So much for feeling sufficiently recharged after taking a break on Wednesday.
On Thursday, all hell let loose in the restaurant. A chef had her day off and the two other chefs couldn't cook fast enough, the new chef/waitress (she hasn't decided) couldn't do much to help, and we were 80% full on a normally more relaxed week night. I was alternately waiting on tables, trying to placate complaining (read: fussy, non-regular) customers who didn't know our good food is always worth waiting for (seriously! the regulars never complain about waiting), and running upstairs to get more of anything that the chefs ran out of because they were too busy to do so.
At least the new chef/waitress could help me write the bills and do some washing up, otherwise I think I might have had a very strong impulse to slap anyone who called me over to their table just to tell me they've been waiting very long for their food. Duh, I know! But what can I do?! Not like I can speed up the cooking process! I was helping with things like getting the rice ready for the donburi dishes or kare rice or set or whatever, or beating the eggs, but that was about all.
After such a busy night at the restaurant and not enough sleep last night (helping a friend with some school stuff), I had an absolutely rubbish morning. GH and I had to accompany some singers for a masterclass, and because I've been too busy to practise this piece, I was sight-reading it. So was GH, but her sight-reading skills are considerably better than mine. The professional giving the class didn't give me time to react when he told me where he was singing from; he referred to them by the text instead of the bar numbers, and by the time I've found the place he'd already started singing. I'd be trying to catch where else he'd got to by then and trying to sight-read at the same time. At one point I was really lost and didn't know where he was singing at all, the second time he started, I finally found it. And the third time, I was ready to play, but for some reason he thought I wasn't. So he came over to the piano and told me off for wasting everyone's time.
I didn't respond in any way at all (read: stone face), but GH was definitely pissed off and I could feel the vibe from the singers being more tense. After the thing ended, GH furiously bitched to me in Mandarin (so that nobody would know what we're saying hehe the benefits of Mandarin!). Yep, it is my fault that I didn't practise this piece. But even if I really did, chances are I would still screw up the first or second times because you're singing a recitative and I don't know what @%&%# speed you're singing it, and where you're going from, damn it! ARGH.
Like GH said, it's not as if we were obliged to play for them; we could have said we weren't free when asked to help play for it. It was terrible to be put down in front of all the singers attending the masterclass like that, as if my poor sight-reading wasn't enough to show them that I'm such a LOSER. It's times like this I'm glad to have been with my piano teacher in Singapore, for her harsh criticisms (some friends have actually cried because of what she said), and maybe for whatever-it-is that makes me so able to remain stone-y in times of crisis. Blessing in disguise, maybe? My piano teacher used to say I play like a block of wood (read: emotionless), but the woody-ness of me also helps me not to react to harsh remarks. I'm glad to report that I still smiled at some of the singers who made eye contact with me at the end of the masterclass (no doubt checking I was all right, no?)
GH was also saying, if the pianist had been some local brit, (and had been in my situation), it would have been likely that he/she would have ended up crying. Because the piano teachers here are so PC! Everything you play is 'good!'. That applies to my first-year teacher. At least the teacher I have this year has more constructive criticisms on top of the 'good' that he says after every piece I play. Lol. Sigh... now I am totally relieved of all my negative feelings from this morning and it doesn't keep replaying in my head. Well, at least people who've heard me play for concerts know I can do it if I practise. I am not CMI lor! *grim and determined mood*
Now it's an early (ya, 2am in the morning is REAL early man) bed time for me, and an early rise tomorrow for a fresh start to a hopefully-sunny day full of practising!
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Half-relaxing Valentine's day
Gave myself an impromptu day off school today. Impromptu, because I had intended to go and practise in the morning but only woke up at 9am. So I had a good lie in before slowly crawling out of bed after 10am.Finally got to the library in the city to return some books and II's cds (she's away in London). And the shopping spree started, though not before I went to the music shop to get some scores (hey, shopping for scores is still shopping!)
Actually, I wouldn't really call it a shopping spree because I only bought a top and a jacket, and both are from the same shop! Shopaholics will all go 'chey!' when they find out how my 'shopping spree' went. Anyway, I managed to find a top that I liked and didn't cost too much. BUT it was size 12... asked for a size 8 or 10 to try, but the sales assistant said everything in the shop was all they had left. What to do, go for affordable is like that one lor. I still decided to buy it, because I can just wear a tube inside the top, plus the sleeves weren't too loose so it should be ok. Managed to find the jacket in size 10, and it looks ok, just that the shoulder part of it does look a little loose on closer scrutiny. Tried both together, and it looked quite ok to me, but I really dunno if that was just my 'whatever la, just buy them and I can go home now!' side talking. Well, shall try them on for the housemates' approval/disapproval some day.
