Tuesday, December 29

2009 Recap (Oct-Dec) & Music Involvements

We're on the brink of 2010! To wrap up 2009's blogging, here's a peek at my life from October to December (this is part 4; see the 3 previous earlier posts for more):

October:

2. Gig: "Moonlight Voices in the City" by SMU Music Interactive Club (which I assisted) - MoonFest @ Esplanade - My first performance at the Esplanade concourse, bringing cheer to the public with stirring renditions of popular Chinese songs from the 70s and 80s... here's a sample:

6. Caught a free concert by a renowned string ensemble, the Camerata de Lausanne, at Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music... it had been some time since I heard such refined, exquisite string music...

17. Attended a songwriting workshop in the afternoon, conducted by Musical Theatre Limited at the Arts House. I learnt about the different types of musicals, wrote a short tune on the spot about the theme "Cinderella" with my group, and got to know more friends and music contacts.

Later on in the evening, I celebrated Joyce's 21st birthday with my diploma classmates!

24. This year, my organizer's filled with birthday celebrations; mostly a lot of my peers turning 21 like me. My NS mate Kok Chin turned 22 tonight! Celebration at Costa Sands Resort (Pasir Ris). Thereafter, headed to SAFRA GameHaven for LAN gaming with a few camp mates... (so I'm not a nerd, OK? For those of you who think I'm a "good boy" with no life except studying). Supper was beancurd ("tao huey") at Selegie! Yum yum...

29. Gig: Blackout @ Emily 2009 at Wild Oats Bar on the Hill. It was a charity gig in support of the Singapore After-Care Association, which helps ex-offenders re-integrate into society. Misty and I performed several songs, including "Always Be My Baby", "Close To You", "Byul", "If No One Will Listen" and "When You Believe"... all these videos can be found on my Facebook (you might have to search through a bit as I've got lots of videos)!

Here's "Almost Lover" and "Hero":

November:

7. "Superstar" Musical Reunion: about 15 of the cast from "Superstar: the Pop Musical", Singapore Polytechnic's first, gathered on 7 Nov 2009 for this overdue 3rd-year anniversary reunion, which was co-organized by Esther and me. We had dinner and games at Pit Stop Cafe.

13. Yet another eventful day: camp unit cohesion in the morning - complimentary KFC breakfast, followed by movie (2012) at Golden Village VivoCity. Later in the evening, went out for supper at MongKok Dim Sum (Geylang) with my TICE Camp "Team Heart" peeps.

14. Celebrated my diploma junior Cheryl's 21st birthday at UBud, a Balinese restaurant at Bukit Timah. The chicken and fish were good!

16. Gig: "The Stage Is Yours" - acoustic set @ Music Dreamer Live! Cafe. I was initially supposed to perform with my vocalist Haze, but she fell sick, so I pulled my other vocalist friends Nicholas and Misty in. Here's a snippet of our hour-long set... the full video set is available on my YouTube and Facebook accounts (the umpteenth time of me repeating, haha).

23-24. St. Joseph’s Institution International (SJII) presents its Christmas pantomime: “The Wizard of O.R.S.”! I helped out as their recorded sound engineer/arranger for the music/sound effects. It was a great experience working with both professionals and the kids alike!

December:

5. Gig: Singapore Prison Service - Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon @ Bliss Garden Restaurant, Singapore Expo. Nope, I don't volunteer with the Prisons, but I've helped out in similar charity events/dinners before, so this is just another one. My vocalist and guitarist friends from Teen Challenge and I performed "Wonderful Tonight" and "If Tomorrow Never Comes". I must say I was quite astounded and encouraged by the 9-course lunch, which included Shark's Fin Soup and Braised Abalone with Broccoli, among others.

11. Met up with some of the cast and crew of SJII's “The Wizard of O.R.S.” pantomime for pool, bowling and dinner at Marina Square. Wendy, their Drama H.O.D. (and my ex-lecturer), joined us later and we went over to the Esplanade to catch Babes Condes and her band perform some Filipino Christmas and traditional songs...

