Last Saturday...

I am thankful for opportunities, learning experiences and people who are more than willing to teach and share.

Lately I've been getting more and more into audio tech and sound engineering - or rather I've become more interested in said field. Yes, it's very male dominated. Whether there are reasons for that or whether it's just that there aren't enough females around who bother, I don't know, but this female right here has found herself finding interest in various technical and mechanical things.

It started from me wanting to understand what goes on behind the board, rather than merely making demands for things to sound a certain way. There are limits to what machines can do, and a soundboard is no exception. The little taste I got during that one module in college was not enough to satiate me. As I find myself growing less fond of being onstage, I find myself growing more fond of being behind the scenes.

Six days ago, I was given an opportunity to be part of a team for an event that was happening at one of the concert halls. Naturally, I jumped at it. I don't claim to know a whole lot about how things work - much of my learning of the soundboard has happened just like my learning crochet. I dive right in and figure things out as I go along. Most of the time, I don't know what exactly I'm doing. I don't have the ground knowledge and I don't claim to have it. It doesn't stop me from wanting to learn.

We started out by having to write a channel list based on the equipment we had and whatever else we needed. This was an email assignment. Having no clue whatsoever but my own deductions, I ran a quick search via the 'net and read up about what a channel list was. Better to be a fool for five minutes than a fool for life, right? I wrote up my channel list and emailed it to Boss along with a note explaining that I wasn't sure if what I had done was what he wanted, but for him to please do correct my work. Boss was nice enough to reply positively, attaching the channel list of one of the other guys on the team.

Following that was a songlist, and we were told to listen to the tracks and make notes that would help us when mixing. This was much like the analyses I had to do back in college, but on a less complicated scale.

Then things got professional and intercom apps were talked about...this is when I semi-panicked. I don't have a smartphone. Yes, I could probably stick with someone else...I dropped Boss a message. Boss was super cool about it and told me not to worry, just make sure I'm there on time. I still tried to think of a solution though, and thank God for little sisters and mums and friends. My friend drove me back home, I borrowed little sister's iPhone because she wasn't using it for the day, and mum's powerbank. (Sidenote: Time to upgrade my phone? Still debating on this one.)

Getting to the venue was no problem, and soon the intercom app got set up and I was feeling a little bit (okay a lot) professional. Duties were designated and I got to play at being a stage manager. Again, I freaked, because 'what on earth does a stage manager do????'

By the end of the night, I had learnt so much and was wiped out from the whole 'being on my toes the whole time' thing. With the help of one of the other guys, I wound up a really long Cat-5 cable and that was that. Cat-5 cables make things so easy to manage.

Days later, I'm still thinking about the whole thing. It's always interesting to play different roles and understand why each is needed. Having majored in music performance, I know what it's like onstage. I discovered in the course of my studies that I don't like being in the spotlight. I much prefer collective work - orchestral work is among that. I like things that work in teams. Perhaps that's also why I'm taking a liking to sound-related stuff. Not only do I get to understand what goes on behind the board, but I get to work with others to produce the results. And it requires me to use my ears and troubleshoot. Being a stage manager requires a lot of attention to the program flow and the managing of people, whether it's a team of crew or telling to performers to get onstage and being alert to anything and everything that could go wrong onstage. My role in this event was the former and the latter. Not so much the middle. I don't know if I would repeat the experience given a choice, but at the same time, I don't dispute that I learnt a lot from getting to see things from a different angle.

DY, the guy on the board, was pretty cool to work with also. He was extremely encouraging, and willing to share software that will be helpful in running sound for events or services. I'm actually really really looking forward to more that I can learn, which Boss is currently arranging for.

Needless to say, I'm excited.

On a different note, I hit my 50k. Thanks TC for setting the pace. Frankly, I don't think I would have made it if not for wanting to keep up with you. And you went at breakneck speed. =.= But really. Thank you. :)

Also, I now have 29 days.

Do you remember - oh wait. It's November.

It's November. The year seems to be passing so quickly. Too quickly, almost. Hi-5 if you're still grooving to September by EWF.

