All pleasure, all pain are one - borrowed

How Much Should I Practice?
    Plan your Virtuous Moments every day.
    
If you play for fun    
Age five: 30 minutes
Age eight: 45 - 60 minutes
Age ten: 60 - 75 minutes
Age twelve to adult: 90 - 120 minutes
    
If you want to be a professional    
Age five: 30 - 45 minutes
Age eight: 90 - 120 minutes
Age ten: 2 hours
Age twelve: 3 hours
Age fourteen to eighteen: 3 - 4 hours
Violin major in college: 5 hours

These are minimums - The actual time depends on you.

This is NET (NO EXCUSES TOLERATED) practice time. Getting a drink, answering the phone, etc. does not count.

OH NO! Hahahaha. Fudge.

...and ended up with something totally not related! Haha! But I think it sounded nice so I decided to post that portion here. :)

"...if you 19re doing what you love, you 19ll be happy no matter the hardships you go through. That 19s why most of us stick through the torture 14ahem, I mean, very challenging life at a conservatory. Everyday is full of scales and practice and metronome tickings but at the end of the day, none if it seems to matter anymore as we go out and perform, or just simply jam with our friends. Music is supposed to be fun. If all you ever feel is the pressure of life at a conservatory, then it definitely isn 19t for you, coz the pressure is only a third of it. For me, a more important part is the heart-happy feeling you get inside you after you perform or successfully express yourself through your music. That 19s why I 19m sticking to it 14it makes me happy, and for me, it 19ll all be worth it in the end."

Wah, mushy. 

Long day again.

It all started at 6am. I woke up, brushed my teeth, took a while to decide what to wear, then finally got down to the new laptop and went through all the Nat Sci power points again. While going through them, I suddenly remembered we had to study the 7 kinds of plastics. So I copy-pasted the table onto a word file, and to be safe, printed out the 5 types of fires too. Then I grabbed my Cookies and Cream Poptart and ate it in the car on the way to UP, while trying to cram the new info into my head.

I got to Abelardo Hall. The CR was open, so I went there first. I fixed up the box for Ma'am Luci, then went to Aha to run through all my etudes. I did a quick scale, then... ran through all my etudes hehe. It went okay enough. So afterwards... I left my violin in my locker, then took an Ikot jeep to science, since I really didn't want to walk this morning. Got there around 8:25.

Sir Oma is so funny. So we were all seated there and he comes in suddenly and goes, "Before the exam, I have a favor." He pulls out a camera. "Can we have a class picture?" The class bursts into little giggles and we all stand up, compress in the middle, and smile as the camera flashes - twice, to be safe.

Finally, the exam starts. He hands it out and off we go. I don't know how I did. But I had the strangest feeling while taking the exam. I felt so tired? Like, I didn't really care anymore? No wait. I DID care but I was just so tired I didn't want to think. Which is so weird coz I didn't sleep THAT late last night, and I even took a jeep to science to conserve energy. Why was I so tired taking the test? So what happened was there were some numbers I didn't really think through. I just kinda eliminated the options 'til I had one left and then I just presumed that was the answer mwahaha. I hope my strategy worked. Then right after the exam, I had no desire AT ALL to compare answers with achi Jaye. As in, I didn't even mention the exam anymore. And you know what? I didn't even REMEMBER my answers. Which is so weird! Coz I usually memorize them after the test right, after going through them so many times? I remembered some of the questions, but I don't remember what I answered. Wah!!

So anyway. We walk, and I get to Abelardo. I make Aie and Simon sign Ma'am Luci's letter (I made Mikki sign it early early that morning) then head to Anx 228 for theory. No one is there. So I hang out in 226 with Ken and Stef while waiting. Then ma'am Luci comes up and I tell her that yeah, no one is there... so she goes down to get the Kuya and I hang out in 226 again.. then later on she calls me and we go to 228... and it's just the two of us haha. So she was talking about she forgot all about our dication exam, and how she has to panel so many recitals... then Sarah comes in. But we don't really do anything yet. I interview Ma'am a bit about why she's a theory teacher and not primarily a piano teacher coz well, she has a masters degree in piano and all... so she explains her entire story... then after, she starts writing our solfege bit on the board and then Aya comes in. Yay! So Ma'am starts "lecturing" again on how to prepare for solfege, then Aie comes in... then about ten minutes later I have to leave coz it was almost my turn for major finals.. But before leaving I have Ma'am Luci envelope#1 hehe. The envelope that says "Oops! Your gift isn't here!" Haha.