12-13. T'was not just an ordinary weekend for me, but a GIG-end with 3 performances - once at the Youth Advolution for Health's (YAH) 4th Birthday Bash 2009 @ Republic Polytechnic, and twice at a "Project Eathink" event outside The Cathay, organized by Singapore Management University's Gourmet Club. Here are some videos:

15. Several of us musical peeps from Singapore Polytechnic's "Superstar: the Pop Musical" gathered at at Changi Airport to bid farewell to Timothy, who played a lead role as "Jun Liang" in the musical. His entire family was emigrating to Canada... we miss you and wish you all the best Timo! Here's the group shot of us with the Cookie Monster pillow we bought for him (of special significance to him, as his "Jun Liang" character in the musical saw him carrying around his beloved Cookie Monster):

18. I DO drink, for those of you who aren't expecting me to. Occasionally though, haven't gotten fully-drunk before. Anyway, I chilled with some army mates tonight at Ice Cold Beer @ Singapore Management University (SMU). Later on at 1am, caught my music friend, vocal coach, and pianist Michelle at her final night performing with her band at BarStop. Here's the shot of Michelle with my army friends and me:

19. Christmas party at Cheryl's! Dinner was potluck, and we played games and exchanged gifts... thanks for hosting us Cheryl!

21.Representatives from my camp unit visited our adopted Ju Eng Home for Senior Citizens to spread the Christmas cheer. Here's Shawn Poh's soulful rendition of the classic "Moon River" by Henry Mancini, and Ace Huang's stirring take on Lin Jun Jie's "会有那么一天" (Hui You Na Me Yi Tian).

Here are two duets by Shawn and my mom, who volunteered to come down and sing - "If We Hold On Together" from "The Land Before Time" cartoon series, and Teresa Teng's popular "我只在乎你" (Wo Zhi Zai Hu Ni). I accompany them on keyboard.

23. Afternoon: went for a National Education tour to Semakau Landfill (offshore Singapore) to learn about waste management and increase our environmental awareness and appreciation (or so were the hopes of my camp unit when organizing this).

Evening: Christmas party at Rochelle's place. Met a few juniors from secondary school (several years apart), and discovered again how small the world really is!

30. Polytechnic classmate Peixia's 21st birthday @ Costa Sands Resort (Sentosa)

31. I counted down to the New Year at Marina Bay with Matthias, my army mate from BMT...

On a sidenote, here's a look back on my involvements with music this past 2009:

Gigs:

15 April 09 - "The Stage Is Yours" - acoustic set @ Music Dreamer Live! Cafe

24 April 09 - SMUMIC "The Ultimate Virtuoso 2009" Grand Finals @ Nexus Auditorium

5 May 09 - 41SAR RSM COC Parade @ Kranji Camp II - dinner performance

16 May 09 - Wedding gig @ Holiday Inn Atrium Hotel

5 June 09 - 6th Army Maintenance Base (6AMB) Family Day 2009 @ Nee Soon Dri Clad

13 June 09 - [Singapore Street Festival '09 Electric Youth!] D'J Party (J-Rock & Cosplay)

20 June 09 - Private birthday party @ SMU Scréme Cafe

7 August 09 - Potong Pasir CC 44th National Day Celebrations Dinner

9 August 09 - Singapore's Got Youth Talent 2009 Grand Finals @ Bishan Junction 8

11 August 09 - SB Talentime 2009 Finals

25, 31 August & 2, 9, 14, 16, 23, 30 September 09 - Live gigs @ C.Nai Hong Kong Xpress (ECP)

25 September 09 - Ark Singing Talent Contest (Semi-Finals) at ArkHub @ Kallang

2 October 09 - "Moonlight Voices in the City": MoonFest @ Esplanade

29 October 09 - Blackout @ Emily 2009

16 November 09 - "The Stage Is Yours" - acoustic set @ Music Dreamer Live! Cafe

5 December 09 - Singapore Prison Service - Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon @ S'pore Expo

12 December 09 - Youth Advolution for Health (YAH) Birthday Bash 2009 @ Republic Polytechnic

13 December 09 - Project Eathink @ The Cathay

21 December 09 - Ju Eng Home for Senior Citizens performance

Projects/Teaching:

  • June–September 2009: Keyboard instructor at Music Garage
  • July–November 2009: Recorded sound engineer/arranger for St. Joseph’s Institution International (SJII) pantomime: “The Wizard of O.R.S.”
  • 5-8 November 2009: Sound engineer for Musical Theatre Limited’s “Wonder of Musicals”
  • November 2009-ongoing: Musical Theatre Limited mini-musical song arrangements
  • November 2009-ongoing: SOMA recording project
  • December 2009-ongoing: Church song arrangement project
  • Workshops, Seminars, Meet-ups:

  • 10 January: SOMA Open House 2009 - Songwriting workshop by Keith Kwok
  • 21 March: "Getting Yourself Heard" - NOISE Singapore workshop by Daniel Ong
  • ~ 525,600 minutes - how do you measure a year? May lots of luck, limitless laughter, and most of all, lavishing love be with you and your loved ones this coming 2010... Happy New Year! ~

    Warm regards, Edwin

    2009 Recap (Jul-Sep)

    Continued from my previous post, here's a recap of all the major/interesting events of my life from July-September 2009... I admit I did not have much of a "social life" for the second half of 2009 due to the lack of time; juggling camp work with the many gigs and other musical projects took a toll on my health and hours of sleep.

    July:

    4. Celebrated Jeremy's 21st birthday at his place!

    5. After an organized meetup of singers & songwriters at the Red Dot Museum, had dinner with diploma classmate Jasmine at Ichiban Boshi @ Esplanade... oishii ne!

    11. The news came so suddenly that I was in shock when I got the SMS that my polytechnic schoolmate and friend Edwin Lim had passed on... tears flowed freely and many heartfelt experiences with him were shared at the packed memorial that evening. Edwin, I will always remember you for the fun, joy, and laughter you brought to me and everyone else around you - remember during the chalet when Wendy called "Edwin!" and both of us turned around at the same time? Though I've known you only briefly through our school's Theatre Compass and "An Inspector Calls" play, you were very encouraging and caring towards me and the rest; somehow wish we had got to know each other more... =( you will be sorely missed... RIP bro. God bless.

    25. Two birthday parties: Snowlin's 21st at the Khalsa Association and Si Ling's 21st at her place... here's poly schoolmate Natasha and I at Si Ling's bash (haven't got the photos with the birthday girls yet! =x):

    August:

    2. Another 21st birthday celebration, featuring my talented vocalist friend Misty:

    7. Gig: Potong Pasir CC 44th National Day Celebrations Dinner (accompanied vocalists with community/National Day songs)

    8. Dinner @ IKEA Tampines - the long-awaited secondary school gathering! It was great to have some of us together again and catch up with each others' lives...

    9. Gig: Singapore's Got Youth Talent 2009 Grand Finals @ Bishan Junction 8 (accompanied vocalist with 2 songs on keyboard). Later on, caught the National Day fly-past and fireworks!

    10. Huiming's birthday celebration: steamboat @ Bugis. In the following instructional video, chef Huiming gives the uninitiated some basic lessons in cooking!

    11. Gig: Back to my alma mater Singapore Polytechnic for a guest performance with a vocalist at its School of Business (SB) Talentime 2009 Finals...

    16. Besides the Army Half Marathon in the morning (I ran 10km), it was also a significant day - 300 more days to ORD! Time flies, as of "press time" I've a 160+ days to go to ORD!

    29. Lydia's farewell dinner at her place... she was flying off to the States to study music at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). Jokes abounded through the evening as we reminisced our school life and lessons, with the funniest (according to Winnie) being me mixing up the term "rondalla" (an ensemble of plectrum instruments, stringed instruments played with a plectrum or pick) with the Venetian "gondola"! ROFLMAO!

    25, 31 August & 2, 9, 14, 16, 23, 30 September - Live (paid) gigs @ C.Nai Hong Kong Xpress cafe at East Coast Park's Marine Cove... thanks to Karyn, Benji, and Woon Han for coming down to support my vocalist and I on several of those nights!

