It's Back Again!

Attention, all dancers! The one big event that you have been waiting for is coming. Feast your eyes on this:


Yes, I know I already mentioned this on my post yesterday. But good news is worth spreading! Just thinking about it makes me remember all the fun times I had last year. I hope this year will be better. If it weren't for A-levels, I would have tried out for popping too. My only worry is whether I can manage my time well.

Btw, all dancers can only audition for UP TO 2 genres. Hip hop/LA/Lyrical Hip hop all considered under one genre.

Anyways, hope to see you guys on the audition day!

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Had a great day today. A break from the shitty week I had.

I actually started my revision proper this afternoon. Went for Ahmad's beginner class afterwards. I realized mugging + dance later = braindead. Remember the formula, guys. My mind went blank towards the end of the open class.

Had dinner with Ahmad then hanged out at Danzpeople after that. Meanwhile, the instructors was having their own practice. I continued revising Chem at the lobby, then went to use the small studio when I was done with the revision. Ahmad told me I can use the studio when I want to! Cool right? Just that I have to inform him beforehand. I like the studio man. Looks like I have found a new practice spot now that PE studio is used as the "quarantine room".

Oh yeah, btw, Ie Ching pang-seh-ed me AGAIN! Nevermind.

I want to apologize to Diana for not going to watch What The Funk Vol. 7. She got into top 8 AGAIN!!! Wow, I'm damn impressed by her improvement. If I don't practice hard, I'll lag behind like crazy. But how am I suppose to practice hard now that A-levels are so near T.T.

Had a long chat with Diana through the phone. It was nice talking to her again. I jokingly said we should form a crew next time, but she seriously replied "yeah". Lol. We must see how first man. But I like the idea though. Heh. Eh, We should really have more conversations through the phone next time. =D

Looking forward to dinner with Nik, Brian and Huixian on Monday night.

So............Tomorrow will be more intensive revision + dancing. Hope it will be the start of a better week.

The Man In The Mirror

I had a really shitty week.

Part of it is due to my own fault. Didn't study much for Block Test II, so now I'm feeling the consequence of it. Shitty effort equates to shitty results. My parents are probably going to have a heart attack when they see the result slip. Not the most pretty sight on Earth. Now I'm really stressed up about Prelims, which is coming in about 5 weeks. I lost my focus for Block Test, but I swear I'll give it my all for Prelims and A-Levels.

I took 2 hours to sit down and list all the topics for each subject and organizing my schedule. Then I realized that 5 weeks is barely enough. 24 hours seems very short right now. The problem is compounded by the fact that all the teachers are spamming revision work, tutorials, consultations and whatsoever. I'm pretty sure Ms Ooi will give me a timetable and list my study plan for her again, as if I don't know how to do it myself. It's really intellectually quite insulting.

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By the way, there was no flag raising for these few weeks. Just when I thought the school finally see the uselessness of the propaganda, they decided to bring it back again. And these few weeks have been kinda retarded and fucking irritating. Since there's no flag raising, one might think that it's natural to reach school later, after all, the pointless propaganda they call "flag raising" was gone.

But NO, they want us to reach school the same fucking time!

It must be the idea of some smart-ass sitting in the office. Give us students a break, will you? We are all going through a rough time, and you HAD to make us wake up early, don't you. I don't see polytechnics have flag raising and universities having flag raising everyday. Do you? You and your stupid traditions and propaganda. How is the school supposed to adapt to modern culture when it still adheres to rigid traditions? Change is needed to evolve and survive. No wonder more and more smart students choose to go to polytechnics nowadays. No uniforms, no fucking flag raising, no hair check etc. I'm sorry, HCI, but this is the sad truth. The rules suck. Big time.

As a result of the whole situation, students are playing hide-and-seek with the teachers every morning. More so, now that we still need to come to school early even though there's no flag raising. It's really quite pathetic. Teachers had to be stationed at certain entrances to catch students, while students are searching for shortcuts and secret passages to avoid detection. It's almost as though the teachers had nothing better to do.

Have fun playing your cat-and-mouse games, but you'll never catch us.

