I posted once on the same day and same month in year 2012.

Ermm.. So here I am, the person who rejected her reality and has been hiding for almost a year by living a semi hikikomori life ever since. It's not as glamorous as it sounds (unless you know what it means for real)... I didn't even plan it. It just occurred to me one day that this was what I have been doing...

...wait, I'm starting to babble.. *ahem* let's save that for another post.

• Practise scales & arpeggios etc regularly. Usually I did them when the exam date is near (because too focused on playing pieces)
• Spend more time on practice everyday (& aim for a flawless playing!)
• The melody in my second piece was mostly played by left hand. I chose that piece partially because I want to get better at playing with more balance... & I think I made it.. ^_^
• Drink chamomile tea before any exam (but not too early). I know I was nervous inside but somewhat I calmed down (especially those nervous butterflies) after drinking a bottle of the tea.

WHAT WAS I DOING?

*bitter laugh*

1. Do you live close to where you grew up? Why?

2. Have you ever been so angry that you almost lost control?

3. Are you a fan of a musical act that slightly embarrasses you?

4. Is there a movie that always makes you cry?

5. Who is the most famous person that you've met?

6. Before you leave your home, what must you have?

7. What do you miss the most about being a kid?

8. Tell us about a passion of yours that your readers would not expect.

9. At what age do you think you'd be to think, “I've had a great run”?

// Semester 2's Exam Result //
Sigh.

Semester 2's result came out yesterday.

Mathematics II - D
Statistical Package Programming - B-
Data Structure (Introduction) - D+
Object-oriented Programming - C+
--------------
Ethnic Relations - A-
French Language (Level 1) - A-
Language and Communication - A

To be honest, it was terrible. My GPA for Semester 1 was 2.8. Those two Ds dragged it down to 2.66.

I'm NOT proud, okay?

Anyway. What's done is done. I would have to re-take that two courses again in Semester 4. That's how I'll handle this.

On a side note : I'm very surprised to see an A for "Language & Communication" - The course with a lecturer that won't always want to give you an A. My initial reaction was of course I'm happy! But I started thinking that maybe the lecturer was only bluffing since the beginning. If this is true, there must be a lot of others who also got an A. Cheh. That's none of my business. Just be grateful for the A, right?

// Piano Practical Exam (Grade 2) //
I'd been fidgety since June started because I thought I didn't prepare enough for last Wednesday's ABRSM G2 piano practical exam. It's my second. The examiner was Timothy Goulter. I think it went well despite some [& hopefully small] mistakes. I didn't misheard him (like last time) but still managed to play broken chords [wrongly] as arpeggios. Fortunately, he gave me another chance to play it right. And then I missed one raised note.

Scales etc part done. Then it was the three pieces section. Little mistakes here & there again but not as bad as previous exam's. Did I conveyed the songs' moods & dynamics correctly? I don't know.

The next part was sight-reading. I was fortunate. I got a slow (andante - actually moderately slow) piece in G Major (one sharp) not any Majors/Minors with plenty of flats in it.

Last part. Aural section. Worst part ever. I only enjoyed the singing part (called "echo")... the rest... I can't recall what I answered but I'm convinced that mostly were wrong. The principal of my music school was at the waiting room too to give moral support to her students. I must had had a really terrified look as I returned to the room (haha).. She told me that the aural part is only a small part of the exam (thus won't affect the overall marks significantly). The three pieces are the most important part. Which is true 'cos I read about someone on the ABRSM forum who failed the scales & sight-reading parts but still passed the exam with merit.

Sigh. I won't be taking the practical exam next year (commencing of 3rd year). I haven't told my teacher yet though. Anyway. Hopefully I could reach Grade 4 level during this 'exam break' (I wish to skip G3's exam).

Yesterday, I received my ABRSM G2 music theory exam result.


95.

Passed with distinction. Yay!


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p/s: This got to be my shortest post in this blog (excluding this postscript part). I think this deserves its own post. =P

*gulps*

I only knew the exam date for one day... and I've become worriedly nervous this whole day.

Like last year's, I don't expect to get best marks. As long as it's good enough, I'm happy.

But I don't have that confidence right now.


