Friends Are Friends Forever

I thank God for the chance to know you.

I've got an mp4 player. I put it on shuffle. I start listening to it then my thoughts drift off...and then I remember you. Coz this one song starts playing. Friends are Friends Forever by Michael W. Smith. This is for you.

I've been doing some thinking of late. You could've just been another colleague. You could've just been another passing acquaintance. You could've just been a face without a name. But you're not. You're not just another colleague, not just another passing acquaintance, and definitely not just a face without a name. The year flew by too quickly.

When I reflect on 2009, getting to know you makes one of the marks of the year.

It all started with a smile exchanged. You, the loner. Among so many and yet detached. Me, the girl in the 4-people section. You thought I didn't speak english. I was going nuts trying to settle in. Somehow, glancing around me and seeing a smiling face helped me hold on to my sanity. Reminded me that I wasn't among robots. Gave me a glimmer of hope and maybe even helped calm my jittery nerves. Don't ask me why. I don't know either.

Having someone to talk to during the second camp was crucial. Being able to share my discomfort with someone who was right there in the midst of the situation(not literally, but just...There.), someone who understands my stands and principles, someone who could relate to me, assured me that indeed, God is watching over me and He knows my plight.

By the time we got to the third camp, most things had settled in much better. The inspiration I got to keep me working hard really did its job and sitting down for a meal, being able to relax and exchange words of encouragement and different points of view was really so refreshing, and again, alongside buddies as crazy and wacky as myself(we turned you crazy and wacky too! Mission accomplished!), reassured me that we're still human. Those breaks were good.

The fourth camp? Definitely memorable for all of us. You know it, I know it, we all love Lion Paw's public transportation. Coming back to someplace we are more familiar with, thank you for playing a part in making me watch Avatar. For making me take a break. I do not thank you for making me panic 5 minutes before the movie but I thank you for everything else that happened that day, what with the watch-her-freak-out-like-never-before incident that evening. Thank you for standing by me and for your prayers. Moving on, I Will get you a nice little Rudolph-red-nose one day as a token of gratitude for the trouble you went through with finding the perfect accessory...which of course, amounted to no results whatsoever in the end. It was a crazy camp, one which I will treasure in time to come. By the way, those tracks you emailed me really did help.

It has come a time where this journey has come to a crossroad. We have to go our separate ways, but nonetheless, you will always have a special place in my heart. Being able to share tidbits of my experience walking with the Lord has also really helped me as you share and encourage as well. I pray that you will continue to grow in Him and become a mighty man for His glory. You are unique and God has made you the way you are because He has a divine purpose for you. I will miss you. God protect.

Jie.

Thank yous...

I thank the Lord for all of you who are listed here.

In no particular order(I'm trying to remember in chronological order. Do forgive me if I miss anyone out. It was not intentional)...

Flesh and blood:
Mum and dad
Siblings
Grandpa
Grandmas
Granduncle
Uncles and aunts
Cousins

Orch-related:
mum, dad and siblings for your support
Mr Field
Mrs Law
Yukako
Audrey
Uncle Norman
Wen Dee
Parents-of-MPYO support team
Sam
Alyssa
Wen Yao
Carmen
Vincent
Winston
Zhi Wen
Jeremy Yeo
Cheng Xuan
Eben
Bus 1 people!!
all orch colleagues
Sean(and the Muras and all...)

More people who took time out for me:
Uncle Mah
Aunty Tina
Rachel
Joash
Uncle Moses
Aunty Ivy
Melvin
Dexter

Ensemble Koschka-related:
Jascha
Saori
Alyssa(yes, thanks again)
Jeremy Tan
Kester
Wei Min
Emily
Shen Lee
Christine
Dalfandy
Yng Ling
KissA Koyotei

More friends:
Sev
Elizabeth
Eugene
all CGBC youths
Wen Yao's family
Alyssa's family
CGBC family(just catching up and having you guys take moments to recognise me...or finally having me tell you who I am)
PFAOG family(for a good Sunday service and fellowship after church)
GROW Bukit Mertajam(for more Spiritual food and good fellowship)

All of you played a part in making my hols so memorable. Thank you all for just making the effort to make me feel welcome wherever I was...all over West Malaysia...and for the good times in Singapore.