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Amidst all the busyness, O School Recital is back! The auditions falls on 23rd August, which is coincidentally the same day as my younger bro's birthday. I realized I kinda need to get in to fill my portfolio. At the same time, I'm kinda worried about all the rehearsals affecting my studies. But I managed to do well for Promos last year through the weekly rehearsals, and I guess I'll have to do the same this year, assuming I got in the recital again. I really really hope I could get into LA/Lyrical Hip Hop this year.

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But the thing that made my week shitty was when I found out that there were "friends" spreading bad news about me behind my back. This is what I consider the ultimate betrayal of friendship.

Imagine people that you have known for so long spreading rumors and making fun of you behind your back. I totally had no idea of it since they act so nicely in front of me. But now that the cat's out of the bag, I see what they really are. Call me naive, but I don't badmouth my friends behind their backs, and I expect them to do the same. If you guys have problems with me, then come and tell me straight in the face. Don't act like some fucking pussy, guys.

Not only I'm bothered by the act, I'm also bothered by the contents of what they say. I admit that I made mistakes in the past, and I'm really not proud of them. If you want to talk about those things, then fine, it's up to you since I really made those mistakes. But some of things you say don't even have a basis. Looks like you don't know me well at all, even though we had known each other for long.

The best part is that now that I know everything, I'm just taking my time and observe what kind of hypocrites they can be. I am really disappointed by the whole incident. The funniest part is actually they also backstabbed each other. Wow, they really are "close friends", aren't they? But I guess it doesn't really matter anymore. A few more months then we'll graduate. Don't expect me to keep in contact with some of you guys. It's not like we were really close friends anyway. I think I'll be using the blocking feature on Facebook after that.

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Anyway, I started going for Ryan's Lyrical Hip Hop class again since last week. This was the choreo used by him--



Hope you guys enjoyed watching the video as much as I enjoy dancing it. It was really a very nice choreo, and it's not easy too. Had a few mistakes here and they in the video.

And I'll be going for Ahmad's class with Ie Ching on Saturday evening!!! Haven't seen my favourite "bimbo" in a long time. Haha. Tomorrow will be the day we spent catching up!!! Yay!

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When the time runs deep into the wee hours, I would be thinking of you. Hope you'll do okay for your upcoming exams too. We may not have the chance to see each other often, but I hope you know that I'm always thinking of you.

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So, I guess I'll end here. I congratulate you if you actually managed to finish reading the long post. I also apologize that you had to read through my unpleasant rants.

Till then, may you reflect on the reflection in the mirror.

River Flows In You

Note: I guess "The Man In The Mirror" have to come later because I have a sudden, overwhelming desire to blog about other stuff right now.

Looking at the clock right now,
2 a.m. in the morning.
Yet,
I couldn't sleep.

When I close my eyes,
All I could picture of is you.
I turned from one side of the bed to the other,
Hoping that it was you right next to me.
But when I open my eyes,
All I see is --
Nothingness;
Just darkness of the night.

Fate.
Once an implausible idea.
The idea of arranged coincidence becomes real,
As I reminiscence about our time together.

I miss the late nights we spent;
I miss how you sip your coffee;
I miss the messages you sent;
I miss the smile on your face.

What could be a greater irony than this?
It's almost as though
Fate
Decided a divine comedy should be staged.

Now I'm looking at you through the glass
Don't know how much time has passed
Clear yet shrouded
Near yet far

"Even as the moon remained still,
The river still flows"
That's what you said,
Asking me to move on.
You are my perfect ending
But I don't want you to be anchored by me

So I'll make this loud and clear:

I'll wait--

Will you?

R.I.P Michael Jackson

Note: I split my post into 3 parts -- "That's Why I Love Sundays", "R.I.P Michael Jackson", and "The Man In The Mirror" -- because they are all posts that I think deserve a post of their own. Additionally, the post would be too long if I were to merge them together. Hope you guys enjoy reading as much as I enjoy typing them.After I signed in on Facebook, all I see was messages and tributes to Michael Jackson on the home page. At first I thought it was someone's idea of a practical joke. I mean, how could someone who dances 4 hours per day, someone who is about to launch his last world tour suddenly pass away right?

