Fulfilling Forgotten Fanfare
Into Queenstown & Beyond
I made my way to Katong Shopping Centre (K.S.C) during the mid-day lesson-break today..
Went there by myself yep; cos' most of my class had dispersed already after lecture while i waited for lecturer to be free for a word or two.
At K.S.C, I dropped-off 3 books for photo-copying. Yep, I'm too lazy(and stingy) to want to find out if stores stock these precious tomes I reckon will be useful for my visual-communication-theories report. (they should help me generate at least half, if not 1/3 of tt 2000word report by end of this Sem) "2000-words" may seem like any regular varsity essay benchmark; but I beg to differ when this report is meant to support my Design Practice module i.e. e practical aspect, major Design-project for e Diploma Grad-show.
While the burden of an unresolved(more like unconceived!) idea lay heavy on my mind, I decided to follow my gut and headed for the mini food-court in the basement-level. I was grumbling to myself(think irritated Mr.Bean) about how the different dishes being hawked didn't appeal to my picky(unusual, but apparently so on this ocassion) tastebuds... Then I remembered there were more food stalls outside this air-con food-court. I stepped out into the al fresco dining area and found a stall bearing a signboard with tempting food-photos; enlarged so that one's tongue would involuntarily salivate while his eyes and brain were at odds as to which dish deserved more attention drooling over.
Partly out of curiousity and chance, I chose Curry Chicken Noodle.
Fantastic. Spicy. Shiok!
Borrowing from The Sims2 game-jargon, I would say that having that wide bowl of Curry Noodles raised my Aspirations Meter by a few levels; boosting my Culinary Experience Points(not sure if there is such a thing in e game :p) by the thousands and leveling-up my Sim in the process!
After I gobbled up the noodles, I even ordered an extra bowl of rice to further savour the remaining curry with. That was how yummy it was! The stall-helper even handed me a few serviettes when he noticed me perspiring from the flavourful potent dish!
This is one of those days when a nice meal makes me delightfully-fulfilled for the day
*burp* Oops! :-D :-D :-D
******
Another childhood love
******
Back in school, I was scheduled to meet up with Mr. NH -- whom I had ordered a band-music album from. He owns and runs Light Music People, a local distributor of imported band-music under the European-based "Hafabra" and "Jive Music" collections. I was referred to him by another local band-music importer/retailer called Classical Music Collections (CMC).
The 2CD album was hand-delivered to me at my school's carpark where Mr. NH had driven to. I was pleasantly surprised that the 2CD album cost only S$23 because it was a promotional release in celebration of Hafabra Music's 10th anniversary! (^^)
You can find that special album "Decennium" here: Hafabra Music Catalogue. The album is listed as Vol.14 in the Catalogue. When you preview each album and select a song, a MP3 soundbite is provided for sampling!
If you'd like to listen, here are two of my favourites from Decennium Disc2:
Romantic Ceremonial
Take A Walk
Mr.NH's friendly disposition and unhurried gestures prompted me to initiate more conversation; for I felt that it was only polite to do so since he's taken the trouble to come all the way. He told me he had a home delivery to make somewhere nearby and so, could conveniently drop by LaSalleSIA along the way. Also, he has been to LaSalleSIA before; with his Singapore Wind Symphony(SWS) band-mates. (Probably to conduct music workshops I thought) He's not playing with the SWS already but earns his keep mainly by teaching clarinet in several schools and looking after his band-music business. Eventually, when I told him about my band-music background, I found out that he knows my conductors(Mr.&Mrs.Chua) from AHBand too! (Both Mr.&Mrs.Chua used to play with the SWS too) In fact, He was going to travel with MrsChua to Bangkok the following day & conduct a University band there!
Ah, I can still remember her firm but expressive style of conducting in those days when I was sitting in the second row of the Woodwind section with my Tsx in hand. Under the husband&wife conducting-duo, I received one of the best band-music education due to their two distinct styles of conducting. Mrs Chua's had more restraint but always managed to draw out the deepest emotions; coaxing a moving, lyrical sound from our band. Mr Chua's demanded more free-flowing expression, preferring us to sound outwardly-confident and flexible.
Before we parted, I thanked Mr.NH and asked him to give Mrs.Chua my well-wishes. He reminded me that she has a good memory and would probably recall her old student(graduated 6yrs+ ago now!). And so the music goes on~!
After the telephone-men got too old to climb