I pray that the Lord will bless each and every one of you richly. Once again, I am only human so I do apologise if I left anyone out.

2009 and 2010

I thank God for a new year!

Let's start with SPM. It's finally over. No more bio, moral, history, chem, physics(i'll miss this), add maths(i think i'll miss this too), maths, JUNGLE OF HOPE, POEMS AND SHORT STORIES, CHAIR, SEA KID, AS TOUGH AS THE CORAL, still have to take a BM paper and english i think. MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC here i come.

That was written last year. So. It's the new year and the door has opened for me to do my foundation in music.

A recap of what has been done last year....

SPM then there was music camp. My first tour. To Singapore.

We travelled by bus and had a long, long wait at the border on the other side. Long cues, people cutting cues(not our own people) and people line-hopping(yes, our own people, and yes, I was one of them).

On the first night(the same day we arrived), 5 of us decided to get a little adventurous with Singapore public transport and go see this flute technician. We got on a bus, got off at an MRT station, got MRT tickets(they're actually CARD, like those bank cards, very unlike our 2-sheet material LRT tickets) and the adventure continued. We had to switch lines halfway through the journey and managed to get to our destination. BUT, we ended up waiting outside the centre because the guy had gone off for dinner. So we sat there for about 15-20 minutes, I think...walked around the space there was, taking photos, more photos, even more photos...and what else...oh yes, WAITING.

He came back and not only did three of us get our flutes checked and adjusted, we got to test some pretty incredible flutes! Lol. And a couple of piccolos as well. He told us, "After you try these, you wouldn't want *will not mention brand* piccolos anymore...", and true enough, that was exactly what happened. Then again, us being students...the most common phrase when it comes to upgrading an instrument or something along those lines..."no money...". So we have to content ourselves with being on the outside, looking at those instruments through the glass window. Yes, let's be content.

The highlight of the trip to that workshop was being able to just delve a little deeper into the flute world....and the two poor violists had to wait for the three awestruck flute players who were too engrossed trying out flutes and piccolos. Oh, and getting 'souvenirs'. After all that was done, we paid a visit to Orchard Road to see the lights and stuff, then we started back to our lodging and had quite an adventure on the way back that night.

Had the concert in the YST Conservatory Auditorium. Beautiful hall. Not good for strings though. And the stage was really cramped. No space to move about! It was a very memorable concert. LOL.

Went back to KL, had rehearsal there and then performed. On the 24th, took a bus to Ipoh and stayed with Darlz and her family, who made sure I enjoyed my Christmas. Caught up with friends I haven't seen in ages, ate food I can't get Here, then left for Penang on Boxing Day.

In Penang, a good summary would be...went up Penang Hill, ate lots of Penang hawker food, spent time with friends, played music, had fun, ate some more, then got to meet new people and expand my music circle, had fun with the New Year Concert (thank you, EK!!) then sadly, left Penang. I will be back.

Went to Kedah for a few days and spent time with relatives, whether at work or just entertaining little cousins, then came back Here.

It's good to be back, but at the same time, I wish I could've stayed longer over There.

Guys who are leaving the orch, all the best wherever you're headed. Those close buddies, I really gonna miss you guys, and hey, a lifetime's not too long to live as friends. I'll remember you guys and the moments we shared being silly, talking, laughing at each other and all that. To those who are gonna get a second shot at it, I wish you all the best as well. I look forward to another year with the rest of you!

I thank God for all you guys who made my 2009 end year hols so memorable!

I'll be spending this year with eccentric people like myself and am looking forward to this new chapter in life, this direction I've chosen in coming to the crossroad. Congrats to the new student leader!! Lol.

2010 here I come.

To : anyone willing to read this post and be challenged...

I thank God for Doulos!