It seems that I still can't get the tempo and dynamics right. So inconsistent. I can't tell if it sounds good enough for 'good' marks. I believe that the songs have their own moods which I have to understand and think of it every time I play that piece. But sometimes when I think the mood is like this, Ms Chong (my piano teacher) will say otherwise, which always leaves me confused. Sigh.

Anyway... Speaking of music... Yesterday, there were "Mother's Day" performances during church service. One of the performance was by children, which kinda turned out wrong in the beginning. Their teacher played the intro to their song using the church's guitar. The children started singing off-key. It got a bit awkward for the teacher. So - as explained to me by people who knows how to play the guitar - the problem was with the church guitar which was not tuned for the children's voices. Okay, whatever. That's not my point. The teacher stopped playing. Then, our church's pianist went to the electric piano and played music accompanying the children. It's an impromptu accompaniment. I was so impressed.


I'm not there yet. That level... where you can play what you just listened (or is listening!).... it's out of my league. I can't even memorize well... I will always need music sheets. Sigh. I think it's nice to be good at playing by ears. & also... songwriting. Haha. I'm tempted to tell my teacher : "Let's compose a song."

Oh, well....

June 16th, 2010.

Last year's was in July 16th.

Hmm. Maybe different students will have different dates, I'm not sure.


Nervous...but excited. Can't wait for this to be over.

---
Off-topic :

1. 
   OMJFacts Lots of Jonas fans have a tumblr account, and post amazing Jonas related pictures and quotes. #OMJFacts 05 May 2010 from web
2. 
   OMJFacts There are many Jonas fans out there....but some keep it a secret. #OMJFacts http://twitpic.com/1lelb9 06 May 2010 from Twitpic

-- this quote was brought to you by quoteurl

Yes. I'm that kind of fan. Haha.

//Piano exam’s result// My piano teacher handed me the mark form (=result) last Sunday. I passed… with distinction! (Didn’t see that coming, though…). Initially, I only hope I’ll pass (like around 100-110) but I never expected it to be 133/150! Nevertheless, I’m happy and feeling grateful to God and everyone who helped me throughout my exam-preparation. (So my decision to live outside the university campus as a non-residence has proved its worthwhile-ness …)
Dead link (ref:dsc09240.jpg)
//Amusing : “Yes, I must.”// I had an amusing conversation last Saturday during my dragon boat club meeting. There was a new member (meaning : just switched course). She didn’t bring any extra clothes so she wanted to borrow from this one girl (who didn’t join the activity/excused for I-dunno-what). I guess the girl refused to lend her ‘cos the new member asked me later on whether I encountered a selfish person (in university) before. I was thinking of those who’s selfish with their knowledge but apparently she meant the person who didn’t want to lend her clothes. I could see that she’s totally pissed off ‘cos she kept repeating the same issue. Secretly inside my mind, I was thinking what I’ll do if I’m asked the same question. And… I would do the same. I won’t lend my clothes to a stranger. I can’t just do that… unless I’m ready to mourn for my soon-to-be lost clothes. It’s my problem, really.. As much as I want to trust that people are naturally good, in reality, it’s the other way round. Anyway. I think she failed to see that not everyone can be as flexible as she is. But the amusing thing wasn’t this.
It’s this:

Her : So are you going this Sunday? [the lecturer said there’s no activity next Saturday but we can opt to go and see a rowing competition on Sunday]
Me : I'm not going.
Her : You have other activities...?
Me : Yeah. I'm going to church. [Thought : ..and I have piano class.]
Her : *silence*... You must go to church?
Me : *smiles awkwardly* Yes. [Thought : What the..?]
Her : What is your religion?
Me : *a little bewildered* Christian.
Then, moment of silence.
(The conversation was originally in malay & she’s not chinese or indian.)

