Chinese New Year
It isn’t what I subscribed to, but ALL I can say that I’m glad that the festivities are here.
Disclaimer: It’s just a morning thing. I don’t think do negatively that often. 
(Somewhat) A much deserved rest and possibly meeting some good (and real) friends, instead of the pleasantries that we oft-exchange during this period of time.
I’m just taking a bit of time to jot down how I feel about the past few days leading to this and I feel that I should get a grip of life and just move on. Questions that linger asks why do I feel that way.
Some things aren’t meant to be, i.e. will not come ever. Like how some people say I’m too much of a potato to enjoy Chinese New Year, but fact is, maybe I just don’t have the right people to “celebrate” and pass by time with to make it as festive as it claims to be?
Maybe that’s why, unlike some other people who draw closer to family during this time, I tend to become a victim of technology itself and connect with other people, and I grow envious.
Vicious cycle?
I agree, but it’s not going to get me down. I’m going to make the best of it. I know I’m an overcomer. I’ve overcome bigger things in life before. And before I let this grow and manifest negatively, I should just ignore it.
Look Derrick, and friends (readers of the blog). The world is bigger than it seems already, let’s not be intimidated and shrivel back into the shell. It’s just the first step and there will always be bigger challenges. Some people fall sick during the first week of school,
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
So far, I’ll be traveling again, meeting even more people in the a cappella scene through work and in personal contexts as well. Don’t be so harsh and calm down.
Derrick (and friends,) KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON.
Enjoy CNY!!
A typical day for me
There are some days that aren’t that perfect, but I shall share what happened on Friday before I go on. (Technically because it’s Saturday already.)
8.30AM
Thou first alarm for the morning buzzed. Body refused to wake up, as I’m still buried under very cushy materials known as “pillow”.
8.50AM
Finally woke up and showered, rushed down to the bus stop and realised that the bus to reach work on time has left less than 5 minutes ago.
9.30AM
Still on the way to work, and was tweeting and taking photos on Instagram. And suddenly L texted and we started a convos.
10AM
A called and we kinda had a heart to heart talk about how things were, short, but A apologized and I felt bad that I wasn’t the one who apologized first. But admittingly, I was glad to put this aside.
10.15AM
Reached Marine Terrace, went to buy brunch. Lee called and we were talking about a common friend. Why are people talking about death so often? Doesn’t bother me actually, because I see it as a phase in time for everyone. But what if it’s a good friend.
10.30AM
Reached the Society and started clearing emails and making calls to sponsors for our special Youth A Cappella Weekend. Try to come for it if you can!
Was chatting with Y about her being sick amidst everything.
11.40AM
KJ texted in and “dropped a bombshell”. Reality hit me again (after so many years) that we all have ticking time bombs within us, but it didn’t matter for me now. But I hate to lose the friends I keep now, but I do not want to fight too fiercely for them.
What is the balance? I thought to myself and decided not to think too much. Yet.
11.50AM
I got hungry, so I started on my brunch. Fried noodle with egg toufu and braised toufu.
While eating, I went on FaceBook and checked on the concert I was going to attend in the evening. I decided when I left the house I was going in just jeans and a tee, except I’m wearing the hoodie – up, the “signature” Derrick hoodie.
1.30AM
The kids and A returned from the pool and they seem to have a blast (why didn’t daddy bring me for swimming lessons, huh?) A and I started to talk about working with Orita Sinclair for our biggest project to date: VOCAL EDGE. It was then I realised this is a gem of a project to learn from – though I won’t be singing in it.
It didn’t ache me to think that S wouldn’t be singing for Vocal Edge. Let’s not give a bad image of us overly-enthusiastic Singaporeans to the Father.
3.12PM
More calls. Decided to just attend the concert and go home straight.
5PM
Stopped the calls, decided to just work on things that are miscellaneous.
6PM
One final email, as C packs and waits for me for dinner.
7PM
Hopped on the first bus to SOTA for the concert with Raffles Singers. Learned that some friends are similar in trait, which is good. Good to have friends who are similar.
8PM
Met Lawrence from Wild Empire – feeling bad that I’ve totally stopped going back for rehearsals because I wanted to sing with Urban Harmony, plus work schedule during October didn’t do well for us.
Concert started with Raffles Singers performing Sanctus. I LOVE IT!
9.15PM
INTERMISSION! Met up with Esther from SOTA and heard about it. Yes, I did.
Not that I commented, but I said I was thirsty and I GOT LEMON GREEN TEA! You gotta love Esther for being so motherly. ><
10PM
Concert ended with Toh Ban Sheng’s arrangement of Rasa Sayang. Ideally, I should like it, but I guess the only part I like is how it draws parallel to other arrangements I’ve read before.
