Bendemeer in Concert.

Let's talk about concert etiquette, manners and little kids.

I just came back from a concert. Bendemeer in Concert. To be precise. It was the third time that the concert was held at Victoria Concert Hall. The previous 2 times were at Singapore Conference Hall. According to my younger sister and friends, the concert was a sold-out. All 800 seats. Most of the tickets were sold to students of Bendemeer. Little kids. 13-16 years old. Gosh. These kids just cannot keep their big mouths shut. From the chime of the first bell to right before the concert, people were chattering loudly. In fact, the crowd was so out of control that Mr Samad, my band conductor had to put down his baton once to show his displeasure. I felt as if I was at Singapore Idol. Why? The moment Mr Samad came out, applauses, whistles, screams flooded the entire hall. "Mr Samad, I Love You!" Ahh... All these young kids. Seriously, I was shocked at how the Bendemeer students, who are not even band members are so infatuated with him. My little sister told me that after the concert, lots of kids starting crowding around him. For what, I am not sure. Probably to get his signature and sell it at the pasar malam. Sigh. Believe me, if you didn't realise, you probably would have thought that was Indoor Stadium. Especially towards the end. The screams for encore. And more screams from the kids, pledging their undying love for Mr Samad. But excuse me. That was Victoria Concert Hall. I was so appalled at the manner of the students... my juniors and their behavior that I felt embarrassed for them. Mentoes wrappers lying around. Programmes thrown about. Perhaps the school could provide some ettique classes for these kids. Then they will know the proper dress code required for the concert hall and how to shut their trap when needed. Whether it is Tokyo Kosei Wind Symphony or some secondary school band, I think it is still important to behave and dress appropriately.

I don't want you guys to misunderstand me. First of all, I enjoyed the concert. Very much. Seeing the little ones performing on stage brought back beautiful memories. Memories of a band who missed the gold by one point. A "chilli padi" sectional leader who demanded perfection. A conductor who left us. A conductor who joined us. A conductor who told us "A band is lost if I break my baton". A conductor who tore the scores into many tiny tiny pieces. Afternoon breaks spent at the swing with cup noodles and a drink at hand. A regular Saturday morning of band practice not complete without prata, milo, Shiyun, Ailing, Magdeline, Tianming, Guang Liang and Eugene. Band exchanges. Bad things we thought of doing to the St. Hilda band. And coincidentally, Shiyun and I would always argue whenever we go to Siglap for exchange. Don't ask me why. Band was and will always be an important part of my life. It was the only thing that kept me going during my 'O' Level years. I hated my class. I hated the scheming little rats in my class. And band was the only place where I sought consolence.

To update about my life. Still, I am dead beat. I have been kept busy by a mad rush of projects recently. Just Wednesday, I stayed in school till 10.30pm. Continuous 3 project meetings. Life is hell. And guess what? I am going to spend my Sunday in school. Yay! I am so happy that I have become a slave of SMU. Before long, I am going to become a true blue smoothie (smu-thie). *Beam with happiness* The day of a smoothie is spent in the library. Just today, I decided to be a loner and spend my afternoon in the library. Halfway through my readings, I fell asleep. For how long, I didn't know. All I know is that when I woke up, I saw 2 friends sitting opposite me, smiling at me. Scary. Shall stop my crap now. Sleep time.

Creepy Crawlies. Lousy Day.

Call me a bug buster. I seem to have a certain affinity with bugs and creepy crawlies. Eekksss! I don't know them but apparently they know me well or love me so much that they can't stop live without me. I just killed one humongous and I mean really huge FLYING cockroach! Disgusting big cockroach decided to fly to the top of the ceiling. Brave Huiling decided to, at the persuasion of my sisters take the bottle of insecticide and SPRAY, SPRAY, SPRAY. Heh. Sound brave right? Actually my mentality is spray and run. In case the cockroach decides to put up self-defence. I sprayed so much that I think I must have used up 1/4 of the bottle of insecticide. The result? I almost died of poisoning and yet the cockroach was still running about. Apparently, my aiming needs seriously practicing.

Oh. And this is just the mole of the mountain. Seems like on all occasions that I burn the midnight oil, some beetles will come flying in. The worse that ever happened to me was when I was studying for my 'A' Levels, a huge praying mantis came flying in and on top of my Economics notes. Yikes! Needless to say, I ran for my life... to bed. Locked my room in case the mantis came flying on top of me. Shudders. Mosquitoes love to bite me. My parents always tell me that that's because my blood is sweet. I came across some readings which said that that was merely a myth. So? It sucks. There are so many people at home and yet I am always the fateful victim of these vampires.

Okie. To update about my life. Today was a lousy day. Firstly, when I went for Management Accounting class, I realised that my calculator went out of battery. Sigh. Secondly, when I went for Analytical Skills class, my TA told me that she did not receive my homework for last week. Argh! What happened? Each assignment is worth a precious 2.5% of the total marks. My mind kept wandering to what could have happened. Did I place it in Prof John William's tray? Did I place it in the wrong office? Did I write the wrong class? I wasn't definite with my answer but I think I could have written the wrong class on my assignment. I am G2 not G1! What did I write? Thirdly, if my avid blog-ers have noticed, my mood is gone. Where is my cute little cartoon character?