So anyway. Major finals time. Had to wait about half on hour before my turn. So I go in the room... they look at my etudes... and ma'am Mich goes, "Kreutzer." I hold my breath. "Kreutzer 12." I almost dropped my head in despair, but I decided to hold it up, take a deep breath and start playing. La do mi la do, mi la do mi, la do mi la, do mi la do, mi la do mi, la do mi laaaaaaaaaaaaa.... re fa la re fa, la re fa la, blah blah blah. It was quite agonizing hehe. But I finished it. And ma'am mich goes, "dapat tinaas mo lahat ng nota mo!"

Mr. Guitar teacher then picks my next etude: Dont 7. Phew. I would've preferred 4, but 7 isn't bad. I go through it without much incident and ma'am Mich caps it off with a "Good." PHEW.

They both look at my list again, and Ma'am Mich goes, "Kreutzer... 8." I almost jumped for joy but I decided not to. I think I smiled a bit though. So off I went playing my favorite etude. Mi so si mi so si la fa re la fa re, mi so si mi so si la fa re la fa re... I had one "incident" where my notes got all jumbled and I just.. made noise for about one measure hehe but then I didn't stop, I just continued on to the next measure. It was all fine until the very last measure, that small e4. I thought it was pretty ok, but it was low apparently. It got ma'am Mich wondering why... it was a harmonic note. Why was it low? My open string was in tune. What was wrong with my harmonic note? Mr. GT contributed to the discussion by saying that it sometimes happened on the guitar too... Harmonic notes are out of tune, even though the open string is. So there's "confusion" for a few more seconds and then suddenly ma'am mich goes, "Okay, call in na the next person who's not my student..."
"Si Criselda ma'am?"
Mr. GT: "Ah, guitar po muna."
Ma'am Mich: "Ah sige. Basta sabihin mo kahit sino hindi ko student nandyan maghanda na. Kung wala, sabihin mo sa dalawang boys maghanda na sila."

I wait a bit... and nothing more is said to me. So I left the room.

I have no idea how my exam was!! :( I left feeling pretty bad though. I don't know, I guess I just expected.. something more? Or I guess I just really wanted a comment. Coz now I have absolutely no idea how my exam went for Ma'am Mich and Mr. GT. I saw Ma'am Chona afterwards and she asked how I did and I couldn't answer her either. But then I was talking to like Zhai, and I told her I played non-stop and she said good for me, coz she had to keep stopping... so I don't know. I have absolutely no idea.

MuL was cool. Watched some hula videos...then Master Aya and I finalized Ma'am Luci's stuff and left them with Ate Lisa na... then spent the next two hours or so with Sara Matsuura looking for a piano room (we failed. For two entire hours)... bumped into Ma'am Luci and asked her if she got the stuff... told her to make hagulgol when she read it but she didn't understand me hehe so I decided not to repeat it and just told her to enjoy. XD

Commuted home. It was kinda enjoyable, strangely. Passed by Unimart to buy KitKat for Sharyne and Sara, since Melis and mom ate 1 of the Twix I bought supposedly for Sharyne haha. Ngek. Oh well. At least it gave me opportunity to go to Unimart and buy something for Sara too.

Ugh I'm so tired. Isn't it obvious? I feel so hot and sticky and I'm still really sad about my examS today. Trying to be productive, but I'm sad. It's hard to work when you're sad, you know?

Solfege panel tomorrow. :(( I feel so out of it. I'll practice solfege later, and tomorrow morning. I promise to do good.

I'm bitterrrr... I want an ooorrrgggg... actually, funny thing. I realized I want an org, but I'm not really willing to stay in UP late and meet up for extra stuff. So, basically, I want to be part of an org for the sake of saying I'm in one, but I don't want to do anything for it. Labo diba, haha.

ANYWAY. I'm really, really determined now. 1st year is almost done (WAH!) and I'm still org-less! And I'm not even sure about the whole days thing. So if ever that doesn't work out, imagine all the free time (and weekends!) I have!

So anyway. I promise I will find an org na talaga!! I really really want to go back to Fencing. :( But that means no more Monday afternoons for me. No more playing for Art (unless I skip fencing whenever I have to play... which you know, is possible... so I guess this isn't really much of a problem)... less practice time (obviously. This is actually the reason why I dropped it in the first place, to have more practice time. AH THE GEEKINESS.)... and well, things like that. Basta I really want to go back to Fencing. :( I saw nga Ings yesterday and I was all.. awwww.. :(

And I also promised Jackie I'd join UPCLC. Well I was supposed to naman talaga eh! In 2nd sem. But I forgot, coz Leanne didn't remind me haha. So I completely forgot. So I guess I'll join it next sem.