Went straight home and locked myself while I just slowly dipped into Lala Land.
Ideally, this is more or less I wish my life would be – simple and clear cut. But you know what, I like how my schedule changes at times.
Anyway, gotta go prepare for service.
On Friends, Urban Exploring.. and Others
Hey all,
I know I’ve been very late on the Sing Off entry, but I’ve been busy and that post is still being reviewed. But no worries, I’ll still share what I feel about it in time.
Most of my good friends were pretty much in the know what has been happening to me. To the uninitiated, I have a Twitter feed, and it doesn’t seem good over the week that was this.
Just before I go on, I guess some people just need to understand how I define someone as a friend. This is not some form of label nor stereotype, as friends are people who are close to your heart because no matter the proximity, they define and refine you.
But of course, that being said is already a paradox. Why should I still have friends that I put off as close friends, good friends, and some are just friends. For me, I have an “Interests Rule”, this unwritten rule that sets these people aside.
Generally, I have been privileged to have quite a big scope of exposure to many things of interests since young – too much in fact. Some I grew to like (like singing and directing) and some I grew to hate (like crossing the rope bridge in Surabaya or directing a school camp for unappreciative people).
This “privilege” has built this thirst (which I often put aside) for new experiences. How many of you can tell people that you’ve went to Vienna and saw a grown woman shit on the streets; or you simply went for OBS overseas before?
And I like it that my friends help me feed my interests, build new interests, or rekindle them. Simply put it, I like friends who fuel my interests in things. Be it their lives (you might not know what you can learn hearing about people), a hobby (I learned Gundam model appreciation from Ron), food (YES!) or just an appreciation for Japanese Kabuki by a particular Japanese practitioner.
And a certain few people meet these criteria. I’ve learned that over time, it’s not how long you’ve known certain people, but how much you have added/taken away from their lives at times that determine these things. Of course I’m also not like Barney who has a guy for everything, even a guy called Guy to get guys for him.
So my good friends are people whom I really can have a good time because our interests are similar enough for us to enjoy company, and of course the other things apply like understanding and trust and all. A close friend is one who can read me and vice versa (not fair to be read all the time and not make an effort to know that person.)
The typical friend is just someone whom I’d hang out with, but we share nothing substantial in common. Examples include people whom I meet only at a cappella concerts, and never talk to about personal matters or just a mere sharing of how we are and what we want to do.
Anyone else are just acquaintances – people whom I’ve only met once or twice a year, have totally nothing in common besides a common friend.
Hope that is over me. Of course, over time I’m sure I’ll come up with a new revelation how to define these people.
But all in all, I’m glad I’ve found friends who are both in and out of the a cappella community. I know I love singing and the a cappella community at large is a huge circle internationally, but things get boring after awhile and especially since I work at TAS, where I work on the back end of events unless I get to sing.
And to add to my list of interests, I was intrigued when I read about this very interesting place in Japan.
Nope. It isn’t Hokkaido, Tokyo, Nagasaki or what.
It’s… HASHIMA ISLAND.
Picture was taken from UnfinishedMan.com.
If you check out the site and possibly run a Google, you’d see that it is a very interesting place and would understand why I like to visit the place.
There’s this thing in me that likes to explore abandoned places/buildings. Yes. It’s called URBAN EXPLORATION.
I like to imagine how places were used to be utilised, how rooms were decorated from the glue stains on walls, or how the light will flow into the room and it’ll be used and how people worked.
And guess what? I thought this was damn interesting as well:
That is the Walled City of Hong Kong, which is the spot where Kowloon’s Walled City Park is now. Imagine buildings were a mere 1-2 meters away from each other!
Unfortunately it has been torn down due to various reasons, but it’ll make a very interesting visit if it was still around.
But things like that really make excellent fodder for a travel journal to show my kids.
Gahh… Wanderlust – the things it makes you think about, accompanied with things that break the monotony of life and lets you imagine a world if its own.
In other news, I’ve changed the layout of the blog!!
My Latest Book
I was at PageOne earlier and I found this book that was so crazy.
I don’t know how parenting works nowadays, but I remember when I last talked about ghosts to my parents (or when my friends do the same claims), we often get hushed up and told that ghosts do not exist; or in my mother’s case, a visit to the medium/temple.
So when I saw this book in PageOne, I felt dumb. Like brain-numbing dumb. This is how the cover looks:
I got that from the Open Library search engine, because I only took the back cover, which looks like:
Don’t you find it crazy in some warped way?