I treated myself to 8 Millie's cookies, 3 of which I've already gobbled down. Going to go easy on the rest of them because I'm watching my weight till this Sunday is over! Haha as if it's going to make a big difference though... well it's just the temporary way to loose a little weight I guess. Will put in some effort to permanently do that when I'm not too busy (which will be never hehe).
Relaxed a bit when I got home, but I still managed to get some work done in the form of listening to the big work we've been rehearsing every Tuesday evening. Tiring stuff that I never got down to doing and now that I have, it's really fulfilling and I hope will be helpful towards my sight-reading it at rehearsals in future. Because we keyboardists don't practise stuff that are not solos, don't you know? Actually, that's not true... I've been diligently practising the pieces I play with singers and the ensemble, but I've just had too much going on to have time to practise for this piece as well.
Work at the restaurant was really busy tonight. All couples, and on top of the reservations we'd already got, many others kept coming. What really threw me into a big mess was that some customers claimed they had a reservation when they didn't. And I offered them the reserved tables only to find out later when the real customers who reserved the table came. ARGH. Fortunately it didn't turn out toooo badly... I hope. I think one customer was rather pissed to be turned away :(
The boss got roses to be given to every female customer, and there were extras in the end so we all got to take one each! And the housemates surprised me with a bunch of roses at 12 midnight (lol too late!), when they just came home from somewhere. All in all, not really a fully exhausting day and I had some time off everything to just recharge. Ready to dive into the busy swirl of activities again tomorrow!
Monday, February 12, 2007
Muscle ache
Phew, really exhausted.
Apart from the seminar presentation this afternoon, I spent the whole day practising. Having my lesson tomorrow... and no, this is not last minute practising! I practise almost every day, but I would say some days are not productive and generally it gets really productive nearer the lessons. My arms are aching quite a bit because after the seminar, I spent about three hours practising on the piano with really heavy keys. It's good to do it since it'll prepare me for playing loud enough for the assessed recital, but I don't get to do this that often because the room is always occupied.
I never get tired of practising. Mentally, I mean. I really am physically tired today, but it only happens once in a while. Love to have long practice sessons that give me enough time to go into the details. And all the effort will eventually result in a good performance, I hope. I was really happy to hear from fellow ensemble players today that they enjoyed the concert last Friday. Especially the piece with the singer. Whee... I enjoyed playing it as much as they enjoyed listening to it! :D
The presentation for the seminar went well too. Between the two of us, we sometimes had different analyses from each other, but that was good because in the end one of them would be correct. And we don't have to do a presentation for next week. The catch is that he set us four half-an-hour-on-average works to listen to before the next lesson. (Active listening, i.e. finding out its history, sourcing for other information on it, look for the score, listen to the work with the score.) Bleargh. We're still not going to get a weekend in the end huh.
Will try to do everything during the week and maybe at most finish them on Saturday. Cos Sunday's the cny dinner! Haven't bought anything to wear yet, but am planning to go shopping on Wednesday. Just hope nothing crops up between now and then :/
Apart from the seminar presentation this afternoon, I spent the whole day practising. Having my lesson tomorrow... and no, this is not last minute practising! I practise almost every day, but I would say some days are not productive and generally it gets really productive nearer the lessons. My arms are aching quite a bit because after the seminar, I spent about three hours practising on the piano with really heavy keys. It's good to do it since it'll prepare me for playing loud enough for the assessed recital, but I don't get to do this that often because the room is always occupied.
I never get tired of practising. Mentally, I mean. I really am physically tired today, but it only happens once in a while. Love to have long practice sessons that give me enough time to go into the details. And all the effort will eventually result in a good performance, I hope. I was really happy to hear from fellow ensemble players today that they enjoyed the concert last Friday. Especially the piece with the singer. Whee... I enjoyed playing it as much as they enjoyed listening to it! :D
The presentation for the seminar went well too. Between the two of us, we sometimes had different analyses from each other, but that was good because in the end one of them would be correct. And we don't have to do a presentation for next week. The catch is that he set us four half-an-hour-on-average works to listen to before the next lesson. (Active listening, i.e. finding out its history, sourcing for other information on it, look for the score, listen to the work with the score.) Bleargh. We're still not going to get a weekend in the end huh.