And I actually also want to join MMCO. This is my first priority actually... I want an orchestra. Orchestra = more practice time needed = ...less time for orgs? HAHA back to square one. OR! It could also mean less study time, or less sleep time... which equals to MORE COFFEE! MMCO, if I remember properly, practice every Monday and Friday 6-8pm. So the Fencing sched actually fits perfectly into it heehee. But I have to ask Ma'am Chona first, for permission, which I promise to do tomorrow.

So um... yeah. This was a pretty useless blog. I'm only writing it coz I'm taking an err, one and a half hour practice break (HAHA) to watch Sleeping Beauty (I thought it was almost done but apparently it was only half-done... but I finished it anyway) and coz I was supposed to install Finale notepad into our new laptop, which I'm only going to do now after all the ranting and mail-checking and Sleeping Beauty-ing... :P

VIOLIN MIDTERMS ARE OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My hermit days are over!!!!!! Ahahaha!! I finally have time to talk to people again!! I have time to go online again!! I have time to BUM again!! I have time to study other subjects again!!! I CAN READ MY MOZART CONCERTO NA!!!

At least, until finals come. Pooh. But I don't plan to cram anymore. I promise. I'll practice na talaga so I won't have to cram and go into solitary confinement for 2 whole weeks torturing myself with practice.

I hate that I missed the entire UP fair though. :( Last day na tomorrow and I can't go. :( I missed Batizado too. :( Wah.

I got an email today from one of my ygroups and it disturbed me so so so much I wanted to reply but then knowing the kinds of people in that ygroup, I decided it was an idiotic idea so I opted to blog about it instead.

Basically it was an email saying that 20% of the world's population is Muslim, yet they've only won 7 Nobel Prizes ever. However, only 0.02% of the world's population is Jewish, yet they have have 129 Nobel Prizes. It goes on to say that it's because the Muslims are so busy brainwashing their children to blow up planes and to kill athletes and they aren't prioritizing education, always ranting about Jihad and death to all infidels. The last line of the email is a quote that goes , "If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel' !! - Benjamin Netanyahu

Maybe what the email is saying IS true... but I find it so, so very hard to believe. I'm annoyed that's it's generalizing what religious zealots do to the entire Muslim community. If that were the case, why hasn't Greenhills blown up yet with all the Muslims there selling pearls? And it's annoying how it attacks Muslim beliefs without fully understanding it first. (For those who have taken Philo 1, this fallacy is called Strawman!) I find that idea of Jihad beautiful. It's not about war against everyone who isn't Muslim. Jihad is about "war" within yourself. It's trying to become the best person you can be... resisting temptations and things like that. Again, it's only the religious zealots who take it to the extremes.

And besides. If that's the argument, then what can they say about Queen Mary of England who had all the Catholics killed when she was ruler because they weren't Protestant? They're all Christians, aren't they?

Don't get me wrong... I AM a Christian, and I do believe in God and all those things... I just think this is wrong. Not all Muslims are bad people. Out of that 20%, probably only 0.1% or so are responsible for all thse crimes. I think it's sad how misunderstood they are, and how generalized they're always um, viewed.

The chaos in Gaza is not ALL about religion (at least that's how I see it). Isn't it more of political...fighting over land? Even if all of them were Muslim, or if they were all Christian, I think they'd still be fighting over territories and things like that. Besides. Arabs aren't the only terrorists in the world. How can you solely blame them for it?

...OR...I could be in my fantasy again, believing that the world is really full of good people and all rainbows and sunshine. I don't know. Maybe they really are "bad"... but it just doesn't feel right.

What do you guys think? :\

I haven't written a blog in so long! So just for the sake of it (and because I'm taking advantage of my bum hour) I will blog! Haha.

Ever since school started, it has been nothing but STRESS... literally! I mean, on our first day back, Jan.6, I had a Nat Sci exam. Beat that! After that it has all just been piling up... orchestra stuff, piano pieces, Ma'am Chona pieces, then I have my first harang (whee!) on Feb. 7... and that week also happens to be Violin Midterms week... and the week after that is B114. Then I'm accompanying Sharyne for her minor, and then there's games to watch and concerts and dance shows to attend, capoeira to go to... I'm not going to the batizado na nga eh. :( And I GAVE UP FENCING CLUB. :(( I'm so sad...