“This is my son’s second book about his experiences in the World of Spirits.”
So… Alice’s son, Benny, has been to the “World of Spirits”. It isn’t called Heaven nor Hell, or what – but just “World of Spirits” and this book is titled “KILLER VAMPIRES FROM HELL“.
Boy is he glad to be alive and able to write a book – or maybe that’s why his parents helped him with writing it.
AND they claim that his experiences are true.
WOW! Fancy that, I’d like to meet some killer vamps and live to tell the tale, and for $14 (rounded up) per copy you get to read all about it!!!
And before he wrote about killer vampires, he has this book:
And in this review by Ellen Whyte (blog.lepak.com), she writes:
In this book little Benny meets his aunt’s ghost, finds the stash of money she has secreted away, fights demons intent on evil doings on this plane, and much more. And it’s all true, honest.
OK, this is not really a well written book. Text is presented in block paragraphs. The writing is choppy, full of exclamation marks, and sprinkled with flights into morality. But I love it because this is exactly how people in Asia tell these sorts of tales.
I’ll bet that this is one of those books foreigners who live in Asia love to give to visitors because it is undeniably a great insight into local culture.
If you see it, dip into it. It’s guaranteed irresistible.
And of course, any good writer and his family, he apparently has written a sequel after his meeting with the killer vampires as well, this time with something rather… Never mind, the cover:
THIS cover I got from the NUS Library website’s catalog search. Apparently they have 2 copies – makes me wonder what sort of trashy local literature makes it to schools these days. (Oh well, if you’re reading this, this isn’t some Pulitzer Prize-winning blog as well, so go ahead and MOVE ON.)
From MPH Online, the blurb goes:
Benny Wong tells about his mission to save his uncle’s life in a daring do-or-die rescue. His uncle, a compulsive gambler, is forced to become the “blood slave” of a powerful, blood-thirsty tree demon to whom he has so naively offered his own blood in exchange for ‘lucky’ lottery numbers. A follow-up to The Boy Who Talks to Ghosts and Killer Vampires from Hell.
I’m imagining that Benny here is not any older than 15, possibly why his parents are co-writing (okay, fine.) assisting with the writing of the book, but I imagine this conversation running in the family one morning.
Mummy: Benny-boy! Uncle is in trouble!!
Benny: (just waking up) Huh? What happened to him?
Mummy: We need you to talk to a few “friends”… You see, uncle has won 4D recently…
Benny: Yeah, I remember. That’s how we could go to Europe after going to Hong Kong after getting our proceeds from the book sale right?
Mummy: Yes, boy-boy. But, these are those “friends” you can talk to only… He made a blood oath, you see…
Benny: Mummy. You’re telling me to convince a DEMON to let go of uncle?! You fucking nuts or something? (Derrick’s notes: Kids do swear nowadays, okay.)
Daddy: (suddenly appearing) Think about it, you can write a new book. All good books come in threes, like Lord of The Rings..
Mummy: Yeah.. There’s Wicked..
Benny: But hello! This is some blood thirsty DEMON! Where is this thing anyway?
Mummy: In a tree somewhere…
Daddy: (Thinking about how expanding to a 5-book series would work out better: think Percy Jackson.)
Benny: Mummy. Once again – uncle should be responsible for his own actions…
Daddy: Maybe we should consider a 7-book concept – Harry Potter ended up with a movie for each book right?
Benny and Mummy stares at Daddy in shock at that thought spoken aloud. Mummy though to herself that it’s a very smart plan.
Mummy: But you’ve dealt with KILLER VAMPIRES, Benny darling! I’m sure this tree-thing will work out.
Benny: *raises an eyebrow* Mummy, you do know it’s not just tree-folk where you can speak…
Daddy grabs Benny by the arm and quickly drives him to the tree in question.
Mummy: Finally that man does something smart.
Which reminded me that many years ago, I was approached to write about my experiences dealing with the supernatural. Mind you that was like seriously way long ago, and I know you guys might go through the OMG stage again when I show you the cover.
But here it goes…
And the best part, Ai Noo (my editor) gave this stellar review:
Sometimes we look too much into haunted houses and fail to realize the biggest supernatural occurrence that often comes across our paths and especially so in Singapore: Idiots.
So far, I’m pretty thankful I’m an ignoramus and thus I am eternally grateful to have Derrick share with me how he deals with idiots in his books. It wasn’t easy to finish the book as there were many idiots who tried to stop the press from publishing, and prior to that we had these childish and lifeless idiots who think they rule whatever they can lay their hands on.