Wrong.

I got quite a shock when I Googled an article regarding MJ's death. Apparently, he passed away from a heart attack. Not the most glorious death for the "King Of Pop", but shocking nevertheless. I couldn't help noticing the pun, as in how MJ's heart "popped" out on him.

I'll admit that I didn't really have a good impression, amidst news of child molestation charges and broken noses. In fact, I was quite cynical of him. After his death, I spent one hour reading up on his achievements and life stories. It was then I realized that he was truly a great musician, something that I fogged by my cloud of cynicism.

He started out with Jackson 5 at the age of 5, singing evergreen tunes like "I Want You Back" and "ABC". He then started his own solo career, with each album being more successful than the previous one. Time and again, he has proven himself to have the ability to fuse songs of different genres together to create something new. Like who could forget the pop songs infused with funk beats, such as "Smooth Criminal" and "Bille Jean", or the more recent hip-hop inspired songs such as "They Don't Care About Us", or gospel-ballads like "Man In The Mirror" and "Heal The World". It was interesting to see his music evolved along with changing times.
He also turned music videos into a form of art. Back then, MVs are all singing not advertising, not much of aesthetics make-up such as storyline and special effects. But MJ is able to turn them into an art form under his directing, with his award-winning music videos "Smooth Criminal", "Thriller", and "Scream". MTV would never be what it is today without him.He leads a very hard life at times. He was abused by his father at a young age. He suffered skin problems, which was the reason why his skin turned pale white. His health deteriorates over time. And his financial manager cheated him of his money. Despite all this, he still managed to become a good dancer and an even better musician.

I spent one whole afternoon watching his music videos and listening to his works. Looking back, it was a pity he passed away just before the launch of the his final world tour, (ironically) named "This Is It". It was supposed to be the big bang to the end of his career. It never came. I watched a small part of the rehearsal video which was released a few days ago, and I could tell that this was going to be IT, the biggest concert for him. Micheal Jackson looked like he got his voice and his groove again, and it was great watching him being on stage doing his thing.

If you guys are interested in listening to his music, below is the list of songs I recommend you to listen to:

Smooth Criminal
Billie Jean
Dirty Diana
Earth Song
Heal The World
Black Or White
Remember The Time
Thriller
Beat It
They Don't Care About Us
Man In The Mirror
You Rock My World
Scream

My personal favourite is "Man In The Mirror". I really like the "chill" feeling at the start and how it ends on a high note. Not to mention, the lyrics are well-written and are very meaningful.



Thank You, Michael Jackson for bringing great music to the world. You are a great dancer, singer and musician. If there's anything I learned through your death, it would be that I shouldn't judge people by their flaws.

May you rest in peace.

That's Why I <3 Sundays

Note: I split my post into 3 parts -- "That's Why I Love Sundays", "R.I.P Michael Jackson", and "The Man In The Mirror" -- because they are all posts that I think deserve a post of their own. Additionally, the post would be too long if I were to merge them together. Hope you guys enjoy reading as much as I enjoy typing them.

I'm beginning to love Sundays more and more.

Used to hate them because it made me feel like I can't let fully relax because the next day is a schooling day. That would mean I need to finish my homework, do my laundry, clean my room, sleep earlier than I would like to etc. Basically, things I have to do to prepare for the week ahead.

Nowadays, I'm enjoying my Sundays. I still have to do all those stuff mentioned just now. It's because I now have weekly classes to look forward to on Sunday. And I also like to hang out with the other dancers after class.

I literally spent the whole day at PoMo yesterday. Woke up around 12pm. Reached PoMo just in time for Ahmad's class. He continued last week's choreo, which was to "Relax(Take It Easy)" by Mika. This week's choreo was even harder than last week's. Not to mention, tiring too. Even though it wasn't as long as say.......his "Kiss Me Through The Phone" choreo (which was 16 FREAKING 8-BEATS to be taught in 1.5 hours) or his "Flying Solo" choreo, but this choreo was dead tiring. When a choreo is tiring and hard to execute perfectly, you know that choreo is going to be very nice. So I really enjoyed his class yesterday. I'll post the link to the video when he uploads it on Facebook (seems to me Ahmad likes to upload his vids on Facebook nowadays, which means you gotta have an account to watch it).