But school's fun. Starting Feb. 3, the Chem faculty is taking over our Nat Sci classes so yaaaay!!! *Cheers* Let the fun begin! But this week is fuuuuuuull of exams... starting with our Keyboard "exam" on Tuesday, then on Wednesday, I have FA 28, Dictation AND Solfege all in one! It all wraps up on Thursday, my last chance to pull up my Nat Sci Physics grade. And... yeah. Things like that. :P

ANYWAY.

Dearest 102!! Haaay bad kayo you guys didn't tell me it was your class night! Buti na lang I was at ICA today! So naka crash ako at least for like five minutes hehe! Oh well. 102 dinner next time ah. Since anniv pa natin tinatry yan hahaha. Dapat talaga matuloy ha, before you guys graduate. :) Kakamiss kayo eh. ;) Stay good ah! Don't let senioritis get to you too much hahaha. :) Mwah! Basta kayo pa din! :) Special mention to Arna, Trisha, Lex, Lyka, and Carmela Tan!! Wahaha!! See you guys soon! XD
<3 Nissy :)

Since I'm not really sure how I'm gonna get this message to all of you, I'll just post it here. XD

Dearest 109,
Thank you guys suuuuuuuper for the boxes. :) Buti na lang nakaabot ako! Hahaha. Super nga ako nagulat eh. Kasi I was going to ICA to visit Hands in Harmony, and buti na lang nakita ako ni Sara [Lim], who pulls me aside and goes, "Nissy! May 109 thing ah!" Haha. Basta thank you guys super. :) MWAH! You guys made my day... and next few days actually. ;) And yeah, nagulat nga ako eh coz you guys still remember me! Hehe. Don't forget that you guys can always come to me for uh college advice or whatever and that I lab you guys pa din super. :) Mwah! Merry Christmas!!! :) I'll try to go to the next disco! :) Basta kayo! :)
<3, Nissy

Dearest 110,
Hi friends hehehe. I know, I know, dalawa na utang ko sa inyo. But AT LEAST MAY LETTER DIBA hahaha. But next time, try ko na talaga to be there not only spiritually, but physically as well hehe. :) Hmm nasabi ko na more or less lahat sa last letter ko eh! But you know.. just to say it again.. haha. Miss ko na kayooooo! Last time I got to hang out with you guys was during FAIR pa eh!!! But anyway, keep being the sweet kulit people you are and don't forget that I'll always be here for you guys. MWAH! Merry Christmas! :) Basta kayo! :)
<3, Nissy

Dearest 112,
Hello, men. Hahaha. It's been a month and a half pa lang but miss ko na kayo! Sorry wala din ako dun sa 1st monthsary labas nyo. :( I'll try to go next time! (Shucks, ang dami ko ng utang utang hahaha) Don't forget na dito ako lagi for you guys ah, especially if you need jokes or anything HAHA. You know, if you need Going Bulilit moments. XD Aaaaand I'm also here for college advice? Haha. Basta you get my point. :) MWAH! I love you guys! Stay the same happy, hyper, high people. :) You know me and your other staffers and most especially your mommy still always be there for you. ;) Merry Christmas! Basta kayo! :) Don't forget meeeee!! Haha. :)
<3, Nissy

DEAREST 102, SYEMPRE MERON DIN KAYO. ;) But not here. Separate kasi mahaba siya hahaha. Mwah!! :)

Almost a month ago, it was Nov. 18 and the College of Music GA. I remember sitting there in AHA (abelardo hall auditorium), listening to dean sitting there on stage behind his table when I pulled out my CMu planner, grinned, nudged Simon, and whispered, "One month exactly 'til we're off for Christmas break!"

I thought it was gonna be one quick month then back to bumming galore (HAHA, yes I'm such a... bum.) but then my gooooodness this one month has been anything but relaxing. In fact, I'd have to say I've had my 2 most stressful weeks EVER since I started college.

Stressful. But oh so worth it. :)

It's this class I have called Orchestra. The UP Orchestra, to be specific. XD

It all starts Dec. 1 (YES A HOLIDAY). We meet up at CMu to rehearse for what? For TUESDAY, Dec. 2 pag-iilaw. The librarians (not me yet thank goodness) passed around pieces and we were like.. uhh... Eine Kleine? And anyway, point is, YES, we were gonna play Eine Kleine. The entire thing with 4 movements. Yeah, I played the 1st movement before...but that's about it. So some panic-sightreading... followed by more panic sightreading of Christmas Festival by Anderson. Then we went home late.