I'm thankful that my new book got here (be nice to me mwahahahahaha). I'm thankful that I'm well on my way to complete the 50k target. I'm thankful that I seem to be making more significant progress in the physical department. Let's hope the next one is it?

I seem to be making milestones in my kitchen prowess. Allow me to elaborate.

I baked two banana cakes just under a week ago. One after the other. When I bake more than one cake within a day, it usually means the cake(s) is(are) being given away. And this time it was to a doctor friend who has been helping grandpa with his recovery, making housecalls late into the evening after surgery/a full day at the hospital. Favour is what it is.

I baked the two cakes (I know I'm repeating this. Shhhh.) and both times, was rewarded with this surge of pride and contentment. With this recipe, it is often that the batter ends up separating. That's how I've been making it my whole life because I didn't know any better. Having gleaned more knowledge over the years though, it has been my personal mission to make sure the batter doesn't separate. For any cake I make. It's really a test with this recipe. The result is a tender yet crumbly, moist, and less sweet banana cake than what you find in the cake shops. Fine crumb? Not at all. Buried all through the cake are banana bits, where the bananas are mashed with a fork, so they're not entirely pureed. I use overripe bananas so that contributes part of the sweetness, and I reduce the sugar by quite a bit.

Both times when I mixed up the batter, creaming the standard butter, sugar and vanilla, then adding the eggs...I got a smooth, silky texture, almost buttercream-like. See, Chef A taught me this trick to help stabilise the batter so separation can be prevented. But even when doing this with this particular recipe, the batter is still prone to separating. There has almost never been a time that I can remember where it didn't. This time though, both times, there was zero separation. This can only mean one thing. There was no under or overbeating. The timing was near perfect.

Both cakes rose and browned, and the top crust was the way it should be. A nice crisp that strangely complements the tender, crumbly, moist goodness with each bite, with surprise bits of fruit. No soggy crust. No walnuts either, since they're expensive and the cake is good without them anyway. And of course, my little cinnamon bun monster is strangely allergic to walnuts. Just walnuts. The cake was sliced, and half of it gone before even sitting to cool for half an hour.

No separation! Whee~~~~~~

It's an achievement okay. Stop looking at me like that.

Another achievement in the kitchen was the day right after that when mum turned to me and said:

"Cut the turnip for stirfry please."
"Uhhhh mum. You want me to cut the turnip?"
"Yup."
"You sure?"

Just a bit of backstory so you'll understand. Cutting the turnip for stirfry means finely julienne. This was a test my mum had to go through to gain her late mother-in-law's (yes, my late Ah Ma) approval in the kitchen. Everything else was easy. This though. Working with a bulky turnip on a little wood chopping block and a knife. To finely julienne is no easy task. Cannot grate. Not allowed. Mum's never 'trusted' be enough to entrust this task to me. I've been practicing with other things like ginger and carrots and onions...so for her to ask me is a huge deal. To me at least. I've never attempted jiu hu char when cooking alone. For fear of the finely julienned turnip requirement.

"Yes, I'm sure. Faster la."

So I start on the tedious, looming task of finely julienning the turnip. One filled stainless steel bowl later, I'm done. With no slicing of fingernails or fingers. Blood free.

"Uh mum? Can pass ah?"

She peers over. Doesn't say anything.

Nuts.

Later on as she's frying the turnip, she turns to me.

"Good job. Pass."

Oh the relief and the joy bursting forth from my innermost wanting-to-be-good-in-the-kitchen being! And the elation at my efforts and skills being declared adequate. I could weep for joy! Only I didn't actually weep. But I'm happy!

And now I need to stop typing because my eyes are starting to hurt from staring at this font. I'm also taking a break from the whole 50k endeavour. Let's see how long this 'break' lasts. Lol.

Ps. Now I really really really know I passed the julienne test because a few hours after I penned this blurb, mum told me to go julienne twenty shallots to make you chang. Again, no casualty fingers or fingernails. Yay!