After the class, hung out at the reception area while Ahmad was trying to repair the sound system in one of the studios. I dunno since when he became a handyman, but I'm definitely not going to ask him to repair anything anytime soon, because I ended up waiting nearly an hour and he DIDN'T manage to fix it.

While waiting for him to waste our timefix the speakers, I was watching Alex's class. The best part was that he used one of my FAVOURITE MICHAEL JACKSON SONG --- "Man In The Mirror". Liked his interpretation of the song, with some signature Michael Jackson moves thrown in. Man, I wish I had gone for his class. Seems to me alot of the instructors nowadays use Michael Jackson's songs in honor of his death.

So anyway, went to Mad Jack with Ahmad and Shu Ting. We were chatting away happily in the restaurant, so not surprisingly, we were the noisiest ones there. Ahmad treated both of us to chicken wings and cheese fries, which was nice of him. Which instructor would do that for his students? Not many, I bet. Some instructors don't even communicate with their students outside class, yet alone treat them to lunch.

Puay Son came to join us after Kate's class ended. Amusingly, Kate also used another one of MJ's songs --- "You Make Me Feel". Had a nice long chat with the 3 of them. I really like chatting with my dance friends. Mainly because they are mostly honest and genuine when it comes to what they say. Needless to say, I had a great afternoon with them.

Ahmad told me I had improved since I first took his lesson a few months back. According to him, I "hit the beat" better now. Which means my movements are clearer and more in tune with the rhythm nowadays. But I still have to work on my old bad habits and alot more if I want to improve. I was genuinely happy but yet humbled by his comments.

Afterthat, me and Ahmad went back to Danzppl. It was raining heavily outside PoMo and I don't have an umbrella with me. Ahmad had to teach another class while I hung out at the reception area -- again. Had an enlightening chat with Yi Fan, one of the instructors, whole the whole time I was there. Jie Xiao, another one of the instructors joined our convo. Before we knew it, Ahmad's class was over and Winnie came to meet him. You might think that's when we left, but wrong, we didn't leave. The 5 of us were the last few ppl there, and we continued chatting and gossiping. It was around 8 o'clock when Ahmad asked us to leave so he could lock the place.

While Ahmad and Winnie went to catch a movie, the 3 of us continued chatting at a coffee shop. Apparently, Jie Xiao is an alumni from HC, which pretty much means he's my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grand senior. Though I admit there's something about him that doensn't make him look like a HC mugger. Even he admits it himself. And both Yi Fan and Xiao are from NUS Dance Blast, which I plan to join if I got into NUS next year. According to them, A levels is the craziest paper they've ever taken, which didn't excite me especially since I have about 4.5 months left to A levels.

I make my way from PoMo to Dhoby Ghout MRT with Xiao. Could you still believe it was STILL raining???!!! It was already around 8.30pm, and it started raining in the early afternoon. When we reached the MRT, we parted ways there (coz I'm taking bus from the bus stop). But not before he gave a hug, which surprised me, largely because I have only hung out with him twice.

Moments like this are the reason why I love to hang out with the dancers. Don't get me wrong; I like to hang out with all kinds of ppl. In fact, a few of my close friends are non-dancers. There are all kinds of dancers: the egoistic and arrogant ones; the humble and down-to-earth kind; the loud and stylish ones. Just like how they are all types of people. But the ones I hang out with are genuine, honest and caring. And that's why I <3 them.

Hopefully the rest of my Sundays will be like this.

Forever.

P.S To Nik, Brian and Anne! When are you guys coming for Ahmad's lesson? I miss hanging out with you guys!!!

No Boundaries

I recently found this song on Nik's blog and it got me really addicted to it. It's by Kris Allen, of American Idol's fame. I love the melody and the guitar, but above all, I love the lyrics. It motivates me to do my best in the things I do.

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Went to watch KO night finals on Friday night. Got a glimpse of what was coming on The Big Groove when Funky Ziggy had a showcase. Their showcase was amazing! I wish I could do whacking like they do. Hanged out with some of the SYDC ppl after the KO night finals. Got to know some really interesting ppl. Again, I learnt to not judge a book by its cover.

