| how well did we tata? part 2

It was a great choice for Saturday to be the resting day with no practices. Though the cantata was at the door, I believe the CF'ers needed a break to do some shopping, take the kids out to the park, sort out their lives.. you know, the usual. heh~ Me? I followed my dad and bro go jalan-jalan to do what they wanted to do - just obliviously tagging along.

a quick mc oreo flurry does wonders

I guess many already know, that particular Saturday was a special day to somebody. Vijay's getting married!! It's Vijay's birthday!! He's finally 21 years-old and now holds the key to his virginity.. Mann, that was jaded. Jokes aside. He can now be taken seriously as a man- I mean he can taken seriously before too but now he can be taken more seriously.. yea, something like that.

almost the entire CF people came!

the wise goes straight for the mutton

That Saturday night, VJ invited the entire CF to his birthday party. Those who were doing their industrial training were sent special invitations too. Though I came late, the food was still plentiful and I waste little time and dove straight into the goodness of fat-curried-mutton. GerX noted that the whole scene looks more like a kenduri for some newly wed or something like that *koff*. The whole row of houses came alive that night.

im the victim.. *sad*

Blessed Birthday VJ. May your path in life be clear and God-directed and may He shine on you always; now and forever. Continue to bring joy to those around you and may you and Stef treat your slave better. heh~

oh, what a beautiful morning.. *sigh*

Sunday came fast and something rather funny happened to me. I slept the previous night around 3am+ and for some weird reason, as I was setting my alarm clock to wake up for chinese service, I kept thinking that the van will arrive at EP at 7am. Thus, I set my alarm clock to ring at 6am. I awoke, washed up and sped there reaching EP at 7am sharp only to find an empty and very, very quiet SFC. Called Jason Leong up. He sounded groggy. "The van will be at EP at 7.45am" he said.

Bummer.

At church, Jason told us to play our best as our practice last Friday midnight was rather unenergetic, and he doesn't blame us either. It felt rather funny when he asked me to crank up my rock mode. I'm not used to having Jason tell me to pump my volume up. heh~ It was a good Sunday service. Played a few good carols and had a good worship too. Soon, church was over and work set in. Picked up the Clavi from CCC, brought it to Pahlawan Mall, set up and waited for our slot to begin.

sorry, didn't take any pics of the cantata
i was busy playing my instrument.. heh~

Aiai, Elvi and Elys posted good pictures of the Cantata, do check it out ya?

PG165 did a great opening with Mercy Me songs. The music was loud and great but perhaps too loud for the older people there. You should've seen the look on my mom's face - priceless. A few the Wing's Graduation Ceremony for special kids and donation to the needy it was time for MMUCF to come up the stage to throw their best and bless the city.

-insert great pictures of CFers singing, dancing and playing-

The narrator spoke his best, the conductor electrified his best, the choir sang their most in-tune'est and the band played their loudest.. and best. Alas, for the band we did a few mistakes here and there, hitting the wrong note and chord. Juju did a really, awesomely funny mix-up but was covered up very well, I guess we played pretty tight together as a band. It was great to serve with you guys once again.

Deric makes a short come-back! w00t korean hunk!!

PG165 came up after us and played another few numbers. It was really great, their volume were better balanced and their songs were greeted well by the crowd. It was pretty cool and majorly funny to see Justin rap. Couldn't understand half of what he was rapping other than '..prince of peace!' in the last line. ahaks~ Their showmanship's getting better gig after gig. Jason jumped off the chair, kicked the amps and smashed his guitar! and did the cha-cha. He-wanna-do-a-da-cha-cha.

the lius/liews!! too bad billy wasn't around

pastor releasing the news

It wasn't over yet for us. Pastor Joanne said she wanted to see everyone. As everyone assembled she told us that we're gonna go to Hotel Puri at Jonker Walk to do some good ol' caroling. We took plentiful of pictures, packed our equipments and got ready to move our butts to Hotel Puri, Jonker Walk. Aloha Pei greeted us and thanked us for coming to bless the visitors and people in the hotel. The SATBs sounded better here than while we were practicing as I could clearly hear all their parts. I guess no matter how good a sound system is, nothing beats the acoustic sound of vocal chords vibrating in the voice box.

blessing the Calanthe Art Cafe peeps

sing sing sing sing noel~

Later we walked to Calanthe and sang there too. It was really great to see people coming from the top floor window, clapping and sing along to the familiar tunes. The SATBs were quite funny as they slowly sang in a lower key and by the end of the song, the tune they were singing was lower then the original starting key. Lucius also lead them to sing a few of the songs pretty fast too. Speed carols mann! hehe~

good bye Pahlawan Mall.. for now

In the end of it all, I guess we did our best to bless this wonderful city of Melaka. Hopefully with what little we did, we touched someone's heart out there and may he/she come to know the Lord. Truly the reason for Christmas is Christ Jesus our King. In all we sing, in all the instruments we play, may we always serve Him. Great job peeps. God bless~

p.s. really wish you were there my dear friend.