Dec. 2 tuesday came. Had my classes again straight from 8:30-1, then headed to soundcheck for the pagiilaw. You know? I never imagined myself playing in Quezon Hall. :) As in... we played there, at the end of Universtiy Ave, under the statue of Oble. At the most famous scene of UP I think. So anyway we were there playing in Quezon Hall, panic sightread a bunch of Christmas songs, and just had a lot of fun. :) And omg Yani saw me hahaha. XD

Dec. 3 and 4, Wednesday and Thursday, we had rehearsal for Friday's centennial lecture (Dr. Santos). The piece was haaaaaaaaaard, I had exams on both days, and had four hour breaks on both of them (coz remember my classes all end at around 1pm? Rehearsal for Dr. Santos was 5-7pm grar) and got home late and tired and got fed so much haha. Dec. 5, Friday came. I didn't have any class that day, but I went to UP just to perform. It was well, an experience. :)

Fastforward! Dec. 8, Monday came. Rehearsal again the afternoon for Handel's Messiah, the annual tradition of UP CMu. Rehearsed and panicked from 1-6pm. And the next three days that followed were well, an experience. :) Dec.9 Tuesday show was awesome. Dec. 10 Wednesday was terrifying, since we were only 6 violin 2's... 1 5th year, 1 2nd year, 3 freshmen, 1 violin minor, and tita Baby. :| My gad. We survived though! XD Yaaaay! All because of Auntie Anne hahaha. :) Dec. 11 Thursday was awesome. By then though we were all so tired and... just so tired! Haha. The show was great though. The best night I think. XD

Plus! Zhai and I were the librarians for those three days. Ahhh extra stress.

But. It's all good. :) Wonderful, really. :) It's exhausting to be performing/rehearsing everyday, but then like my mom pointed out, it's probably cause I still have school and all that in the morning. It's really, really a good thing my sched is so nice heehee. Plus I now have income. HAHAHA!! XD

And now, Dec. 12 Friday it's all over and I have no classes hee! :) On the 14th (Sunday), I'm attending another volleyball game for my PE class but I don't mind since apparently the UP men's volleyball varsity is really good and games are so fun to attend. XD On the 16th, I have a solfege exam, a Greensleeves thingy due I haven't done, and theory class party. XD On the 17th is UP lantern parade, which I'll be part of with my gorgeous umbrella. :) And on the 18th, I'll be in ICA again hahahaha! GO HANDS IN HARMONY!! :)

And well since I seem to be posting my entire life here, on the 20th i'm going up to baguio YAY and next year, Jan. 6, I have my 1st Nat Sci 1 exam plus a whole new torture um, season for Orchestra. Tchaikowsky time. Oh noes. :s

If you are, and you're theory-less, pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaassssssseeeeee change mat to Ma'am Luci's class.  On behalf of her current class, we're desperate. PLEASE! We're only short of 3 people. Those in Ma'am Issay's class I know you're theory-less! Please please come to Ma'am Luci's class! :(

Ma'am Luci is uber nice, but suuuuper good. She explains things and really well and WILL explain it even better if you didn't understand. Yes, she gives homework every single day without fail. But the plus side is exams are really easy. After all the daily practice, you just have to browse your notes and review a bit before taking exams. And the exams are very, very perfect-able. More than perfectable, really. It IS possible to get over 100% with all the bonuses she gives. OVER 100% okay? As in, 120% sometimes.

Yes, you have concert attendance. But so what? Concerts are fun to attend anyway. Why not get credited for them too?

And the thing about Ma'am Luci is that she gives very fair grades. Very fair. And you really have to work for it, I won't lie about that. But she'll give you what you deserve. If you do your homework, participate in class, and generally put effort into theory, you'll get a good grade. If not, well, then that's your fault and not hers.

So pleeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasee?????

Oh, and please join MuL 12, 11:30-1 too please, if you can heehee. :)

Final sched for 2nd sem. :) I GOT RID OF CACES YAY ME! It took me 2 and a half hours and a loooooooot of walking, sweating, blood, tears, and P10 but it was all worth it. My sched is so much better and I'm no longer living in fear of a 5. XD

Tuesday
8:30-10 Nat Sci 1
10-11:30 MuT 11
11:30-1 MuL 12
2:30-5:30 Orchestra

Wednesday
8:30-10 FA 28
10-12 MuT 11

Thursday
8:30-10 Nat Sci 1
10-11:30 MuT 11
11:30-1 MuL 12

Friday
8:30-10 FA 28
11-1 PE

Yaaaaaaaaaay. :) And well, Monday afternoons I'll have fencing club, so I plan to put my violin in the morning... and as for my piano, I'll probably schedule it on Wednesday, hopefully around 12:30 or 1. :) Yaaaaay.