    September:

    19. Ace's 21st birthday BBQ at Pasir Ris Park (group photo unavailable)

    25. Gig: accompanied vocalist on keyboard in Ark Singing Talent Contest (Semi-Finals) at ArkHub @ Kallang (Mu Chuan)

    Check back soon, the final recap for Oct-Dec 2009 is in production!

    Monday, December 28

    2009 Recap (Apr-Jun)

    Continued from my previous post, here's a recap of all the major/interesting events of my life from April-June 2009:

    April:

    3. Caught a concert (Hommage a Poulenc with Thomas Hecht & Friends) at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. Talented geniuses!

    4. Jammed at Guitar 77 with my J-rock band at night, then went for an outdoor photo-shoot till the wee hours of the morning. Our chosen photo for our band profile turned out to be this one, shot at the top of a multi-storey carpark! LOL so cool right?

    6. Attended a violinist friend's solo recital at the Arts House. You go girl!

    11. Another usual day of rushing around... Met my polytechnic lecturer Wendy for lunch at Sushi Tei in town, then zipped back east for a gig rehearsal at home, followed by Hanson's 21st birthday celebration at Sculpture Square, and finally a band meeting at Heeren late at night. Whew! Here's us at Sculpture Square:

    12. Grabbed a collection of cheap-sale movies at a warehouse sale at SAFRA Tampines, before meeting secondary classmate Shaun for the Good News Singapore event at the Indoor Stadium.

    15. Finally - my first gig of 2009 (role as keyboardist), with Haze (vocalist) and Benji (guitarist) at Music Dreamer Cafe @ Marina Square. Here's a sample of our performance; more videos on my Facebook/Youtube accounts.

    18. DMAT sophomore batch chalet/BBQ @ Costa Sands Downtown East - I brought along some horror movies to spook them out. We also met a polar bear!! =.="

    19. Caught polytechnic schoolmate Syed's film feature at the Singapore International Film Festival @ Singapore Art Museum. We then went to Pit Stop Cafe (Boat Quay) for games; the photo below was featured on their website! (Photo no. 97 as of 28 December 2009) :)

    24. SMU "Virtuoso" Grand Finals at NEXUS Auditorium, Cuppage Plaza - Played keyboard accompaniment for a song I had just learnt a few days ago. The vocalist emerged as the champion - congrats Eng Teck!

    25. Cubase 5 Launch at SMU Admin Building - I thought I would be alone, but ended up meeting my classmates/schoolmates/lecturers... it's a small world indeed...

    26. TRIPLE-BILL of rehearsals in one full day at 3 different locations: Raffles Place, Bukit Timah, and Aljunied!

    30 April-3 May. Genting-KL Trip: Four fun-filled days at the City of Entertainment and the capital of Malaysia... Malaysia BOLEH! :) More photos/videos on my Facebook account... but here's a selection:

    May:

    5. Dinner gig - 41SAR RSM COC Parade @ Kranji Camp II

    9. Kamesh's birthday celebration @ SIA Sports Club (Changi), followed by Haze's birthday celebration at K-box (Marina Square).

    16. Wedding gig @ Holiday Inn Atrium Hotel

    23. Attended an anti-tobacco workshop conducted by the Youth Advolution for Health at YWCA Fort Canning Lodge. Thereafter, we proceeded to a Fab & Smoke Free event at Tampines Mall, where I won a consolation prize of an iPod speaker/charger!

    June:

    5. 6th Army Maintenance Base (6AMB) Family Day 2009 - yet another performance in camp! Pity we didn't take videos but only took photos after the event:

    6-8. Went on a short trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with Dad. Main intention was to check out the International College of Music (ICOM) there (as they have a tie-up programme with Berklee College of Music), but we visited several places of interest as well. Not forgetting shopping!

    13. [Singapore Street Festival '09 Electric Youth!] D'J Party (J-Rock & Cosplay) - Finally, the day had arrived for my J-rock band to perform at *scape! Youth Park... here's one of the pieces we covered, Ayumi Hamasaki's "A Song for XX"; more videos on my Facebook/Youtube accounts.

    Later that night, a birthday surprise for Joanne is planned and executed, just when she thought everyone forgot about her birthday...