Maybe not everyone will agree with me, but seeing it from my point of view, it’s pretty amusing.
//Study life so far…// It’s almost a month already. How’s my study going? Okay. So-so. Frankly, not so well. You know what? I finally get it. I finally see it. I understand why those in university can’t spare much time to blog (before entering university, I always blog-surf to read about university students’ life). One word. Busy.
It’s very overwhelming! Can’t miss class (100% attendance is compulsory)… Sometimes classes are cancelled… So you waste time waiting for that class (if you are informed last minutely) & you’ll have double (I can’t bear thinking of triple ones) doses of that class next (or future) week. Wow. Even my class-free day (Thursday) has started to be cluttered by substitute/lab/tutorial classes. Wow. I appreciate my weekends more now because that’s the only only days I can sleep all day. Okay, maybe not all day. I need study time too. Erm. Wait. What study time? I barely have time to study/revise. I feel really tired after class… no mood to study. *sigh* My “procrastinazy” (procrastinate + lazy, lol. Other people actually used the term too.) disease has re-occurred.
Well, that has to change this week. I need to allocate time for studying/revising… Oh, yeah. Funny thing I noticed : there are other math students who’s carrying STPM Pure Math book(s) everywhere. Are they using those STPM reference books as “reference”??? Fortunately, I didn’t throw away my books away. I can re-use it then.
//Group Hate (whining mode)// Group assignments, group projects – all that are so bothersome! The bigger the group, the crappier it become… It’s so hard to hold a meeting when everyone’s timetables are different. I want to work alone! I want my own working space!
//Extra thing... // I found my unspoken speech (done in 2007, when it was rumoured that one of us had to give a speech. Lol. Of course, no such thing happened). The written and then unspoken speech still exists…online. From @enilyram/Ren-chan's blog.

Inconsistence is my middle name!

Piano [practical] exam – July 16th, 2009.

I already had my GUILD music theory exam last year. But a practical exam is scarier because I’ll be communicating with the examiner!

I really don’t know how good (or bad) I am at playing the piano. I just depend on my teacher’s recommendation… and I don’t know if the examiners good words were for real or just to make me feel better because I made little mistakes here and there. During the last [practice] recital, the principal of my music school didn’t comment much on my pieces other than my untimely tempo (fast song played slow and vice versa)… Oh. Gosh. I really don’t know my level.

Anyway. I think I did the best I can do. It can be hard when other people have high expectations… so – regarding the piano – I insist on having fun. I’ll sit for exams but I don’t want to score high. I just want to have fun and improve myself along the journey.

Okay, back to the story. The examiner was really friendly (& seems to like chocolate.) He went  into the waiting room during tea break to get some chocolates and asked the “steward” to put one in his coffee. He offered us (the examinee, there’s also another girl waiting) the chocolates and I readily took it (lol) because eating chocolate helped lessen my nervousness. I thanked him and he returned to the exam room. Then more exam-takers came… The principal also came (maybe to give us moral support…). I was the first to come in after the tea break was over.

Nervous! Nervous! Even more nervous when he himself came in the waiting room to bring the next student (me!). Oh. Gosh. Then I adjusted the bench before sitting down, opened my book at my 1st piece… and he asked what I want to play first. I started with scales… & when he asked me to play broken chords for F major, I misheard him and played F Major scales instead. He stopped me when he realised my mistake. I said sorry and continued playing the broken chords.

Scales over, now it’s the 3 pieces’ turn. I played my 1st piece with a bit mistake but I kept on playing (as my teacher told me to do). Then 2nd piece, a slow one (I tried improving my tempo at home with the newly-bought metronome)… Okay-lah, I think. Then, the 3rd piece! I paused before starting. For your information, this piece is my most problematic piece among those three. During lesson, whenever we reached this page, I would gasp and my teacher will sigh, “Oh, no. That again.” The thing is, I always play this piece too fast, too slow, too unhappy, or not too springy. I kept got corrected by my teacher. *sigh* So, I played my 3rd piece, it sounded different from the one I always played because I kept in mind to make it more jumpy/springy. When done, I think I did okay. Whatever. Then it’s the examiner’s time to comment. “That’s the best version (for that piece) I’ve heard from KK.” (referring to my 3rd piece… and I may recalled what he said wrongly.) “Huh?” I thought. He approved of my problematic piece? That’s so sweet of him! I guess he’s just being nice because I’m an adult beginner (I’m so old!) taking a Grade 1 piano exam…

After that it’s sight-reading. I was lucky. I got a piece without flats and sharps! Then aural test. Clap. Clap… okay. I’m never good at that guessing the beat part. Then singing (I love this part!). I messed a bit with the last parts… to identify changes of rhythm and melody in pieces. Then, it’s the end. I thanked him and went back to the waiting room. The principal asked me how was it and I answered her wrongly because I was still recovering from my nervous state.

That’s it.

My first piano practical exam.

Update : Results.