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Sunday was one of the coolest days of my life. Though it was one day before the start of block tests, I spent it doing..........anything but study.

Started the day by going for Ahmad's lesson. I really like his choreo to Mika's "Relax(Take It Easy)", though the song was kinda techno. Ahmad's choreo are seriously getting harder and harder. The steps, angles, sharpness and everything demanded for his choreo are getting more difficult. But I can't complain, coz that's the reason why I chose to attend his class. If not, how do I constantly improve myself? Though I feel kinda intimidated sometimes by the pro ppl in class, like Jimmy (the ex-captain of NUS Dance Blast), Bob (also from Blast), and Hazlina (hmm...also from Blast), but I really like dancing alongside them because I always pick up something new from them. If there's anything I learnt from that lesson, then it would be that hip hop can be danced to any type of music. Ahmad's recent song choices ain't always R&B and hip hop music.

Btw, I met another fellow Malaysian in his class. Apparently, his name was Dennis and he was the runner-up for So You Think You Can Dance Malaysia. No wonder I found his face familiar. But he was really good that was little difference in the level between him and Ahmad. And he apparently lives near my home in Malaysia. How cool is that? Hope to learn from him when I get back to Malaysia some time later.

So after Ahmad's class, I made my way to Singapore Expo Hall for THE BIG GROOVE!!!

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I can't even describe TBG in words. Is there a word for "BEYOND DOPE!"? There are so many talented dancers in Asia. Really enjoyed the whole 3 hour concert. It was already 10.30 pm when it ended. I love the performances by overseas crews like WCO, Cool Mint, Funky Ziggy, 5+5, Phillipines Allstars and etc. The poppers from 5+5 crew was totally sick. And Cool Mint gave a very nice opening for the concert, and this came a crew of Japanese girls, with the oldest being only 13 years old. Felt like I kena pawnedzzzz.....

I felt proud of the local crews too. O Crew outdid themselves at gave a 32 MINUTES PERFORMANCE!!! That was like 12 minuted more than their O School Recital last year! But Ryan didn't perform though. Probably too busy with his newborn baby.

The other local crews was also quite good -- Styles From Beyond, Danzpeople (which was Ahmad's item), Trademark etc. But it was clear that the overseas crew was at a higher level, though I would say that they are not too far behind the overseas crew. In fact, I was quite surprised by the small gap between the quality of local and overseas crew. Maybe Singapore is catching up fast.

I was really inspired by the performers at TBG. They have broaden my horizon, showed me a new limit. Maybe there really are no boundaries in dance...

In the end, I guess the long wait before the concert was worth it. I can't wait to watch next year's TBG!

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On a side note, I realized my old dance gang has come a long way from where we were during Daniel's Hip Hop course last year. Nik and Brian went to Ngee Ann Poly and join Huixian in NRA; Ie Ching quit dance totally to pursue her studies and career (not to mention, busy with her boyfriend); Diana has joined TPDE and well on her way to be a dope popper (hey, a top 8 in a popping competition is worth something). So I guess we have move on with our lives and found other circles of friends (or dancers, heh.). I realized this when we were waiting in queue for TBG. Huixian and Brian hanging out with the SYDC ppl; Diana is hanging out with TPDE; ; leaving me and Nik chatting for most times. But I'm glad we are all still friends and we still get together sometimes.

I wonder where I belong now? I guess I don't really have a distinct group that I belong to, like SYDC, NRA or TPDE. But I'm proud to say I have made quite a few good friends through Ahmad's classes and Ryan's course.

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School is...................dreadful.

Block tests are not going as well as I thought it would be, what's with me feeling unwell ever since after TBG. And before you ask, no, I don't have swine flu.

GP was....................kinda mediocre. Didn't really managed to finish my essay coz it lacked a proper conclusion, but I guess it's still passable. As for compre, let's just say the compre wasn't easy. Plus, I had to do it through a headache. Don't even wanna think how it will turn out.

Econs was even worse. I shall not elaborate. The headache was still there, and coupled with grogginess, you can imagine how my Econs paper will die.