    20. Performed with friends at a private birthday party gig at SMU's Scréme Cafe. Earlier on in the day, I was officially inducted into the family of YAH ambassadors to promote health and wellness!

    27. Took part in the SHINE Youth Mascot Parade, Asia's largest of its kind, as part of the Youth Advolution for Health (YAH) contingent. Spot me amongst a bombastic build-up of balloons, and with a PCK wannabe:

    Next recap coming up soon: Jul-Sep 2009... stay tuned!

    Sunday, December 27

    2009 Recap (Jan-Mar)

    To all my faithful readers out there (I know there are still a handful), here's a recap of all the major/interesting events of my life from January-March 2009 (with minimal talk about NS; see previous post):

    January:

    1. Woke up to a brand new year and made some resolutions.

    9. MES Family Night @ Pit Stop Building (camp function). Here's a photo of us fooling around:

    10. SOMA Open House 2009 - Dropped by the School of Music & the Arts' (SOMA) Open House to check out their facilities. Also attended a beginner songwriting workshop to gauge their teaching methodology (already completed a year-long Songwriting module in my Diploma).

    20. Obama's inauguration! YES WE CAN!

    24. TPS reunion potluck gathering @ East Coast Park. Hadn't seen some of my primary school classmates for years...

    25. Scene: Reunion dinner at my eldest uncle's place. My cousin-in-law passed me several slices of sour Mandarin oranges; upon chewing them, the area under my tongue started to constrict uncomfortably, and my salivary glands became swollen. I started medication to reduce the swelling, to no avail. Half a month later (mid-Feb.), I was due for an Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) specialist appointment at Singapore General Hospital - but it was just that morning when a small salivary stone emerged into my mouth via a blocked duct (after much tongue-prodding the past few days as well). So it was just that stone causing all that eating discomfort!

    February:

    7 & 8. Went on the Singapore Flyer once on each day (Saturday night and Sunday afternoon). The rides were FREE as SAFRA was having a promotion then. We even got free oranges (Chinese New Year season) upon flashing our SAFRA cards.

    13. My camp unit's Teambuilding Day @ SAFRA Yishun. We were divided into teams for outdoor adventure games; I overcame my acrophobia today (for once) by climbing to the top of an outdoor rock wall!

    20-22. The largest event I've ever organized by myself so far in life: A smashing triple-bill of 21st birthday celebration BBQs at Costa Sands (Downtown East). Over 100 of my friends from my various "social circles/groups" arrived on 3 separate nights. Even though my parents were unsupportive of me blowing almost SG$1,200 on the whole celebration (that's my ONE-month army allowance in ONE night!), what can I say... it was the best 3 nights of my life this year...

    Here's my gift list; thanks to the following for their presence and presents!

    *Friday:

    Police watch - NS Comms guys

    Solar-powered toy - Pius

    Converse duffel bag - TICE camp friends

    Hush Puppies polo tee - Rochelle

    Audio Technica portable headphones - (then) Hazeto band members (currently Child's Play)

    Candy Empire chocolate & jellybeans - Bing Hao

    "Boy naughty" lamp - Idayat

    The first night of my 21st birthday bash kicked off with a big bang - food, friends & FUN!

    Social groups present: NS comrades, TICE Eco Camp 2008 camp-mates & Child's Play band members

    *Attendance: 22 guests

    **Catering by BBQ Wholesale Centre Birthday cake (Premium Mango) from emicakes Cookies (2 dozen) from Subway

    FUN FACT: The 3-night event was conceptualized and planned barely a fortnight before it took place. I realized that I wanted to plan a BIG, unforgettable event for my 21st to thank and catch up with as many friends as I could. (All the way back even to primary school!) Having a BBQ every night for 3 consecutive evenings gave my guests the flexibility to choose a convenient timing to come.

    *Saturday:

    Topman shirt - Bastian & Song Hua

    Scotch whisky - Yuanlong

    Adidas cap - Alastair & Dyna

    Angbao - Simone & Gerald

    External hard drive - Bruce & GAMBIT friends

    Converse bag - Kok Song & Soon Seng

    Aldo cuff links - Bryna

    Pinata - Emily

    "I Owe" metal plate - Wee Siong

    Toblerone chocolate - Filzah

    CK fragrance - Natasha

    The second night of my 21st birthday bash was actually a TRIPLE BONANZA celebration with my friends Emily and Wilson celebrating their 22nd birthdays too!

