggage. I need to balance my dual life.

Life's just another balancing act.

Tears

I haven't been updating much these few days, so I really have loads to blog about. Things like the countdown @ KL, Xiao Long's (my good Malaysian friend, and don't ask me why he share the same name as Bruce Lee) birthday celebration, my father's birthday, a meeting with my long-lost good friend Brian (Not the Brian I knew from Oschool, heh. Parents these days should really come out with more creative names), etc.

But I'm not in the mood to blog about any of these, because I am feeling very down and sad now.

Today was supposed to be a happy day. It's my last day in Malaysia before returning to Singapore tomorrow, so I intended to spend my last day with my family and friends.

That's why I packed my luggage yesterday. While packing, I suddenly thought of Steve, one of my very close primary school friend. He used to be, anyway. You guys would have no idea what best friends we were to each other. I used to go his house once per week and have dinner with his family. I was rather close with their family and Steve's father treated me as his "godson".

Things were jolly, till the day I got my scholarship to study in Singapore. I remembered Steve's mum telling me that he couldn't sleep the night I told him I was heading to Singapore. I learnt that through time and distance, relationships can be weakened. But we still kept in contact though we were not as close as we used to be.

A few years back, Steve told me that his father had cancer. But somehow, his father managed to overcame the cancer and recovered. Or so we thought.

Suddenly reminded of all these, I keyed in the numbers and dialled Steve's home number. I spoke with his mum since he was taking a nap, then she told me that his father had cancer, for the second time in a row. I could hear from her tone that she was sad, thought her voice sounded otherwise. So I told her maybe we should meet up.

That was yesterday. I also planned to go karaoke with my friends after visiting Steve, but I canceled it after having an argument with my mum last night. She forbade me to go karaoke, because she said I have been going out and spending too much, and she wasn't keen on visiting Steve's family. I could understand why she was upset about the karaoke, but I don't understand why would she refuse to visit Steve's sick father. I told her, "Maybe you only want to visit him when it's his funeral".

I woke up with a foul mood this morning. I was ready to murder anyone who irritates me. I was THAT angry. The foul mood eventually fade off during breakfast.

We went to visit Steve's home after breakfast. I got the shock of my life when Steve's father greeted us at the door. He was very frail and could barely speak, far different from the energetic and fit person from the distant memories of the past. My heart felt as though it sank ten thousand feet into the ground.

Steve's mum filled us in on the details of the illness while his father went to rest. But I didn't need them to see how badly affected he was by the cancer. I felt rather sad for Steve because he had to care and worry for his father constantly, when any other teenager was having the time of their life. Hell, he even needs to sleep in the living room because his father could no longer go upstairs.

In his eyes, I could already see that he accepted the fact that his father could pass away "anytime", as told by the doctors. In a way, he was forced to grow up prematurely and assume the role of the head of the family.

I feel lucky that I have decided to call Steve yesterday. I realized that the "uncle" that I once knew could be gone very soon. At the same time, I regretted not calling earlier. Perhaps I could have hung out with Steve's family, just like the old days.

On the car ride back home, I had to force back the tears.

These tears. They can't stop falling...

Happy 2009!

This is just a short post to say--

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!

I've had a great year and I hope 2009 will be equally awesome! I actually want to blog bout alot more stuff, but I guess I can leave that to later. Countdown was fun, that's all I am going to say for now.

I also want to say--

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

(Yes, he's a New Year baby)