I miss Singing

Haven't used them vocal cords in ages, a huge contrast from a year and a half ago, when my entire weekends were actually filled with choir practices.

Occurred to me today that I haven't actually sung any song at all in a long long time. It's not really that I have no song to sing, but no occasion to. In church, I'm stuck at the organ every time I'm there and there's definitely no room for multitasking on that monster. At home, I don't really want she-who-must-not-be-named to hear me.

Miss the good old times back home when we would always burst into song. Someone would start humming a tune very softly, and very soon, another person would pick it up and start "stealing" the other person's song. When we got bored with work (which was quite often) we would often sit at the piano, play and sing something together. Sometimes we would go through an entire book and sing everything in it, just for fun.

Listened to the CD we cut back in 2006 on the way to church. Obviously it didnt sound very professional at all, but just hearing the blend (or lack thereof) of voices made me feel quite sad. I heard my own voice, and nearly couldnt recognise it anymore. TBH it could very well have been sharon's or karen's voice I can't tell, and I can't remember which parts I sang for each song.

I wish I could sing again, I wish I could play nice songs on the piano. I miss just sitting at the piano and trying to figure out how a song went. And this is the closest example I have: imperfect, for it was unpracticed, but therein lies the beauty of spontaneity. This was back in February when I was home for 2 weeks, and Sharon said she had bought a scorebook for duets and was waiting for me to come home and play with her (i think this is just the 1st half of the song before the complications kicked in...heh):

It is a privilege to sing, and a greater privilege when there are people to sing with. Why do people not want to sing in church, or at YF? I can't understand.

Home in December

In better news, i finally plucked up the courage to speak to my boss, P, about going back to Singapore for 3 weeks in December. I offered to work from the Singapore office for a week to provide cover when people take holidays at year-end, and also as an opportunity for me to meet the team there...

He agreed! I was so relieved, and also found out in the process that in this country, you don't "lose" your public holidays when they fall on Saturdays. So I actually get 27 and 28 Dec off for Christmas and Boxing Day, and 3 Jan off for New Year's Day! Wow, that's the most awesome news to my Singaporean ears since National Day yesterday.

Not sure how many days of holidays that would mean, might only be 8, how cool is that!

Next tasks: book those exorbitantly priced air tickets for 10 dec - 2 Jan; and sign up for that 5-day course at ICPAS, though it costs a flipping $525!

The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended

The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended,

The darkness falls at Thy behest;

To Thee our morning hymns ascended,

Thy praise shall sanctify our rest.

We thank Thee that Thy church, unsleeping,

While earth rolls onward into light,

Through all the world her watch is keeping,

And rests not now by day or night.

As o’er each continent and island

The dawn leads on another day,

The voice of prayer is never silent,

Nor dies the strain of praise away.

The sun that bids us rest is waking

Our brethren ’neath the western sky,

And hour by hour fresh lips are making

Thy wondrous doings heard on high.

So be it, Lord; Thy throne shall never,

Like earth’s proud empires, pass away:

Thy kingdom stands, and grows forever,

Till all Thy creatures own Thy sway.

(John Ellerton)

Fun Facts: Queen Victoria chose this hymn to be sung at the 60th anniversary of her reign in 1897; it was also sung at the ceremony when Britain returned control of Hong Kong to China in 1997.

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Went to work on both Saturday and Sunday :( I hope I never have to do it ever again. It wasn't like we did that much work anyway. How sad for those who work day in and day out, where the boundaries of day and night are so blurred the days fuse into one, completely oblivious to life and the Giver of it.

Basic Manners and The Lack Thereof

There are incredibly rude people in my home.

1. They do not make an effort to say hi or introduce themselves.

2. When I say hi in the morning, she looks at me like I'm mad and then ignores me. When I say hi a 2nd time in the night, she completely ignores me.

3. I proceed to offer her a mattress considering how she has been in my home for 3 nights now and will be for 2 more, though not my guest; and her host has only offered the sofa when there's a mattress sitting in the storeroom. She just says "no it's ok" without looking at me, and does not offer a word of thanks.

I know that Singaporeans are not the most polite people on the planet, and maybe my standards have been raised after months of being in a country where gentlemen actually exist (to some degree, definitely greater than SG) and it's actually basic courtesy to greet people, even strangers with "Hi, how are you?"...

But seriously, if you went to stay at someone's place, for FREE, could you not muster some basic manners, even obligatorily?

I must say I'm greatly appalled, but not surprised. As they say, birds of the same feather flock together.

Those things I thinks.

Those Housing Agents from a very reputable firm called Knight Frank, they can't seem to get my surname or address right even after a whole year, and they want to charge me to renew my contract! Blatant daylight robbery and sheer incompetency, I say. Makes my blood boil every time I get an email from them.

Those Singaporean gatherings I used to go for, I can't really bring myself to go for them anymore and be all fake. I don't know if they are friends or not. Helps that they now love putting things on Sundays and I can't go anyway.

Those countless packets of frozen salmon, lost in the ice in in my frozen freezer, what shall I do with them? They need me to defrost the freezer before they can repair it. Maybe I'll make lots and lots of fish pie this weekend.

Those time slots I try to set aside, be they for exercise, sleep or quiet time, where do they go? I think I do set them aside, but only in my head; and a cobweb now covers that recess in my brain.

Those tickets I bought for Paintball this Saturday. I need 3 more people. Either I have no friends such that I can't think of anyone to ask, or I'm being way too choosy.

Decisions, decisions, decisions. Looks like it's not enough to just think those things.