First day of holiday and I arrived in school at 7:30am to practice. Bravo! Oh well of course, there was another reason why I was in school so early and that's for the Faculty Studies interview with Dr. Kan. It went alright, she asked me questions about school and stuff, and I got back my history results. Not impressive but that's because most of my work was done last minute. Oops. Oh well, we'll see if that changes next year.

Had a good workout this afternoon with some cycling. Haven't cycled in a long time and actually I haven't exercised in a long time either! Good to feel the legs working hard again. Hope to do much more regular exercise during the holidays.

Philwinds rehearsal was alright. I felt there was more focus during this rehearsal, the 2nd with Maestro Bostock. Well, at least I'm almost settled in with the weird meters in the Hiten trilogy. Feels really great to be comfortable. Now to make the best sound when playing in ensembles! Can't forget that!

Yay! Finally exams are over! Didn't go all perfectly but at least it went according to plan most of the time. Right now, time to focus on the philwinds stuff. Haven't really gotten them down cold yet. Yesterday's rehearsal with Maestro Bostock was really interesting. Lots of knowledge about the pieces coming from him and I felt that brought the ensemble's playing to the next level.

Also in my thoughts is what I didn't manage to do last year, and that's to record lots of etudes. Really want to make that happen this time. I also need to start practicing the Sachse Concertino, Bozza's Prelude and Allegro, Sarabande from Bach's Cello Suite No. 5 and lots of excerpts. I also want to start working on multiple tonguing and really work on low range too. Really need to have full control of my low range. I also should plan intensive aural practice as well. Oh well, lots of things on my plate for December. No time to waste!

Seems like a really long time since I posted but 5 days isn't so bad. Audition just now went well I can safely say. Botched a few articulations but oh well, no biggie for me. Now just the exam on Monday to take care of. Also really need to own the philwinds parts. Gonna work it out when I wake up. Maestro Bostock is coming for rehearsal later so yup, gotta have the parts down cold.

I really don't know why I seem to be sleepy during dinner time recently. Even though I got enough sleep for the past 2 nights, I become sleepy during dinner time. It gets annoying when I want to practice at night but I can't because I'm just too tired and unfocused. Really hope it's just my body recovering from sleep debt and not something bad. But anyway, right now I'm keeping myself awake to adjust my body clock a bit to fit the many night rehearsals I'm gonna have over the next few weeks. Can't afford to be sleepy during rehearsals. Oh well that's all for now, bye!

Philwinds yesterday was really not good. Totally not in shape and I couldn't sustain or play loud and not in control of my playing. Well at least today it was better. But still my Naulais etude is completely not performable and my minor scales are not still not down. Gotta get those down quickly and I also need to prepare the 1st movement of Sachse and the excerpts from Beethoven 9 and Hungarian March for my audition on Saturday. Lots of ground to cover this week. All uphill for me. Oh well, that's all for today. Really hoping for better days....

Well, yesterday's visit to the doctor didn't yield good result. I'm advised not to play for 4 days. Apparently the doctor says my lungs and windpipe are under stress. 4 days without playing! That's a lot...

So today is the 2nd day of my layoff. Just came back from school after submitting my theory portfolio. Managed to finish the history assignment before I left in the morning. No more academic work to worry about for now. Now just need to get well quick and while I can't play, I should do some slide practice and revise my theory since there's a written paper. Once I can get back to playing, I really need to catch up on minor scales. No time to waste now...

Argh, still haven't recovered. Only the Panadol making me feel better for a few hours at a time. Well, at least it allowed me to attend a great concert by the Ma'alot Quintett yesterday. Repertoire was nice, fantastic players and good ensemble work = good concert! Oh well, now I've got to get some more rest and I'm gonna see the doc tomorrow morning. Get some work done in the afternoon and hopefully I get back to playing by Tuesday. I really need to actually because I still haven't mastered my minor scales!!

Oops, left my blog alone for quite some time already. Last day of lessons has past and the one week study break is coming up. Exams in 10 days time! No time to enjoy yet...

Wednesday's platform for me was mostly good, couple of memory lapses, a few split notes but otherwise I did play according to plan! I sincerely thank my accompanist, Xuan, for the hard work she put in to make this performance successful!

I just had a small scare of illness yesterday. Felt like a hangover but I haven't drunk alcohol for at least a month! Oh well, some panadol and lots of bed rest have put me back into shape this morning and I'm feeling almost back to normal, just the mildest of headaches and weird feelings in my throat. Oh well, that means back to practice today! Haha

Have been waking up to lazy weekend mornings recently. Don't really feel as spirited as before. I do need some positive energy going through me!! Well, gonna do some practice before heading out for philwinds later. Really hope that it'll be a good rehearsal. But it all starts with me so..gotta practice my part! Count count count....

Woo, didn't expect today to be long but it was. Somehow today was kind of do-things-I-haven't-done-in-a-long-time-and-feeling-good-about-it day. I did some Teele exercises and it really refreshed my pedal register. I also ate the Buona Vista duck rice with my dad which I haven't eaten in a long time and that was great too.

I actually got a bit lost in the Tiong Bahru estate while trying to find my way to Tiong Bahru MRT from Kim Seng Community Club. So I was walking around the old HDBs in the area and it was a really interesting experience because I've not seen such old HDBs in my life or at least in my memory. Really interesting. Well getting lost and climbing lots of stairs around the neighbourhood really tired me out so I guess I'll end here. Bye!