After one entire sem, UP still hates me, and still gives me reason to wish I went to Ateneo, haha. Allow me to elaborate.

I get to UP at 8 sharp and bump into a bunch of music people. So we talk, talk, blah, blah, and at around 8:30 the office opens and we go to get our Form 5A's. We get there (I'm SECOND in line), pay the SC fund, get our Form 5A's, then we trek to our respective Departments to wait for our advisers to come so we can get our post-advising over with.

We wait. And wait. And wait. And wait.

While waiting, I talk with a couple of music people who looked at my Form 5A and panicked when they saw my PE. They all told me to get rid of it. Cancel it. Find another PE or if not, take it during summer. Just get rid of Caces.

So I panic too! I figure since it's monday and only freshmen and graduating people day, I can go to CHK and probably it won't be so hard to get a PE. Problem though. I can't prerog without my adviser's signature.

Also while waiting and talking to music people, I find out that I have to submit a form that says I'm in Bracket B. That got me annoyed. That meant I can't finish enrollment today, coz I won't be able to get assessed and I won't be able to pay. So grr.

I trek back to the department and eventually, at around 11 probably, we decide to text our adviser... who promptly replies she won't be going to UP today.

WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Oh UP, why must you hate me so and make every step of my everything so hard?

I sucked at showing it, but yes I really enjoyed last night. :) I'm sorry I didn't cry people, haha. But I really was happy, promise. :)

Thank you to everyone who went. :) Especially to my treasures and candles and of course, thanks to Dom. :) Don't worry, I talked to SP and she forgives you. HAHA kidding. XD

Oh and special thanks to Ken too haha. The only college of music person there. :P Thanks for coming! :P

And um... I still don't know what to say haha. I know I acknowledged Sir Dave for teaching me Practical Speech Fundamentals but see, he only taught me HOW to deliver speeches effectively. He never taught us WHAT to say at speeches, hahaha. But seriously. Thank you super everyone. :) A big wet MWAH! to you all. XD

And of course, thank you to my seeeesters, my MOM, and Kim (I was gonna say "cousins" but you were the only one there so... hahaha)... and Winston and Uncle willy and akim and aku and a-e. :)

BASTA THANK YOU NA EVERYONE!! Haha.. If I keep going I'm going to start thanking each and every person. Maybe I'll do that later, if I still feel like it. I can't express how much I want to thank everyone eh. Wahh! But don't worry. I shall find a way to thank each and everyone who made me feel loved hehe. :)

Special mention HnH! :) Heehee.:)

Pretty much final! :) Heehee. Sorry, too tamad to make it into a chart form haha.

Tuesdays
8:30-10     Nat Sci 1
10-11:30   MuT 11
11:30-1     MuL 12
1-2           PE
2:30-5:30  Orch

Wednesdays
8:30-10     FA 28
10-12        MuT 11

Thursdays
8:30-10     Nat Sci 1
10-11:30    MuT 11
11:30-1      MuL 12

Fridays
8:30-10      FA 28


Yaaaaaay. XD I'm just gonna die every Tuesday, that's all haha. And trying to run from CS to Abelardo in 15 mins. That'll be fun. XD

Even though I was there the entire 2 days, I DON'T HAVE A SINGLE PICTURE [since the camera was with Patrick "Rick" the star the entire time]. :( well, actually, I do. I have like a billion probably haha. But they're in other people's cameras so I don't have to post here unless I'm willing to go through tens and twenties of multiplies to steal them and I'm not willing so... I'll just write about it. :)

Saturday I was in ICA at 8am (yes, EIGHT O CLOCK IN THE MORNING!) and spent some three hours going around to all the booths I promised to go to. :) I went to Wisdom, Fortitude, Solidarity, Goodness, Mercy, Peace, and um... Math Club too I think... Haha anyway I went to A LOT, won a ton of interesting, useless prizes, then headed over to the Band Room for Soundcheck for Varie. :) After thaaaat, went to the DTASC for a disastrous Balloons practice (at least for HnH) which we didn't even bother finishing anymore since Mrs.C wasn't there and it was seriously impossible for us to practice properly. We just played Wilkommen then didn't bother with Finale. Spent another hour or so bumming aroung the fair, hung out with CARINA YUYEK and saw Vern and all those other Xygenz people mwahaha then finally went to the Band Room again to get ready for the show. XD

