Just a simple message to all, in this festive season before we say goodbye to Year 2008, Merry Christmas!! =]

That's all for today... =]

Not long ago, I suffered from some injury while performing some running. It was a pretty bad injury as I twisted my right ankle while performing an action. The right ankle just gave way to my weight and “crack~!!” was the sound that made my body went jelly straight away. The pain was felt from my ankle to my tibialis anterior, and by the time I was able to manage the pain, I realized that I could not walk properly anymore. Bearing the pain all the way to perform my sports, it was really a tough time as I tested my endurance towards the pain. By the end of the day, my ankle was swollen and I had to visit the Chinese practitioner to do something with my ankle.

When I visit the practitioner the next day, the first comment he gave me make me laugh at myself for a few seconds. The following is how the conversation goes.

Practitioner: Hi, so you are Wei De (伟德) is it? So what is the problem?

Me: Hi, I actually sprained my ankle last night while running and it hurt from my ankle area to my tibialis.

Practitioner: Oh… Base on your records, you have sprained your ankle before. Which ankle had you sprained?

Me: Er… Well, it’s the right ankle.

Practitioner: Hmm… It’s been 2 years since you came back. It seems like both cases are related to your ankles. You remember the last injury is which ankle?

Me: Yeah, the left one…

Practitioner: Yes! 2 years ago, it was the left. Today, it is the right. You really want to make both ankles to be balanced, with both injured?!

Me: Haha! (Laugh…)

Well, and that is how the entire treatment starts to begin. Asking me a few questions, he will make a sudden movement to my ankle, cracking it without my acknowledgement. Shocked but to be honest, it is good that I don’t scream like the previous time where I caused a lady outside the treatment room to hear my screams and end up crying as she’s a first timer to this practice. Haha… Well, at least I was much braver than before.

Now, my ankle is much better. Recovered but still, you get to feel that it is very loose and it might snap again at anytime if I make a stupid movement. Well, that is the hazards of sports but I guess, I must take note of my actions for not doing too impulsive movements that may result to another injury again. Relax… That’s what I need to tell myself, whether I attempted to tackle someone during soccer the next time.

(Updated on 6 April 2009)

Considered as my so-called last performance in the Voice Ensemble’s annual concert, it gives me a mixture of feelings at the end of the day. To be happy or sad, all what matters most is that I have achieved a lot for the past 3 years in this club. Think back to the concert, known as the Voice Ensemble ‘Musique’ Voyage Concert, this group has put in a lot of effort to learn the pieces despite of the limitations that we had encountered with time and manpower.

Time; is always a problem in the club. No matter how much time, ample or not, we will still end up falling behind in memorizing the music pieces. This problem is partly due to the lack of commitments by many members, not because their lack of interest but caused by the piled up of homework and projects. This end up to the next factor; manpower; which caused less people to turn up, resulting to the unequal quality of sound from various sections. Moreover, learning becomes a handicap for various poor sections as they did not have full attendance. Such problems are hard to solve but it is up to the group of new leaders to come out with new solutions to solve these issues in the club.

Back to the topic, it was a joint production of Nanyang Polytechnic Voice Ensemble and Sonaphilic for this concert to take place. As a member of NYPVE, it was only approximately a month before we work with Sonaphilic for some of the music pieces. I know Kah Hong, Shuai Xun, Ben and Xiu Hui were in it but overall, the rest of the crew was new to me.

First half of the concert was smooth but of course, there are some worrying parts for various sections as its either we can’t hit the right notes or we will lose our position to enter the queue of the music. While the rest were having their rest during the interval, members from the Sonaphilic begin to start preparing for their turn as they get to perform once the interval ends. During their performance, I felt that they sang wonderfully. There is slight dynamics involved but was not strong enough. It’s probably due to the small group that softness and loudness is a major problem to project their voices to the crowd.

Once they were done, it was the gals turn; NYPVE. A nice Japanese song, which was previously the most difficult piece for them, still proceeds smoothly to the audience. The rest followed up to sing with the gals at the later part of the concert before the finale begins. Pictures and hugs were all over as everyone thank each other for what they had done. Everyone was having an enjoyable time as we had made it at the end of the day, in regardless how messy preparations could be.

At the end of the day, it’s not just understanding and learning the right techniques of singing and the various types of music from different periods, I also get to meet a lot of new friends, who shares the same interest as mine and become the ones that I could put my trust on. For the final 3 years in V.E., is this the best way to end? Well, the Alumni is coming and guess what, its gonna be the Alumni batch of the previous committee members. Haha…

Alumni = Alum-9

Why? That’s because there’s 9 people in the group. Now that is what I called, rhymes… =]

It has been exactly a month since I last posted an entry in my blog. You can bet that I’m pretty lazy to update it but think back again, as a blogger, I should tend to write something each time, to express my thoughts on various issues, not just for any reader whom visits my blog but use it as a reference for myself as I read back my past.

Some has wondered, where have I been to for the past month, causing me to have no time to post a short entry? Well, believe it or not, I was being piled up with various projects during that month while managing my last semester in school. With my hectic schedules and commitments, I have little time to do other stuff that I wish to do, such as sports, rest and socialize with people.

Talking about projects, maybe I should say a little about the projects that I was handling the past few weeks. There were 4 individual projects and 1 group project, which was way enough to kill us all. I was feeling alright with the individual projects except for Human Behaviour and Health & Wellness Management. These 2 modules are sure a killer as I was not sure about the terms of the module theories. Worst of all, I have less than 2 days to complete all the projects as I was having some mood swings in having the momentum to complete them. Once individual projects are completed, group project was next. The deadline was also terrible, with 3 days for completion. With the help from my saviour, Wan Ting, everything was finally completed, with an average report and presentation slides.

Straight after the last project’s presentation, I was searching for a break to ease the stress within me and perfectly, my Mum has placed a vacation, though it was just only 2 days, at Malacca. I was sleeping more than visiting the areas in Malacca during the first day, probably due to my tiredness for not having a good rest for the past week. The second day was much better but yet still tired, thanks to my wonderful cousin who said ‘Let’s enjoy the 2 days trip to the fullest,’ and that’s it, I was dead time when I was home. However, I realized that shopping therapy does works for me, to ease my stress. I got some formal wears that I could wear them in future, such as presentations or weddings. Cool!!

Once back to Singapore, another 2 days of break from studies and I am back to serious work, planning all the necessary stuff for projects that are due when school reopens. Other than that, my vocal break did not start at all. Concert is due this week and I’m still struggling with my notes for some music. Like it or not, I will need to pull through this concert with full faith, for myself as well as the rest.

What is going to happen in the next few days, I guess I can start blogging when I am free and perhaps, faster complete my assignments, as I will be busy next week. Christmas is around the corner and I have volunteer to help Kenny in preparing his room for his new baby, coming soon in March. Haha…

Alright, later there’s rehearsal for concert. Guess, I need to prepare now. More to update for this week. Hope I can get pictures to fill up my dead blog. By the way, for those soccer dudes whom I played with frequently, sorry for the past month for not playing soccer but I’m injured with a sprained ankle and I cant run. Now, I’m training back my fitness so don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.

Cheers guys, happy holidays!! =]