Will try to do everything during the week and maybe at most finish them on Saturday. Cos Sunday's the cny dinner! Haven't bought anything to wear yet, but am planning to go shopping on Wednesday. Just hope nothing crops up between now and then :/
Friday, February 09, 2007
White Chinese New Year
It's been snowing since yesterday! And it's real snow this time, as opposed to the 'fake' snow last year, which just falls for a short while and then turns into slush quickly. This snow is still here and everything is buried under a blanket of white. It's really beautiful.
This was taken yesterday morning from one of the practice rooms.
This afternoon. Everywhere looked so magically transformed. I love how the clock tower was veiled in white.
Pretty. Looks like a scene from the countryside/forest eh? (Ignore the fence haha) It's actually just the road along which I walk to and from uni. I love to see snow on branches. And also bare branches against the sky. It's a little morbid and sad, but they are also amazingly beautiful in a way I can't describe.
By the time I reached home at about 6pm today, the snow on the ground was so thick that I couldn't see the footpath any more. It's so magical! Everything's white!
Had a good day today, basically. Apart from getting quite soaked and cold from walking in the snow, and being quite tired at the end of the week, everything else was good. The concert was good, I didn't screw up my piece except for a tiny detail at the beginning (so tiny that I think possibly only those who've heard me during the run-through will notice). I also didn't screw up while playing for a singer, other than a slight stumble somewhere when I wasn't concentrating enough. Fortunately I managed not to let it sound too obvious and regained my momentum quite quickly. Possibly good luck on a day when I've only had five hours' sleep and have had hour after hour of lessons/discussions just before the concert.
And while rushing home after a lesson ended at 5pm, I just knew I was going to be late for work at 6pm. But the snow turned into a blessing when the boss' wife sms-ed to say they've decided to close the restaurant tonight. Sweet :) I actually had time to cook myself a proper meal, finally, five weeks since the start of term! It really has been so horrible that I've resorted to eating quick-cook stuff like pasta, instant noodles, frozen pizzas, cookies and mostly sandwiches or breakfast cereals, no matter how unhealthy I think they are. I couldn't be bothered.
Ok, going to sleep early tonight. I'm letting myself off because no longer can my brain take any more analysis of the piece a classmate and I have to do for Monday's seminar. We both agree that we've got the hardest movement of the whole piece he set for the class. Sigh, got to get up early tomorrow when I really want to sleep in, especially in such cold weather. But I've got loads to do!
Oh yea, and I'm going for the Chinese New Year dinner next Sunday, but have nothing to wear. Gotta find time to go shopping, but when? This is such a hassle. But I don't want to be MIA again like last year, and anyway where's the fun in staying home by myself on Chinese New Year?
This was taken yesterday morning from one of the practice rooms.
This afternoon. Everywhere looked so magically transformed. I love how the clock tower was veiled in white.
Pretty. Looks like a scene from the countryside/forest eh? (Ignore the fence haha) It's actually just the road along which I walk to and from uni. I love to see snow on branches. And also bare branches against the sky. It's a little morbid and sad, but they are also amazingly beautiful in a way I can't describe.
By the time I reached home at about 6pm today, the snow on the ground was so thick that I couldn't see the footpath any more. It's so magical! Everything's white!
Had a good day today, basically. Apart from getting quite soaked and cold from walking in the snow, and being quite tired at the end of the week, everything else was good. The concert was good, I didn't screw up my piece except for a tiny detail at the beginning (so tiny that I think possibly only those who've heard me during the run-through will notice). I also didn't screw up while playing for a singer, other than a slight stumble somewhere when I wasn't concentrating enough. Fortunately I managed not to let it sound too obvious and regained my momentum quite quickly. Possibly good luck on a day when I've only had five hours' sleep and have had hour after hour of lessons/discussions just before the concert.
And while rushing home after a lesson ended at 5pm, I just knew I was going to be late for work at 6pm. But the snow turned into a blessing when the boss' wife sms-ed to say they've decided to close the restaurant tonight. Sweet :) I actually had time to cook myself a proper meal, finally, five weeks since the start of term! It really has been so horrible that I've resorted to eating quick-cook stuff like pasta, instant noodles, frozen pizzas, cookies and mostly sandwiches or breakfast cereals, no matter how unhealthy I think they are. I couldn't be bothered.
Ok, going to sleep early tonight. I'm letting myself off because no longer can my brain take any more analysis of the piece a classmate and I have to do for Monday's seminar. We both agree that we've got the hardest movement of the whole piece he set for the class. Sigh, got to get up early tomorrow when I really want to sleep in, especially in such cold weather. But I've got loads to do!