The best part of Ciudad for me this year was that my mom came to watch. :) She came, watched Right Across, then left right after. :) When I first played in the varie in 2nd year (I think) I was devastated no one was there to watch. 3rd and 4th year I was pretty used to it so I didn't really mind. And now suddenly out of the blue my mom told me to buy a varie ticket coz she wanted to see RA. :) WAH! So happy. :) And RA did really good too, everyone said. The violins were heard. Yahoo! Then for the first time in all my varie-playing years, I decided to sit and watch the varie. :) And I enjoyed it! Haha. :)

Sunday was much more tiring but much happier. XD Was in ICA at 7:30am (SEVEN THIRTY IN THE MORNING!) then sat outside DTASC to eat breakfast with Bea haha. Played for Balloons, but went out in the middle with Raina, Bea, and Mrs. C. Went around the fair a bit, then went back to Balloons to finish with Finale. Got to bond with Car some more heehee! :) Then a bunch of us had lunch in the band room aaaand... the remaining 4 hours or so of the fair I spent bonding with so so many people I've missed so so much. :)

First was LEAH SINFUEGO and our Hey Sister Soul Sister HAHA. Secret lang natin yan ah. Forever and ever. XD Then I hung out with SP a bit tooo! :) And then towards the end of the fair, I helped Fortitude put down their booth. :) Aww I love you 110!! :) Special mention to Twin, Bernadine, Patty, Candice Gan, Candice Lim, Fatima... did I miss anyone? XD Anyway, love you guys pa din heehee. :)

But above all, I'M SO PROUD OF THE EVENTS CORNER WOOHOO!! XD gets better and better every year haha. :) Love ya, Joey. XD

I got lost. XD

It started with the opening of a big, leather-bound book with crumbling yellow pages... and I caught a whiff of antiquity that came from it. Then I was just there, watching the moon and stars twinkle in the night sky, as dragons flew around, belching out little puffs of smoke and at times huge pillars of fire from their mouths. They would playfully nip at each other's tails and chase each other around the night sky.

I was there as I watched a couple in perpetual unrest. Happy at times, then fighting, then happy, then fighting, then happy, then fighting again...

I was there as I watched the mountains and hills zoom by the horizon as I sped past it on my um... I'm not really sure. XD

And I was there as I saw the pixies and fairies wave farewell and flit away quietly into the night, as the dawn was starting to show.

This is Nocturne No. 5 in Bb Major, by John Field. :) Some freaking brilliant work. [Or maybe I've been reading too many fantasy books again... hahahaa!]

SEMBREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahahahaha!! Never ever have I been this happy for sembreak to come. And well, I've never felt like I had to work THAT hard to pass school. And never have I felt more accomplished to see a good grade on an exam. XD But then I also never had experienced so much um... college spirit haha. You know. All my college of music love entries. :) I got more today. The upperclassmen are soooooooo nice... Aie and I were talking about it and we figured it was coz they know what WE'RE going through so of course they wanna help. :) Heehee.

Good news is that I think I did pwede na on my violin finals, and my solfege panel wasn't that bad. :) I messed up one measure really bad. But I think I got above 2 namana. :) The best thing about today though was getting the results of my dictation exam from yesterday: 87%! YAHOOO!

My laptop is low batt. I'll update more next time. XD

YAY SEMBREAK!

Yesterday was one of the best days of my freshman year to date. Hahaha.

It all started at about 3pm at Abelardo Hall, where everyone was busy running around and panicking and trying to put together a run-through - our first and probably only one before the show started at 4pm. Eventually we had to stop and everyone ran backstage to put on make up, calm down, and do all those things while we officially opened the doors and let the upperclassmen (aka, THE PEOPLE SO MUCH BETTER THAN US) in and hopefully enjoy the show.

Now see the bad thing here is that I'm part of the opening act? So the 4 of us were standing there at the center of the stage behind the curtain waiting so very patiently and then after about 10 minutes or so, we started hearing people go, "Start na! Start na! Mooooore! Moooooore!!" So... more panic, panic, panic... then the show started. :)

The curtains pulled back and it all started with Daphne and her flute, followed by well, my violin and the "chanters" (It was an Asian Music number, go figure). Then the show just kept getting better and better... :) And the upperclassmen (TPSMBTS) loved it. :) Or so I'd like to think, haha. They just kept laughing and cheering and I'm not sure if they were singing along with the songs or just us backstage but it was so much fun I hardly care what the audience thought. (But good comments are still welcome! XD)