| how well did we tata? part 1

Quite a lot happened within the past 3 days and I have a lot to write about. Yay? First off, I'd like to congratulate all those who were in one way or another involved in the cantata event for the really great performance that I believe served its purpose well; to bless the city of Melaka. Great job everyone.

twinzies with the wrong twins

Now, back track 2 days ago. Friday was a seriously wild day for me. Wild as in a semi-positive wild kinda wild, ya know? Remember Ee Jin? My good ol' buddy from NS? Yea, him. He invited me to play some badminton with him and his pals. He gave me an offer I can't refuse. So on Friday, 4pm we headed to the badminton hall along Jelutong. With no warm-up, I smashed my way through a series of matches. How little I know of the consequences that I shall face.

after some close observation,
jingles and joash DO have a lot in common

this baby is on my Christmas Wish-list

Later that evening, after attending baby Aidan's 1-year-old birthday party I headed for practice at Pahlawan Mall for the first time. Sadly, this was the first time I've ever stepped into this building. For a Malakan, that's quite sad but alas, priorities ate up much of my time. There were these dudes from Big Event that's handling the P.A. and sound systems and it seems they provided all of us with amps - a damn good one too. That Fender Amp is definitely on my wish-list. No monnie, no lurve.

juju and the snowman

deric's keyboard ran away with shih wen

satb's on the stage

shout-out to Justyne for helping me take those pics

nicely arranged stage

we are called, 'The Band'

We came and waste little time in setting up our equipment. It's 10pm, customers are ushered out of the complex and we have only less than 2 hours to practice. Lucius made some changes in the positioning of the SATBs, sopranos are on the lower stage, while altos are sandwiched between tenors and bass'. No, not the fish. Sound check wasn't really that good. There was much lacking and loads to rant about. With our amps all miked in, the sound coming out of the main wasn't up to expectation and the quality had the band wishing for SKH to jump in, but alas, we figured we'd give the Big Event people a chance to sort it out.

beautiful wife of mine

PG165 going through their songs

prayer is a necessity in every Christian's life

i have no clue as to what lucius is trying to imply.. hmmm~

We ran through only a few songs then it was time for us to hand the stage over to PG165 to do their own practice and sound-check. We got to catch a sneak peak of the songs they're gonna play the coming Sunday. All carols but different in style. They're also gonna play 2 or 3 songs from Mercy Me's Christmas Sessions. Mercy Me rocks my stereotypical idea of Christmas carol. Cool stuff.

the latest practice ever recorded in CCC history

Though we were done in Pahlawan Mall around after 1am in the morning. A few of us had to stay back in CCC to practice for the coming Sunday's chinese and english services. By then, most of us were dead tired but Jason Leong did quite a good job in giving us some laughs. Never have I hear him asking me to play LOUDER and more ROCK as he wanted this Sunday's service to be more RADICAL.

Wait.. That's not Jason! Where's the real Jason you impostor. ahaks~

There were some good laughs but alas, even before the end of the practice, most of us were out of energy and in walking-slumber mode. Soly and Andrea was sleeping most of the time. Can't blame them though. I too couldn't play with all my heart as I couldn't concentrate that night. Sorry Jason. Crazy day huh?

even Jo-L was battered

| time to ta ta the can

Okay. The time now is 3.12am. I'm required to arise from my not-so-deep slumber at 6pm; which is less than 3 hours away, pack my stuff up, get ready and meet up at EP before 7am. Play for CCC's chinese service and english service. Get some chow, take a bath and get ready to go to Dataran Pahlawan, Melaka's new mini-megamall by 3pm.

Honestly, I have no clue (or maybe I do but I've just forgotten) as to why we're going there so early but I believe it has something to do with sound-check, etc. By 7pm+ we'll be ready to put the 'tata' in Cantata.. heh~ Lame huh? Oh well, do come ya at 7pm+ in the concourse near where the fountain/monument thingie is located. God bless.

| can ta ta or cannot ta ta?

Take heed o ye MMU students whom traverses through Mosque Square. There lurks a hungry beast whom, if thou heed not my words of warning, thou shalt be swept by the claws of Cyber-P students and shalt perish in their belly. These glowing-red-eyed monstrosities are hungry for naive Alpha students, capturing all with no distinction of friends and family, all shall be taken. If thou fear for their life, support them and buy their stuffs less thou see not the next Tuesday CF. heh~

GerX's and Jess' booth, C3 or CCC. pastor should have it copyrighted..
all profits given to charity!!

