What a day. It has been weary. I woke up to find out that my junior, schoolmate, student and friend, Raushan, passed away due to a heart failure. Ever since the passing of my grandfather many years ago and when I was too young and probably too distant from him to feel any mournful feelings, Raushan has been the closest person to me that has passed and for a moment I felt really weak when I read the news. I hope he will be in peace and all his loved ones will have the strength to carry on and celebrate the life of a bright boy.

How apt that after reading that news I was told my aunt is in hospital recovering from heart surgery. So, I traveled to SGH to visit her and she's doing fine by the looks of it but just dreary. After which my mom decided to go to Vivo City. How nice eh? I carried my trombone around while she shops. So after spending a few hours there and 2 servings of food (wouldn't call them meals), I finally left for philwinds rehearsal. I was really looking forward to going back after being absent for 2 weeks due to orchestra commitments and exams. There was a moment in rehearsal that really struck me and that's when someone told me to have character in my playing, not be too classical when playing solos in a pop piece (which I have to for one of the songs). It really struck me. I could interpret it in a raw sense and say he's saying that classical music has no or little character but I decided he meant something else and it's just stereotype. It made me think what I should really do as a musician. I've always loved the orchestra environment; the wide palette of colours from the wide variety of instruments, the masterpieces from the master composers, the big sense of ownership of the part and the section and orchestra sound. The orchestra really gets me going and I have been trying really hard to mould myself into being proficient in that setting. But as musicians sometimes we don't get to choose where or what we play in because in the end, we still need to make a living. Maybe I should pin up a note to myself and be really adaptable and most importantly, to find my voice in everything I play. Goodnight world