We had some sort-of batch bonding after while waiting for Bb.G-Clef to start. :) For those who don't know, Bb.G-Clef is a beauty pagent of straight guys, inter-department. They're forcefully pulled into a room, dressed up, make up-ed, and made to participate in a beauty pagent, complete with swimsuit portion, evening gown portion, talent portion, and of course, the Q&A portion. Hehe, kidding. They usually do it willingly enough. :) I think. XD

Um... I don't really know how to describe this haha. The entire thing was just HILARIOUS. And how can you beat questions like, "If you were a fermata, what would you hold?" or "Liquid is made up of lots of tiny atoms that move at a fast rate. These atoms occasionally collide with each other, causing the liquid to turn into gas. What process is this called?" (Only that question was much longer and much more confusing and HAHA basta!) 

In the end, Al the freshie dance major won. :) Al was so pretty, swear HAHA. Second runner up was hmm... I forgot his name. Basta. Ms. Egypt from the Piano dept. :) Strings won best in evening gown. Hahaha.

College week was fuuuuuuuuuun... :) Too bad I'm overflowing with exams next, next week wah!!!!

Today was a long, happy day. :)

I got up at 6:30am to finish working on mommy's birthday gift which I slaved over for only a few days. XD I can't believe I pulled off an entire scrapbook in like... 3 or 4 days I think. Wahaha. Anyway, I finished before 9 and quickly wrapped it and hid it (along with mommy's blindfold) in the cabinet in our guest room... and plopped down on the sofa to read and wait for mommy and achie to come, while praying all the time that achie came first.

We agreed to meet at 9, but mommy and achie both came at 10 HAHA. It's a good thing achie came first though, about 5 minutes before mommy. It was supposed to be a surprise! But me being brilliant and all, I forgot that achie's car would be parked outside my house. So obviously mommy saw it and the surprise was ruined, but no worries. XD We blindfolded mommy, brought her to UCC (and got lost along the way HAHA. fyi friends, it's ucc connecticut, not ucc annapolis. HAHA), and had a big brunch! :) Then Linds dropped me off at ICA for Hands in Harmony field triiiip!! :D

The entire club split into 2 groups (to fit into the 2 vans) and I ended up in the HOT VAN along with hmm 10 other people I think haha plus Bea Helene. Eventually we got to CCP, got our tickets, and bummed around while waiting for the usher to usher us in. When we got inside, Mrs. C, Bea, and I apparently had "special seats" so the entire HnH filled up about 2 rows and the 3 of us sat a couple of rows ahead. :)

Now I knew that this "Magic Flute" (yeah, by Mozart) was a kiddie version but gosh I didn't expect it to be THAT kiddie! Haha. It all opened with a perky girl (in a flowy white dress) going, "Hi everyone! I'm so glad that you could all make it today! I've traveled far and wide and now I've found the perfect story to tell all of you!" I guess you can imagine what the rest of the opera/play was like. XD The highlight of it all though, was when Mrs. C, Bea and I decided to turn around in the middle of the play to check on the rest of the club, only to find about 3/4 of them fast asleep WAHAHAHA. It was hilarious. XD

After that, we switched vans (YES WE MOVED TO THE COLD VAN!) and I bonded with Nat, tiny pig, and my future c's - Des, Nicole, and Sammie - bwahaha. XD Then we had a Hands dinner at TOSH, our usual eating place haha. :)

And now I'm home. XD Exhausted, but feeling nice and happy and well, full of "ICA-ness" again haha. I miss being around ICANs. :)

I LOVE YOU HnH.

Out of the blue, I have a army of ICA music teachers behind my back. :) Aww...

So as a bunch of people know, I've been pretty miserable and considering either a) shifting to piano, or b) shifting to an entirely different college. (Chem was on my mind) Why? I don't know. Frustrated, I suppose. But then Mrs. Cheng suddenly texted me today.

Mrs.C: "Bernice! I heard from Ms. Cabel you're having a hard time with your theory? Your solfege and dictation?"
Me: "Yeah, but I think dictation's a bigger problem."
Mrs.C: "Ms. Monte is offering to help you. She's free on Mondays with nothing to do. Ms. Cabel is free on Thursdays. Text them. Do you have their numbers?"

And point is... AWW. As in, I cried after this all. Strangely, after this all, ICA's got my back. (Or Mrs.Cheng at least) Just when I was about to give up (after one sem, I know, pathetic)... it's as if J was waiting for just the right moment to release my back-up support. Hehehe. Love you, J. Much much thanks. *MWAH!*

Um... I don't really know what to say haha. I'm just so happy. :)