In the book, he shares with us how he harnesses what he calls the “red” to ensure that he is ready for another day of facing idiots in his everyday life. From those that haunt the trains to those appearing in twos that block basic movement, these idiots have nothing against the power of “red” that he holds in his hands.
This is a great book I’d give to my non-Asian friends who’d like to achieve such similar powers.
And the best part, it got sold out even before it hit the shelves locally. Apparently the shipment got mixed up with another novel that was supposed to go to Albonia for recycling. I heard that the book that made it to Singapore was about some bald old man with supernatural powers, someone that sounded like Mee Su-An Lew? *shrugs*
Readers in Albonia found out what it really was and they wanted more so badly they swamped Ai Noo for more, but because they were a tad too aggressive, the publishing firm… let’s just say it closed down.
That’s Roger, Ai Noo’s assistant just before he got mobbed over the last few copies of the book while escaping from the burning office block. RIP Roger and Ai Noo.
My parents weren’t exactly ecstatic about how it turned out… Dealing with the supernatural is pretty much life-endangering, plus how popular the book became and the eventual riot… Plus one gets very little sleep chronicling every moment, but after a few years I managed to put together chapters into a new novel, with a little help.
It wasn’t easy, but we managed to escaped unharmed.
You know we almost died while going through the whole motion. When you deal with the supernatural – YOU CAN’T HELP BUT TO ACCEPT WHAT YOU SEE.
We had monstrous dogs that were all over us, slobbering poltergeists that refuse to let go or listen to us, and lastly we had the chance to meet an incomplete orchestra that could play anything but what is given to them. Nonetheless, it was a professional outreach from our end and we reacted accordingly.
Due to the uproar the last time, I can’t help but to outsource the editing and printing to Albonia this time round, where I had a pointy-haired guy who seems to like pancakes and (I know this is hard to believe) a talking cat that seems to want more money to do the printing.
Well, the cat convinced me and at least they printed more than enough for Albonia and international shipment. At least all of Albonia gets the book first and will not burn up their very own building… right?
Here’s how it looks:
No kidding about the Jagerbombs. A dozen after meeting those wild spirits and we’re good to sleep like babies.
What came next was really uncalled for. The day before the books hit the flight for international shipment, we found out that the Albonians will be “shipping” the books via pigeons due to budget constrains. I went down and I was ushered into a briefing room with an engineer.
Oh please… Not another Albonian list for my book to chart… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Even Yohannis lost her planet which some blue furry thing promised her. It blew to shreds.
Well, the Albonians promised me that my next book’s publication will be on the house for them, and so I started work on my next book.
Yohannis, my parents and I were seated at Starbucks as we went through our coffee and talk about how dangerous the supernatural is.
Mum: We should send you to the medium to be prayed upon.
Yohannis: (WTF. What is wrong with you, yaw?) *smiles*
Dad: You should stop this. The Albonians will get you killed.
Yohannis: *looking up from her frappuccino* (Uh-huh. Tell him, tell him… I drink.)
Me: Honestly, what’s there already?
Mum: More idiots?
Dad: He went through them in the first book – in alphabetical order, all the way from A to Victoria.
Yohannis: *still sipping her frap, like a diva* (Because the rest that followed Victoria were chicken feet to handle… yaw.)
Derrick: And the rest that followed… (wait a minute, why do I have a feeling that I’m repeating here)… Victoria were. Chicken. Feet. To. Handle. (Damn. So weird.) Yaw.
Dad: What about the thirsty bloodsuckers?
Yohannis: We went through them in the second book – didn’t we. Some more kena presented with papayas by the Albonians.
Mum: So I see that’s where the papayas came from.
Dad: I think you should… What’s worst than blood-thirsty, idiotic bloodsuckers?
Mum: *Stares at her husband*
Me: Erm… Blood-thirsty, idiotic, vampiric demons from hell?
Dad: *picks up phone* I’ll get them down.
Yohannis: *stares at Derrick* What? I’m not getting involved in this! I’m not paid enough lor. Some more payment from the last book is being delayed.
Derrick: Okay. Okay. Okay… I’ll deal with this myself.
Dad: *gets off the phone* I got your a blood thirsty, demon who can’t see the light of day.
Mum: I think you need some cable ties to secure them together when you meet them.
Dad: Failure to do so will ensure that many more will flock and time your death.
Yohannis: *walks away* Toodles~
And so today I feature my latest book with it’s cover:
The book covers further adventures into the mysterious Realm of Supernatural where prices gradually increases, and people travel tilted sideways and all you need to ensure is that the cable ties between our realm and theirs do not break – and I found out the origin of our notorious puzzle man, Saw. I only have minutes to unravel the mystery as a “gust of wind” comes in through the broken window.