Oh yea, and I'm going for the Chinese New Year dinner next Sunday, but have nothing to wear. Gotta find time to go shopping, but when? This is such a hassle. But I don't want to be MIA again like last year, and anyway where's the fun in staying home by myself on Chinese New Year?
Monday, February 05, 2007
Two-hour haircut
Had my haircut today. Finally, after telling NH I wanted to cut my hair since before the Christmas holidays... but since his friend went back home during the hols, I didn't get to cut.
Before I could get my haircut, I had to sit through XG's; I had to follow him to the place because I didn't know where it was. Average cutting time for each person (most of his customers are guys) is an hour, but for me it took two. He said he hadn't cut for a girl for some time already, but his cutting seemed alright to me.
Other than taking so long (which I had also experienced from a salon owner when I went back to Singapore during the summer holidays!), we managed to understand each other quite well when discussing what I want my hair to be like. We spoke in a mixture of Chinese, Cantonese and English... lol this is so weird. When at first we conversed in Chinese, I kept lapsing into English for some unknown reason, and out of the blue he spoke Cantonese to me (because that's what he was speaking to the person before XG). After apologising though, I said I could speak Cantonese as well, so we started to communicate in that, although sometimes it was better to describe some things in more than one language :P
The hair turned out to be acceptable, except that maybe because he's not so experienced, some places are too straight for my liking. But they'll grow soon, I suppose. When I got home I had a big shock looking in the mirror because it looked much shorter than in his mirror! I dunno why... but anyway, I think it's ok. I just hope it's not going to be too messy when I wake up tomorrow morning... the day after haircuts is always panic day.
That's how the hair looked after I took a shower. Not as messy as when I first came home, because he blew dry the hair, and I mean really so dry that there were lots of frizziness. Bleargh, I'm totally against hair dryers. I think they only spoil your hair.
First time is FREE! :D
Before I could get my haircut, I had to sit through XG's; I had to follow him to the place because I didn't know where it was. Average cutting time for each person (most of his customers are guys) is an hour, but for me it took two. He said he hadn't cut for a girl for some time already, but his cutting seemed alright to me.
Other than taking so long (which I had also experienced from a salon owner when I went back to Singapore during the summer holidays!), we managed to understand each other quite well when discussing what I want my hair to be like. We spoke in a mixture of Chinese, Cantonese and English... lol this is so weird. When at first we conversed in Chinese, I kept lapsing into English for some unknown reason, and out of the blue he spoke Cantonese to me (because that's what he was speaking to the person before XG). After apologising though, I said I could speak Cantonese as well, so we started to communicate in that, although sometimes it was better to describe some things in more than one language :P
The hair turned out to be acceptable, except that maybe because he's not so experienced, some places are too straight for my liking. But they'll grow soon, I suppose. When I got home I had a big shock looking in the mirror because it looked much shorter than in his mirror! I dunno why... but anyway, I think it's ok. I just hope it's not going to be too messy when I wake up tomorrow morning... the day after haircuts is always panic day.
That's how the hair looked after I took a shower. Not as messy as when I first came home, because he blew dry the hair, and I mean really so dry that there were lots of frizziness. Bleargh, I'm totally against hair dryers. I think they only spoil your hair.
First time is FREE! :D
Friday, February 02, 2007
More updates
Still busy with work and uni, although it was slightly better this week in that once the presentation on Monday was over, I felt more relaxed. And fortunately he didn't set us another presentation for next Monday! That would be killer... presentations on both the second and third lessons for a module, I'll just die.
Still haven't started on my final piece for one of the modules. It doesn't help that instead of the usual weekly lectures we had last term, we'll have fortnightly individual tutorials this term; the less frequent lessons are for a module, the less motivated I am to start doing work. Guess I'll have to do the usual and rush through this weekend to produce something decent for next week's tutorial. A leopard never changes its spots. Sigh.
On Wednesday evening I told the boss that by mid-March I'll stop working on Wednesdays. Beforehand I really wanted to say mid-February, but I guess that's a bit of a short notice. I do love the extra amount I earn for working Wednesdays, but I think working four evenings per week is beginning to take a toll on me. Need time, big time! I've also calculated that at present two weeks' wages covers the rent, the next two weeks' goes into bills and other expenses, the remaining money is saved up for next year's tuition fees. Without working Wednesdays, I'll probably use about two and a half weeks' wages for rent, then stretch the expenses a little in order to manage paying the bills without having to deduct from the savings. Think it'll still work. I've already stopped being lazy by packing my own sandwiches for lunch everyday, instead of buying really expensive sandwiches at an average of £2! Yes, I know, I shouldn't be converting currencies and all that, but I can't help it! If it helps, I do convert my wages from time to time too... hehe.