At least Geog was still ok. Left a 9 mark question blank (out of 100 marks), but the rest was doable. Thank god the headache toned down during the test.

Seriously, I think I'm falling sick. My body temperature has been going up and I had persistent headache ever since GP paper. The best part is I have a mild nosebleed during Geog Paper, which come and go throughout the whole of today. But weirdly, I don't have fever or anything like that. I hope I won't die for the remaining 2 papers. Have to finish studying Math by Friday, which I barely started. And I haven't started on Chem. Ironically, my preparation for Econs whatsoever has been wrecked because of the stupid headache. Hopefully my block tests won't go down the drain. At least it must be better than the first one.

Time to go.

Nite guys.

Confession

This blog was dead.

I haven't blog at all since my last post, which was about 3 months ago. No, I'm not going to say "I didn't blog for a gazillion years because I was busy with blah blah blah...". I mean, I guess it's kinda true that I had alot of things to do and never enough time to do all of them, but deep down, I know the real reason why I dread to type a post on this blog -- I feel that I am trying to please the readers instead of writing what I really feel, and furthermore, there are ppl who read my blog whom I don't want them to read.

Now that I got that confession out, I guess I can move on with my post.

"So what if there's ppl you don't like reading your blog? If you're afraid of them so much then why don't you start a new blog?! Quit whining!"

It's quite likely some ppl might think like that. But I personally feel it's not worth it to start a new blog all over again just because of some assholes, since I also have many good friends and my family who faithfully read my blog when it was active.

So here I am. Typing.

3 months.

12 weeks.

That's how long since I last sat down and typed a blog post. So many things happened just within this quarter of the year that I could scarcely believed it had passed by. Ryan's Lyrical Hip Hop Course I&II ended. Made a few good friends along the way, ppl like Jan, Andy, Theresa. I also started going for Ahmad's classes, and got to know the instructor pretty well. He's a very nice guy and a very caring instructor. I'm proud to have him as a good instructor and an even better friend. Also got to know more ppl from the weekly Sunday class, like Chris Goh, Winnie (Ahmad's gf), Puay Son etc.

Had a couple of outings with the MAD seniors too. The first was to celebrate Wilson's birthday, and the latter was a small gathering before he leaves for NS and before I leave for Malaysia.

Went to watch K.O Night too. Always amazed by the dance talents in Singapore. Joey really imrpoved tons, along with her partner, Jeremy, of Flairnation fame. Luqman and Jean too!
Did I mention I had the chance to pair up with Hui Hua for K.O night too? I really learnt alot from him. Personally, I think our styles differ a little too much that the chemistry was never really there. But still, I was grateful to be given the chance to pair up with him for K.O night. If not, I wouldn't have learnt alot throughout the process itself.

Oh yeah, how could I forget the session at Diana's place! It was really fun! We should do it more often!

The list goes on really long, but I just want to say I went through alot of ups and downs within these few months. It's all just part of life, I guess.

Just came back from Malaysia a few days ago. Believe it or not, I actually finished studying Physical Geog while I was there, but................that means I didn't do much of anything else. I'm glad to be back home. Really loved my family and my friends there. The food was awesome, as usual. Couldn't stop eating when I was back at home. I think I gained like 3-4 kg over the course of 2 weeks.

Really didn't feel like coming back to HC. I dunno why, but I just feel that I don't really have anyone that really knows me very well in school. It's kinda weird. I think I'm closer to the ppl I see weekly or monthly rather than the ppl I see everyday. I guess when you put 2000 smart ppl in one place, all you get will be competition and politics.

In fact, I'm freaking sick of some ppl in school. You can kinda feel that they are judging you all the time, hence you can't really be your true self when you're around them. I'm also sick of the politics in school, especially when it involves the dancers. So what if I learn dance outside and I like to dance in the PE studio? So what if I'm not very good? I'm still learning as a dancer, and if you can't fucking accept that then you should just fuck off instead of spreading rumors behind my back. If you're going to bicker behind my back instead of improving dance together, then you are better off not being a dancer.

Sigh. Can someone tell me why relationships can be so complicated?.........