So when I submitted the cover and draft chapter, I got purred at by the talking cat. I wonder if it’s a good thing.
The Sing-Off telecast in Singapore
Nobody can be more happier than me, unless you don’t know about it.
Like OMG!!
But anyway, I shall just share about the episode that just got shown on Channel 5. I’m not doing this to profit or anything, just want to share my point of view, just like many others have done so. So if you don’t like what you’re reading, just stop and move on.
I thought the opening number for the third season premiere (P!nk’s Perfect) was jarring at certain points. Certain moments very rather wrong aurally, though visually it was a color parade featuring all the different groups – in a fashion that is similar to the last two seasons.
YellowJackets – University of Rochester
Wavin’ Flag
I’m not a fan of these sports anthems, especially when it comes to soccer, because they kinda reek of rowdiness, but their arrangement of the song was pretty tight and the general presentation was fun and rousing more than rowdy.
As the first opening number, they did set the pace strong.
And yes, Jamal has an unforgettable bridge in his voice – the classical & contemporary mix in his mid range gives his that flavour, which I hope is versatile enough when he takes the lead on a pop piece.
Fannin Family
Who Says
Not a Selena Gomez fan (have you heard my good friend’s cover of Love You Like a Love Song?), but Maria did a good job with the lead. (I would say that after I heard the original, Selena should learn some stuff about feeling the song from Maria.)
But don’t you think the rest of her family seemed very afraid of being on stage? Plus their bass isn’t exactly rooting, is he?
Something about being in the family (which Ben Folds mentioned) is that they have good blend, which is apparently more apparent when they sing in unison – at most parts of the song they almost seem to come apart. Nerves can kill, I’ve been through it before – I swear.
Afro-Blue – Howard University
Put Your Record On
They’re Howard’s premiere jazz choir, and I’m guessing they’re just a module/class. And they didn’t fail in my books.
Style-wise, they’re the group I’m rooting for. Confident, classy and polished to pull off their jazz minors and ensure balance in the blend. This is indeed a signature song by the group – what a lot of people feel comfortable listening and watching.
Christie is a very strong lead in her mid range, her fache I’m guessing being an Alto. (I serious love Altos who grab the lead lines of such songs by the neck and wrangling it to their own strength.)
Delilah
Grenade
I’ve been waiting for this group when I heard of it when NBC released the group profiles.
You see, in the second season, we have the Backbeats, which is formed by a collective of a cappella alums from various groups (mostly the Socal Vocals of USC) which included 2 Sing-Off alums from the first season.
So in this third season, we have Delilah which consisted of 8 singers, our of which 6 singers came from past seasons. Candace (Voices of Lee – S1), Amy and Laina (BYU Noteworthy, S1) Hannah and Ingrid (Berkley’s Pitchslapped, S2), Kendall (Eleventh Hour, S2) are joined by Jo (Musae, UO Divisi) and Geena (UO Divisi).
The tone of the song started tensed, which gave way to this wall of sound when the next verse kicked in, where their bass and vocal percussions kicked in. I’ve never heard of such an impressive female bass (alright, I have – nanu’s Angie (Singapore, aka my Boss) is one of them, considering also that Musae’s Jo is in this group – that makes only 2).
The arrangement isn’t exactly fantastic, but it is a clear that they’re out to win.
(Did I say I really like Hannah and Amy?)
So anyway, the elimination process was clear – I thought that between the YellowJackets and Fannin Family, it was between the both of them. There had been many all-male collegiate groups that have landed in the previous seasons, thus I’m sure Shawn and Ben (being the majority out of 3) would want a particular standard.
And gosh. What happened to their swan song? Tomorrow is a hopeful song, they might have overloaded the bottom ranges during the chorus, there were some intervals which I guess didn’t go well with the siblings.
And we move on to the second half.
Urban Method
Love The Way You Lie
Something about this group’s packaging seem very ghetto, which really hit me in a good spot, especially with the opening. They really set the mood right…
Until they go into the rap part. The chord seem to shift the key or something, but I guess it was all for effect, because when the chorus kicked everything seem to clicked – possibly the “pitch-center” (which I learnt from my own singing experiences with Acappuccino) wasn’t stable, so everybody was just going by rote-singing.
Myke is fabulous. Katie was also great. As vocal/rapping leads, they really take it up to work in the choreography and still stand out. I remembered having a hard time working out choreography for Dynamite with Dotz.
Cat’s Pajamas
Some Kind of Wonderful
I don’t know about this group. I though their cover of I Feel Good was really good, until Pretty Woman kicked in and I realised: Rockapella.