Renee's and Shih Wen's booth called.. uh.. forgot liao~
fries with yummy sauce! cheeeeeese~!!

Enough of promotion liao k? I remember seeing ZX for awhile in Mosque Square saying he has a booth and stuff but then he disappeared. Oh well..

looking like his older bro while going solo

its a season to be jolly high.. a good high - drugs bad~

Wednesday night was the FINAL practice but yet, many people didn't turned up. Didn't practice with full band either. Seong had to work over-time while Elaine used the keyboard so Shih Wen's hands are empty too. No use of a bass without the drums so Julian didn't play and there's no use of an axe without the drums and bass, so I messed around for awhile but realize I wasn't really contributing a lot, so packed up my equipment. All that's left is J.T. on the piano and Jo-L going acoustic.

singers' spirits were standing tall..

..while the conductor was short.. hahahah~ jahat~

I wonder if we're truly ready for the cantata this Sunday. We're gonna rehearse in the venue itself on Thursday and Friday night and yet, earlier last night there seemed to be a lot that needs to be brushed up. Even for us musicians, there are couple of songs where we really need to play tighter.. so, yea.. wonder if we're ready. Honestly, no feelings of nervousness but more of excitement. Hehe~ It's gonna be fun. Gonna play my best for Christ. Went home to grab supper with parents; black coffee and Cheesy Chachos'.

supper with the Liu's

Mercy Me
Drummer Boy

come they told me
pa rum pum pum pum
a newborn King to see
pa rum pum pum pum
our finest gifts we bring
pa rum pum pum pum
to lay before the King
pa rum pum pum pum
rum pum pum pum
rum pum pum pum
so to honor Him
pa rum pum pum pum
when we come

little Baby
pa rum pum pum pum
i am a poor boy too
pa rum pum pum pum
i have no gift to bring
pa rum pum pum pum
that's fit to give the King
pa rum pum pum pum
rum pum pum pum
rum pum pum pum
shall I play for You?
pa rum pum pum pum
on my drum

shall I play for You?
shall I play for You?
Mary looked at me and nodded
the ox and lamb kept time
oh I played my drum for Him
oh I played my best for Christ

then He smiled at me

God bless~

| cantata practice and a real good break

Last Wednesday we musicians of NOCIV and the upcoming Bless The City event cantata. Hehe~ Kinda miss the feeling of practicing together along with the pressure of getting it right before the event itself. Coming together once again to practice brings back fun memories. Wonder what the rest are doing back at YAC though. My guess; lined up, singing their SATB parts along with their solos while teasing Jess and Jingles with their solos too. heh~

band-leader and the only one who doesn't look tired

humble acoustic guitarist

maestro o-zee piano

corner-stone doing his thing

and finally, the slacker

Practice's always tiring but this one's slightly different. I dunno about the rest of the world and all, but I feel very stretched this semester. So much so the only free time I have is when I come home after midnight. Guess I was asking for it anyway. Such a busy semester with so many things to do and fun responsibilities to take. Yay~

54ndw1ch n 1c3 cr34m p4r7y! w00t!

justyne had a crash-course on the violin..
no one died~

Thank God though for CG on Thursday. It was a great break for me to chill at the Paddlepop's crib and do nothing but eat and talk. Also, it was the first time I've played a Cluedo game that ended in less than 5 minutes. I think Justyne broke the world record for that. heh~ Thanks for all the fun dudes. Nites~

| the katana.. or is it cantana?

Bless The City Cantata Team

Busy semester indeed. Nothing like a short semester nearing the end of the world year. The Bless the City (BC) event is just several weeks away and just recently, we have our first practice where the choir listened to the list of songs that were prepared by our bosses, Lucius and Mark. We as musicians however, face a bigger challenge of getting those 22 songs right. Yea, 22 songs babeh~

noticed the halo?

On Wednesday night the whole BC team came together as further details were shared including who's gonna be in the soprano (no, not the mafia), alto, tenor, and bass (together as SATB). Also, the songs were revealed to the choir and most of them, especially those who are gonna sing solo, were pleasantly surprised. Pleasant is the word. heh~

misguided bunch of peeps~

Reminiscing NOC practice days, the choir were given the individual SATB notes and were told by the slavedrivers to sing in harmony (the flogging helped a bunch). In their SATB groups, they were given their groups notes on the song, The First Noel. It was fun to hear them sing though there were a few who ran out of *koff* tune.

We the musicians didn't really do much that night. In fact, I think we did nothing at all, Jia Tsing came to the rescue when the CD player failed on Lucius - its death was quick and painful. Seong messed around giving some of the groups the beat and occasionally, gradually played faster and faster. Notty boii.. heh~ Can't wait to practice together with the NOCIV band once again.

Tze Seong

That's all for now. Good nite peeps~