Today, a loud and persistant doorbell-ring at 9am got me jumping out of bed and running down the stairs. Because I knew my precious baby was going to be delivered today. Woohoo, I have my own euphonium at last! Over the last few weeks I had been viewing lots of second-hand euphoniums online, deliberating whether to bid for them (most are on e-bay), then deciding not to. Also calculated and re-calculated how my spending on an euphonium would affect my finances. Finally, last week I saw a Buy-it-now! euphonium on e-bay for £700 and after staring at the page for over an hour, decided to buy it. That's just about how much I earned for working in the cafe during the Christmas holidays. Right now I'm still unsure if this wasn't a good decision; what if this £700 could be like a miracle if I ran out of money later? But there's no way to tell, I'll just have to hope that's never going to happen.
Anyway, more about my baby. It isn't my Besson Sovereign model dream baby, but a second-hand Boosey & Hawkes Imperial model for this price is good enough for me. It was supposed to be delivered on Tuesday, but because stupid me forgot that I had only changed my address in paypal and not in e-bay. So the instrument got sent to my university accommodation last year. By some stroke of luck, either nobody was in or they kindly directed the parcel deliverer to the main reception, where someone rejected the parcel because they couldn't find my name in their records. And by the time I realised about my address in e-bay, this was all already in progress. By the time I called the local depot the next morning, the parcel was already back in the seller's local depot. Fortunately she managed to get them to hold it and then send it back to me, this time to the right address. Very contented now :)
Still haven't started on my final piece for one of the modules. It doesn't help that instead of the usual weekly lectures we had last term, we'll have fortnightly individual tutorials this term; the less frequent lessons are for a module, the less motivated I am to start doing work. Guess I'll have to do the usual and rush through this weekend to produce something decent for next week's tutorial. A leopard never changes its spots. Sigh.
On Wednesday evening I told the boss that by mid-March I'll stop working on Wednesdays. Beforehand I really wanted to say mid-February, but I guess that's a bit of a short notice. I do love the extra amount I earn for working Wednesdays, but I think working four evenings per week is beginning to take a toll on me. Need time, big time! I've also calculated that at present two weeks' wages covers the rent, the next two weeks' goes into bills and other expenses, the remaining money is saved up for next year's tuition fees. Without working Wednesdays, I'll probably use about two and a half weeks' wages for rent, then stretch the expenses a little in order to manage paying the bills without having to deduct from the savings. Think it'll still work. I've already stopped being lazy by packing my own sandwiches for lunch everyday, instead of buying really expensive sandwiches at an average of £2! Yes, I know, I shouldn't be converting currencies and all that, but I can't help it! If it helps, I do convert my wages from time to time too... hehe.
Today, a loud and persistant doorbell-ring at 9am got me jumping out of bed and running down the stairs. Because I knew my precious baby was going to be delivered today. Woohoo, I have my own euphonium at last! Over the last few weeks I had been viewing lots of second-hand euphoniums online, deliberating whether to bid for them (most are on e-bay), then deciding not to. Also calculated and re-calculated how my spending on an euphonium would affect my finances. Finally, last week I saw a Buy-it-now! euphonium on e-bay for £700 and after staring at the page for over an hour, decided to buy it. That's just about how much I earned for working in the cafe during the Christmas holidays. Right now I'm still unsure if this wasn't a good decision; what if this £700 could be like a miracle if I ran out of money later? But there's no way to tell, I'll just have to hope that's never going to happen.
Anyway, more about my baby. It isn't my Besson Sovereign model dream baby, but a second-hand Boosey & Hawkes Imperial model for this price is good enough for me. It was supposed to be delivered on Tuesday, but because stupid me forgot that I had only changed my address in paypal and not in e-bay. So the instrument got sent to my university accommodation last year. By some stroke of luck, either nobody was in or they kindly directed the parcel deliverer to the main reception, where someone rejected the parcel because they couldn't find my name in their records. And by the time I realised about my address in e-bay, this was all already in progress. By the time I called the local depot the next morning, the parcel was already back in the seller's local depot. Fortunately she managed to get them to hold it and then send it back to me, this time to the right address. Very contented now :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
RSS Feed