And with that very dangerous expectation, I’m expecting an electrifying presentation, considering they’ve done 200-over shows a year.
And as much as some of the songs featured in the series might be inaccessible to the listeners of the younger generation (including mine), but it was a good song nonetheless.
But where’s that charm and charisma? The choreo was nicely executed, the blend was good, but there was something missing. I told Yoh that maybe it’s because they think they’re that good since they have the experience thus they “tried to level the playing field”. In suits that look very suave and sleek.
Kinfolk 9
Secrets
For a group of 9 musicians, they get across to me as a group that would sound polished, or have their own flavour, x-factor, whichever that shines for them and rolls their boat. But at certain points, maybe because they’re all established (?) musicians, thus they all have individualistic solo voices that might not work.
Moi is a very good lead, I aspire to have a voice like his – gives the feeling that literally you want to sing the lyrics off your chest.
The initially build up was a bit weak, Jennilee comes out with a duet section, then the energy dropped during the bridge, the sound wasn’t very full; and at the return it started to clash a bit. One might think its a minor/diminished thing, I’m taking it as a balance issue – considering they did very well on Hallelujah in their intro video (and balance maybe from the individualistic voices I mentioned earlier).
Yoh said that the blend on the chords for the final word “secrets” was good. I agreed with her upon second and third hearing. I wonder if they were trying to achieve the same effect earlier with a different (and maybe difficult) dynamic.
Vocal Point
Jump, Jive and Wave
How much fun can a group of Mormons have? My ideas of Mormons were very stiff males – until it occur to me that Noteworthy from Season 1 is also from BYU.
They have good energy, and blend. Compared to the YellowJackets, they lack in terms of heart.
I love the energy on Footloose, and of course they seem to have this knack for jazz as well. Would they give Afro-Blue give a run for the final prize?
But I think they’re lacking a bit of a rein – the energy goes all out, but doesn’t seem to have a focus.
So here we go, the second elimination – and it was between Kinfolk 9 and Vocal Point for me.
I honestly didn’t think that Cat’s Pajamas would get kicked out – but I guess what the producers were looking for are teams who do not take the prize for granted and produce lacklustre performances.
Pictures were taken off NBC’s website, and none of these writing were taken off any of the critic sites, e.g. the Fifth Judge, or Ben Fold’s blog on NBC.com.
I’m just doing it for personal enjoyment and I’m sure now that my friends and I are catching the show at the same time, we can exchange views and I turn it to writings into the blog. My life still goes one even if I were to abandon writing for the series.
I can’t wait to watch the next episode, and hearing from anyone who might be interested to share how they feel – just leave a comment!
First post for 2012!
I have lived in the darkness for so long
I am waitin’ for the light to shine
Far beyond horizons I have seen
Beyond the things I’ve been
Beyond the dreams I’ve dreamed
Are the things I’ve done
In fact each and every one
Are the way that I was taught to run
I truly wonder if 2012 will be a better, or worst year for me. I passed by those Chinese zodiac predictions and I saw that what’s written for me were a tad of negativity, but I believe in the promises of God that I will overcome it all.
And so 2011 was a delightful year in some sense, Acap had our first concert; I became part of Urban Harmony; InSignia got busier with being the in-house arrangers for the Seengers (be Seen while Sing, they say).
I’m still at this junction that I should settle down for something more substantial and move forward, but I’m guessing that’s looking at it from a normal, typical point of view.
But after all, “normal” is a mere perception, subjected to the views of individuals or a collective.
Anyway, enough of that for the first post of 2012.
I hope that a great start will lead to bigger things to come. After meeting Teo for some tete-a-tete, I met Sean up to go to Pulau Ubin. It’s a simple day, with us just cycling, kayaking and a lot of talking and sharing. I’m now looking out for a water-proof, dirt resistant iPhone 3GS cover.
Why yes, that’s my legs in the fish spa at Ubin. Paid $20 for unlimited use of the fish spa and kayaking – which was the main focus of my trip to Ubin.
And shortly after we returned for our second round of kayaking, it started to rain. It was so nostalgic to just sit under the rain and talk, especially still in the water, though we were advised to remain under shelter.
So after we left, we decided to return to the main island for dinner and chills.
And it was while chilling with Sean that I more of less derive the gist of my resolutions for 2012.
Effort, and I don’t mean pushing, but also a collective of mindsets that I need to change to get through 2012 and fulfill my resolutions, not just in the material, but also the spiritual.
There’s seriously a lot of thinking to be done recently, and I need to get it through.