    Social groups present: SP Musical superstars, SP "An Inspector Calls"/Theatre Compass peeps & Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab associates, among other friends

    *Attendance: 39 guests (excluding Emily and Wilson's friends)

    **Catering by BBQ Wholesale Centre Birthday cake (Pure Addiction) from emicakes

    FUN FACT: The proposed budget included the chalet rental, BBQ catering for 3 nights, 3 birthday cakes, and 5 dozen Subway cookies! The total expenditure hit a 4-figure mark!

    *Sunday:

    Taboo game - SP Theatre Compass friends

    m&m's Premiums Triple Chocolate candy - Alex & Aimran

    Designer coaster - Rain

    Ferrero Rocher & angbao - Geoffrey Low

    graniph purple tee - Siew Ting & Swee Fuan

    Watch - Belinda

    Amazing Cube (time/alarm/date/temperature) - Cara

    Keyboard cover - Nicholas Yong

    McKal earphone - Yao Guang

    Pop Urban case with Adidas body spray & hand sanitizer - Ginny, Joanne, Mel P, Zhen Hong

    Nike water bottle with Handy Power mobile charger - Mabel & Kevin

    Mickey designer cup - Abel, Regina & Rex

    Jumbo Kungfu Lolly - Vivian

    2007 Cabernet Sauvignon - Xiu Ru

    Picard wallet - DMAT girls: Joyce, Meijun, Winnie, Tian Hwee, Lydia, Jasmine, Kaiwen, Yanxi

    Hugo Boss "Energize" cologne - Cheryl, Xin Yi, Serene, Teck Hui

    The Body Shop "Of a Man" Eau de Toilette - Hock Leng & Shawn

    Buffalo David Bitton jeans - Gildon

    Jazz charts - Michelle

    *belated gift:

    Nike water bottle - Kelly EB

    Shot via webcam on 21 February 2009 at the combined birthday chalet of Wilson, Emily, and I @ Costa Sands (Downtown East). Featuring the Superstars from Singapore Polytechnic's first musical, "Superstar: the Pop Musical". Video courtesy of YQ.

    24. MES Safety & Innovation Seminar @ Jurong Camp I - *yawns.

    27. Camp unit's anniversary celebrations - Free movie ("Valkyrie") at West Mall, then banquet dinner at Civil Service Club (Bukit Batok)

    March:

    1. Zhen Hong's birthday celebration and games at VivoCity

    6. Visited Career & Education 2009 Fair @ Suntec Convention & Exhibition Centre. Also went in free to Wild Wild Wet (promotional voucher)!

    7. Attended NOISE Singapore workshop: "Making Music Professionally" by Shirlyn Tan; followed by DMAT Alumni Reunion @ Singapore Polytechnic cum farewell for our lecturer Mr Jimmy Ye. Ended off the night with board games at Mind Cafe (Boat Quay) with diploma classmates.

    13. Woon Han & Benji's joint 21st birthday chalet/BBQ at Costa Sands (Downtown East) - *nostalgia...

    14. Crammed into the tin of human sardines at IT Show 2009.

    19. Wild Wild Wet for FREE again! (yes, promotional vouchers from previous bookings of the adjacent Costa Sands chalet)

    21. NOISE Workshop: "Getting Yourself Heard" by Daniel Ong Thereafter, went over to CDANS (Bukit Batok) for Kelly's 21st birthday BBQ. 24. "Live 'n' Loaded" filming @ MediaCorp Studios - role: audience calefare; task: get high and crazy for the camera! Thanks for the ticket, Lloyd!

    27. Watched "Zuo Jun Violin Recital" at Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music.

    28. Attended "Breathe: Youth Speak", a health symposium at Singapore Management University, followed by a DMAT dinner gathering hosted by our lecturer Mr Jimmy Ye.

    29. Angela's 21st birthday chalet/BBQ @ NSRCC

    Stay tuned for the next recap: April-June 2009!