Doulos came about a year ago(Doulos is the world's largest floating bookshop. Or was, at least. They took the ship apart this year or something). So what did I do? I headed over to the Bargain Corner and bought 80 bucks' worth of CDs. They weren't That expensive. 20 bucks per 4 CDs. Good deal. So I got 16 albums. An assortment. Among the 16 CDs, there's this one album by Freddie Kofi, journey:destination paradise. It's classified in the R&B genre.

I was listening to the album today and there was this one song that jumped out at me. This is a shoutout to all SPM candidates (and the rest of you).


trust in the Lord
and be of good courage
and He shall
strengthen your heart

you don't have to be afraid
of the storm that is passing your way
your life is not over
can you hear what the Father says?
you don't have to worry
just trust He will make a way
keep your eyes on Jesus
all your troubles will fade away


So that song hit me. What did I do? I finished listening to the entire album and pressed the PLAY button again. This entire album, as the title - journey:destination paradise - suggests, is about stuff we go through in life, and my dear friends, especially those reaching crossroads in life, I feel this came at just the right time. Our ultimate destination is to someday be in paradise with Him. For now, we face tests and trials (be they SPM or college and uni apps or whatever else there is) BUT, He will take our overcoming and He will use us as living testimonies for Him. So guys, let's stand tall, roll our shoulders back and look at our challenges right in the eye and trust in the Lord to work things out for the best according to His plans.

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose."
Romans 8:28
People, trust in the Lord!

Singin' in the Rain!!!

I thank God for the friend who got me the musical Singin' in the Rain starring Gene Kelly!

I have been hunting high and low for this, and I happened to walk into the class the other day and mention the musical, and guess what? Lo and behold, this particular friend of mine had it there in her thumbdrive! Lol! Thank you Kingston for you 4GB Data Traveller and whatever programme my friend uses to get all these musicals which are no longer in the market.

So here's to Singin' in the Rain, my dear friend and others out there who enjoy it.



Lol.

First-year-of-blogging-anniversary...

I thank God for everything that's happened between my last post and this one. Let me elaborate...

This is an overdue post, so since it's the 'holidays'(more like study break), I'm going to try and document some stuff now before I get back to studying.

In August, I attended another music camp. This time, it was a whole lot more fun. For one, we were in a hotel. Lol. Yes, walked to our practice venue(s) lol but with a whole bunch of buddies, colleagues...call them what you want. But yea, kids walking on the roadside carrying instruments. Lol. We played another lot of stuff...cut out parts(we had a time issue for our performance this time 'round) and sobz...cut out one particular section in Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker - Valse des Fleurs which I liked. Ah well, we'll be playing it in December. Our performance this time was in conjunction with the Malaysian Youth Music Festival 2009, organized by the Malaysian Youth Orchestra Foundation. We did the finale show in Sunway Pyramid. Had fun with POTC, aye? Lol.

At Sunway Pyramid, I had a reunion with my 'long-lost lil bro', who also turned out to be awarded the best piano solo, diploma category, along with the platinum award. Lol. I'm looking forward to next March, bro!

Right before camp, I took my flute diploma exam. Lol. And got the results during camp. With wonderful favour from my Dad up there, I did much better than expected and got a really good pass. Yes, silent buddy, the figure means a whole lot more to me now. Lol. Again, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank God for His blessing and favour, my family for putting up with my crazy practice sessions, my teacher for pushing me even when I thought I couldn't go anymore, my tutors and flute buddies over at orchestra for their patience and advice, my other buddies who kept encouraging me, my prayer warriors who kept me in constant prayer and my friends who lent an ear to my rantings in the process of my prep for the exam. If I have left anyone out, I'm sorry, and please know that I DO appreciate you.

It's been slightly over a year that I've had this blog, and so, I would like to end this post with a prayer that whatever this blog contains, both now and in future, may it glorify my Father. All who are in support of that, please do throw in a BIG LOUD AMEN. Thanks!

A tribute...

I thank God for friends...

This is a tribute to you...lol...to the rest out there : ENJOY!