All in all, I’m expecting 2012 to be very exciting – starting from this blog. I got the domain, and I’ll try this out for a year.
So till the next post, Derrick here signing off.
Let’s raise our glasses
Hello everybody!!
I know it’s been a long time!
But what to do, I’ve been busy and all, but I wouldn’t miss this for the world. I just bought DerrickWrites.com and I’m excited to launch it soon.
So in Early January, you’d be able to access a brand new Derrick Writes with (possibly) a new layout and all.
I fulfilled most of my resolutions for 2011 – at least those that mattered.
For 2012, I’ve set up these few, important resolutions:
- Lose a reasonable amount of weight through exercise and proper food intake. (I’m looking at 2 waist sizes down to start with.)
- Visit a country NOT within Asia, and do up a full travel post on it.
- Pick up a new interest to sustain my singing.
- Make more friends. By friends, I mean people whom I can find relating and sharing to easy, plus I can learn something new, or reinforce something I know already.
- At least 50 entries for the blog, i.e. once a week.
- Contribute to a social/artistic cause.
Other resolutions are personal and will not be mentioned.
Funny that I do not have a gadget resolution, because I have a travel resolution. But anyway, it’s 2AM and I went to do a recording of Already Gone (Kelly Clarkson) out of random with my guitar.
Won’t be posting it, because I think it isn’t good.
So before any of you start popping champagne, here’s my New Year greeting to you:
And of course, HAPPY BIRTHDAY YIJING!!!
There’s something about FAQs
Ever since I started corresponding to emails from derrick@derrickwrites.co.cc for my blog, I’ve received a lot of emails from people who pass by, found me on FaceBook or really met me in person and found the blog.
And more often than not, I get asked a lot of questions and some of these questions should form part of an FAQ in the blog, but I often dismiss the idea as I’m not a celebrity.
Until a friend told me to “just do it, because it’s not going to kill anybody”, and that I though that after a few years it’ll be interesting to review these questions and see if I’ve grown much the same way or away from the answers I give now. Thus I compiled a few of the questions worth the effort to publish.
So here it goes, the Unofficial 10-Question FAQ to Derrick Kam, affixed with honest answers:
1. Will you ever tire of A Cappella? Why?
I won’t because the voice is the only instrument I know that is easiest accessible to anyone, and is expressive and uplifting. There is something magical in hearing different people contributing to a smooth sound and producing those sick and wicked rhythms lines beneath that blend.
2. What keeps you motivated?
The thought that I’ve come so far in this point of time to give up what I’m doing now, and that everyday I should look towards something to learn, and be an active learner.
3. You do late nights a lot, what keeps you going with so little sleep?
Breakfast, then a heavy lunch. Haha..
4. What do you do for a living? What do you do?
I work as an administrative support personnel to The A Cappella Society, and I sing with Acappuccino, an awesome “neo-choral” vocal ensemble and Urban Harmony, a newly-formed team of singers doing music for children and the general public at large. I direct a few choirs as well, but my main focus is performance with my active a cappella groups at the moment.
I also work on arrangements for a few other a cappella groups and am part of a collaboration of youth music arrangers, all under the collaborative name InSignia MusicWorks. I hope to bring this branding to a professional level with them.
5. You seem to surround your life with music?!?!
In my free time, I play badminton, visit the gym, run around my neighbourhood in hopes of losing the extra pounds I put on since I ORD-ed. I watch shows regularly to unwind, from TV dramas to movies if I’m not chilling out with my friends over great food or at a drinking spot.
On days I really yearn for personal time, I read, write, laze around and unwind with some music in the background. Haha! I also do really random vlogging and occasionally take up my camera to improve on my photographic skills.
6. Are you a Christian? Do you follow a certain religious movement?
I am a baptized child of God and I’m going to convert you to my mega-church faith!
Nah, I’m kidding, but not all the way. I don’t let religion come in the way of the things I do, because it is a sensitive issue to me. Just to share, I don’t defend my church on issues that I personally do not agree with, but I’ll defend on its merits earned.
7. Which music artistes do you follow? Which music artistes inspire you?
I like the soulful jazzy sound of Ella Fitzgerald and the smoothness of Cole Porter’s standards.
I don’t have a short list, but off my head, I really enjoy Kelly Clarkson, P!nk (Alecia Moore), Rascal Flatts, and Coldplay.
I’m inspired by the music of Lady Gaga, The Script (Swedish musicians and lyricists have such beautiful minds), and some big-time musical theatre artistes, like Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel, Anthony Rapp, Aaron Tveit.
In musicals, I’m inspired by the music of Next To Normal and mostly Jason Brown’s Song for a New World.
