Eating & Swimming with The Changed Man, Showcase @ The Esplanade Waterfront Event, Night at The Clinic Event, Vivace! 09 Concert Auditions Event

Eating & Swimming With The Changed Man: I was called out last Saturday morning to join The Changed Man for lunch and a swim so he drove both of us to Adam Road to try out the famous Nasi Lemak stall but the queue was so long that we decided to try prawn noodles instead. After about 10 minutes of queuing, we got ourselves two of the following prawn noodles. It's my first time trying and I must say the prawn soup was delicious and the prawns were fresh but there was little else to vary the taste and the fish cake and bean sprouts were totally overwhelmed by the prawn soup base. Still, I was grateful for the lunch and washed it down with sugar cane drinks and chatter with The Changed Man about his recent adventures in scuba-diving and his upcoming attendance of the Stehanie Sun concert that very evening.

After lunch, we ventured to the Jurong East Swimming Complex because The Changed Man has never set foot in it and he was complimenting how serene the environment around the Olympic pool was and we made a number of laps inside before we hopped over to the Wave Pool so he could try bobbing in the artificial waves and rain. The crowd was sparse due to the H1N1 flu scare so we had very little problems with overcrowding there.

The day ended at the nearby IMM where we had some desserts at the Hongkong Cafe before he had to rush home to prepare to attend the concert. I went home to have a shower and a nap.


Event: Showcase @ The Esplanade Waterfront Facebook is useful in a way because I get invited to all sorts of music-related events and this one features Kewei, Kexin and a number of local singers whom I would like to spend a Sunday evening to listen to. I would be rushing down from another appointment this coming Sunday but given the programme and the reputed consistent good singing from these singers, I think the effort will be worthwhile. Hopefully, I can get some good seats and take a few photos to upload here as momentos too! ^__^

Event: Night At The Clinic Amusing poster, right? I thought it was pretty cool for them to modify it into a thematic poster for this music event, featuring one of our prominent music teachers in Singapore, Mr Peter Tan and his cadre of students who will be performing on 8 August from 9pm. I am really keen on going but I will have to figure out a way to see if I can reschedule appointments for that Saturday because it is the National Day weekend so there could be clash with other plans as well.

Event: Vivace! 09 Concert Auditions @ Music Dreamer Cafe @ Marina Square I am not exactly a participant for this event because only those from 18 to 25 can participate in the closed-door auditions to compete for placings to perform for a charity concert, but I would like to go and have a look to see who are the talented brave and charitable ones who will attempt this event organized by Gefang Academy (whose director of music is Huang Zhiyang - Campus Superstar Season 1 Male Champion). The poster looks very well-made and I hope to give some good blog coverage of this interesting event for my readers too.


Blog Modifications & Updates:

There are some changes or updates on this humble blog of mine for the information of my readers.

1) New Blog Feature - I have signed up for Plurk and thus this is a new platform to keep my blog readers updated on my shorter thoughts and doings whenever I am online but not really drafting full blog posts. I am still trying to get used to this new form of communication and I hope I can do a good job of telling how things are going in a shorter and more convenient form. I will of course still continue with my usual blog posts as regularly as I can.

2) Blog Roll Changes
- Jiamin (blogger) has decided to stop updating. It's not known if she would continue blogging as she did not say when.
- Shawn Tok (CSS 2)'s website went dead without any explanation.
- Keely (CSS 2) has not been updating her blog since mid-June 2009.
- Natasha (blogger) is temporarily stopping blogging activities for a month.
- Elaine Ng (CSS 2) blog url is updated
- Xing Yu (entertainment news blogger) blog url is updated
- Aijia Cai (blogger) is added to blog roll
- Shelly Chua (CSS 3) blog url is updated

3) Blog Music Player Changes

I have decided to try something different from contemporary Mandarin pop songs for a change so that my blog readers who are unfamiliar with this new genre of music can experience the beauty and passion of Flamenco Music.

What is Flamenco? Below is a short write up taken from wikipedia:

Flamenco is a Spanish musical genre with origins in Andalusia and a term that refers both to a musical genre, known for its intricate rapid passages, and a dance genre characterized by its audible footwork. The origins of the term are unclear. The word Flamenco, which applies to the song, the dance and the guitar, did not come into use until the 19th century.

Flamenco embodies a complex musical and cultural tradition. Although considered part of the culture of Spain, flamenco actually originates from one of Spain's regions: Andalusia. However, other areas, mainly Extremadura and Murcia, have contributed to the development of several flamenco musical forms, and a great number of renowned flamenco artists have been born in other territories of the country. It is generally acknowledged that flamenco grew out of the unique interplay of native Arabic, Andalusian, Sephardic, and Gypsy cultures that existed in Andalusia prior to and after the Reconquest. Latin American and especially Cuban influences have also been important in shaping the rumba flamenco form. Flamenco is the music of the gypsies and played in their social community. Andalusian people who grew up around gypsies and the life were also accepted as "flamencos" (Paco de Lucía).

That's it for this blog post. Will update again as soon as I can. Time to enjoy my Saturday off day! ^__^