8. What is your life’s biggest passion?
To travel, meet new people and find something to take away from, be it an anecdote or a lesson in life. Traveling really takes your mind off the weight of your mundane life back home. And finally, to teach.
9. Are you seeing anyone? Are you gay? Are you bisexual?
I’m not seeing anyone at all. I will not deny being bisexual, but I will set the record that I’m still a virgin, and I’m proud of it.
10. Why so angsty?
Why would you want to read fluff about me meeting people I’m not agreeable with and hang out together? Besides, if everything here is going to be so smooth sailing and agreeable with anyone, how interesting will that be? I’d be part of this huge percentage that are considered boring – not that it bothers anyone, but it matters to me that I’m true to myself when I write about things.
So, there you go!
Of dying young and of living till a ripe old age
I know right?!?!!?
I’ve been away for too long, and I’m finally blogging again.
I’ve not thanked the wonderful friends I have for this year’s birthday gifts, especially those who contributed cash to the iPad fund. The iPad is still nameless and shall remain as Derrick’s iPad for now, unless I see a cool name that people can relate it to.
And to those who were seriously insincere about the event and for the crap gifts – I was very obvious about it, and very direct. Face it, you won’t even want to receive such crap stuff on your birthday – why not just grow up and live life with better tastes in things than thongs and wilted pleasantries.
Why am I being so mean, you ask, I guess?
Well, maybe because I’m rather anal about gifts. Because I have friends who are anal about what they receive too. Some wants certain items, practical or ornamental – and I happen to be one who likes it to be practical.
And it is when I said it is. I don’t understand why people are so skeptical about contributing towards the iPad fund. I can turn around and say why I should contribute to a fund to buy you a thong. Or things like a condom package.
And these people are people who go, “OH MY GAWDDDD!!! It’s a thong!”
But I highly suspect they feel the same way, mostly would go, “Whut. Da. Fudge.”
Unless you’re a porn star, receiving sexy lingerie shouldn’t be a public affair between your close friends.
So I justified myself that with the $70 spent on the thong on someone, it is nothing wrong for a group of friends to contribute a token sum of cash for my iPad. In fact, I paid half of the amount when I purchased the iPad. Yay to me!
I have an e-book reader with a decent screen size, and I like certain functions of certain apps I have on the iPad, like the keyboard app, or a nice picture viewer for friends. Plus, I read some of my scores straight on the iPad and I can annotate my scores still.
Or when I like certain lines in the book I’m reading, I’d just underline it and bookmark it. Plus the e-book market is rather adequate. There are some titles in the free domain market that is really worth the time reading, and at times I do have people sharing soft copies of their books.
But anyway, enough about that.
I wanted to write about the value of life, not much of a philosophical thing, but how I felt about what I’ve witnessed since I returned from Hong Kong.
No… I’m not a Hong Kong citizen, I was there for a short holiday.
But anyway, I returned just in time to attend the wake of a friend’s sister. We weren’t vey close, but she was an awesome person in the light of her fight against issues that pounded within her. By pounding, I really meant the unbearable feeling you get as if someone is bugging you continuously.
At the funeral, I heard a lot of comments, things like “She died too young,” which really makes me question how much these people know her.
And of course those really subtle signs that reek of disapproval, because she “died too young”.
I know I’m not an easy person to please, but seriously… SHOW SOME RESPECT YO?
She died and that is it. How old she is didn’t matter, not especially since nobody asked for your two-cents’ worth. And how she died shouldn’t be the nagging issue as well, fancy hopping from bench to bench, and table to table, asking if ANYONE knew how she died.
I wasn’t thinking right, still recovering from my awesome trip and thus I snapped at the irritating I’ll-deserving old man. I said,
“Will it bother you if that was your own daughter and people are not the least concerned and asking around how she died?”
Before I continue on, she didn’t die peacefully to begin with, and thus I was really bothered by the people who were so out of line. And it’s always the older generation who thinks that they can get away by seniority to ask that insensitive question.
Like, SO WHAT YOU’RE 80 AND REACHING YOUR GOLDEN YEARS?
Guess what?
IT’S GONNA BE YOUR TURN SOON, MONSIEUR/MADAME BRITTLE-BONES!!
And, let me enjoy my peace and quiet while everybody else in the team is actually busy with the funeral matters, which doesn’t seem to be any easier than getting over what’s on my mind also.
Unless you’re an immortal like Nicholas Flamel, you should watch yourself more than being this insensitive prick. Just to reflect how he was I shall approach him the next time I see him and go, “So how will you go? When will you go also?”
You living till a ripe old age do not mean everybody does so as well.
